Pounds & Inches

On Tuesday, September 21, 2010 I wrote an article on the HCG diet. A few days ago I read Pounds & Inches: A NEW APPROACH TO OBESITY by Dr. A.T.W. Simeons. After reading the detail and consideration gone into it I am now somewhat convinced that this is not an unhealthy fad diet. It is a treatment for obesity that is based on many hours of clinical observation and experimentation. I would suggest if you have any interest or just would like to know more about the treatment that you read Pounds & Inches by A.T.W. Simeons. The rest of this blog will be my summary of my weight loss journey so far.

I was obese for about 9-10 years. At the age of 12-13 I started to gain weight. I remember when I was in 5th grade (age 10-11) I weighed 95 lbs and about 5 feet tall. By 7th grade I reached my current height of 5'7". In 8th grade my weight and locker number were to name 186. Sometime between ages 15-16 I passed 200lbs. My junior year I was 245 lbs. In college I am sure I gained more based off how I looked in pictures but never set foot on a scale. When I was 23 I gave up fried foods for lent and then tried to keep it up afterwards. I got a new job when I was 24 and I started eating Subway sandwiches on my lunch break and my desk was up a flight of stairs. After 3 months I had dropped 9 lbs. My lease ended and I moved closer to work. I decided that the move was a great time to develop new habits. I joined a gym down the street and they asked if I wanted to do a 90 day commitment with a personal trainer. I had some extra money saved and said yes. Over the 90 days I was given a new trainer and I dropped 25 pounds. Hurricane Ike hit and I had to go work in the field for 2 weeks and during that time my trainer broke her foot. When I got back she has decided to stop training and I stopped going to the gym. I decided to give up all meat except fish, eggs, and dairy as a 40 day challenge. My roommate and I got in an argument and got in my car and drove off. I passed my gym and thought, "That is where I should be." I did a u-turn, went home and changed clothes. When I got to the gym my original trainer was there. He asked how I was doing and I told him I had not been going much recently. He offered me a 6 month contract at a reasonable price working with him once a week. I decided to do it and we met every Wednesday. I turned 25 and when the New Year started my family decided to have a Biggest Loser contest. I set a goal of a pound a week for the 20 week challenge. I started at 229 and by May I was 209. During those 5 months I decided to buy a house and I met my future fiancée. I stayed with my trainer for 4 more months. In August I bought a house further away from work. I kept meeting with the trainer since my contract with him did not end for another month. On my last session with him I weighed 191 just one pound from the original goal he set for me. I decided that 190 would be my new ceiling weight and as long as I weighed myself once a week it would not creep back up on me. I found a new workout routine online and worked out 4-5 days a week for a few months. While reading articles on bodybuilding.com I found one about how a guy won the Body-for-Life challenge. I looked it up and I liked the program. I bought the book and asked my girlfriend and another friend to try it with me. My friend decided to train for a 1/2 marathon but my girlfriend and I started it 11 days before Christmas. It is a 12 week exercise and nutrition program. I was highly motivated and stuck with it pretty much by the book. I started to have a short temper but my body fat percent was dropping pretty fast. After 7-8 weeks I changed the diet to help with my mood. I started the challenge weighing 182 lbs with 17.9% body fat and ended at 172.6 lbs and 15.2% body fat. My goal was 10-12%. After the challenge I lost motivation and gained back to 183 lbs over 4 months. I started another 12 week challenge in July but I was not strict on the weekends and incorporated Spin class and yoga and ate more food. I ended my second challenge at 179 and today 2 months later I am at 184.

Minus a few lazy weeks this past summer I have been working out 4-6 days a week for a long time. I can't maintain my goal weight nor can I seem to lose the last of my abdominal fat. 3 people in my office have had success with the HCG diet. There is a 21 and 42 day cycle. I only need to lose 15-20 pounds so after Christmas I want to try the 21 day cycle. I tract my body fat percent and will determine if I lose any muscle mass. I plan to take pictures and maybe even video blog the process.

1995 – 95 lbs
1998 – 186 lbs
2001 – 245 lbs
2008 – 255 lbs
2009 – 190 lbs
2010 – 173-184 lbs