A Decision Made

I have been talking about trying something different, so I should share with you what that will be.  It was a difficult deciding which direction I should take things.  I have had great input from friends who have lost weight and gotten in shape in a variety of ways.  From Juicing, to Visalus, to Beach Body, and so much more these men of lost weight and changed their lives.  So in the end, I have done pretty well with nutrition in the past and believe I can do even better with what I’ve learned.  One thing I have struggled with is working out.  

Sure working out was easy in college, where I had hordes of guys my own age who wanted nothing more than to go play basketball, tennis, or lift weights.  On top of that, I had all of those things at my fingertips no expensive gym memberships or trying to time things for various rec teams.  Since then things haven’t been the same.  A number of injuries have kept me away from more organized sports.  And a number of lower paying jobs have kept my gym memberships at a minimum.  Even when I’m at the gym, I don’t really know what I am doing.  Sure I can walk on the treadmill for 30 minutes, and then mess around with weights.  But I don’t know what to do or how much to do it. 

This being said, I watched a P90x infomercial about a week ago, and saw a guy bigger than me get in shape through that program.  I thought if he can do it, why can’t I?  For 24 hours, I knew I was doing P90x, then I started doing a little research on P90x (which stands for Power 90 extreme) and the doubt set in.  P90x does not seem like a program for beginners.  On top of that, I have not always had a great history of follow through:

·         Example A - The Ab Roller; in only 30 short days, I was going to rock the fat away and give myself an amazing 6-pack.  Turns out, rocking your way through all of your favorite TV-shows wasn’t as easy as it sounds.  After about 2 evenings the Ab Roller got stuck in the attic never to return.  ($55.00)

·         Example B - Wii Fit; really what could be better than getting in amazing shape all while playing video games? Turns out none of that was made for a guy my size, and although I tried for almost a week, it just made me mad I couldn’t use half the tools.  ($80.00)

·         Example C - Weight loss pills; the kick start the metabolism so you can lose weight doing anything, even watching TV.  Seemed like the perfect fit, alas after 2 weeks no weight loss, and the pills had a nasty after taste so I threw them away.  (19.99)

This is just to name a few things; I could go on for pages.  (I realize I am easily sucked in to the allure of the infomercial). Well, I had taken the pre-test to see if P90x was something I could handle and failed miserably, afterwards it suggested I try Power 90 first.  So I hit the net, the World Wide Web, the information super highway, to find out what I could about Power 90.  I watched transformation videos on YouTube, I read reviews I talked with my awesome friend, and Beach Body Coach Randy Barton and I changed my mind back and forth about 100 times.  

In the end, it was my wife who was the voice of reason (as she always is).  She suggested I try Power 90 first since I had enough in Amazon gift cards to purchase it.  Then, if I stuck with it and completed 90 days, we would all feel more comfortable buying P90x.  This seemed to make a great deal of sense and I ordered Power 90.  

On Monday June 4th (Assuming my package arrives on time) I will be starting my 90 day body transformation workout with Power 90; both the daily work outs and the nutrition guide.  I’m not sure what to expect, but I will be sharing whatever it is right here on Tim Loses It.  I have to say at this time I am really excited to get started, although that may change by week 6. 

Past Diets

I left you with where I was at, and I was pretty depressed to be there.  One thing I have consistently done when I wanted to, was lose weight.   Sure I have ran into slow spells but 30 days of being stuck is a brand new thing for me.  I hadn’t tried to lose weight often, really just three times before I started a year ago.  All three were effective in the short term, but had either sacrificed my health or had the wrong motivation. I thought I would share them with you in a blog about what not to do.  

The first “diet” I ever went on was my freshman year of college.  I attended Spring Arbor University and in January landed a leading role in a musical.  I weighted about 235 at the time and knew the costume wouldn’t be flattering nor would it be pleasant watching a 235 pound man dance around the stage.  So with all the wisdom of a 19 year old, I put myself on a diet of nothing but Baked Lays chips and Mt Dew.  I also worked out a lot.  Well after about three weeks, I was looking a trim 210 and was pretty proud of my “diet”.  Looking back on it, I am sure I almost killed myself with the amount of Mt Dew I was drinking to keep my energy up with only Baked Lays.  I almost lost the play as well as I pulled a muscle in my neck three days before a performance.  I ended up able to go on, but with a stack of chiropractic bills.  I also put the weight back on shortly after.  (Please do not ever try this diet; there is nothing good about it) 

The next time I tried to lose weight, it wasn’t even my idea.  It was my senior year of college and the Atkins diet was very popular.  My wife wanted to try it, and dared me to do it with her.  I didn’t really care about the weight loss, but I liked to win, and the idea of eating nothing but bacon, ham, eggs, and cheese sounded like fun.  Well, I did just that week after week of bacon, eggs, cheese and ham.  And the weight flew off.  After a month, my wife fell off craving carbs.  I went on for another month just to win by a lot.  At the end I had dropped over 30 pounds without ever working out.   I started over 270 and ended under 240.  This was also a very unhealthy way to lose weight.  After two months, I would have killed for a piece of white bread.  I put the weight back on within a few weeks of going off of Atkins.  Also studies have shown Atkins is a bad way to go.

