How'd I Lost a Hunert Pounds OR From Flab to Fab!

****Please note, I have not reached my goal weight yet, and I planned on writing this article then. I reached a milestone of a hundred pounds lost, however, and I reckon this information is just as valid now as it will be when I reach my goal. I hope it helps someone.

Carrying a Heavy Load

Last week I transported two bags of goat feed from my garage to our humble goat barn not too far behind my house. The bags weighed fifty pounds each. As I hoisted one up and onto my shoulder and walked a short distance to a waiting cart, I could hardly imagine actually carrying that much weight all the time. I hoisted the second one up and took it to the cart. The two bags together equal the amount of weight I've lost since October 1st, 2011. It's insanely crazy to think of a hundred pounds of fat hanging on my frame day in, day out. If you put a bag of feed on each shoulder, your body would immediately feel the oppression of its weight and, in no time, start to tire from the added load. A hundred pounds! Good grief! That's heavy! 

The Things That Scare Me Most

I knew I needed to lose weight. I helped a co-worker carry a heavy item a short distance, and, once we put the object down, I was out of breath. Then it took forever for me to recover. My co-worker, who really isn't in shape either, kept looking at me and asking, "Are you going to be OK?" What a wake up call! If I am getting this way now, how will it be 10, 20, 30 years from now? What will I want to do that I will not be able to do? I could already see it in my life. I was not doing many of the activities that I used to because I was out of shape and lazy.

And the health risks of being overweight are undeniable. First there are heart problems, which run on my mom's side of the family anyway. I wasn't just overweight. My heart and lungs were not conditioned because of my sedentary lifestyle. The heart becomes weak due to its lack of inactivity, and its condition deteriorates. Just like any muscle, a lack of use will eventually render it useless.

Another health factor that really gave me the heebie jeebies was diabetes. I don't mean to minimize or make light of the disease, but it really is a frightening thing to have. Not only is it closely linked to cardiovascular disease, heart attacks, and strokes, it is a disease that, if it fully runs its course, causes one to basically slow rot. Diabetes ultimately damages small blood vessels as well as the nervous system. Ultimately, these two combine and many diabetics lose their eyes and limbs due to the slow decay of these body parts. If a heart attack or stroke don't get ya, its a slow, miserable death.

Over 11% of the U.S. population 20 years and older have diabetes. About 27% of people 65 and over have it. And the numbers continue to grow! In my state alone, the percentage of those diagnosed with diabetes grew from less than 1% in 1958 to almost 3% in 1985 to over 11% in 2010. Guess what other percentages grew as well? Obesity was a little over 10% in 1985 and up to over 31% in 2010! Now just because those two things happened concurrently does not mean they are related. Please don't be duped by junk science. But the correlation between the most cases of diabetes and obesity and inactivity are well established and documented. 

So what does it all mean? The risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and a host of other problems are greatly reduced by maintaining a healthy body weight and exercise. Yup, you can prevent most of these woes! Not only that, many of them can be reversed. Many with diabetes who lost weight and developed an active lifestyle actually reversed their disease to the point that it simply disappeared.

So What's Our Problem?

If such terrible, physical maladies are, for the most part, preventable, why aren't we doing anything about it? The problem is instant versus delayed gratification. There is a saying that goes like this: hard work pays off in the future, but procrastination pays off now! When it comes to our health, it appears many of us hold fast to this motto. Eating large amounts of bad-for-you food and inactivity is enjoyable.  If it weren't, the national trends would be headed the other way. And the pleasure that comes from these things is immediate, just like we want it. 

Eating healthy and exercise don't appear to have an immediate pay off. In fact, they feel like self-denial. Exercise brings the sweat and an expense of energy, and that huge hamburger or extra piece of chocolate pie sure seem more satisfying than that diety food. Plus being in good, physical condition may pay off in the future. It reduces the risks of disease, but it doesn't elimate them. We're all going to die anyway, right? 

Let's think about this logically for a moment. You are going to die. There is no doubt about it. But imagine you are presented with these two options: 1. You choose a lifestyle that will provide you with some immediate gratifications, but your overall quality of life will be lowered, you will eventually not be able to do all the other activities you enjoy, your risk for a slow, decaying death is increased, and you die early OR 2. You maintain a high quality of life until death, able to enjoy many different activities without serious health complications, all the while feeling your best. Seriously, which would you choose?

