I have refrained from posting to this thread because I was afraid that I would fail and I didn't need/want it to be public.
Finishing highschool, I was about 190. Finishing college, I was about 200. I swore that I would never be 210. Fast forward 25 years, and at 51, I was 225+, and saw 230 a few times. The never ending creep was obvious, and it was obvious where I was going.
I have never been 'athletic'. Never had interest in sports, beyond 'non-athletic' ones like hiking, climbing, kayaking, hunting.
At 51, I've got two young kids (5 and 7) and I want to be hunting with them when I'm an old man (Some would say I already am!).
On memorial day, after watching a few inspirational videos the week before, I started in earnest. Cut the junk, cut the carbs, cut the beer, started eating a LOT more salad, tried to be more tolerant of being just bit hungry, but tried to also manage that hunger better when it came. The weight started dropping off, fast at first, but now slow but steady. I had a little bump today (monday, post weekend), but was under 190 most of last week.
I also started exercising seriously. Row 20 minutes, walk 2 miles, 200 crunches, and 50-80 push-ups. My body creeeaaked when I first started doing pushups!! I don't do hard, muscle building workouts, but I do not allow myself rest days. My only days off have been when I was traveling and couldn't (3 days total).
I will attest to Kevin Dill's advice to weigh yourself every day. I am so much more accountable seeing my day to day progress and the impact of when I have failed on diet. I will also attest to Robby Denning's advice to weigh your self pre and post weekend. As much as I try to keep things in check, weekends are definitely where I fail the most (eating with external family, maybe have beer, etc). I haven't been perfect in recording my weight every day, but have most, and its easy to see where my weight ticks up every Monday Morning:
Funny thing is that while the exercise has definitely helped me feel stronger (especially my core) and more mobile, I really don't feel much different with the weight loss.
I will say that while my goal was the magic '180', its clear that the amount of flab still on me at 190 will require going to 175
at least...
I never thought I would be this thin again...