I Lost 120 Pounds In A Year - Here's How
How I Ended Up Obese
Everyone has a background story that led them to who they are today. Some of us grew up in a home dedicated to health and fitness. Some did not. My story falls in the latter.
I grew up, like many Americans, in a family who loved to eat. I mean, who doesnât love to eat? I certainly do. Food is a beautiful gift.
Unfortunately, eating nutrient dense foods that are whole and mostly unprocessed was not the norm for my family as I grew up. We ate what is commonly referred to by nutrition nerds as the Standard American Diet (SAD Diet). The majority of our meals were full of highly processed foods, sugary and fried foods. Sad foods. To make matters worse, I never drank water. Never. Instead, I drank soda and lots of it. By the time I was in high school, I was drinking at least one full two liter of soda a day - some days I would drink two full two liters.
My poison of choice was most often Mountain Dew. Do you know how much sugar is in a two liter of Mountain Dew? 276 grams.
276 grams of sugar and sometimes I would drink double that. For reference hereâs what 100 grams looks like:
(Photo Credit: Jill E Duffy)
Needless to say, I was overweight most of my life. By the time I was in high school, I weighed nearly 300 pounds. I was the biggest guy in my class - probably in my entire high school. I hated it. I hated myself, but I chose to drive away my feelings with more food.
The Breaking Point
There was a point in time where I was scared to step onto a scale and see what the number was. I remember weighing myself during my orientation week my freshmen year of college. I stepped on the scale, but when the number started to pass 300, I jumped off. I was 18 years old and terrified for my life.
A person more sensible than me might have started going to the gym and eating healthier to lose weight. I didnât. Instead, I went to the campus cafe and ordered a cheeseburger and platter of chicken tenders with a large fountain drink (likely my old stand by).
I was scared, but I also feared making the change it would take to live healthier. I didnât even know how to make that change. I knew vegetables are good for you, but that was pretty close to the extent of my nutrition knowledge. So, I hid from my own fears...because of my other fears.
Fast forward two years. I was now married with a one year old daughter. I hadnât weighed myself since that fateful day during college orientation. I was still far too afraid of what the number would be.
I was no longer in school, but worked full time in kitchens as a line cook. I had recently completed my first year of culinary school, which included a nutrition 101 class. For the first time in my life I had learned about macro and micro-nutrients, what a calorie actually is, and how to choose healthy options. I was primed for what was about to happen next.
As cliche as this is to say, the date was December 31st, 2007. New Years Eve. Believe it or not, as far as I can remember, the date had very little (nothing really) to do with my decision making. I stood at the edge of my almost 1 year old daughterâs crib, watching her sleep. I was thinking about how fast time had flown since she was born. That led to thinking about how fast she was going to grow up...and then it hit me.
I may not live to see my daughter turn sixteen, or graduate high school, or go to college, or have a family of her own.
That thought was exactly what I needed to flip the switch. I made a decision then that I would get healthier. I would lose weight. No matter what the cost, I would succeed.
Lifestyle Change
On January 1, 2008 I weighed myself for the first time in nearly 3 years. I stepped on the bathroom scale and closed my eyes. After waiting what felt like an appropriate time for the dial to finish climbing to unknown heights, I looked. 285 pounds.
A part of me was slightly relieved in that moment. At least it wasnât over 300. A different part of me was terrified and excited at the same time. Those emotions would clash within me for months.
At the time, most of my diet still consisted of highly processed foods, foods full of added sugars, and plenty of trips to fast food restaurants. I knew I needed to make a drastic change to see results. So I did.
Nutrition
I completely cut out sugar. To this day, I think that this was my number one reason for success. I know it is. No more soda, no more ice cream, no more fruit juice, no more sugar.
I decided to only eat whole and natural foods. I only allowed myself to eat things that came from the outside aisle and produce section of the grocery store. Lots of vegetables. Lots and lots of vegetables.
For the first six weeks, I ate a vegetarian diet. The only reason I did that was because the only diets I knew of were the Atkins diet and vegetarianism - and I had never seen a fat vegetarian.
