In mid-July I finally decided that I was tired of weighing as much as I did. This time, however, was different. I actually did something about it. I will start writing about my experience of weight loss here. Maybe it will inspire somebody else, or maybe my story will just provide a nice read. One thing is for sure: I've still got a long way to go. I started at 350lbs; I currently weigh around 310lbs; and I'm shooting for about 180lbs.

Let's start at the beginning.

The Backstory

I was tired of wearing khaki pants to work every day, so I went to JC Penney to see if they had any good sales on pants. Of course they did--it was summer, nobody buys pants in the summer! I found my normal size, 44W32L, near the bottom, where it usually was. I bought two pairs (BOGO!) and figured that I'd have something interesting to wear.

When I got home and decided I better try on the new pants, I was unpleasantly surprised by pants that didn't come anywhere close to fitting. I didn't realize that many clothing manufacturers have been silently increasing their sizes over the years. I also didn't realize that when they put those nice elastic bands in, it adds yet another 6 inches to what fits in the pants. I had no idea what size I really should be wearing, but I did realize I wasn't a 44 anymore. In fact, a lot of my clothes didn't really seem to fit anymore. This was a problem.

The Beginning

I decided that I was going to diet, but I was going to do it my own way. I knew many people had great success on a high-protein, low-carb diet, but those just don't seem healthy to me. Counting calories is, frankly, a pain in the ass. I was definitely not going to pay for a diet program.

I wasn't quite sure how I was going to get down to 180lbs, (the high end of normal on the BMI table) but I knew it would be a long haul--I was starting at 350lbs. I figured a good start would be cutting out soda and cutting down on the beer intake, and I started this immediately. After a couple weeks of drinking diet soda instead of "real" soda, I decided that I don't really like diet soda. I cut out all soda almost completely. After about a week, I just started feeling better. It sounds crazy, but it's true.

But this was just the beginning.