Chris Davis’ Weight Loss Story: You vs. The Year
Why it’s Impossible to Help One Person
From 120 Pounds Overweight to MMA Champion
Lose Weight Without Being Hungry (Post 4)
Oh man. You guys are sooooo going to hate me. That’s an awfully big claim in the title right? And, if you’re like most people, you probably want to hear something profound like: “I found this diet where all you do is stop eating after 7 pm and you’ll lose weight.” Or “I lost 100 pound on the all you can eat ice cream diet!” Well, that is not how it’s done. Instead, we are going to go old school, with some new school spin on it. But, you will find out that you can lose weight without being hungry, and you will be able to sustain it.
That stuff they taught us in school all of those years ago, that’s pretty much it. Oh we’ll put a twist on it somewhat, but the fact is, “Eat your vegetables and exercise.” is a pretty damn good place to start. But that’s not life, and all vegetables and no beer makes Joe a dull boy!
Let’s start with the losing weight without being hungry part. There is this great book by Matt Fitzgerald called “The New Rules of Marathon and Half-Marathon Nutrition”. If you are a runner, this is GOLD! If you want to lose weight, ignore the running stuff and just read the nutrition stuff and this is GOLD! It’s a great book. Mark discusses a concept called calorie density, and explains that our hunger is driven by a several factors. Things like calorie intake, metabolism/calorie burn, blood sugar, and VOLUME. How much we eat matters. Obviously if you eat more you will probably be fuller, longer. Told you this wasn’t rocket science. So as an example, it takes 10 ounces of potatoes to provide 240 calories and it takes ONLY 2 ounces of a doughnut to provide the same 240 calories. Which one will curb your hunger longer?
I am not a nutritionist, so I will only briefly touch on this, but processed foods and refined sugars have a very different impact on our body then natural foods. So how your body processes a doughnut compared to an apple is very different. So do not fall in to the trap of “Well, fruits have sugars in them. So what’s the difference?” Fructose doesn’t cause the same type of sugar spike and crash that refined sugar does and therefore your appetite and energy levels will be better moderated with the apple. I try not to get cute with this stuff, simple is better. Doughnut BAD, apple GOOD.
Using the concept of calorie density then, if you were going to have a snack at night and you were targeting 240 calories, you could choose between 2 ounces of a doughnut or 3 medium sized apples. For someone who is hungry, the choice is obvious. AND, there is no nutritional value with the doughnut. There are no vitamins or nutrients, where as the apple is packed with fiber, vitamins, and nutrients. Finally, who the heck eats 2 ounces of a doughnut? You will eat… the… whole… thing, all 800 calories of it, and you’ll be hungry 30 minutes later!
You’re probably thinking “Duh Joe! That’s all great stuff that I knew anyway, but what can I do practically with it so I start to make REAL changes in my day to day life?” That my friend is a great question, so let’s tackle that next! I’m going to layout a very simple way that Mark looks at ensuring that he get’s the right mix of foods in to his body, and then I am going to discuss how I made some changes to my mentality that have driven a sustainable lifestyle change. And that is the real secret sauce. But first, I need to go get my long run in! No; really. Go check Strava (I’m: Joe Randene). It’s “Sunday Runday” so I have to go get mine!… Ok, that’s done! (2 hours later.)
Remember that stupid nutrition pyramid in high school? What Mark does is kind of like that. He calls it “The Diet Quality Continuum”. Here is how he classifies each category of food, in order of decreasing quality:
- Vegetables (including legumes)
- Fruits
- Nuts and seeds
- Fish and lean meats
- Whole grains
- Dairy products
- Refined grains
- Fatty Meats
- Sweets
- Fried foods
The first six are considered high quality and the last four are low quality. If you follow this simple rule and add a little exercise to your routine you will be well on your way to losing weight in a sustainable way without being hungry. Ready, this is earth shattering stuff. Mark’s rule is this: “Eat vegetables more often than fruits, fruits more often than nuts and seeds, fish and lean meats more often the whole grains, etc.” If you do this and stick mostly to the top six, you will lose weight and not be hungry. Why? Calorie density and no processed foods. Let’s say you burn 2000 calories per day (you need to exercise some to do this), and you want to eat only 1500 so that you create a deficit and start to lose weight. You can eat allot more volume of the first six categories to fill yourself up, and then you can the bottom four. Your typical value meal from a burger joint with a coke can easily exceed 2000 calories. Ouch! Also, with no processed foods and refined sugars, your body processes these first six categories without creating the sugar spikes and the ensuing cravings.
