History, Goals

This blog is about losing weight primarily following the Paleo diet but not sacrificing flavor.  I love to cook.  Sometimes I spend too much time cooking.  Ironically it was not my cooking that led to my weight gain.  I was not heavy when I was younger, in fact I didn't gain the weight until I was about 28.  I'm now 38 and it must go away.  It took only a year to gain (most of) it.  I'm hoping with a lot of hard work and sweat it will take a year to lost (most of) it.

At my highest I tipped the scales at 253.  That was about 5 years ago.  Since then I've lost about 30 pounds.  (Actually I was down to 185 and gained back 45 pounds.)  I had lap-band surgery which accounts for the weight-loss.  It didn't work right away as for some people.  It took quite a while to find the right fill point and the weight began to come off. Then I had gall stones.  I had to have my gall bladder removed and to do so they needed to remove all the liquid in the band.  After the surgery I had fills again but never found that equilibrium.  I gained a lot of weight back.  Although I do have some liquid in the band, I have not been filled in years.  I still get 'stuck' occasionally.  I hope to have the band removed someday as now it mostly an annoyance.  I consider my recent weight loss 'natural' since the band hasn't shown any benefit in years.

My ultimate goal is 153.  (Nice round number (100 lbs lost), healthy weight range for me).  So my new goal is to lose another 70 pounds.  I've divided this into smaller manageable chunks.

My first mini-goal is 210.  (I'm currently around 225.  I haven't been below that number since the gall bladder surgery).  I have a wedding to attend in August.  I know this is an aggressive goal but I'm really hoping to achieve it.  The wedding is August 3, 2012.

My next goal is Onederland. Mid-September.

My next goal is 190 at Halloween.

My next goal is 185 (the lowest I got to prior to the gall bladder surgery).  My goal for this (assuming I hit the above goals) is Thanksgiving.

180.  Christmas.

170. Valentine's Day.

160.  Easter.

153.  Mid-may.  So hopefully by this time next year I will have met my goal and be seen on the beach in a bathing suit!

It's June right now so obviously this road will have speed bumps and I have a bit of a buffer.  I realize this is an 'unhealthy' and 'unrealistic' goal but having healthy and realistic goals has not helped me in the past.  I know I'll hit plateaus and I know I'll make bad food choices occasionally.  But I will endeavor to stay on track as much as possible.

I will have lost this weight before I turn 40 (Late Summer 2013).  Period.