Well, I lost even though I lost, so I won.
Let me explain.
I lost the weight-loss contest, even though I lost 23 pounds, but I still won because I'm 23 pounds lighter and have made a lifestyle change which will reap huge benefits; much more than the $500 I lost out on in this contest. Of course I must admit that I would feel like even MORE of a winner if I had lost the 23 pounds AND won the $500, but out of the two I got the one that is most important. Plus, I feel great because I made him work for it.
When we first started the contest, James (real name) didn't seem to take it too seriously and decided he was "just going to eat smaller meals". I was happy with that attitude, because I had completely revamped my entire lifestyle from top to bottom and felt like the money was mine to win. After that first weigh-in a week later in which I lost 8 pounds and he lost 3, I think he realized he had to get serious. James is a great guy, and we both agreed that no matter who won, we would both be winners. He really worked hard after that, and after my very unfortunately-timed vacation right in the middle of the contest, I could see the difference in his face and body. The lines from his shoulders to his feet just seemed to be more... straight. His face didn't seem to take up as much space. I was seeing all the things in him that I thought Hillary (my fiance) was just saying to me for encouragement. This made me feel really happy for him, and it also made me really feel like maybe it was working for me as well.
James lost 24 pounds- one MORE than me. If I lost to him, I figured it would be by percentage (he started lower than me so I would actually have to lose more to beat him), but no he flat-out beat me. I had to congratulate him. I was really proud of him, and he was really proud of me too. If you had asked me a month ago "Hey, how would you feel about being 23 pounds lighter in a month?" I would have have jumped at the opportunity, money or no money. This is why I feel like a winner. The change has been made. I'm doing things I thought were impossible like driving by fast food restaurants and burger joints without getting cravings and walking 2-3 miles per day. The weight will continue to come off. I'm a winner now and I will be a winner 30 days from now, and 60 days from now, and 1 year from now. Hell, I'll be a winner 12 days from now when I go back to school and can sit in a desk normally!
So congratulations to my friend James, who started as an opponent in a contest but will hopefully be a partner in continuing to get healthier. Congratulations to myself for allowing myself to feel like a winner in defeat, and congratulations to everyone else out there who got healthier over the last month! Let's keep it going!
Friday, August 19, 2011
Thursday, August 11, 2011
How a Millionaire Car Dealer Changed My Life- Motivation and Will-Power
Well, I'm back from vacation where I had a wonderful time. I got to go back to Pennsylvania for the first time since moving away three years ago, where we spent the majority of the week celebrating our engagement as well as my fiance's birthday. I didn't get to see everyone I wanted to see, but I did get to see my best bud and we played some basketball together. Overall, I had a great time, and I managed to lose a pound on vacation!
I received an email from someone who came across my blog (after only 2 entries!) asking for my opinion on something she was working on, weight-loss related. Without giving away her excellent idea, it had to do with the motivation and will-power part of weight-loss rather than the eating right and exercising part. Eating right and exercising is the part that we all know, which is why I say we are all "experts". There is nothing profound about that. The real question- and the reason many of us take so long to get started and sometimes never do- is "where do I find the motivation to get started?" One would think that just being overweight is motivation enough, however being overweight is also what makes it difficult and painful to exercise regularly. So yes- being overweight is motivation to lose it, but it also is the #1 reason why we never get started. We knew way before it got to this point that something needed to be done, but believe it or not we often need something extra to get started. It could be anything- your wife gets pregnant, your doctor tells you that some real health problems are on the horizon, you are sick of having no confidence with women (or men), you ask your wife why she is ironing a bed sheet only to realize it is your shirt upon a closer look.
Whatever your moment, it needs to also come with some will-power. If it was easy to stay thin, we would still be thin. We got this way because food is our vice, and it feels good to succumb to it. If my vice was gambling, I would be broke (I'm not a great gambler). If my vice was alcohol, I would be an alcoholic. My vice is overeating, so I am fat. It's not a difficult equation. So it takes more than motivation. It takes the will-power to stick to a new lifestyle that simply does not allow me to partake in something I enjoy immensely.
Which brings me to my own moment that everything changed. To be quite honest, at first I wasn't sure how I felt about the fact that this is what it took to get started, but I have come to the conclusion that whatever it takes it takes, and the important thing is that I'm doing it now.
