Roger's Blog
A place to put my thoughts...
Losing Weight
06/08/24 02:37 PM
Toward the end of my career, I started promising myself that I would lose weight after I retired. I had ballooned to over 200 pounds (finally peaking at 212 pounds!), my eating habits had gotten progressively worse, and I struggled with simple activities during the summer months. For many years, I had justified my terrible health habits with the amount of hours I worked and the stress of the job, so I had convinced myself that, once I retired, I would have the time and motivation to lose the extra weight. This became even more critical once Maurica and I made the decision to move to Florida when I retired. I knew the Florida summer heat would be an even greater challenge to my weight. However, as I approached retirement, I started to question whether or not I was just kidding myself and wondered if I truly had the drive to lose weight I needed to lose. Therefore, I decided to start the weight loss program before I retired. I felt it was important to prove to myself that I had the discipline to take the actions needed to lose weight. If I couldn't show some progress now, the likelihood of my success later would be low. Now it was time to figure out how to lose the weight.
I tried to attack this as logically as I could because I felt this was the only way for me to achieve my goal. While I am not always logical, I do try to base my actions on logic. First, I needed to set my goal. I remembered that I was "around 145 pounds" when I was in college. Therefore, I felt that a good goal weight for my age (at the time, approaching 61) would be 150 pounds. That was the easy part. The most important part was to develop a strategy that would not only allow me to lose the weight but to keep the weight off for the rest of my life. I had no desire to lose the weight and, as so often happens, slowly gain the weight back over time. It was important for me to be honest with myself. I knew that dieting was not going to work for me. I had tried diets in the past, and I never experienced any significant weight loss with that strategy. I determined that I needed to exercise the weight off. Why did I choose what seems like an even less likely strategy? Even as out of shape as I was, I still enjoyed physical activity. I liked working hard enough to sweat, even though my excessive weight made this a reality with the lowest level of physicality. However, I also knew that running or going to a gym would not be viable options, at least for a while, given my excess weight would likely be tough on my knees and legs. In theory, I needed to find a way to "play" and burn the calories off. Since I have always considered myself an "adult child," I felt that this strategy could work for me long term, so I started looking at ways to play that would help me lose the weight without the need to diet. Basically, I wanted to burn the calories off so I could continue to eat as I wanted. I decided to start my weight loss plan on March 19, 2022.
After considering many options, I started looking hard at using virtual reality. It seemed like there were multiple "exercise apps" that offered both a fun way to lose the weight but also provide a game environment which I felt was critical to staying with this process. I talked to Maurica about it and, fortunately, she agreed to let me spend a fair amount of money on an Oculus Quest and a few apps to give it a try. For a variety of reasons, and because I'm cheap, I decided to use PowerBeats VR as my primary exercising app. It was a good decision because, to this day, I truly enjoy using this app. The basic idea is that you exercise to the beat of music. Your goal is to hit targets with your fist, follow "trails" with your hands and move around, avoiding obstacles that come at you, all while keeping the beat of the music. As a wannabe drummer, that was right up my alley. At first, my only option was the music supplied with the app (what I would call "electronic music," which I enjoy). However, this app also allows you two different ways to add your own music, and this took the app to a whole new level for me! In no time, I had over 100 different songs to which I was exercising! I was having a blast but, more importantly, I was losing weight. Initially, it was 3-4 pounds per week but it leveled off to around 2 pounds per week. This was exactly what I needed! I needed to prove to myself that (1) I had the motivation to stay with this plan, and (2) I had found a plan that could work.
My first sessions were 30 minutes and, let me tell you, I was completely exhausted at the end of these sessions. The app tracks the approximate calories burned, and I was burning around 250 calories per session. I worked out a few times a week but quickly moved to four times a week, which meant I was burning around 1,000 calories a week. This was a good start. Within a few weeks, I had moved my sessions up to an hour at a time, so I was doubling the amount of calories I was burning. Eventually, I moved to 90-minute sessions, which resulted in burning 750 calories per session, four times per week. Due to the success I was having, I would sometimes do five sessions per week. The weight was coming off, and this provided even more motivation to keep going.
