The motivation to work out every morning has been waning the past few months. Personal issues have prevented me from hitting the gym as often as I'd like, and the weather has not been cooperative for a noontime walk. I'm still hitting the free weights and doing situps and pushups every night, but I like at least a couple scheduled cardio outings a week to keep things in check. Fortunately, it's summer time, so raking the lawn, riding my bike with the kids, or just taking the kids for a walk around the neighborhood gives me an excuse to get out and move.
The biggest question I hear when folks find out about my weight loss is "How did you do it?" The hard part is giving the answer: I counted my calories very carefully, was honest with myself about what I was putting into my body, and limited my intake. It takes a ton of willpower - willpower that I still draw upon today - but the "secret" really is that simple. When I started the diet over five years ago, I took two weeks before I started and wrote down everything I ate in those two weeks. I then calculated the caloric content of everything, and tallied up my daily caloric consumption.
The figure was awfully close to 4,000 calories - for someone in a
I cut back to 2,500 calories a day. Then 2,000. Then 1,750. As more weight came off, I found it addicting to step on the scale and see the progress. I set a goal weight for myself of 220 pounds, this being my weight through much of college when I was lifting weights every day. My goal was to lose a pound a week - this was a long haul effort - by making small changes that I could live with even when I stopped dieting. I reached my goal weight after about 10 months (I started at less than 284; I think 272) and reassessed, bringing to 200 and eventually 180.
It's been a long, difficult road, but I have found it immensely rewarding. Several friends and co-workers have been alternately inspired and/or shamed into going on diets of their own - I've had friends tell me I inspired them to lose weight; and co-workers (and family members) who started their own weight loss program "because if Jay can do it, I had damn well better be able to"... It's all about setting a good example for my kids - eating healthy, exercising, getting my blood pressure under control (over four years without medication!).
I want to be part of their lives for a long time, and being an overweight lardass wasn't going to cut it...
That is all.
16 comments:
Sedimentary is good, but sedentary is better. Sedimentary is how coal and limestone are formed.
*grins*
Congrats on that. My wife lost 75 pounds in 2 years (I think it was 2, anyway) and I know how tough it was for her.
I could stand to lose 40 pounds myself (well... maybe 50). Getting off the meds would help a lot, but I'm not sure that's an option (actually, it's not an option at all. If I could get the Dr to give me something that didn't cause weight gain...). Sigh. I guess it'll have to be... excercize . :)
Congrats Jay! it goes on sooooo much easier than it comes off thats for sure!!!.
And BOB.. LOL good catch ;)
You certainly are a good example of how it's more about lifestyle change than dieting. I have always found that keeping a food diary keeps me honest with myself. Even at a normal weight I like to keep track so I am less likely to put junk in my mouth. I use the website Livestrong now, it's easy and I have an app for my phone. Great story, thanks for sharing.
D'oh! Thanks Bob.
Although, if you knew me at the time, my ass was likely to form shale and limestone from all the sitting on it I did... ;)
Thanks everyone. I'm just posting this to keep myself honest. Lately I've been losing motivation, working out less and less, and I wanted to kick myself in the ass and get myself back on track...
"Lately I've been losing motivation"
Those tacti-pants make your butt look big.
(Good job on the lifestyle change!)
Great job, Jay. Four years is freaking phenomenal. It's so easy to fall off and gain it all back.
I lost 50 pounds, kept it off for over a year, and then major life events (aka having a daughter!) served as an excellent catalyst/excuse for gaining most of it back. Now I'm struggle again to use wanting to be healthy for her as motivation to get back down to where I need to be.
Your post is serving as an excellent reminder/motivation.
Dave,
Thank you. That's exactly why I posted this today.
Believe me, if *I* can do it, *anyone* can...
Jay, I want to do better now. Last year I hit the big 300 and nearly fell off the scale as I believed myself to be "somewhere in the 270's." I too started calculating my calorie intake and found it to be around 3800 a day. I Immediately cut it to around 2500, then after 3 months cut it further to 2000. After 5 months (July through November) I'd lost 30lbs.
Life got busy during the holidays and I fooled myself into believing that "I'll start again at the first of next year." Here we are in May and I'm up 12lbs from where I ended last November and haven't "started" again.
I'm 6'3" and in High School I was a solid 235, athletic and muscular. At 30yrs old now, my goal is to get to and maintain a weight in the 240-250 range.
Congratulations SOOOO much, Jay!! And in addition to the no-mess benefit, you should relish the ability to chase down anyone who hurts your little girl and nail his sorry hide to your barn door :)
(What? You don't have a barn? No worries, I'm sure double trouble will let you borrow his. Or his backstop.)
Good timing on this one. My wife was just asking me when we will resume our weekly hikes. I also just invested in a new bike helmet so I can start riding again. Of course, as soon as I got home, I found my old one. I also head out for a three day hike in a couple of weeks. My legs went a bit soft over the winter, needs fixing.
Congratulations and good luck in the future.
Who needs a barn?
A few years ago my oldest daughter was leaving for a dance with her date. I smiled and told her "Have fun, be safe." I looked at the boy, smiled and said "Be a gentleman." He grinned at me and snarked back "Right, cause if I don't you'll hunt me down and nail my hide to the barn door?"
I let the smile drop from my face, and told him "If you give me a reason to hunt you down - no one will ever find enough of you to nail up anywhere."
He brought my daughter home 30 minutes early.
Good going.
I, too, have been on a revolutionary diet -- less food, more exercise. (Shocking concept, huh? {grin})
Six days of cardio (15 - 30 minutes, depending on how quickly I wake up) on the elliptical.
Each day before the cardio I do pushups & situps to US Army PT test standards -- alternating sets * so that one day I do pushups to the 17-21 year old APFT standard and situps to my current age standard, and the next day flip 'em so I'm doing pushups to "elderly" and situps to "young buck".
No PT on Sunday for recharge.
Started the beginning of March. I've lost over 40 pounds since BEFORE Christmas (last weigh-in I have for data. . . so it doesn't include holiday weight gain.) Heck, I've lost about five pounds since Pittsburgh. . . Ultimate goal of another 45 (at 180 pounds - not seen since I hung up my Hat - I look good. . . )
* For non-exercisers out there, letting a particular muscle group rest rather than taking it to the point of collapse anerobically EVERY DAY is highly efficient in terms of pain vs gain. If you are gonna pump the same group every day, you had better know what you're doing, or you'll hurt yourself and LOSE muscle tone. (Trust me on this -- your tax dollars paid for my knowledge of PT, rapid conditioning, and maintenance of conditioning.) {chuckle}
Shorter Half's comment is spot on regarding not doing the same muscle group everyday.
I do a different muscle group each day. Tri/Bi's one day, shoulders & back another, legs another.
Great job Jay! Keep it up!
Good on you, I could probably stand to lose about 20 lbs myself(or preferably, stay the same weight, but exchange fat for muscle). I got about 3 inches surplus around the belly region.... and a little bit of extra cushion to sit on. (I'm 5'7" and 165 lbs).
Congrats! I lost 100 and gained it all back. Hoping I'm on track after finding a medical issue I didn't know about and can fix that, sigh... again.
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