I think my metabolism is gearing up or something.

You know what this means? Only 3.1 more pounds and I will have lost 100 pounds since I started this crazy adventure. It is hard to believe that not so long ago I was weighing in at 383 and looked like this. I look back at these pictures and I am shocked that I didn’t do anything about my weight sooner, however, that isn’t the point of this. No need to worry about what I didn’t do, but rather concentrate on what’s working for me:

• working out regularly (with some great folks)
• eating better (I am not doing the South Beach Diet anymore, but I am applying principles that I learned doing it, and I am eating some of the things that they suggest on a regular basis)
• actively thinking about my health

All of those points are important, but the last one has had the most impact. It is really very easy to slide back into my old habits of eating too much and moving too little. Thanks to this blog (which is a manifestation of my thinking about these issues, even if I don’t write too much on here) I am able to keep myself on the straight and narrow.

Let’s be real though, I’m not starving myself. This whole losing weight thing would be a mess if I changed my life in an unsustainable way. I have thought about going vegetarian, but that would just set me up for failure (I love me some steak), but eating more vegetables is something I can, and am, doing.

Life is all about being honest with yourself and knowing your limits. I’m not particularly strong willed, but I am able to follow routines. I have used my routine following skills to my advantage (going to the gym 5 times a week and doing the same thing every time might strike some as boring, but it strikes me as the way to a thinner, happier, and handsomer Scott) and replaced my old ruts with healthier ones.

I don’t have all the answers, but I do have a body that weighs 97 pounds lighter than it did 11 months ago and that’s good enough for me.

Now, that isn’t too shocking. I’ll get back in the gym forthwith (perhaps on Monday, definitely on Tuesday) so that’s not bad.

I, however, have another confession to make: Bless me father for I have sinned, it has been one day since I drank a Pepsi. That’s right, my 5 months of Pepsi free living is over! I had a Pepsi yesterday, on the Macworld show floor, and let me tell you something: it was good. Very, very good. I always forget how much I like Pepsi until I taste it once again.

Sadly, I won’t be drinking another Pepsi for quite awhile.

You can read Colin’s answers, and the answers from:

• James (I’ve always liked his blog’s design)
• Chris

Here are my humble answers:

What are the top five reasons you started to diet in the first place?

I’ve been a fat guy for a long, long time. Nothing too shocking about that, but in the last few years even I thought I was getting a little too fat. I lacked motivation to do anything about it, and then I got an ear infection.

The ear infection started in my right ear, and somehow managed to get into my left ear. I had dueling ear infections. I was going to ride out the one ear infection, but I couldn’t stand the pain of both so to the doctor I went. The doctor looked in my ear, gave me a prescription and scheduled me for a followup appointment.

I figured the followup would be to check on ye olde ears, but it was all a ruse. A damn, dirty ruse! She did peep at my ears, but then said, ‘So, you’re weight isn’t where we would like it to be. And we looked at your bloodwork and you’re almost diabetic and your blood-pressure is high. We have to do something about this now.’

This didn’t come to me as a shock. I can even remember then I knew that I wasn’t the Scott that I wanted to be. I was at my mom’s house for Christmas, and I just recently cut my hair and shaved off my beard. I took this picture and let’s just say I wasn’t very happy with the way I looked. I wasn’t that fat was I?

Yes, yes I was.

The doctor’s words finally motivated me to do something, and so I would have to say my top five reasons are:

1. To no die
2. To be healthy
3. Did I mention the whole death thing?
4. I felt it was now or never
5. To look more like I do in my mind’s eye

That last one is the real clincher. I have a healthy self image, one that doesn’t really align with reality. More and more often over the last few years I would look in the mirror and think, ‘Oh, yeah, that’s what I look like.’ And not in a good way.

What was your biggest failure on the diet, and how did you overcome it?

Hmm, I don’t think I have had any major setbacks as such. I mean, going to the gym sucks. Not being able to shovel whatever I want into my big, fat face sucks but overall it is working.

