I came across one that I didn't remember, though. What made it weird was I couldn't recognize who was in the picture. I took a few seconds and finally figured it out. Here it is for you:
Surprise! It's me. Why was it hard for me to believe that it was me? Because here I am about a month ago in Lake Erie:
Sure, the lighting is better in the second photo, and I don't look like a recently laid-off lumberjack in that one, either, but that's not the point. Notice the weight difference. The reason I couldn't recognize myself in the first photo, which was shot almost two years ago, is because I'm about half the man I used to be. That isn't meant to sound deep -- I mean I lost a lot of weight.
I weighed myself this morning (Sept. 13), and the scale read 191 pounds on the dot. I'm really content with that measurement, considering in that first photo, I weighed almost 260 pounds. I've actually put on some weight since my lowest point last year, when I weighed in at 185 pounds. At that point, I had lost 75 pounds. Today, I've managed to keep about 70 pounds off. I know I said I became "half" of a man. Technically, I lost about 28 percent of my total weight, but "I'm a quarter less the man I used to be" doesn't sound as poetic. But enough with the numbers, and onto the reason why I changed so much.
I've always struggled with weight to some extent. I was chubby as a kid because I didn't do sports, play outside that much and stayed inside all day playing video games. I'm sure Arnold Schwarzenegger didn't become Mr. Universe by playing Mario Kart and eating full bags of Doritos all day.
I thinned out by the time I reached high school because I got much taller, and I also started walking and cycling more often.
I thinned out by the time I reached high school because I got much taller, and I also started walking and cycling more often.
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| My friend Kevin and I at high school graduation, June 2008. |
It was when I went off to college that the weight issue escalated. Four years of stress plus little exercise plus lots of food and alcohol equal what you saw in Photo No. 1.
When I graduated college, I spent six months searching for a career in my field while working a miserable job where I did nothing but stood around cutting steel all day. At the same time, I also battled an eating disorder where I would binge eat anything and everything in sight, usually right before bed. If you need a quick health lesson, your metabolism slows when you sleep, so eating a lot right before going to bed doesn't bode well.
When I graduated college, I spent six months searching for a career in my field while working a miserable job where I did nothing but stood around cutting steel all day. At the same time, I also battled an eating disorder where I would binge eat anything and everything in sight, usually right before bed. If you need a quick health lesson, your metabolism slows when you sleep, so eating a lot right before going to bed doesn't bode well.
I received the wake-up call I needed when my dad started losing weight. At about the time I weighed 260, he came in around 220 pounds. Not to poke fun at my dad, but he's 30 years older than I am, and I'm 25. There's no reason why I should weigh more than my dad (to be fair, most of my dad's weight is the amount of awesome he carries around with him).
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| If the liberals announce a war on cowboy hats, you know my father will be on the front lines fighting for the right to be a true patriot. |
Acknowledging my weight problem was the first vital step. The next was "how am I going to lose it?" I remember the first time I lost a lot of weight was when I was 15 years old. Back then, I wasn't working and did nothing but walked and rode my bike for several hours every day. That worked well for unemployed Brian, but I now had a sedentary job sitting at a desk that preoccupied much of my time. I knew that, in addition to working out more, I needed a way to manage my food intake. That's when I remembered using a phone app in the past that counted calories. It helped back then, but I decided not to follow through with it. It was time to fix that.
The app I use is called MyFitnessPal. There are many weight-loss apps out there, but this one has been around for years, and I knew it worked for me before, so I downloaded it and got to work.
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| A screenshot of my version of MyFitnessPal. |
Using it is simple. You enter in your current weight. It also asks what kind of lifestyle you live (sedentary, slightly active, physical). It then asks you what your fitness goal is, which means how much weight you want to lose each week. It goes as low as half a pound and as high as two pounds a week. I think I went with one, because doing two pounds a week meant you were limited to eating onion peels and drinking a drop of water a day.
