Fitness mission accomplished

I got serious about getting back into shape about 150 days ago. I have lost about 25 pounds of fat and put on about 5-10 pounds of new muscle. That made a huge difference on a 5'3" skeleton. I’ve reclaimed two entire boxes of skinny clothes. My wife is trying not to be too thrilled. I feel better than I have in years, and I’m on good habit cruise control now: I believe I can keep it up (and sustainability was always the most important goal).

Weight loss over 120 days. I was just shy of 160 pounds when I started, about 30 days before I started keeping records. The gray and green points are daily highs and lows.
Although I have reported losing weight before, this achievement is in a new class, truly the most difficult thing I have ever done in terms of discipline and emotional intensity. It’s easy to refuse one cookie, but refusing most of the cookies for several months? I had to grow as a person.

I want to thank trainer Steve Moyer (MoyerMethod.com), who helped me build the foundations for this almost three years ago with some terrific counselling and coaching. Also, thanks to Todd Hargrove of BetterMovement.org for a few particularly valuable ideas (his explanation of “food reward” while we ate some rewarding food was a conceptual milestone for me). And thanks finally to my mother, Susan Ingraham, who teaches fitness classes in downtown Vancouver, for always being willing and able to discuss everything and anything about diet and fitness in detail — not sure how I would have gotten through it without all those conversations! Thanks, Mom!