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I took it upon myself last summer to drop 30 pounds after seeing the pictures of me at my cousin's wedding. I was pushing 235, just a couple years removed from dropping down to 215, and finally realized how badly I'd let myself get out of shape. Anyway, once I hit 205-ish I got lazy, but six or so weeks ago I decided to keep going - especially since I was right on the borderline of my clothes being too big but the next size down being too snug. Anyway, it's been a slower process than that initial weight loss since I don't have near as much I want to drop (and I've been lazy about it), but I'm still down to 193. [expletive], I think I weighed 193 in 8th grade.

It surprises me every time I diet how easy it is after about the first week. I've largely cut my diet down to lean protein, veggies and protein shakes in the interest of keeping it simple, and my appetite has probably halved. I had a couple slices of pizza for breakfast this morning to indulge myself on my off day and I actually feel a bit gross. Not that long ago I would've chased it with half a box of Cheez-Its.

Congrats, that's great work.

Get down to a lean/mean 185 and maybe that girl will ditch her boyfriend.

185 is in fact my current target.

Also that girl didn't respond to my text yesterday. MY LIFE IS OVER

The Third Man wrote:185 is in fact my current target.

Also that girl didn't respond to my text yesterday. MY LIFE IS OVER

She was probably busy...BANGIN HER BOYFRIEND

The Third Man wrote:185 is in fact my current target.

Also that girl didn't respond to my text yesterday. MY LIFE IS OVER

you are going to be too sexy. you better stop.

I'd wiggle wiggle wiggle but I'm still too torn up about the breakup.

Congrats! 30lbs is no small feat.

It's been my goal to get down to 180 pounds since right around when GRB started. The closest I ever got was 186 in 2008 but spent most of my time 200-210, still much better from my all time high of 243 in college. Three months ago I was back up to 220 and decided to get back in shape before my 30th birthday. RIght now I'm at 200. No way I make it to 180 by mid November but I can probably get to 190. I might not ever make it to 180 but 185-190 is still very good shape for my body frame.

The Third Man wrote: It surprises me every time I diet how easy it is after about the first week. I've largely cut my diet down to lean protein, veggies and protein shakes in the interest of keeping it simple, and my appetite has probably halved. I had a couple slices of pizza for breakfast this morning to indulge myself on my off day and I actually feel a bit gross. Not that long ago I would've chased it with half a box of Cheez-Its.

Throughout all my dieting I never followed any specific diet, just tried to limit my calories as much as I could stand. I would always look forward to cheating and would just do it more and more often until I eventually gave up on the pretense of a diet. This time around I have had really good luck replacing breakfast and lunch with protein shakes. I mix in a healthy snack or two and that gets me to dinner just fine. I can eat just about anything for dinner within reason and still lose weight, especially with regular exercise. I guess it's because of the extra protein but I don't ever feel really hungry. I honestly don't even think about cheating much at all because it just makes me feel crappy. The last 10-15 pounds are really hard to lose but this finally feels like something I can stick with long term.

I was in a similar boat, although probably at least twice your age. 247.5 was the highest I ever saw on the scale but I wouldn't doubt I came close to or hit 250. Heartburn on a daily basis, as well as a host of other borderline, scary at my age, symptoms of bad health. Monitoring every single thing I ate, making sure I got 100% or close of all vit. and min., and restricting my caloric intake to around a few hundred less than I supposedly burn and I've lost weight consistently over the past couple years and am now around 205. I'm at that lazy stage where I'm somewhat content as long as I don't gain weight but know I'll be better off with another 20 pounds off. I'm exercising more than ever, which is a major benefit of carrying around 40 pounds less, but I've been a little sloppy with my diet lately. Went to my 30 year high school class reunion last week and was told by one girl that I look like I'm still 16 (not sure if it was meant to be a compliment or not) and another said I win the award for changing the least so I'm ready to hit it hard again because I know it's working. And the heartburn is a thing of the past, regardless of what I eat.

cardsfansince82 wrote:Throughout all my dieting I never followed any specific diet, just tried to limit my calories as much as I could stand. I would always look forward to cheating and would just do it more and more often until I eventually gave up on the pretense of a diet. This time around I have had really good luck replacing breakfast and lunch with protein shakes. I mix in a healthy snack or two and that gets me to dinner just fine. I can eat just about anything for dinner within reason and still lose weight, especially with regular exercise. I guess it's because of the extra protein but I don't ever feel really hungry. I honestly don't even think about cheating much at all because it just makes me feel crappy. The last 10-15 pounds are really hard to lose but this finally feels like something I can stick with long term.

Minus the exercise, this is me to a tee. My diet would always fall apart because I'd cheat once and then it's like "Eh why not cheat again." I'm doing the same thing, shakes for breakfast/lunch and then ideally a chicken sandwich or something for dinner, but really at that point it doesn't matter. Like you said, you cut out that many calories and you can pretty much go hog-wild at night. I lost two more pounds recently despite the fact that I totally thought I was backsliding into my old habits. It's all relative I guess.

The only "cheating" I'm super-susceptible to is Chinese food, because mmm Chinese...

Richie Allen wrote:I was in a similar boat, although probably at least twice your age. 247.5 was the highest I ever saw on the scale but I wouldn't doubt I came close to or hit 250. Heartburn on a daily basis, as well as a host of other borderline, scary at my age, symptoms of bad health. Monitoring every single thing I ate, making sure I got 100% or close of all vit. and min., and restricting my caloric intake to around a few hundred less than I supposedly burn and I've lost weight consistently over the past couple years and am now around 205. I'm at that lazy stage where I'm somewhat content as long as I don't gain weight but know I'll be better off with another 20 pounds off. I'm exercising more than ever, which is a major benefit of carrying around 40 pounds less, but I've been a little sloppy with my diet lately. Went to my 30 year high school class reunion last week and was told by one girl that I look like I'm still 16 (not sure if it was meant to be a compliment or not) and another said I win the award for changing the least so I'm ready to hit it hard again because I know it's working. And the heartburn is a thing of the past, regardless of what I eat.

Oh yeah, besides just losing weight for the sake of it, all the perks of looking and feeling better are fantastic. I used to have heartburn here and there as well, but I can't remember the last time it cropped up. All my friends have noticed the weight loss, and since I can wear nicer clothes now my one friend's girlfriend even told me she wanted to go shopping with me. Once I took a split second to process that she wasn't calling me gay I was pretty happy about that.

GRB thinspiration crew represent