Diet & Fitness: Weight Loss: Weight-Loss Success Stories:

 Eric L.

 I was always big. I was 250 when I graduated high school. In college I got down to 185 for about two years, but not the healthy way. Graduated college, got married, had two kids, and slowly put it all back on. I was never overly active and would eat way too much at each sitting. I never ate a lot of junk, just way too much of everything that I did eat.

 I was coaching my son's basketball team in the winter of 2006. I was having the kids stretching and running and I realized I was asking them to do stuff that I couldn't even do myself. So I decided it was time to do something. I don't know how to explain it, but something just clicked in my brain and said "you can do this, you have to do this." So my journey began.

 I actually started out with Slim-Fast. I had success with it in the past, dropping 15 pounds or so. I had a Slim-Fast bar for breakfast, shake for lunch, and a sensible portion-appropriate dinner. I also started tracking everything that I ate in a daily diary, literally tracking all the nutritional value information for everything I ate. 2,500 calories per day, 60g fat, and 175+g protein. My workouts began by simply walking on the treadmill for 30 minutes per day. After a month I began jogging and lightly working out. Three months in I began to workout heavy, 60 minutes of free weights four days per week and jogging for 30 minutes. The weight was just falling off. I stuck with the Slim-Fast for the first four months, then began researching healthy eating habits. In June I ran in a 5-K and finished in 30 minutes flat, not the fastest time in the world but it was a finish. Six months earlier a 5-K would have killed me. I abandoned the lunch shake about four months in but I still eat the breakfast bar every day. If I didn't eat that, I probably wouldn't have breakfast at all. I still track everything I eat and aim for 200 grams of protein every day. I now work out heavily for 90 minutes per day, four days per week, and only do cardio one day per week.

 The key to my success was getting my mind right. Literally knowing and accepting that I can do this, that I have to do this. If your mind isn't committed, then you wont succeed. The diet diary and exercise were the big keys, but without having my mind right I wouldn't have kept up with either of those. The other big keys for me are my kids. They notice the change in me and comment on it all the time.

 Haven't been derailed yet. My kids motivate me. My son tells me all the time how happy he is that I can run around outside with him for hours. I now coach his football team and he is always commenting on how impressed he is that I can run the sprints and do all the warm-up things that I ask the kids to do. The other kids on the team constantly want to race me in the sprints, and I haven't been beat yet. My daughter tells me all the time that I look better without that big belly.

 Haven't had any really. I may eat something bad here and there, but with the diary I just make it up by eating better the next day.

 Running into people that haven't seen me in a while and having them comment on the new me. Also, having those around me asking me how I did it, asking for pointers, help, motivation, etc. My current favorite "new you" moment is finding the before picture. I forgotten that my wife took the picture and hadn't seen it since it was taken. When I finally located it I was really amazed. I knew there was a difference, just didn't comprehend how drastic it really is.