I grew up in Illinois and was always reasonably active. I played baseball as a kid, joined football and track in high school, then got into weights and martial arts when I got to college. I fluxuated between 170 and 195 throughout college. After college I started working at a bar and decided I enjoyed beer more than I enjoyed exercise. The pounds started piling on over the next couple years. I crept up to 210,220...and by the time I moved to California in 1995, I was at 225.
In CA, I started hitting the gym thinking "This will be the answer.". My roomie and I enjoyed living in Venice Beach and being into the gym scene there. We both put on a lot of mass but neither of us really lost the fat we wanted to lose. I was jogging on the beach and lifting weights so I didn't understand why I wasn't slimming down. I was now up to around 235-240 with the added muscle weight. Looking back now, I can see that I was missing a vital component...I needed to stop eating like a horse or a pig or whatever other farmyard animal you would like to visualize in this scenario. We would walk down the boardwalk and each pick up a few cheap slices of pizza or hit the A&W rootbeer stand and have a triple burger with fries for dinner. Maybe we would head out to the local burrito stand and grab a variety of tasty tortilla-rolled treats. No matter where it was we thought about eating, nutrition and/or calories were never part of the decision making process.
In 2000, I moved to Phoenix, AZ. I was up to 245 now. I started jogging more frequently...but, naturally, I didn't modify my diet and saw minimal gains. Eventually, I had to stop jogging when I injured my knee since it just wasn't prepared for the physics involved in 245lbs of man meat pounding it repeatedly into the asphalt below.
In 2007, I got married....at a whopping 285lbs. I knew my wife from back in my days of 210lbs but she never complained about my weight (However, please don't get the impression that she doesn't generally complain.). I also worked with a lady who had some success being on a medically supervised diet plan and gave me her doctor's number. I had my reservations but could see that it was working for her so I looked into it. I went to an introductory meeting that laid out the fees and the basics of what would be involved.
Fees:
Starting the program = $400
Every other week you must have a blood test that is only covered by medical insurance if your primary care doctor writes a script for you = $0-50
Every other week you must come into her office for a weight-in/review of blood test = $55
The basic concept of the diet resembles a hardcore version of Atkins. There are as close to no carbs on this diet as one can imagine. There is also a list of pills (around 6) that are taken daily...various OTC vitamins/minerals and one prescription strength supplement. She claimed that men would lose .8lbs/day and women .5lbs/day. I thought it all sounded too good to be true but what did I have to lose other than $500 and a few dinners chock full of pizza and beer.
I started this diet in July 2007 at 285lbs and by the end of December 2007 I was 186lbs. Yes, 99lbs in under 6 months. Crazy. There are plenty of people who said, "Oh, I don't know if you should be doing that...that isn't good for you." (Many of those people were morbidly obese too by the way.) I will concede that while it may not be considered the "healthiest" or the "most ideal" way...it is the way that worked for me. I am now off blood pressure medications and I no longer have the strain on my joints, lungs, heart, etc. If anyone feels that I am less healthy for having taken this path, then I will gladly live with that.
In CA, I started hitting the gym thinking "This will be the answer.". My roomie and I enjoyed living in Venice Beach and being into the gym scene there. We both put on a lot of mass but neither of us really lost the fat we wanted to lose. I was jogging on the beach and lifting weights so I didn't understand why I wasn't slimming down. I was now up to around 235-240 with the added muscle weight. Looking back now, I can see that I was missing a vital component...I needed to stop eating like a horse or a pig or whatever other farmyard animal you would like to visualize in this scenario. We would walk down the boardwalk and each pick up a few cheap slices of pizza or hit the A&W rootbeer stand and have a triple burger with fries for dinner. Maybe we would head out to the local burrito stand and grab a variety of tasty tortilla-rolled treats. No matter where it was we thought about eating, nutrition and/or calories were never part of the decision making process.
In 2000, I moved to Phoenix, AZ. I was up to 245 now. I started jogging more frequently...but, naturally, I didn't modify my diet and saw minimal gains. Eventually, I had to stop jogging when I injured my knee since it just wasn't prepared for the physics involved in 245lbs of man meat pounding it repeatedly into the asphalt below.
In 2007, I got married....at a whopping 285lbs. I knew my wife from back in my days of 210lbs but she never complained about my weight (However, please don't get the impression that she doesn't generally complain.). I also worked with a lady who had some success being on a medically supervised diet plan and gave me her doctor's number. I had my reservations but could see that it was working for her so I looked into it. I went to an introductory meeting that laid out the fees and the basics of what would be involved.
Fees:
Starting the program = $400
Every other week you must have a blood test that is only covered by medical insurance if your primary care doctor writes a script for you = $0-50
Every other week you must come into her office for a weight-in/review of blood test = $55
The basic concept of the diet resembles a hardcore version of Atkins. There are as close to no carbs on this diet as one can imagine. There is also a list of pills (around 6) that are taken daily...various OTC vitamins/minerals and one prescription strength supplement. She claimed that men would lose .8lbs/day and women .5lbs/day. I thought it all sounded too good to be true but what did I have to lose other than $500 and a few dinners chock full of pizza and beer.
I started this diet in July 2007 at 285lbs and by the end of December 2007 I was 186lbs. Yes, 99lbs in under 6 months. Crazy. There are plenty of people who said, "Oh, I don't know if you should be doing that...that isn't good for you." (Many of those people were morbidly obese too by the way.) I will concede that while it may not be considered the "healthiest" or the "most ideal" way...it is the way that worked for me. I am now off blood pressure medications and I no longer have the strain on my joints, lungs, heart, etc. If anyone feels that I am less healthy for having taken this path, then I will gladly live with that.
After the diet phase ended, the maintenance phase kicked in. It was time to learn about food all over again. Balanced meals and portion sizes were stressed for the next few months. The doctor recommended a variety of food tracking websites to make sure I didn't fall back into old habits. My favorite was TheDailyPlate.com which has since combined with LiveStrong.com.
My weight shot up to 195 right after going off the diet which concerned me, but I have been maintaining well for the last year and half since. It can be a struggle to make the right choices when there always seems to be a vacation or special occasion to tempt one down the path of least resistance. I eat much healthier foods now than I had in the past, and when I feel the need to indulge myself, I try to do so in moderation. This experience taught me a great lesson about calories in/calories out and what the body actually needs in order to function. I am at 200lbs today and hope to be back under 195 when my birthday rolls around next month.
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Jeff, that picture is pretty impressive. Welcome!
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