I’m going to give you two practical methods to use this information to lose weight. One we’ll call kind of high tech, and the other you just need paper and a scale. For people who like some technology and apps in their life, this is what I do. I have a Fitbit that tracks how many calories that I burn everyday and on the app, I can log all of the food that I eat. The app is cool because it has a library of foods and their caloric composition by weight. Now, I am NOT that person who whips out a food scale, I don’t want or need to be that accurate, so I just guess. Close enough is good enough for me. The app also will tell you for most brands of food at the grocery store and most restaurants what the calories are, it really is pretty cool. So now I know how many calories I’m burning and how many I’m putting in. I set the goal for a 500 calorie deficit so I have some wiggle room, and I am in maintain mode! Want to lose some weight change the deficit goal. Dead easy.
For those of you who are not inclined to use technology for everything, here is the piece of paper and a scale method. Log everything that you eat each day and try to stay to the top six categories, and weigh yourself once per week. Here is an example of my day whether I am using the app or a piece of paper:
Breakfast: 3 bananas, 1 cup yogurt
Mid morning snack: 1 cup nuts and dried fruit
Lunch: Big bowl of mixed salad with one can of tuna
Mid afternoon snack: 5 dates
Dinner: 1 chicken breast, 1 cup brown rice, 2 cups vegetables
Snack: 1 apple, 2 pears
If you are still gaining weight or maintaining it each week, simply start to cut back on the portions or increase your physical activity. Remember, you have two levers to pull! And because you are measuring your food, you can simply cut back. Instead of 3 bananas, eat 2, instead of 1 cup of nuts and dried fruit, go to a half. You get the idea.
Here’s the secret sauce (low calorie of course). For me, having races that I was signed up for and I had to train for, changed completely the way that I looked at food. I now had to fuel my runs and avoid cramping and joint pain. I needed things like magnesium and potassium that you won’t get from cheese burgers and chips. I knew that for me to do the things that I wanted to do, I had to eat the foods that would get me there. You need to find your reason. What is going to make you eat and become healthier?
If you need some time to find your reason, I’ll share something that retired U.S. Navy SEAL Jocko Willink said. This guy is a 100% certified BADASS. “It’s possible to immediately be tougher starting with your next decision. Having trouble saying “no” to dessert? Be tougher. Make that your starting decision. Feeling winded? Take the stairs anyway. Ditto. It doesn’t matter how small or big you start. If you want to be tougher, be tougher.” http://jockopodcast2.com/
Something else interesting happened along the way, I had forgotten how good fresh strawberries tasted, and that sweet potatoes with just a little cinnamon and no butter are delicious! I found new treats. Freeze banana slices and then blend them in to ice cream, amazing on a summer day.
Last but not least, be kind to yourself and reward yourself. After a race, I am off the bandwagon for a couple of days at least. Pizza, yep! Beer, oh yeah! I just don’t let a cheat day here or there turn in to a cheat week or month. I always have the next race that I sign up for, to keep that momentum going. You will slip up, and that’s ok, just put your head down and get back to it! Good luck and please share with me any of your success stories as I am sure they will inspire me and the rest of the readers as we continue on this journey!
Questions, comments, feedback? Please leave them in the comments box and we can have a discussion!
