Weight Loss

Usually this blog is dedicated to sports topics, but from time to time I like to write about other stuff, too. I wanted to take some time and write a little bit about my weight loss. Over the past five months, I've lost just over 60 pounds. I'm not saying I'm an expert on weight loss; in fact I admit that I'm really not. This blog post isn't meant to be one where I tell you what you should do because I now feel I know it all...I really don't. But I can tell you some of the things that I've been doing which have helped me achieve this feat, and that's what I wanted to accomplish in this article. 

I've written down 18 of the things that I've done or have helped me throughout this process. Some of these items are things people tell you to do when trying to lose weight. Some I've gathered from people who have lost weight. Some just happened because I didn't know what else to do. Everyone's path to losing weight is different. My advice would be to just look into some of these things and see what would work and what wouldn't for you. Good luck!

Items I've used to lose weight (in no particular order):

1. Drink more water. This is one that I started doing at the beginning and at the end of the 6-month period. If you're like me, you've gone through times when you lost a lot of weight immediately followed by times when you've gained a lot (if not all, or more) weight back. Every time I've lost a lot of weight, drinking water was usually involved. It's hard though, because I don't love to drink just water. Whether it's straight water, flavored water, or drinks like Powerade Zero that are 99% water, this is probably one of the biggest factors for my weight loss. Personally, I've always been susceptible to drinking my calories, so switching to water (or at least something that didn't add a ton of calories) not only gave me the benefits of water, but prevented me from digging myself more into a hole with sugary drinks. Water is said to aid in weight loss in a number of ways, some proven and some not. Either way, drinking more water is something that's relatively easy to more of if not switch to completely. It's also a small victory that you can celebrate at the beginning of your journey to weight loss.

2. Run. I am not a runner. I wish I was. I plan on being able to run marathons one day, but for now, 15-30 minutes of running several times a week will do. I usually go back and forth between jogging and running; short spurts of both. I get a lot of my running right now from basketball. If I wasn't doing that, then I'd be running more. Running is an important part of my workouts.

3. Live with someone who has to eat gluten and dairy-free. This probably isn't going to be much of an option. We moved in with my brother-in-law and his wife, who happens to have an aversion to gluten. She hasn't always had it; just developed recently. Because of the severity of the condition, she temporarily can't eat dairy, either. We've agreed to cook dinners for each others families, so we all have to make sure we include no gluten or dairy. What we've done is essentially cook a protein (usually chicken, sometimes beef), some vegetables, and a starch (rice or quinoa). This has given our nutrition a boost towards healthy. We're not only cooking healthy foods, but we're not eating out and consuming unhealthy foods. That's a 2-point swing: point for eating healthy, no loss of a point for eating unhealthy. During this process, I've learned that the nutrition component of weight loss is a lot more important than the exercise component. Especially if you have a medical condition, eating better is something that everyone can more readily change.

4. Jawbone UP. For the past three months, I've been using a fitness tracker called the Jawbone UP. It's similar to a fitbit or bodybugg. The UP tracks diet, exercise, and sleep. It gives personalized helpful pieces of advice as you go along. You can connect it with other apps like MyFitnessPal or MapMyFitness. I like little gadgets like this, and I like competitions. When your friends have jawbones as well, you can add them to your team and see all the information that they allow you to see: steps, sleep, etc. This has been a nice motivator to keep me continually getting my 10,000 steps a day in as well as eat better.

5. Chiropractor. I love chiropractors. I've found that people typically either love chiropractors or hate them. I've had so much benefit from them. Now, a lot of people, especially chiropractors, who believe in chiropractic are a little nuts. A lot of them think that chiropractors take the place of M.D's. I don't think that's true, but a lot of what we routinely go to the doctor for we could probably go to the chiropractor instead for less money and less time.

