In the spring of 2009 I was the heaviest that I've ever been, weighing in at a little under 280 pounds. It was an "athletic" 280 since I was in the Army and lifting weights regularly, but I was carrying far more body fat than I should have. I can remember coming into to the little billeting area during a field exercise at Fort Riley Kansas to change my shirt. I remember taking it off, looking at my stomach and thinking, "Wow, I'm huge. I really need to change some things."
Although I didn't do anything immediately, I can trace my weight loss journey back to that moment.
A few weeks later, I went to a Crossfit training class taught by a guy named Pat Sherwood (an ex-Navy SEAL who has an amazing ability to break down complicated metabolic processes into easy to understand layman's terms), another guy named John Gilson (founder of a company called "Again Faster" that makes performance training equipment of which I have a garage full of now, who was also a great teacher), and a couple of other very knowledgeable people.
They went over alot of different things on the subjects of working out and nutrition, and it was a great couple of days of training. Some of it I still use and some I dont, but the point is it took me from the "thinking" phase into the "doing" phase.
Within a year, I weighed 220 pounds, which is a much healthier weight for me. (I've since made alot of changes in my workout routine and now weigh in at 230, but it's a 10 pound differential that I am very happy with due to the quality of the weight.)
So here's 3 very broad things that I did during that year that really helped me out (I'll try to write in more detail in future posts):
1. I cut out sugar except for a once a week "treat." I used to drink alot of soft drinks and sports drinks, both of which have alot of sugar, but I stopped doing that. (I actually switched to Diet Coke for awhile during my "weaning" process, but now I hardly ever drink that either). There are also some pretty good options out there in the sports drinks department that have alot less sugar in them than some of the more popular brands, but have the electrolytes that you need to replenish your body after a workout. Also, any sports drink should be saved for when you're exerting yourself, or about to. They're not really designed to be sipping on all day like coffee.
2. I reduced my carbohydrate intake alot. "Carbs" are in just about anything tasty here in the U.S. Bread, pasta, fruit, anything with sugar, etc. Carbohydrates are absolutely essential to good eating habits and good health, but you don't need as many as we generally eat here in the U.S.
When I first started my weight loss journey, I stopped eating things like pancakes (regularly, anyway), and starting eating 4 eggs, 2 strips of bacon, 1 piece of whole wheat toast with honey, and 2 strawberries. That was pretty much a daily routine. That's the only thing I changed for awhile, and lost 20 pounds in about 2 months. I hit a plateau for awhile, but then the rest came off with some more changes that I'll describe in #3.
Try to find ways of reducing carbs. Instead of eating, say, two turkey sandwiches, just eat one sandwich with twice the meat. Little things like that can add up.
3. I verbalized my weight and fitness goals to a friend of mine named Staff Sergeant Branden Mann, and asked him to help me hold me to it. He knew way more about this kind of thing than I did, and I had noticed over the past few months how disciplined he was with his eating. He was (and still is!) very lean and muscular, and had great strength, endurance, and energy. Furthermore, he showed me a picture of himself back in his college days, and his "old" physique reminded me of my own. I figured if he could do it, I could do it too.
We were on separate 12 hour shifts working as liason officers between our squadron and a larger brigade on a base in northern Iraq, so it was easy to work around that regimented schedule and transfer the discipline from my work life into my off time. I tried to eat at least one meal with him a day if our schedules allowed, and he'd always tell me exactly what to eat. At breakfast it would be something like an egg white omelette with spinach and no cheese, and lunch and dinner always involved chicken breast and almonds. Some days we very few carbs, while other days we'd eat more in the form of whole wheat wraps or something. Sometimes I'd whine, but he knew what he was doing and I started to see great results. After awhile, I started to pick up his methods on my own, and now, over 4 years later, I've kept the weight off by continuing to use the basic principles he showed me by example.
I'm very thankful for him and his patience and willingness to teach me about sports nutrition while holding me accountable. Thank you so much Branden! You've helped me so much more than you'll ever know.
If you can, verbalize your fitness and/or weight loss goals to someone who is really knowledgeable and who you know will hold you accountable, then take their advice and try and to learn all you can every time you're around them. (this doesn't have to apply to just weight loss: if you're a Crossfitter or track athlete or marathoner, etc,, find someone who's closer to or has surpassed the goals that you've set for yourself and pick their brain every chance you get.)
Anyway, these are just 3 really broad things I did; I'll try to go into more detail in the future.
As always, feel free to ask any kind of question that you like. I might not know the answer, but I could probably at least tell you how I've dealt with that issue in the past, or at least point you in the direction of someone that would know.
Thanks for reading!
-Jacob
P.S. If you're interested in what supplements I'm taking now, or want to check out some possibilities for your own fitness goals, check out my Advocare link.
If you want to hear about how to get big discounts on this stuff, and even earning some extra income by telling your friends about it (I've tried just about every supplement company out there and never got a nickel out of them!), shoot me a message on Facebook or email me at: jakephillips116@gmail.com. If you use supplements, its a win/win situation.
