Now I’m not doing nearly as much as the people on the Biggest Loser do - I just had a lot more to lose than most of them (starting weight: 660), my basic diet used to be around 5000-6000 calories (my favorite appetizer at applebees used to be the honey barbecue boneless chicken wings which are over 1300 calories - I used to order two of these during their happy hour special, and drank maybe 4-5 frozen lemonades (another 500 calories or so).

As you can see it isn’t very hard to get in 5000+ calories. In fact my BMR - basal metabolic rate was calculated at around 5000 calories. This means if I were to lay in bed all day I would need 5,000 calories per day to keep or maintain my weight.

So I hit 660 lbs. Most people you see on tv who weight that much are bed ridden - not me as I’ve got a big frame, and lots of muscles - however I’m sure another 100 pounds and I would’ve been over the edge.

Once you get too big to move, it’s all over - it’s 10 times harder to lose weight when you can’t even get out of bed, and then your muscled atrophy to the point that when you do lose weight you still won’t be able to get out of bed without physical therapy.

I’d had enough. On the weekend before January 12th I threw out all my junk food. I bought a membership to the local YMCA. I bought a lot of protein items - my goal being to go low carb mostly.

For the first week or so I practically lived off protein bars and shakes. I lost 46 lbs - a lot of which was water because I had sever edema (swelling) in my legs and feet. I must’ve pee’d 50 times a day for that first week.

Gradually each week I started adding new foods to my diet, my wife bought the biggest loser family cookbook and now we mostly eat food that’s in the book. Not only is it easy to make, and good for you - but it’s fairly cheap to make too.

Right now I eat roughly 2000 calories - I don’t count because I don’t need to - I just need to make sure that I only eat 5 small meals, and that I don’t eat till I’m stuffed.

My average day looks like this:

2x packets of quaker instant low sugar oatmeal.
1x Banana.

Snack:
Crunchy bugs on a log: Celery stalks w/ low-fat peanut butter, raisins, and granola.

Lunch:
Turkey sandwhich w/ lettuce, light mayo, and light sweet deli mustard on 15 grain bread (the more grains the better - it keeps your tummy full.

Some veggies and low-fat low-cal ranch dip.

Snack2:

More crunchbugs on a log.

Dinner:

Usually a small serving of chicken, a salad or veggies, and afterwards a dessert(3 nights a week).

Things I completely remove from my diet include: Soda(diet adds fat to the tummy as much as regular does - there’s really no health benefit of switching to diet - in fact you’re better off w/ regular soda). Sugar ( only in moderation, usually switch out for splenda), white flour is bad, corn and white potatoes are bad - but sweet potatoes are good.

That’s basically how I’ve lost all the weight in 2 months - I doubt it’s possible to lose that much if you weigh 300 lbs or so, unless you have Bob and Jillian working your ass off.

My best advice though is to make as many changes in your life as you can  - and if you mess up a day or two don’t beat yourself over the head about it. Take each day as they come and make mini goals. Don’t make weight loss goals either - instead make a goal to go swim 100 laps 3x a week.

My goal right now is to swim 200 laps 3x a week, which is a stretch - in 5 hours yesterday I only made it to 180.

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