Where to begin?

This was taken in September of 2019. In December of that year, I weighed in at 202.4 lbs. My body fat weight was 59.5%, my body fat percentage was 29.5%, water weight was 51.6%, bone density was 7.5% and a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30.6.

I look at this photo and see the roundness around my cheeks, the little hint of the double or fat chin. Dad used to say that when he and I 'got heavy' we seemed to get a 'chipmunk face'. I used to chuckle at that. I see that my eyes don't look clear or bright. I can say that I remember feeling more tired and lazy then. I wasn't exercising as I should have been; not even walks or anything.

I remember attempting to take some weight off at the beginning of 2020. Then Covid-19 hit. The gym I belonged to was no longer an option for me as I wanted to remain safe and isolated from others. The weight and snacking started to increase.

By the end of that year, I was right at 202 lbs. On December 31, 2020 I decided that enough was enough and I was going to get healthier, and take the weight off. I bought a FitBit Charge 4 to wear. I will wear this FitBit until I reach my goal weight. It tracks my steps in the day, lets me know how my sleep is, reminds me to get moving and provides a way to get inspired with other wearers (family is key!).

The other thing I did was I got educated and informed. I will discuss more of the books and videos in more detail later, but I watched YouTube videos of Dr. Eric Berg who has vast amounts of videos on intermittent fasting, Keto and low carbohydrate diets, along with nutrition and all aspects of being more healthy. He is fond of saying, "get educated, not medicated!"

In addition to Dr. Berg, I learned about Dr. Jason Fung and read his book, "The Obesity Code". This was a fantastic book that explained things in a very thorough and fact based way. So many of our doctors and even our dieticians have the wrong information. It's no wonder we're in the middle of this awful time of huge waistlines and lethargy all around.

Dr. William Davis wrote a book entitled, "Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight and Find Your Path Back to Health". This book was one that I discovered a long time ago when it first came out. I remember Dad scoffing at the notion of not eating bagels or bread and that this was going to be 'just another fad' that would soon die. Well, imagine my surprise after he read it!! He couldn't believe the absolute deception and ignorance we've all been led to accept all these years. This book is well worth purchasing to have in your 'dietary reference library'.

So, I started with reading these two books, and watching Dr. Berg's videos on YouTube. I got educated (and continue to do so). I needed to know that what these guys were claiming had veracity, and were also something that if I committed to, I could achieve my aims of reducing my weight for good, learn to eat better, and have a better feeling about life in general.

I made my commitment to myself that I would come up with a plan for myself, combining aspects of their methods and practices to get me down in size. My starting weight was 201.1 lbs and I'm now down to 187.6 lbs today (29 Jan 2021).

My next blog entry will outline what I did and decided to do in detail. I'm a fan of Tony Robbins, who has said, "success leaves clues". Is someone getting results in an area of life that you would like to have? Find out what they do and copy it. Simple.

Read on......