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As Im writing this, one thing I feel I need to do is either start counting the days again or come up with a better way to title these posts. Its messing with me a little bit because it seems disorganized. I just wanted to write.

Ive been having the discussion more and thinking more about what it is that Ive done over the last year and a half to get to where I am. Others close to me have been on similar journeys, so its come up in conversation a bit. One thing Ive always been about is passing along the knowledge I have to others. I’ve had to come to terms with how people use that information. Ultimately, its up to them how they use it. Nevertheless, I want to put the information out there. Its already out there in droves. It exists. What Im doing is no secret, Im not going to charge you a fee or have you buy a book (am I dating myself with this?) to learn the secrets. Its not that complicated. Thats by design. That said, its been learned through quite a bit of trial and error to find what works for me. This is what I can tell you so far.

Are you ready to make a change in your life and put for the effort necessary to make that change, including being honest with yourself about your actions and your decisions regarding your eating and activity? I say this because I think we all get motivated to make a change. We’re tired of how we feel, how we look, how we act. I personally dont feel like willpower is enough. I personally believe that it requires an honest evaluation of our relationship with food and exercise. Why am I eating what Im eating? What does this accomplish? Am I eating because Im stressed? Because I dont know how to fuel myself properly? because I dont feel I have the time to cook? For myself, Ive been back and forth on this journey a long time. Im diabetic, at least since 2005. I’ve explored “diets” and lost weight and gained weight and been in shape and not in shape. And that sounds like every sales pitch you hear on TV or online these days. There are legit people out there who have lost weight and changed their relationship with eating and exercise. They were ready for that change. And willing to put in the work. I dont think it just happens. Even with GLP-1’s, you’re still forced to do some work to get the weight off. In my experience, I was ready to make a change.

What diet works? Well, to some extent, probably all of them. They all generally have a common theme – put yourself in a calorie deficit. The science is pretty clear. In order to lose weight, you have to burn more calories than you take in. The body burns a certain amount by merely existing. You can increase the amount burned by exercise. If you reduce the amount that you eat then over time you will lose weight. Sounds too simple, but thats generally how it works. There’s a whole bunch of detail about how many calories are in a pound and how much you have to reduce in order to lose so much in a week. in the beginning, I think its important not to necessary focus on that. I dont like focusing on that because I think its important to set yourself up for success as soon as possible. The simpler the diet the better. Whole foods. Lean meats, fruits and veggies, with a focus on protein and fiber. There’s a whole lot of science about low fat and low carb. By putting yourself in a caloric deficit, you’re naturally going to reduce both fats and carbs. You can certainly tweak the macros if needbe, but I dont think it needs to be that complicated. Because of the internet, we live in what I believe to be the best time in history to get better control over our intake of food, because now that we know we should eat whole foods, there are literally so many combinations of how we do this. So we have this list now – but that sounds boring. And on the surface, it kinda does. But there are all sorts of seasonings and combinations of preparation that can make the food seem less boring and even taste amazing. I cant encourage this enough – you CAN make the food taste good and stay in the deficit.

Earlier I said that probably all diets probably work, assuming their plan is to put you in a caloric deficit. The key is consistency. This is where things get a little tricky and where we have to start looking at our relationship with food. Food is used to celebrate so much, and is seen as a reward. Food is everywhere. I think its also ok to have that celebration from time to time. That said, I’ve been down the path of being militant where there would be no treats, no deviation from the plan. This can be an issue mentally, because then there’s no give whatsoever. I think following an 80/20 or a 90/10 approach is much better, for me. While its ok to allow yourself an occasional treat. I think its also important to realize that if you want to reach your goals, if you want to make a change and you’re committed to that change, treating yourself more often probably isnt going to get you there. Its ok if you do that, but this goes back to being honest about where you’re at. Right now, Im probably more of a 95/5. This is one time where I would do the math, just so it gives you something tangible to see. If a person eats 3 meals a day, that means they eat 21 meals a week (3×7=21). In a 80/20 scenario, this means that 80% of their meals comes out to about 17 meals on plan and 4 off plan. For me, 4 seems like a lot, especially if Im actively trying to lose some of this weight. 90/10 puts you at 19 meals on plan and 2 off. 90% of the time, you’re eating on point and 2 meals a week are treats. To start out, its probably important NOT to have the treat at all, because we’re trying to build good habits. If you’re going to do it, Id limit it to one meal a week and Id be careful about keeping that meal to where the treat is something simple. Like, Im having more cheese than normal – instead of having a whole pizza. If you do the off the rails thing, thats fine, but the key is to come right back to the plan as if the off the rails treat meal didnt happen. I find for myself and others close to me, they prefer to not even have the treat or not be crazy about it because its too far off course.

A consistent calorie deficit over time. How much time? Well, I dont have a good answer for you. It took an undetermined amount of time for us to get to the point where we were ready to make a change. So its likely going to take at least that much time to undo it. To make the answer even more complicated, its often not linear because we have to deal with life. Stress happens and plans dont always execute perfectly. Things are going to happen that take us off point. We’re goign to miss meals or not have our prepared food with us and we’re going to have to punt sometimes or deviate for a period of time. I recently had to move and made some not good choices regarding food intake. There are some consequences (higher blood sugars, stalled weight loss or even weight gain) due to those choices. It happens. The sooner we get back on plan, to being consistent in a calorie deficit, the better. I told myself when I started on this particular journey last year – strap in. We’re gonna be here awhile.

