Hello all, this is a continuation of my previous journal

I'm DWWISE83, a former obese 26 year old father of two. Over the past six months I've worked hard and lost 60ish pounds; from 242 to 182 pounds. I've been in maintenance mode for the last few weeks, sitting around 180 - 182 pounds. Now, I'm finally ready to move forward and lose the last 20 pounds for a final goal weight of 160 pounds (5'7.5").

This may sound strange, but I am so proud of myself for maintaining my weight of 180 pounds for the last few weeks. My family just moved to a new house and I needed some time off from running and calorie counting so that I could focus on packing and moving. I was never able to maintain my weight in the past after losing weight, so for me, this was a huge accomplishment. I went 'off' of my diet and didn't gain a single pound! I still exercised (much less structured) and ate healthy on most days - it was amazing. I really feel like a made a LIFE change.

Now, I am ready to finish this process and finally reach my goal weight of 160 pounds. While I am semi-happy at 180 pounds, I still have a lot of fat around my stomach, lower back, chest, and thighs. I want to follow through and achieve the body I've desired all along... a lean and fit physique.

To reach my goal I am going back to my tried-and-true process of eating less calories and exercising (I really enjoy running). I'm not writing my calories down, but I am using a digital food scale to measure all of my portions. My calorie range will fall between 1800-2000 / day.

I hope to exercise 4-6 times per week. I went for a run this morning and I definitely have a lot of work to do to get back to my previous distance / time (although I did run a 5K last weekend in 29 minutes). It's amazing how fast you can become out of shape! I just hope it won't take to long to build my endurance back up - hopefully I'll be able to run at least 4 miles by next weekend (I didn't get thhhhaaatttt out of shape )

I will strive to update this journal everyday, but I can't make any promises at this point. My schedule at work is REALLY picking up and I don't always have time to log on and write a post. I will try to though... it keeps my honest. So, here's to a new beginning

I slept awful last night and it was so hard to get up this morning at 6:45 and go running. On top of that I felt like utter crap-o-la... and still do. My whole family is coming down with something, and it sucks that it has to happen this week. Regardless, I am still going to proceed as planned, even if I have to crawl down the trails

This morning I went to a greenway near my new house. The trail supposedly circles Lake Shelly. It's only 3 miles from my house so I thought it would be a great place to start. Well, the trail started out wonderfully. It was very pretty and mostly flat... but then I got confused by the map and took a wrong turn. Of course I didn't know it until I had run down the path for several minutes. By the time I got back to the 'real' path I didn't have enough time to go all the way around the circle. I didn't feel very good and I was frustrated. I walked back to the car.

The trail is somewhere between 2.5 - 3 miles (each website differs) and I probably ended up doing 2 miles. I am going to try again tomorrow and start by going the other way on the trail, hopefully this will solve my directional problems! Also, I hope to feel better tomorrow

There is another lake near my house called Lake Lynn that has a 2 mile trail around it. Sounds perfect for a short run... or I could run it twice (eventually 3 times) for a long run.

Shelly Lake & Lake Lynn - my new BFFs

Sounds like you live in a nice area. Good luck with your final 20+ lbs! I am also on the home stretch but it is very hard at this point. You have to be darn near perfect with your diet. You and I have a lot in common it sounds like, as far as our age (close anyway), family status (married, kid(s), recently moved) and most of all our weight and how much we have lost. I'll keep checking in on you and seeing how you progress. Enjoy the journey. The last 20 may or may not take even longer than the previous 60 but either way it will all be worth it.

Hey DW, Just a thought, but maybe you can take the wife and kids and go for a walk around the lake this way you know just what trails to take when you run. Plus you all can take in the real beauty of the lake without it wizzing by you as you are running.

Just a thought

Thanks Derrick, I'm glad you will be here to hold me accountable I also realized that we are in similar life situations and I do follow your journal as well. I'm so nervous about the last 20 pounds... but I'm going to work hard and really try to make it to the end. WE CAN DO IT!

I actually thought the exact SAME thing yesterday! It's nice too, because all of the trails are paved so they would be stroller friendly.

Oh - CONGRATS ON BREAKING OUT OF THE 180s!

Sadly, I didn't feel any better this morning when I woke up. I decided to move my run to the evening so that I could get an extra hour of sleep... it's going to be SOOO HOT, but sometimes you just have to do what you have to do Now that I am up and about I do feel a little better - YAY

This week my food intake is pretty similar each day, so I thought I would write down what a typical day looks like for me and see what everyone thinks. I know I need to add more protein and it is something I'm working on.

Breakfast
-1 Serving Fiber1 Cereal
-8oz Skim Milk

Snack
-1 Serving Grapes
-1 Serving Cheese

Lunch
-PB&J -or- Deli Meat Sandwich on Whole Grain White
-1 Serving Baked Lays

Snack
-1 serving of fruit -or- 100 calorie pack

Dinner (this is where it varies each day, depending on what my wife cooks )
-1 serving of meat (chicken, ground hamburger, pork, etc...)
-1 side of veggies
-1 side of starch

Despite how I felt, I had a good day yesterday. I went to Lake Lynn after work and ran 2 miles. I'm not going to lie, it was very hard. It was 92 degrees when I got off of work, humid, I didn't feel well, but I was hell bent on running and getting back up to 4 miles by next Sunday.

The trail was nice, and very easy to follow (no wrong turns, yay). It was kinda hilly, which made things a little more difficult BUT I survived and actually started getting into a groove riiiiigggghhhhttt when I got back to the car The first 1.5 miles where so hard for me... one of those runs were you feel heavy, as though each leg weighs 100 pounds. I made it though, and that is definitely a step in the right direction.

The diet also went very well yesterday. I was really hungry about an hour after dinner, but managed to stay out of the kitchen and just drank some water instead.

