New guy 1st post, looking to lose 105 lbs in all (85 to go)

Hi.



I'm Todd, and I'm from North Carolina. I have been looking on the web the past month to find a good forum dealing with weight loss. After reading from quite a few forums, I decided to join this one as it seems to be a good active group of supportive people.



I just recently started my weight loss journey. 20 some odd years since I graduated high school, I have put on over 100 pounds of extra weight. It started gradually. Went to college, weighed 180, gained 15 pounds my freshman year and stayed at that weight until I graduated. First 2 years out of college, I was eating poorly, with not enough exercise and put on about 30 pounds. (about half of my excess weight in the first 6 years. Since then I slowed down my weight gain. I weighed about 255-260 5 years ago when I started my current job. And put on 20-25 pounds since then.



The things I had been doing that put on the weight, lack of exercise, stress/comfort foods, bad diet choices, and way to much fast food (and bad fast food choices at that).



It really did not become much of a concern to me until this past year. I have found that I have had quite a few health issues that have seem to have become more of an issue since I have gained all this weight. I have been having issues with back pain, acid reflux, and asthma. Over this past December, I had developed a sinus infection and cold that developed into pneumonia and fired up my asthma on Christmas day so bad that I had to go to the emergency room.



During my follow up visit to the doctor at the beginning of this year, I weighed in at 281 pounds (and some change, cant remember the decimal point, but it is the highest I have ever weighed in at). After years of eating bad, and having just turned 40 over the past year, I decided this is the time to make a change in my life, not only for me to be healthy, but for my wife and daughter, so I will be around for them for a long time. My goal is to get down to a healthy weight for my height and weight (about 175-180 which ironically was what I weighed when I graduated high school).



In the middle of January, I made my first steps and joined a weight loss challenge run by a local nutritional health club. I have learned about counting my calories, choosing better foods, shooting for a healthy cal intake for healthy weight loss and watching out for bad fats and the kinds of carbs I am putting in my body, and watching my sugar intake. I have been avoiding soda like the plague. Before I started, I could easily consume 2 liters of soda in a day if I was not paying to much attention to what I was doing. Since mid January, I have only had two sodas. While I occasionally still want to have a soda, the desire is not as strong as it once was, and I have been doing well drinking mostly water and tea (no sugar or sweetener) I am also making better food choices, even if I am forced to hit a fast food option for lunch due to my work (a lot of travel days)



I have been doing well so far.

Height: 5'10

Starting Weight (lbs) / BMI: 281.0 / 40.3 Obese Class 3 January 2015

1st Weight Loss Challenge: 278.8 / 40 Obese Class 3 January 17 2015

Todays Weight / BMI: 260.7 / 37.4 Obese Class 2 3/1/2015 (lowest weight in about 4 years)

Total weight loss : 20.3 lbs

Next Milestones: 255 (last job search / weight); 225-230 (weight 2 years post college); 195 College graduation weight; 180: college start weight; 175 healthy weight.

85.7 pounds to go

Diet/Lifestyle: Currently just counting calories, watching my fat and carbs, focusing on protein. Occasional health Shakes. Exercise to be added within the next 4-6 weeks. Energy levels are coming up and I can finally go up the stairs at work without being out of breath.

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