…and couldn’t believe it was me.

The mental image I had of myself was more like this…

…when I was 19, 8 years earlier and 176 pounds.

Staring at the photo — I decided “NOW IS THE TIME“…

I just couldn’t stand it ONE moment longer.

Overall in 1998:

• I felt fat,
• I was depressed,
• I was a workaholic,
• I ate a lot of processed foods,
• I felt sick & tired most of the time, and
• I didn’t make time for any kind of exercise.

As I began my journey, I quickly discovered I was classified as “morbidly obese” for my height at 5 foot 11 inches, because I weighed in at 262 pounds.

Those words “morbidly obese“, scared the crap out of me!  Essentially, I was a walking time bomb for diabetes, cancer, a heart attack, or worse!

At the time, I had no idea it’d take me 10 years for me to really “get it” and be who I always dreamed of being.

So, on Labor Day, 1998, I began my journey…

• I assembled my recently purchased Bowflex,
• I read the manual, the diet guide & watched the video, and,
• I quickly realized the many ways I could reduce calories, as it suggested.

I decided I didn’t like the idea of drinking as much water as their diet plan suggested, I really disliked their menu choices, and didn’t relish the idea of changing my diet so drastically.

I made up my own plan, it was simple:

• stop drinking soda (I was consuming around 4 20 Oz Mountain Dews a day!)
• reduce the quantity of what I ate,
• work out for 40 minutes every 2 or 3 days, and
• watch the weight fall off.

Although I successfully stopped drinking any type of soda for over 2 years, substituting it for my new drink of choice, water, I lost 14 pounds and then it stopped…

My problem, as I see it now, was four-part:

• a lack of specific goals,
• a lack of knowledge about foods, specifically the difference between “good for you foods” and “bad for you foods” and the effect they have on your body,
• a lack of understanding of what I really enjoyed eating that was good for you,
• a lack of a long term vision.

This web site, How Do I Lose Weight Now, is dedicated to everyone who knows they need to lose weight, feel & live better in their quest to be their best.

Follow along, it’s going to be an interesting ride!