Lost 80 lbs, gained a new Life!

I figure it's time to do a little bragging, and maybe give a little advice. I'm still very humble about the situation because of the total life transformation I had to make in order to lose the weight, but I am very proud of this milestone! In the last 15 months I have lost 80 lbs. (245 lbs. to 165 lbs.), dropped 7 inches in pant size (38 to 31), and dropped my BMI From obese to healthy. Also, in the past year I have run my first 10 k, hiked 13 peaks over 14,000 ft. and I eat healthier than I ever have in my entire life. I am just now transitioning to maintaining mode, but I know it will last the rest of my life, and that doesn’t scare me. So how did I do it?



I never starved myself during this process, nor did I live at the gym. Mostly I accomplished this goal by knowing what I eat (tracking calories) and knowing how much I weigh (tracking weight). I simply ate fewer calories than I burned in a day. That being said, I still made sure I ate enough to be alert and feel healthy. When I first started I tried to eat around 1300 calories. I work at a desk job and I was not motivated to work out on a regular basis. Some people will argue that 1300 calories for a 245 lb. male is too low, and I would be inclined to agree at this stage of my journey, but I want to be honest about my story. What is important to note here is that at first I added little to no exorcise. The reason I wouldn't recommend going as low as I did is because the transition back to a higher calorie diet is really difficult and takes time. I gained back 15 lbs over the winter because I started eating the way I was before I started loosing weight and my metabolism wasn't tuned for it.

When I decided to get back to loosing I started to add calories to my daily goal, the idea being that I would gradually find the level needed to eat in order to maintain a certain weight. Currently my base calorie goal is 1660, but I try to eat back 100% of calories burned during exorcise, so I typically eat around 1800 to 2200 calories depending on my exorcise level of a given day. What I found was that if you base your weight loss on how much you eat rather than how much you exorcise, you can go a week, two weeks, even a month without exorcising and still lose weight.

Gradually I did start to added exorcise that fit my lifestyle, at first it was going on walks with my dog after work, that led to training for a 10 k, and built up to going on hikes on the weekends. I wanted to do things that I could sustain long term. I didn't try any 30 day miracle workouts that I knew I wouldn’t want to continue doing forever. I also ate back the calories I burned so that I had enough energy to enjoy doing the things I wanted to do. My motto, of sorts, is lose weight with food, and improve health with exorcise. The idea is that you will always struggle with weight if you don’t eat right, so start with your food habits, and add exorcise as a bonus to help your overall health and fitness level.

Permanent changes I made to my eating habits:
1. I cut out as much processed foods as I could.
2. I reduced my sodium intake by more than 50%
3. I gave up red meat (not necessary, but it helped me widen my food palate).
4. I quit drinking sugary drinks

Things I have learned:
1. Losing weight is a numbers game. If you eat less than you burn you will lose weight. You still need to eat enough to fuel your body, so plan on a gradual loss instead of fast. This will make transitioning to maintaining easier. Use a scalpel not a chainsaw when cutting the calorie intake. The less stressful/hungry you are during weight loss the easier it is to make the changes permanent.
2. Don’t try to lose weight with temporary changes. If you try to eat diet foods or do crazy boot camps to drop weight, it is too easy to gain it back when you go back to normal food and exorcise levels. Again try to think long term and make changes that can last. Also eat things you enjoy while losing weight, if you don't like a low calorie food while on a diet, you will just go back to the higher calorie equivalent after you lose the weight. Try to enjoy the calories you eat so it can be a long term change in eating habits.
3. Cutting sugar from drinks is huge. It seems hard at first because our palettes get used to it and unsweetened beverages taste bitter or bland. I have never been big into soda, but I would down 3 or more Arnold Palmers (Ice Tea and Lemonade) in one sitting. What I did was slowly cut back on the lemonade till I was drinking just unsweetened tea. I realized that once my palette got readjusted to low sugar I actually enjoy the tea alone.
4. You have to avoid buying your go to snacks. My demise was always chips. I could down a bag of chips while watching TV if I wasn't careful. Obviously everyone who has ever lost weight will tell you, cutting things completely out of your diet will only cause a craving to build up until you binge. What I found was that if I bought tortillas that I used for meals that I had planned ahead of time, if I wanted a few chips to snack on I could bake a few tortillas in the oven, and use salsa to add flavor. This helps control the temptation to binge because you have to actually take a little time to prepare them before you can eat them, this allows you time to plan out how much you are going to eat.
5. When at all possible cook your own meals. Meal preparation can make a huge difference in calories. If you cook with fresh vegetables and unprocessed meats and keep track of the oils/butters used while cooking you are more apt to accurately assess your calorie intake.
6. Permanent weight loss requires life changes. It took a lot of self-evaluation and determination. Try to avoid the temptations of quick weight loss, take your time and make small adjustments that last. The sad truth is you will never reach a weight and health level in which we you can eat whatever we want.