During those first six weeks, however, I devoured 3-4 books on nutrition and decided to add lean meats to my diet. From that point forward my entire diet consisted of lean meats, vegetables, some fruit, very few whole grains and nuts/seeds. I only drank water or black coffee. Simple, not easy.
I now know that I essentially practiced an elimination diet protocol. I had cut out all potential allergens and my body had time to detox. For the first time in my life (no joke) I wasnât under constant intestinal distress. Turns out that I am very lactose intolerant and this lifestyle change was what helped me discover that.
The first two weeks were absolute torture for me. I remember craving soda and sugar all the time. I had never been a fan of vegetables and now my entire diet was just that. It was hard - but I was absolutely determined to make a change, so I stuck with it.
Fitness
Alongside all the changes I made to my diet, I knew that I had to exercise to lose weight. At the time, I had no clue about lifting weights and that scared me. So, I opted for something that was both familiar and, more importantly, free.
I started running.
On January 1st, I went to the gym at my wifeâs college and got a family membership. I remember being so excited to hold the membership card in my hand. It stood for something far bigger than myself. It stood for the change I was making. A simple piece of plastic with my picture on it meant more to me than any other possession that day.
After getting my membership squared away, I headed to a treadmill that was tucked away in a dark corner of the upstairs hall. I had noticed it on my gym tour and knew weâd become friends. Well, frenemies.
At this point in my life, I had never run a mile straight. I had been overweight my entire life. Even though I played baseball until middle school, I never ran more than a lap or two around a baseball field. I saw no reason to run a mile. It terrified me.
My first fitness goal was thus born. I was going to run 1 full mile, even if it killed me. On day one, I ran .15 of a mile. Let me clarify, by run I mean jogged at a very slow pace - but it was running to me.
I gave it my all that day. I thought I was going to throw up or pass out. Maybe both. I did it though. I ran as far as I possibly could before I physically had to stop.
You know what I did next? I walked the rest of the mile. I was determined that I wouldnât stop that treadmill until it read 1 mile. So in the end, I felt pretty good about my work for the day.
I also set a precedent for myself that would carry on for the rest of my weight loss journey and that still rings true today. I donât quit. No matter how bad the workout sucked, I wasnât going to quit. If I set the goal at a mile, I was going to finish that mile - no matter what.
I went back to the gym the next day and the day after that...and the day after that. For three months, I went to the gym every day. Without fail. Every. Day.
It took me around two weeks to finally jog an entire mile. I remember the day that I ran my first mile like it was yesterday. The feeling of pure joy and excitement that flooded my body was incredible. There I was, a guy who had been overweight his entire life and terrified of running - the guy who was always picked last in gym class - and I had done it.
In those first two weeks I had so many doubts. The negative self-talk in my head was so strong. I was so afraid that I would fail. I was telling myself that it was in my genes to be overweight and I couldnât out run my fate. Negativity bred negativity in my mind.
Even so - I kept going. I had to. I wasnât on this journey just for myself. No, I had made the decision to pursue this change for a much bigger reason than me. I was doing it for my daughter and I wasnât going to let her down. I wanted her to be proud of her daddy. That was enough to keep me going.
Results
I weighed myself daily for those first two weeks. Every morning and every evening I would step on the scale and see the same number. 285lbs.
To say that this was frustrating is definitely putting it lightly. For the first week, I wasnât too worried about it, because I figured weight loss takes time. The second week, however, was thriving with that negative self talk I mentioned above.
Youâre a failure. Youâll always be fat. No matter what you do, youâll stay 285. Just give up now, thereâs no point. On and on it went.
On the night of January 14th, I stood on the scale and once again it showed 285. I cried. I had worked so hard for two weeks. I went to the gym every day. I had started walking the 2 miles to work. On top of that, I had eaten nothing but vegetables and water. Yet, here I was, still at 285 pounds.
Heart full of disappointment, I brushed my teeth and went to bed. I woke up the next morning and looked at the scale. For the first time in 2 weeks, I didnât want to weigh myself. I was afraid again. But after an internal pep talk, onto the scale I went.
