Count Calories; Lose Weight

For years, maybe even a decade, my weight remained consistent. It didn't matter what I ate or how much I exercised. When I got on the scale at home, I weighed exactly 245 pounds. I was a little bigger than I'd like, but I had gotten comfortable with my bodies insistence on staying consistent.

In 2008, while at my cousins house, I jumped on their scale to show them my exact 245. The scale screamed 265 pounds! “Ha, ha; your scale is broken.”, I told them. They insisted it was accurate.

A day or two later, while at a big box store, I went over to the scale isle. I stood on one scale after another. Almost without question, they reported the same 265 pounds. Suddenly, I was fat.

I picked out my favorite scale, bought it, and that began my journey to lose weight.

By February of 2011 I had reached my goal of 225 pounds. I lost more than 40 pounds over the previous two years.

Wait! Two years?

Yes, it took two years, but guess what? That also means I've kept it off for the same two years.

What miraculous thing did I do to loose that weight? It's simple, really. I ate less calories than my body consumed. Simple, but not always easy.

You can loose weight too. It's hard to track your calories at first, but after a couple weeks you'll be a natural. And if you stick with it for the long haul you'll lose weight. I even wrote a software program, Quick Calories for your iPhone or Android mobile phone, and I used that to help me keep track of my daily total. But, you don't need a fancy software program. A small notebook and a pencil that fits in your pocket or even a great memory will suffice.

Note: It's 2014 and it's been 5 years since I wrote this and since I lost the weight. I've kept most of it off, gaining about 10 pounds back, and I'm on the war path to loose those extra 10 again. The good news is that you just learn to eat better when you count calories, and the weight stays off as a result.