Weight Loss Update: Over 50 Pounds Gone!

Okay, after some prodding (I'm looking at you Andrew Gibbons) I have decided to post to my blog today. The staff at the Great

Body Company Wellness Center have asked me to do an article to go on their website (it's already their featured

"success story" on their bulletin board at the gym), so I have reposted it here:

===============================================

In every person's life there are life changing moments. These are events, perhaps imperceivable to those around them that completely alter a person's life course for the better, or for ruin. These are moments that must be met head on, with no choice of sitting still and remaining indecisive because that fork in the road is staring you in the face, refusing to go unnoticed. In April of 2010 I had one of those moments. At 5 foot 7 inches tall, my weight had skyrocketed to 230 pounds, my waist had ballooned up to close to 40 inches, and I woke up one morning almost unable to walk because of a sudden attack of gout in my big toe. Not good. Flashing through my mind were memories of my father at 40 years old having 2 heart attacks and triple bypass open heart surgery, and the thought that I was in worse shape at 36 years old than he was at 40 years old. Not good indeed.

So there it was, my fork in the road; my choice to dramatically improve my life so that I can give my wife and daughter a husband and father they deserve, or to remain on the path I was on and die early. It didn't take me long to choose my new course. Being a born-again Believer, I prayed that God would help me and give me guidance on how to overcome the mess I'd gotten myself into, and that very day I came across the Great Body Company Wellness Center. So on April 12th, 2010, I walked in there, signed up, and watched my life dramatically turn around.

The first thing I noticed was not the facilities, though I'm absolutely thrilled with them, but the caring, friendly staff, that really DO care about the members and their overall wellness. Every single staff member I've had contact with has gone out of their way to not only answer my questions and give me guidance, but to actually care about me and where my health was heading. In short, they cared about Brian the person, not Brian the source of income. That meant A LOT to me, and helps me to stay motivated even today. The GBC Wellness Center has become my refuge in the middle of the day. I had to go to a conference out of town and got a week-long membership to one of the more upscale gyms in that town so I could continue my program while away, and I have to say I was very disappointed. It wasn't because they didn't have fancy facilities and gear, but because it wasn't home, and they didn't have the GBC Family there. In short, it wasn't home.

Okay, now to the nitty gritty. For my diet, I take a multivitamin every day, and I am following the Atkins' Diet (for details on great Low Carb plans go to www.livinlowcarbdiscussion.com). For my workouts I am using High Intensity Interval Training on Mondays and Wednesdays and on Tuesdays and Thursdays I do 20 minutes of cardio (usually on the Arc Trainers) and an abs workout. I am really looking forward to training in the new workout room with the suspension system! The bottom line is that I do whatever it takes to get in the gym Monday-Thursday (yes, I only workout 4 days a week). If I don't feel like working out, then I go anyway and take it easy. Instead of trying to get my hear rate up to 160, I might cruise in the 120's. Instead of sprinting my laps in between a set of weights, I might lightly jog the lap. If I feel like really getting after it, then I do that too. Under no circumstances do I just try to kill myself in the gym. Instead I listen to my body and if it says "go hard", then I do...if it says "whoa, take it easy today", then I do. What I don't do is not go to GBC. It's better to take it easy than to do nothing.

My results so far? Well, it's nothing short of life changing, and I'll let the numbers speak for themselves in a moment, but please know I couldn't have done any of it without the support of the GBC Family, and I'm looking forward to the rest of this new life and the second chance I've been given to live a vibrant, healthy, active life.

Start Date: April 12th, 2010 Date of this Article: November 24th, 2010 (7 months)

Starting Weight: 230 Pounds Current Weight: 180 Pounds (50 Pounds lost so far!)

Starting Waist Size: 40! Current Waist Size: 33 (7 inches gone off the belly!)

Starting Shirt Size: XL! Current Shirt Size: M

Starting Blood Pressure: 130/90 Current Blood Pressure: 106/60

Starting Triglycerides: 276 Current Triglycerides: 63!

BEFORE PICTURE (230 Pounds):

AFTER PICTURE (180 Pounds):

Weekly Update: After Week 11

Weigh-In Date/Weight/Total Pounds Lost:
4-19-2010/226/0
4-26-2010/223/3
5-3-2010/214/12
5-10-2010/212/14
5-17-2010/209/17
5-24-2010/210/16
5-31-2010/208/18
6-7-2010/205/21

6-14-2010/202/24

6-21-2010/198/28

6-28-2010/196/30

7-5-2010/194/32

WEEKLY UPDATE FOR MONDAY, JULY 5TH, 2010:
===================================
Well my weight loss continues at a steady 2 pounds per week, and this week most of my actual "weight" loss came in the weekend, so I suspect that my losses will start slowing down now. I am mentally preparing myself for this, but it shouldn't be that hard because I can finally tell by looking in the mirror now. When I get closer to goal I will post before and after pics.

This past week was difficult because we were preparing for our Patriotic service on Sunday, which meant busy, busy, busy, plus I'm going on vacation this week and next, so I needed to get ahead in my work in order to relax. I can't relax on vacation if I think I'm coming back to a mountain of work when it's over.

The town of Jonesborough, TN (Tennessee's oldest town) has a celebration each year around the 4th of July called "Jonesborough Days" and at the last minute they hired me to bagpipe for them all day. It was a blast, though I worked like a dog and bagpiped intermittently for a full 10 hours! The cool thing is the last time I put on my full kilt outfit I had to lay on the bed, suck in my gut, and have my wife help me to get it all on because it was so tight. BUT THIS TIME, we had to take the belt in FIVE NOTCHES! At the end of the day I went to take my kilt off (keeping in mind the last time I wore it, it took two of us to get it on), and when I took the belt off, the kilt just fell off me!!!