How do I even know Im in a deficit? The only surefire way to tell is to do two things – honestly log your food intake. That means every drop and bite you take, you log. If you put creamer in your coffee, you log how much and which brand. There are so many tools available that this can be done relatively easily. It requires some commitment and you absolutely have to be honest about everything. It also requires weighing and measuring your food. However, you will know within 99% certainty how many calories you’re taking in. Additionally, to find out how many calories you’re burning through the day, some sort of fitness monitor worn 24/7 can give you a better idea on how many calories you’re burning through the day – both from simply existing and from activity. You can estimate this, but i find that the fitness bands give you a better idea. At the end of each day, if your calories burned is greater than your calories eaten, then you’ve been in a deficit. There’s some argument about how much of a deficit you need to be in, but for me, I prefer to keep things simpler and just stay in a deficit, no matter how much. Im more interested in what happens over time, not necessarily how much of a deficit I created today.

Consistency is hard. I find that to keep myself accountable, food logging and the fitness band are pretty important. They’re not completely necessary unless you’re not seeing the results you think you should be. This is when I would generally go – well, how do you really know? I’ll be completely honest about logging – its a giant pain in the ass and it takes some time, especially if you’re being honest about it. Every single time you eat, every single recipe you make, has to be entered into the log. The nice thing about it being 2026 is that there are apps that make this process easier and more accurate. Even though its a pain, I’ve found it a vital tool not only in keeping me accountable, but recognizing how many calories I eat in a day and how much I generally need per meal. As I went along, I started gearing my meal plans based on this information and thus my diet evolved. Because I kept track of this information, I was able to keep myself consistent. Additionally, I would write down what Im eating for the week, at least. it gave me a pretty good idea of what I needed to get at the grocery store, so Im not buying things Im not eating – no junk. Im also getting an idea of the time needed to prep whatever Im eating. If I have a busy week ahead, Im also cooking this food in advance, so I dont have to spend a half hour or more cooking every day – but the few minutes to reheat it and go.

I keep saying that we live in a time with the greatest opportunity to meet our goals, to lose weight and eat and be healthier. The internet has given us a place to find healthier recipes, and to download the tools to keep us accountable. In addition, we have better cooking tools with which to prepare our food. Air fryers, pressure cookers, and slow cookers are all reasonably priced options that cut cooking time down to something that can be managable, without having to babysit it. And for those with zero time available, there are meals already available through services like Trifecta and HelloFresh (to name a couple, randomly because these are the only ones I could think of off the top of my head), where the food is already made. Personally, I see premade food as a last resort only because I like to control whats in my food and tailor it to meet my specific goals. However, this is something that is available that wasnt previously. This is still way better than a pizza and if it helps a person meet their caloric deficit,Im not against that.

Exercise, and building muscle, is just as important. Its also important to realize that you cant lose weight with exercise alone. They say abs are made in the kitchen. One thing i learned wearing a fitness band is that unless I was really active through the day, Im not burning thousands of calories. If you are that active, tahts great. But you still have to fuel that activity appropriately. Often times people who are that active will eat whatevers close because its whats available. Building muscle allows the body to burn more calories by just existing. While Im not suggesting everyone go lift weights today, I would say some sort of consistent exercise will help. Whatever it is, exercise should be fun otherwise, we’re not likely to do it. That doesnt mean its not going to be hard, especially at first. But with consistency, we get stronger and it becomes easier.

This stuff comes up in my head a lot, and a lot of times its just on repeat. What am I doing? how am I doing it? Am I doing it consistently? What choices am I making? What consequences am I facing from those choices? how can I do better?

Is it easy? No. There are times where it can be really hard. There are days when Im tired, when Im stressed, when I just dont feel like dealing with it. But, I have a goal, and I committed to that goal. This is where discipline comes in. and its something that we learn along the way. When its 5AM and I committed to myself to go to the gym….and it takes everything I have to just sit up in the morning when Im not awake and I just want to go back to sleep….i sit there for a minute, then I get up. Thats the start. Starting is the hardest part. I kind of equate it to launching a rocket to space, in that it takes a lot of energy to get that thing off of the pad, but once its moving, it stays moving. Once we start moving, good things start to happen. We start to build good habits and that success breeds more success. We get up, we wake up, we get some energy and before you know it, we’re 3 sets in on whatever weights we’re lifting that day and feeling good about the weight while we’re down another 3 lbs after getting on the scale this morning. We’re getting it done, because we’re staying on plan and executing.

Let’s get it done!

It’s been a hot minute. The short version of where things are is that we’re kind of hitting the reset button. Here’s whats happening.

Back in January, I was informed of an ownership transfer of the house I was living in. Prior to that, I saw some behavior occurring across the street from me that gave me fairly significant pause for the future. When ownership of my house transferred, it transferred to the same owner of the properties across from me that were giving me said pause. With that and considering I had an informal agreement with my landlord, I felt I needed to get ahead of a bad situation before it occurred. What ended up happening is not what I had planned on spending any time or money this year at all – I bought a house and I moved. The bomb about the ownership change happened not long after my last post. One complication is that I own several project cars and at the time, only one of the vehicles I owned actually ran. The rest were in some state of disrepair and with the winter in full swing, not much was going to get done about that right away. Because of that, finding another place to rent with enough space to store my project cars while I work on them was nearly impossible in the areas I was looking. I decided that I had the resources available to make a purchase and found something that would meet the needs of my current living situation, along with my project cars, without having to thin the herd. Between the time I found a place and the time I took possession, I started the process of going through my crap and getting rid of stuff, along with starting to pack. Along with that, I attempted to make plans so I could hit the ground running once I took possession.

