One Year Later
2009/09/27 at 6:59 pm | In Discipline, Exercise, Milestone, weight loss, weight loss blog, weight watchers | 2 CommentsTags: diets don’t work, weight, weight loss, weight loss blog, weight watchers
Can you believe it’s been one year since I met my weight loss goal? Then I suppose I should give an update on this anniversary date, no?
Okay, here we go. As of today I’m at 193 lbs., which isn’t still the 190 lbs. I had planned to be at by now. That doesn’t necessarily make me a failure as much as the inability to run the Disneyland 5k does but hey, I’ve kept the weight off and managed to lose a few more pounds in the process. To me, that defines success.
As far as an updated picture goes, yes, I have one of those, too:
As was the case last year, we spent the day celebrating at Disneyland since we have Annual Passes. The only notable differences in my appearance besides weighing slightly less? I now have a goatee and yesterday, got my ears pierced. Yes, I did. Must be a Midlife Crisis thing
So there’s your anniversary update and as I’ve said many times over, if I can do this, I know that anybody can. All it takes is a commitment and the willingness to follow through with it.
Thanks, and I’ll post when anything changes—hopefully for the good!
Updates and Stuff
2009/08/12 at 8:34 pm | In Blog Stuffs, Discipline, Exercise, Food, lifestyle change, weight loss, weight loss blog, weight watchers | Leave a CommentTags: diets don't work, lifestyle change, weight, weight loss, weight watchers
Hey hi, how are ya? Yes, I know it’s been a long time since my last post so I thought I’d take a moment to go over a few things of significant interest.
Naturally, first comes some bad news, namely me gaining back almost 18 pounds since reaching my goal nearly a year ago.
Okay, no. That’s a joke, guys, and I just wanted to see if you were paying attention. To prove it, here are a few shots of me playing softball at my company’s picnic a few weeks ago:


So as you can see, the weight gain did not happen and will not happen. (I seem to have grown a goatee in the process, however.) But alas, I really do have some bad news.
Remember all that talk of running the Disneyland 5k in September? Well, unfortunately, that’s not going to happen—at least this year. There are a few reasons for this:
Running on a treadmill is not the same as running in the real world. Duh, I know. A 5k is a breeze on something that is designed to give a little but terra firma is much less forgiving. Believe me, I tried to get used to running on solid ground but despite losing over 100 lbs., my knees simply could not take it. It’s unfortunate but I think it’s the right choice for me at this point.
I lost my job. On March 31st, I was laid off from my job and as a result, had to find something and pronto in order to keep food on the table once my severance checks ran out. I did find a job but it pays exactly half of what I used to make, so expenses had to be cut somewhere. Believe me, people, having no money is not a lot of fun, and that meant all of the 5k walks and runs I had planned to walk/run had to be put on the back burner indefinitely.
Now on to the good news. My new job, as horrible as it may be in terms of pay, does afford me one privilege: I can ride my bike there. It’s about 3.5 miles from home so I’m logging a good 7-8 miles a day which makes me very, very happy. Because of this, I haven’t been on the treadmill since getting the job as my commute is now my daily exercise. It definitely works out.
More good news. As of this post, I’m steady at 195 lbs. which means that after almost a year, I’ve managed to keep it off and even lose a few extra. No, it’s not the 190 I had hoped to be at by now but hey, keeping it off is harder than losing it in the first place. A change in lifestyle definitely worked for me and I’m happy that I chose to do it. Sure, there have been parties and other events in which my eating habits slipped but you know what? I got back on the horse just as I had always done. A day of heavy eating will not kill you, trust me. In fact, I encourage it now and then so you can get it out of your system and get right back into concentrating on being healthy.
Okay, so that’s about all I have for now. Once again, thanks to all for stopping by, commenting, e-mailing, etc. I hope this little blog continues to inspire people to never lose sight of their weight loss goal, no matter how impossible it may seem.
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Reminder: Fat2Fit Meetup Today
2009/07/14 at 10:59 pm | In Food, Health, Life, lifestyle change, weight loss, weight watchers | 2 CommentsTags: california, diets don't work, fat2fit, fat2fit radio, lifestyle change, long beach, podcast, weight, weight loss
Just a quick reminder to all that the guys from the Fat2Fit podcast will be hosting a meet-and-greet for their listeners today, July 15 at Islands in the Long Beach (CA) Towne Center. I will be attending along with my family so that we can meet the hosts and chat weight loss with them a little bit.
