The equipment. (for 100 pounds, 100 days)

Mini-gym (nautilus mostly) and racquetball court are at work (yeah...I know I am lucky).
Bike is new...just bought today. Eliptical is wife's....but I might learn to like because it is in front of the TV. Heavy bag is new also (found on Craigslist).

Other people's attempts (100/100)

This guy tried to do something similar...but he was not successful...I think it was 70 pounds in the first 100 days. (interesting blog though...sorry about the language)
http://www.210west.com/100days/

Here are some people that seem to be trying......
http://www.43things.com/things/view/268745

Not quite sure what this one is. I cannot get any real contact info to figure it out, but I'll be watching the site
http://www.middleageproductions.com/

100 Pounds in 100 Days

awe jeeze...I can hear the whiners now....

"It's not healthy to lose more than 1-2 pounds per week"
"You'll only be losing water weight"
"You'll put it back on just as quickly".

Shut up.

The only real medical issue I can find documented about rapid weight loss is possibility of gallstones. However, obesety is already a strong risk factor in developing gallstones. And the only real link appears to be related to extremely low calorie diets (which I will not be attempting).

Not to hold them up as examples, but the Biggest Loser folks lost more than that in less time. Gastric bypass patients can lose significant amounts exceeding the results I am looking for.

How will I accomplish this?

1. See my doctor. I have a complete physical (with bloodwork) scheduled for January 10th. I intend to run my plan by him and solicit advice and support.

2. Diet. I plan to eat 1500 calories per day. Jared (Subway) ate between 1000-1200 daily. I'll be fine. My last phase (where I lost 130 pounds) was on 2000 calories, but my basal/lifestyle metabolic rate was much higher then because of my higher weight.

3. Exercise. I plan to burn 1000-1500 calories per day. I plan for at least 1 hour of strength training and 1.5 hours of cardio daily including walking, eliptical, racquetball, boxing (heavy bag), yoga, stationary bike, etc.

4. Basal metabolic rate. According to an average obtained from 7 different sources, my current weight (395) and lifestyle (sedinentary) should require about 3700 calories to maintain. If I burn what I eat and the rest gets used by my body's normal functions, that equals/exceeds the 3500 calories per pound per day necessary (this would have been a lot easier when I was 500 pounds!!)

5. Lean muscle additions/strength training. Yeah...info is all over the board on this one. The "You on a Diet" doctors claim 50X caloric burn by a pound of muscle compared to a pound of fat. Other sources claim 2 calories per pound of fat versus 6 per pound of muscle. All of them seem to agree, however, that regular strength training increases the metabolic rate by about 15%. That will help....especially as my weight decreases, my basal metabolic rate will as well.

I have lots more to say...but that's enough for now.

I'm half fat. (I wonder what the other half is?)

According to http://www.healthcentral.com/cholesterol/
home-body-fat-test-2774-143.html
I have 42% body fat.

According to
http://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/bfb (US Navy Body Fat Formula)
I have 46.46 %

average the two and we have 44.23%.

sheesh.

A typical day during the last 'cycle'

(Click image to see full-sized)

the last 8 months

Highest Weight (february): 525
Starting weight (april 17th): 505
Current weight: 394

How did I lose the first 130 pounds?

Calories.
My basal/lifestyle caloric needs were approaching 5000 calories per day.
I dropped my caloric intake to 2000 calories per day (pretty religiously for the first couple of months) and the weight dropped quickly.

I did add 'some' exercise....beleive it or not racquetball.
We have a racquetball court in my office building where I work (along with a nautilus setup, freeweights, etc...I know...super lucky am I)

Let me tell you that it was not a pretty sight to see a 500 pound man lumbering around the court.

At first I could only play a few points before I had to take a break and sit down (for my back mostly). Now (almost 9 months later), I can play 3 complete games without break...and even beat some people. Heck...I had a 2 on 1 game against two female athletes (who weren't very good at racquetball) where I won.

Burns a LOT of calories...makes me sweat like a horse...and is fun. I'll take 45 minutes on the court over any amount of time on a treadmill/bike/etc any day.

Yes...I too am suprised that I didn't hurt myself. Moving side to side with all that weight.....can't beleive my ankles or knees didn't snap. (knock on wood). In fact, since I have been playing, 2 other people (in great shape) had horrible injuries that put them in crutches/casts for weeks...one was a severed tendon and the other some knee injury. Ouch.

More later on what my 2000 calories per day consisted of.

At his peak, Jeff weighs in at over a quarter-ton!

Pictures speak for themselves. Can you figure out which is me? :)

Before there was fat, bald Jeff.......

1990 - 1994. Weight...190 - 220

Why I started on this journey

It was tricky to know the exact weight I achieved because my scale at home (an expensive specially ordered one) only goes up to 500 before it says EEEEEE.
I was weighed at a doctor's office where I was being treated for a recurring staff infection in my leg. Latest bout knocked my out for 3 weeks at home, 3 weeks in the hospital and a couple more weeks on outpatient IV antibiotics. Because I've had this a couple of times, the lymph nodes in my lower leg are damaged and the fluid build up (due to lack of circulation) caused an even worse prognosis for the future. I've had this infection 5 times already. If it ends up in the bone itself, it would not be good...probably lose the leg (or worse). Combine that with my young son (he was 2 when I started this journey) and my beautiful wife that I wanted to spend many many years with, I hit rock bottom. We cleaned out the pantry, cabinets, refrigerator...everything went (there wasn't much 'healthy' in the house anyway). We started over. 200 calories for me, 1500 for the wife and dilligent tracking (via FitDay) Calorie reduction got us almost halfway there....exercise will take us the rest of the way.

130 pounds gone and stalled

February 2006, I weighed 525 pounds.
Today I weigh 395 pounds.

The story of how/why is for another post....but at issue is the fact that I've been stalled here for several weeks......

I think its time for a more focused attempt at removing the excess.

stay tuned.