I finally took possession in early February and was able to start moving my stuff, and start on some much needed repairs/improvements to the new house. Long story short, the move and repairs/improvements, along with moving all of the cars (including my buddy’s two cars that we’re also working on – 10 cars in total), was completed last weekend.

I lasted about a month with food prep, trying to fit it in with everything else going on. I quit going to the gym because I was pretty active with moving and packing and throwing shit away. I was burning calories like crazy. However, my diet went off the rails about a month ago. The lesson there is that food prep should always be a priority and if you’re on the go, prep food that you know you can eat while you’re driving. Wraps are a great tool for this, because you can literally stuff anything in a low carb tortilla shell and be off to the races.

Even though my diet fell off a bit, the good news is that I didnt really gain any weight. But I didnt lose anything either. All of that said, as things were starting to wind down, Ive been working to get back on routine. This week’s kind of the first full week Ive done any kind of prep and am going through some of the food I had in the house to get rid of stuff before resetting back to some older routines that I used last year that worked out really well.

The move also took a lot out of me and Im absolutely exhausted. So Ive been giving myself a little bit of grace and letting myself not get stressed out about diving right back into everything. The good thing is taht I have the entire weekend with no obligations other than putting shit away after the move. Im going to take the opportunity to get ahead of some meal prep, hopefully get caught up on some sleep, and get some plans in place to be more consistent in both my eating and my exercise.

My goals are pretty simple for the moment. Get back to routine. 3-4x a week at the gym, walk on days Im not at the gym, eating clean again. I have no intention of food logging for the moment – but once Im ready to start actively focusing on the weight loss again, I will absolutely do that to keep the calories in check. Im also not getting on the scale as much right now as Im at a weight that Im relatively ok with for the time being while I reset some things.

I’ve been contemplating starting to do pushups on the regular again, just to improve on those. My shoulder has improved a bit in spite of the move, so I want to take advantage of that. My current plan for the week is to keep up on the 30min walks at least daily. and then add in 3 sets of pushups and 3 sets of squats at least daily. I noticed I have some tightness in my left hip that I need to work out. I think both of these will start to get me toward lifting a barbell again – which I think may happen probably by the fall.

The takeaway here is that if you fall off the rails – get back up and reset and start again. Take the time to figure out where you fell off and why. Understand what happened and figure out what to learn from it. Talk to your people if needbe. I love figuring this shit out because then it helps me be better for the future, for the NOW. For me, I feel like I know what I need to do, what works for me.

Time to chase some consistency.

We’re in the thick of it now. First full week of January and we’re off and rolling. I’ve been working on going to the gym in the mornings. Typically, I dont set an alarm in the morning because Im usually awake way before I need to be working. Since I committed to going to the gym in the morning and wanting to get that done before work starts, I set my alarm yesterday for 5:30A. Most of the time Im already awake, so its not a big deal. However, I started going to the gym in the morning after we started the year. I went Friday morning and Sunday morning – both days I was not working. I woke up at 5:28. Took a half hour to wake up, although I feel like I could have used more. The workout went as expected, for a leg day that I havent had in several months. Needless to say, Im sore today.

I dont know why I didnt do this sooner, but sheet pan meals are something to not be ignored. I had a vegetable mix I picked up at Costco – brussel sprouts, broccoli, sweet potato, onions, and some other things. I took that, and I mixed in some other mixed veggies I had on hand – corn, peas, green beans, carrots. I dumped that out on two sheet pans. then I took some garlic parmesan seasoning from the store and put that on a giant pack of chicken thighs. I split the chicken thighs amongst the two pans and cooked that in the oven for about an hour or so. Sweet christ, that is some good eating. I priced out individual packs of veggies to mix together and for less than $10 at Walmart you can get individual bags of frozen veggies, that you could then mix together, season and oil for roasting on a sheet pan in the oven. Along with some chicken thighs and some seasoning, you can easily get at least 5 meals or more from this for less than $30. If you want something lower in calories, you could use a leaner cut of meat, like chicken breasts or tenders, or even pork.

I was looking over some stuff from an old website yesterday and Im getting the itch to write up recipes again. I spent some time formalizing some of the things i make. I hate that recipe sites online spend 20 years telling a fucking story before you get to the recipe. Like here’s the history of cheese. No one cares. So when I did it, I put the recipe first. Then whatever I wanted to say about the story after. This was fun for me, and i might start doing that again.

I came across an article earlier about which methodology for exercise would help you lose weight better – lifting weights or walking 10k steps a day. Exercise is only part of the equation. You cant out train a bad diet. Building lean muscle does promote burning more calories, and walking is one of the most healthy things you can do. Being active is so important. I always feel like they discount how important the intake of food is. It really all starts with food and if you’re not watching your intake, no exercise is going to fix that. I think you have to do both and do them consistently over the long term.

