Ninety days ago, I was very close to being in the worst shape of my life. I was forty pounds overweight, I had back and knee pain constantly, and no endurance for anything more stressful than climbing one flight of stairs. (Even that was becoming a stretch.)
I felt like my weight and lifestyle were inevitable and irreversible – it was too much weigh to lose, and too difficult to get it off. I didn’t have time, energy or expertise enough to turn my life around to that extent.
I looked forward to eating.
I loved food, and it was slowly killing me.
Then I looked in the mirror one morning and thought – You, sir, are a disgusting pig.
I had reached the point where something had to change – and I finally didn’t care how hard it was. I looked at my potential future and saw a variety of distasteful health problems, not to mention a shortened lifespan due to my inability to control my eating.
I saw my wife as an early widow, and my kids growing up without me around – and the picture was more than I could stand.
Then I noticed that a friend at work had been losing a lot of weight. He was farther gone than I was – yet he was accomplishing much more. At that point, he had lost more than 100 pounds, and looked like a different person.
I figured, if it works for him – why can’t it work for me?
So I asked him what he was doing.
He turned me on to My Fitness Pal – a free app that allows you to simply keep track of your daily calorie intake. It also records exercise and calculates how many calories you burn, based on your weight, age, gender and activity level. Then it tells you how many calories you need each day to survive while losing a reasonable amount of weight.
It is NOT a diet. It is NOT an instant weight loss pill.
But it is wonderfully effective.
The simple math of weight loss doesn’t lie: If you burn more calories than you take in, you WILL lose weight.
You don’t need fancy exercise programs, supplements, surgeries or diets. Just take in fewer calories than you burn.
That’s it.
Today is my ninetieth day using My Fitness Pal.
I have not done a single push-up or sit-up.
I have not run.
I have not cycled.
I have not jumped rope, rowed or lifted weights.
I also have not limited myself to eating nothing but carrot smoothies for three months.
All I’ve done has been to eat more fresh and less processed food – and to eat fewer calories each day than I used to.
The result?
Today I am 33 pounds lighter than I was when I started.
My back and knees no longer hurt.
I have energy that wasn’t there before.
I’ve dropped more than seven inches off my gut, and I’m wearing pants that are two full sizes smaller.
I gave away dozens of pants and shirts in the last few weeks, because they no longer fit – and I’m determined that they never will again.
I went on vacation last week with my family – and I still lost weight – without avoiding good food.
I just avoided eating too much of it.
Knowledge is king, and knowing what food costs you in terms of calories is priceless, because it allows you to decide where you want to spend your daily calorie budget.
My Fitness Pal simply gives you the information you need to be able to make better choices in your eating, and that gives you the ability to tackle weight loss that may seem insurmountable.
I still have more weight to lose – my original goal of forty pounds will probably be extended to fifty, and I’ll ultimately level off somewhere in between. The point is that both goals are now in sight – and it only took minimal effort, some basic planning – and 90 days of my time.
What goal are you not chasing because you think it’s too hard?
What’s stopping you?
Thanks for the reminder. I enjoy eating too much, too. I think I’d better get over it.
The Joy of Eating (if not held in check) is usually accompanied by the Misery of Expanding!
I just started My Fitness Pal; after today I’m already 300 calories behind! Behavior modification seems to be in order.
I think you’ll like the app – it gives you really good data to work with at a glance. Once you enter some of your own recipes, it gets even faster to use. The barcode scanner is a cool feature too – it really simplifies things. Good luck!
I also started with My Fitness Pal and it was crucial in losing the 27 pounds I lost. But after several months with it, something changed: I didn’t need it so much anymore because it helped me build a habit. I was watching what I ate, I knew better how many calories were in what, and, thanks to tracking it with the app, I was more educated and there was accountability. It was a beautiful thing.
I actually only use it now to do a weekly weigh-in. Well, I say “only” but it’s a huge deal and I don’t forget (every Friday morning, first thing). Ah, accountability, it’s powerful stuff.
MP, in addition to your writing post over at Repossible (Famous First Words), how about a guest post about how you lost 33 pounds? You joke about carrot smoothies above, but I just did a 3-Day Juice Cleanse post that’s getting quite a bit of traffic.
I think people would really benefit from your story of how you lost this weight that you’d been wanting to lose and how you did it. Let me know what you think!
Oh, and a huge congratulations! I know way too well how hard this is and what an achievement you’ve reached.
Hey Bradley!
I agree – the habit you get from diligent tracking has a lot of side benefits. I’m at the point where I can pretty much plan an entire day’s food in my head, and still come out under my allotted calories. Just like anything else, all it takes is consistent practice.
To be honest, I was poking fun a bit at the idea of fad diets – not necessarily juice cleanses – but only in the sense that doing something that drastic is the only answer to the problem of changing your eating habits. I know that different cleanses and fasts can be hugely beneficial. I just always have a hard time when something good gets twisted into a fad, and gets watered down. No offense!
I’d be happy to work on another post for you – I’ve been thinking about expanding on my progress a bit more than I did here, so that might be a great opportunity to do it.
I’ll be in touch – thanks!
I think I’m also kinda addicted to challenges … 😉 So I’ll do anything. If it involves crazy eating for a few days, I’m all in. But you’re right, it’s nothing for the long term.
BTW, this freaked me out to read, “I saw my wife as an early widow, and my kids growing up without me around – and the picture was more than I could stand.”
You have to ask, “What’s it going to take to make it happen? How far down the path do you need to go before you realize you have to turn around? The farther you go, the harder it’s going to be.”
Bradley,
The adage about needing to hit bottom first is apparently valid here. What fascinated me about the whole thing is the change in my self-image. I didn’t realize how down I was on myself until I actually started making some progress and noticed my attitude improving as well. Grateful for the change!
Going off the deep end here, but I just nominated you for the Liebster Blog Award! It’s kinda retro “chain-letter-y” but I just did it and it was fun–and it forced me to find other bloggers I admire. More about it here: Liebster. You don’t have to accept it (there’s some “work” to do!), but please let me know either way so I can keep your link in my post.
Bradley Charbonneau’s Pass the Sour Cream A-Z Challenge.
Bradley, thanks for that! I’ve been struggling with writing lately – leave it to you to drop a challenge on me and make me feel like I need to quit screwing around (which, sadly enough, I do.) My biggest problem with the challenge would be nominating 11 others – I don’t follow a lot of blogs with any consistency. Any chance I could nominate you and John Muldoon multiple times to get to 11?
I’ll think about it this week and get back to you – thanks again!
I’ll bet you could climb both of the Bumpheads! “C’Mon, it’s easy!”
I get the ‘c’mon it’s easy’ quote – but what’s a Bumphead??
They are 2 rock outcroppings east of Bumphead Resevoir. It’s where you’re going camping.
OK, now I get it. Looked at the map, and it looks completely desolate. Perfect spot!