I'll give you a recent example. I sprained my right ankle a few years ago. It was my first sprain on that ankle, second sprain on either ankle. Since I'd sprained the left one about a year before that, I didn't go to get it checked out, I just did the same things as I had for my other ankle. It's been bothering me ever since. In the past year, I've gone to two different M.D's. One even did some tests on it. They found nothing. I went into a chiropractor a couple weeks ago, told her about it, and she told me that a bone was out of place. I couldn't bend my ankle very far, even though I could still walk on it. She then proceeded to pop it back into place. It was amazing! It felt so much better, and it took just a few minutes and less than $15...along with getting my back and neck straightened.

While I don't think people should do chiropractic care only (or any care solely by itself), I think that they are important and can really help. Look for specials around the area. Typically you should be able to find ones for $20 a visit. Some of the good ones go up to $50 and usually 4-8 annual treatments are covered by insurance. They're usually a little eccentric, but usually know what they're doing.

6. Weights (Fitnotes). I haven't really lifted in my life, even when playing basketball in high school. We went up to the weight room, but I usually didn't do much. I hated lifting too much because it would throw off my shot when we went down for practice afterwards. Mixing weights into your workout routine is a great way to not only work different muscle groups but to get different health benefits than from running or biking. I use an app called Fitnotes to track all the different exercises I do with weights. Just make sure to work the different body parts and not only your biceps or legs.

7. Spinning. I'm not a huge fan of riding a bike, but for some reason I like spin class. I am one of those guys who, like Doug Heffernan of King of Queens, when I first heard of a "spin class" I thought it involved twirling around in one place. It doesn't. Usually. It's a really good way to burn a lot of calories in a short period of time. Typically you can burn anywhere from 300-1,000 calories in a 45-minute class, depending on how hard you push yourself. Spinning isn't for everybody. If you don't completely hate it, it's a good variation to throw into your fitness routine.

8. Sports/Activity that burns calories that you like. This one is one of the most important ones, I think. When you have an activity that you really like, whether it's something on this list already or not. This one for me is basketball. I took a year off playing basketball which was really good for me. The year after that, I really missed it. I currently have places to play five times a week, though I don't always make it there. It's also an activity that gives me a lot of steps, if you're into the 10,000 steps a day thing. This summer, I really want to add ultimate frisbee to the list. Other sports and activities that can be found at a local gym or rec center are racquetball, yoga, hockey, tennis (or pickleball like they do at my gym), and soccer. If you're doing something that you love, it doesn't seem like exercise; it's just fun. Having an activity that you love to do will help you do to do more of it, especially when you're just starting to get back into activity.

9. Limit unhealthy foods you love, don't eliminate them. I haven't tried a lot of diets. I know my problems when it comes to food. Basically I eat too many chips and drink too much pop. I don't care about sweets, chocolate, cake, or pie. Being able to control my chip and pop-intake was and is essential. Since I loved these things, I didn't want to give them up. I changed the way I ate. I'd eat smaller bags of chips. I'd drink diet pop (which is worse for you in a lot of ways, but regarding getting my weight down, it's been a better option). Being able to identify where you're weak nutritionally is important.

You have to start thinking about food as merely fuel. I've known that for years, but to actually do it is something else. Don't worry about the financial benefits of food or anything else. For example, all-you-can-eat buffets are popular and are great financially. Per plate, you're probably paying anywhere half to ten times less the price you normally would if you can eat that much. But have you noticed who tends to frequent these places? There are a lot of fat people there. Why? Because they know that (1) it is a good price for the consumer and (2) the more you eat, the bigger you'll get, the more you'll rely on justifying going there for the price. Even now, it's hard to justify a plate of chicken for $10 when you can get two or three plates for $8. Limiting the amount of food you eat will cause weight loss to happen at a faster pace. Exercise is important, but in my experience, diet is even more so.

10. Add in healthy foods. The other half of the food equation, aside from limiting or eliminating bad foods, are adding in healthy foods. This point seems so easy and so difficult at the same time. Everyone has their own list of super foods or even just foods that they swear by. One of the items from pathway genomics (point #11) is that I was told which foods to eat more of and which to stay away from. Eggs are usually good for people, but apparently my body's genetic makeup doesn't process them as well so I was limited to four a week. Learning what your body actually processes well can really help.