Then, a funny thing happened, and I believe this directly related to the success I was having with my exercise routine. For the first time in my life, I was motivated to change my diet to improve the likelihood of losing all the weight and get to my goal. I began realizing that, eventually, I would be too old to exercise at this level, so I knew the only logical thing to do would be to develop a combination of an exercise regiment and a diet that I could maintain for the rest of my life. I replaced Big Red with iced tea, which eliminated a lot of calories. I also worked to eliminate almost all of the sweets in my life. I decided that the rest of my diet would primarily focus on reduced calorie intake. I set my goal at 1500 calories per day. In the beginning, I worked very hard to avoid any lapses in this goal. Occasionally, I had bad days but the success I had already experienced was enough motivation to get right back on track and stay with the low calorie plan.
The next part of my success came from a friend named Mark. We were talking one day, and I told him I was working on losing weight. Mark has always stayed in better shape than me, so he suggested that we maintain an online Google spreadsheet that tracked our weight loss, as he was interested in losing a few more pounds himself. He also shared with me that his goal was to reach 145 pounds. Since this was my weight from college, I decided I would drop my original weight loss goal from 150 to 145. This strategy turned out to be another strong motivator in keeping me committed to my goal, and I added two more friends to our weekly weigh-in. Every week, we would record our current weight, showing us how much weight we lost (or gained). It became a new way for me to focus my attention on achieving success. For 20 straight weeks, I recorded a weight loss before I had my first gain, when I gained almost two pounds. During this period, I went from 197.8 pounds to 154.2 pounds. However, I was so close to my goal of 145 pounds that I pushed hard those last few weeks, increasing my workouts to six days a week. On October 29, 2022, six months after I began my weight lost program, I achieved my goal, weighing in at 143.6 pounds. From my beginning weight of 212.2 pounds, I had lost 68.6 pounds in just over seven months!
Now I had a new test; could I keep the weight off? Losing that much weight is not easy but I knew that the real challenge would be to keep the weight off for the rest of my life. While the Google spreadsheet eventually became my solo project, it has provided adequate motivation (combined with my new found desire to stay as healthy as possible) to continue to monitor my weight and weigh in every week. To be honest, I have since decided that 145 pounds is too low (along with prodding from Maurica), so my lifetime goal is now to stay between 150 and 155 pounds. I also had a brief, stressful period right before I retired where I focused less on my weight and more on my mental health. However, I have met this goal most weeks to this day. I sometimes go over 155 but I'm usually back within my goal within 1-2 weeks. I try to give myself a break when that happens because I know I will be back on track and, so far, I have been. I have maintained this weight for over 19 months, to date, and I don't show any signs of letting up. My weight loss has given me a new life that blends well with retirement.
So, what have I gained through this process? For one, I was very happy to learn that I have the discipline needed to achieve and maintain this goal. To be honest, I doubted this when I began this process. I felt I had become too comfortable with life and, above all, that I lacked the type of discipline needed to attain this goal. Second, I am amazed at the level of stamina I have since losing the weight. I rarely become tired when doing any sort of physical activity. Granted, my age means that I am usually ready to go to bed at the end of every day. However, I have the energy to do whatever I want and usually for a lot longer than the average person. This has added much to my life. Third, I feel healthier than I have ever felt, despite my age. For the first time in my life, I want to have regular doctor visits and, so far, my doctor feels I am in pretty good shape, so I'm hoping that will result in a long, happy rest of my life. Of course, there are no guarantees when it comes to that, and I will be happy with any number of years I'm fortunate enough to achieve. Fourth, I can survive the summer Florida heat and humidity. I don't love it but I can survive it.
If I can be so bold, I'd like to share what I've learned through this process so that anyone who reads this who has made this decision might learn something from my experience. Obviously, this is based on my experiences. Your mileage may vary. First, you have to be the person motivated enough to commit to weight loss. No one else can make this happen; not your most beloved family members, not doctors trying to save your life, no one. To be frank, I couldn't care less about losing weight until around February of 2022. That is why all my previous attempts at losing weight and living a healthier life failed. It wasn't until it was important to me that I could expect any level of success.
