That's right! I've lost 46 pounds since I started this blog. You can track my progress. I get a little pint of joy every time I look back and think how excited I was to have lost 14 pounds or 30 pounds and I realize that was just the beginning. The long term goal is actually in the ball park of 100 pounds (yeah, I was that big when I started), so technically I guess I'm not even half way there yet. Though, I almost am and it's been less than 3 months. The weight loss has slowed a bit. In other words, I probably won't lose it as fast from here on out, but I'm still going to lose weight, one pound at a time. I hit a plateau at about 230, something stalled, a couple lazy days with too many calories and not enough exercise, but I'm back in the saddle, pushing as hard as ever. I can't wait to see how much I way today (I'm hoping I've broken the plateau from last week).

Anyway, all this weight loss talk reminds me to mention the vitamin shoppe where you can buy omega 3 vitamins. Have a good one!

Last time I posted, I had lost 14 pounds. This time I've lost 30!

That's right, I'm thirty pounds lighter than when I started my diet a couple months ago. The initial weight loss was pretty drastic, almost five pounds a week. It's slowed since then to just under 3 pounds a week. I was expecting that, so I haven't become discouraged by it. Every time I start to worry, I check my weight loss chart and see that the graph is still declining one pound at a time.

Certainly, my physical capabilities have improved with the 30 pounds gone. I've still got over 50 pounds to lose (yeah, I started out really big), but some of the major health problems have disappeared. After going on the paleo diet, I noticed I was actually hungry LESS even though I was eating fewer calories. I guess that's what happens when so many of your calories are protein and fat rather than sugar.

Also, as per the health blog I've been reading, I feel a lot less stressful about eating. I don't go through the guilt/reward cycle anymore, which is a major improvement from previous diets.

Perhaps the best side effect is the breathing. When I weighed what I weighed when I weighed more than I had ever weighed, simple breathing was actually a problem. Sitting on the couch watching TV, I would actually feel a little like I was suffocating occasionally. And getting to sleep was damn near impossible. I could feel myself begin to snore while I was still awake, and it would jerk me out of any slope to dreamtown I was headed. That doesn't happen anymore. I hope my breathing/restfulness continues to get even better the more weight I lose. So, onward and downward!

I've really been on a health binge recently, trying to get my unicorn, my washboard abs. And guess what?

I lost 14 pounds!

that's right! I'm losing almost 5 pounds a week, which is a great start. I've been following some simple guidelines...

1) Low carbs: I eat as few carbs as possible, and what carbs I do eat, I try to eat as vegetables. Usually I come in at less than 100 carbs a day. It works great!

2) Variety of Exercises: I do a different exercise every day. I vary it up to keep my body sore and improving. I do a little more elliptical than anything else, but I also climb stairs, weight lift, hike, and do stomach crunches and core exercises.

3) Food preparation. I buy whole foods and actually take the time to cook them. Previously I would just run out to the Taco Bell and buy up a bunch of burritos. Now I plan and cook my meals, which makes me think more about the calories I consume and where they are coming from. I've been going whole foods and organic foods whenever possible, though I still do the occasional package of pork or sliced meat with cheese.

4) Logging: I record all my exercise and meals. This helps me keep track of exactly what I'm doing right and what I'm doing wrong. It's simple, it doesn't take too much time, and it's a sort of cumulative pat on the back.

5) I take the damage control master formula. It's one of the best multivitamins on the market today, and it gives me everything nutritionally that my diet lacks. Overall, a very well-balanced little capsules.

It's funny, once I actually started to get serious about getting thin, I found myself cooking more rather than less.

When I didn't care what I put in my body, most of what I put in my body was Taco Bell and Pizza, I just didn't bother to take the time to cook for myself.

But now that calories and carbs count, I dive into the pecuyinish details of ingredients and recipes, I scour the grocery store for the best foods, and I prepare my meals the healthy way. I even occasionally prepare a high carb or high calorie meal, but I know exactly what I'm putting in my body, so I know I'm not "blowing my diet" I'm simply having an enjoyable meal, then the next day its right back to healthy eating again.

One of the easiest things to make on a diet is chicken. It's not the best tasting meat, but you can spice it up for quite a variety, and you can pretty much eat as much chicken as you want without blowing the diet, as long as you're not frying it.

The one thing I want to watch out for as I progress through dieting, is not to eat TOO healthy. I've heard the dangers of orthorexia nervosa. Fortunately I think I'm a long way from reaching that point. And search for people, damnit! Search for them!

I've been getting up at 5:00am recently. 5:00 am!!!!

Going to the gym before the sun comes up can be quite tasking, but also exhilarating. The world hasn't started yet. It's just me and a few other people (I'm usually the fattest) and we're bustling down the sidewalk, sweating it up before most people even put on the coffee.