Its so easy to overthink how to get to our goals, because there is so much information out there. I found myself slightly overwhelmed at the amount of good ideas for food to make the other day. Im already starting to think of what I want to make next week, and I have no idea what to choose. I feel like the article I read earlier about which exercise plan is best is the same type of thing. There’s so much information. I think keeping things simple is best. Choose whatever it is you know you can actually execute on. Whatever exercise you will actually do – and enjoy doing – is the one you should choose. Make food you will actually eat. There are so many good recipes and so many ways to accomplish making this food at home – even if you dont know how to cook. The sheet pan thing – not complicated at all. Buy frozen veggies, throw them in a bowl, mix them, throw salt and pepper on them, a little avocado oil, spread on a pan. Same with the chicken thighs. They make seasoning packets of all kinds. Put chicken thighs in a bag or a bowl. dump seasoning, mix together. Throw chicken on top of veggies. Throw pans in the oven for an hour or so. BAM, dinner. And then repeat those things every day, or most days. Be consistent.

We’ve got this!

Happy New Year. I hate the term ‘New Year, New Me’ because it somehow seems to denote that you have to wait to the beginning of the year to make changes. As mentioned previously, I quit logging food and slipped some on my diet as I got busier in the fall. The good thing is that I didnt slide too far off the rails. However, since we’re into a new year, we’re going to set the counter back to 1 and focus on this year’s goals and challenges.

Let’s recap 2025 real quick. This time last year, I was 325. As of this morning, I was 270. Down 55 lbs. At my lowest, I was 263 and on one scale in September, I was 259 (although I dont trust it).

In 2026, I want to accomplish a couple of things. I need to drop more of this weight and I really dont want to do it using the GLP-1’s. I dont have any issue with anyone who is using them and I think they have their place. But just like when I quit smoking, if I can do it without the assistance of drugs, Id rather do that. To be fair, I feel like losing the weight in this way is better longer term because it helps develop better habits. The number I have in mind is 40 lbs. The other goal I have this year is that I’d like to start focusing on training a bit more and get some of my strength back.

The plan to get there is not all that dissimilar from what I did last year. I feel really good about the work I put in last year and so I want to continue that going forward. Here’s what the current plan looks like.

Caloric Deficit – calories burned greater than the calories taken in. This is being tracked by logging all food intake in Cronometer, in conjunction with the Whoop fitness band for calories burned. I dont really have a set number in mind. Cronometer is set to max out at 2200 calories, but I expect most days will be in the 1700-2000 calorie range. On more active days, that may increase slightly.

Diet – Lean meats, primarily focusing on chicken and pork (especially considering the price of beef right now), and copious amounts of lower carb veggies. One thing Im also noticing that Im trying to work on is that my blood sugar spikes in the evening and part of that is due to my dinner choices and being less active in the evenings. To that end, I’ll be limiting the amount of carbs eaten for dinner and in the evenings. My metabolism seems to support eating the most carbs somewhere between 10A and 4P. I learned this through a lot of food logging and blood sugar tracking (Im diabetic, for those who dont know, and wear a CGM).

Exercise – My blood sugar seems to respond really well to walking twice a day. Since the weather’s gotten colder, the treadmill’s about to get a lot more use. This is something I already started doing before the end of 2025. Additionally, starting tomorrow, Im going to get back to the gym three days a week and start working on consistency again. Im going to play with my gym schedule a bit to see what works best. I quit going in the mornings years ago because I just felt so lethargic in the mornings. With some adjustments to my sleep routine, I seem to be a little more energetic in the morning, so I may try to go in the mornings to see how that plays out. Either way, we’re getting it done.

Right now, the only focus is on routine. I did some food prep yesterday (and set off my smoke alarm in the process because I got distracted….be careful!) so I have some food on deck. I’ve really been digging these breakfast wraps Ive been making lately. They’re simple enough but low carb tortillas are really good for these. One tortilla, a couple of eggs, some egg whites, a slice of cheese and a slice of bacon with some chipotle mayo. Absolutely yum. I’ve also got some chicken drumsticks (drumsticks are insanely cheap. Get rid of the skin if you’re really concerned about the calories) that Im going to eat on for the next week or so. Additionally Ive also got some veggies on standby for a snack, and a plan for some sort of pizza-related dish for the weekend – either a chicken based crust or a quesadilla. I havent decided which. Either way, there’s a plan.

It doesnt have to be complicated to be effective and Im all for keeping things simple. Too many things going on to make it more complicated than it needs to be. That means simpler food, meal prepping so I dont have to think during the week, and then just executing. There is NO reason this cant get done if you execute on the plan. Right now, I have a plan for the week. This time next week, I’ll start working on the plan for the following week. I’ll come up with a meal plan, grocery shop and cook accordingly (by the way, if you make a meal plan, itll probably save you from buying a bunch of unnecessary crap at the grocery store – which will also save you some money!), then decide what im going to do at the gym. I may adjust the schedule for going to the gym based on what Ive got coming up. I use the longer term plan listed above to create simpler plans week to week that I know I can execute on. Just have to eat the elephant.

I may start posting recipes of some of the food Im finding or making, depending on what time allows. If you’re looking for input on that, the best advice I can give you is to go out right now and get an air fryer and an instant pot (or get the instant pot with the air fryer lid – best of both worlds). That will open up so many options for food prep.