How That Guy Became This Guy Part 3 (Post 3)
Thanks for sticking with me so far, this is part 3 and the final chapter in the story of “How That Guy Became This Guy”, pictured here as a reminder. I wanted to start the blog off with this story as to add context to everything else that will follow. I am not a professional athlete; I have a job, family, and other obligations. For all intents and purposes, I am just like you. If I can go from couch potato to someone who has run an Ultra Marathon, anyone who wants to do it can do it. Even if your goal is a 5k, 10k, or to simply get back in to shape, you can do this! In fact, the best outcome of all of this has been the improvement to my health, and my psyche! I have lost 130 pounds and have a resting heart rate of 41! In the morning, I wake up well rested because I have slept soundly, and I feel great. My wife has told me I went from sounding like a chainsaw all night to not snoring at all, and as a result, she sleeps better too! Awesome sauce for everyone!
Let’s bring this thing home then shall we. Two critical things happened at this point in my journey. In October of 2014 at a staff meeting of all places, a colleague of mine, Dave, noticed that I had lost about 45 pounds. We struck up a conversation and he said “Dude! If you’re running to lose weight, you got to sign up for the Great Manchester 10k. We put a team together every year, raise some money for charity, and it’s a blast!” Now Dave had asked me to do this the previous year, and I couldn’t do it because we were on that vacation that started this whole thing. But the truth is I wouldn’t have done it anyway, because I wasn’t ready. You cannot change people, people can only change themselves, and I wasn’t ready to make that change a year ago. But, I was ready now. So I signed up. Making that commitment helped me to stay focused and kept the momentum going.
The second thing that happened and it seemed so innocuous at the time, was a friend of the family, Jessie, gave me a Fitbit for Christmas. It was the basic track your steps, no bells and whistles, model, but it was all I needed to start. In my business, we have a saying, “What gets measured, gets done.” Being able to see how active or inactive I was kept me moving. When you add the social aspect of it, friends, family, and weekly challenges, I was a kid in a candy store. Not everyone is the same, but I love seeing my steps increase throughout the day and the calories burned jump up after a run! I knew weight lose came down to calories in vs. calories burned, and now I had both pieces of the puzzle in one easy to use app. Done.
After the holidays, I had a goal, The Great Manchester 10k, and I had a tool, Fitbit, that allowed me to track progress, and just as importantly, provided visibility to others to help hold me accountable. I went on line, found a 10k training plan, and ran. The race was in May 2015 so I had a little more then four months to prepare, more then enough time, and I set a goal of under one hour.
With the race fast approaching, everything started to click. I worked my plan, counted my calories in vs. my calories burned and set the Fitbit for a 500 calorie per day deficit, and the weight started to fly off. The lighter I became, the easier the runs were. The easier the runs became, the longer I ran! It was a virtuous cycle. To be honest though, even with all of the preparation, I was still nervous. This was my first race ever, and I didn’t know what to expect. This is exactly where your support system becomes so important. Remember Dave up there? We were always friendly, but I wouldn’t say that we were GOOD friends. Well, throughout this process we became friends. GOOD friends. Running buddies. In fact, let’s call him “Running Buddy Dave”… from England. During my training he answered questions and provided encouragement. “Fella, keep doing the right things and you’ll be good.” “Fella, I saw you ran three days in a row on Strava, don’t burn yourself out. You need rest.” “Fella…”. Quick aside here, is “Fella” an English thing or a Dave thing? I’ll have to ask him. Anyway, race day finally arrived.
Our company had 14 runners and we raised over 2,000 £ for our charity, so the day was a success before we even started! At the time, with this being my first race, I was astonished at how many people there were out to support this event. It was crazy, tens of thousands. I thought “Every race cannot be like this, can it?”. The answer is no. The Great Manchester Run is one of a kind. They do an absolute amazing job and I cannot say enough about how well it was organized and how many people are there as volunteers and supporters; incredible. Back to the race, I am toeing the starting line and I have all of these emotions going through me: excited, nervous, apprehensive, joy… it was electric. The crowd had an energy of its own. Then we start, and the strangest thing happened. After about thirty seconds, I was just out for a run. I wasn’t racing anyone but myself. Everything was stripped away and all I had to do was keep putting one foot in front of the other. That’s it; simple.
