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Top 5 Tips for Losing 100 Pounds

For those of you who haven’t known me that long you may not know I have not always been as thin as I am now. From January 2015 to May 2016, I lost 100 pounds. The picture below is me before and me after.



I can literally do that thing where people put on the pants they were and hold them out to show how obnoxiously big they are on them now. (I should go look for those pants…)

If there’s one thing I’m proud of, it’s this. Sure, I have a Master’s degree and a billion (read: 5) certifications, but academic things are much more my strong suit. This was NOT an easy journey for me.

Here was my life prior to my weight loss journey: eat snacks, drink a ton of Mountain Dew, eat a ton of pizza and cheeseburgers, play video games, work, sleep, repeat. No working out, and apparently I was allergic to healthy eating.

The academic life was very forgiving of my former lifestyle. I didn’t have to eat healthy to read a book. Losing weight was a total lifestyle change for me. (And NOT just a short term diet.)

I won’t sugar coat it (because sugar is bad for you): this journey may be the hardest thing you’ve ever done. I can assure you, though, it’s so worth it. I don’t regret this change for one second.

To make your journey easier, I wanted to suggest the top five tips that helped me the most!

1. Invest in an Exercise Bike. I’ll be even more specific: invest in this exercise bike. This specific exercise bike folds up so you can stick it in a closet. I suggest this because you can easily do some other activity while biking to make the time pass more easily. It’s also a very low impact exercise. Granted, it won’t push you like running or weight training will, but it’s a great way to start. I personally like to play video games while biking, but you could just as easily plop this bike in front of your living room TV. Or read a book. Anything that helps you pass the time.

2. Forget the gym. This goes along with the first tip. True story: I have never been to a gym. I lost all 100 pounds outside the gym. Gyms are pricey, and it might be super hard to motivate yourself to go outside your home. It is so much easier to be able to walk to another room in your house and workout at home. Okay, to be fair, I have built up my own home gym over time, owning an exercise bike, elliptical, and Bowflex. BUT for the first six months, the only thing I did was exercise biking and running outside (which is free).

3. Plan your meals ahead (especially for special occasions). Even to this day, I sit down at the beginning of each week and try to plan out my meals for the week ahead. This will help you plan around special occasions like birthdays, holidays, or weddings, where there is always an abundant amount of food. I personally go insane when there is free food in front of me, so I make sure the meals around those special events are much lighter to accommodate.

4. Consider a fitness tracker. If any of these tips are optional, this one is it. I use an Apple Watch which didn’t come out until April 2015. If you’re doing the math, that means I went almost 5 months in my weight loss journey without a fitness tracker. Still, I find the Apple Watch has been an immense help as a reminder that I have or have not worked out enough in a day. I’m not going to be one of those guys that say the Apple Watch is the end all, be all. I’m sure stuff like the Fitbit is also good, too.


5. Set lofty but realistic goals, and celebrate the milestones. Push yourself to do well. The harder you push yourself, the more proud you will be each milestone you hit. Obviously, don’t set impossible goals like losing 10 pounds a week. Especially in the beginning, I pushed myself to lose 3-5 pounds per week. Of course, I’m a younger guy, so take your current health into perspective. Do the most you know your body can handle. And when you meet those goals, share them with your friends and family. They will be your support network through this journey!
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