I've lost over 30 pounds since this project began in early 2013. This morning, when I weighed in, I saw a number that used to mean

  • I'd been eating a little too poorly for a little too long,
  • I needed to strictly avoid carbohydrate for a week or so, and
  • I could expect to snap right back to my healthy weight.

Seeing this number now means

  • I've been eating very carefully for a long time,
  • I'm at my lowest weight in over five years, and
  • I'm finally within striking distance of my goal.

Agency and patience

Cross-section of my deviated septum, from below

My weight has decreased so slowly, and retrogressed so frequently, that I've sometimes doubted my ability to bring about the desired result. But I felt confident enough in my mental model of my metabolism — and certain enough that other diets would serve me less well — to stick it out.

For a variety of reasons, I haven't been strength training for several months. One reason is that my easily enraged sinuses have been angrier more often, disrupting breathing (mainly when I'm trying to sleep) and general functioning (when I'm trying not to). Turns out I have a significantly deviated septum, which, along with a couple other longstanding nasal demons, will be surgically corrected in a week and a half. I expect to be useless for about a week, in exchange for which I hope to be much better at breathing, sleeping, and functioning for the rest of my life.

One new form of exercise lately has been cycling to my local coworking space a few times a week. It's not much, but it pretty immediately feels good to do it.

How I feel

(See also: four months in, six months in.)

Clothing

  • Pants and t-shirts fit much, much better
  • I'm wearing nicer clothes, including some new ones, because they're comfortable now

Appearance

  • My face has progressed another stage, now looking almost exactly like my face
  • My belly no longer feels like a foreign object that keeps getting in the way, but merely a slightly oversized version of my own belly

Energy

  • Bekki and I hiked for a couple hours with dogs through hilly terrain, and I had plenty of energy the entire time
  • I hadn't been put off by the mere idea of going hiking for a couple hours
  • I'm excited to once again be physically comfortable with exercise, and to be able to concentrate more on activity and fitness than on weight per se

Summary

If you want to lose weight like I have, you need to do all the things I've done, in case any of them (alone or in combination) are responsible for the outcome. Go live with your partner, get a dog, quit your job, ride your bike now and again, and everything else in this post. And if none of those changes winds up helping you lose weight, hey, I'm sorry, that's really unfortunate!