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.