I was struggling earlier today to find a suitable blogging topic, feeling that the idiots of the world had let me down by not doing something memorable to talk about. Then it dawned on me – I haven’t provided an update on my transformational journey in quite a while. We first talked about it in January, then discussed a key milestone along the way, and I shared a few of the mid-course corrections I’d decided to make in April.  Judging by the number of emails I get on the topic, it’s a source of curiosity, so here’s where we are now.

To review, at the end of last year I’d reached a point in my life where I felt the road I was on wasn’t taking me anywhere I wanted to go. I was fat, out of shape, unmotivated and unhappy. Now, this wasn’t a revelation that hit me suddenly, but perhaps I just reached a point where acceptance of the situation became more painful than solving it. Whatever the reason, I found the motivation necessary to change – I put myself on a 1500-calorie-a-day diet, started doing a half-hour of aerobic exercise 5 days a week, and made a list of tasks that had been long ignored and started completing them.  Originally calling the plan “Stan 2.0,” I upgraded to “Stan 2.1″ after making some adjustments to both the plan and the objectives.

So far, the results have been pretty gratifying.  I’ve gone from around 270-lbs to 205, and from a 40-inch waist to 34.  I don’t get nearly as many migraine headaches as I used to, and that desire to nap every afternoon has decreased significantly.  The best part, though, is the sense that I’ve taken steps that not only will make for a better life, but a longer one as well.

I’ve had some fun with it along the way.  Back in March, I attended a series of banquets for the various fishing clubs I belong to.  At that point, I was probably 30-lbs into the program, but it was the thirty easiest – and most visible – pounds.  Most of the people at the banquets hadn’t seen me since the local marlin season had ended last fall, and there was a lot of jaw-drop looks.  I even had one guy tell me he’d been afraid to ask what was up, for fear that the dramatic weight loss was the result of illness rather than perserverence.  Those are the ones that make me smile the most.

Obviously, I can see the difference when I stand on the scale or look in the mirror, but I’m always amazed at some of the unexpected changes.  Having added weight training and an ab/back workout once I passed below 220, I always smile when I find muscles I didn’t have before – I was positively giddy the first time I could count the bands in my abs.  Yeah, I had to push the loose skin and last of the fat roll out of the way, but it was still thrilling …

The really interesting part is seeing some of the places weight comes off.  All I had to do was look down to know where most of it was located, but when you’re carrying around that much extra weight, it tends to distribute itself like a fat suit – you have some pretty much everywhere.  Take my wrists, for example.  In the picture at left, the shot holding the fishing lure was taken last fall.  The “Livestrong” band is taut around the wrist like a rubber band around a roll of papers.  On the left is the same wrist now, with the same band – only now, it rattles around like a Hula-Hoop on a teenager’s hips.  Pretty cool, and typical of what’s happening all over.

Of course, while I’ve had what I consider to be significant success thusfar, there have been the occasional setbacks.  My diet is pretty rigid, not so much for content as much for quantity, and I still have those days where I crave a calorie bomb of one sort or another.  I’ve learned that if I can’t talk myself out of it to just let it happen and deal with the aftermath later.  More often than not, the influx of fat and calories makes me feel so bad that I don’t really need to scold myself – my body does it for me.  Trying to undo three decades of sedentary living has taken a toll on the body as well, and I’ve had a couple of injuries along the way.  Having hauled my fat ass around has been hard on my knees and ankles, and sometimes they are less than happy with the walking and cycling – although it’s amazing how much happier they are at today’s 205 than they were at last fall’s 270.

I’m currently nursing a new injury that I can’t decide whether is a result of age or weight loss or what.  Last week, I took a corner a little too quick and sent my BlackBerry skittering across the car seat, wedging it between the passenger seat and the door.  Naturally, that’s when it opted to ring, so I pulled over to try and retrieve it before voicemail picked up.  I reached across towards the BlackBerry, contorting myself in a way that would have been physically impossible six months ago, and cantelivered my upper body across the passenger seat with my ribcage resting on an unpadded center console.  As I made that last stretch towards the door, something popped in one of the lower ribs, and I felt my body drop about an inch.  ”That’s probably not good,” I thought, abandoning the call to its fate.  The Old Stan would have never suffered such an injury, in part because he never could have achieved the position and in part because there’d have been a cushioning layer of fat to protect the ribs.  Such is progress.  The good news is that I don’t think anything’s broken, just separated; the bad news is that it pretty much precludes most of my workout plan beyond walking and the stationary bike.  Whatever – it’s not going to stop me.

When I started down this path, it seemed silly to even talk in terms of goals.  I would toss out 185-lbs as a target, since that’s what the experts say someone of my height should weight, but that seemed so ridiculously light six months ago as to be unobtainable.  I’m not laughing any more.  Admittedly, as I get smaller it gets a lot harder to shed the pounds, but when you get close enough to see the finish line, that’s a mighty powerful incentive.

There’s a lot more going on to the Stan 2.1 plan than just diet and exercise, but that’s for another day.  Stay tuned …