The foods that I've learned are great not just for me but for people in general aren't too weird. For protein, I tend to stick to chicken. I use a seasoning on chicken and vegetables: Montreal chicken seasoning from Smith's. I usually put it over a ton of spinach. Dinners are usually accompanied by other vegetables as well: squash, onions, carrots, asparagus, parsnips, broccoli, cauliflower, and peas are ones that I do well with. I usually roast the veggies with some avocado oil or olive oil on them. Cook some chicken, throw in a pan of roasted veggies, and throw in a starch like quinoa or rice, and that's pretty much been my dinner for the last few months.

For breakfast, I tend to eat either sliced apples with almonds (the almonds to balance out the sugars from the apple for my diabetes) or a breakfast bar from Costco. I get the kashi bar that Costco sells. It has almonds, chocolates, and chia seeds. Chia seeds are really good for you as they're a gel-like food. There aren't too many healthy gels out there for you. Olive oil, avocado oil, and avocados are also eaten frequently. Berries are also good.

So that is my basic menu. I'll still get cheeseburgers or gyros every now and then, but if I can improve most of my diet, I've found that it really does make a huge difference. 

11. Pathway Genomics. Jodi went in to see her OBGYN and they offered her a special exam. It was a spit test and it was for a company called pathway genomics. When she got the results, I was so intrigued that I went to my doctor and got it set up (not every doctor's office offers it; they have to sign up with the company) so that I could do it myself.

What this company does is it analyzes your biological makeup. It tells you what you are more prone or less prone to do based on your genetics. In mine it told me, as an example, that my body has a harder time converting fat into energy. That actually made a lot of sense for what I'd been going through. It analyzes your DNA and then recommends a particular diet for you: low-fat, balanced, low-carb, or Mediterranean. Mine was low-fat based largely in part that my body doesn't break down fat as the average person does. Jodi had some interesting results as well.

The exam is income-based, so if you don't make much, it doesn't cost much (like $20). It's nice to know what my body does well and what it doesn't. Having a test like this done, even though it's probably a little nerve-racking, has been really beneficial to me and Jodi.

12. Mediterranean diet. Before I got my results back from pathway genomics, we started a diet that was based on her results: the Mediterranean diet. Is it any wonder that she would get the selection that contained some of the foods that she hated most like avocados, fish, and olives? I actually like all of those, so it was an easy transition for me. Really, we don't think of it as a diet as we do a lifestyle change. I didn't know much about the diet. Apparently it's the gold standard of diets. It basically involves eating healthy foods with a higher emphasis on healthy fats and fish. It was fairly easy to do living with someone who had to eat gluten and dairy-free. For dinner, we made a protein, a vegetable, and a starch. We usually roasted vegetables in olive oil with a side of avocados somewhere. Eating a healthy diet is the ideal. The Mediterranean diet is the gold standard.

13. My Fitness Pal. I talked a little about this app in conjunction with the Jawbone UP. It's used to track nutrition. It involves setting goals, tracking food and weight, and fitness. I like to use applications for what their primary use is for. So I use the Jawbone UP for tracking steps and sleep while I use My Fitness Pal to track my food. They have a huge database of foods that not only track calories but other nutrients like sugar, fiber, and protein. You can adjust your goal levels for each (I had to for my diabetes) and since both apps talk to each other, information just automatically syncs to both. Tracking the food that you eat changes what you eat every day. Maybe not by a lot, but even if it only helps a little, isn't it worth it?

14. Metformin and Invokana. Due to my diabetes, my doctor prescribed these two medications. Metformin is pretty common, and invokana is supposed to help control the level of sugar in your system. He told me when he prescribed it that I'll lose a little weight merely by urinating a lot of the excess sugar out. While not a huge help in weight loss, it's helped me manage my diabetes thereby helping me to focus on losing weight.