If you’re in the area, stop on by and say hi! There will be appetizers!
More info can be seen at the Fat2Fit Web site. Hope to see you there!
UPDATE: I went down to the Long Beach Town Center, found a parking spot a mile away (as is usually the case there), went into Islands, asked the girl about the group and she had no idea what I was talking about. I then walked around the place a few times to see if I could find Jeff or Russ or a group of people. All I saw was a few baseball teams–and neither host. So at this point I gave up and went home.
This is really, really disappointing! I’ve been looking forward to this event since the day it was announced and now that it’s here, I couldn’t seem to take advantage of it. I even braved the parking lot of that awful shopping center and came home empty-handed.
Too bad…
Not the Same Person
2009/05/31 at 7:24 am | In Discipline, Exercise, Inspiration, Life, Progress Photos, lifestyle change, weight loss, weight loss blog, weight watchers | Leave a CommentTags: diets don't work, lifestyle change, weight, weight loss, weight watchers
Ann bought me a film scanner the other day as a combination anniversary/Father’s Day present. And ever since I opened it, I’ve been looking through boxes of old negatives for stuff to scan and e-mail/post on Facebook/etc.
In the process I came across an old negative of me and my brother at Disneyland, circa 2000 or so. And I have to admit that this is probably the most flabbergasted I’ve been about an old picture of me since my weight loss. At any rate, here it is and note that it was fuzzy to begin with:
Yeah, so um…I looked like a cartoon character that was run over by a steamroller or something. I was that big, people.
Now here I am last weekend at a birthday party for one of The Kid’s friends (who were cropped out not because I’m being mean, but just to show me a bit closer for comparison purposes):
I’m using that first picture as a reminder to never, ever go back to that lifestyle.
Gotta go. The treadmill awaits me…
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Me on Fat2Fit Podcast!
2009/05/04 at 8:50 pm | In Exercise, Life, Motivation, lifestyle change, weight loss, weight loss blog | 2 CommentsTags: diets don't work, Exercise, fat2fit podcast, lifestyle change, weight loss, weight loss blog
Well, it’s not actually me speaking but I am mentioned in Episode 63!
I am a regular listener of the Fat2Fit podcasts and hosts Jeff and Russ often read e-mails from their listeners, whether questions or success stories. I sent an e-mail to them over a month ago explaining how I lost over 100 lbs. and lo and behold, today it finally made the podcast.
You can give it a listen at their site or download it from iTunes. They begin reading my e-mail at about 7:12 but hey, don’t just listen for me. The podcast is fantastic and one of the few I subscribe to (in addition to Leo Laporte’s Tech Guy podcast). If you’re trying to lose some weight, Fat2Fit really does the job by speaking of weight loss in plain English, not some mumbo-jumbo.
Thanks to Jeff and Russ for reading my note and for giving my weight loss blog some notes. I appreciate everything and keep up the great work!
UPDATE: I forgot to mention this. In the podcast, you hear me mention that I take the train to work and walk during my lunch hour. Well, the job that afforded me such privileges has since laid me off so I no longer take walks while at work. This isn’t entirely a bad thing–I can ride my bike to my new job which is about 5 miles away by bike trail (or 3 miles by street). I plan on doing it every other day at first then possibly every day later. Staying fit while saving gas. Now there’s a winning combination if I’ve ever heard one!
And when I say “a case of diet soda” I meant a 12-pack, not a flat of 24 cans. Juft FYI.
The original e-mail transcript is after the break. Enjoy!
Six Months Later
2009/03/27 at 12:00 am | In Discipline, Exercise, Health, Inspiration, Life, Motivation, lifestyle change, weight loss, weight loss blog | Leave a CommentTags: diets don’t work, weight, weight loss, weight loss blog, weight watchers
Hey gang, it’s Dave with a little update for you all.
Today is March 27, 2009, which also happens to be six months from the day I reached my weight loss goal of 200 lbs. (or as was the case on September 27, 2008, 199.9 lbs.). Can you believe it’s already been six months? I sure can’t!
So how much as changed since then? Let’s find out.
Today’s weight: 195 lbs. I am this much closer to reaching my final goal of 190 lbs.!