I work at a car-dealership, which is quite fun most of the time. Sure it's not the greatest place to be around when nobody is selling any cars, but overall the type of people who get into that business are no-nonsense, funny, and competitive. The testosterone runs high, as it does in any place where men provide for their families based solely on what they can accomplish on their own merit. Car salesmen have gotten a pretty bad rep over the years, but I can speak from personal experience when I say that some of these guys are the best and nicest guys you can know. Seriously- when you find a salesman you like, BUY A CAR FROM HIM. You will have a friend in the car business forever.
I received an email from someone who came across my blog (after only 2 entries!) asking for my opinion on something she was working on, weight-loss related. Without giving away her excellent idea, it had to do with the motivation and will-power part of weight-loss rather than the eating right and exercising part. Eating right and exercising is the part that we all know, which is why I say we are all "experts". There is nothing profound about that. The real question- and the reason many of us take so long to get started and sometimes never do- is "where do I find the motivation to get started?" One would think that just being overweight is motivation enough, however being overweight is also what makes it difficult and painful to exercise regularly. So yes- being overweight is motivation to lose it, but it also is the #1 reason why we never get started. We knew way before it got to this point that something needed to be done, but believe it or not we often need something extra to get started. It could be anything- your wife gets pregnant, your doctor tells you that some real health problems are on the horizon, you are sick of having no confidence with women (or men), you ask your wife why she is ironing a bed sheet only to realize it is your shirt upon a closer look.
Whatever your moment, it needs to also come with some will-power. If it was easy to stay thin, we would still be thin. We got this way because food is our vice, and it feels good to succumb to it. If my vice was gambling, I would be broke (I'm not a great gambler). If my vice was alcohol, I would be an alcoholic. My vice is overeating, so I am fat. It's not a difficult equation. So it takes more than motivation. It takes the will-power to stick to a new lifestyle that simply does not allow me to partake in something I enjoy immensely.
Which brings me to my own moment that everything changed. To be quite honest, at first I wasn't sure how I felt about the fact that this is what it took to get started, but I have come to the conclusion that whatever it takes it takes, and the important thing is that I'm doing it now.
I work at a car-dealership, which is quite fun most of the time. Sure it's not the greatest place to be around when nobody is selling any cars, but overall the type of people who get into that business are no-nonsense, funny, and competitive. The testosterone runs high, as it does in any place where men provide for their families based solely on what they can accomplish on their own merit. Car salesmen have gotten a pretty bad rep over the years, but I can speak from personal experience when I say that some of these guys are the best and nicest guys you can know. Seriously- when you find a salesman you like, BUY A CAR FROM HIM. You will have a friend in the car business forever.
C'mon... he'll even let you use his pen!
As you might imagine, many dealership owners are former salesmen who "made it". These are the guys we all want to be. Our owner is no different. He's always chewing on a stogie. He drives a different car to work every day. He always has the whole room laughing their asses off (genuinely) during sales meetings. If he buys the guys pizza on a Saturday, he goes in and peels the cheese off of 2 or 3 slices and leaves the crust there because he can. He's the man. He demands respect, but if he likes you- YOU'RE IN!
So one day he brings a digital scale in to work with him. Oh, I didn't mention- he's unpredictable. Me and three other guys give a nervous -gulp!- and wait to see what he has in mind here. For the last few weeks he'd been giving us a bit of a hard time for being big, which is all in good fun and nobody takes it personally. But now he has a scale in his hand, and it might not be so fun anymore.
"We're gonna have a little contest!" he announces. Okay...
So he puts the scale down on the floor, and the "ooh"s and the laughter are starting to rise. Like I said before, most people in the car business have good humor, so we all just listened to see what he had in mind.
"We're pairing up Dave and Bryan, and we're pairing up Jon and Rob*. 30 days from now, whoever has lost the most weight by percentage in each contest gets a nickel.** Are you in or out?"
*Names have been changed
** Nickel = $500 CASH
Now, if there's one thing salesmen like more than their dignity, it's $500 cash for nothing! We couldn't get on that scale fast enough! The first group, Bryan and Rob, weighed in at 377 and 251, respectively. In my group, I weighed in at 368 and Rob weighed in at 279. The contest was on! I couldn't wait to tell my fiance, and I couldn't wait to get started. I promptly went out that night and invested $100 in groceries. That was on Monday, July 18th. That means the contest ends 1 week from today! Here's the best part- the two winners will go another 30 days for another $500. Can you say motivation and will-power?!