My lack of desire and inability to do things I enjoyed coupled with the real possibility of grave physical problems woke me up. I had tried to lose weight many times before. You may be familiar with that ten pounds that you lose only to have it move back in within a month. Yeah, I've been there, done that. But this time, I wanted that ten pounds and about ten of his buddies to move out for good. I didn't make up any excuses, and I urge you not to either. Most of your reasons to not do anything are not reasons, they are excuses. Call them as they are. Honesty with yourself and your situation are crucial on this journey.

So, How'd You Do It?

Every time I see someone who has not seen me in a while, and they notice the weight loss, the question is always the same: how'd you do it?  My daughter jokingly suggested I answer with the Shake Weight. 

I think the question is, in some ways, the wrong question. Normally a person is asking me how I lost weight. I cannot approach my life changes simply from the one avenue of just losing weight. Granted that is how I started, but that is not where I am today. I have not just lost weight. I've decreased my risk for disease, increased my physical capacity and endurance, increased my energy and quality of life, and I've enhanced all other life activities. 

Why do I make this distinction? Because simply losing weight as a goal is short-sighted. Sure, the number on the scale is the main figure I use to gauge the overall progress in these areas. But if I make just weight loss the goal, I will feel that my job is done once I get to where I want to be. I've seen it happen many, many times. A person goes on some sort of diet in order to lose weight. They are met with a measure of success, and, once they feel satisfied with how much they've lost, they go back to normal, only to gain it all back. They met their goal, so why keep going?

The problem is that weight maintenance, a decreased risk for disease, increased energy, and increased quality of life don't just happen for the rest of your life. They must be pursued. If you are like me, however, you will want to pursue these things because you've come to realize the quality of these benefits.

It's All About the Calories

For long term success, you have to view food first and foremost as a fuel. Let's make an analogy. Think of your body as a 1987 Dodge Ram Pickup with a 318 engine (the best truck engine ever made, or so I've been told), and you want to drive from Paducah to St. Louis. The truck will use a certain amount of energy to get there, and that will come from the conversion of gasoline into usable energy. You go to the gas station thinking it will take about one full tank to get you there. You fill the tank up, leave, and sure enough pull up to your destination in St. Louis with no excess fuel to spare.

The same holds true for your body. Your trip is from the time you get up in the morning until the time you wake up the next day. You need a certain amount of fuel to get that done. We don't measure our fuel in miles per gallon, but we can measure it in calories. Calories tell us how much energy we can expect from the food we eat. For instance, an average medium peach will give you about 50 calories. That's 50 units of energy you need for body function and the activities you set about during your day. The conversion of food into energy measured by calories is amazingly accurate. It has been around since the 1800s and is very reliable. 

So how many calories do you need? It varies depending on age, sex, and height. A man my age and height who has a moderately active lifestyle needs roughly 2000 calories per day in order to maintain my goal weight. Any less, and I'll lose weight, any more I'll gain. It's just that simple. I will give some links at the bottom of this article that will allow you to figure the calories needed for your situation. 

Let's get you back into being a truck. If you don't give it enough energy (gasoline), you ain't gonna make it to where you want to go. This is not usually a problem for Americans and their calorie intake. The body is amazing in that if you take in more fuel (calories) than you need, it sets it aside for later use in the form of fat. Unfortunately, our storehouses are full, and we are being crushed by stored energy we'll never use.

If I filled the truck bed up with gas tanks stacked up to the sky, and, once the main tank was full at the gas pump, I one by one filled the extra gas tanks, the truck would soon become weighted down under the burden of the extra gas. Imagine I drove around all the time, filling the main gas tank daily, but never using the ones stacked in the truck bed. In fact, I'd occasionally add more tanks to the pile. Eventually the truck would experience problems in the suspension, brakes, premature engine wear, and so on.

See the analogy? How's your suspension doing?

How Do You Track Your Calories?

The science of figuring calories and measuring calories in food has been around for quite sometime. There is hardly any food you stick in your gullet that cannot be measured. Packaged food comes with nutritional informal printed right on the label. The calorie content is normally at the top of the information listed. 

