How I lost 100 Pounds

In the summer of 2001, I weighed about 285 pounds, which was not fun. I lost over 100 of those pounds in 2002 by reading self-help books and keeping my daily calories to about 1600 calories. That meant reading labels and keeping a calorie count each day (see, math in real life!).

At first I ate a lot of spaghettios (I knew a can was 400 calories) and bologna (35 calories a slice), but later started eating healthier things because I figured out you could eat more if you eat things like vegetables. As I got smaller, I had more energy and ended up jogging pretty regularly.

Losing weight was literally painful, but it was also personally satisfying and kind of addicting. In recent years, I've gotten used to eating smaller portions (most of the time), I exercise for fun, but I still struggle with food. As of September 2009, I weigh about 185.. about 36% less than in 2001.

Timeline

• (1982) Born in St. Paul, MN.Ten ffingers, ten toes- looked like a "tree trunk" apparently.
• (1997) Moved to Finley, ND, where I disliked the small town lifestyle and loved the people and sports.
• (1999) Graduated from Finley-Sharon High School. Go Raiders!
• (2001) Graduated with a B.S. in Math and a Minor in Chemistry from the U. of North Dakota (UND).
• (2002) Lost 100 pounds. I've since regained 5 of the pounds but am still looking for the rest.
• (2003) Graduated with an M.S. in Mathematics from UND.
• (2003) Went on my first date with Melissa Landry on June 3rd. We ate at Lola's, watched Finding Nemo, and played Memory. It was a tie. She's won every other time we've played :(
• (2004) After working for a year at Oregon State on a Ph.D. program, I moved back to North Dakota for Melissa and taught for 2 years as a Senior Lecturer in the Math Department.
• (2005) Finally got Melissa to marry me on July 2, 2005 in Austin, TX. It was hot.
• (2006-Present) Working toward a Ph.D. in Educational Mathematics at UNC while Melissa teaches P.E. So far it's been the hardest thing I've ever done, but I'm loving it.