• I feel better; that’s an obvious plus. I have more energy, I sleep better, I move better, and I can even keep up playing with my 5-yr-old (for a time, I am only human). My blood pressure levels are better than ever, and my resting heart rate went from high-80s to right around 60. I also no longer look at staircases with a feeling of hatred and resentment. These, I’m told, are all good things.
• I look better, and I take way better selfies. Proof:

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• I’ve reset my relationship with food. That’s not to say I don’t still crave things at times, but I used to eat to feel better, or when I was stressed out. Then I just started eating all the time – I didn’t even notice it. By forcing myself to follow a meal plan to the letter, I noticed more and more the desire to reach out for snacks when certain things happened or emotions arose. Did I still reach out for the snacks? Sometimes I did – but for celery or broccoli instead of chips or candy.
• It’s still shocking to look in the mirror. Not all the time, but sometimes I’ll look in the mirror and just be stunned for a moment while I realize the face and body I see are not the face and body in my mind’s eye. That leads me to…
• I still think I’m massively overweight. That’s why the mirror still confuses me at times; I don’t see the ‘new’ me in my mind’s eye. I graduated highschool at over 300lbs, so I’ve got a lot of conditioning of how I look to overcome.
• People (strangers) look me in the eye more, and are generally nicer to me.There’s not much to really add to this. I used to notice people averting their eyes, trying not to look/stare, and being largely (haha) dismissive of me. It’s disappointing that it’s a real thing, and that I’ve noticed it so clearly, but it is what it is.

So here I am, after months of thinking “I should write a blog post about my weight loss”, and months of putting it off, I’ve come to do just that. I’m not going to try to sell you a miracle cure, or tell you about ‘just one thing’ or a ‘crazy weird trick’ you need to do to be successful. My story isn’t that bizarre, or good for sales. My story begins with a 379lbs man who, having recently entered parenthood, was scared by the prospect of not seeing his kids grow up. My boy was about to turn five, and I couldn’t play with him. I was just too big. Everything was too hard, and too painful to keep up. Watching him as he grows, and realizing the real likelihood that I could die before he enters adolescence, I needed to make a change. 

A friend of mine had great success working with a nutrition coach, and I had tried (with moderate success) in managing my own diet, but I knew I could use help. I reached out to Andrew McInroy Nutrition and told him where I was at, and what I wanted to do. We had a consultation over the phone, at which point I handed over an – all things considered – very – modest sum of money. Within a day or two I received a personalized meal plan, based around the food I enjoy and my schedule.

You can’t expect to look like a million bucks if you keep eating from the dollar menu.

Andrew McInroy Nutrition (via Facebook)

So, I started it up; I bought the food on the list, I made the changes I needed to, and I prepared to be disappointed in the results. Why disappointed? Because no weight loss plan has ever lived up to its hype – never. And if it ever does, it’s impossible to stick to and the weight loss never lasts. Well, to my surprise, I lost 25 lbs in the first month. Then I lost 30 in the second month. The rate of losing weight slowed, but it’s been 8 months and I’ve lost 130 lbs. The last few weeks the weight hasn’t changed much, but it hasn’t gone up. To say I’ve been happy with the results would be an epic understatement.

While I do get tired of some of the foods, there’s enough options and versatility that I don’t find myself getting tired of the plan. More to come, but this is a good start for now.