Don’t get me wrong I noticed the crowd, the other runners, and the bands at each kilometer marker, but it was the same way that I noticed cars or buildings when I am out for a run during training. I guess what I’m saying, is that it felt familiar, or normal. I was doing what I had done for the last twelve months. With the underlying energy of the crowd pulling me along, I crossed the finish line in 54 minutes! I had become “Joe the Runner”. And while I probably still weighed 25 pounds heavier then I am today, the transformation was complete. The rest of the weight had no choice but to come off, as my lifestyle had changed. Everyday was a new day to go a little further and learn a little more about nutrition, about myself. So that’s what I did. I asked myself “If I could run 10k, could I run a half marathon? If I could run a half marathon, could I run a marathon? If I could run a marathon, could I run an ultra marathon?”
The answer was yes! As of today, the furthest distance that I have run was during the Firenze Urban Trail Ultra Challenge. The challenge consisted of a 13km run on Saturday night followed by a 45km run on Sunday morning. I WAS capable of more than I thought, and so are you.
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Questions, comments, feedback? Please leave them in the comments box and we can have a discussion!
How That Guy Became This Guy Part 2 (Post 2)
Where were we? Oh yeah! It’s May 2014, I weigh 330 pounds, and I’m going to become a runner! Let me start by saying that I was never “that guy”. I couldn’t understand why anyone would want to run. Ever. I played sports growing up, street hockey, football, etc. and I ran when I needed to. But whenever I tried to run as a sport, I was miserable. After 30 seconds, I was huffing and puffing and my heart would pound so hard that it felt like I would just die right there in the street. MISERABLE! What the hell was I thinking? It was very clear to me that I was going to need some help if this was really going to happen, and when I need help, I Google.
Before I took a step, I Googled things like “Just Started Running”, “How to Start Running”, blah, blah, blah. One of the links that popped up was a “Couch to 5K” plan. One click later, I’m reading this plan that starts with things like “Walk for 3 minutes then slowly jog for 30 seconds”, and keep this up for 10 minutes. “Start with 3 or 4 times per week,” I thought to myself, “I can do this!” Suddenly, this didn’t seem so impossible, and then I went for my first “run”.
Now, I’m not going to lie, those first 30 second jogs sucked, bad, but I stuck with it. The 30 second jogs then became 45 second jogs by Week 2. By Week 3, I was jogging for a couple of minutes at a time, and the huffing and puffing started to sound more like breathing. Breathing? That was new. Finally, a couple of minutes of jogging was turning in to 10 minutes, 15 minutes, and then suddenly, about 4 weeks into the “Couch to 5K” plan, I had a breakthrough! During one of my jogs, after about 15 minutes, I still felt good, I felt strong. So, like my man Forrest Gump, I “just kept running”. When I got to 20 minutes, I still felt strong, so… “I kept running”. I jogged, non-stop, for 30 minutes! I couldn’t believe it. There’s this thing called a “runner’s high”. Supposedly, the endorphins that are released during exerscise give you this feeling of euphoria. I’m not sure that I had it that day, but it sure felt like it. Now, I was hooked.
At this point, my wife notices that I am sticking to this crazy thing and asked me what she could do to help. Before I go further, let me comment on the need to be surrounded by people who love and support you, because it makes all of the difference in the world. Currently, I run up to 50 to 60 miles in a week. I run at least 5 days per week. I run when we travel, I run when it rains, I run when it snows — let’s just say I run a lot. A LOT. I also eat 3 bananas everyday and vegetables, fruits, lean meats and fish throughout the week. I went from drinking socially during the week, and heavily on the weekends, to not drinking at all when I am training for a race. The changes that I made have impacted my family, even though I try very hard to minimize that, that is a fact, and I am so grateful that my wife and kids have supported me 100%! But I digress. When my wife offered her help, I basically explained that I needed to have vegetables, fruits, yogurt, etc., all easily accessible in the house. I didn’t ask for her to remove the foods that she and the kids loved, but I knew that I needed better alternatives than junk food out where I could see them. That was that; She made sure it was all good, and I love her for that.
