Goal weight: 195
FACT: When you set your alarm for 4:31 p.m., you will not wake up at 4:31 a.m.
Yes, I overslept. I woke up at 5 a.m. — too late for me to run (I have to be at work by 6 a.m.). So I did my 50 pushups, 50 sit-ups, got ready and headed to work. My son wants to run three miles with me tonight. We’ll run then.
If you are wondering why I call this “Fit-to-Fat-to-Fit”, it’s because I weighed 195 lbs. when I ran a marathon on Halloween 2010 only to have my weight balloon to an all-time high of 248 by December 2011. I started a new workout program in January 2012 and am now down to around 200-205 lbs. That pretty much describes Fit-to-Fat-to-Fit.
Sure, I started exercising again, but why I’ve been successful is that I tackled the root cause of my nearly instantaneous obesity: I had a severe energy crisis. A sudden career change caused me to go from a 45 to 50-hour week to a 65 to 70-one. Add three kids and I wasn’t just burning the candle on both ends, I was burning the freakin’ middle, too.
And then I started making bad choices.
1. I ate junk for cheap, quick energy. (what I didn’t realize was that it caused my blood sugar to spike and then crash, causing me to eat more).
2. I began drinking sugared sodas in March 2010 for energy. By the time I got on the air on my radio show, I was wiped out. I’d drink up to six Cokes a day. That’s like pouring lard down my throat.
3. I quit exercising. I didn’t think I had time.
By March 2011, I had soared to 220 lbs. But that was just the beginning. I went from 36 pants to 38’s. And then to 40’s. By December 2011, they were too tight. I was having chest pains, was stressed out and was exhausted. I couldn’t walk 100 yards without losing my breath. Something had to give. (Before my heart did.)
Patrick House, winner of the Biggest Loser Season 10, came on the show in January. He brought a scale and weighed me on the air. I weighed 245 lbs. He challenged me to lose the weight.
Little did I know my wife had talked with trainer and life coach Paul LaCoste about me being in his program. Paul had wanted to train me for a while and contacted me about joining his Fit4Change morning program at Jackson State University. My adventures with that program are documented by this blog. The weight came off and the energy went up.
I made crucial changes to my diet, too. I quit Cokes immediately. I haven’t had one in five months. I also stopped eating junk food (I did the other night and it made me feel like crap — like I had poisoned myself). I began eating small snacks every two hours of high-quality foods like fruit and chicken wrapped in lettuce. I needed to keep my blood sugar even throughout the day. I stopped eating most refined breads and sugar, too. My meals were smaller but I ate more often.
The weight began to melt away.
My schedule is still bat-crazy. I’m still tired. But I can manage it better now. All because I made the time to improve my health. At the end of the day, I had to make a change. And the only person who could make me change was the man who I look at the mirror when I shave.
And I now see a thinner face when I do.
