If I Can Lose Weight, Anyone can

I’ve fought myself for months about writing this particular blog. Even as I start, I have no clue where it’s gonna go, but my life’s goal is to be an encourager, so I reached out to a few close family members and friends about it. Below is the first of a few “before-and-after” pics I created, not to brag, as this is the first time I’ve ever shared them. No, I made them for me when I’d get obsessed about losing more weight than I already had.

See, I’ve lost 70 pounds to date, shrinking from 292 pounds to 220 pounds. I’m now five pounds less than I was when I graduated high school in 1985, which is crazy!

But after I’d lost about 50 pounds I started getting obsessed by the weight I still had to lose. After torturing myself for two weeks, however, staring in every mirror I passed, and weighing three times a day, it finally hit me: “You’ve lost 50 freakin’ pounds, dude! Be proud of yourself!” So I started making the before-and-after pics to remind me of how far I’ve come.

Now I only weigh about once a month, since my research taught me home scales can be very unreliable. By only stepping on the scales every few weeks, I miss the offbeat nuances of the body’s tendency to weigh differently at various times of the day. I took the “once a month” idea of weighing from a health expert who said, out of curiosity, she weighed seven times a day for a week, and literally got a different weight every single time!! Have you ever been on a diet, and the scales laughed at you, mockingly, claiming you’d gained a pound the day before? Ha, it’s probably not true, so it’s best not to weigh that often. This way, I know approximately how much I weigh, which is good enough for me.

But back to me contacting family and friends about this article.

“I want to let people know, honestly, that if I can lose weight, anyone can,” I told them, “but I never want people to think I’m bragging. That’s why I’ve not shared it on Facebook (my particular social media platform of choice). I hate when people make posts about their accomplishments, simply to receive an ‘atta-boy’. I’ve lost this weight for my health, and don’t really give a rip about people congratulating me. I don’t know, honestly, whether or not to even write this thing.”

“GO FOR IT!” my wife, Laura, replied about sharing our story. And yes, it is our story, as she’s lost 60 pounds herself, most of it after finding out she had Type-2 Diabetes nearly a year ago. I’m so proud of her for taking control of her health, and I’m thrilled to report all her “numbers” (sugar, etc) are back within normal range!

When I asked our daughter Jess about the blog, she replied, “You should do it, especially if you think it would encourage people. That’s what you’re all about, Dad.” Our friend Steve responded, “I say go for it. If even one person can gain inspiration from your and Laura’s story, it’ll be worth it.”

So here goes.

Many people have a specific weight number they use when trying to express the heaviness of something. “That thing weighs 500 pounds,” one person might say. Well, for me it was 300 pounds. “He must weight 300 pounds” I’d say, or “If I keep eating like this I’m gonna weigh 300 pounds!”

The thing is, I went to my doctor a couple years ago for a routine check-up, and was nearly sick to my stomach when I saw my weight.

“292 pounds” the scale seemed to mock. “Are you kidding?!” I nearly said out loud.

YEESH, I couldn’t believe it; I weighed almost 300 pounds. So I went on a little diet and got down to the upper 270s, but then stopped. It was in February, 2023, though, when Laura found out she was diabetic, and told me she would need to go on a special diet. “I’ll be eating differently than you,” she relayed to me. “I need to cut out sugar and bad carbs.”

“You’re not going on this journey alone,” I told her. “Let’s do this together.” So OFF we went.

