That is the response I have been getting lately. I do not want anyone writing my weight loss story. I want to do it.

Here is the thing, my weight loss success story is not losing 221 pounds in a year.

It is finding hope…

This is me at the beginning of 2012. Yep, the success story that lost over 200 pounds. When my life was turned upside down in July of 2011 I tried so hard not to turn to food. I was good for a few days. Then I ate. And ate some more. And ate a whole lot more.

I worked out every day. I would burn over 1000 calories a workout. And honestly, I would have been well over 300 pounds if I did not work out. But I got up to 272 pounds. But I could live with that. I could still work out at 272 pounds. I could still play with my son at 272 pounds. But I would not be 272 pounds for long.

But food seemed like comfort. Looking back, I have no good memories of food from that time. I cannot say I was thrilled to eat sh*t at 2am. I was not thrilled to fill myself up with Little Debbie snacks. I felt like I could not do it.

I have heard every story about people gaining back the weight. You know, that Eric guy from Biggest Loser. That 400 pound virgin guy. I am not special. I am not different. I fell back into tomorrow land. You know…where tomorrow never comes.

Except I still had kept off 150 pounds. I still maintained a weight loss. Maintenance can still be there with struggles. There are always clear rules for losing weight. There are few rules for maintaining. You should know how to do it. I mean, you lost weight, right?

But I realized things about myself. That food is not an answer. That I will have to eat a certain way and that is not a bad thing. Just different.

So about a little less than a year ago I decided to change my ways. I cut out a lot of things and I kept things that made me successful. But I did not blog about it as much. I kept quiet about it to many people.

Today I weigh less than 200 pounds. I do not know exactly because it changes each day but it is pretty consistent weekly. I work out and I eat the way that made me successful. I learned that tragedy is not an excuse to become a selfish eater. I learned that people in life care how you eat and it is their business, especially when they love and care about you. After losing over 70 pounds I just recently bought some new clothes. I donated every single piece of clothing that was even “kind of big” on me. I will not go back.

It is just not worth it. I used to contemplate just having one doughnut. I knew in my mind one would be a few. Yet, I could talk myself into it.

Now I look at my son. I look at my wife. I look at myself. I just know there is more to life than food. Food is fuel.

I have not really blogged on here, but I have been actively writing for Attune Foods and Anytime Fitness. I have a Facebook page that has gotten popular over the last few months. I have done these Dietbets and am proud to do one now where at least 60% of the game is going to One Fund Boston.If you have not done a Dietbet (and I know you have heard of them because everyone is doing them) I will say they are great for accountability.

Most people do not know my name is really Tony. Most people have no idea how I lost the weight. Most people do not know that much about me.

And that is why I love doing it. Because weight loss is not about a perfect plan or perfect workout. It has a lot to do with hope. Knowing others who struggle can succeed. Knowing that there is someone out there that will support your journey.

My friend Jack made this series a long time ago called WIDTH (Why I Do This Here). After blogging for over five years I know I will not be famous from it. I know that my posts will not go viral and I know that losing weight will not make life perfect.

But what it has done for me is realized after struggling and succeeding. After being the weirdest maintainer out there. After being able to tell people I have kept off 200 pounds for over four years…

It has given me hope.

Hope for another day.

The post Hope appeared first on The Anti-Jared.

Today was a normal Monday for me. I woke up and got my son ready for school. I did a few things around the house for my wife. Then she took him to school and I went to the gym.

When I got to the gym I went on the Stairmaster like I have done for a couple of years. Some people hate the machine but I love it. I love it because I could not climb stairs when I was 420 pounds. I could not do a whole lot when I was 420 pounds. But I worked real hard at the gym just to be able to get the courage to go on that machine. I will never look back.

When I was on it I was working out next to a woman who I have seen before numerous times. She always smiles at me. She works out very hard. I would say she is about five foot ten and maybe 120 pounds. She always wears Ironman clothing and shirts from marathons, so I know she is a serious about fitness.

But while I was working out next to her today something weird happened. She took out her headphones and looked at me. So I took of mine as well. Then she said the strangest compliment I have ever gotten……

“Are you training for the Boston Marathon next week?”