I didn’t think about losing weight for years, and I slowly put a lot more on.  In 2007, I took a job as associate pastor at a church in Adrian MI, and part of the package was a gym membership.  One day I was in using the pool when I saw an advertisement for a weight loss contest.  Ninety days and first place was 500 dollars.  Well who can’t use 500 dollars?  As I said I am very competitive, and jumped in with both feet.  I joined an online group called Spark People (http://www.sparkpeople.com) to help keep a calorie count.  I worked out daily at the gym first with the treadmill, and later with the elliptical.  I even met several times with a personal trainer.  At the end of 90 days I had dropped from 355 to 309 giving me a weight loss of 46 pounds.   I came in second place, which had no prize, and returned to my old ways, putting all the weight back on again.  I had done things right that time, but I didn’t view it as a lifestyle change, only to win a contest.  

Where I’ve Been

Welcome to my blog Tim Loses It.  I have wanted to start this blog for a while, as I started this weight loss journey 1 year ago.  However I guess they say better late than never and as I still sit at 310 pounds I still have plenty to talk about.  Now before we get started I should probably tell you a little about myself.  My name is Tim; I am married, and have two wonderful children.  I teach at a small private school and occasionally travel the state preaching at a number of churches.  I am also a basketball and soccer coach which in my mind was always an excuse for my weight, because I have a relatively active lifestyle.  

On top of that my weight never really bothered me; I was a big guy but happy being big.  I had a lot of friends, was often asked to preach all over.  I was a great cook, and deep fried like no one you’ve known.  I knew I was big, and would joke about it with others, some people thought I was hurting because of the weight.  Me, I wasn’t too concerned about it.

This changed for me a little over a year ago, when my son came home upset from school.  His friends had been giving him a hard time because his daddy was fat.  The fact a bunch of 8 year olds thought I was fat didn’t bother me in the least.  I knew I was.   I tried to tell my son I was.  What bothered me was the fact he looked up to me so much, he didn’t believe it.  My son could not believe someone like his dad was fat.  It was right there I knew I had to change.

In June 2011, I drove to Wal-Mart to buy a scale.  I knew I was right around 320 and figured the first step to losing was to walk more, eat better and watch the weight fall away.  I never would have guessed as I stepped on that scale and the numbers stopped on 368.  I could not believe just how close to 400 I was.  There were contestants on the biggest loser smaller than me.  I was embarrassed about my weight for the first time.  

Over the next three months I did what I knew how to do.  I walked more and I ate less.  I didn’t always eat well and more often then not I didn’t, I just tried to approach each meal and eat less then I would normally eat.  Instead of a large flurry, I would eat a small one.  Instead of eight slices of pizza, I would eat 4.  Somehow by God’s grace, I lost weight on this simplistic approach and at the end of August I was weighing in at 355.  

In September 2011, I decided I had to take it up a notch.  Thirteen pounds was good, but at this rate it would take me four years to get where I needed to be.  So I started with My Fitness Pal (www.myfitnesspal.com) it gave me a calorie goal to lose 2 pounds a week.  I also went out and joined a gym, and officially told everyone I knew that I was trying to lose weight in an attempt to keep myself honest.  

This new system worked, I read everything I could, I learned as much as I could and I lost a lot of weight.  My biggest mistake was stopping a week before the holidays to enjoy Christmas.  December 2011, I weighed in at 303 pounds, and stopped to enjoy all the good food Christmas had to offer.  Christmas turned into New Years, New Years turned into basketball season.  Basketball season turned into my wife’s and son’s birthdays.  I knew I had put weight back on, and the scale had become something I feared.  Finally in mid April I got back on the scale and was relieved to have it pop up at 318.  I hadn’t put too much back on, and decided to take it off by June.  I went back to My Fitness Pal, started juicing (usually two meals a day) again and over two weeks dropped eight pounds before it all stalled. 

May 2011, I weighed in at 310.  Three weeks later I still weighted in at 310 I was walking, I was eating right, but the weight wasn’t moving and I decided it was time to do something new again.