First, how much weight did you lose? In one year, I lost 80 pounds. I have since put on a few pounds – some because I was too thin at my lowest weight and a portion is muscle – more about that later.

Back to the process…Within a few weeks, I was working out 5 days per week and logging all of my food. When I say all of my food, I mean every single thing that went into my mouth: liquid, solid, supplements, everything! I have to also give credit to the bodybugg. Aside from a few days when I was sick and while on vacation, I have worn it daily. I enter my food online via the website where I get the nutritional breakdown for each meal and day. The armband gathers data from my movement, heat coming out of my body, and moisture and calculates calorie expenditure at a relatively accurate rate (something above 95% accuracy). This allows me to track calories in versus calories out. During the year of losing weight, I made sure I averaged a 1,000 calorie deficit per day. That means I ate about 1,400 calories and used up about 2,400.

Sounds like a lot of work, eh? It was. However, over time, the words of my first trainer became true – “this is your time“.

Were there any obstacles, of course there were. I strained my sciatic nerve in January 2011 – just 8 pounds away from my goal. It kept me out of the gym for several weeks. But I kept up with my food plan so the damage was minimal.

To this day, my time in the gym is precious and all mine. I don’t share it with anyone else unless I choose to on my terms. And, what I saw in the mirror didn’t hurt my enthusiasm at all.  I went from a size 18/20 to size 4/6. My weight dropped from 208 to 128. And it took me 364 days. There is no magic pill, no secret, no special tool or object you can buy. Just hard work and diligence along with a healthy appreciation for yourself.

Okay, so you reached that goal, then what did you do? (If I told you now, why would you bother to come back for the rest of the story?)