Second, I honestly don't believe it matters what you do to lose weight, be it an exercise regiment or a diet or both, as long as you find a way to stay with it. That's the hardest part; finding the motivation to stay with it. What I haven't shared so far is that I had started to lose respect for myself. It was important for me, and me alone, to prove that I had the discipline to do this because I didn't think I had it any more. That drove me through the initial hard physical work of exercising. That drove me to increase my workouts for longer periods and increased frequency. That drove me to do what I said I would never be able to do and change my diet. It's crazy that I decided that playing virtual reality games would be the right formula for weight loss but it didn't matter because I found something I would keep doing. So the key is to find something that you will keep doing. It can be something as simple as taking a walk. Start out with a short walk once a week but do it every week. Once you're able, try taking a walk twice a week but stay with it. Once you're able, try taking a walk three times a week. You will be amazed at the motivation that success like this will provide. If exercise is not your cup of tea, try reducing your calories in whatever way that motivates you. Perhaps you like to cook. Find recipes that provide a tasty meal but with less calories than you normally consume.
Third, I think it is vital to get into the habit of weighing yourself regularly. For me, that began with a weekly weigh-in, which quickly became a daily event for a long time. However, many "experts" feel that weighing yourself daily can be a bad thing, as it is easier to lose your motivation as soon as you have a day where you gain weight. That didn't work that way for me but I understand why that would demotivate most people. At this point, I still weigh myself 3-4 times per week, and that helps me maintain vigilance on my weight. Keep in mind, you WILL gain weight some days even if you are doing everything right. (Sorry, this is a little gross but true.) Think about it, some days your bowel system isn't emptied so you keep weight temporarily that shows up as "weight gain." You can't let the realities of your body affect your motivation.
Fourth, be aware that weight loss takes time. Think about how much time you took to reach your current weight. You didn't get there in a few months, and you can't lose it all in a few weeks. When you first begin your regiment, you will likely lose a fair amount of weight your first week, maybe two. After that, it comes off s-l-o-w-l-y. I averaged losing about 2 pounds per week but I went at it pretty aggressively, ultimately combining exercise and diet. You may not lose that much. However, notice that, if you stay with it, you will lose a little weight most weeks. Give yourself time to be successful. Understand that you will gain weight some weeks. That's totally fine. It happens to everyone. Keep at it. Eventually, you will achieve the success you want, if you stay with it.
I tried to attack this as logically as I could because I felt this was the only way for me to achieve my goal. While I am not always logical, I do try to base my actions on logic. First, I needed to set my goal. I remembered that I was "around 145 pounds" when I was in college. Therefore, I felt that a good goal weight for my age (at the time, approaching 61) would be 150 pounds. That was the easy part. The most important part was to develop a strategy that would not only allow me to lose the weight but to keep the weight off for the rest of my life. I had no desire to lose the weight and, as so often happens, slowly gain the weight back over time. It was important for me to be honest with myself. I knew that dieting was not going to work for me. I had tried diets in the past, and I never experienced any significant weight loss with that strategy. I determined that I needed to exercise the weight off. Why did I choose what seems like an even less likely strategy? Even as out of shape as I was, I still enjoyed physical activity. I liked working hard enough to sweat, even though my excessive weight made this a reality with the lowest level of physicality. However, I also knew that running or going to a gym would not be viable options, at least for a while, given my excess weight would likely be tough on my knees and legs. In theory, I needed to find a way to "play" and burn the calories off. Since I have always considered myself an "adult child," I felt that this strategy could work for me long term, so I started looking at ways to play that would help me lose the weight without the need to diet. Basically, I wanted to burn the calories off so I could continue to eat as I wanted. I decided to start my weight loss plan on March 19, 2022.
