[hoopsguy]

Figured I may as well post in here, as I've lurked in this thread on-and-off for about two months.

I'm 5'9" and had watched my weight go as high as 189 before I started to take some action at the start of December. My wife and I purchased a treadmill and I decided that this would be a good time for me to try to kick my caffeine addiction. I was drinking about four cokes a day; going without one for 24 hours would lead to nasty headaches.

I didn't make any dramatic diet decisions. I travel to different clients every day and have yet to show the discipline to pack a lunch. I'm trying to make breakfast a more regular habit, but that is only happening a couple of times a week. And I'm looking to cut down on my portions at dinner, which has gotten a little easier with time.

Anyway, long story short is that I figured that by cutting from four cokes a day to two and getting in about 2.5 hours on the treadmill per week would lead to a reduction of about 4,500 calories per week. Seemed like a good starting point.

This morning was the first time I've weighed in under 180 in about five years. The weight didn't come off in the first three weeks, but after getting past Christmas I've been able to drop about two pounds per week. And after slowly scaling back on the Cokes, I'm down to about 2-3 per week. I'm drinking a lot of water instead, mixing in a Propel from time to time.

I'm basically waiting to find some kind of plateau in the weight loss and then will consider making more meaningful changes to my diet - there is obviously a lot of room for improvement in this area. I'll probably also look to get some basic level of weight-lifting integrated into the routine at that time. I was originally shooting to get down to 170 (about what I weighed at the end of college) but given my lack of muscle mass compared to that time I think 165 is probably a realistic goal.

Thanks to everyone who has been posting their successes, and challenges, in this thread. It definitely helped me get going with my own routine.