What shouldn't be lost in all of this is the fact that our owner is putting up $1,500 of his own money for our health. From what I can tell, he has absolutely nothing to gain from this, except the satisfaction of knowing he helped four guys get started. Does it have a bit of a side-show feel to it? Sure it does, but we don't care. The rest of the guys are doing their part to keep us motivated, and we all know that win or lose, we will all be the better for it. Winning would be much better though :)
As you can see by the weight-loss tracker to the right, I have done well, losing 20 pounds in a bit over 3 weeks. In my next post I will describe what I'm doing, what works, what doesn't work, and why I took a big risk in significantly changing my method after losing 8 pounds in the first week. Stay tuned!
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
The things that obese people (who haven't given up) learn to do everyday.
Living life as an obese person has obvious disadvantages, for sure. I'm sure if you asked any random person on the street, they could give you several health-related examples of why it is not good to be obese.
This blog entry is not about those things though, because they are understood, and the entire reason we want to lose weight is to be healthier and live longer. Of course I want to be there to see my kids grow up; of course I want to grow old with my future wife. These things are obvious. Beyond these reasons, however, lie annoying little concerns in our daily lives that I (and everyone who is losing the extra weight with me) will be thrilled to not have to worry ourselves with anymore. Here are a few of them:
Where am I going to sit?
Ah yes- the one that causes angst virtually everywhere you go, at all times. This one is absolutely unavoidable until you are at home, safely tucked away on your couch; a quite welcoming couch, actually- a couch which has conformed into the ideal shape with which to warmly, gently, and perfectly receive you after a long hard day of sitting in other places. I'm sitting on it right now, as I write this.
But alas, society says that we must venture out into the world, among... the people. I myself have been cursed with unending charm and an excellent wit, resulting in relationships- even friendships- with some of these very people. Friendship means hanging out together, and hanging out with other people means time spent not at home. Of course, it is already understood that you won't be included in anything that involves actual activity - things like hiking, bike riding, or basically anything outdoors. Instead of feeling guilty that they know better than to invite us (like we should), we learn to pick our spots, making ourselves available at night for sedentary activities like going to the movies, going to a bar, watching a game, etc.
At this point, though, our job is only halfway done. Last month I had plans to go watch a fight at a friend-of-a-friend's house. I had never met the host, and had never met half of the people who were going to be there. Instead of being pumped up for the fight and having a fun time with my boys, I was all hung up on where I was going to sit and whether I would be comfortable. When we arrived, I found myself a nice little spot on a large chair at the end of the living room, and was comfortable. I could finally relax and enjoy myself, that is of course until it came time to get up to go get another beer or to use the restroom. Then it was time to make a contingency plan for where I was going to sit if someone took my spot.
This stuff never ends. Better make sure to get to the movies early so I can make sure to sit in the middle of the theater so nobody has to climb past me to get in or out of their seat. Hopefully the karaoke bar has more than just bar stools, because I can't sit on one for more than 15 minutes before my back hurts. I much prefer a booth, but only if the table is not bolted down. If it is, then it's going to have to be a table; hopefully the chairs don't have arms on them. I can sit in them if they do, but it's going to be quite uncomfortable. School, where they use the old desk/chair combos? Sorry, but there's no avoiding the humiliation that comes with sitting in one chair with the desk flipped up and turning the seat in front of you around backwards so you can use it's desk. What better indication that something needs to be done than the fact that you LITERALLY take up two desks?
As a matter of fact, my first real victory will come this Fall, when I take my seat normally like all the other students :)
Have I done everything possible to minimize how big I look?
This one is fairly silly, but we still do it anyway. It's not like anyone is going to miss the fact that we are heavy, but still, we don't want to flaunt it.
This is why big people will often buy their clothing even larger than necessary. If I have to be big anyway, I at least want a shirt that is going to hang comfortably, without being too tight. I have to think that a shirt that is a little big is much better than a shirt that is a little small, right?
This is also why throw pillows are a heavy person's best friend. Ideally, I am sitting in the corner of the couch with the arm covering one side, and a throw pillow on my other hip. There's no real reason for it, and in reality it makes you look bigger if anything. It just... feels like it doesn't look as bad if most of my waist is covered. I know it doesn't make sense, but it also doesn't make sense to make excuses for being overweight for 10 years.
You never see me eat much, if at all.
Some people have conditions, illnesses, or injuries that will never allow them to do what is necessary to lose the weight. It is just an unfortunate fact of life for these people, just as any other person who has to deal with one of the thousands upon thousands of things that can effect our lives which we have no control over. These people can do no more about their condition as someone can do about the fact that he was born blind.
