I lost 50 pounds in a little less than 3 months!

[Kurtuleas]

Sorry, but I am SO stoked that I have to brag. But maybe my post will help motivate others...

Over my winter break (I am a HS Teacher), I went to the doctor for a check up.....and weighed in at 280. (I am a 44 year old male BTW and 5'11")  I knew I was over weight, but not THAT over weight.

So I did the classic "New Years Resolution" and made a goal of trying to lose 60 pounds by the end of the school year in June. I knew it was a lofty goal, but years ago in the early 90's after I stopped playing college football, I lost a lot of weight, so I knew I could do it again if I stayed focused. (life, beers, career, family, a blown knee and a motorcycle wreck were all factors for me putting all this weight on again)

I went full force on January 1st. (Did not get my fitbit until January 21st however.). In January, I averaged a loss of about a pound a DAY! I hit 230 pounds on March 20th....but now I am stuck on a little bit of a plateu. Still, the Fitbit has been INVALUABLE.

Here is the basic gist of what I did:

1. Only ate carbs in the morning. (A bowl of grape nuts)

2. Ate all protein during the day. If it walks, flies or swims....I eat it. About 1,800 calories a day.

3. Stopped drinking diet coke and now I drink a TON of water everyday.

4. I stopped drinking beer...but I do drink on weekends. I just switched to an occasional glass of whiskey. (Jack straight)

5. Started doing my eliptical every morning, and then made sure to also go walking everyday. (I think I average 20,000 steps a day.)

6. Walking evolved into jogging. (mid Feb.)

7. To ramp it up even more, I signed up for a local triathlon on April 19th. This motivates the hell out of me and I added biking to my jogging.

8. I WISH I could lift heavy like I used to, but I have a serious torn bicept right now, so I am just doing light weights 3 days a week. I think my results could have been WAY better if I could lift seriously.

Things I would have/could have changed:

I am invovled in off-road racing, so for one week in Febuary when we had a major race, I kind of cheated on my diet. I think that slowed me down a little. (I still jogged that week however)

Again, I wish that I could lift heavier.

I could have cut alcohol out completley

I have SO much more energy. I used to get winding just walking up stairs, yet now I look forward to waking up at 5 AM and going jogging.

Here is a before and after of my face at 26 pounds down:

and while the before pic here is BEYOND embarassing.....here is before and after at 50 pounds down. I WISH I was looking at the mirror in the before becuase the change in my face is unreal.

I HATE to say this, but losing the weight was......quite frankly....easy. Especially after the first couple of weeks when i really noticed a change.

If I can do it, you can too.

[WendyB]

You look awesome! Congrats on your Loss!

[BurdsNest]

Totally like your story.  Congratulations!  You will be an inspiration to loads of people including my husband who I just showed your post to!   Keep up the good work and don't you ever, ever go back!

Sincerely,

Never going back!

[mesquite77]

Wow, that is amazing!  Congrats!

I know it would be embarassing, but I kinda wish I had a pic of my "before".

Your numbers aren't that my much different than mine, but I am only about half way there.

I am 38 and 6'3".

I started with my Fitbit on Christmas at 283 (down from a high of 289 in November).

Today I am at 264, next goal is 259. First goal was 279, 269... Right now my ultimate goal is 229.

Your post might just be what I need for motivation to kick the Diet Coke and push my steps from 12k to 20k.  My knees absolutely kill me when I try to jog, so I walk and hit the eliptical (52/90 days Jan 1 - Mar 31).

I am also on a plateu - first time I saw 267 was on Feb 18th, but I figure the numbers on the scale have to work out eventually - 2000-2200 calorie intake vs. 3600-3800 calorie burn.  I am still losing inches - 2 inches off my waist in the last 4 weeks, so my 264 is shaped alot better than my 267 was.

I agree that it has been fairly "easy" - love the energy I now have.

[ahmad0420]

Finally some REAL weight loss post without web links at the end of it. Good job dude!

[nancy-oh]

congrats

[Kurtuleas]

@mesquite77 Yeah, I know Diet Coke does not have any calories, especially in comparison to all the sugar in regular Coke, but I have a theory that all that carbonation bloats up your stomach, which expands it and stretches it out, which in turn, makes you eat more to feel full. Plus I think some of the additives in it inhibit weight loss.

