Success is sweet but comes only with a commitment to change and hard work!

Yo Max,

I’ve tried every diet that was ever invented – including Atkins, Nutri-System, Weight Watchers, South Beach, Slim Fast, and diet pills. I’m turning 40 in a month and weigh more now than I ever have in my life. I’m 5’4” and was horrified to have my doctor tell me I might want to consider gastric by-pass surgery because I’m now over 300 lbs. She said my health risks are now greater than the risks of surgery! Do you think I should do it? Do you know people who have had the surgery and been successful?

Helpless, Norristown

Yo Helpless,

As you’ve had to learn through painful trial and error, the problem with diets is that they don’t work long term - so people just jump from one to the next only to wind up right back where they started.

I’m not exaggerating when I say that in twenty years of working to help people lose weight I’ve never know one who was successful with dieting alone. Not one. The whole concept is flawed and set up to fail. Unless you change your lifestyle you wont change your body.

I’ve written about this topic many times and often get my readers upset when I share my ‘tough love’ perspective, but I can only tell you what I’ve seen work and what I know will fail based on experience.

Let me share with you the true story of two people who work out at my gym and who, also, have struggled for most of their lives to lose weight and keep it off.

Many people do little more than putter around at the gym – 15-20 minutes on the treadmill or elliptical trainer, lightweights for another 10 minutes, and then maybe stretch for 5 more. Pat was different. Every time I saw him he’d be working hard and sweating – a lot. And, most importantly, he was at the gym every day. He was obviously inspired but also losing weight - rapidly. I asked him how he maintained such commitment and drive and he was nice enough to share his story.

Pat has always been overweight and, like you, tried many diets. He’s lost and gained weight more times than he can remember. In his late teens he got into drugs and alcohol, soon found him self in the grips of a full blown addiction, and wound up being arrested for retail theft. After three months in jail, he was transferred to a court ordered rehabilitation center where he managed to stay clean but ballooned to a record high 327 lbs. He was winning his battle with drugs but losing to another addiction – food and over eating.

In rehab, Pat learned about the ‘twelve steps’ of recovery, as outlined in Alcoholics Anonymous, and became familiar with a common phrase,  ‘sick and tired of being sick and tired’“That’s how it was for me”, Pat explained, “I’d been fed up so many times before but something finally clicked and I knew I’d had enough. I’d been clean for 5 or 6 months but was still disgusted with myself. I hit my AA meetings every day and also started hitting the gym”.

He began with an hour a day – 30 minutes of cardio and 30 of strength training. Then, he radically changed his diet by cutting out all refined sugar, cheese, bread and meat. He ate lean proteins, (Eggs, Chicken, and fish) lots of fresh vegetables, nuts, a small amount of whole fruit, and drank at least one gallon of water per day. 

“In four months I lost 60 lbs. But I also noticed that I was feeling much better and had way more energy”.

These powerful results motivated Pat to step up his efforts. He continued with his strict diet but increased his workouts to two and then three hours per day. In a year he’d lost a staggering 107 lbs. At his current weight of 220, he looks fit, trim, and says he feels like a completely different person.

Pat and Tony, at The Conshohocken Health and Fitness Club. Between them they’ve lost 180lbs. and counting.

“It’s hard to believe I was ever that big and that unhealthy. I’m 28 years old and I bet I would have been dead by 40 if I hadn’t changed my life. This is my life now. I go to work, stay clean and sober, hit the gym, and eat healthy. That’s what I’m about. It might sound boring or too hard but I’ve never been healthier or happier and I’m never going back to the old me”.

Tony is the owner of The Conshohocken Health and Fitness Club, a good friend, and also my client. Some twenty years ago, he was also an elite marathoner. In 1991 he ran a 2:40 personal best in NY and weighed 138 lbs. This past June 2010, he got on the scale and it read, 292. Just like Pat, Tony says, “Something clicked inside me and I knew it was time to get myself back in shape. I’d had enough of feeling lousy and being fat. I was ready to change. I knew it was gonna be a long, hard road but the decision was just that simple”. He was ‘sick and tired of being sick and tired’.

On average, Tony ran six miles per day seven days per week (with an occasional day off if he was too sore) and now, just three months later weighs in at 218 - having lost 74 lbs.! His nutritional changes were not as drastic as Franks. Tony simply stopped skipping meals and eating large dinners.

So, what does all this mean? What is my point? Well, I’m not suggesting you follow such intense routines as just described. What is best for you depends entirely on your physical abilities, what you’re cleared for medically (consult your doctor), schedule, determination, etc. But I am suggesting that before considering major surgery you try the following.

1. Commit to a complete lifestyle change. An absolute must!
2. Join a gym.
3. Invest in a personal fitness trainer and get yourself set up with a cardiovascular and strength training routine.
4. If your trainer is not qualified to give you professional nutritional guidance, hire a nutritional coach. Check out Jennifer Fugo at www.EvolvingWell.com She’s outstanding, and will help clean out your cupboards, food shop appropriately, provide general nutritional education, and even teach you to cook light, healthy meals in a jiffy.

It’s not easy. In fact, it may turn out to be the toughest thing you’ve ever done. But considering your options – what have you got to lose besides an appointment with the surgeon and a lot of weight?

Please visit, www.YoMaxFitness.com, ‘Your How To Exercise Video and Fitness Information Source’, and email your fitness/health/nutrition question from the ‘Ask Max’ page.