I have been snacking at night a little more than I should, so that is probably the biggest failure to date, but I haven’t overcome it yet. I’ll let you know when I do.

Did blogging help or hinder your success?

I started this blog the on August 17th, and I haven’t looked back. If I weren’t blogging this, I wouldn’t be doing it. I can’t stress that enough. Even though Scott Gets Fit has turned into a list of my weigh ins it has helped motivate me (and it is fun to track how I have lost about 50 pounds in real time).

Plus the blog got me to publicly say that I weighed 383 pounds, and that was important to me. I needed to ‘own’ the problem. I was scared for a long time that if people knew how much I weighed they would stop liking me (I actually just wrote ‘stop licking me’ by mistake. Sadly, no one has been licking me in awhile). It makes no sense, since my friends are awesome, but it was just something I had to come to gripes with. Blogging helped me do it.

Plus, if I fail all my friends will know and I’d be embarrassed.

What things did you do to help ensure your success?

Colin says :

Simple. I do what I find fun and don’t do the stuff I hate.

That is the exact opposite of what I have done. I hate going to the gym, but I do it at least 3 times a week (I try for 4 but I’m only human). If I weren’t exercising I would still be losing weight thanks to my diet, but it would take much longer.

The key to my success is routine. I do the same thing at the gym every time I go, and I try to go at the same times every week. Without that routine I would be skipping the gym left and right, and that wouldn’t be very helpful at all.

What is one recommendation you’d have for someone on Day 1 of their diet?

This is a cliche, but only because it is true: losing weight is a marathon, not a sprint. What does that mean? It means that you won’t always stick to your diet, and you won’t always be working out. You’ll gain back some weight you lost, but that’s ok! You can work it off again. This is a long term thing you’re entering into, not a get skinny fast plan. Hard work will pay off, but it won’t be quick and it won’t be easy. It will be very satisfying though.

You know what? I don’t even miss it anymore (unless I think about it, which I am doing now).

Why am I posting about it? Well, it is fair game for Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet, so I just ate some (using cucumber slices instead of some sort of carb based treat) and damn was it good.

People, go eat some hummus. You’ll thank me.

I’m on the South Beach Diet, which isn’t all that bad. It isn’t bad at all, in fact. Plenty of food to eat, the only problem is that it takes awhile to get all the ingredients and prep the food. When I was shoving any old foodstuff into my mouth it didn’t take long for me to get my food prepared. I just went to a store or restaurant and got something. No muss, no fuss. Now there is both muss and fuss, but I suppose if it helps me not die it is worth it.

I have only had one soda over those entire 24 days, which is impressive given my zest for soda drinking. Diet Dr. Pepper was the chosen one, and it wasn’t bad at all (and 0 calories and no sugar!). I don’t think I want to start drinking lots of diet sodas. Just a treat here and there.

Another allowed ‘treat’ for the first phase of the South Beach Diet is Sugar Free Low Calorie Gelatin Snacks, aka sugarfree Jell-o. I’m a fan of Jell-o pudding, but regular old Jell-o never did it for me. Something about the sensation of a wiggling mass of gelatin sliding down my throat put me off the stuff. However, there is a plan to follow for this diet and follow it I will!

So I bought the stuff and I ate an orange flavored cup yesterday. Not so good, though I must say the raspberry one I had today was almost OK.

Verdict: Don’t say hell-o to sugar free Jell-o. Ahh, I’m so clever.

I have often heard tell of Laughing Cow cheese, and who can amongst us can say that they have never hefted one of those mesh bags full of little cheese rolls?

However, I have never actually eaten any of it, well until yesterday that is. I started the South Beach Diet yesterday, and Laughing Cow Light Swiss Cheese is an approved snack (along with some celery). So I lathered up a piece of celery with this spreadable cheese and ate it. It was quite good. I would eat this crap even if I wasn’t dieting.

Verdict: Get your Laughing Cow on.