After considering many options, I started looking hard at using virtual reality. It seemed like there were multiple "exercise apps" that offered both a fun way to lose the weight but also provide a game environment which I felt was critical to staying with this process. I talked to Maurica about it and, fortunately, she agreed to let me spend a fair amount of money on an Oculus Quest and a few apps to give it a try. For a variety of reasons, and because I'm cheap, I decided to use PowerBeats VR as my primary exercising app. It was a good decision because, to this day, I truly enjoy using this app. The basic idea is that you exercise to the beat of music. Your goal is to hit targets with your fist, follow "trails" with your hands and move around, avoiding obstacles that come at you, all while keeping the beat of the music. As a wannabe drummer, that was right up my alley. At first, my only option was the music supplied with the app (what I would call "electronic music," which I enjoy). However, this app also allows you two different ways to add your own music, and this took the app to a whole new level for me! In no time, I had over 100 different songs to which I was exercising! I was having a blast but, more importantly, I was losing weight. Initially, it was 3-4 pounds per week but it leveled off to around 2 pounds per week. This was exactly what I needed! I needed to prove to myself that (1) I had the motivation to stay with this plan, and (2) I had found a plan that could work.
My first sessions were 30 minutes and, let me tell you, I was completely exhausted at the end of these sessions. The app tracks the approximate calories burned, and I was burning around 250 calories per session. I worked out a few times a week but quickly moved to four times a week, which meant I was burning around 1,000 calories a week. This was a good start. Within a few weeks, I had moved my sessions up to an hour at a time, so I was doubling the amount of calories I was burning. Eventually, I moved to 90-minute sessions, which resulted in burning 750 calories per session, four times per week. Due to the success I was having, I would sometimes do five sessions per week. The weight was coming off, and this provided even more motivation to keep going.
Then, a funny thing happened, and I believe this directly related to the success I was having with my exercise routine. For the first time in my life, I was motivated to change my diet to improve the likelihood of losing all the weight and get to my goal. I began realizing that, eventually, I would be too old to exercise at this level, so I knew the only logical thing to do would be to develop a combination of an exercise regiment and a diet that I could maintain for the rest of my life. I replaced Big Red with iced tea, which eliminated a lot of calories. I also worked to eliminate almost all of the sweets in my life. I decided that the rest of my diet would primarily focus on reduced calorie intake. I set my goal at 1500 calories per day. In the beginning, I worked very hard to avoid any lapses in this goal. Occasionally, I had bad days but the success I had already experienced was enough motivation to get right back on track and stay with the low calorie plan.
The next part of my success came from a friend named Mark. We were talking one day, and I told him I was working on losing weight. Mark has always stayed in better shape than me, so he suggested that we maintain an online Google spreadsheet that tracked our weight loss, as he was interested in losing a few more pounds himself. He also shared with me that his goal was to reach 145 pounds. Since this was my weight from college, I decided I would drop my original weight loss goal from 150 to 145. This strategy turned out to be another strong motivator in keeping me committed to my goal, and I added two more friends to our weekly weigh-in. Every week, we would record our current weight, showing us how much weight we lost (or gained). It became a new way for me to focus my attention on achieving success. For 20 straight weeks, I recorded a weight loss before I had my first gain, when I gained almost two pounds. During this period, I went from 197.8 pounds to 154.2 pounds. However, I was so close to my goal of 145 pounds that I pushed hard those last few weeks, increasing my workouts to six days a week. On October 29, 2022, six months after I began my weight lost program, I achieved my goal, weighing in at 143.6 pounds. From my beginning weight of 212.2 pounds, I had lost 68.6 pounds in just over seven months!
Now I had a new test; could I keep the weight off? Losing that much weight is not easy but I knew that the real challenge would be to keep the weight off for the rest of my life. While the Google spreadsheet eventually became my solo project, it has provided adequate motivation (combined with my new found desire to stay as healthy as possible) to continue to monitor my weight and weigh in every week. To be honest, I have since decided that 145 pounds is too low (along with prodding from Maurica), so my lifetime goal is now to stay between 150 and 155 pounds. I also had a brief, stressful period right before I retired where I focused less on my weight and more on my mental health. However, I have met this goal most weeks to this day. I sometimes go over 155 but I'm usually back within my goal within 1-2 weeks. I try to give myself a break when that happens because I know I will be back on track and, so far, I have been. I have maintained this weight for over 19 months, to date, and I don't show any signs of letting up. My weight loss has given me a new life that blends well with retirement.
