08/20/06

Many people want to lose weight for all the wrong reasons, which is why they rarely lose weight or if they do, they have a hard time maintaining the weight loss.  

According to data from the National Health and Nutrition Survey, the number of obese adults has risen from 13 percent in 1960 to 22.5 percent today. The Journal of the American Medical Association says two out of every three adults in this country are trying to lose weight. The American Journal of Public Health breaks that down by gender to report that 45 percent of women and 25 percent of men are trying to slim down.

One thing I have learned after losing 100 lbs. is that life doesn’t change. People seem to think that once they reach a certain amount of weight loss, that their life will suddenly be perfect.

Life is still the same; the only thing that has changed is that you will have more time to live it. Life is very hard and skinny people face the same problems as fat people. People really are the same, no matter the age, race or body type.

There is one thing that changes. I remember when I weighed 412 lbs. and barely talked to anyone. Maybe it was because I had low self-esteem or maybe it’s because I am a really shy person. One of the main differences that I have noticed is that people are friendlier to me. I get “hellos” in the elevator and more people make it a point to talk to me. I’m no longer the ignored fat guy that people cross the street to get away from. I never understood this fact and honestly, I never will.

We all understand that this isn’t fair, but its life. Even though a huge number of Americans are now fat, we are still looked at as low class citizens. I say fat because I’m not talking about overweight people. You can be overweight and still be healthy. I’m talking about those of us that are fat. Fat people are looked at as lazy and unmotivated, and for me, that was the truth.

Some Fat people have true health issues that cause trouble with their weight, but most do not.

The reason I am different from people like Dr. Phil and Richard Simmons is simple- I don’t care if I hurt your feelings. Remember that I have been fat my entire life, so I know what I’m talking about. You may say that you’re “big boned” or “pleasantly plump” but the truth is your fat and you need to change you lifestyle before you die.

For me, life was eating and lying around. I watched television, played on the computer, played video games and was basically wasting my life away and getting bigger every moment... I usually had a bag of chips or some pizza rolls in my hand and a lot of you are the same way.

When I lived on my own, it was normal to eat a "family size" frozen lasagna for dinner and I didn’t think anything of it. I would order a small pizza and some chicken strips and eat the whole thing and then maybe some ice cream for dessert. My mom lived across the parking lot from me and I hardly went to visit her because I had to walk down the steps and I thought it was just too far. I was killing myself and didn’t really care.

I didn’t have a lot of the issues that fat people have. I wasn’t lonely, I didn’t cry while I ate and I didn’t pity myself. I knew I was a huge guy, but I could still get girls to talk to me, still had a few friends and life was pretty good. I met my beautiful fiancée and everything in live was perfect, or so I thought.

I remember looking at the scale and seeing those numbers – 412.8 lbs. Those numbers will always be burnt into my head. Those numbers are what pushed me to change my life. To me, that was basically a quarter of a ton. It wasn’t 500 lbs. but it was damn close enough. I tried to lie to myself but I knew that it was my fault. I acted like I didn’t notice my pants getting tighter or my shirts not fitting. I didn’t want to admit that my weight was getting way out of control, but those numbers smacked me in the face and there was no denying it any longer. Right then, it hit me; I wasn’t immortal and death was waiting for me, just around the corner.

I was like a lot of other fat people because I wanted a quick fix. Sure it took me over 25 years to gain the 412.8 lbs, but I wanted to lose it in a few months. I started taking different types of diet pills and had great success, until I stopped taking them. I lost over 80 lbs. by using diet pills, but within a few months of not taking them, I had gained all the weight back plus more. Diet pills may work for a temporary solution but they are not the solution to a life long problem, unless you want to starve yourself and take pills for the rest of your life, you need another answer.

Getting your mind right is as simple as understanding that there is no “quick fix”. You have to remember that this is your life and you are not in a contest with anyone. You are not a contestant on “The Biggest Loser” and you will not win $50,000 if you lose 50 lbs. in a few months. A normal weight loss is around 2-3 lbs. per week. Some of us lose faster than that and some of us lose slower. You have to figure out what a reasonable goal is and fight to reach it; no ones goals are the same.

It took me eleven months, around 48 weeks, actually 334 days to lose 100 lbs. I averaged about 2.08 lbs. per week. Some weeks I would lose a lot more and some weeks I would gain a few pounds.

It doesn’t matter how little you eat or how much you exercise, there will be weeks that you gain or don’t lose at all, and it’s natural. The people who lose weight and keep it off are the ones that understand this point and don’t give up. The ones who keep pushing, keep struggling and keep fighting are the ones that succeed.

I can’t talk about emotional eating because I never did that. I was one of the lazy fat people. I know exactly why I weighed 412.8 lbs.

My eating was out of boredom and simply being lazy and loving food. I love the way food taste. I could be full but still eat just to enjoy that wonderful taste in my mouth. That was the biggest obstacle for me to overcome. I can’t say that there aren’t those out there that eat because they are sad and lonely, but I can honestly say that I think a lot of people use that as an excuse to be lazy. You have to think about why you are over eating and you have to be honest with yourself. You can’t lie to yourself and be successful.

Another huge problem I had was sneaking food. I didn’t realize that there was really no one to sneak it from. There are very few people out there that really care if your overweight or not and even less that care what you eat. I thought everyone was watching what I ate and kept track. I would eat really light when I was around people and then pig out when I was by myself. Then I could use the excuse that I didn’t really eat that much, so I didn’t understand why I was so fat.

Your mind can be your best friend or your worse enemy. It’s up to you how you use it. If you constantly think about the great taste of Chinese food or the wonderfulness of chocolate melting in your mouth, then you are going to talk yourself into eating those things.

You have to change the way you think about food and the way you see food. You have to think healthy in order to be healthy. You have to understand that you don’t have to eat all the Oreos today because that same great taste will there next week, but will you be there to enjoy them?

Depriving yourself from foods is also not the way to go and I’ll talk more about that in my food section. Just remember to never keep those foods that you love out of your new lifestyle. Every food can be worked into your new lifestyle, even Kentucky Fried Chicken. I think this is a huge reason why I have never really experienced a plateau. I would go up a few steps and back a step, but I was always moving. Plateaus are another big reason that people give up on their diets. They eat right and exercise but they don’t lose weight. I fixed that by simply taking one day off from exercising and allow myself to eat whatever I want. I basically double up on calories. I usually end up gaining a few pounds back but by the end of the week, I had lost it all back plus some. I think by allowing yourself one day a week, it keeps your metabolism strong and keeps you on the right track mentally. You don’t feel like your starving yourself and you don’t feel like your depriving yourself of anything.

You are not trying to starve yourself or see how long you can survive by only eating lettuce. You have to make a compromise. Getting your mind right is all about compromise. You have to understand what your limits are. You have to understand that NO ONE stays on track; we all screw up. You have to understand that it’s all about YOU! Losing weight and becoming healthier isn’t an external battle between you and that cheeseburger, it’s an internal battle between you and your mind. You have to change your mind from telling you to eat that bag of chips to eat a few chips and then put the bag away and live life. 

Your mind is only trying to help you by telling you that you need to eat. Your body is in “caveman mode”. Your body is trying to anticipate for lean times a head and store up fat to get you through them. Our bodies were made to live in caveman times, when you had to hunt for your food, you ate mostly veggies and meat and you didn’t lie around snacking on chips all day.

Now we live in a world of convenient foods and electronics. We just bust open a bag of Doritos and drop down in front of the television. No hunting or effort required.