Based off your weight, lifestyle and fitness goal, the app then gives you a daily calorie limit. For men, it usually means anywhere between 1,900 and 2,300 calories a day. For women, it's a little more harsh at about 1,300 to 1,500.
As you lose weight, the app gives you some leeway and adds a few calories. This happens for every 10 pounds you lose. When I started, my limit was about 1,900 calories. By the time I was at 185, I was granted 2,380 calories a day.
Based off your weight, lifestyle and fitness goal, the app then gives you a daily calorie limit. For men, it usually means anywhere between 1,900 and 2,300 calories a day. For women, it's a little more harsh at about 1,300 to 1,500.
As you lose weight, the app gives you some leeway and adds a few calories. This happens for every 10 pounds you lose. When I started, my limit was about 1,900 calories. By the time I was at 185, I was granted 2,380 calories a day.
Once your calorie limit is set, you can begin the counting part. The app divides your meals into groups, so you can add calories to breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. When you eat something, you can search the app's database for the food you ate. There are thousands of results, including multiple matches for the same food item, so you can get a more accurate reading. The app also includes a bar code reader, so you can scan the food's packaging and usually get the exact result.
The calories from the food you ate are then subtracted from your daily calorie limit. The more food you eat, the smaller the number gets. It's a simple concept. You can also alter the portions, so if you don't consume a whole sandwich, you can type in that you only ate half of it, and the calories will be adjusted accordingly.
Then there's the option to add exercise. If you do some workout that day, you can enter in what exercise you performed, and based off how long you did it, you can add calories back to your limit. Recently, I've been walking for about an hour a day, so that adds almost 300 calories back into my limit. You can search the database for numerous ways to exercise. There are results for exercises you wouldn't think of such as "cutting grass," "walking the dog" and "fishing." When you first start out, you usually get a low calorie limit, so that means if you want to eat more, you have to get up and start moving around a bit. It's actually a great motivator to exercise.
The calories from the food you ate are then subtracted from your daily calorie limit. The more food you eat, the smaller the number gets. It's a simple concept. You can also alter the portions, so if you don't consume a whole sandwich, you can type in that you only ate half of it, and the calories will be adjusted accordingly.
Then there's the option to add exercise. If you do some workout that day, you can enter in what exercise you performed, and based off how long you did it, you can add calories back to your limit. Recently, I've been walking for about an hour a day, so that adds almost 300 calories back into my limit. You can search the database for numerous ways to exercise. There are results for exercises you wouldn't think of such as "cutting grass," "walking the dog" and "fishing." When you first start out, you usually get a low calorie limit, so that means if you want to eat more, you have to get up and start moving around a bit. It's actually a great motivator to exercise.
The app is great in the sense that it gives you an idea of how much you really eat, which I think many people take for granted. I have two great examples. The first is when I decided to make a box of macaroni and cheese. I ate the whole box's worth no problem. The amount of calories what was hard to stomach. An entire box of macaroni and cheese contains more than 1,000 calories. I ate nearly half of my daily limit just with one box.
Another is when Cassidy and I ate at the Hard Rock Cafe in Pittsburgh. I got a BBQ burger that rang in at about 1,800 calories for the entire burger. That didn't include the fries I also ate with it. The New York Times wrote a stellar article about "What 2,000 Calories Looks Like" with photos to give you a visual perspective of a day's worth of calories. Even if you're not trying to lose weight, I suggest you look at the article just for perspective.
Another is when Cassidy and I ate at the Hard Rock Cafe in Pittsburgh. I got a BBQ burger that rang in at about 1,800 calories for the entire burger. That didn't include the fries I also ate with it. The New York Times wrote a stellar article about "What 2,000 Calories Looks Like" with photos to give you a visual perspective of a day's worth of calories. Even if you're not trying to lose weight, I suggest you look at the article just for perspective.
The beauty of the MyFitnessPal app is you can eat whatever you want -- just as long as you limit your portions. I can still eat wings and drink beer, just as long as I limit myself to one beer and only a few wings, in addition to everything else I eat that day.
