About The Fat Guy

IMG_1924This site is about my journey in weight loss and the lessons learned along the way.  Growing up I was always the classic chubby kid, not morbidly obese or anything but definitely one of the biggest kids in the class.  During high school after getting a pretty active job at a sweatshop car wash and living off a liquid diet of free soda consumed when time allowed, I lost 50 pounds and was at a pretty healthy weight but didn’t exactly look awesome in a swimsuit.

As I graduated high school and went off to college, lack of sleep, increased stress and a few too many times going in for pizza at 10pm the weight came back on and stayed there until our second child was on the way and I decided to make a change.  This time I opted for the more conventional method of weight loss with low impact exercise (stationary bike while playing video games) and calorie restricted diet counting every calorie.

My diet was something similar to the following:

  • Breakfast: Banana, peanut butter, and chocolate protein shake
  • Snack: fruit (apple, pear, etc.)
  • Lunch: Subway sandwich (lots of meat and veggies)
  • Snack: Granola bar
  • Dinner: Moderate portion of whatever my wife was cooking

This diet roughly followed the normal USDA recommended guidelines with a few things missing and I consumed about 1800 calories per day on average, while not including exercise I typical would burn 2300 calories on an average day.

This worked and resulted in 60 pounds of weight loss though I felt like crap and was hungry all the time and of that weight at least several lbs. were lost in muscle.  When my second daughter was born she had some medical problems and was hospitalized for one month so fitting in work along with visits to the hospital whenever possible the workout and the diet (hospital cafeteria which is ironically unhealthy and fast food) went out the window.

Fast forward a few years and I tipped the scales at 251.4 pounds at my last physical, though this is the highest number I had ever seen for myself looking at some pictures over the past few years I had probably even been heavier.  I was concerned at this moment but the turning point was when I went to get some supplemental life insurance that I came back as “Standard” and given I do not smoke, drink, skydive, swim with sharks, etc, the only reason for my higher chance of statistically dying early was my weight and heart disease risk which was my inspiration and turning point for me.

This led me to my weight loss journey for my third and final time.  This time I did a little more research and conducted some simple experiments on myself.  This helped me discover what foods kept me satisfied (not being hungry at all) with the least amount of calories.  After some trial and I found that if I significantly reduced my carbohydrates (25-50g), increased my protein intake to 180g, and then included the rest for good quality fats I felt great was not hungry and only ate about 1800 calories while including minimal exercise (5 miles a day walking during my commute).  I later began targeting foods that were more nutrient dense which did not change my diet that much just started trading some fruits/nuts/dairy for more vegetables and meat.

My diet was something similar to the following:

  • Breakfast: Sausage and spinach omelet
  • Lunch: 7-8 oz. meat and veggies (double cheeseburger w/o bun, salad piled with chicken, bacon, and blue cheese dressing, etc.)
  • Snack: Protein shake (1-2 scoops Muscle Milk and water), 2 oz Beef Jerky
  • Dinner: 7-8 oz. meat and veggies (in a pinch will return to Sausage and spinach omelet)

Over a 6 months I lost 50 pounds and hit my first goal which is where I should not have any heightened risk for cancer, heart disease, etc, I also renewed my life insurance now with a premium status.

I remember hearing somewhere if you keep your weight loss off for one year it is there to stay…not sure how much truth to this there is but seemed like a good exercise in weight maintenance and kept off the 50 pounds lost for exactly one year until deciding to see if I could reduce my weight even further.  I lost 10 lbs during the first month and now have a total weight loss of 68.7 pounds at the time of writing while still not feeling hungry.

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Here is a comparison of the facial profile with a bit of before/after comparison with the after taken on 4/2011.

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Here is a more recent picture on 2/2012…

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5 Comments


  1. // Reply

    Good post, thanks for sharing. Looking forward to reading more in the future. Andy


  2. // Reply

    “Lunch: 7-8 oz. meat and veggies (double cheeseburger w/o bun, salad piled with chicken, bacon, and blue cheese dressing, etc.)

    The dressings will really add on the calories and fats in an unhealthy way if you are not careful. I was eating all kinds of salads and wish but putting all kinds of “sauces and dressings” on them and was totally defeating myself.

    I think the whole year thing means that you will be in such a routine that it just comes second nature.

    Keep up the good work, you are proof that hard work and determination pays off.


    1. // Reply

      Jason, dressing choice can be very important. Choosing a lower calorie option like honey mustard may seem like a better choice but most of the calories come from sugar and has very little micronutrient value. Blue cheese contains good heart healthy fats and contains macronutrients from fat over carbohydrates to satisfy you longer than carbohydrates which act as an appetite stimulant. Sauces are also a great point many times people do not think about how many calories are in the sweet sauce they are pouring over their meat, if cooked right should be great without sugary sauce.


  3. // Reply

    Love this website. Great ideas and recipes. Thought I would leave a message here for those struggling with weight loss. I have found the best diet in the world, in my humble opinion, it is a chocolate diet.

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