My Weight Loss / Health Goal Journey Cliche Bla Bla Bla

Let me introduce myself, I'm Shane. I'm an ordinary compulsive obsessive musician, hobbyist, outdoor enthusiast, runner, dude. I've managed to lose quite a bit of weight--more than 20% of my body weight--which is 45 pounds from my largest to where I am today. 

Forty-five pounds may not sound like a lot (in this age of the Biggest Loser), but on my 5'8" body, it was much more than I needed.
The loss has now become very noticeable. I've gotten enough compliments and questions that I thought maybe I have learned enough to share what I know with others. Just maybe it could help someone else who is sitting where I was a year and a half ago. I know there are a million other people writing about weight loss, and there is oodles of powerful information on the web, but I hope I can contribute something to people who can relate to me, my likes, dislikes, style, or sense of humor. I get the question a lot, "How did you do it?".   It seems like people are looking for the magic pill answer, and I can clear that up right now. There is no magic pill. Period.

There is only one true healthy way to lose and maintain weight, and here it is, The Big Secret:

Burn more calories than you take in OR take in less than you burn.
That's it!!!! Of course it helps to eat real, healthy food. You CAN manage to eat low calories while eating crap, but it's actually EASIER to eat healthy. In fact, the best food is often very low calorie food!

It's been quite a journey, and I've learned a lot along the way about being a healthy weight, losing weight in a healthy way, and maintaining a healthy weight indefinitely. My weight loss is inextricably linked with my running, so this blog will definitely be covering exercise as part of the weight loss routine. Without the exercise, I never could have gotten to where I am.

So, where am I? I'm 5' 8" and currently 150 pounds. At my heaviest, I was near 195 pounds and beginning to have many unhappy health issues including high cholesterol, triglyceride levels, chronic acid reflux, snoring with sleep disruptions, and pains in my sides from ligaments around my rib cage stretching so much I had to go ask the doctor if something was wrong.  My diet consisted of fast foods, processed foods, very few fruits and vegetables, and lots of pizza. I had also been a smoker for most of my adult life. I had a sedentary desk job and didn't do much else as far as physical activity goes. A bad combination.

The bottom line was that I was killing myself. Not even very slowly. So, I began not one, but several attempts to get myself to and maintain a healthy weight. It has taken me several years, multiple attempts, through many plateaus, diet changes, learning processes, and personal discovery to get here.

Full disclosure, I am no expert on diet, nutrition, exercise, or physiology, but I have learned a great deal of practical information and how these things affected me. Don't take my word for anything, especially diet-related, because the information is constantly evolving. Check it out for yourself, and ask your doctor for advice.

I have friends who are in different stages along the way of major weight loss/health initiatives who I intend to invite to contribute to this blog as well, so hopefully there will be information here that will be useful and interesting to many people.

So... without further ado... welcome to the discussion!!! I welcome your comments and feedback.