If you look at the example, you will notice that the first information you see tells you about the serving size. Don't assume that the number on the calorie line represents how many calories are in the package you are holding. The second line under the heading Nutrition Facts tells you how many servings are in the package you are holding. In the case of our example, there are two servings per package. So, if there are 2 servings per package, and a serving is 170 calories, then the entire package of food is 340 calories. 

The nutrition facts also tell you how to determine a correct portion size. In our example, you can do it one of two ways. You can weigh the food, and 1 oz. (28g), which represents one serving, is 170 calories. Since this particular food comes in pieces of equal size, you can also determine a serving by counting out 21 pieces. 

I started out tracking calories by simply writing them down on a piece of paper everyday. If I ate the whole package of whatever food is represented here, then I would write down 340 calories consumed for that day. When I hit my limit, I could not consume anymore food that day. 

I do suggest buying a food scale, which is not that expensive, and available in many department stores. Some foods such as various meats, vegetables, etc. have to be measured out by weight because packaging is often not uniform and the nutrition facts for your particular package may be a bit vague. A great resource for finding calorie information is the USDA Nutrient Database, which you can find here. Many fitness tracking websites have calorie information, but beware if it is input by the website's users. I have found some entries to be inaccurate.

If you eat out at a restaurant, take a look at their website before you go. Many list nutritional information for their meals. A personal preference for me is Subway. They have several low-calorie choices that are good, satisfying meals. Many other restaurants such as Applebees and IHOP have added a bigger variety of lower calorie entrees.

What About Exercise?

Exercise is a way to burn stored energy (fat). The upside to exercise is that it does allow you to eat more calories per day. Here's how it breaks down: a pound of body fat is equal to about 3500 calories. You will naturally burn a certain amount of calories by just being alive. Physical activity burns calories. For example, a 185 pound person will burn 66 calories an hour simply by watching TV. That same person will burn 410 calories an hour weeding a garden. See how just getting up and out will help burn fat? 

So let's say that at your level of daily activity, you need 2000 calories to maintain your weight. Now eat only 1500 a day. In 7 days, you will have used 3500 more calories than you took in. Thus, your body tapped into the stored energy supply (fat) and used a pound of it. Increase your activity level, and your calorie needs increase. 

But exercise is not just about earning calories, although that is a good benefit. There are many normal-weight people who are in bad shape because their bodies have little capacity for stress, and they have little endurance. Exercise increases your overall energy, your capacity (ability), and gives you better endurance. What does all that mean? You can do what you love to do longer, better, and with renewed energy. Now I will admit that when you first start exercising, you may not feel that way. Your body may say, "Hey, hey, hey champ! Hold up there. I don't know what you think you're doing, but let's hold up for a bit." All I can say is keep going. Keep pushing. I don't mean ignoring an injury or health problem that prevents exercise, of course, but push through the desire to stop because it's pushing you more than you're used to. Exercise is also known as physical conditioning. You have to condition your body to hold up under the exercise and increase its capacity for more.

The end is worth it. My energy level soars compared to what I used to be. I am at the point now that if I don't exercise, I feel lethargic and run down. Normally my energy levels spike after I've exercised. And you don't have to start out big. The first day I walked about a mile. That's it. I simply walked. I tried to do it at a decent pace, and I thought it was going to kill me. But I continued, day in and day out until my body met the mile walk challenge with no problem. Now I exercise at least one hour a day. I encourage a minimum of thirty minutes. If you hear words like "just ten minutes a day" coupled with exercise, run. Sure, some is better than none, but there is no way you will fully increase your physical capacity and endurance by cheating yourself. The research bears it out. Look it up.

Isn't There an Easier Way?

There are so many weight loss plans out there, you can easily get lost in the sea of information. Most center around what foods to avoid and what foods to eat. They say you can eat all of the good foods you want, and you'll still shed the pounds! Let me just say this off the bat: there are no foods that will make you fat or foods that will cause you to lose weight. Anything you stick in your mouth to eat or drink is converted to energy to be used by your body. If you eat more than you need, it will be converted to stored fat no matter what it is.

I've known plenty of people who were on such diets that did lose weight. And those who tout such plans will look and say, "See, it obviously works!" The problem is, like I mentioned before, faulty or junk science. They claim a correlation between their diet and weight loss without mentioning other factors that come into play that may be the actual reason people are losing weight.