Full disclosure – when I started writing this, I was hungry. Shortly before writing, I ate what looked like the wimpiest carrot in existence. Writing this distracted me enough to not worry about being hungry. If you find you’re legit hungry and need to eat, then eat something. Being mindful of why we’re eating is important and usually something i have to do when Im not as busy.

Its been an interesting 2025. Its also been a moment since Ive posted anything, so I wanted to kind of just update where things are.

Firstly, a little accountability. Things have completely stalled out. Ive been sitting somewhere between 265 and 275 for the last month or so. I’ve stopped food logging entirely. I got busy in early October working on a car project that monopolized most of my free time. The simple truth here is that I stopped making my health the top priority. I didnt go completely off the rails – I was still eating decently-ish and was still active. But I was eating a lot more calorie dense foods like cheese and a lot less veggies. Not accounting for my calorie intake made a huge difference because I wasnt as aware of it. For me, this is the one way for me to hold myself accountable for the deficit. The strictness of my routine is where I had the most success.

I’ve been working to tighten up some of the holes in my diet. I havent been accounting for my food, but I have been cooking better and eating more consistently with the way I had been. I also decided that junk that I was allowing in the house, even if sugar free, is probably not the best idea because I still get out of control with it from time to time.

My current plan for 2026 looks something like this.

• Food logging – This is making a return because it just works so well for me.
• Calorie deficit – Again, this is something I know works and keeping the calories out greater than the calories in means more weight loss.
• AM Gym Sessions – I want to attempt to get back to a more consistent gym schedule. By the end of the day these days I just feel so low energy and often times am involved in other things that require my time. Im already awake by 5AM most days, so I think I can make it into the gym. Im already on the treadmill most mornings. I want to start thinking about putting on a bit more muscle, although I dont know that I need to get back to lifting as heavy as I used to.
• 2x walking – In addition to the gym, I want to make sure Im walking at least twice daily. This seems to be really good for keeping my blood sugar in check without quite so much insulin. Less insulin also keeps the weight in check.
• Consistency! – This is everything and is the name of the game. I want to build routine that keeps all of the above as just part of my daily way of living. These are all lifestyle changes and consistency in either direction leads to consistent results – either direction.
• No evening carbs – Based on my blood sugar data, it seems like I would do better to not have anything overly carby – even if a lot of fiber – in the evenings. Im seeing blood sugar spikes after dinner (which is normal anyway)that carry through the nighttime hours and make my blood sugar higher in the AM. To that end, I think keeping the carbs to a minimum in the evenings is probably best. Im usually in bed by 9P most nights anyway, so this shouldnt be a huge ask. That may change once the spring weather breaks and we have more daylight. I tend to be more active in the evenings during the summer months. I’ll re-evaluate those needs accordingly. However, I think for now, carbs will probably happen earlier in the day. This wont be a huge shift. I’ll just eat leftover casserole stuff that I make for lunch instead of for dinner. Pretty easy change.
• Cheats – This is where i need to be super aware. For the foreseeable future, I think Im probably best with the approach i took earlier this year – keep the cheats somewhat controlled. If Im going to do a pizza, I need to make it at home and not go too crazy. Things were getting a touch out of control with the pizza. This same thing goes for the treats like the sugar free PB cups and whatnot. Its nice to have around for a blood sugar emergency, but I do tend to lean on those when Im stressed or am hungry in the middle of the day and sometimes my self control isnt the best. I do better when that stuff isnt around. I think a weekly allowance of one meal as a treat – like a homemade lower carb pizza is more than ok. This does seem to satisfy my pizza cravings and isnt the worst thing in the world.

None of these are overly difficult changes, as they are things Ive done before and am used to doing. Just have to jump back on the train. I didnt hit my goal of 250 this year, but priorities shifted in the fall and that happens at times. Im still down 50 lbs from the first of the year and Im proud of that. I know now that I have the ability to get it done and know what it takes to get there. I also know some of the triggers that affect my weight and where I tend to fall short. I’ll definitely be keeping those things in mind.

Im not sure how Im posting yet next year. I liked the idea of posting infrequently as an evaluation of how its going. I think there was a point this year where I got too focused on “here’s what Im doing – give it a try” kind of thing. I was excited because it was working out so well. Bear in mind these are the things that are working for me.

There are so many ways you can go to lose weight and improve your health. It really is about finding what works best for you. Dont be afraid to try things. Dont be afraid to fail. Thats how we learn what works and what doesnt. Dont be afraid to cook – thats how you control your food intake. Honestly just opting to cook your own food vs eating out will save you a ton because now you can control the ingredients.

We live in the greatest time right now because we have access to so much technology that can help us meet our goals, if we’re interested in executing. Get an instant pot, get an air fryer – you can get either for less than $100/each. The internet is full of recipes for both and most of the time, you can alter other recipes that fit your needs. If you’re just starting out, just focus on finding the recipes first. We can do this. And you dont have to wait until the next year to do it. Let’s get it. Here’s to 2026. Let’s get some!

Things have kind of stalled out since my last writing in mid August. The good news is that I havent gained anything. If this is what maintenance looks like, I can handle that pretty easily. Right away, I can identify easily why Ive stalled out. My eating has become a little more relaxed, but thats because Im not logging anything but my weight. I also havent been nearly as active this month. This same thing happened back in June, when I relaxed a bit from my plan and it shows.