As the days and weeks went by, the weight started to come off. Slowly, at first, and then it just flew off! It was incredible, empowering, fun, scary, and everything in between. Now, you may be wondering why I would use the word “scary”. Well, you are who you are. In order to change, you have to leave behind who you are, and THAT can be scary. I don’t mean that you have to change everything about your personality, but if I wanted to be “Joe the Runner”, I couldn’t be “Joey Bag of Doughnuts” anymore. I couldn’t be the guy who stayed out drinking until 2 AM if I had to get up and get a run in at 5 AM. I would say, “Dessert? Yes please! Do you have fresh fruits instead of cheesecake?”. I think you get the picture. However, once I got to this point where I realized that I was ok with what I was becoming, I felt liberated; I had momentum. Now, what scared me was this little nugget: Can I maintain this? I have momentum, and that is a great thing, but how do I keep it rolling?
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Questions, comments, feedback? Please leave them in the comments box and we can have a discussion!
How That Guy Became This Guy Part 1 (Post 1)
Welcome to my blog! That felt weird. I always thought that you shouldn’t start a blog unless you have something to say, right? Well, I guess I have something to say. But what? And why? I guess the reason that I decided to do this was to share a story, or more precisely, share MY story, so that everyday people with jobs, and kids, and other commitments can see that they can get healthy, lose weight, and accomplish crazy things too. It is possible. However, I need to come clean right up front on a couple of things.
1) I am not a writer, so this could all completely suck and I am not qualified to know if it does! That being said, when I started this journey, I wasn’t a runner either. And now, just three years later, I have run three 10k’s, 4 half marathons, 3 marathons, and one ultra marathon (28 miles, but it counts!). So hopefully I won’t suck too bad and I SHOULD get better.
2) This is not a get skinny, fit, happy, (place own adjective here) fast thing. In fact, what I learned was the stuff they taught us back in school as kids about nutrition and exercise all still basically applies today. Sad I know, but stay with me on nutrition and I’ll share my thoughts on it when the time comes.
3) Finally, while I am doing this to hopefully help people see that they can achieve their goals, I kind of think that I am doing this to hold my self accountable too.
Ok, that was full disclosure, so now we can start! How did the guy on the left become the guy on the right? I can remember the EXACT moment that I made my mind up. Not like literally to the second, but pretty damn close. It was the last week of May 2014, and my wife and I had just came back from a vacation. Like most couples on most vacations, we ate too much, we drank too much, and we certainly didn’t move a whole bunch! We had a great time! My alarm goes off and it is about four in the morning because I had a very early flight to catch. As I am buttoning my shirt (a better way to put it might be, as I was attempting to button my shirt), I realize that it is very tight. Like you can see flesh between the buttons tight. And then it happened. Right there and then a switch went off. As I sat on the edge of my bed, weighing 330 pounds, and not fitting in to my “fat clothes”, I decided something had to change. I was 44 years old, overweight, and extremely out of shape. I decided to run.
Now, I cannot tell you how this kind of stuff happens for everyone, but what I can tell you is that for me, the biggest changes in my life, or maybe a more correct way of saying it is the changes that I have made that have “stuck”, are the ones that happen with a lightening strike. The switch goes off, an epiphany if you will. I made up my mind in that moment, and I knew that I was going to change my life. So I tell my wife that I am packing some sneakers to run in and that I am going to start running and eating healthy. Now, it’s four in the morning, she is barely awake, and just kind of “ok honey, that’s good”s me. I couldn’t blame her, how could she know I was serious?
In the bag goes my sneakers, because I had no running shoes at the time obviously, and off I go.
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