(This got way too long, and has had too many edits. I’m pushing it live, and will stop trying to write novellas into a single blog post)
Everyone has seen the weight loss ads with the fine print underneath “Results not Typical”. This is my beginning story of my results, without the weight loss products.
My wife mentioned to me recently of a report saying that obesity in America had recently risen. I’m not going to go into all of the causes, fixes, etc. There are FAR better areas to discuss that. But I do want to write a little bit about something that did happen with me.
First, some pictures. I’m only going to show face shots.
This was me about 3 years ago.
This is me, a week ago.
Let’s get the obvious out of the way, immediately. I still don’t have hair. Strangely enough, I might have a BIT more hair now, but that’s also probably an illusion based on the fact that there isn’t as much face as there used to be. I don’t even want to think how much I weighed then. I know that my waistline was a generous 36, IOW a realistic 38, but I wasn’t going to wear 38s. I’m currently wearing a pair of 30s, loosely. And frankly, 28s would probably be a better fit now.
What I do know is that I had already started to loose some weight in May 2008. That’s when my wife bought us a Wii fit. And no, it didn’t cause me to loose weight, but it did allow me an easy way of tracking my weight. 209 pounds. I’m 6′ tall. I was not obese. But yeah, that’s heavy.
So let’s bring out the graph. Click on it for a larger, more readable version.
This capture is current as of 5/18/2010. So, it’s about 2 years of weight data. It’s also about 1 year since I started running.
What happened to me? I’ve lost over 60 pounds of weight. My average weight seems to be stabilizing around 162, although I’ve said that before. I’ve recently been hitting 158 as a low, and as my training continues, who knows? Body fat keeps falling, based on the scale. The scales I have (Withings Scale) aren’t exact on body fat accuracy compared to calipers or water weighing, but they certainly are good enough, and very useful in terms of showing a trend.
Exactly zero of the clothes that I had fit anymore (including, distressingly, my tailored suit and shirts from Hong Kong). I have 2 pairs of jeans that fit, and I don’t buy clothes unless absolutely needed, because it seems that if it’s in my closet for more than a month, it probably won’t fit anymore. That is the downside, that no one tells you about.
It’s expensive buying new clothes just to replace your previous clothes every month. It’s really cool the first time. Slightly less so the next. And it gets OLD real quick.
So what happened?
I started eating smaller portions.
Healthier foods, although I wasn’t eating HORRIBLE.
I eliminated Soda. Period. Diet or otherwise.
Lots of water replaced it.
Oh, and I ran. A lot.
Last year, I spent the majority of the year in Denver, on the weekdays. As part of the contract I was on, we worked all the time. I couldn’t sleep very well out there for a significant time. So, it quickly because a situation where I would wake up early, and could either get started working again, or run. Easy access to running trails helped. Living with a guy who does Ironman Tris regularly helped tons.
I couldn’t run 2 miles. Heck, I couldn’t run 1 mile without including walking. But I kept going. I entered my first race (a 10k after the aforementioned Ironman convinced me to do it instead of the 5k) on Labor day.
I’m also going farther. After the 10k, running 5k distances just didn’t challenge me. Nor did the 10k to be honest. So, I started training for the Half Marathon. I ran the Nashville irunfortheparty.com Half Marathon in November 2009. I then ran the Memphis St. Jude Half Marathon in December 2009. I dropped about 4 minutes off my time in the month between.
I trained for the Country Music Marathon in April 2010. What happened there will be another post. During that training, I was regularly running longer than those half marathons, and wasn’t even thinking about it.
So, now, 3 years after that first picture, I’m in the best shape of my life. I’m loving running, and I’m actually happy about my body. I wouldn’t say I was unhappy before, but I know I wasn’t happy. I did it gradually, and I don’t regret or miss a thing, except perhaps, that I didn’t start earlier. I focus on the running, but in regards to my weight loss, it was really only part of the equation. I changed my lifestyle. I didn’t diet. I ate well and moderately (although in fact, I NEED to eat more now). I firmly believe that eliminating Soda made a huge difference.
I’m not setting any speed records. I’m ok with that. I read tons of blogs of very competitive racers, and I’m just not there. Yet. I enjoy running, I enjoy racing, even though I KNOW I’m not going to win against Ryan Hall. But against myself, that’s another story completely. I’m still early enough in my training that I continue to improve my Personal Record regularly.
Anyone still reading?
Great going! I’ve been doing a reduced version of your plan. Lost 40 lbs in 8 months last year. Got down to 169 before I had to trade exercise for school again. Back at 180 now and starting to head down again.
The running thing is “hard” for me. I can run 5 miles at the drop of a hat now, but I get bored so easily that it’s hard to stay focused the whole time. I have to watch a movie or listen to my iPod to distract myself. What works for you?
I don’t really have a problem running. In fact, I tend to look forward to it, if for no other reason than to be ‘alone’. Even if I’m running with someone, I’m still in that spot, because I don’t have to deal with anything but the run, and what comes naturally out of it. If I’m alone, the Ipod is definitely going, but it’s more for pacing and background music. I also run outside. I can’t do the treadmills, so I’ll either bundle up, or get ready to sweat a lot. Getting outside has done wonders for me this winter (when I normally get real bad because of the lack of light). So, if nothing else, getting my runs in is my excuse to be alone with myself, and enjoy the outdoors.
On the long runs alone, I tend to look inside rather than try to be entertained.
When my Dad died, the week before the Memphis Marathon, I didn’t want to run, for obvious reasons. But probably the biggest was that I’d be alone, on the course, with just myself. That was some of the toughest miles I’ve ever faced, but it also really helped me come to peace, somewhat.
I’ve tried audiobooks and podcasts, but I just can’t get into them enough on the run. I don’t look to distract myself from it. That tends to happen enough as it is. After 10 miles or so, I’m in enough of a zone, that the only thing I notice is the mile announcements clicking off. I always know I’m having a good run when I think “already?” when the next mile hits. It’s also a great way for me to prioritize things in my head.
Plus, I’m running 95% of the time in the early morning, pre coffee or anything else. So I’m running before the brain wakes up, anyways.
Thanks for the comment Mat. We need to get together sometime for Lunch, or a run.
Greg