15. The Skinny Rules by Bob Harper. While Jillian Michaels is my favorite weight-loss guru, Bob Harper definitely knows a thing or two. When I first picked up his book, I tried to apply all of the rules at once. It's easier to focus on a few of them, get into those habits, and then try to add in others. I first focused on the easy ones for me: drink more water (rule 1), eat protein with each meal (rule 3 - done!), eat apples or berries every day (rule 6), and get rid of those white potatoes (rule 11). After doing those for several days, I focused on the ones that were hurting me the most like drinking my calories (rule 2), not eating carbs after lunch (rule 7), and getting rid of fast foods (rule 13) as much as I could. Once you start to change certain things, others naturally come along with them. For example, if you don't eat out as much (or at all), you eat a lot more meals that you cook at home (rule 15). I decided to eat an apple everyday at breakfast time instead of at other times (rule 14). Bob Harper knows how to help you lose weight.

16. Get sick. I got sick a couple of times, which reduced my appetite a lot. I had to stop any exercise routine I was doing, which didn't feel productive. I hate being sick. I've learned that when you get sick, depending on the illness, your body secretes certain hormones, some of which are responsible for decreasing your appetite. This allows you to starve out viruses and bacteria which feed on nutrients in your body. Since your body isn't getting enough energy from your food intake, it starts to use other things like stored fat. While every illness is different, the couple I've had at least allowed me to lose a little weight while I was out of it. Being sick isn't fun, so this may be the only benefit we get out of it.   

17. Surround yourself with good resources. One of the things Jodi mentioned to me when we were first married was that I spent a lot of my money on basketball shirts, shorts, and shoes. My reply was that when I had nice workout clothes, I felt more inclined to work out. When I wore shirts that were way too big or (especially) too small, I didn't like going to the gym. I believe its that way with more than just clothes and working out.

We've always had an issue cooking as a couple. We're not used to it, neither of us love doing it, and its time-consuming. When we moved to a place with a tiny kitchen, it comes as no surprise that we cooked less. Now that we have a big kitchen, we cook more. We have better resources. We have more room to cook. Because of that, we're now cooking more.

So for me, losing weight involved having good resources like good workout clothes, a nice gym I have a pass to, a jawbone, a tablet to track weightlifting, a nice bag, a good water bottle, etc. By having these things, you help set yourself up for success.

18. Don't beat yourself up when you slip up. This hasn't really been a problem for me, but it has in the past. When I've gotten down on myself in the past for this, it was usually followed by a "oh well, guess I should do other bad stuff, too" which made it even worse. I was focused mostly on changing most of my diet and exercise routines. Give yourself some credit for what you have done right and cut yourself some slack for when you slip up. As long as you can re-focus, it's not a big deal anyway.


I used to watch the television show "The Biggest Loser" religiously. I'm not as big on it anymore, especially since Jillian Michaels left who I think was their best trainer. On the show, people would lose hundreds of pounds in the same period of time. As I type this, a commercial from Bob Harper, one of the shows' trainers, comes on. Some people lose over 50% of their weight from the time they start on the show to the finale. I started at 305 and am now 253. That fluctuates a little every day. It's been as low as 251 and as high as 256 the past few days, so I'm taking more of an average. It's usually about this, though. If I was on the show, though, that'd easily be good enough for last place no matter which season.

While the amount isn't that jaw-dropping compared to people on the show, which I know a lot of people including some of my friends watch, I also don't have the opportunity to make losing weight my full-time job. But for normal people with jobs and other things to do, I think losing 50 pounds is remarkable. I'm not finished with losing weight, but it's important to recognize great accomplishments along the way. Beating diabetes is also on that list for me.

So cheers to everyone who has lost some weight. Keep up the hard work because it's a daily struggle. I hope some of the things I mentioned can get you started on making your own list. I certainly didn't come up with all of these on my own; they just happened to fit my life. See what fits your life and use those resources as you attempt to accomplish the amazing feat of weight loss.