weight loss - not spam

I am in a little bit of shock.  I just weighted myself and I have lost
20 pounds of a 40 pound objective.   I have never lost weight in my life
before.  I have steadily gained weight since I was 38 years old.  I am
now 55.  I was 6' 200 pounds and am now 180.
   

The last couple of years I have been a significant internet couch potato
who would eat probably 4 100g chocolate bars in a week and
probably drink 4 12 oz cans of pop in a week in addition to regular
meals.  

Here is how I lost 20 pounds in a 2 week period (blush) without knowing
it.

Exercise - I started running/jogging very slowly 4 to 5 times times a
week for 30 minutes.   Running/jogging very slowly not at a gym but
around the city block I live on in whatever clothes - sweatpants/jeans -
I had on.  Nothing fancy.  Because of my age and poor physical shape, I
got up at 5:00 am, walked to the corner store which was about 5 blocks
away and back to put my body in motion.  Then I did my run/jog.

Food - I have a  large glass of orange juice upon awakening.  While out
running/jogging, I cooked in its own juices (no oil) a half a frozen
boneless, skinless chicken breast (usually just over 100g) over very low
heat (no. 2 on a gas stove) for about 30 minutes in a covered cast iron
dutch oven (fire safety).  

Upon my return after a 1 block cool down, I eat my chicken breast along
with some low starch green vegetables and/or possibly a huge green salad
which consists of 1 tomato, 1 clump of lettuce, half cup of chopped
celery, 1 chopped carrot, and one tablespoon of mayo mixed with mustard
of choice and/or sometimes thinned out with vinegar, sprinkled with
freshly ground black pepper.

Lunch consists of 2 cups of mixed vegetables, bits of cooked chicken and
a handful of cooked macaroni.

Dinner consisted of the salad I previously mentioned.

I consume roughly 4 large home-made low fat bran muffins in a 12 hour
period.

I also consumed bottled water.  

I don't believe in buying bottled water but I made an exception and here
is why.  I reduced the water level of each bottle to the label level and
froze the bottle.  Each frozen bottle left on a counter at home or in
the office will give you at least 2 to 3 hours of cold (ice) water as it
melts.  Better than those stupid water coolers that dribble out cool but
not cold water and are very expensive.   When my bottle is almost
defrosted, I refill it and return it to the freezer at home or in the
office and take the other bottle.  So effectively 24/7 I have ice water
at no cost once I purchased the initial bottles.  

Friday nights I eat whatever I want.  I don't sweat the diet but I make
every effort to keep as close to the low fat diet as much as possible.  

The only comment I would add is that it is absolutely necessary that I
have my chicken in the morning.  It prevents me me from getting hungry
during the rest of the day.  I am a huge eater but this diet has
prevented me from getting hungry or tired.  My bike was broken during
this 2-week period but I will be resuming cycling as my means of
transportation.  There is too much traffic and the streets are too
dangerous to get any speed at cycling so I gently cycle around the city
and commute to work but it is in no way considered a physical workout as
I move too slowly and stop and go way too many times to be of a "health"
benefit or "weight loss" benefit.  

I expect it will take a long time and lots of effort to lose the next 20
pounds - but what a surprise.