<p>kmcmom:</p>
<p>I had reached the point of being a fat guy. 44 inch jeans. It was impossible to buy clothes that fit. I was so out of shape that just day to day life – like getting in and out of cars, walking from a parking lot, etc. was getting difficult. I literally got winded walking to the mailbox. I just had to stop the erosion and lose a few pounds just to fit in my “fat” clothes again. My original goals were modest:</p>
<p>1) Enjoy exercising at least three days a week.</p>
<p>2) Lose 12 pounds to get started.</p>
<p>3) Walk a mile without getting winded.</p>
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<p>Initially, my diet changes consisted of getting rid of the soda and sweet tea and juices and lemonaid, cutting out the junk food (candy, pretzels, Doritos, etc.), and limiting my carb meals (pasta or pizza) to one dinner per week.</p>
<p>I was very fortunate in two regards:</p>
<p>a) I stumbled onto a very effective workout approach (that I still follow today, actually) of Mon/Wed/Fri whole-body core/strength type workouts with additional intervals (Airdyne) and hilly walking. I started with 5 and 8 pound dumbbells. The only “injury” I’ve had in three years of this was pulled calf muscle from accelerating from a walk to a jog uphill last year. When I read Alwyn Cosgrove’s “Hierarchy of Fat Loss”, I realized that’s what I was already doing.</p>
<p>2) What I was doing worked consistently and effectively. I lost weight in practically a straight line dropping 1.75 to 2 pounds a week like clockwork. I was down 50 pounds at seven months before the rate started to slow. I hit 70 pounds (which was my ultimate, don’t even dare speak it, goal) in 11 months. The success was extremely motivating. I was lucky that I didn’t hit any big plateaus and never got discouraged. If anything, the longer I kept at it, the more motivating it was. I was buying and fitting into new “thermometer” jeans on a regular basis as I fit into the 42s, then the 40s, then 38s, and 36s. I think at 180 pounds (70 pounds lost), I was probably starting to fit in some 34s.</p>
<p>Somewhere around that point, I did my first Rachel Cosgrove workout - about a year into the process. Similar style to what I had been doing, but definitely kicking it up a notch. At the same time New Rules of Lifting for Abs was released and I started doing those workouts for the next six months. Every Mon/Wed/Friday. I had an epiphany moment when I realized that I actually could become physically fit. Not just losing weight and walking to the mailbox, but actually some level of age-appropriate fitness. I thought I was done at 180 pounds, but those workouts complete reshaped my body and I slowly drifted down to 160 pounds, which is what I weighed in my 20s. It was also around that time that I read Gary Taubes book and shifted a little more away from carbs. </p>
<p>I hit 160 about two years ago. I was at 161.6 this morning, although I tend to average more in the 162 to 163 range these days.</p>
<p>I think the three things that really helped the most were:</p>
<p>1) Making a rigid three-day workout schedule a part of my routine. I may shift the days around, but it remains the very rare week when I don’t do those three main workouts.</p>
<p>2) I stopped drinking sugar completely and permanently. </p>
<p>3) Posting to this thread has given me a little daily reinforcement/accountability of fitness, especially when nobody in my family wanted to hear about my workout…</p>
Bottom line: unless the spouse figures it out for himself or herself, it probably isn’t going to work anyway. :)</p>