Getting back to healthy: Week 5 complete - back in the healthy zone!

I'm excited to announce that after 5 weeks, I've officially crossed back into the healthy weight zone!!!

For those of you just joining, I've been documenting my journey back to a healthy weight after admitting I had gotten fat again after 5 years of being in the healthy zone. The funny thing is that I've been helping others with their own weight issues for years, but had started ignoring my own advice. This series is about stepping back up, practicing what I have been preaching, and taking control of my own health.

I've received lots of encouragement from my readers, and I really appreciate the support!

If you would like to start at the beginning, here is the first article in the series: Getting back to Healthy: Time to get back to the basics!

This week I weighed in at 172.4 lbs, down from my starting weight 5 weeks ago of 181 lbs. The top end of healthy for my height and age is is 174.2 lbs according to the Ideal Weight Calculator, so I'm back in the healthy range!!!

I'd like to get down to around 160-165lbs to give myself a little buffer, the last time I did that it lasted for 5 years before my habits degraded to the point that I slipped out of the healthy zone. Hopefully I can keep my habits in check a little better this time.

This week has been a great one. I've figured out a few more patterns for what helps me lose weight, and also enjoyed a few wonderful but all too short days off with my wife.

Last Thursday we went hiking for the first time in months, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. We walked for hours, up and down hills and stairs, enjoying the beautiful fall weather and the outdoors. I barely noticed until later that I was getting some great exercise.

This has always been one of the keys for me for getting fit. Whenever I can find stuff that I enjoy that gets me off the couch and out of the house, I am always much better off than forcing myself to exercise just because I should.

Beautiful scenery from my hike

I've also figured out a few patterns for keeping my calories in check. If I eat light for breakfast and lunch, I usually will do good with my calorie count for the day. My goal is 1500 calories a day, and I've found if I shoot for around 250 calories for breakfast and another 250 for lunch, that gives me a lot to play with at the end of the day. Since I tend to find myself eating a lot in the evenings regardless of how I've ate the rest of the day, that works pretty well.

I've tried eating 5 smaller meals through the day as recommended by some experts or more evenly spacing out the calories, and that just doesn't seem to work for me. Maybe it would work for you, but this light-light-heavy pattern with a focus on protein seems to do the trick for me without leaving me hungry all day.

I found another meal in the morning which really keeps my cravings down. That's Dannon's Light and Fit Greek Yogurt plus a banana. It's only 185 calories but has 13 grams of protein. For some reason that combo makes it so I don't even think about food until lunch.

Each night, I "work out" on my Total Gym, or maybe I should say play since I really enjoy this piece of equipment for some reason. It's a good way for me to relax for a few minutes after getting the kids to bed. I can really tell the difference since adding this to my routine, even though some nights I only use it for a few minutes.

I hope you are enjoying this series. I plan on continuing to document my journey until I hit my goal weight. I've found that writing these articles has helped keep me on track, and some of my readers have told me that they have been inspired in their own weight loss journey, especially realizing that setbacks like I had in Week 3 - Potluck and cookie disasters are normal.

Hearing that my own journey is inspiring others is a great feeling, hopefully it will inspire you as well.

I hope you have a wonderful week! Make sure to comment with any of your insights on what helped you most in your weight loss journey!