I am not going to lie. At first I got a little mad. I thought she was being funny with me. But I realized that she was not. She was serious.

“Um, no. I do not really run. I just like this machine.”

She told me that she tries to run three a year and the Boston Marathon was her special one. When I asked her if she did the Disney Marathon (We live in Orlando) she told me that she liked to travel to other cities and that the Disney was not as competitive as she liked. She told me her time was three hours and something. I do not remember because I was in awe that her time was three hours anything. I told her that was amazing but she gave me a weird look.

“I have a long way to go.”

Then she told me how she was in the top 12,000 people out of 27,000 people at the last Boston Marathon. That was not good enough. I told her we came from such different worlds because in my world, just even attempting to do a marathon is the most incredible feat ever.

She told me how she did not like stickers on the back of her car with her marathon accomplishments. She told me how she hated the treadmill and she could only run outside. She told me how the Stairmaster is a beast but it helps her on hilly areas.  She told me how she sprained her ankle at the five mile mark at one Marathon in Chicago and kept going. She was telling me all of these stories when it hit me….

She thought I was training for the Boston Marathon.

She really thought it. She has seen me workout at the gym and she said that it was similar to her workout (minus the running which she thought I did outside). She has seen me lose some weight in 2013 (Now down 220 pounds for over four years).

And she was a pretty hardcore athlete. She did not know that I could not go on the treadmill for a minute five years ago. She did not know that I battle food every day. Why would she know? She told me that she does not use Facebook.*

* That one she had to tell me a couple of times because I still cannot believe that some people do not use Facebook.

It made me feel good. It was one of the most random and most wonderful compliments I have ever received. A guy who has been called fatass by numerous people. A guy who has also been called inspirational my numerous people. A guy who has fallen so many times but luckily has gotten up one more time.

When we were done working out I told her good luck at the race next week. I honestly did not know what else to say to her. She then asked me if I was training for something else?

“Not really. I just love working out.”

I am training to be a better person every day. And I refuse to stop trying to be my best.

The post “Are You Training For The Boston Marathon Next Week?” appeared first on The Anti-Jared.

A lot has happened to me over the last five years. I was 420 pounds and lost in 2008. I decided to lose weight and did so. 221 pounds lost in 52 weeks.

But I thought the marathon of weight loss was over. All it did was give me an entry ticket into life. The life I want.

I learned that I am a decent writer. Not bad being the third best Posnanski who can write. I learned that I am a good dad. I learned that I have some talents I did not before.

I also learned that tragedy is not an excuse to fail. I have another story I am going to start telling. I think people need to know that successes also have flaws and setbacks. The key is to learn from them.

I was able to speak representing Attune Foods in San Antonio, TX for the H-E-B Slimdown Showdown. It was the first time I ever spoke in front of a group about weight loss. I spoke as a success story who has kept of over 200 pounds for four years.

And I am hoping it will not be my last time I speak. I have a pretty good story to tell.

The post The Success Of My Story appeared first on The Anti-Jared.

Well, that is me. That is my life.

I lived a life of obesity. Childhood obesity, teenage obesity and overweight obesity. I have lost and gained weight my whole life. When my wife met me, I just lost 85 pounds. She had no idea that I was a food addict. I was not morbidly obese. She had no idea that I would go out to eat with her and eat more. She also had no idea I would get to over 400 pounds.

But it all changed in 2008 when I decided to make more of a life change than a diet. What started out as portion control quickly turned into a different way of life. A more active and a less processed food lifestyle.

So when I lost 221 pounds I did feel like I could do anything. More than that, I felt like the world owed me something. I was someone who felt like a failure, yet I did something so great in my mind people needed to know. I wanted to get my story out.

I felt that once people knew about my weight loss than my life would change. I would be able to get sponsored or get a job with some sort of health company. Maybe even do a reality weight loss show……something. Anything but restaurants. At the time I was a managing partner of a restaurant that I hated. Funny thing is I wanted to be a managing partner so bad. I hated being a chef. I finally got my opportunity. The grass is always greener on the other side.