So, what have I gained through this process? For one, I was very happy to learn that I have the discipline needed to achieve and maintain this goal. To be honest, I doubted this when I began this process. I felt I had become too comfortable with life and, above all, that I lacked the type of discipline needed to attain this goal. Second, I am amazed at the level of stamina I have since losing the weight. I rarely become tired when doing any sort of physical activity. Granted, my age means that I am usually ready to go to bed at the end of every day. However, I have the energy to do whatever I want and usually for a lot longer than the average person. This has added much to my life. Third, I feel healthier than I have ever felt, despite my age. For the first time in my life, I want to have regular doctor visits and, so far, my doctor feels I am in pretty good shape, so I'm hoping that will result in a long, happy rest of my life. Of course, there are no guarantees when it comes to that, and I will be happy with any number of years I'm fortunate enough to achieve. Fourth, I can survive the summer Florida heat and humidity. I don't love it but I can survive it.
If I can be so bold, I'd like to share what I've learned through this process so that anyone who reads this who has made this decision might learn something from my experience. Obviously, this is based on my experiences. Your mileage may vary. First, you have to be the person motivated enough to commit to weight loss. No one else can make this happen; not your most beloved family members, not doctors trying to save your life, no one. To be frank, I couldn't care less about losing weight until around February of 2022. That is why all my previous attempts at losing weight and living a healthier life failed. It wasn't until it was important to me that I could expect any level of success.
Second, I honestly don't believe it matters what you do to lose weight, be it an exercise regiment or a diet or both, as long as you find a way to stay with it. That's the hardest part; finding the motivation to stay with it. What I haven't shared so far is that I had started to lose respect for myself. It was important for me, and me alone, to prove that I had the discipline to do this because I didn't think I had it any more. That drove me through the initial hard physical work of exercising. That drove me to increase my workouts for longer periods and increased frequency. That drove me to do what I said I would never be able to do and change my diet. It's crazy that I decided that playing virtual reality games would be the right formula for weight loss but it didn't matter because I found something I would keep doing. So the key is to find something that you will keep doing. It can be something as simple as taking a walk. Start out with a short walk once a week but do it every week. Once you're able, try taking a walk twice a week but stay with it. Once you're able, try taking a walk three times a week. You will be amazed at the motivation that success like this will provide. If exercise is not your cup of tea, try reducing your calories in whatever way that motivates you. Perhaps you like to cook. Find recipes that provide a tasty meal but with less calories than you normally consume.
Third, I think it is vital to get into the habit of weighing yourself regularly. For me, that began with a weekly weigh-in, which quickly became a daily event for a long time. However, many "experts" feel that weighing yourself daily can be a bad thing, as it is easier to lose your motivation as soon as you have a day where you gain weight. That didn't work that way for me but I understand why that would demotivate most people. At this point, I still weigh myself 3-4 times per week, and that helps me maintain vigilance on my weight. Keep in mind, you WILL gain weight some days even if you are doing everything right. (Sorry, this is a little gross but true.) Think about it, some days your bowel system isn't emptied so you keep weight temporarily that shows up as "weight gain." You can't let the realities of your body affect your motivation.
Fourth, be aware that weight loss takes time. Think about how much time you took to reach your current weight. You didn't get there in a few months, and you can't lose it all in a few weeks. When you first begin your regiment, you will likely lose a fair amount of weight your first week, maybe two. After that, it comes off s-l-o-w-l-y. I averaged losing about 2 pounds per week but I went at it pretty aggressively, ultimately combining exercise and diet. You may not lose that much. However, notice that, if you stay with it, you will lose a little weight most weeks. Give yourself time to be successful. Understand that you will gain weight some weeks. That's totally fine. It happens to everyone. Keep at it. Eventually, you will achieve the success you want, if you stay with it.
Before (2020) / After (2024)
Until my next entry…