55 pounds lost!

brentpaul33 · July 2014

My journey started about a year ago last may. I was always tired, hungry and had no energy to do sports with my son.
My family suffers from high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity. My father and all of my aunts, and uncles are all overweight as well as hip, back problems.

I decided enough was enough so I started following myfitness pal and entering in all the food I ate plus walking 30 min a day. My girlfriend decided she wanted to try it to. It went well for about 2 weeks and then she quit. It was really tough to stay motivated doing everything on my own.
She is a snacker and big eater. There are always Sugar and salty snacks are all over her counter.

There were 3 big things I changed: 1: no going out to eat, 2: not snacking all day, 3: exercise, 4: watching what I am eating.
I could tell within the first 2 weeks that my pants I could barely button were now loose enough that I needed to wear a belt. My cravings for food started to dwindle and so did my appetite. I continued on for about 2 months before I had food relapse. There was candy, and ice cream that I just had to have. Big mistake I ended up with a really bad stomach ache shortly after and the next day. It was my body's way of saying hey you should know better and don't eat all that junk you just don't need it anymore.
A month later I hit a plateau and I couldn't seem to shed any more weight. At this point I decided to try Tai bo. Holy moly it really worked me over in many ways and the weight just kept coming off. I was doing Tai bo for about 3 days a week until I hit another plateau. So I decided to add another day and a different tai bo video to the mix. I also upped my walking to an hour a day 7 days a week. By Christmas I had reached my goal of 55 pounds lost and I went down 4 pants sizes.
I went from a size 38 waist to a size 34.

I constantly get compliments from people and everything has changed for the better.

My son and I can now play soccer, basket ball and tag without me being too winded to play.
I haven't felt this great in years nor I have I been sick since I started improving myself. There wasn't anybody to really encourage me along the way but I did it for me and my son.

Were there moments that I wanted to quit? Sure but I wanted to feel better and be alive to see my grandchildren some day. Have I relapsed since then? Sure quite a few times and each time my stomach rejects the food and I pay for it later. I have gone out to eat a handful of time since starting the fitness plan. My body doesn't seem to like restaurant food and that quickly makes its way out also. I cook all my meals at home and make sure there are extras for lunch the next day.
By cooking my own meals I can make healthier choices on what I eat or how much.

It took me a total of about 7 months to lose all my weight.

A few things I learned along the way:
Just because the scale doesn’t move doesn’t mean you aren’t losing weight. It’s possible you are losing inches off your waist and just don’t realize it.
When you hit a plateau change up your workout a bit.
Stay hydrated and drink lots of water.
There are literally thousands of people out there right now trying to lose weight you are not alone.
Don't give up!

tiggsnanny · July 2014

Well done

very inspiring story, it's hard work but it can be done, you are living proof :drinker:

ParkerH47 · July 2014

thats great!! thanks for the insight!

brentpaul33 · July 2014

The most common question I get asked is what do I eat?
I eat no different than any other family who cooks meals at home.
For snacks I have string cheese, yogurt, peanuts, applesauce, or pistachios.
My family has this theory that all I eat are salads.
Yes it doesn't hurt to throw in a salad every so often.
I do make some substitutions however. For Tacos I Use Ground Chicken Instead Of hamburger.
Tracking things in myfitness pal helps immensely with making better choices. I had no idea all the calories in taco shells and hamburger buns. Most of my struggles have been mental. My stomach says it's full but my brain says just one more plate.

I feel blessed and flattered that 2 of my coworkers were inspired by me and started their journey as well.
I most certainly could not have done this without all the great knowledge here in the community.