That being said, there is a LARGE amount of guilt that comes with letting yourself get fat through sheer laziness and unwillingness to be a responsible eater. This guilt compounds the longer you keep the weight on knowing you have the means and ability to lose it, and you start to feel like those around you can sense this guilt. So what do we do?
Well, the right thing to do would be to go ahead and lose it, but for some reason we are unwilling to do that at first. So what's the next best thing? Pretend!
That's right, pretend I'm trying to get a handle on it. Eat the double cheeseburger and fries (and DIET soda, lol) in my car before I walk into work, but bring the side salad in with me. Tuck it away, and pull it out later when the break room is full of people. Brilliant, right? (eyeroll) What, your office doesn't have a 300 pound vegetarian?
The worst part about all of these nuisances is that they are all completely transparent. We are not fooling anybody any more than the guy who smokes a cigarette in his car and then pops a lifesaver in his mouth. We know we are not fooling anybody, but we can't help it. Being fat is just so uncomfortable... add the guilt on top and it becomes too much to bear.
I believe there are some real psychological issues that come with being overweight, and these habits are just some manifestations of these psychological issues. If I can manage to get my thoughts on the subject organized, I will probably write an entire blog post on the psychological effects of being overweight. For now, it is just important that we recognize the signs that it is time to make a change, and allow ourselves the room to give it a shot. It is difficult to accomplish anything in life when we are certain we will fail, and that is the uphill battle that overweight people face; not only do we have to stop the bad habits that got us here, but we have to form NEW habits that are totally against our nature to reverse the process. This seems daunting, but it's possible. It's possible and I am going to do it, and if I can do it, anybody can!
This blog entry is not about those things though, because they are understood, and the entire reason we want to lose weight is to be healthier and live longer. Of course I want to be there to see my kids grow up; of course I want to grow old with my future wife. These things are obvious. Beyond these reasons, however, lie annoying little concerns in our daily lives that I (and everyone who is losing the extra weight with me) will be thrilled to not have to worry ourselves with anymore. Here are a few of them:
Where am I going to sit?
Ah yes- the one that causes angst virtually everywhere you go, at all times. This one is absolutely unavoidable until you are at home, safely tucked away on your couch; a quite welcoming couch, actually- a couch which has conformed into the ideal shape with which to warmly, gently, and perfectly receive you after a long hard day of sitting in other places. I'm sitting on it right now, as I write this.
But alas, society says that we must venture out into the world, among... the people. I myself have been cursed with unending charm and an excellent wit, resulting in relationships- even friendships- with some of these very people. Friendship means hanging out together, and hanging out with other people means time spent not at home. Of course, it is already understood that you won't be included in anything that involves actual activity - things like hiking, bike riding, or basically anything outdoors. Instead of feeling guilty that they know better than to invite us (like we should), we learn to pick our spots, making ourselves available at night for sedentary activities like going to the movies, going to a bar, watching a game, etc.
At this point, though, our job is only halfway done. Last month I had plans to go watch a fight at a friend-of-a-friend's house. I had never met the host, and had never met half of the people who were going to be there. Instead of being pumped up for the fight and having a fun time with my boys, I was all hung up on where I was going to sit and whether I would be comfortable. When we arrived, I found myself a nice little spot on a large chair at the end of the living room, and was comfortable. I could finally relax and enjoy myself, that is of course until it came time to get up to go get another beer or to use the restroom. Then it was time to make a contingency plan for where I was going to sit if someone took my spot.
This stuff never ends. Better make sure to get to the movies early so I can make sure to sit in the middle of the theater so nobody has to climb past me to get in or out of their seat. Hopefully the karaoke bar has more than just bar stools, because I can't sit on one for more than 15 minutes before my back hurts. I much prefer a booth, but only if the table is not bolted down. If it is, then it's going to have to be a table; hopefully the chairs don't have arms on them. I can sit in them if they do, but it's going to be quite uncomfortable. School, where they use the old desk/chair combos? Sorry, but there's no avoiding the humiliation that comes with sitting in one chair with the desk flipped up and turning the seat in front of you around backwards so you can use it's desk. What better indication that something needs to be done than the fact that you LITERALLY take up two desks?
As a matter of fact, my first real victory will come this Fall, when I take my seat normally like all the other students :)
Have I done everything possible to minimize how big I look?
