I'm Half the man I used to be
Thought I might share this with other clydes and former clydes.
Last march I started a weight loss program and weighed in at 349 pounds. Today was my monthly weigh in for July and I was at 173, which is less than half of my original weight. I kept creeping close and closer to this point for the last 6 weeks and decided to set it as my final goal. So now I am done, at 6'4" I just can't see myself being lighter. In fact I might try some weight training to put on some muscle, something I have sorely neglected during my triathlon prep.
There are some of the weird things I have noticed about the whole ordeal though. One thing is I think no matter what I weigh I will always consider myself to be a clyde. I remember being the fat kid ever since I was in elementary school and I just can't seem to shake off those experiences, and I still love good food, nad a lot of it though, I just rarely go out all and eat whatever I want. (though I do give myself the occasional day). Also I love watching cooking shoes, my dvr is loaded with food network programs, (food porn as my gf calls them) and I when I get bored I bake, a lot. Most of the results end up on the lunch table at work, which I have found increases my popularity a lot.
But above all the one thing I got the most out of the past year and a half was walking into my LBS and buying my first bike since I was a kid. I immediately fell in love with cycling and see it as something I will be doing for the rest of my life, no matter how much I weigh or how old I get. I have met so many amazing people on the way, including people from these forums and found cyclists to be some of the kindest, funniest, and most friendly people you will ever meet, and I look forward to meeting more and having more great bike adventures in the future.
Anyway I just thought I would share my experience and perspective, I know a lot of other members have lost a lot of weight through cycling and it is amazing to see the transformations. I am pretty proud of myself right now though I know there is always room for improvement, as I am sorely reminded on every big hill I hit.