My Weight Loss Adventure

I was big and ate poorly all my life. My only saving grace was working outdoors for years kept my weight  reasonable, though I was always a "bigger than I should be guy". So after a few years in the office full time I just got down right FAT....

Not only was I fat, but I felt bad (crap creeps up on you), so after some serious soul searching I decided to give Weight Watchers a go....Starting weight in late 2008 was over 380lbs.

It was slow going at first. I did the gym thing a bit, walked and I did lose a bit but I was not getting the results I hoped till the fall of 2009 when Sherry came home talking about a running program the girls at work were going to try, Couch to 5K. 

C25K is a program designed to take a non-runner from being a couch potato to running a 5k race in nine weeks. You walk/run interval for 30 minutes each week progressively working toward running the entire time.

The girls met at a community church once a week with a group leader who had doe the program before and were then responsible for running on their own the other two days. We live out in the country and Sherry was a bit leery about running on the roads. So I mowed the 2 acre pasture in front of our house real short around the perimeter creating a track very similar to one you would see at any school. I walked with her that first week, and even tried to run (30 seconds) a time or two. Failing that Sherry eventually talked me into really trying the program with her so in the fall of 2009 all 360 lbs of me became a runner.

I've never played any sports or considered myself any type of athlete but I found myself enjoying the running. Despite the skin splints and constant soreness the numbers I was seeing on the scales motivated me to stay with it and in November of 2010 I ran my first 5k race. Finished in 38:40. 

I now run 4-5 times a week from 3-8 miles. though I am not skinny I have maintained my current weight for almost a year and plan to drop a bit more after the holidays. It's amazing how my quality of life has improved. I have energy I didn't even have in high school. I ran my last 5k this past June in 28:10

Starting pants size was 46. Current pants size is 36 :) People ask me all the time "what's your secret to losing the weight?" My reply never waivers..."you only have to eat less and exercise more".

Feel free to contact me to talk about my journey or help with yours anytime.