Me, back row center in black shirt. Everyone else are other people.

Progress is that I’m no longer winded bounding up the subway steps, I had to tighten my belt one notch, my back has not had pain all month and I’m 215 pounds, down from 228 three weeks ago.

Before I was getting to the Daily Burn studio, getting through the exercises one step at a time then feeling great for finishing. Now I’m actually looking forward to the workouts and I have that self-satisfied smug feeling of fitness 24/7. I’m thinking this is like women who forget the pain of childbirth (and the unbearable pain of raising a child) then go back to push out another kid.

My advice for those who want advice from someone who totally let himself go?

1. Obviously Daily Burn and all exercise. For me, exercise is not just about weight because I know, you cannot out-exercise a bad diet. It’s about the mental boost, feeling fit and keeping my shit tight. In addition to the DB365 workouts, I try to take my dog on super long walks between blizzards and I hit the gym to do weights twice a week. Blink Fitness is $15/month and it’s clean and fine.
2. I use a free calorie and exercise tracker, My Plate by Livestrong. Very intuitive, lots of built in foods. It’s like when I started tracking my spending and I realized I was spending $135.00 everyday before I even got out of bed. I lost 6 pounds the week I was sick and injured, even though my activity was super light, because I stayed under my calorie budget of 2300 set by my Daily Burn coach.
3. I’m not a fuss pot when it comes to eating and I like to cook, so I’ve not suffered. I make dishes I want when I want them. The Daily Burn nutrition guidelines allow bread and pasta, (whole grains), meat, veggies, fruit, cheese… It’s all about simply getting a good combination of carbs, protein and fats and not going over your calorie goals. Not hard stuff.
4. Alcohol. Have none or less of it. Sorry. Go to a meeting.

It was mentioned by someone on the crew, after watching me in the monitor, that I might want to invest in tanning. “You blend into the white wall.”

I’m just happy my stomach is not a fat apron that hangs to my knees. Small goals.