I'll tell you why You Can Do It

January 1st 2011 I weighed 273.9 lbs with no energy, no purpose, and generally miserable to the point that I accepted that. My wife who stays with her elderly mother 200 miles away several months earlier had started a weight loss program, and during our weekend visits I was noticing changes to her. I decided that to help her I too had to change. I told a couple of friends that by opening day of trout fishing season (4 months) I was going to lose 40 lbs, and in return I received a blank stare like I had just announced that I was an alien or something. I used the Wii with the balance board during the cold weather and when the weather finally got better my choice was to run. My goal was that when the 400 people that were going to be selected to run across the Mackinaw Bridge on Labor Day 2011 I was going to be one of them since I’ve previously walked the 5 mile span 10 times before. To do this you had to have run a 5K event to qualify. In my rush to get ready for a qualifying race I of coarse strained my knees and really struggle between spring time snow storms and the knee problems of course. Too much to fast is not good. I finally ran my first 5K and really enjoyed it and began entering more. The competition with beating your time and placing well within the group and the mind games during the race are exciting. I entered the lottery for the bridge run and was chosen so anyone in Mackinaw City Michigan on Labor Day we’ll see you there. As for the opening day goal I didn’t lose 40 lbs instead I lost 45 lbs. In total I’ve now ran 9 5K races and weigh 189.5 lbs (7 months). Why did this work for me? First start by drinking allot of water, yes that’s boring but essential. You can use products like non sweetened Kool-aid or Mio to flavor it. Don’t pile food on your plate use smaller portions and supplement water for the difference between what you have and what you want, since in the beginning you are still going to want to feel full when you are done. A full 8oz glass of water prior to the meal and whatever you need after the meal will help. Do something walk, run, bike, stretch anything that makes you move, chasing kids around the house all day might not really fill the bill if your still not reducing your weight, if you are keep going. Lean meats in small portions, fruits and vegetables as much as you want. Low to no fat dressings and low sodium. No sodium reduces electrolyte level, which in my case also caused some of my knee joint problems. So minimal salt on food and Gatoraide was helpful. Don’t say you can’t do it because you can. I’m asked all the time how I lost all this weight and my answer is that, you really have to want to lose the weight. Of course everyone wants to, but are they willing to make the sacrifices and dedicate to their goals, that’s the difference. Less food will not make you starve, more exercise in moderation at first will not harm you, but not believing in yourself and what you can do can kill you. Love yourself, trust yourself and turn yourself into that other person that you want to be. Good times ahead for you.