An update on the weight loss and fitness work!

In rather classic fashion, after being sick this weekend I’ve started focusing on another weight cut to get toward my previous new goal of 155.

Today marks the first time since 2010 that I’ve been under 160lbs, and entry to <=25 BMI. Both of these, according to the Nokia health apps I’ve been tracking on, mark the “healthy” line for my gender/height. It also marks 46lbs lost.

Since my last post at the beginning of February, I’ve focused heavily on exercise and less so on dieting. In Europe I got up to running about 5–6mi every day, and getting close to averaging ~7:40/mi pace. This is down from struggling to run ~2.5mi at 9:30 pace. I was also walking another ~4–5mi/day on top of that.

Since returning to the states, I’ve continued running around the same rate while introducing football back into my routine a couple days a week. Walking was going to be the hardest part to fit in, as it’s just way easier to walk a lot in Europe. Much to my surprise, I’ve gotten quickly into the habit of walking to work, which is a good 30min walk. This has mostly filled that gap.

There’s been a few interesting things I’ve noticed with the weight loss:

• I sweat less, which I suppose isn’t surprising. Particularly just ambient armpit sweats have totally disappeared.
• I actually prefer standing more and walking when I can. This includes taking transit vs uber-ing, or walking to work instead of riding my boosted board.
• A weird one, but people on average are just nicer to me. Especially women. Not people I know, but rather strangers I interact with throughout the day (cashiers, baristas, etc).
• I’m down from a waist size 34 to a 31. I also finally got some new pants.
• Diet hasn’t changed much as far as what I eat. I do eat less in individual sittings though, and largely have kept off the snacks and sodas.
• My face is noticeably slimmer. According to my (physical therapist) sister, the observable effects of fitness start to show around 5 weeks of training. This happened right on queue during my Europe trip, and looser areas from the weight loss shrunk to fit.
• I watched a video of a talk I gave in November and was sort of shocked to see how obvious the weight was to me now, compared to how not obvious it was to me then.

The next update will be when I hit 155 :)

This was originally posted on my Medium account, but I've migrated to this personal blog.