Late last month I had a tooth pulled (take care of your teeth). That procedure forced a slight change in my plan because I couldnt eat solid food for a couple of weeks. By the time my gums healed, I didnt really go directly back to my planned routine. Another issue that is common is that after awhile, food gets repetitive. I felt like I needed a slight change. The issue is that I didnt really go into it as strictly as I should have, and decided to relax a little bit.

Having said all of that, I have read before that bodybuilders, when cutting weight, will go into maintenance mode for a couple of weeks whenever they hit a stall in their weight loss. This allows the body to relax and heal a bit. After that, they go back to cutting and start to lose again. I didnt relax things intentionally. The tooth pulling kind of facilitated that for me. I just dialed things back in.

As I mentioned, I havent gained anything really. Weight fluctuates 5 lbs or so, so Ive been hovering in the 260s for the last six weeks or so. Mentally, its been kind of nice not having to be a slave to the log. But, its a damn good routine to be in and its one we’re going back to starting today.

I’ve been getting the itch to make more comfort related food lately. Last night I made a batch of chili, which clocked in at around 600 cal for a 600g serving – which is a lot of food. If you’re one that adds shit like cheese and sour cream, just be careful to use lighter calorie stuff. Ive also got the goods to smoke some meatloaf. Once I add that to Cronometer, I’ll have a better idea of how to divvy it out. But Ill prob slice it up and eat it along side some chicken brats I picked up at Costco.

The takeaway here is that a break can be a good thing, as long as you’re mindful about what you’re doing. However, if you havent gotten to your goal yet, then you have to dial it back in and refocus on whats working. For me, being mindful is #1. #2 is getting back to a regular routine of maintaining a caloric deficit, which happens best when I plan ahead, prep my meals, and log my food intake honestly. Additionally, getting back to a regular exercise routine is also important to boost that metabolism and burn those calories.

I was thinking earlier this year about how I wanted to get back to lifting heavy once the weather cooled off. Im now back and forth about that. I think the driving force there is that I know my shoulder is still not 100%. I really need to stop being a chump about it and start regularly exercising my shoulder. That’s coming.

I feel like Im also starting to think more about where my weight loss goals are going. I’ve always said that Id start to consider more once I hit 250 what I would do next or where my ultimate goal would be. I think thats going to depend on how I decide to train through the winter months. If I decide to lift more, I may stay around the 250 mark and not focus so much on calorie deficit. I do feel like my strength has taken a hit since losing all of this weight. So Id like to get some of that back. At the same time, getting a little further down, sitting around 230 or so, wouldnt be all bad.

Immediate focus for today – get back on track with the diet. Smokin’ a meatloaf. Taking a fuckin’ walk. More later. Stay consistent.

Today, Im down 60 lbs from when I started this year out at 325. This morning, I got on the scale and was 265. Its interesting how the scale moves and when weight just decides to fall off. Although I have a feeling I coaxed the hell out of it when I had a tooth pulled on Tuesday. I only took in about 1000 calories that day, due to stress and then not being able to eat solid food after. Since then Ive gotten a little creative about how I eat. Lots of eggs and lower carb soups (look up Proper Good – some of their stuff is tasty and relatively low in carbs).

Had a discussion with a diabetic friend who wasnt taking care of themselves and ended up basically back on the higher end of that deal. Its a hard thing to change your way of thinking because you know you have to. I can say with confidence that its taken all of these years (Ive been diabetic for 20 years) to be as confident as I am about my diet. I still dont know everything there is to know and Im always open to learn more. However, I keep an eye on my blood sugar numbers, I log my food, I make sure Im a caloric deficit more often than not and I try to make sure Im sticking to the plan. I prep all of my food and rarely eat out anymore. I usually have a splurge meal or two a week, where I dont have to think as much about the goal – just to give myself a little bit of a mental break. But I go right back to it once Im done.

When I was still a type 2 diabetic, one lesson I learned is to eat to the meter. I checked my blood sugar before every meal. If I wanted ot know how food was going to affect me, then I would check an hour after and then two hours after. My understanding is that after 2 hours, you should be back to a relatively normal blood sugar. It’s a lot of finger sticks. The finger sticks are not fun. Testing that much is not fun. If you take it seriously, then you can learn from it and understand what food does and doesnt do. However, you have to be kind of scientific about it. You basically cut the carbs. The cleaner the diet the better. If you’re following a dietary plan, keto is probably the best place to start. Low carb is a more general way of looking at it. Whole30 is great, although they allow potatoes in the plan now. Potatoes are probably a no go. Thats not to say that you cant have these things. The idea is to reset yourself, develop some good habits, and get the blood sugars down. You can play around a little if you eat to the meter, where you make decisions based on blood sugar readings. But in order to play that game, you need to know how food affects you. Its a lot of trial and error, since we’re all different, we respond differently to things – within some reason.

The mental aspect of it is usually the worst to deal with, because you have to change your way of thinking and make the change the priority. Whatever your change is, in order to be successful, it has to be the priority, I believe. Its hard at first. It can be a pain in the ass sometimes. But the results speak for themselves. This isnt something you just do for awhile then go back to the way it was, especially if you have a disease that necessitates change, like diabetes. Diet and exercise really are paramount.