While at the festival, I had several people who hadn't seen me in over a year, and they didn't recognize me until they heard my playing, and figuring there aren't many bagpipers in our area, they came to see if it was me after all. It was great having them all ask me for weight loss advice instead of patting my belly (yes this really used to happen to me a lot).

To top it all off, the local news was there filming the event and the crew followed me around for one of my sessions and I ended up on the 6pm and 11pm news slots, both playing in the background, and as a featured part of the segment. I had some people immediately text me and ask me what I did to lose the weight.

Bottom line: I am SOOOOO glad to not be the fat guy in the corner anymore, and though I've still got 30 some pounds to lose, I'm over halfway there, and while I would call myself seriously overweight still, I would NOT call myself an obese slob anymore!

Now the next two weeks will REALLY be a challenge:

We have our annual FunFest block party Wednesday night, which I am in charge of.

I will be at the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games this weekend, and there aren't many readily available Low Carb options (I'm going prepared).

The week after that we're headed to Pigeon Forge (just down the road really) to go to a water park resort, Dollywood (we have season passes and they sell turkey legs), a Tennessee Smokies game, and then to Atlanta to see the first place Braves wreak havoc on the Brewers, and to visit the World of Coke Museum.

MILESTONE DAY!

I hit an official milestone in my weight loss today! I weighed in today at 196 lbs, which is 30 pounds lost!

I have been dieting for exactly 10 weeks, so my weekly average weight loss during this first phase has been exactly 3 pounds per week. Some have been more, some less, but it's no big deal. My goal is to be on target for 2 pounds per week.

I set my new mid-term goal for Labor Day (Sept 6th) at 174pounds, which is keeping with my 2 pounds per week loss, and my long term goal of being at my goal weight of 160 is still December 6th.

Some interesting numbers:

If I slow to an expected 2 pound per week weight loss, I will reach my final goal of 160 lbs on October 25th.

If by some miracle of God I continue the 3 pound per week average (I really don't expect that to happen), I will reach my final goal of 160 lbs on September 20th.

9 Weeks Down

Well, it seems I had a bit of a **whoosh** this past week, with a 4 pound weight loss. I hope that doesn't mean this week will be a stinker.

Weigh-In Date/Weight/Total Pounds Lost:
4-19-2010/226/0
4-26-2010/223/3
5-3-2010/214/12
5-10-2010/212/14
5-17-2010/209/17
5-24-2010/210/16
5-31-2010/208/18
6-7-2010/205/21

6-14-2010/202/24

6-21-2010/198/28

Wellness Journey Update: Week 9 Starts Today

Well, I'm fairly certain no one is reading this blog anymore because a) not many people read it anyway and b) I hardly ever update it. Well if I can remember to, I am going to update it every Monday with my weight loss results. Today starts week 9, and in 8 weeks I've lost 24 pounds and SEVERAL inches off my gut. Most of my meals are eaten at Pals, KFC, Applebees, Chilis, Perkins, Cracker Barrel, Phil's Dream Pit, and every now and then, home. I am proof you can eat fast food and drop weight like crazy. Here are the hard numbers:

Weigh-In Date/Weight/Total Pounds Lost:
4-19-2010/226/0
4-26-2010/223/3
5-3-2010/214/12
5-10-2010/212/14
5-17-2010/209/17
5-24-2010/210/16
5-31-2010/208/18
6-7-2010/205/21

6-14-2010/202/24

Goal for June 21st: 200lbs (26 total lbs lost)

Mid Term Goal for July 5th was 202 lbs, which I busted today, so I'll let that one ride and set my next Mid Term Goal for Labor Day once I get to July 5th and can properly evaluate my situation.

Long Term Permanent Goal for Monday, December 6th is 160 lbs (66 Total lbs lost)

Current Low Carb Weight Loss Update

Eating a high fat, moderate protein, low carb diet in addition to exercising 4 days a week is integral to my wellness recovery plan. I have labeled it that instead of "weight loss plan" or "diet" because this is a permanent lifestyle change for me that will result in far more than simply changing the number that represents the earth's gravitational pull on my mass. Today begins week 8 of my new life and I thought I would share with you my current results just to encourage anyone who may be considering or participating in a similar journey.

Weigh-In Date/Weight/Total Pounds Lost:
4-19-2010/226/0
4-26-2010/223/3
5-3-2010/214/12
5-10-2010/212/14
5-17-2010/209/17
5-24-2010/210/16 (I increased my weights this week, thus the mild "gain" from muscle growth)
5-31-2010/208/18
6-7-2010/205/21

In addition to the pounds lost, I have increased muscle mass as well. My distance has improved on all my cardio workouts, and I have to REALLY work to keep my heart rate in the 150's. I ran out of blood pressure medicine about 4 weeks ago, and WITHOUT THE MEDICINE, my blood pressure has been stable at 120/80 (my wife is a nursing student, so she checks it daily). I went from wearing a size 38 expandable elastic waist pants to now wearing size 36 waist jeans, and will soon be in 34's! On the leg press machine I started out lifting 140 pounds and now I'm up to 240 pounds, and most likely will be raising that this week as well!

17 Pounds Gone

Quick Update:

After 3 weeks on High Fat/Moderate Protein/Low Carb I've lost 17 pounds.