You are correct sir.

Well, it did turn out to be the most successful weight-loss yet. Apparently I start thinking about these things about a month before my birthday, cause here I post again.

I weigh 258 pounds now. It was going well until Nov 2011, and I plateaued. And kept stopping and starting. I reached 252 before plateau, then gained about 10 pounds in Feb. I'm trying to claw back, so we'll see. My goal of 100 pounds by age 28 will fail, but maybe this just takes two years.

I'll be sure to update you again in a year when I actually remember.

Seriously.

It's kind of creepy. I hadn't looked at this blog since I posted over a year ago. I restarted weight-loss... again, 2 months ago, and I've lost 19 pounds, and guess what I weigh... 293 pounds (The exact same as the last post).

There's really not much change from last attempt. I lost weight, got sick, lost more weight, gained most back, got sick again, then gained it back to be over 300 until a trip to ENGLAND/SCOTLAND/IRELAND last year, where I came back about... 293 pounds. Gained it all back until Feb of this year, where I weighed 312 pounds.

I got tired of this for so many reasons. This time the extra change is a simpilfied focus on food, and each Saturday I weigh myself at my friend's house, and they can all see the actual weight. This is Weight Watchersequse, and it serves for accountability. Before when I had a bad week, no on really knew but me, and I could just give up. Now I know in the back of my head that my friends will know too. I hope this keeps me from the major relapses of the past.

I'm not sure any single person but me has ever read this blog ever. It certainly did not have the intended function I initially sought. Though it seems to be a documentation of the graveyard of weight-loss attempts I've collected. My goal is to be a healthy weight by my 28th birthday next year. This seems doable, thats 13 months and... 100 pounds away. I'm sure I'll post again in a year, let's just hope it isn't at 293 pounds.

Wherein Eric Reappears...

Well I used that lame excuse I mentioned below for months.

I gained back about 5-8 of those pounds. Started back up again in late October, and lost about 12 more pounds. Then fell back off the wagon in late December with excuses about working a lot and being depressed.

Thus, the official weight-loss for 2009 ended up being like 25-30 pounds. Which is no small number, but I can kind of see the cycle. I suppose as long as I take more steps forward, these fall backwards don't erase an overall win.

I now weigh 293 pounds. Under 300.... wooo.

The Recumbent Bike:

It is easy on the knees, and has worked well. But it has drawbacks fair reader.
1) The whole body never feels worked out when you're done, it's mainly the legs. With an elliptical or a treadmill, I would say you end up feeling more fulfilled.

2) While you can set it to program ever higher resistance (harder to move pedals), you still provide the pacing on how fast you move the pedals. This can be hard to keep up psychologically, you just want to slow down until its easy. That's the same issue with an elliptical, and where a treadmill shines.

But the bike still seemed to get the job done. I'd do treadmill for many days, feeling unmotivated to use the bike, then I'd switch to the bike for a few days. After using the bike, even for that small amount of time, the treadmill became far easier. So subtlety is it's apparent skill, as you get a surprise when you switch around.

My suggestion is to find multiple ways to workout and avoid the burnout as best you can. I also got a dog (Basset Hound named Enola), and I get walks in with her.

I'm not sure I have the total self-discipline to accomplish this in one fell swoop, as such, these fits and starts will have to do. They might even be more realistic. As when I did fall off the exercise wagon, I ate..... better than before, and didn't gain as much weight back as I used to.

If this only ends up being historical documentation to me, I think it will be worth it.

Have a good 2010 and beyond!

Wherein eric makes no guarantees...

Well, late in December of 08 I purchased a recumbent exercise bike. I read it was good for a fat guy's knees, and this is true. I printed up some calendars and wrote down my start weight. From January 1st through April 20th, I exercised almost everyday, and have lost about 20 pounds.

It was a little more, but I evened out by using a lame excuse to slack off for the last three weeks.

I'm starting back up today, and will continue.

Let's hope that I stop coming back here just for failures, but also for success.