I haven't posting much in a while and figured I ought to let
you folks know how things are going, at least those who have
been around a while.  Maybe those just getting started can
get a lift as well.

I now weight 180 pounds, which some of you will recall was
an adjusted up number after having reached 175.  175 was
interesting to get to, but not maintainable for me.  At 180
I feel good, I think I look good, and given how long I have
been at or around this weight it appears that I really can
maintain this.  I'm still wearing pants with a 32 inch
waist, though I do have two pairs of pants which I wear that
actually have a 30" waist...a different cut of pants to be
sure.

At this stage of my weight maintenance and exercise program,
though I do have to pay a certain amount of attention to
food quantities, I am finding that exercise has more impact
(in terms of how I look and feel) than most anything else.
I had a 4 week period where I was literally working 7 days a
week and nearly around the clock and because of this my gym
time suffered (as did my family life) and a few pounds crept
back into the mix.  Thankfully that work stretch is behind
me and I'm back to my exercise schedule again, with the
weight right back where it needs to be.

I am pretty much running on auto pilot at this point, eating
80-100g of carbs/day, with about 1800-2000 calories per day,
some days less but rarely more.  (So long as we don't have
any almonds or cashews in the house...almonds and cashews
are calorie dense, call my name loudly when they are around,
and are evil ;-)

This does not mean this is easy at this point, old habits,
bad habits, die hard...I could still easily overeat if I
were to allow myself to do so.  So far I have been
successful in keeping such compulsions well under control,
for the most part.  And when I haven't, well I know what I
need to do and I do it.  Diligence is everything.

There are only a few foods that I have not added back to my
regular diet, these being rice, breads, pasta and sugar.
Except for sugar it would not be accurate to say I never eat
these, but I have long since learned to control portion size
such that what I eat is consistent with my dietary targets
mentioned above.  (Except for almonds and cashews....they
cannot be negotiated with as they know no moderation :-)

And life goes on.  My oldest daughter was married this past
November as planned.  I had the honor of walking her down
the aisle and then got to dance at here wedding for many
hours.  Some of you will recall that this was one of my
motivators for getting the weight off...I simply wanted to
be there for my daughter and I wanted her to be able to be
proud of me, as I am proud of her.

My younger brother, who had heard about my weight loss and
that of my wife, appears to have had it strike home when he
actually saw us in person when we visited Arizona and family
in December.  He has since gotten serious about losing his
excess weight...this time I have a feeling he will make it.
I am happy to have provided a certain amount of inspiration
for him.

This weekend my wife and I will celebrate our 22nd wedding
anniversary.  I cannot tell you how nice it is to look back
at last years anniversary pictures, know that I looked and
felt pretty good then and know that now, a year later,
having been able to maintain what I worked so hard for this
year, I have a solid indicator that I not only can be
successful at this, I have been successful at this.  As has
my wife.  Oh yeah, having this wonderful person keep me in
her life for 22 years has not been too shabby either.

Keep up the good effort all.  Till next time...