We talked about the specifics of our new “healthy lifestyle,” as we called it. “Let’s not call it a ‘diet,'” she said, “because diets are temporary.” Thus, we began a serious and lengthy self-examination of our food and drink habits. Regarding my specific health choices, I quickly deduced the following:

1. I was consuming way too much sugar. I was drinking regular soda and energy drinks all day long. Some days I wouldn’t eat until supper, thinking it would help me lose weight and because all the sugar was stealing my appetite, yet I was consuming dozens and dozens of grams of sugar in pop and Monster energy drinks. For more on how bad excessive sugar is for you, see this great article: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/too-much-sugar
2. I was consuming too many “bad carbs.” We done some research and began separating “good” from “bad” carbs. Here’s one of many articles about this: https://www.everydayhealth.com/diet-nutrition/diet/good-carbs-bad-carbs/
3. I didn’t exercise at all. Like ever. I had excused myself from this because of the chronic pain in my back, hips and legs, and after having had two spinal surgeries. I finally convinced myself, though, that there is no excuse for at least getting out and walking every day.
4. I realized my protein consumption was too low. I had no energy whatsoever, and again, after much research, deduced that I needed to greatly increase my protein intake.

With all this in mind, we narrowed our new lifestyle down to one simple sentence, and I hope this helps make it a little more clear:

We needed to decrease our consumption of bad carbs and sugar, and increase our intake of protein.

Working off this simple formula, I switched out my soda for flavored water (although I still enjoy a zero-sugar Sprite or Dr. Pepper a couple times a week), started drinking the zero-sugar Monster energy drinks instead of the original, GREATLY decreased my sugar intake and increased my consumption of protein.

In the 1980s we were told to decrease our fat intake. In the 90s it was calories and then in the 2000s it was carbs. Suddenly the whole world had gone keto, but I hate that word. I don’t even use it as it relates to our diet. It’s easier for us to think, “Watch your sugar intake and eat plenty of protein.” I’m a simple-minded fella, and that makes more sense to me.

In case you’re not convinced that SUGAR is the enemy, check this out!

That’s right, ONE can of regular Monster energy has the same amount of sugar as FIVE Krispy Kreme donuts! If I were eating the same amount of sugar in donuts as I was drinking in soda and energy drinks, I was shocked to realize I was consuming the equivalent of at least a dozen donuts a day!

No wonder I couldn’t lose weight!

One thing Laura and I started doing was to keep Slim Jim beef jerky sticks in the house as a snack. We got rid of the chips and ice cream (her major weaknesses) and regular pop (my Achilles heel), and started buying healthy snacks, zero-sugar pop and flavored water. We started buying large blocks of cheese, and cutting them up to keep in a sandwich baggie in the fridge. Sure, sometimes we crave sweets really bad, so we’ll allow ourselves a treat, but that’s all it is: A TREAT. It’s no longer a lifestyle.

At this point in the article I’d like to make you aware of a few vitally important things:

1. I don’t live off salads. I’d love to say, “I eat salad with fat free dressing every day!” But if I tried to eat salad every day, I honestly think I’d YACK. I love the occasional salad, but there are a ton of healthy alternatives, if you’re willing to search for them, and then take the time to cook them. For example, last night our son Trey smoked some pork for us, and our daughter-in-law Maria added a few spices to baby carrots and cooked them in the oven.
2. Lest you think you have to switch out your Snickers for celery, I‘m not much of a vegetable guy. Laura loves veggies, but I’m way pickier. I’ll eat some zucchini every now and then, and love apples, bananas and grapes (I know, those are fruits), but don’t do veggies, for the most part, although I’m trying to change that, slowly.
3. We don’t “count” anything: calories, sugar, fat, nothing. We’re aware of how much we eat, but in my mind, “counting” isn’t sustainable, so instead, we just remain aware of how much we’ve consumed, and stay careful about what we eat and drink.
4. You have to allow yourself the occasional cheat meal. This should be an occasional treat, not an every day thing.
5. Now I crave protein, not sugar (most of the time). I still crave sugar sometimes, so I’ll have a little ice cream or something, but not every day. I used to love to eat pancakes for breakfast, or biscuits and gravy, but now I crave protein: eggs, cheese, sausage, bacon, etc. Plus, a morning meal like that doesn’t make me feel utterly horrible. No, once I get done eating a big plate of scrambled eggs and cheese (sometimes with mushrooms), with some sausage and/or bacon, I feel great!
6. This is the biggie: you MUST realize that some sacrifices have to be made.

