A Year of Weight Loss


Thanksgiving day in 2007 was on November 22nd and for some reason that night I decided to weigh myself. I rarely weigh myself and from looking at myself in the mirror, I knew the results weren't going to be good, but I was surprised by how bad it was and how skilled I had apparently become at rationalizing and lying to myself about my weight. I'm 6'1'' tall and by general standards, I should weigh no more than 189 pounds to NOT be 'overweight' and no more than 227 to not be 'obese'. That night I weighed 244.4 pounds putting me 17 pounds into the 'obese' range. In some way or another, I've always wanted to lose weight since college, but that night I had REALLY had enough and was determined to fix this. I was going to stop lying to myself and stop hiding from the problem. Everything else in my life was going to take a back seat to getting in shape and losing weight.

I set 3 goals. My first one was 195 pounds - a safe number UNDER 200 pounds and my typical weight during college. My second goal was 189 - the highest weight I could be and NOT be 'overweight' and also close to what I weighed during my Senior year of high school. My last goal was 175 - a nice round number well below 'overweight', my typical weight during my Junior year of high school, and a weight I felt like I could just look really well with.

It's been a year and I'm so thankful that I was able to learn from my past diet and exercise mistakes, stay motivated and on track to follow through with my plan. Exactly a year to the day has passed and as of 11/22/2008, I weigh 188 pounds - 'NORMAL' weight. That's 56.4 pounds lost and accounts for about 23% of my original weight. I've lost track of how many people have commented about my weight loss. In fact, I've lost so much that some people have made multiple comments - once when I was in the 220's and then again sub 200's.

* click on picture to enlarge BEFORE
08/23/2006 @ work	08/26/2006 @ home playing trivial pursuit	06/29/2007 @ the parents house for dinner
AFTER
10/10/2008 @ a comedy club	10/18/2008 @ cousin's wedding	11/01/2008 @ my house for Halloween Party

Several people have asked me what I did and the best short answer is a lot of old fashioned hard work, eating right, and exercising. However, here is a 'Cliff's Notes' version of the most important 8 bullet points with a brief explanation. At some point, I may post an extended, unabridged version. It's worth mentioning that when I've tried to lose weight in the past, I've always looked for just one or two simple things to do - like JUST run or JUST lift weights or JUST stay away from fried foods or whatever. That never worked for me and I've finally realized to be successful, you have to do just about everything the right way. Yes, it is hard work, but not as hard as you might think and definitely worth it.

1) Deal with your addiction to food
     Don't use food as a means to happiness. I'm convinced that MOST people who are overweight are addicted to food and use food for happiness, comfort, or to avoid boredom. Find out what makes you unhappy and find the right way to deal with it - DO NOT deal with it using food. This step is more important than all the other points combined. If you can control your addiction to food, you can control what you eat, and if you can control what you eat, there's no reason you can't lose weight.

2) Eat right and reasonable portions
     Low calorie, high protein, low fat, reasonable carb foods are the way to go. Stay away from fast food, buffets, and try to only drink water. Don't drink calories unless that is your meal, like a protein shake. Stay away from any diet that is TOO much of anything like NO carb, NO fat, or ALL protein. You should wake up every morning feeling hungry for breakfast. In fact, you should feel hungry before every meal. You should NEVER feel full, ONLY barely satisfied. You can give yourself 2 or 3 cheat meals a week, but those should be far and few in between compared to the healthy foods you eat on a regular basis. And, don't think just because you're eating healthy, that you can't enjoy it. There are tasty, healthy foods everywhere - for me, they are oatmeal, sandwiches, salads, protein bars/shakes, chicken, turkey, salmon, pasta, and the like. You can even prepare 'unhealthy' foods like pizza in a 'healthy' way using low fat cheese, low carb crust, and the like. Be creative and don't let a diet let you feel like you're on a diet. Make the paradigm shift that you will have satisfying, healthy food more often and junk food occasionally as opposed to the exact opposite, which was what I was doing. You should also read labels and count your calories to make sure you know what how much you're taking in. Be careful to check serving sizes, too - most bowls of cereal, for example, are only 1 cup per serving and most people put much more than a cup in a bowl. Calories can add up quickly if you're not watching. Even AFTER you meet your weight loss goals, you should ALWAYS eat right and reasonable portions.