Today is my rest day, but I still hope to be 'active' when I get home from work by cleaning around the house and maybe taking my daughter out back to play on her bicycle. Tomorrow I will hopefully be able to get up early and hit up Lake Shelly for the whole loop (around 3 miles). Running in the heat definitely sucked more than waking up early, that is FOR SURE!

Since this is my first week back in, I'm really hoping to lose around 3-4 pounds (know some will be water weight). This would put me in the upper 170s, a number I've been longing to see for quite a while.

I'm thinking about making some kind of count down in my cube at work for the last 20ish pounds. I am a very visual person and it would be motivating to see the number decreasing each week (hopefully, lol).

2nd post today

I wanted to write out my running plan for the next 1.5 weeks, which will hopefully bring me back to where I was before the move (~4 miles in 40 minutes). Once I'm back on track I will incorporate some free weights and yoga.

Wednesday- REST
Thursday- 3 Miles (Shelly Lake, 1 Loop)
Friday- 2 Miles (Lake Lynn, 1 Loop)
Saturday- REST
Sunday- 3 Miles (Shelly Lake, 1 Loop)

Monday- 2 Miles (Lake Lynn, 1 Loop)
Tuesday- 3 Miles (Shelly Lake, 1 Loop)
Wednesday- REST
Thursday- 2 Miles (Lake Lynn, 1 Loop)
Friday- 3 Miles (Shelly Lake, 1 Loop)
Saturday- REST
Sunday- 4 Miles (Lake Lynn, 2 Loops)

Once I am up to par, I plan on following this type of schedule:
Monday- REST
Tuesday- Short Run (2-4 Miles)
Wednesday- Weights
Thursday- Short Run (2-4 Miles)
Friday- Short Run (2-4 Miles)
Saturday- Yoga / Weights
Sunday-Long Run (4-6 Miles*)

*of course, 6 miles is a goal I'm shooting for in the future... not in two weeks I will start on the lower side and hopefully be on the higher side by the end of the year.

Man if you do all that running you will surely lose some more weight, assuming you don't overeat to compensate for the burned calories. Do you have a new 5K goal? I can't remember, I thought I remember you saying you did. I could see you going 24 minutes in the near future.

Yes, I plan to literally run my ass off! On most days I really do enjoy running; I look forward to increasing my weekly mileage, hopefully settling around 15 miles per week.

I have to say that, for the most part, my diet is pretty good. When I think about losing weight, I automatically worry more about exercising than eating because the eating part isn't toooo hard at this point (when I put my mind to it lol).

I would LOVE to do a 24 minute 5K, and I think it's definitely achievable if I continue to work hard. That reminds me... I need to go online and look for a race around the end of August, which is when I hope to reach my goal weight of 160 - that would be a great final push!

How is your weight loss coming? I saw a while back that you lowered your final goal and your diet looks very clean! I wish I could weigh in the 190s and have your body fat%. At 180 my BF% is around 22%... sucks being short-ish.

Realistically I want to get to 185 but I know from experience in order to settle in at that weight I need to get to about 181. Body fat percentage is tough to get a precise reading on IMO. For example, if I go by the handheld one at the gym it reads anywhere from 18% to 25%! My Tanita at home reads anywhere from 13% to 20%! Needless to say, I am not a big fan of the bioimpedance method. The skin calipers say I am 13% but that also depends on who is taking the measurements and how many sites are used and which formula. In August of 2008 I weighed 229. I went to the Dallas Cooper Clinic and they did the underwater method as well as a 7 or 9 site skinfold. Both of those methods said 25%. My scale at home read much higher back then, I think around 30%. My scale has always read high compared to skinfold tests. So to this day, I consider my scale to read a little high if anything. So if my scale is reading as low as 13 and usually around 16, then I would say I am right around 13 to 14. Especially when you consider the skinfold said I was 13.7 the last time I had it done. Sorry for the long post. My point is, you might not be as high as you think, depending on what method you are using. I wish the underwater tanks were more common throughout the US but I don't even think St. Louis has one. So your city may not either.

Check out runningusa or runningworld there they should lead you to the right path my friend (or in this case "road", which ever) he he

I feel so much better today - hooray! After a peaceful REST DAY yesterday I was actually looking forward to my run this morning. I even got up extra early to make sure I had enough time to run the full 3 miles. I decided to try Shelly Lake again with hopes to not get turned around this time.

Once again, the run started off pretty hard. My calves got hard as a rock and I felt like I had a rope tied around my legs, preventing me from taking long strides. I know my pace was pretty slow.

I actually found the correct trail to run this time and it was so pretty - right along the edge of the lake. There were quarter mile markers the whole way around and 1 lap was 2 miles (even though the internet said 3).

I made it through the first lap and kept going, by this point I had some extra energy and was finally getting into a nice groove. I ran another 1.25 miles for a total of 3.25 - YAY!!! It felt truly great! And... to top it off, the scale said 180.2 this morning (down 2 pounds since Monday) - I am so close to the 170's and I really think I'm going to make it for my Monday weigh-in

Tomorrow I am going to force myself to only do two miles so that I can really try to push myself in my long run on Sunday. I plan to do my Running Yoga DVD on Saturday (if I can find it) which will hopefully help the soreness in my legs and increase my stride length.

Yes, it feels good to be back

Suhweet! This seems to be a good week for a lot of us. Congrats on the run and the weight. Advil and ice work wonders for legs, knees and backs that are sore from exercise. What kind of running shoes do you have?

Unfortunately, I just use a pair of tennis shoes. I know it's bad, but until the summer ends (my wife is a teacher) I won't really have the money to get a new pair. We have a local running store here that will watch you run on a treadmill and help you pick a shoe that works best for your running style. Any recommendations on brand? I know a lot of people like new balance.