So as you can see, I not only managed to keep the weight off, I lost a few more pounds to boot. And keep in mind that was after Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Day, my surprise 40th birthday party, a St. Patrick’s Day potluck at work, my wife’s birthday and my son’s birthday party last week, where I consumed three slices of pizza, two hot dogs and a variety of other foodstuffs. As I told a friend not too long ago, the real struggle wasn’t losing the weight—it’s keeping it off. I seem to have done just that over the past six months.
As far as the 5k walks go, by rights I should have already completed a handful of events by now but because of unforeseen expenses, they had to be put off. I still have a few in mind, as well as the Disneyland 5k run. I still need to start running on pavement (versus the treadmill) to get a feel for it.
I do have a few other things to share with everybody, all of which happened within the last few days.
First, I was contacted by a reader that wanted to share a link with me. Those that have read this blog know that I’m pretty picky when it comes to sharing links, especially those trying to disguise themselves as weight loss blogs but are actually snake oil vendors.
While this page may advertise some colleges on its homepage, I was impressed with the articles they had already posted and the one that was sent to me: 50 Easy Ways to Lose Weight While at Work.
There are a lot of things on that page which I already do, such as walking during lunch, snacking on healthy foods, and taking the stairs instead of the elevator. It just goes to show you that even if you work the most sedentary job, you can do what it takes to lose weight while at work. In short, and as I’ve said over and over again on the blog, there are no excuses.
Also, I was contacted by a journalist / Facebook user about my thoughts on Wii Fit and the Wii in general. She had a list of interview questions for me that I answered and sent back, and they should be going live on her site within a few days.
And finally, if there was ever any kind of way to get you thinking about what you eat, I invite you to check out This Is Why You’re Fat. The site is nothing more than a collection of photographs featuring home-cooked items that are, above all else, creative to say the least. But just as its name implies, eating foods such as those featured on the site give you a good idea as to why you may be overweight. I admit that a few items on that site definitely look tasty, but most are things I wouldn’t even consider. No nutritional information is provided for obvious reasons. My God, I think I had a stroke just looking at some of those foods.
Well, that’s all I have for you until I get word that the story I was interviewed for goes live. See you later and stay focused! By the way, my Traineo badge on the right has been showing 46 lbs. lost instead of my actual total. I don’t know what’s going on there!
Then and Now
2009/02/16 at 7:28 pm | In Discipline, Exercise, Health, Inspiration, Motivation, Progress Photos, lifestyle change, weight loss, weight loss blog, weight watchers | Leave a CommentTags: diets don't work, weight, weight loss, weight loss blog, weight watchers
Note: I posted this on my personal blog yesterday but it’s definitely relevant to this one as well.
Here’s one just for fun since I don’t have much else tonight. And I apologize to those of you on Facebook who have already seen them.
But anyway, here I am in 2006 and on my birthday a few days ago.
Notice a difference? That’s right—The Kid is a lot older!
(On a serious note, if you think you can’t lose weight I hope those pictures provide you with proof that yes, you can if you try hard enough!)
Thank You, Everybody
2009/02/14 at 8:00 am | In Discipline, Exercise, Food, Health, Inspiration, Life, Milestone, Motivation, Photos, Progress Photos, Victory, lifestyle change, weight loss, weight loss blog, weight watchers | 2 CommentsTags: diets don't work, Discipline, Exercise, weight, weight loss, weight loss blog
<< BTW, this is NOT the best picture of me. My face looks…well, deformed or something.
This is a goodbye of sorts.
As you may well know, I started 200by40.com with the intent of tracking my weight loss progress as I tried to reach my goal of weighing 200 lbs. by my 40th birthday.
Today is February 14th, which is also happens to be my 40th birthday and, as you may also know, I reached my goal of 200 lbs. on September 27, 2008—way ahead of schedule.
I have decided that, while I have derived great pleasure in blogging about everything having to do with [my] weight loss, it’s time to put things into perspective and temporarily walk away from the blog.
While this may not be the final post here, it may well be the last one for a long time as I will now concentrate on training for the Disneyland 5k—my first one ever—taking place this September. In between now and then I will do a few 5k walks and, should I have a camera with me, I will post pictures of the events. And don’t worry—all posts will remain intact as will the domain, meaning anything you may have bookmarked will still be in the same place.
