Eating smart and exercise brought Jeff the weight loss he was determined to achieve

City & country: Arizona, USA 
Age: Guess
Weight before diet: 208-210 lbs.
Weight now: 174-177 lbs.
Target weight: Was 175, now I want to add about 15 lbs of lean muscle.

Jeff wanted to lose weight quickly and this he did successfully. Now his goal is to add weight--in the form of lean muscle. He shares his weight loss experience as well as some tips on the necessity of making a lifestyle change, not merely going on a diet.

-What finally made you decide to start with a weight loss program?
Well, I had weighed as much as 233 lbs five years prior and had lost about 30 lbs. and kept it off for five years. But I was never satisfied with the end results. And after reading Louis Dorman’s story and reading Sylvester Stallone’s book--a comment he made in that book really hit home. He basically said he didn't understand people who complained about their bodies year after year but never did anything to change it. No one but you can change you. You have to want it for yourself. Not for your spouse, friends or family and not to get a boyfriend or girlfriend. But just for you.

Fit 4 ME!

-What type of weight loss program did you follow?
Yes, I changed the types of food I was eating and of course I started exercising like mad. But the bottom line is, unless you drastically cut the amount of calories you take in each day you won't see results. Especially if you want quick results like I did. For the first 3 months I cut my calories to 1000 to 1200 a day and didn't eat after 3 or 4 PM. In the fourth month I gradually increased calories but to only about 1400 to 1500 a day. Now that I'll be adding muscle I'm going to increase them gradually to 2400 to 2600 a day. Healthy foods, of course. No junk food.

-Why did you choose this weight loss program? 
Because I wanted results quickly, not in a year.

-How long were you on your weight loss program?
Let’s get something straight: if you're only doing a weightloss program you will never keep the weight off even if you lose it. This must be a lifestyle change. Taking one or two days at the most where you allow yourself to have one meal or dessert from your old life. But not an entire pizza or an entire cheesecake but a normal serving of ice cream, pizza, whatever. And then right back to your new lifestyle. Otherwise, don't even bother. Because once you lose the weight you'll start telling yourself “Now I can eat the foods I like in moderation.”  Bull!--because we all know it never stays in moderation.

-What kinds of physical activities do you like doing to maintain your weight and to stay fit?
Weight lifting and running. I used to hate running; now I love it. When I first started running I was winded in about 20 minutes. But now I can do an hour easy.

-What were the most difficult obstacles you had to overcome or are still overcoming?
The most difficult obstacle was just deciding to do it, making the decision that for the rest of my life I was going to eat different and exercise.  Once I made up my mind to live that way and put it into practice, all obstacles were gone.

-How did you keep yourself motivated?
I googled a picture of Ryan Reynolds from the movie “Blade Trinity,”
Photoshopped my face on it, printed it out, and taped it up by my bathroom mirror so that every morning I could remind myself that I'm not there yet until I look like that.

-Do you have any weight loss tips for our readers?
Don't diet it, change your lifestyle to eat healthy, cut calories if you need to, and exercise.

-Do you think it will be easy to fall back into your old lifestyle pattern? How do you prevent this from happening?
Not at all! I look better now then I did when I graduated high school--and I weighed 165 lbs then. I will never go back.

I go shopping. Being able to wear 31" waist pants instead of 36". Wearing shirts that fit instead buying them big on purpose. "Nothing Tastes as Good, as Thin Feels!"

-Do you have a favorite Web site or blog that helped or inspired you to lose weight?
BodyBuilding.com
Viva La Fitness!
You can also check out my blog at Fit 4 Me