After awhile, you begin to memorize how many calories a certain food item has. It's like a super power: You can see how many calories something has just by looking at it, which means you don't always need the app to look it up. The key to all this, however, is you have to stay consistent with it.
The app can be a nuisance at first because you'll always find yourself on your phone around meal time adding calories when all you want to do is eat. Friends and family will think you're being obnoxious because you're on the phone at the table when all you're trying to do is be healthy.
Finally, you have to keep using it, even after you lose the weight you wanted. One of the biggest mistakes people make is losing the weight and then thinking they quit their dieting routine. All this means is you'll start putting the weight back on and undo all the work you struggled for. As time goes on, it gets easier, so it becomes less work and more of a daily routine.
After awhile, you begin to memorize how many calories a certain food item has. It's like a super power: You can see how many calories something has just by looking at it, which means you don't always need the app to look it up. The key to all this, however, is you have to stay consistent with it.
The app can be a nuisance at first because you'll always find yourself on your phone around meal time adding calories when all you want to do is eat. Friends and family will think you're being obnoxious because you're on the phone at the table when all you're trying to do is be healthy.
Finally, you have to keep using it, even after you lose the weight you wanted. One of the biggest mistakes people make is losing the weight and then thinking they quit their dieting routine. All this means is you'll start putting the weight back on and undo all the work you struggled for. As time goes on, it gets easier, so it becomes less work and more of a daily routine.
People have different views on "calories counting." Some doctors approve of it while others argue that people forfeit essential nutrients for the sake of eating less. The latter is a credible argument, but if anything, calorie counting encourages better eating habits because, if the food is healthier, that means you can eat more of it. Heck, you can probably eat a garbage can's worth of salad a day as long as it's not packed with meat, cheese and dressing.
There are people who use the app and have little results while others, like myself, have reduced their weight by double or even triple digits.
There are people who use the app and have little results while others, like myself, have reduced their weight by double or even triple digits.
All I know is that I'm much happier of a person at 190 than I was at 260. The app helped me change my weight, my appearance and my mental health. Being overweight made me depressed and also limited my physical activity. I remember being short of breath on walks, which never happened while I was thinner. I also had to wear pants with a size 40 waist for the first time in my life. I'm down to a size 34 now.
Me losing weight even made my girlfriend, Cassidy, happy. Her reason, in her own words: "When you were fat, I couldn't get my arms all the way around to hug you, but now I can." So there you go, I can even get more hugs now, which is good on the days when I do feel down for having eaten too much.
And that's one last thing I will emphasize: Even after losing weight, you'll still have "fat days." It happens to me all the time. Despite how skinny I am now, I still have days where I feel overweight. I look in the mirror and don't like the image in front of me.
But you can't let those days throw you off. If anything, those days should encourage you to work harder and keep up with your exercise and diet.
Sometimes mirrors can be deceiving. For real evidence of your progress, look back at old photos of you and compare them to ones of you now. The pictures won't lie to you.
If you need proof, go back and look at my first two photos. If you need inspiration, look at this last one.*
Me losing weight even made my girlfriend, Cassidy, happy. Her reason, in her own words: "When you were fat, I couldn't get my arms all the way around to hug you, but now I can." So there you go, I can even get more hugs now, which is good on the days when I do feel down for having eaten too much.
And that's one last thing I will emphasize: Even after losing weight, you'll still have "fat days." It happens to me all the time. Despite how skinny I am now, I still have days where I feel overweight. I look in the mirror and don't like the image in front of me.
But you can't let those days throw you off. If anything, those days should encourage you to work harder and keep up with your exercise and diet.
Sometimes mirrors can be deceiving. For real evidence of your progress, look back at old photos of you and compare them to ones of you now. The pictures won't lie to you.
If you need proof, go back and look at my first two photos. If you need inspiration, look at this last one.*
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| *Inspiration for weight loss, not beard growing. I'm still not great at that. |