Are the changes you need to make important? Important enough that you’re willing to do put forth the effort necessary to make it happen? Willing to learn and be open to new ideas? Willing to plan and then execute the plan as written? Willing to be honest and accountable when you fall off plan? Willing to get right back on following the plan when you do fall off plan (because it does and likely will happen – no one is perfect. And NO ONE IS DEMANDING YOU BE PERFECT).

Being honest and accountable is so hard. It means you have to admit you made a mistake. Own the mistake. and then figure out what to do about it. You can feel bad about it if you want to, or worry about whether someone’s going to judge you for said mistake. Anyone really supporting you on the journey wont judge you or make you feel bad. We’re all human. We make mistakes all the time. Its easier to just own that you ate a pizza when you werent supposed to because you’ve been eating broccoli and boiled chicken for 39278689372648976 days and needed a minute. Ok, fine. You ate the pizza. You cant uneat the pizza. That ship has sailed. But its time to get back on the horse. Do you need to make an adjustment to the plan that maybe allows for an occasional cheat? Maybe a half cheat, where you eat something you wouldnt normally eat – like cheese. What about a dish that is pizza like? Something where you’re getting the flavor youre craving, without all the guilt? Make the necessary adjustments, if needed and get right back to it. Its harder than it sounds, because there’s a whole lot of holding yourself accountable. You can even have someone you trust do this with/for you. But know its going to create tension from time to time, so be prepared to deal with that issue as well. These types of journeys are always for the long haul.

Im not an expert. Ive failed a bunch of times. Ive lost weight, gained it back and then some, a couple of times. Ive done Whole 30’s, keto, paleo, low carb of various varieties. Ive done low calorie and caloric deficits. Been on insulin, pills, done the finger pricks, have the sensors. There are things I dont know and things i learn every day. I know Im not the same as I was even last week. Things change over time. We can use the information we have, and try to make the best decisions we can. Along the way, if we make a mistake, be honest and accountable, own it, and make the necessary adjustments so it doesnt happen again. if you need help, ask for it. But always be willing to do the work.

That said, sleep is important for the body to heal, and so Im off to do just that.

The mental part of this ‘journey’ is a real thing and probably one of the more important aspects of the success. When I started this back in January, I wasnt in the best place mentally. I had just come off of what I would consider were not the best couple of years for me. I was leaning pretty hard into trying not to feel any of that and trying to find that numbness in the bottom of a liquor bottle. The solutions are never there (queue up the jokes about alcohol indeed being a solution – because science).

In so many cases, and we can see this when we turn the TV on to see these incredibly obese people make changes in their lives or attempt to make changes and get stuck in their way because they are addicted to food or they use food as a coping mechanism for handling the stress in their lives. Im guilty of that. I admittedly love food. I love how food brings people together, even when the relationship they share is complete shit. I love that food can bring comfort when you’re having a shit day.

The problem is that too many of those events strung together generally leads us to a bad place and starts to develop bad habits and routines that lead us into places we dont want or need to be. We gain weight. We start to feel shitty. We start to feel more stressed. Our sleep gets worse. What we’re using to cope isnt necessary helping us at that point.

Change is hard and many of us dont like it because it requires a lot of effort to get to where we need to be. Its worthwhile effort when we know the destination is going to be infinitely better than where we are now. Mistakes are going to happen. Its unrealistic to think that the process is linear. Its not. That line is squiggly as fuck and it overlaps like crazy. Its like a telephone cable (for those of you who still remember when the receiver was connected to a giant cord) that gets all wound up in a tangled mess. Corded earbuds do the same thing. Just a giant tangled mess. Sometimes this can go that way too.

This is why I try to keep things simple. Plan ahead, but not too far ahead. Have a process in place that is simple to follow. Make food ahead and commit to eating said foods. Write down everything you’re ingesting and be honest about it. Every drop of sugar, and every bite of food. You dont really know if you’re not putting pen to paper (so to speak).

Motivation is what gets us started, but discipline is what keeps us going. This shit is hard. So keeping things as simple as possible helps to develop good discipline. Planning helps. Not every plan works. But thats why you write stuff down, so you can see the execution of the plan. This is why I weigh myself every day. Between food logging and the scale, I get to see whats working and what doesnt. I have the advantage of having a constant glucose monitor, which helps in the control of my blood sugar. For my own journey, thats incredibly helpful to me as tool for evaluation.

It dawned on me while I was typing this that “fitness” might have been the wrong word for what Im calling this. Probably more of a weight loss journey than anything. At the same time, dropping the weight is definitely part of becoming more fit. Semantics, I guess. Welcome to my brain!

So yesterday was a milestone. I clocked in at 275 lbs yesterday morning, which officially puts me 50 lbs down since the beginning of the year. Progress.

Last month, there was hardly any movement. Two things I attributed that to were not being as active and primarily the amount of sausage that I was eating. It wasnt an astronomical amount, but sausage is pretty high in calories because of the fat that is in it. Per link, brats clock in around 200-300 calories. Most hot dogs are the same way. They make a white meat turkey hot dog (Ball Park) that is 45 calories per link, but its 5g of carbs due to the fillers.

