Hello all - I've been browsing this sub for a few weeks, but hadn't wanted to really dip my toe in until I felt that I'd at least made a decent start.
I'm very nearly 40, M, and when I started this I was 265lb. I'm quite tall (6 ft 2) but even so, I've been carrying a lot of weight for a while. I was pretty slim until my mid-twenties; I suspect (without any evidence, really) that I'm not the only person who started to put on weight at this time. In any case, there were lots of reasons; primarily starting an office job that requires I sit down all the time (previous jobs were either fairly active, or at least standing up 90% of the time), as well as reduced exercise, and possibly a period of depression.
Well, anyway. I've tried to lose weight over the years, of course, but it never really 'took'. This time I wanted to make a better fist of it, mainly because it turns out that I have a rather unfortunate family history (heart attacks, type 2 diabetes, etc). So, I downloaded the MyFitnessPal app and started counting calories. I've found the true value of this app to be that it actually makes you think about what you're ingesting - sounds obvious but the first time I realise that a cheese sandwich could be 500 calories, I nearly fell over. The first thing I did was reduce the amount of bread I eat; it's a lot more caloric than I thought, and I read some research about how it spikes blood sugar - important given my desire to not develope Type 2 Diabetes (my last A1C was 5.6, so...technically ok but still too close for my liking). I've also just...thinking more about things. Myself and my fiancée started this together, which does makes things a lot easier.
In the 6 weeks, I've lost 16lb. I'm under 250lb for the first time in probably 10 years, which is awesome. I actually feel better, too, which is not something I expected given the relatively low percentage loss. I've been playing soccer for most of those 10 years, but I've mainly been strolling around not quite catching up with people. But now I find that I'm full of running even at the end, and I don't feel terrible after every run. I've started wearing my fitbit to play too, with the intention of increasing the number of steps each time I play. The first time (4 weeks ago) I barely got to 6,500 steps but now I'm at 9,000 and hope to increase that to 10,000 in the next week or so. (I have doubts as to the accuracy of these measurements but the way I see it, increasing the number can only be a good thing!)
I wanted to post here just to point out that every one of you is inspiring, even if those of us who like to lurk don't necessarily tell you about it. Now that I feel confident that I can stick this out, I hope to keep positing success stories. Realistically, I think a good weight to get to would be 210 (I think the BMI tables say I should be at 170, but honestly I think I'll look ill at that weight) so that's what I'm aiming for.
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