The Decision to Get Healthy
TLDR: I lost 70 pounds in 7 months by exercising with Peloton and keeping my Total Carbs < 30g/day, Calories <2000/day using the Carb Manager App to track and for recipes and also using The Wholesome Yum for the best low carb recipes.
On August 6, 2020 I took my blood pressure. I had purchased an at home machine about a year earlier because my doctor had said I should “watch it” and it had been a few months since I took one. The monitor showed 165/105 and I googled it. The “when you should call 911” on the top result was a wake up call.
To set some context, I have always struggled with my weight. My nickname at West Point was “Fatboy” and my callsign as a pilot in the Navy was “Flounder” — the theme revolving around my rather short and round physique. Over my life I’ve done a pretty good job of maintaining a level of healthy that I was comfortable with, but about five years ago I started really having trouble with the “maintaining” and started year-over-year gaining, leaving me in this situation of weighing 262 pounds at 5'7" and having an alarmingly high blood pressure.
I love my kids and they all struggle with their weight as well. My oldest son, Andrew, 26, talked with me about “measuring my macros” and, along with my oldest daughter, Courteney, 24, they kept telling me I was eating the wrong “amounts” for my body. I had seen both of them make the decision to get healthy and both go on their own separate path to get there. Not really focused on losing weight, more focused on eating healthy, exercising, and mental well-being. So, all I had to do was decide to do something.
I had been doing something. I had purchased a Peloton about 10 months before and had been riding every week, 3–4 times/week, for 6 months at this point. I had, however, not changed my diet at all. Now was the time to address that, because we all know it is exercise AND diet that creates a healthy body.
I have always know that if I reduce bread, pasta, and rice I can lose weight, but I never really tracked it at the “macro” level of detail in the past. For those of you that don’t know what “macros” are, it’s the protein, carbohydrates, and fat in food. If you are “counting your carbs” you keep track of those. Figuring out your combination of macros that works for you to get healthy is up to you. For me, I knew I had to cut way down on carbs — I love pasta, bread, potatoes, anything with sugar — basically if it has a carb, I’m enjoying it and it helps me pack on the pounds. In my research to figure out how to track my macros I found the Carb Manager App and immediately started tracking everything that I ate or drank. Also in doing research I set my daily calorie goal at < 2000/day and my daily total carb goal of < 30g/day (net carbs <15g). I also wanted to try out fasting and went with fasting for 24 hours 1 day/week — meaning from the end of dinner on a Sunday to the start of dinner on Monday was a 24 hour fasting period. I now fast 2 days/week (Mondays and Thursdays).
Since making the diet change, my typical breakfast and lunch, which has been pretty much unchanged for the last seven months, has been
Breakfast — 1–2 eggs and 3.5ounces of ham or kielbasa. I started at 2 eggs and now I’m at 1 egg; Sugar-Free Ketchup for garnish — 7g carbs, 289 calories
Lunch — Chicken Wraps — 6.5 ounces of grilled chicken, 1 tablespoon of mayo, some kind of hot sauce (Peri-Peri is my go to), and 5 leaves of Boston lettuce as a wrap — 1g carbs, 397 calories
Dinners — either a recipe from the Carb Manager App (hit or miss on taste here) or something from The Wholesome Yum cookbook (all recipes have been hits), along with grilled steak, chicken, or pork — 8–15g carbs, 500–1000 calories
Desert — Keto bomb + 1 tablespoon of Fatso Caramel Crunch peanut butter — 10g carbs
The first week was a challenge. Although I immediately lost 13 pounds in week 1, my body was adjusting to the new normal of what I was eating. To say my stomach was adjusting would be an understatement. Googling again, I learned of “keto flu” and the gastrointestinal impacts of going extremely low carb. After the first week, my body adjusted and I also was learning what to eat to hit my goals. Two weeks into getting healthy I was down 18 pounds.
Of course I had cravings for the carb loaded stuff, but I needed to find low carb options. Here are some of the swap outs that I made:
Pasta/Rice — Shirataki noodles come in various different forms of pasta and rice. I’m partial to Livia. You have to rinse them thoroughly for over a minute before warming them up. Lots of water! 4 total/1 net carbs/serving 15 calories/serving
Chips — Quest chips are my go to and generally have 5 total/4 net carbs and 140 calories per bag
Potatoes — cauliflower is the replacement here- both the Carb Manager App and The Wholesome Yum have various recipes that help with the transformation
That’s basically it. Find the diet that is right for your body and exercise. The old calories in < calories out formula applies here. Along the way I tried the Noom app, which I found a little to “touchy feely” for me but it does hit on the psychology of weight loss. Not my thing, but once again, may match with how you derive motivation.
The results have been a massive change in my health. In seven months I’m down 70 pounds. I have lost 7 inches off my chest and hips and 8 inches off my waist. My body feels better than ever and I smile A LOT more now. In the end, I could not have done this without my wife, Lisa. I really do understand that she loves me for me. She never once said to me anything about my weight. She knew it had to be my decision to make a change. Once I did, she jumped in with both feet and enabled me to eat how I needed to eat to get healthy. Do I miss ice cream, real pasta, real pizza…yes I do, but not as much as being able to truly move again and have my head clear all the time. Only time will tell if I keep it off as I need to find my maintenance diet and get to balance there. Only 12 more pounds to hit my goal. By the way, my blood pressure is at 120/75 now.
