I have gone to the gym off and on over the years trying to lose weight but never really had that much success. I think one of the biggest things was how I ate and probably somewhat with determination. Back in January I decided that I was finally going to do it. I was going to lose weight and get fit.
So, I started going to the gym more and meeting with a personal trainer. I was lucky enough to have access to free personal trainers thanks to the gym at my work (Symantec). As a side note, you can’t get into the gym at work unless you work there but they person that owns and operates the gym has a public gym as well (http://www.fitnesslinkinc.com/). The trainers split time between both places . I highly recommend checking them out. They were a HUGE encouragement and help along the way. They are great people to work with and they know what they are talking about.
Anyway, when I started this journey on January 20th (2012), I weighed in at 226 lbs and had 28.5% body fat. With lots of running, lifting weights and vastly improved eating habits, I am now down to 179.5 lbs and 16.3% body fat (August 23, 2012).
A lot of people think they have to give up the foods they like to lose weight. I kept a very detailed food diary and if you look at it, you will notice I didn’t give up my favorite foods. I eat bacon on a regular basis (I ate some while writing this post). Last week I had a cheeseburger for lunch on two separate days. Then I had a rib eye steak today for lunch. I do eat a lot of veggies as well. I have probably had more veggies over the last 7 months than I have had my entire life combined. The key has been moderation and tracking how much I consume vs. how much I burn. I used a website and phone app to track everything and you can see my profile at http://www.myfitnesspal.com/dhansen999 (you can sign up here as well for free).
Diet wasn’t the only thing though. It took a lot of exercise to pull this off as well. When I started, I could barely jog (not sure it was really jogging) for a minute or two. I have now ran in multiple 5k races and two 10k races. I am currently on a routine of jogging 2-3 days per week and lifting heavy weights 2-3 days per week. Next week (and for the next 4 weeks) I will be doing a more targeted weight lifting routine 4 days per week with only 1-2 days of jogging.
I have learned a lot through this journey. I couldn’t have done it without my amazing wife who had to put up with my detail oriented approach to food. Yes, I got a little crazy weighing everything that I ate so I new exactly how many calories I was consuming.
If you have any questions, need help starting or some extra motivation, hit me up and we can chat.
