Weight Loss Success Stories: Sean Lost Over 200 Pounds!

I’m a married father of 2 (with another on the way) who programs computers for a living. I grew up always being a bigger guy who was picked on but in retrospect I wasn’t that overweight, kids can be mean. While I was younger I golfed and caddied but was never in any formal team sports involving intense exercise or exertion so I never really learned much about exercise in school. On a positive note, those long walks on the course helped me keep from being crazy overweight.

In college I was pretty much heads down in the books and jobs and as such started gaining weight due to poor eating habits and zero exercise. When I graduated from college it was compounded by a job that had food onsite and the increased stress of a job. I quickly ballooned up to 450 pounds in December of 1999.

Over that Y2K holiday break I thought long and hard about what I wanted out of life and what I envisioned my future like. I had no significant other, didn’t date, and rarely traveled yet that was the opposite of what I wanted from life.

I envisioned a wife, kids, traveling, sports and lots of new experiences yet at the age of 25 when I should be acting on those dreams I was light years from them.

I vowed then to make a change in the new millennium and begin to make those dreams a reality.

While I put my weight on unhealthily I vowed to take it off as healthy as possible. I wasn’t looking for quick losses or easy solutions, I was fine taking my time and doing it the right way. I wanted to find a practical and sustainable lifestyle that wasn’t gimmicky or costly.

The closest I came to a popular diet was following Body for Life but that really just taught me about weight training, HIIT, and portion control. Yes they sold meal replacement shakes, which I still use to this day, but they weren’t required. To me they’re a convenience and taste great plus I still eat 4-5 other whole meals per day.

Through good old fashioned trial and error and a whole lot of perseverance. Each time I failed I tried to understand why and make sure it didn’t happen again and each time I did better (usually). I still haven’t perfected the holidays but I’m getting better.

For me I discovered that my body loves circuit training. Ever 1 hour workout means ~1,000 calories gone, lots of sweat, and nice muscle gains over time. Add to that the variety, which means they’re never boring, and you have a perfect fit.

Straight cardio often times causes a loss in muscle which lowers your metabolism so keeping that precious muscle and gaining it if possible is ideal. The variety of weights & cardio in circuit training means you get the burn and the gain in one exercise which is ideal.

First I maintain a food diary using an iPhone application called LoseIt. It’s not for everyone but it helps me stay accountable, especially to my 200 LoseIt friends.

Second thing I learned, after far too many years, is that a free day once per week is too hard. It invariably turns into a free day and a half, a free weekend, and then free to eat whatever. For me a free meal + dessert (you can’t forget dessert) works best. For the rest of the week I eat healthy meals.

No, they’re not crazy meals but they are as healthy as possible. I find that ordering kid size portions or splitting an entree with someone is one of the soundest things you can do when eating out. Yes, I eat out … crazy ahe?

The final way I stay accountable is I blog about my journey. I’m open about my successes as well as my failures. I weigh in each week and share the number with the world and all 3 of my readers. The blogging community is amazing and very supportive. They’ve had a huge influence on my successes the past few years.

I set a lot of goals along the way, it’s the only way I can tell if I’m making progress. I’d usually set a short (1 month), medium (2-3 month), and long (6+ month) term goal.

When I hit the goal I used to celebrate with a meal, bad IDEA. See what I mean about lessons learned? Now I usually reward myself with a small gift like clothes, a new gadget, or just a hug from my wife (my biggest supporter).

I went from zero workouts a week pre-Y2K to 5-6 days per week post-Y2K and pretty much have stuck to that since. I don’t know why but 5-6 made sense and fits my all or nothing approach to life. I still take a day off and some workouts are less than 100% but I’m all about consistency.

I’ve tried to make workouts fun and as my kids get older I’m hoping to incorporate them more to teach them healthy lifestyles. Right now we run with them in a stroller and that’s fun but I can’t wait until we can do long family bike rides and things like hiking and skiing. Until then I’ve been doing triathlons and cycling rides to challenge myself and keep it fun.

If you ask my wife she’ll tell you I never do anything partially or just a little bit. I joined a local bike club when I got a new bike and then signed up for a 100 km horribly hilly hundreds ride. I signup for a 10 km run and quickly turn that into a Half Ironman triathlon.

I essentially start out training small and then get all excited when I succeed and then extrapolate that times 5 or 10 and then do that next thing. It’s kinda crazy but it’s what makes me tick and stay motivated.

Along the way I’ve certainly pushed too hard at times and injured myself, I think all athletes do at some point. For me I made the mistake of trying minimal running at the same time I was going from 5 km running distances to 10 km. I tried slowly getting into it but despite that the bottoms of my feet couldn’t handle the stress. My ankles are usually the sore things (the next day) after I’m running but with minimal running my feet blistered right away. I tried a number of items easing into it with little to no success so I just went back to running with solid form with normal running shoes.

For me running has been the most challenging exercise I’ve ever undertaken. I’ve had to learn what distances my body can handle and that I can’t run back to back days no matter how fit I am. I can run 3 miles thinking it’s short enough but if I run any distance the next day my ankles are dead for a few days. It’s taken me a while to figure out how to run properly as a heavy runner without hurting myself.

Don’t ever stop trying to be healthy and fit, please, don’t give up. If someone like me who used to be 450 pounds can fail 13 times and still succeed then you certainly can as well. The key is to find what works for you, and while that may seem daunting it isn’t as difficult as it sounds.

Whether its doing circuit DVD’s in your basement, running on a treadmill at lunch, or going for long hikes and short walks during the week just find what works for you and keep doing it. If you don’t enjoy it even a little then you will stop doing it and fall back into your normal rut.

Whatever you do don’t look for nor believe anyone that tells you they have an easy solution to losing weight, they’re either lying or in denial. You’re going to have to sweat and you’re going to have to make difficult decisions turning down that dessert from time to time.

You really can do this, you just have to make that difficult decision to make a change and then start making it happen. It’s so easy to keep saying tomorrow or next week that you’ll finally do it, trust me I did it countless times. Stop letting tomorrow be the keeper of your future happiness and make a change today.

I’m living life and acting on that vision that I had 12 years ago when I started this journey. Staying active and having fun with my family is a huge part of my life now. I want to teach my children how to be healthy and have fun along the way, it doesn’t have to be a chore or hard to understand and they shouldn’t make the same mistakes their father did.

Another huge change for me has been my overall energy and confidence as a result of the weight loss. I can do things now that I’d certainly never have tried 12 years ago, like international travel. Try fitting into a airplane seat at 450 pounds, not a lot of fun. I can now sprint up 3 flights of stairs and not be gasping for breath, try doing that being even slightly out of shape … you’d be surprised how your confidence changes when even simple tasks like taking the stairs become challenging.