The all new "It's time to get out and get fit" thread

I meant to do this yesterday, but i got sidetracked. Anyhow i'll toss my 2 cents as i went through a fairly dramatic change in my weight over the last two years or so.

2yrs and change ago i was 6'4 277lbs. Usually i stayed in the 240-250 range, which for some reason was okay with me. Once i hit 277 i realized i needed to make a change and started researching methods of weight loss.

First thing to note: there is a ton of BS diet information. The fact of the matter is, weight loss is purely a function of calorie intake. You could sit on your *** all day and stay within a calorie limit and lose weight.

Once i had that down, i jumped online and looked at a couple of calorie calculators. You enter in your weight/height/age/lifestyle(likely sedentary). You'll get a basic idea of what your intake needs to be to maintain that weight. Then estimate the calorie intake for your target weight the same way and slowly step down your calorie intake(say 200-300 shy of the first estimate, then when you plateau, do it drop another 200-300 calories)

Then there is exercise. For me, my motivation to exercise was that it would burn more calories and allow me to eat badly for one meal that day. I started my exercise regiment with just walking. I found a 2 mile loop in my neighborhood so i would walk one mile and be winded. Then have to push myself to walk the remaining mile. I tried the gym years before this, but my problem(and i think it applies to a lot of people) is that when i can easily give up, i will. Its not really an option when you're out walking.

Over time, walking turned to light jogging , and now running as my weight loss went down. I got down as far a 194lbs and was running a mile every day. But since last couple of holidays, i've got up to the 200-205 realm.

And lastly, the nice thing about calorie counting, is that you're not subscribing to some idiotic diet that drastically changes how you eat. (ie: no carbs, so eating hamburgers without buns...ugh)