Okay, so changes to my routine.

I'm going to only partially do the low fat diet because I've started playing rugby with a local team that parctices 3x a week. The practices are aprox 3 hours long, and are heavy physical activity so I'll need to increase my caloric intake a bit to allow muscle to still grow.

The weights 3x/week will continue.

I measure my waist (at the belly button) it's 42" as of Oct 3rd

So I go my crazy on and spent the $125/mo to join Equinox.

Oh my god what a difference it makes! 24 Hour Fitness makes working out such a process of hurdel jumping, and Equinox streamlines everthing with a gym where you pay what it really costs to run a proper gym with the optimum ratio of members to equipment. The pool uses that non-cholorine system meaning your skin doesn't dry out, and there are no time limits for being in the pool. The members are friendly, and the staff generally knows the name of their members.

I'm pretty fucking happy. And I'm getting fit because I enjoy going to the gym again.

Okay, I decided I need outside assitance with weight loss. I've enrolled in Weight Watchers and I'm down 7lbs in 3 weeks. I hope to be at my intermediate goal of 210 by the time the burn happens.

A year later, going strong.

So a year later and my weight loss has stayed, and I've really put on a lot of muscle. The combination of Weight Watchers and paying a trainer for training 3x per week has really paid off for me.

I suppose the most important thing is that you realize real sustainable weight loss is going to take a year or two to reach your goals. No 12 week diet is going to work in the long term.

Weight Watchers is the program I used to lose my weight that actually resulted in a long term change to my eating habits. The program is easy to follow because you can't eat whatever you want, you just have to adjust the serving size. Over the course of a couple of months you relearn what an apropriate portion is, and it becomes natural. Even if you stop the official diet, as long as you try to keep eating smaller portions you're going to lose weight.

I've been working 3 days a week with a trainer for over a year now. That's cost me -a lot- of money. I do it though to keep me going because I fear I wouldn't if I didn't have cash to lose on the line. At the very least I recommend that you pay for 12 sessions with a trainer. At most gyms that'll set you back about $500. You'll want to choose a trainer that can see you at the same time every week so that you get in the habit of setting that time aside officially to work out. 12 Sessions is probably a month (or more if you miss a session or two which is normal) of workouts. The trainer well get you started at the right amount of weight, and also help you build the smaller muscles that are needed for doing strength training later.

The other piece of advice I have is to pay to go to the nicest gym you can find in your city. If that costs you more than $80/mo it should include towel service and have VERY CLEAN restrooms and locker rooms. The more you pay the more you're going to be surrounded by other people who are 1) serious and 2) office professionals. Leaving behind my cheap 24 hour fitness gym was the best thing I ever did. I never realized how much negative feedback I was giving my going to that shit hole with it's urine soaked restrooms, obnoxious sales staff, crap customer service, and dealing with "macho" attitudes on the workout floor. You want to look forward to going to the gym, not dreading it. Spend those extra dollars, give yourself the incentive.