The Big Guy
I’ve always been a “big guy” throughout my life, for as long as I can remember. Through years and years of being a lineman in football and a first baseman in baseball I learned to use my size to my advantage. I was never fast (by any stretch) but I could move well and I was strong. I became accustomed to being the “big guy” and at some point it became part of my identity. After my athletic “career” I began searching for a competitive outlet. After some time I stumbled upon Powerlifting and I began training with a group of experienced Powerlifters at Iron Fitness in Mayodan. I was instantly hooked and began looking for any possible way to get stronger. The bigger I got the stronger that I got, while that was great for my lifts it was bad for my body composition. I also didn’t have the best understanding of nutrition so while there was a good amount of muscle added, I also added a good amount of fat. In the end, I had found another sport where I discovered success and found an identity with being big. At one point the scale read 386 as I weighed in for a powerlifting meet. There were quite a few times that I “decided” to change my eating habits and lose weight but as soon as my lifts began to suffer my ego wouldn’t let me continue. There’s something about being strong that makes you feel complacent about being overweight. For me the most difficult part is where you have begun to lose some weight but are still far from your goal and your strength is being greatly affected. I had put so much of my identity in being big and being strong that I couldn’t let it go. To be honest I still have trouble letting it go.
Around a year and a half ago I finally had enough and with the help of my wife I began to change my habits and work towards letting go of that identity. So far I’m down 65 pounds from a starting weight of 378. My process has been to take it slow and strive to maintain as much muscle as possible. I track my calories daily and aim to be at or below a certain amount per week. I’ve continued to train as heavy as I can for now. I’m finding it easier to let go of that identity and certain numbers in my lifts. I have a goal to get below 300 pounds for the first time in probably 15 years. I want to share some of the things that have helped ME be successful. I am in no way an expert but I try my best to collect as much information as I can and use what helps me to reach my goals.
“Compliance is the Science” - This is a quote from Stan Efferding (Professional Bodybuilder, World Record Powerlifter and creator of the Vertical Diet) that I love to share with people. The perfect diet doesn’t matter if you can’t follow it. Oftentimes people can’t see the forest for the trees and get caught up debating which diet is the best. When in the end the best diet is one that you’ll follow. You have to find what works for YOU. Keto? Carnivore? Low Carb? Mediterranean? Flexible dieting? They can all help you reach your goals but which “diet” is the easiest for you to follow? As long as your calories consumed are less than your calories burned then you will lose weight. For me I do best eating the same foods as much as possible. I also go very strict throughout the week and more relaxed on the weekend. Our whole family knows that Friday is now “Fat Friday.” It’s our day to go to our favorite restaurant (Tianos) and enjoy pizza. I need that day to look forward to during the week, it helps me to hold myself accountable.
Take it slow - If you plan to make actual life long changes then you’ll have many years to enjoy being at your goal weight. In my opinion the faster you attempt to go then the higher your risk of relapsing back to old habits is. Also if you restrict your calories too much early on your body will adapt and it will slow down your metabolism. One reason it was important for me to take it slow is that I wanted to retain as much muscle as possible. Through resistance training and keeping your calorie deficit at the minimum effective amount then you can optimize your body retaining muscle and breaking down fat.
Pick 1-2 habits to create at a time - When I began my journey I wanted to create actual lifestyle changes, it wasn’t just “going on a diet” for me. I needed to reboot the way I thought of food. I found the best way for me to do this was to try and make 1-2 positive changes at a time. Once I had developed those changes into habits then I would move on to more changes. Being able to focus on changing a couple of things at a time helped me to build some momentum. It also allowed me to turn these changes into habits. These are now behaviors that I can’t imagine not doing anymore. I would say the first habit to create is tracking your food. Using MyFitnessPall or Lose It is a great way to get a handle on how much you actually eat. Early on I didn’t focus as much on changing what I ate but actually tracking every single thing that I ate. Without that information being accurate I wouldn’t know the next steps to take.
Gamify your journey where you can - As a competitive person I’ve found that it helps me stay focused to create a game out of weight loss journey. I keep a spreadsheet with 10 different tasks I need to complete each day. These are things like getting enough sleep, drinking enough water, tracking my food, etc. I have to average at least 90% compliance to earn my Fat Friday. This may sound silly but it helps me stay motivated and hold myself accountable. Growing up I always hated wearing a watch but now I love to see all of those darn rings close on my Apple Watch, and I have to make sure I get the right amount of steps in.
Stay positive and cut yourself some slack - Sometimes the scale will not reflect the weight you think it should. You will have times that you eat off of your plan and indulge. In the past I would let one mistake or bad weigh in affect my choices the rest of the day. But you’re only one meal away from being off of your diet and one meal from being back on. Understand that mistakes happen and just roll with it. As we say in the coaching world “on to the next play”.
If you’re looking for help on getting your journey started or help working through a plateau send me a message.