I attribute most of my weight gain to drinking too much beer and eating shitty food. Drinking 5-6 beers nearly every day between getting home from work and going to bed and eating whatever is convenient (read: take-out) too often, I managed to pack on almost 40 lbs. between January 2010 and January 2012. I’ve tried losing weight during that time, but never made it very far; I’d usually give up within a few weeks.

On Monday, April 15th, I started the South Beach Diet yet again at 239.8 lbs.–the heaviest I’ve ever been. I’m tired of feeling winded after climbing the 3 small flights of stairs to my apartment and clothes that used to fit feeling tighter. I’ve been reading NerdFitness.com for quite some time now, and while most of what I read was definitely inspiring, I never bothered to do anything about it. The feeling of inspiration would always fade shortly after closing my browser window, and I’d just sit on my ass doing nothing again. I don’t know exactly what pushed me to actually start dieting again, but I’m happy for whatever it was.

I haven’t had a beer since starting the diet again, and I don’t plan to have another drink for another few weeks. I’ve been eating well since then as well, and I’m down 2 lbs. since Monday. I’m trying to cook everything rather than ordering out, but I’ll occasionally let myself have a salad from Chipotle as I did last night, because I really enjoy their food and it’s quick and easy. I leave out the crappy stuff though–no rice, tortillas, chips, etc. There are a number of recipes that I’ve collected over the past few years that are great, and I’ll share some of those here as well.

I’m going to try incorporating at least some form of exercise as well, since I didn’t the last few times I tried losing weight. I’m not quite ready to join a gym yet, but I may reconsider that later. I’ve got a bicycle that’s been neglected since I bought it a few years ago, and I’d like to start using that again soon. I’m going to start with basic bodyweight exercise and using the dumbbells and kettlebell that I already own. I’ve been using a FitBit device nearly every day since June of last year to track how much I walk, and I’m also going to challenge myself to raise my average daily steps to higher than what they’ve been for the past year.

My goal again is to get below 200 lbs., and once I get there, I’ll set another based on how I’ve done with the first goal. I’ll likely continue to write updates on this blog, but I’ll be doing my daily tracking in either MyFitnessPal.com or something similar.

Here goes nothing!