I was going through some videos last night from My 600 lb Life that randomly showed up in my feed (cause they’re listening) and Dr. Now says pretty consistently that you have to limit what you eat, limiting the calories. Lately Ive been thinking about how complicated things tend to sound based on all the noise in our lives and realistically, to do the things we need to do – they’re not that complicated. They’re made to sound that way so that putting in real effort to change is avoided. Its hard to change your thinking and be accountable for your own shit. But its also very freeing and gets easier the more you do it. It reminds me of the saying “Whether you think you can or you cant, you’re right.” When you’re ready to change your thinking and your lifestyle, thats when real change happens. 90% mental. Same thing when I quit smoking. When I was mentally ready – gone.

One thing they dont mention or encourage much of is food logging and I CANNOT stress enough how useful of a tool this is. You have to be honest about it and accountable. Its software, its not going to judge you (if you set it to alert you when you go over calories then it might feel that way – turn that shit off or adjust it so it doesnt alert you, if that’s a problem for you). Being able to see what you’re actually doing is huge. It took me a long time not to get in my head about the analysis of data and just collect it. I’ll admit that food logging is a giant pain in the ass, especially if you eat out. Most food apps (including Cronometer) have photo based logging now thats relatively accurate. It will at least get you started in the right direction. Most others have barcode scanning tools so you can scan the ingredients and create recipes and such so you can get accurate data.

I dont know why I find myself veering toward this need to communicate what it is Im doing. Every time I start to write it down somewhere, I go off on these tangents. There’s a whole lot of – well what about this and what about that and what did I did when I drove off a cliff without a parachute and didnt have Louise in the passenger seat (I’m Thelma in this particular exaggeration – and also showing my age). I think Im just going to document it this way, in the simplest way possible.

• Determine that a change in lifestyle has to occur and that Im mentally ready to do the work – including understanding what that work means.
• Eat at a Caloric Deficit (Eating Less Calories than the Body Burns)
• Wear Fitness Strap that includes burned calories.
  • I wear a Whoop strap, which is expensive but the output on sleep, steps, the new BP insights, and burned calories is useful to me. Burned Calories doesnt have to be accurate to the calorie. The point is to know that you’re burning more than you’re eating. This is feedback so you can tell if you’re staying on plan or not.
• Eat lean meats and a lot of veggies.
  • You can add a lot of volume in veggies to get FULL.
  • Spices are your friend. Bland food is gross.
• Log food and beverage intake honestly to determine calories eaten.
  • Food apps like Cronometer are incredibly helpful. The internet is your friend. If you can find the nutrition information, most apps should allow you to create custom foods.
  • Weighing your food helps.
• Regular exercise of some kind for at least 30 minutes a day, at least 5 days a week.
• Staying consistent in the above habits at least 90% of the time
• Giving myself at least one meal every week or two that is a “cheat”.
  • I still compromise on ingredients like switching regular pepperoni for turkey pepperoni and whatnot, but eating out and having a few extra calories once in awhile isnt goign to rock the boat. Keeping it controlled to that ONE meal is important. Enjoy it, savor it, then get right back on the horse.
• Weighing In Daily (optional)
  • This is more for data collection and trends. The goal here isnt to get in my head about the number. However, I do look at these numbers over a couple of week timeframe to make sure Im not gaining or stalled out in loving anything (especially during the course of a month). If I stall out, that usually means that I need to make a dietary adjustment (see above about eating too much sausage).
  • If the scale is a mental issue, stay off of it daily. Weigh in weekly or monthly. Dont avoid it entirely, because its feedback.
• Make adjustments along the way.
  • Some things work, some dont. Maybe the choice of meat we chose was too fatty or was prepared in a way that wasnt conducive to our goal. Be willing to make an adjustment and try some different options to see what works.
• Be in it for long haul.
  • This didnt happen overnight and its not going to change overnight. Strap in!
  • Reflect along the way. Be proud of positive changes, but also use them as motivation to keep going. Celebrating those wins is great (see above about cheats).

At some point, adjustments are going to need to be made to maintain body weight. Ive been thinking about it as the whole “its easy to get an A, but much harder to keep it” concept that we had in school. the way Im thinking of it is that I’ll be able to ease up a little bit, but not stop. This is a lifestyle now. These are positive habits that Im developing. Awareness is everything.

It’s been a minute. The routine changed some with the weather getting a little warmer. As the weather gets warmer, I tend to want to use my smoker more. After the disaster of replacing my smoker,my diet changed slightly to include more fattier cuts of meat (more sausage, burgers and chicken thighs). Consistency hasnt really been where Ive wanted it. And as such, Ive kind of stalled in the low 280’s for the last little bit. Im not really heartbroken by this, because the food is amazing. however, I am trying to watch things closer, still watching my calories and making sure Im active every day. I have a lot of thoughts about some things I want to do with my diet – such as eliminating the red meat entirely for a couple of weeks or reintroducing the food bowls I used to make with ground beef and ground turkey. Simple food thats easy to grab. However, with the weather being so nice, having access to grilled food has been amazing. Im also trying to eat from my freezer a bit, which is where all the burgers and sausages have come from. I have a deep freezer full of ground beef and sausage – most of which I accumulated over time. So Ive been trying to eat that down. I did find a couple of things at Costco that I enjoy – primarily their large packs of chicken thighs. These are pretty tasty and the calorie counts arent huge. Right now, Im focusing on trying to get plenty of veggies in, and plenty of hydration. Prioritizing diet.