265 lbs
I rubbed my eyes. It was early and I had surely made a mistake. I stepped off and back on. 265. I went through the same routine as before. Off and back on. Still 265 pounds.
From the depths of frustration and nearly throwing in the towel to soaring higher than I can begin to describe. I was so ecstatic that I made my wife come and look. Then, to be safe, made her weigh herself to test the scale. Once satisfied that it was calibrated correctly, I stepped on once more. 265.
There was a fire born in my soul that day. From that morning on, there would be no stopping me. Take that, negative self-talk.
Consistency is King
January 15th marked an important day in my journey. With renewed vigor, I attacked the gym harder than before and dug into books on nutrition. Over the course of the next 4 weeks, I steadily lost weight and was able to run further.
At the end of my first 6 weeks I was running 1.5 miles on a daily basis and had lost around 40 pounds. That was also around the time that an acquaintance gave me a piece of advice that stuck with me.
Consistency is King.
I donât remember the specifics of the conversation. I remember it was around the same time that I had reintroduced meat, because that was one topic we discussed - and that was around 6 weeks into my journey. However, I remember the feeling of the lightbulb going off when he talked about consistency.
For the rest of 2008 I consistently ate mostly vegetables, lean meat, some fruit and nuts/seeds. I added in more whole grain carbs as time went on and I started running more and more. I eventually added in a small piece of dark chocolate (90% cocoa) every day as a reward for my progress and a mental trick to prevent my sweet tooth from kicking back in.
Eventually running 3-5 miles a day wasnât as fun any more, so I started riding a bike everywhere. I also played racquetball at least once a week for an hour or so. Overall - I increased my total daily activity and consistently moved my body.
December 31st, 2008
On December 31st, 2008 - exactly one year after I had made the decision to change my life for my daughterâs sake - I stood staring at the scale. So much had changed for the better. I was (and still am) eternally grateful for that night a year before when I pushed past fear into action.
I stepped on the scale.
165 pounds
Thatâs a net loss of 120 pounds in a year. An average of 10 pounds per month. Some months were actually less than 10 by a good amount. Earlier months the weight fell off. Thatâs a normal response when you have a lot of weight to lose. The fitter you get, the tougher it is to lose the extra fluff.
Later that day I would go and run 8 miles, followed by a bike ride to the gym to play a round of racquetball. Youâll recall that a year before, I could barely jog .15 of a mile.
Lessons on Weight Loss
If youâre still hanging around, thank you. That was a lot of information and yet, barely a drop in the bucket of all the things I could write about that year of losing 120 lbs. Let alone the past 12 years of refining my understanding of nutrition, fitness, and wellness.
There are a few principles that Iâd like to share. Perhaps you are currently overweight or obese and donât know where to start. Maybe youâve looked into losing weight and started diets in the past, only to get frustrated, quit, and gain more weight than you started off with. Maybe youâre in the middle of a lifestyle change yourself.
No matter what stage you are at, I hope to inspire you to push forward and reach your goals.
You Need to Know Your Why
Every person who realizes that they need to lose weight and/or decides to start going to the gym to get in shape has a startup level of motivation. You get yourself psyched up, buy some gym shorts, new running shoes and head to the gym. Maybe youâve decided to try Keto or Paleo or Carnivore or Veganism or Weight Watchers and youâve bought the appropriate entry level groceries.
Youâre all in right? Sure, for the first week or two, maybe. But you need to understand the motivation is cheap. It doesnât last. No one, no matter how on fire at first, can make a lifestyle change purely on motivation alone.
What you need is to find your âwhy.â For me, it was my nearly one year old daughter, laying peacefully asleep. I knew that I had to make a change or I might not see her grow up. That thought kept me going through the toughest of times, when all I wanted to do was fall back into my old eating habits and quit working out.
You need to find a reason bigger than yourself. It canât only be to look better naked. It needs to be something that truly matters to you and that will hold you accountable because of how much it does matter.