This one is fairly silly, but we still do it anyway. It's not like anyone is going to miss the fact that we are heavy, but still, we don't want to flaunt it.
This is why big people will often buy their clothing even larger than necessary. If I have to be big anyway, I at least want a shirt that is going to hang comfortably, without being too tight. I have to think that a shirt that is a little big is much better than a shirt that is a little small, right?
This is also why throw pillows are a heavy person's best friend. Ideally, I am sitting in the corner of the couch with the arm covering one side, and a throw pillow on my other hip. There's no real reason for it, and in reality it makes you look bigger if anything. It just... feels like it doesn't look as bad if most of my waist is covered. I know it doesn't make sense, but it also doesn't make sense to make excuses for being overweight for 10 years.
You never see me eat much, if at all.
Some people have conditions, illnesses, or injuries that will never allow them to do what is necessary to lose the weight. It is just an unfortunate fact of life for these people, just as any other person who has to deal with one of the thousands upon thousands of things that can effect our lives which we have no control over. These people can do no more about their condition as someone can do about the fact that he was born blind.
That being said, there is a LARGE amount of guilt that comes with letting yourself get fat through sheer laziness and unwillingness to be a responsible eater. This guilt compounds the longer you keep the weight on knowing you have the means and ability to lose it, and you start to feel like those around you can sense this guilt. So what do we do?
Well, the right thing to do would be to go ahead and lose it, but for some reason we are unwilling to do that at first. So what's the next best thing? Pretend!
That's right, pretend I'm trying to get a handle on it. Eat the double cheeseburger and fries (and DIET soda, lol) in my car before I walk into work, but bring the side salad in with me. Tuck it away, and pull it out later when the break room is full of people. Brilliant, right? (eyeroll) What, your office doesn't have a 300 pound vegetarian?
The worst part about all of these nuisances is that they are all completely transparent. We are not fooling anybody any more than the guy who smokes a cigarette in his car and then pops a lifesaver in his mouth. We know we are not fooling anybody, but we can't help it. Being fat is just so uncomfortable... add the guilt on top and it becomes too much to bear.
I believe there are some real psychological issues that come with being overweight, and these habits are just some manifestations of these psychological issues. If I can manage to get my thoughts on the subject organized, I will probably write an entire blog post on the psychological effects of being overweight. For now, it is just important that we recognize the signs that it is time to make a change, and allow ourselves the room to give it a shot. It is difficult to accomplish anything in life when we are certain we will fail, and that is the uphill battle that overweight people face; not only do we have to stop the bad habits that got us here, but we have to form NEW habits that are totally against our nature to reverse the process. This seems daunting, but it's possible. It's possible and I am going to do it, and if I can do it, anybody can!
The 375 pound weight-loss expert?
Hello all, and thank you for reading my blog. This is where I am going to chronicle my effort to lose the extra person I've been carrying around on my back for the last 10 years. He has been growing and growing and getting more and more in the way, so it's time to finally get rid of the worthless freeloader for good!
At my biggest, I was 5'10", 375 pounds. That a LOT of weight. Now I've heard people say that there is a difference between "sloppy" fat and "carries it well" fat, and if I'm either I'm the latter, but 375 pounds is 375 pounds, and there's no avoiding just how large of a number that is. That's HUGE. That's as much as two out-of-shape people. That's 20 pounds more than the heaviest Miami Dolphin. It's less than William "The Refrigerator" Perry weighed during his playing days (about 385), but it's almost twice what a real refrigerator weighs. I'm at least 1 Backstreet Boy heavier than my closest friend in weight. What I'm trying to say is that I'm a very large man.
But I'm lucky. I'm VERY lucky. I'm lucky because I am about as healthy as a 375 pound man can be. My blood pressure is normal, my heart-rate is normal, and I can still get up and move around. I can still dance. I can still go outside and toss the football around. I can still reliably shoot 75-80% from the free-throw line. All these things and more are great ways to justify being fat instead of doing something about it. I should know- I've become an expert over the years. You know how much of it is true, though? Like, really true? Almost none of it.