3) Lift weights 4 to 7 times a week for 30 minutes to an hour
     Male or female, you need to pump some iron which will build muscle, burn fat, and increase your metabolism. Too many people skip this step - it is VERY important. Do some research and learn a wide variety of exercises and the right technique to lift weights. I recommend targeting your legs one day, your arms another day, and your back another day. Make sure you vary your routine in terms of what exercises you are doing, the number of reps, and the weight. Your body will get used to something over time and you will STOP getting good results because of it. After a month or two, make sure you vary everything so your body is constantly guessing. Lifting weights 4 to 7 times a week IS a lot, but you have to bust it to get results - after you meet your weight loss goals, you can tamper it off to 3 times a week.

4) Do cardio 4 to 7 times a week for 30 minutes to an hour or more
     To lose weight, you have to BURN more calories than you take in. Cardio like running, swimming, or biking is the best way to burn calories. But, don't do JUST cardio and not lift weights. Don't JUST lift weights and not do cardio. I've tried each method without the other and they don't work well - you get good results early, but then things tamper off. Doing BOTH works wonders. Make sure you vary your routine in terms of how long you run, the distance you run, the intensity you run, the direction you run, and the surface you run on. Your body will get used to something over time and you will STOP getting good results because of it. After a month or two, make sure you vary everything so your body is constantly guessing. Doing cardio 4 to 7 times a week IS a lot, but you have to bust it to get results - after you meet your weight loss goals, you can tamper it off to 3 times a week.

5) Drink 8 glasses of water per day
     Your body needs 8 glasses of water a day to function properly. Drinking water has no calories, makes you feel fuller, and helps you feel more awake and energetic. Give your body what it wants and needs.

6) Get 8 hours of sleep per day
     When you're working out all the time, it's important to give your body the rest it needs to function properly. Not getting enough sleep or too much can also adversely affect your metabolism. Give your body what it wants and needs.

7) Eat 5 small meals per day
     It's much better to eat 5 small meals per day than it is 2 or 3 large ones. Your body will increase its metabolism because it is constantly digesting food and doesn't get the 'I'm starving' signal and try to hold on to calories. It can also mentally play well in your favor because you're always eating and helps not feel like you're on a diet or missing out. Another meal is always just around the corner. Even AFTER you meet your weight loss goals, you should ALWAYS eat 5 small meals per day.

8) Weigh yourself everyday and record it
     This is very important because you have to stay on your game and SEE the results and small victories. I didn't lose over 50 pounds in one night, week, or month, however, by tracking results daily, I was encouraged EVERY night I lost weight - even if it was just 0.2 pounds. Buy a scale accurate to 0.2 pounds because a win is a win and makes a difference. No, you won't lose weight every night and you shouldn't because fluctuations are a normal part of the process. Sometimes you will gain or lose for reasons that don't seem to make sense based on how well or bad you ate or worked out. Sometimes you will hit frustrating plateaus and not understand why. HOWEVER, if you keep weighing yourself and keep working, you will LOSE more days than you gain AND you will continue to see the overall number drop and all of that is VERY encouraging and an important component for success. Weighing yourself also encourages you to stick with good exercise and eating habits because the scale is there to keep you honest. Don't fear the scale - use it to help get a lot of wins and achieve your goals. Even AFTER you meet your weight loss goals, you should ALWAYS weigh yourself everyday so you can stay on track and not gain it back. Set a yellow flag weight that will put you back into "diet mode" to lose weight and a red flag weight that you will never reach again.


If you're in the business of trying to lose weight, I hope those tips help you as well as they helped me. I won't lie. As I said before, it does take a lot of hard work, but looking back, it's not unreasonably hard either. Step #1 is THE key to getting your mind and body in the right frame for success. Eating and exercising right was not as much of a sacrifice as I initially thought it would be - I still eat great tasting junk food, just NOT as often as I was when I was overweight. It tastes even better when you're not eating it all the time. And, I enjoy the healthier foods, too. Yes, I still exercise and hopefully I always will, but EVERYONE should exercise no matter what shape you're in, so it's no big deal. It helps me feel better and should help me live longer and look younger, too - all great benefits and worth working for.

I've attached all of my weight data for a year plus a graph below. I was able to weigh myself every night except for 03/07/2008 when I was unexpectedly stranded @ exit 143 on I40 near Waverly, TN due to a snow storm and didn't have my scale with me. Aside from that, I always weighed every night and took my scale with me whenever I went out of town. I tracked my data @ Physics Diet dot com, although I didn't follow the Physics Diet.

I still have more weight to lose. I'd like to reach my last goal of 175 and less than 10% body fat. I'm not sure how feasible that is, but I'll keep trying until I hit the number or the numbers stop dropping. Then the journey will only be half over and the other half of the challenge begins where I maintain what I started. Hopefully 11/22/2009, I'll be able to say I am doing just that.