You Need to Be Willing to Sacrifice Comfort
Losing weight and getting healthier is one of the best decisions you will ever make if you are currently obese or overweight. The number one killer in the Western world today is heart disease - which is in most cases directly linked to being obese. Your risk for developing several life threatening diseases such as cancer, diabetes, hypertension and more all go through the roof when you are overweight and more so when youâre obese.
Hear this - making the decision to change your lifestyle today, while itâs not too late, is the best decision.
However, you need to know that it wonât be easy. You will have to sacrifice your comfort in order to reach your goal. The things you love to eat may have to be completely abandoned, like Mountain Dew for me. By the way, as a side note, I havenât had soda in 13 years and Iâm doing great.
You will most certainly have to move your body every day. That doesnât mean you have to go run a mile or do a CrossFit WOD every day (though both are great things). It means that you need to be prepared to move your body intentionally every day for the rest of your life. You might have to give up an hour of television or phone time to make that happen.
Sacrificing comfort is well worth the reward of becoming better daily.
Nutrition
Nutrition is both simple and extremely complex at the same time. The good news is, I think there are some very basic principles that anyone can follow to get them started on a weight loss journey.
First - eat mostly whole, natural, unprocessed foods. Fresh vegetables (and lots of them), fresh fruits, lean meats, fish, eggs, nuts and seeds, whole grains (I.E. whole grain oats, brown rice, quinoa), and good fats. Good fats include olive oil, sesame oil, avocado oil, walnut oil, butter (in small quantities), avocados, eggs, nuts.
Second - avoid added sugars as much as humanly possible. Know this - sugars are hidden in many âhealthâ foods such as yogurt or juice smoothies. Iâll write more articles on sugar in the future, but for now, just know that added sugars are not good.
Third - avoid trans fats and other dangerous oils (canola oil, vegetable oil, and any hydrogenated oil). These types of fats are bad for us and Iâll write more on them in the future. If you want a compelling read on why you should avoid them, check out the link for âDeep Nutritionâ in the favorites section of the site.
Fourth - Eat slow and mindfully. It takes around 20 minutes for your brain to register that your stomach is full. Most of us rush through eating and over eat because we havenât gotten those hunger signals to our brains yet. Slow down, chew your food, and enjoy it. Truly savor it.
Fifth - Food is far more than calories. While counting calories can be a great tool for losing weight and I recommend all my clients eventually count calories for a short amount of time, itâs not king. Itâs far more important to focus on the types of foods you are eating (see points #1-3) than the calorie count. Trust me, you will be far more satisfied by 100 calories worth of broccoli than you ever would be with 100 calories of sweets or processed foods.
Sixth - try to live by the 85% rule. That is, eat very clean and highly nutritious foods at least 85% of the time. If you want to indulge in the other 15%, it wonât be the end of all your progress. Just know that you need to be careful with that 15% - make sure itâs truly a small part of your diet overall. For instance, you might have one serving of ice cream on a Saturday for a total of 200 calories. If youâve been eating whole unprocessed foods for the rest of the time, itâll all be fine.
Fitness and Consistency
The last major principle is evident from my story above. Consistency is King. That goes for fitness and nutrition.
For fitness, there are endless options you could choose to participate in. Walking, hiking, swimming, cycling, jump rope, frisbee, pickup basketball, weight lifting, CrossFit, yoga, gymnastics, and the list goes on and on. The important thing is that you just do something active daily.
Even a simple hour of walking burns around 425 calories for the average adult. If youâre doing zero training now, just start by taking a walk every day for 3 weeks. See how you feel. See how far you can go before you need to stop. Keep trying that to see if you can beat your previous distance.
The point is that you need to pick something that you will enjoy, can start at a beginnerâs level, and will do consistently for a long period of time. Donât think too far into the future. Just start with what you can do now.
Thank You
Thank you for choosing to read my story. I truly hope it inspires many people to start their own journey towards better health and longevity.
If you would like to talk more about your own journey, feel free to reach out via my contact page or by my Guestbook.
Please feel free to share this with your friends and family, on social media, or with anyone who you think it may help.