I was addicted to Diet Cokes. I would easily have at least 6 a day.

Now I drink NOTHING carbonated....only water.

[BurdsNest]

Hey Kurtuleas.....what do you think about carbonated water?  I love my Market Pantry (Target) 16.9 slightly flavored water, but should I just drink plain ole water.  

Sincerely,

Trying to keep it real....

[Kurtuleas]

@BurdsNest  I am no expert, and I COULD be completly wrong...

But yeah, I would stick with plain (and non-flavored becuase of the aspartemene [sp?] in it) water.

I just personally believe that carbonated beverages bloat your stomach and strech it out. I actually think that was an old selling point of diet coke: to make you feel FULL.

[BurdsNest]

Yeah, my husband says that even thou the flavored water is zero calories, the sweet taste tricks you into wanting something sweet.  

Hey, 6 of one half dozen of another.  Who really knows.....

Sincerely,

Hit or Miss

[reddincr]

Way to go man. I am also a HS teacher/ 5'11" male. So I can connect. Also I am sure that cutting out beer was a hard thing to do. Nothing better than a nice cold beer after dealing with students all day! Keep it up man!

[laurenllandon]

good work! You look fantastic 🙂

[Ralf]

I think the main problem with artificial sweeteners is, even though they don't have calories, as soon as your tastebuds detect sweetness (and they can't distinguish between real sugar sweetness and non caloric fake sweetness) you body gets fooled into releasing insulin which wants to turn carbs into fat. So you trigger the exact opposite of the fat burn you want.

So i'd stay away from any drink that has sweeteners. Try unsweetened iced green tea. This will even boost the fat burn by a little.

[tmatta0524]

Congratulations!!!  Your post is a major inspiration to me.

I have about 80 lbs to lose that I gained due to having something called Cushings Syndrome.  Until I was 38 (now I am 44), I never weighed over 130 lbs EVER!  I was very athletic and ran daily, trained with a personal trainer 4 times a week, etc.  Then I suddenly gained 85 lbs in 10 months!  Without changing a thing!

I went through 2 years of being constantly sick, breaking bones, constantly exhausted, in and out of the hospital, etc.  Finally found out that I had Cushings and got treated.  Now I am FINALLY ready to get back in shape and the FitBit is helping me a lot.

Keep it up!!  😉

[Shortsbysummer]

Very motivational, congratulations!  I'm a 4th yr teacher (Elem) and teaching is the reason I've gained 50-lbs!  All I do, all night and all weekend, is sit at my computer lesson planning or prepping or writing report cards!  . I try to go to the gym, but my job weighs on me and I end up sitting with my laptop AT the gym!!  I have to stop the insanity, just say no, and get in the game!  #3, 4 (wine) and 5 are great advice.

[BurdsNest]

Hey Shortsbysummer, don't beat yourself up.  I've been teaching for almost 18 yrs and it was only two years ago, that I decided to stop the insanity.  Two kids, a marriage, a divorce, new daughter, house, cars, two kids in college, and just life, at age 55 I finally said STOP!  

So at 166 pds, I took matters into my hands and started thinking about me!  My health,sanity, mentality, and my overall happiness.  Love my job, but we have to learn to draw the line when it comes to our mental health.

So, keep on teaching, but learn how to put it all away, because it will always be there.  Take care of you, because if you're not healthy, what good are you going to be for your students.

Sincerely,

Loving myself

[Jessica19651]

You are inspiring.  Great job.

[Leatherworker]

Thank you for the inspiration!
I am going to try half that.  No excuses.

[miked55]

holy moly, lot of pounds in such a short amount of time.

[aarheault]

wow! this is awesome! congrats. I started weight watchers a few weeks ago and am down 4 pounds. I am so excited for my results. I am currently running (almost every day) to get to my goal of being able to run 2 miles without a break. So far I am able to run 1 mile with 2 short breaks. I drink only water, and some juice occasionally. Try and eat as healthy as I can. It is not easy at all, and am already proud of myself for as far as I have gotten.