I’m 45 years old and feel every bit of it most of the time. I am blessed with a beautiful wife and a lovely and talented little girl. {I’ve been heavy all my life.~I have struggled with weight issues most of my life.~For as long as I can remember, I have been overweight When During my teenage years I did not get that heavy. Then one day I wake up and I’m 163 lbs heavier than when I got out of high school. There is no one thing I can point to that led me to the shape I was in. The pounds just seemed to add up throughout the years for with no apparent cause. I have read the message boards at the biggest loser weight loss forum and seen this story repeated by many different people, most of us don’t know how and why we get into the shape that we do.
I was watching television and was inspired by the contestants on the Biggest Loser to do something about my life. I realized that I could make the effort that was needed to lose the weight. I consider myself a doer and feel I have the resolve to meet goals that I set. My spouse has a problem with her weight too. We discussed our weight and the need to do something. We knew that it was going to take more than a six pack ab exercise program, but we weren’t sure exactly what we were going to do until we started to talk to some of the people at the church that we attended and found out they had the same desire to lose weight that we did. So we formed a weight loss group and began our journey.
One thing I quickly learned was that the pressure of weighing in every week was very motivating. I not want to be the least loser. I wanted to be near the top. Because of my nature, I prefer winning and felt that it was something that I could do.
Shortly after we started the Monday night program, my wife sought out some information about how to lose weight on the internet at sites such as http://www.fatlossfactor.com, and she was able to develop a diet and exercise program that we could follow. I was able to do my program in my basement. My first workouts lasted 20 to 30 minutes at a time. Doing more than I could handle could cause injury to myself, and that would not help me lose weight.
We made adjustments to our diets. I was never told about how important every meal could be and was prone to skipping meals often. Fortunately we had seen reports that told us one of the keys to losing weight is not to skip meals.
The week preceding the first weigh in, I got 3 workouts in. They lasted anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes. I kept my calorie intake between 2000 and 2500 calories a day, I was very unsure how well I had done when our group got together. I could tell I’d lost some weight, but I didn’t know how much. My turn came at the meeting and I was weighed in. I had lost twelve pounds. Nothing could hide my jubilation.
I was able to keep my momentum going in the upcoming weeks and saw my weight drop from two to six pounds at every weigh in. How many pounds that came off of me depended mainly on the amount of effort I put out. I found that if I worked harder at my exercise routine and was more vigilant in watching what I eat, I would see a bigger drop.
I really didn’t think I would notice much change. After a little time, I was able to wear some of my old jeans that hadn’t fit in a while. I noticed after about a week that I had more energy. I wasn’t spending that much time exercising, but I felt much stronger. Some of the health issues I dealt with were subsiding. We were losing weight together, and both my wife and I were very happy and glad to keep it up. But I was making progress. I might not be surrounded by millions of viewers, but I feel like I am still a champion.