Sure by the grace of God I don't have high blood-pressure or diabetes, but that doesn't mean it can never happen. Yeah I can get up and move around, but I still complain when it's time to go to the supermarket or run errands, or Heaven forbid if my beautiful fiance wants to take a walk with me on a beautiful day. Yeah sure, I "hate Walmart", but isn't what I hate mainly the walking around part? Of course it is. Dancing? Sure- I'm the best dancer in my car, no matter who is with me! I say I can "still go outside and toss the football around", but that's just because I did it once last Thankgiving when a buddy and I went outside for a while with his son. I bet you can guess who was chasing the ball around on an errant throw; or rather who WASN'T. Actually, the part about the free throws is true, but I've only discovered that over the last two weeks!
The truth is, though, that I really am lucky. I'm lucky that I still have the ability to do something about it. I don't know if it's because I was once an above-average athlete, but somehow being 375 pounds and under 6 feet tall has not been debilitating. Somehow I can still do things around the house. Somehow I can still get up and go for a walk. Somehow I still have the ability to work at a job and provide for myself. Somehow I can still make it from class to class reliably. If I can do all these things, then I can do the things that it takes to lose the weight. If I had gotten serious about it the first time I admitted to myself that I needed to, then I would be at my target weight by now! So I hope you follow along with me and offer your support in this endeavor. I am very excited to take back control of my life, and I am excited to share the experience with whoever is interested.
I am 100% fully committed to seeing this all the way through to the end, which means by the end of it I will have lost 150 pounds. There is no magic formula- change bad habits into good ones, and stay disciplined. I ALREADY KNOW how to do it; I am already an expert. If you are also an expert who needs to put their expertise to use for yourself, then I encourage you to follow my example and get up and get started. Now it is time for this 375 pound weight-loss expert to put his expertise into practice!
At my biggest, I was 5'10", 375 pounds. That a LOT of weight. Now I've heard people say that there is a difference between "sloppy" fat and "carries it well" fat, and if I'm either I'm the latter, but 375 pounds is 375 pounds, and there's no avoiding just how large of a number that is. That's HUGE. That's as much as two out-of-shape people. That's 20 pounds more than the heaviest Miami Dolphin. It's less than William "The Refrigerator" Perry weighed during his playing days (about 385), but it's almost twice what a real refrigerator weighs. I'm at least 1 Backstreet Boy heavier than my closest friend in weight. What I'm trying to say is that I'm a very large man.
It's true, we are jolly.
But I'm lucky. I'm VERY lucky. I'm lucky because I am about as healthy as a 375 pound man can be. My blood pressure is normal, my heart-rate is normal, and I can still get up and move around. I can still dance. I can still go outside and toss the football around. I can still reliably shoot 75-80% from the free-throw line. All these things and more are great ways to justify being fat instead of doing something about it. I should know- I've become an expert over the years. You know how much of it is true, though? Like, really true? Almost none of it.
Sure by the grace of God I don't have high blood-pressure or diabetes, but that doesn't mean it can never happen. Yeah I can get up and move around, but I still complain when it's time to go to the supermarket or run errands, or Heaven forbid if my beautiful fiance wants to take a walk with me on a beautiful day. Yeah sure, I "hate Walmart", but isn't what I hate mainly the walking around part? Of course it is. Dancing? Sure- I'm the best dancer in my car, no matter who is with me! I say I can "still go outside and toss the football around", but that's just because I did it once last Thankgiving when a buddy and I went outside for a while with his son. I bet you can guess who was chasing the ball around on an errant throw; or rather who WASN'T. Actually, the part about the free throws is true, but I've only discovered that over the last two weeks!
Dancing Chris Farley was unavoidable in this blog.
The truth is, though, that I really am lucky. I'm lucky that I still have the ability to do something about it. I don't know if it's because I was once an above-average athlete, but somehow being 375 pounds and under 6 feet tall has not been debilitating. Somehow I can still do things around the house. Somehow I can still get up and go for a walk. Somehow I still have the ability to work at a job and provide for myself. Somehow I can still make it from class to class reliably. If I can do all these things, then I can do the things that it takes to lose the weight. If I had gotten serious about it the first time I admitted to myself that I needed to, then I would be at my target weight by now! So I hope you follow along with me and offer your support in this endeavor. I am very excited to take back control of my life, and I am excited to share the experience with whoever is interested.
I am 100% fully committed to seeing this all the way through to the end, which means by the end of it I will have lost 150 pounds. There is no magic formula- change bad habits into good ones, and stay disciplined. I ALREADY KNOW how to do it; I am already an expert. If you are also an expert who needs to put their expertise to use for yourself, then I encourage you to follow my example and get up and get started. Now it is time for this 375 pound weight-loss expert to put his expertise into practice!
Pictured: Expert
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