Under 200 after 20 years - lessons learned

Wow congrats, that shift in perspective is something special. Getting that sense of what stable and clear-headed feels like - that's the real win underneath the number on the scale. The freedom from that mental weight is something people don't talk about enough.

Not eating for 3 to 5 hours before sleep has been the best approach I found. Picked up a couple tough lessons along the way though.

47 lbs down is huge, noticeable on anybody. maybe he's feeling weird about the change? sometimes people get awkward when someone close loses weight. could be worth asking what's really going on.

Hard-won wisdom: chew slowly. really slowly. Your stomach needs time to catch up and get used to things.

296 to 197 is the kind of result that takes long enough that the visual comparison stops making sense without photos. The size 14 from 24 is the more honest measure than the number because body composition changes independently of the scale, which is what you're seeing with the size-to-weight difference versus 2004. The slow-but-certain pace you describe tends to hold longer than fast drops because the habits around it have time to consolidate rather than being outrun by the medication effect alone.