A friend of mine went on such a diet and dropped a considerable amount of weight. When questioned about his dietary changes, I discovered that in his approach to what foods were good and what foods were bad, he had drastically dropped his daily calorie count. He wasn't tracking his calorie count, but it was lowered by the food choices he made. This is a person who would regularly visit a sports bar/grill and, according to our calculations, consume nearly 3000 calories during the course of a televised sports event.

When he started his diet, he stopped consuming the 3000 calorie meals. The diet restricted his foods greatly, and limited the types of foods he could eat. Because the diet was one regarding which foods are good and which food are bad, and he lost weight, it is easy to attribute his success to the particular diet. What is missed, however, is what else was taking place. His calorie count dropped dramatically as well.  You cannot say for sure one thing causes another if there are other factors that may actually be bringing about the result. 

I don't want to argue over the different diet types as it seems to open the proverbial can 'o worms with some people, but the truth of the matter is that if you eat more calories than you need, you will gain weight. If you are on the Atkins Diet, for example, and you adhere to it strictly and eat only the best and leanest meats, you will gain weight if you take in more energy than you expend. 

The science behind calories and how your body uses energy is well established. For some reason, that is the very thing that causes many to be suspicious. They look at it as if it is archaic and outdated. After all, haven't we learned so much more since that was the way to lose weight? Just because it is old knowledge doesn't make it wrong.

So I Can Eat Whatever I Want?

Yes! Eat whatever you want! Just stay within the daily limit you set so that you can lose weight. You will learn quickly which foods provide the most bang for your buck calorie-wise. So naturally you will start to gravitate toward foods that aren't as high in calories so that you don't spend all your calorie bucks in one place. And, if you do have some of the foods that are higher in calories, you will probably eat them more sparingly. Your sugar intake will probably drop because sugary foods are higher in calories. Does that mean you can't eat any sugary dessert or treat ever? No! Just do it wisely.

Don't go to extremes! I did when I started. I wanted only really, really low calorie foods, so I ate low cal veggies and salads, mostly. It wasn't long before all my energy was gone, and I couldn't figure out why it took all that was within me just to get through the day. My wife asked me if I had been eating much protein. When I tracked a day's worth of typical food, I realized I was getting hardly any! I incorporated meats back into my daily intake, and my energy went back up. Plus, proteins helped me feel full longer. So don't go into a ditch on either side. Don't live off lettuce, and don't get all your daily calories from a 2/3lb Monster Thickburger at Hardees. 

Remember, it's about balance and moderation. And it is a lifelong journey. One of the problems with food-restrictive and fad diets is that once most people lose some weight, they stop the diet and gain the weight back. They really haven't learned a lifestyle change and were just doing what they had to do in order to reach a goal. Most of those diets are not realistic from the point of living on them the rest of your life. 

No Excuses

There is so much I can say about this journey, but this article is already very long. I hope it is an encouragement to you. Others who took this path before me encouraged me to get going and stay going. Remember, most of the reasons we give for why we don't do what is best for our bodies are really just excuses that mask our laziness, gluttonous cravings, etc. Call them as they are.

A friend of mine once pointed out that we will always do what we want to within our power. Your actions follow your will all of the time. His example is that of a man robbing you at gunpoint. He asks for all of your money. You really don't want to give him your money, but your will bends and gives it to him because you value your life. Your will wants to live more than keep your money.

So when it comes to your will, what do you want the most? Do you want the menial, fleeting pleasure that comes from eating too much and being sedentary, or do you want the long-term rewards that come from a healthy weight and an active and conditioned body? The latter will touch nearly every area of your life and spread throughout everything you do in ways you can't imagine.

** A great resource for your journey is myfitnesspal.com, which I use to track my daily calorie intake, exercise, and weight loss on the web and on my smartphone.

*** I have to give Billy and Shellie Blanks and all the folks at team Tae Bo a shout out. I have used their DVDs and the series PT24/7 for much of my exercise routine throughout this journey. They don't have a clue who I am, but they sure have helped me a great deal. I have really enjoyed the workouts, and they've given me a great, overall workout that's provided results in nearly every part of my body.

****I also thank my wife who has done this with me. Wow, honey, we're getting there! And you look amazing!

*****Lastly, thanks to our friend Missy who started her journey before we did. She has been very inspirational and a means of encouragement for us