64 lbs total in about 10 years

aaronburgess

My name is Aaron and I'm from Cincinnati, OH.

I'm new to MFP but I really like the app and wish I had discovered it a long time ago. I have never shared my story publicly but I've always wanted to thinking it might encourage someone else.

Over the last 10 years I've slowly lost 64 lbs. At about age 30 I weighed 235lbs and had high cholesterol (290). This is a picture of me with my wife about 10 years ago.



I lost most of my weight incrementally and very slowly. I made slight modifications to my diet and added reasonable and doable exercising for someone that was completely out of shape. (If you are out of shape I would not recommend diving into a hard core workout program!) I accomplished my goal step by step and increased my dedication to deeper changes as I became more comfortable with new foods and exercising. I gave myself time and grace to lose the weight. Here are some of the first steps I took that got me down from 235 to 195.

1. I substituted Diet Coke for Regular Coke. I know Diet Coke is not good for you but it is better than regular Coke caloric-ally. I drank a lot of regular soda and this reduced my caloric intake tremendously.

2. Downsized fast food portions. I still eat about 90% of my meals in restaurants today. At the beginning I just ordered medium fries instead of large fries and a smaller hamburger instead of a Big Mac. You can lose weight eating fast food. Don't let them lie to you. My cholesterol even went down. I have co-workers who are amazed at how much I eat out and still stay thin! You just have to know how many calories are in the foods you are eating.

3. Starting walking 40 min. a day. I read an article about walking in a magazine. I hated running or any exercise that hurt. So I just starting walking. I got a pedometer and still use one today. I do no intense cardio still to this day! Still hate running. You don't have to walk fast but just start moving. We also got a dog and that has helped with the walking.

At about 195lbs I became more comfortable with different foods and started eating less hamburgers and fries, even the smaller portions, and started eating more salads and lean meats. I also became more comfortable eating diet foods like frozen yogurt instead of ice cream and did not crave sweets as much. I now will eat a protein bar as a snack! I think your body just adjusts overtime but often we try to change our habits too drastically and then we quit. It is also helpful to eat a "cheat" meal once a week if you are able to do so. Just eat whatever you want.

These slight modifications over the last 4 years helped me slowly get down to about 165lbs this year. I started weight training in January 2010 and have steadily put on about 17lbs of lean mass this year and have "bulked up" to about 175lbs. But my BF% is around 12% in the winter. This is a picture of me and my wife this past summer.

RaeLB

wow you look great, good job!