Personal history of weight gain and loss

This is a brief yet comprehensive history of my weight gain and loss over the years

Back in 1989 when I was 18 years old, I went up to 196 pounds, and that was the most I weighed up until that point in my life. Before that, I had always been lean. Between October of 1989 and May of 1990, I got down to 155 or 160 pounds.

In 1991 I got down to 110 pounds at 5’-11.5” but got back up to 160 pounds, and stayed there until age 27.

In 1998 I got weighed and was in the high 190’s, and in 1999 I had a doctor’s appointment and got weighed and was 240 pounds. I didn’t even realize I was that obese. In 2002 I was on a 2,000 calorie a day diet, and over the course of 6 months or so, I got down to 175 pounds.

Over the course of a couple of years, I went back up to the 290s. I bought a scale and weighed myself, and gradually got down to 240 pounds.

Between 2010 and 2012, I stayed between 270 and 240. In October 2013 I went on a diet, and in November 2014 I weighed 204 pounds.

I gained weight progressively and was in the 230s for a decent amount of time, but junior college took up too much of my time and I gradually gained weight until I was in the 260s when I graduated in 2018.

In the summer of 2020, I moved to a rural area and bought a new scale. I was 293 pounds. Every year, I got down to a lower weight, but shot back up to the 290s. In 2021 I got down to 278, in 2022 I got down to 274.

I got a dog in December 2022 and walked him 5 times a day for a half hour each time, for 7 days a week. I got down to 265 pounds in 2023, but the dog died in February 2024. In April 2024, I got down to my record low of 259 pounds. That was my lowest weight in over 7 years.

From September 2024 until February 2025 I weighed in the 290s. In late February I weighed 286, but bought $40 of junk food and got to 300 pounds April 13th, 2025. I realized that in an emergency I would have a hard time walking the mile and a half to the bus stop if I needed to get to town, so I decided to go on a diet and start walking in the mornings.

Back during the summer of 2024, I knew I needed to walk, but liked staying up late so when I woke up, it was late in the morning and it was too hot to go for a walk. In April through August of 2025, I went to bed early and woke up around 6 am, and walked. I started out for half an hour, then did 40 minutes for a month, and eventually an hour each morning before breakfast.

I got to the low 270s in August of 2025.