There’s no getting around that last one, my friend. You can substitute zero-sugar chocolate for Hershey’s all day (although I wouldn’t recommend it, since it’ll cramp your stomach up BIG TIME), but the simple and painful truth is that some sacrifices must be made. For example, when I’m hungry late at night, I try not to get a big bowl of ice cream with all the fixins anymore. I’ll grab a beef jerky and some cheese, or I’ll make a half of a ham sandwich with cheese on low-calorie or “carb friendly” bread.

Another example of a simple and tasty snack would be to make a “wrap” on a low-carb tortilla. To do this, I’ll put cheese and a piece or two of lunch meat on the tortilla, roll it up and nuke it in the microwave for a minute or so.

Another example: the other day Maria made us chicken strips with almond flour, with a side of cooked squash and zucchini. Again, it’s no plate of chicken lo mien with a side of egg rolls (my favorite cheat meal), but it was delicious. Trey and Maria are living with us, along with their ultra-adorable one-and-a-half year old son Davey, while Trey goes back to school and they save up for a house, and they’ve all been such a blessing. When Laura and I come home, fully exhausted from a long day, it’s nothing unusual for him to smoke or grill some type of delicious meat, while she busies herself making sides. Other nights she makes the entire meal, all the while trying to cook healthy.

Now, I know many want to simply have a surgery or take a pill to lose weight. Easy-peezy, right? Well, getting healthy takes work and sacrifice…LOTS of it, in fact…but it’s so worth it. Let me explain.

My dad is what I call a “speed-walker.” We all laughed when I was a teenager as he and I would have foot races, him “speed-walking” and me running, and he always beat me. My entire life I just figured that’s HIS thing, not mine, but as I lost weight I found my walking pace picking up. The other day, Laura, Trey, Davey and me went on a walk, and instead of me having to turn around halfway through the one-mile course we’ve set for ourselves through the streets of our subdivision, like I always had before, I made the entire one-mile jaunt. Not only did I make it, but I was able to keep up a really good pace the entire time! Now I’m nearly a speed-walker, just like my old man.

Ya see, I’ve always been the guy who could barely walk. My legs would nearly buckle under my 290-pound frame, and my back felt like it would snap in two. When I went for a walk, I took a cane and could only walk a few blocks. Sure, I still hurt these days, and barring a literal miracle from God, I always will hurt, but not NEARLY as bad as I used to, and I can walk farther and faster! Once a few months ago Laura and I had just left for a walk when she realized she forgot something (can’t recall what it was). She said, “You go ahead, I’ll catch up.” She went back to the house, and I kept walking. About five minutes later I heard her laughingly call out, “Hey, babe, wait up!” I actually had to stop and wait for her because she couldn’t catch me. We both had a good laugh about that, because I’ve always been the “fat and slow guy.” Nobody called me that, of course, and they probably didn’t even think it, but that didn’t make it any less true.

Losing the weight helped me recently as Laura and I were blessed to spend three days in London. According to a walking app on my phone which tracks my steps, I was surprised (that’s an understatement) to see we had walked nearly 15 miles those three days! WOW! What a blessing to be able to do this.

I don’t have all the answers and will never claim to be an expert. Plus, I still have about 25 pounds I want to lose. I don’t have it all figured out, I’m just sharing my story.

I’m writing this to let you know it IS possible to transform your life, even for a 56-year-old former food addict like me!

Food is no longer the anchor that pulls me down; food is FUEL. Last year I wouldn’t eat until supper, because I wasn’t hungry. Now I wake up hungry! Food is GOOD, you just have to eat good FOOD. Say, that’s kinda catchy, I should trademark that.

If you’re not ready now, that’s fine; just store this information away for future reference. And, please reach out to me if you have any questions, or simply need encouragement.

Many blessings. Prayin’ for ya, as always!