Once again, I would like to thank everyone who left comments, e-mailed me, or simply came by to visit (except for you spammers who try and get past Askimet’s death grip–you’re fools for trying!). I do find it a bit humbling and amazing that a normal guy like me would inspire many, many people to get motivated into losing weight. What started out as a simple goal turned out to be something life changing to those who recognized that it’s entirely possible to lose weight if they put their minds to it.
Before I sign off here, I would like to wish all of you good luck with your weight loss program. Regular visitors know that it wasn’t uncommon for me to say things like “You can do it!” or “Never give up!” in my posts. What many don’t realize is that those weren’t just words; I meant them from the bottom of my heart. If I can do this, I have no doubt that anybody can.
Why? Unlike those trying to push diet pills, I’ve been there. I can relate to and understand the struggles of weight loss and being overweight. I know what it’s like to wear size 48 pants, run out of breath when playing with my son, have clothes get smaller and smaller, be ridiculed about my size, be stared at when going to fast food joints, barely fit into the seats on the train, look in the mirror and not like what I see, be intimidated when entering a gym.
But I chose to change all that. I challenged myself to get busy and change my lifestyle and here it is, my 40th birthday and I weigh 197 lbs. I went from a sloth to someone who is going to run in a 5k. Think you can’t lose weight? I beg to differ. (By the way, at today’s weight I have finally reached the golden 100 lbs. lost level.)
While I could go on forever, I want to share with everybody some things I learned about weight loss since starting this blog. In no particular order, here is that list.
Phase 2 Weekly Weigh-In #4
2009/02/04 at 8:28 am | In Discipline, Exercise, Health, Inspiration, Life, Motivation, Weekly Weigh-In, lifestyle change, weight loss, weight loss blog | 4 CommentsTags: 5k, diets don't work, Health, weight, weight loss, weight loss blog
Alright, here we go!
- Weekly Weigh-In #4, Phase 2: 199.4 lbs.
- Last Week’s Weigh-In: 200.9 lbs.
- Gain/loss of: -1.5 lbs.
- Phase 2 Loss: 3.9 lbs.
- Pounds to Go: 9.4 lbs.
- Weight Loss to Date: 97.7 lbs.
Well, those numbers aren’t exactly earth shattering but hey, I’ll take them loss nonetheless!
I feel better about this week’s loss when compared to last week’s weigh-in when, in case you couldn’t tell, I was pretty frustrated. There’s no doubt in my mind that I still won’t reach my goal of 190 lbs. by my birthday but I’m not entirely mad about it. Slow and steady wins the race, and I bit off more than I could chew with that goal.
Remember, too, that my original plan was in this order:
- 200 lbs. by my 40th birthday (which I met)
- 100 lbs. lost (not quite there yet)
- 190 lbs. (whenever I got there)
So as you can see, I skipped a step and tried to speed up things without much success. That’s not the way I had planned so it’s back to Square One. Phase 2 is officially over; I will now focus on being at the 100 lbs. lost mark and then reaching 190 lbs.
Ah, exercise. I chose not to do my 30+ minutes of the treadmill last night because, quite simply, I needed a break (as we all do). I have been on the thing each night for at least 30 minutes and last night I was just too tired to do it and on Monday night, I think I pushed myself a bit too much and didn’t feel too good when I was done. So I decided to take a break.
As far as the 5k walks go, there’s a chance I might skip the one in a few weeks. Finances are a bit tight and we need the money to take care of other things, so I may bypass this one and work on the next few in March and April. No biggie. But if I do choose to walk, of course you’ll see it here.
And the Disneyland 5k run? Oh, you bet that’s still on!
See you later
Phase 2 Weekly Weigh-In #3
2009/01/28 at 6:05 am | In Discipline, Exercise, Health, Weekly Weigh-In, weight loss, weight loss blog | 2 CommentsTags: diets don't work, Weekly Weigh-In, weight, weight loss, weight loss blog
Bad news? Good news? A little of both?
- Weekly Weigh-In #3, Phase 2: 200.9 lbs.
- Last Week’s Weigh-In: 202.0 lbs.
- Gain/loss of: -1.1 lbs.
- Phase 2 Loss: 2.4 lbs.
- Pounds to Go: 10.9 lbs.
- Weight Loss to Date: 96.1 lbs.
The bad news: it’s looking less and less likely that I will be at 190 lbs. by my birthday, so I’m officially lifting that as my goal date. It’s just not happening.
The good news: I ran 5k on the treadmill last night!
More later…
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