06/07/17
Day 85 Extreme Accountability Challenge
Starting weight 304 pounds
Destination weight 175 pounds
Total weight loss to date 55.6 pounds
73.4 pounds to go

For me eating, overeating, and then eating some more has been a comforter. Sometimes it’s true physical hunger, sometimes it’s boredom, sometimes it’s worry, or sometimes it just tastes so good and I want to eat.
I’m not a physician, I’m just trying to understand myself as I move from morbidly obese 5’11” 304 pounds to a healthy, vibrant 175 pounds. Food has never been the enemy but my overeating of food has caused me a lot of emotional and physical pain. What I choose to do with the food is the real issue. The important words are “I choose”. It’s my choice really, the accountability is key but, really I could choose to ignore the accountability and overeat.

Yesterday was a day when the wheels could have come off and I could have derailed this entire process. I didn’t, I chose wisely. It seemed that my entire day was filled with the desire for more food, multiple situations that caused more desire for overeating, but I made it. I chose wisely. From early morning until I went to sleep last night, there was one test after another. At almost any point in the day, I was ready to eat whatever I could get my hands on, but I didn’t. I chose wisely. It was my choice to make.

I want this process to be quick and easy, it’s not. As I reflect over the last 85 days, I know why. If it were easy, I would go back. The challenging nature of losing 129 pounds, is first to lose it, but really what’s most important, never gain it back. The sometimes daily battles help me to strengthen that resolve. I will never go back. This is not a drill.

I imagine that several of my Facebook friends have “unfriended” me out of sheer boredom with their Facebook page being filled daily with pictures of scales and stories of a bunch of overweight people fighting their way back to a healthy weight. That’s okay, do what you must.
For years, I’ve resisted posting almost any of my views on any subject to Facebook, I just didn’t want to make a fool of myself. Well I guess you could say that all changed. This Extreme Accountability Challenge has changed everything. You get all of me in regards to what this weight loss process is like, what my heart is daily. I really want to make a difference, maybe there is someone reading this that has lost hope, maybe 2 people, maybe more. I’m here to tell you, there is hope, you can get to a healthy weight again. I’m proof that it’s possible. But you have to face a real truth, there is no easy way. Stop looking for it. The lottery diet mentality has to stop. Stop looking for a diet that will instantly cause you to lose 100 pounds in 3 months with no work or sacrifice on your part. Changing lifelong habits takes work and perseverance. It’s going to be hard. I promise. But when you are searching for something to wear and everything you own is way too big and you are healthier and have more energy than you have had in years it’s worth it.
The fight is real, fight now for your health, not tomorrow, not Monday, not after the vacation, or the special occasion, no more putting it off, start right now, and don’t stop fighting for your health until you reach your destination weight, then fight everyday the rest of your life to stay healthy. Do it now, whatever it takes do it now.

It’s my and your choice, it always was.

Press forward.

175 pounds here I come!!!

06/06/17
Day 84 Extreme Accountability Challenge
Starting weight 304 pounds
Destination weight 175 pounds
Total weight loss to date 56.6 pounds
72.4 pounds to go

After 84 days of this “public display of weight”, and beginning this journey of posting my scales daily to Facebook, I can say accountability works for me. I cannot speak for anyone else, but it is making the difference day in and day out. Since March 15, 2017, I’ve been to 4 birthday parties, many other events, and nightly wrestled with “the pantry,” calling my name, all with my mind on , what will the scales reveal tomorrow?

I get asked several times per week, if not per day, “what kind of diet are you on?”

I believe that a healthy long term, non-fad, time tested, proven diet is absolutely a necessity for long term weight loss. However, that alone never worked for me long term….correction, “I”, never worked at sticking to a program long term. There are hundreds if not thousands of approaches to losing weight, and I personally don’t believe any approach is the “only” solution.

I knew “the one” that would work for me after trying dozens and dozens of weight loss plans. The key, and without it, is guaranteed failure, is sticking to the plan no matter what. The difference.

ACCOUNTABILITY!

ACCOUNTABILITY!

ACCOUNTABILITY!

ACCOUNTABILITY!

ACCOUNTABILITY!

That’s the elephant in the room!

The program I’m using may be the best approach for me, but it’s probably not for everyone. Over 56 pounds down in 84 days, I know it’s working for me.

The Accountability is THE secret ingredient.

If you want to change, do what’s necessary, for me it was to get accountable.

Press forward.

175 pounds here I come!!!

06/05/17

Day 83 Extreme Accountability Challenge
Starting weight 304 pounds
Destination weight 175 pounds
Total weight loss to date 55.2 pounds
73.8 pounds to go

The last few days I’ve written about the frustration of sticking to a weight loss program and hitting a plateau. Today the scales rewarded my perseverance with a reading of under 250 pounds. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen the 240’s. I like to show a weight loss everyday, especially since I’m posting my weight loss journey on Facebook, but really did it make a difference what the scales said?

Yes and No.

No because I’m not stopping posting my scales daily until I reach my destination weight of 175 pounds. Yes because the scales not moving down could mean that I am missing something. I could be eating something that is hampering my weight loss. It caused me to pause and examine if I was completely following the plan that my health coach John Davisson designed for me. In the past, I never did this self examination of what I was eating, when I had lost 10 or 20 pounds and the weight loss stalled, I would immediately give up and go back to my old ways of eating again. Accepting my weight rather than confronting it. In other words, whenever it got tough, I gave up. That kind of weakness can cost big. It caused me to reach 304 pounds, and could have costed me my life, literally.

I did find some things about my eating plan that I was not following exactly, not big things, but really important as I move towards the halfway point of this 129 pounds weight loss journey.

So I guess I should really be thankful for the plateaus, they cause me to strengthen my resolve and align my habits to ultimately achieve optimal health.

Most of all I’m thankful for the Extreme Accountability Challenge, it’s participants, and all of you that follow this journey every day. I know that I would have given up without you. Thank you for helping me to lose this weight but really thank you for helping to save my life.

Press forward.

175 pounds here I come!!!

06/04/17
Day 82 Extreme Accountability Challenge
Starting weight 304 pounds
Destination weight 175 pounds
Total weight loss to date 53.4 pounds
75.6 pounds to go

Another day in the doldrums of 250 pounds. I think this is called a plateau. With over 75 pounds to go, this is a little frustrating but I cheered myself up today by sorting through a lot of clothing that just a few months ago was unthinkablely tight, now I’m giving much of it away because it’s too loose. Pretty amazing. Each week I’m reaching into the closet and drawers that I haven’t even looked in years. The forgotten clothing that tormented me is now either too loose and being discarded, fitting now, or soon to fit. All of it will be too loose by Winter.

Pretty awesome, thanks to this Extreme Accountability Challenge.

Press forward.

175 pounds here I come!!!