Hi there. My name is Kyle, I’m 25, and I’ve broken at least a dozen chairs in my life. Am I some sort of extreme sitter? Do I practice seat-parkour? Alas, no. As it turns out, my reputation as a chair-murderer arose from the simple fact that 390 pounds is far too much for all but the most well-constructed seats to handle.
And that’s where my weight loss and fitness story begins.
It was February 1st, 2013. A Friday. I’d been working at my new job as a copywriter in the advertising industry for just over a year. But on this particular morning, as I unceremoniously plopped down at my office desk, my chair gave out. I immediately stood back up, embarrassed, quite familiar with the sick popping sound a chair makes as it dies. It wasn’t my first time. No. This poor chair was just another victim in a long line of abused and neglected office furniture... And I’d literally broken its back.
“Welp… that’s okay. We’re not 25 anymore. It’s hard to stay in shape after you hit your 30’s.” The friendly Facilities Manager chuckled as he brought me up a new chair.
I’d celebrated my 25th birthday just two months previous.
I looked across the aisle to my art director and was thankful for the 5-foot cubicle walls hiding my shame. He was gracefully distracted.
This was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. Though a more fitting metaphor might be the “Butt that broke the office chair.” Either way, it was time to do something about it.
There’s something so incredibly powerful about that moment. That “Okay I’ve had enough” moment. And it’s something that cannot be forced. You have to arrive there on your own. Flip that mental switch and decide “I’m tired. Tired of breaking chairs. Tired of not fitting on airplanes. Tired of being invisible to women. Tired being called “big guy” and always being given the front seat. Tired of sitting at tables instead of booths. And most of all… tired of being tired.” I was depressed, and I was so uncomfortable with myself that I had social anxiety to an extent that my personal relationships were suffering.
So… where do I begin?
I’d had some success in high school losing weight on a low carbohydrate diet. I thought that might be the best place to start. I had a foundation of knowledge for what I could and could not eat, but decided to do a little more research. My search led me to the low-carb board called “Keto” on the social site reddit.com
I read and read and read. Medical journal articles, anecdotes, doctors, diabetics, epileptics. All pointing to nutritional ketosis as the solution to not only weight loss problems, but blood sugar issues, seizures, cancer and more… sounded too good to be true, but my own success following a similar diet in the past made me march forward anyway. And I’m so glad I did.
At the same time, my mother had decided to follow a low-carbohydrate diet as well. She was finding success… and very much helped inspire me to get started. Thanks mom.
“Hit your macros.” That’s the rallying cry on a ketogenic diet. 65% of your calories should come from fat. 30% of your calories should come from protein. 5% of your calories should come from carbohydrates in things like greens and vegetables. These numbers are important… to a point. But for me, I decided to focus on eating less than 25g of carbs per day. And so I did.
Just as the Keto sages predicted, my first week I dropped 12 pounds. Water weight. Second week? Stalled. This was expected. There’s even a term for it, “Post Induction Stall Syndrome” or “PISS.” Appetite? Gone. Drastic reduction in calorie count because of this. In that first month, I lost something like 25 pounds! I was feeling lighter, more energetic, more motivated than ever to stick with it.
Over the next 5 months I continued losing pretty rapidly. On average, I was losing 15 pounds per month. Keep in mind, I was doing absolutely zero exercise at this point. Zero. And by July 4th of 2013, the date of my buddy’s wedding in Playa Del Carmen, I had lost 88 pounds. I was well on my way.
This is the point where I decided to start exercising. Relatively steady losses had kept me motivated along the way, but I wanted more. The same old saying kept going through my head over and over again. “Diet to look good in clothes. Work out to look good naked.” I wanted to look good naked.
I’ve always been the type to dive in head first when I picked up a new hobby. I once got in to brewing beer and didn’t shut up about it for at least a year. My friends and relatives were, I’m sure, tired of hearing about it, but I think they didn’t mind drinking it, so they didn’t complain. I knew that in order for me to really be successful at this life change, I had to look at working out and fitness as a hobby. So again, I started reading. And after some time on another Reddit board, “Lean Gains,” I decided that strength training would be my best option for now.
I started lifting weights in late July of 2013, and next to Keto, it has to be one of my best decisions to date. I’m suddenly stronger, faster, more balanced, more energetic. And in my opinion, you absolutely cannot beat squats for building real, usable, and noticeable muscle. You do squats for a few weeks and you’ll feel stronger with literally every step.
Now comes the hard part. I’m putting on muscle like crazy. They call it “Newby gains.” But I’m not dropping weight anymore. I go from losing 15 pounds per month on average to a sudden, and complete stop. Like someone slammed on the brakes. Over the next two months, I continued working out 4 or 5 days per week. I lost 2 pounds. TWO POUNDS over those 60 days. This is the real test of a dieter’s metal. You’re doing everything right. You’re even working out all the time, but you aren’t losing. What now?
Now I talk about the other rallying call over at reddit.com/r/keto. “Keep calm, and Keto on.” And I did. And I have to thank those guys and gals on that board. There are a lot of days I’m feeling less than motivated that that message board is my savior, my inspiration. I can look at my own progress posts there and read and reread the nice things and encouragement people had given me. My losses were slowed, but I was in a much better place than I was when I started. And I certainly wasn’t going back to the way I used to eat.
At some point, I finally broke through the 100 pounds lost mark. And for the first time in a long long time I was UNDER 300 pounds. This was a major milestone for me. And, while I wasn’t losing nearly as many pounds as before, I had managed to shed a couple of inches. I’d dropped another pants size. So far I’d gone from a size 52 jeans to a size 40. I could finally walk in to a regular store and buy a pair of pants that weren’t from the big and tall section. It felt great.
A couple more months of very small losses lead to me deciding it was time to change it up. Maybe I should incorporate some cardio. So, for the past couple of months now, I have been lifting weights every other day and running every other day following the C25K (couch to 5k) program. I went out this past Saturday and ran 4.5 miles without stopping! Me. A runner. Who’d have thought? I’m even planning on participating in a 10k in January.
That arrives us squarely at today. Nearly 10 months later. 118 pounds lighter. 14 inches off my waist. Went from a tight 3XL to a loose XL. Went from an awful 390 to a very solid 272 as of this morning… and most people say I look more like 230 – I don’t tell them to stop. You can decide for yourself in the photos.
Today I look forward to going to the gym. How weird is that? I’m enjoying being active. My confidence is up. I can’t wait to participate in some 5Ks and 10ks. Maybe I will work toward a marathon. Who knows? I feel like life has opened up with so many possibilities and experiences that I never would have considered a year ago. I’m happy.
If you are considering a change. Do it. Get healthier. Do stuff. And check out Keto, I swear by it. Thanks for reading!