So, 2025 was a big year for me. I had spent most of my 20’s very much living in excess. I was smoking a lot of cigarettes, and I was eating and drinking a lot. At some point the batteries in my scale had died, and so the highest peak weight I had reached was about 320lbs, buuut I think I must have reached closer to 330 or maybe even 340.
Nearer the end of 2024 I stopped eating dinner most nights. I also stopped smoking once I got home from work. I used to sit in the garage, I’d tinker on things, I’d read on my kobo, and chain smoke most of the evening away. It was really bad, we’re talking 3 packs a day. So near the end of 2024, in around October, I reached a tipping point. I was feeling overwhelmed with life and I was not handling things very well. I ended up finding an escapist outlet that caused me to rewire things about me. I know its gonna sound kinda dumb, but I got really into FiveM Grand-theft-auto RP. I was absolutely engrossed in it. I would come home from work, “fly in” and handle my Role play lawyer duties all night long. I was super busy with that all night long, so absolutely engrossed that I would skip dinner, and I couldn’t go outside for smoke breaks so I started chewing nicotine gum. Months flew buy, suddenly it was spring time 2025. A friend of mine encouraged me to get batteries for my scale, and she encouraged me to take the last few steps and fully quit smoking.
With the scale battery replaced, I found that I weighed 286. And with that I was inspired. That same friend and I were going to compete in a weight-loss challenge. And so we did! Through the spirit of competition, I managed to get down to 239lbs! These days its come back up a little, I mean Christmas deserts are too hard to deny after all. The goal is to hit 220 by the end of summer 2026, so check back in a few months for an update!
As for the exercise part of fitness, during the summer I really enjoyed going for early morning walks around a local lake. A single lap takes about a half hour. Going just before the sunrise was really nice, I started going to bed really early, and if I needed more sleep I could skip a day and I could get it. On the weekends I really liked pushing my kid around in the afternoons.
And lastly, I dont think I’m ever going to be one of them macro focused people, but I have to admit, I have found the benefits of protein shakes to be undeniably. I currently am using the one in the last photo here, I find that this brand at least this flavour and their vanilla cake flavour are pretty tasty, and I can definitely feel the difference it makes when I have at least one or two a day. They really help with avoiding snacking too, which I think also has made a huge difference!