Life As Nick Starr

At the beginning of the year, I made a vow (New Years Resolution if you will) to lose weight this year. How so cliche that is, I know. As it turns out, I joined a gym, and am going regularly. I also have been dieting and I think the above picture shows the results.

I was looking at myself in the mirror the other day thinking I hadn’t really lost a lot of weight in my face, guess I was wrong. I feel lighter all around, and I can see my tummy shrinking slowly but surely.

As I mentioned in my Life As Nick Starr blog, I would like to get down to 160ish by around June, when I plan on heading home to Florida to visit my family. I estimate I was around 200 at the beginning of the year (give or take) and now I am down to 175…only 15 more pounds to go…

Four months from today (121 days to be exact; or 17 weeks 2 days), I want to publicly publish a goal of reaching 160 pounds. I know that 165 sounds more reasonable, but with my weight floating between 182-186 (depending on the scale) losing 22-26 pounds in 4 months doesn’t sound all too unreasonable. The average weight loss on a 1200 calorie diet is 1 pound per week, so if I am able to keep dieting as I have been (pretty much Atkins meets South Beach) and going to the gym at least 4 times a week (hopefully more), I don’t see why this isn’t obtainable.

I am going to buy a digital scale, and be using that as my own means of measurment. The scales at the gym all seem to be a bit different.

I will be honest, yesterday I broke down and cheated on my diet some. I forgot my Alli at home, and ended up eating 3 of the small sized pieces of candies.  I didn’t do anything besides that to break the diet, but I felt guilty. Today I am back on track, taking Alli, eating very low carb items, and went to the circuit gym during lunch today.

My goal for the gym is to do as much cardio as possible. I am currently doing a half hour max, and want to work up to at least an hour every other day.

I think that these simple 22-26 pounds will be life changing for me, but I think it is a long road ahead. I have been pretty diligent about going to the gym and sticking to my diet since the new year.

I also plan on participating in Dawn and Drew’s 365 Flickr self-portrait project (my pics). Keep your eye on the pics there to chart the progress of my weight loss as well.

I can’t wait till June to see the results, and hopefully I can stay motivated. Until later, buh bye.

I can’t believe it. I was at the gym this afternoon, and weighed myself, 182. This down from my all time high of 220 is amazing to me. My old jeans are now slipping right off, and even the new jeans I bought recently have a bit of give to them.Since the new year (or right after that) I have bee dieting by virtually eliminating all sugar, lowering my carbohydrate intake, and trying to eat foods that are lower in fat, or less amounts of these foods. I also joined the gym the day after MLK Jr. day, and have been going virtually every day. At first it was hard, but it is becoming more of a routine now.

I have also started this past week taking Alli, the some what controversial OTC FDA approved weight loss drug. This isn’t a miracle drug where you sit back and loose weight. It helps you lose weight by blocking 25% of the fat that you eat. There are “treatment effects” if you eat too much fat, but fortunately I have yet to experience any of these.Ultimately my goal is to get around 165 or maybe lower and at this pace it seems like it could be a reality.

Until later (when I’m even thinner) buh bye…