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Joel at 190 Pounds

Byjoel

Yesterday I scared little children around the world with photos of me at 225 pounds.

I did warn you beforehand, so please don’t send me your psycho-analysis and therapy bills.

For the past three months I have been on The Joel Comm Diet, which is not a diet at all.

Instead it combines common sense with a plan that works for me.

I am pleased to say that three months later I have lost 35 pounds!

Want to know what I did and see what I look like?

Losing weight requires two things. Eat less and exercise more. It’s common sense.

Doctors and experts will tell you that you are supposed to eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper.

That just doesn’t work for me. As much as I enjoy breakfast, I am not terribly hungry in the morning. I can get my day started without a big meal. So I have reversed that conventional wisdom. It worked for me.

First thing in the morning I have my Shakeology drink. It’s packed with nutrients and tastes good. It costs about $3 or so per serving, but its worth it.

For lunch, I don’t always eat a meal. More often than not I will enjoy a protein bar or granola bar. It’s enough to tide me over until dinner.

Dinner is where I will eat a larger meal. Fajitas, steak, chicken sandwich, tacos, whatever… I try to have a healthy helping of meat or poultry, a few carbs such as potatoes or rice and a fruit if it is available. I never eat the full-size portions that they give you at the restaurants. There is always food left on my plate because my stomach can’t hold as much food.

I rarely eat sugary foods these days. In fact, after a few days on my new plan I began losing my taste for sweets. That is a miracle because I LOVE cookies, cakes and ice cream. Desert has been a daily part of my meal plan my entire life, so this is a big change for me.

I am not tempted by sweets like I once was. I just don’t need them. In fact, eating sweets can mess with my blood sugar and cause me to have a crash a short time later.

Don’t get me wrong. Once I get to my destination weight, I will definitely be enjoying a waffle with butter and syrup from time to time. I will go to Coldstone Creamery and load up on a sweet cream with Nestle crunch in it from time to time.

It’s just that I am no longer a slave to sugar. It is very addictive and with God’s help I have broken the addiction.

On the exercise side of things, it’s also not complex.

I wanted to jog, but shin splints have made that difficult.

Instead I will get on the treadmill in my basement almost every day. I will walk fast for 30-60 minutes depending on how I am feeling that day. At my fastest speed, I am walking 4.5 miles per hour.

My treadmill is in front of my television, so I can watch something to distract me while I am moving my body. It’s been very effective and I have put a lot of miles on that treadmill.

And here’s the thing about exercising. When I take the time and exert energy to exercise, it makes me want to watch what I eat closer. Since I am putting so much into the exercise, I don’t want to negate it with a few moments of culinary pleasure. Exercising makes me accountable to eat better. I don’t think the opposite has the same effect.

There were no magical diets involved in my weight loss. There was no special workout that I followed. I didn’t even follow all the advice of my doctors. One recommended that I cut out ALL carbohydrates. That just didn’t work for me.

I did what came natural and these are the results.

Are you ready to see? I will post the before and after photos below.

Before… wearing very TIGHT size 40 jeans/


After… wearing lose size 38 jeans with the belt loosened FIVE notches. I can wear my size 36 jeans now, though they are still a little snug.

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Before… the chins say it all.


After…

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Any questions?

I’ve been on blood pressure medication for years. Recent readings have shown that my numbers are good. I am going to my doctor to see if I can back off on my dosage.

I sleep approximately six hours each night and don’t remember the last time I had so much energy. I feel great and am moving on to my next goal of 180 pounds. I think I can do it in thirty days or so. I will post more photos once I reach that goal.

I intend to remain healthy and not yo-yo back to where I was before. I know it will take continued discipline to exercise each day. My hope is that my metabolism is in full gear and that I can increase my calorie intake once I reach my target weight. I will have to watch it closely to see what I can and cannot do.

I hope my weight loss is inspiring for you! Let me know your thoughts, please.

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136 Comments

  3. You look great Joel, I need to get back on my treadmill and lose the 30lbs I put on after I injury my back and knee. So more weight I gain so more addicted to sweets I am. It is just about to start and keep doing it until it is the new habit.
    Common sense is what really work, watch out what you eat and keep moving.

  6. Joel,
    Yes, you have inspired me! I am 4 weeks into my fitness program. Like you, I feel so much better. After a serious illness earlier this year, my motivation had waned. Seeing your progress and common-sense approach to weight loss has inspired me to keep going. Thanks for sharing your journey.
    Regards

  7. Brilliant, Joel! It’s a big achievement to lose 30 pounds in such a short period of time, but to be so courageous and share your experience with the world makes it even bigger! Thanks so much for being so honest and open with your challenge, thereby inspiring us all in the process.

  11. This morning I saw a(nother) commercial for the lap band, and the news also had a story about how they want insurance companies to pay for even MORE people to get this surgery. They described it as a device that limits the amount of food your stomach can hold… well, how about using a smaller plate to limit how much food you eat? Isn’t that simpler, cheaper and much safer than surgery?
    Eat less, exercise more — the simplest solutions are the best.

  12. You did it! Congratulations.
    I am envy of your new look. I know it is not easy as I had tried losing weight before. But to lose 35 pounds in 3 months, that’s beyond me. May be it’s metabolism.
    Let’s see you at 180 pounds.

  13. Happy for you, Joel. And you are right, you have to do what works for yourself and your life cycle. My goal is to be 45 lightier by April, 2011 for my health and to feel more comfortable in my skin.

  16. Awesome Joel!!!
    Wow thats really impressive, thanks for sharing with everyone. Keep it up man, I am actually doing the opposite. I am trying to gain 35 pounds and bulk up, so far I have gained 21 pounds….
    Awesome man!

  19. Great Stuff Joel! It’s definitely inspirational and I hope your imnproved health will continue to fuel your creativity and spirit.
    Keep doing good stuff!

  22. Hi Joel! You look younger and might be mistaken for a 20-something guy now that you are thinner. I do follow your advice to “Do good stuff”. I did change my lifestyle as you did. In the past 2 months I lost about 13 pounds and 3 inches off my waist. I even wrote about it in my fitness diary blog! Thanks for the inspiration.

  23. Wow! You look amazing. What a tremendous effort. I am on and off of ‘lifestyle changes’ all the time and struggle to remain at it for more than a week or two.
    It is amazing how much more energized you feel when you are healthy. Congratulations!

  27. I am the same. So many of these weight loss programs say of course to use their exercise program, bu they give certain foods to eat. But I feel comfortable eating light and eating foods that I am used to. I eat light during the morning, eat more during lunch and hardly eat at night (maybe a snack. And some exercise. The past few months I have unfortunately gained back the weight I had earlier lost. If I am disciplined I can lose weight that way. Good for you. You inspire me.

  29. I must say, I am not a breakfast or lunch person either. However, way back in the day when I worked at a restaurant, I worked in the morning and on my “lunch” break, I would eat some very unhealthy breakfast items. The omelets, biscuits and gravy, hash browns etc. Oddly enough, I lost weight because I was not hungry again until dinner and then never ate a huge dinner. For the last several years, I have been very bad about breakfast though and watched a few pounds creep back on. It is good to know that weight loss is possible even when breakfast is not a person’s favorite meal!

  32. Stumbled on your site through another website and saw this post about you losing all that weight! Amazing! Good for you. I’m always happy to see people take charge of their lives and lose weight the natural weight. I’m sure you’ve made many healthy lifestyle changes and you’ll be able to keep the weight off.

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