The first three days of this routine were the worst. I could barely stand up so early in the morning. But, now I can manage it.

The other good thing about waking up so early in the morning is that is forces me to go to bed earlier, which means there is less opportunity for me to grab a big old fat meal right before I go to bed. I still do occasionally grab a loadful of calories, it's something I have to curb, but I'm reducing my intake a little bit a day. My goal is to consistently stay under 1200 calories a day for an entire month. I haven't even broke 1500 yet, but soon my droogies, soon.

I've been drinking this weight loss shake recently. It's a chocolate vanilla mix, and it contains omega 3 vitamins. It's called nitro Xtreme or something. I'd really suggest the weight loss shakes for anyone who's looking to start the weight loss with a bang. It forced me to forget about meal time. I stopped making eating a part of my daily activities, now it's a daily chore, which I believe is a much better mentality.

I'm almost 26 years old. Less than a week to go. Normally I'd do the "some point in the future" game. But not this time. The "some point in the future" game is where I assign a date at which I will kick off the whole healthy thing. It might be "as soon as I get a job" or "as soon as I graduate" or "the new year," and of course the perrenial "On my birthday." But this time I've actually started a little early.

I've been preparing for weeks, eating less and less at restaurants, being more picky and health conscious, and avoiding sweets at all costs. But a few days ago I actually launched into a healthy eating plan. The plan is simple, I call it Chicken, Fish, or Vegetable. If the food is a chicken, fish, or vegetable, I can eat it. If it's not one of those three, no way. I don't think this is much of a sacrifice really as I've always enjoyed chicken more than beef. Even at a steakhouse I'd order the cheese and bacon smothered chicken before the prime rib. other than that, I'm starting an exercise plan, and I'm pretty much eliminating as much food from the day as I can. The first few days I only had lunch. Then my stomach readjusted itself so it was no longer use to taking massive quantities of sludge (I use to be able to down a whole pizza if I was in the mood), now one bowl of soup is filling enough for me.

The only tricky part I have yet to encounter is the first desperate hump. The desperate hump is that time in any persons diet, when the Id takes over and demands you cram all sorts of junkies into your body. It's the part of the soul that can't stand restraint, and food restraint for a fat person is very hard to bear. Usually I hit the desperate hump at about a week. I'll go to a mall to see a movie, sit down in the food court afterword and decide to have one good meal. The one good meal turns into one huge meal, followed by several desserts, and several huge meals after that. And then I'm back to square one. I haven't hit the end of week 1 yet, but at least I know it's coming, so this time I'm preparing for it. If I get hungry enough, instead of eating, I'm just going to drive out to Vegas and gamble my food money away. And I really don't want to drive out to Vegas right now, so I think this will keep me motivated to keep myself under control.

Anyway, while I've got you here, I might as well unveil a couple of health websites for the masses. The first is called omega 3 capsules and deals with fish oils. The other one is a vitamin website that sells the Master Formula, or the damage control master formula, more precisely.

In college I weighed 180 pounds. I actually sweated all the way down to 172 at one point, but I don't think I'll ever be that thin again.

Today I weigh 280 pounds. Exactly 100 pounds more than my 'normal' weight. It started in grad school. For the first semester I didn't lose or gain any weight. I was eating fast food and generally unhealthy crap, but I was working 13 hour days lifting and carrying machinery and heavy equipment all day, running to and from places, always on my feet.

Then for the next five semesters (2 years) I sat in a chair and wrote. Or I sat on a couch and watched 144 episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Or I sat in a chair and played video games. By the time I earned my Master's in writing, I weighed about 240 pounds.

Then I moved out to L.A. and things were looking good. I got a hot internship and exercised during my free time. I worked my way back down to 220, which isn't thin by a long shot, but I could still ask a girl out confidently, not worrying that I'd crush her in bed.

The internship ended, and I went back to my sit/writ/sit/movies/sit/videogames routine. I quickly shot back up to 240 and then beyond to 250. Finally I got a job. It was just a desk job, but I thought it would help the weight problem, I was even working at a nutritional company. But the desk job just added to the sitting, and I didn't change my eating habits, nor make enough time for exercise.

Over the next 8 months I gained the final 30 pounds to put me up at 280 pounds.

And now I'm turning that around. I've made a clear goal to eliminate sugar and carbs from my diet, as well as keeping below 1500 calories per day. I've also committed time to exercising every day. Right now I can't do much, only a few weight lifting machines and 20 minutes on an elyptical treadmill, but at least I'm forming the daily habit.

I know it will be months before I even feel thinner, but I already feel better knowing that I'm finally turning my life around. I'm 25; I don't want to be a fat man when I'm 27, and I don't think I will be.