I Lost 40 Pounds on the Race

As I write this I am sitting at a backpacker hostel in Kampala, the capital city of Uganda. We have less than 10 days left on the Race. Down the street is a gym that doesn’t look all too different than the gyms I occasionally visited in the US. 

Yesterday morning, my team and I decided to wake up early and start our day working out together. I was excited but also nervous. I’ve always felt like that guy in the gym that everyone can tell only shows up once a week and doesn’t really know what he’s doing.

I’ve struggled with my weight all of my life. Trying to play sports in high school and intramural sports in college was difficult for me. I was never strong enough in wrestling. I was never fast enough in soccer. I didn’t even think about trying out for football because I knew I wouldn’t be strong enough OR fast enough.

As a wrestler, I was in a daily relationship with my weight. However, no matter how much I ran in a heated gym, wore trash bags under my workout sweats, or even spit in a bottle, I was never able to lose weight. I could “maintain”, I could gain, but I could never get lean. Ten years later, I am 100% confident that I know why… food.

My shame in how I looked peaked when I graduated college. While many of my friends spent college getting in the best shape of their lives, I gained 100 pounds… 100 pounds in 3.5 years… 100 POUNDS!

*APSU Spring Graduation 2013

I remember getting my first official paycheck in Indianapolis and going to buy a gym membership. When you sign up you get a free “health assessment”. I didn’t feel like I really needed a health assessment. I already knew – I was obese and I was weak. When I stepped on the scale the assessment I had made in my head was confirmed:

 286 pounds

*ATO National Staff Member bio page (January 2013)

My shame said “you did this to yourself”, “you’re not an athlete”, “XXL is your size”, and “you’ll never be healthy”. Even as a married man, you want to be attractive to your wife. Kayla has ALWAYS made me feel loved, but negative thoughts still flowed freely when I looked in the mirror.

The year leading up to my wedding in 2014, I worked alongside some of my healthy friends and managed to lose my first 40 pounds. They taught me how to develop a consistent workout routine while traveling. There was still one problem holding me back – I still didn’t know how to eat.

*Wedding Day 06-28-14

I grew up on frozen corndogs, frozen chicken nuggets, frozen chicken patties, and chips. My favorite food for a large part of my childhood was Doritos dipped in ketchup.  In other words – carb heavy processed foods. I made it through college on cafeteria pancakes, Chick-fil-a sandwiches, and Taco Bell. Again – carb heavy processed food. Even in the 4 years after college, carb heavy processed food was 90% of my personal food pyramid.

*Chile – Week 1 of the Race (10-12-17)

Before the Race I weighed between 247 – 250 pounds.

When I stepped on the scale at the end of the Race, it said: 207!

*Same shirt, 11 months later (08-26-18) 

That means I have officially lost 40 pounds in the last 11 months. 

I don’t pretend to think that I’ve fully figured out everything there is to know about healthy living. By sharing this I only hope to share the path I walked for future Racers that are either concerned about doing the Race because of health or are looking for a way to develop a healthy routhine on the Race.

Here are 3 choices that yielded big results for me:

1. Run from carbs and sugar – Eat veggies!

– For the last 40 days I have been fasting carbs and coffee. I actually decided to limit the amount of fruit (sugar) I eat as well. The difference in my energy, attentiveness, and appetite has been incredible. Most mornings I’ve woken up around 6:30 am, jumped out of bed easily, and have been able to go on a run before doing manual labor for 8 hours in the African heat. Even at lunch during hard work days I would avoid the potatoes, fruit, and breads. Instead I would get a double portion of whatever vegetable was available. When 2 pm rolled around and it was time to get back to work, I didn’t feel the post-lunch hangover AT ALL. Friends on the squad, and this book, have been really helpful in teaching me how to eat: Fat for Fuel.

*Some people might suggest that this is impossible – not true. I fasted ALL breads and sugar in Africa while living in the bush. It was never disrespectful to our host. I ate hard boiled eggs for breakfast, avoided the rice and chapatis, and ate an extra helping of the veggie mix each meal. 

2. Avoid the snacks

 -This was one of the hardest decisions for me. It’s easy to say now but in tired moments, I relied heavily on accountability from Kayla and teammates. I thought going on the Race that “snacking” would easily be eliminated from my life. WRONG! Travel days are the worst for this. Pringles, Snickers, and Sprite are available almost everywhere in the world… including remote villages. I also include unhealthy fast food travel meals in this too. For me, chicken nuggets are a weakness. Eating highly processed fried chicken nuggets and then sitting on a plane for 15 hours is never a good idea. It’s easy to see these things as comforts/reminders of home.

3. Move more

– When someone wants to walk to the grocery store, go with them. When the team is planning a hiking adventure day, sign up. When people are waking up early at debriefs to exercise, join them. When your host suggests a prayer walk around the community, help make it happen. Every step you take and every move you make counts!

*Bonus* One of my 30 before 30 goals was to run a 5k in less than 30 minutes. This goal seemed like a stretch goal for me. Running as a “big guy” was hard, I always felt like I couldn’t breathe, and hurt my knees. This week I ran a little MORE than a 5k in 30:03 at a 9:29/mi pace. Even in Uganda, you can make small consistent healthy choices that will yield BIG results.