[Musicguy]

Current age: 44
Height: 6'1"
Current weight: 186-189 lbs.

Married, 3 kids, ages 21, 14, and 12.

Goal: Maintain overall fitness, using cardiovascular exercise, nutrition, and weightlifting.

By the time I was 18 I was about 6'1" and weighed 300 lbs.

In April of 1981, at a weight of 285 pounds (I had lost 15 pounds without even realizing it) I made a bet with a friend to lose 50 pounds over the summer. She was supposed to lose 30 pounds, and the winner would collect $60 from the loser. I won the bet, and decided that if I could lose 50 pounds I could lose the rest, so I kept going. I was losing the weight by eating all of the things that I usually ate (except regular soda pop, which I gave up completely) but tried to just eat half of the amount that I would have otherwise eaten. I was also reading about healthier food choices, so I started to make some changes to my diet.

By April, 1982 I had gotten my weight down to 180 pounds. I went from size 50" pants to 34." My shirt size dropped from 18.5 (or bigger) to 15.5. Later that same spring I began to walk for exercise. The summer of 1982 I walked 3 miles daily. I took the winter months off, and the next spring started walking 6 miles daily. This continued pretty steadily up to the present day, with variation in distance, especially during the last couple of years.

During the late 80s I gained a little weight, fluctuating between 185-195. In the mid 90s, which was a turbulent time in our family life (lots of sickness, older relatives dying, moving, new babies, etc.), I got back up to 210-215, and had to buy some 40" waist pants. Realizing that if continued in this way I would eventually end up back at 300 pounds, I determined to reverse the course and started to eat more carefully. When warm weather returned I "hit the road" again with fitness walking, and over the course of about 8 months, got my bodyweight down to 173-178.

Unfortunately, I came down with pneumonia, and dropped another 15 pounds, putting me down around 160, which even I thought was too low. After recovering from that, I kept on walking, and eating healthy, and my bodyweight stabilized at 171-173.

It was at this bodyweight of 171-173 that I added weightlifting to my routine in February 2002. In the fall/winter of 2002/03 I “bulked” and got my bodyweight up to 197-201. Having once been really fat, it's easy for me to regain fat, so, I switched to “cutting,” and through the spring/summer of 2003, by emphasizing cardiovascular exercise (still walking, 3-4 miles, sometimes 6) I got my weight back down to 181-183.

Deciding to try and gain some "good" weight again, on January 24, 2004 I dropped cardiovascular exercise for a while, and removed refined sugar and flour from diet. I gained a few pounds over the next several months, and in May brought cardio back into my routine in order to "cut" for a while. I've been more thoughtful about diet since early 2004, and believe that it's crucial for anyone with any kind of fitness goals to give attention to what, when, and how often they eat.

My current workout routine is to lift 2 times per week using a push/pull split, full body routine. Cardio consists of 3 miles running on treadmill, or walking, on days in between weightlifting. At present I'm lifting a couple of times a week and doing cardio 2-3 times.

I eat lots of protein (tuna, sirloin, turkey breast, chicken, eggs), with vegetables, fruit, and complex carbs. Complex carbs primarily come from old fashioned oats, and sometimes whole grain breads, sweet potatoes, and beans. I also include natural peanut butter, coconut oil, and nuts in my diet. I don't use aspartame, but I do use saccharine and stevia. I don't drink soda pop, but I do drink coffee and tea, both black and green. I like to eat small meals, 4-7 times per day.

The biggest change for me after all these years is that I no longer worry too much about bodyweight, though I do keep track of it. I realize that it is is only one indicator of how I'm doing, and not the only one. I also use the way I feel, the way my clothes fit, and pictures as indicators of my progress.

The most satisfying thing for me is to have finally reached a point where I feel like I don't have to worry about my diet too much. After all these years I feel like I've finally figured out how to eat so that I don't regain fat.