So I worked on getting my story out. Weight Watchers did not want anything to do with me and I do not blame them. Besides for the meetings, nothing about my diet or exercise was Weight Watchers. Plus, I truly believed that for every success story with them, there are 50 people who quit and blame themselves. I also lost 221 pounds in 52 weeks. They will only promote people who lose 1-2 pounds a week. Legal reasons is what I was told.

Prevention magazine would not tell my story either. You have to maintain your weight loss for six months before they would put your weight loss story in. People did not respond to me, local TV shows did not want to talk about my weight loss because I did not have a “P90X” hook and my blog was getting more angry than motivational.

Looking back, I realize that most people who have lost weight are like that. Putting on smaller pants and shirts does something to you. I got angry that my life was not different. I did not want to wash dishes and get yelled at by guests who wanted well done steaks but still tender. I wanted more. In my mind, I deserved more.

When my son got a little older I did not care as much about getting my story out. I cared more about life. It sounds corny but it is true. I made a good living and I was able to do things in life. I did not have fear of booths or seat belts or toilets anymore. My writing got better but it got different. I hate reading blogs where people tell you how to lose weight. I hate reading blogs about people who want to sell products they do not use. I have dealt with that my whole life. I wanted to write blog posts that I loved. That I was proud of.

In 2010 I got a weird Facebook message. Usually I get messages about being added to Farmville or winning a free iPad but this one was not that. It was from a producer for the Dr. Oz show who wanted to find out more about my weight loss story for some “100 show” anniversary.

I gave her my number and she called me (or did I call her? Not sure now). I have learned how to tell my story at this point. I told her about my struggles and how I changed for my family. How I could not go on an airplane and how I only ran on the treadmill for 48 seconds the first time. She was floored. Most people who hear an extreme weight loss story are floored. She was looking for one major story for the show because the other people were booked. She loved my story and we talked about flying to New York and taking time off work. We talked about my wife and son coming up as well. Before we got off the phone she asked me one question…..

“Do you know any other weight loss stories as well?”

I think there are millions of moments in your life that define you. I moved to Buffalo because my wife wanted to. I could have stayed in Charlotte. I took off time to take care of my wife before our son which ultimately led me to leave the company I was with. I went to the president of my company years ago because my boss was stealing and it cost me a promotion because I went over other bosses who did not care about the situation.

I do not believe in “Once in a lifetime” opportunities. I do not believe in luck. I do not believe in people doing things for you. I believe in hard work. I believe in honesty.

“Yes I do. Her name is Merrill. You would have never heard about her but here is her Facebook info.”

My wife and I were watching the Dr. Oz show in bed that I was not chosen for. I was pointing out some people who I knew from blogging and she was asking some questions about them. She does not read weight loss blogs.

We saw Dr. Oz and Richard Simmons and then we saw Merrill. My wife looked at me and said “Why on Earth would you tell them about her? Of course they would pick her! Who wouldn’t!”

I laughed. I guess maybe there was a little disappointment but I knew. Merrill would inspire more people. I am not a weight loss story. I am a little more now. With my struggles and my crazy workouts I have more people reading my blog now. I have more people on my social media outlets. Maybe I have gotten better at telling my view of weight loss? Maybe I have gotten to a point where I can do more than restaurants?

At the end of the show Merrill was dancing with Richard Simmons. My wife looked at me and said that could have been me. I would have danced with Richard Simmons………..

When I got married in 2004 I was around 400 pounds. I had to special order my tux and I sweat through the whole ceremony.

I had to sit down through most of the reception. When it was our time to have the first dance, I was more concerned about sitting down. My back hurt, I was wet from sweat and all I cared about was not dancing.

I do not need to dance with Richard Simmons.

I owe my wife one dance.

The post Because I Owe You One Dance appeared first on The Anti-Jared.

A blog that I love.

I am not as much of a blogger anymore. I enjoy writing little stories or talking about the past. I like quick quotes I think of or short motivational anecdotes.

The truth is I did not stop writing. I write each month for Attune and Anytime Fitness.

I have only begun.

I have switched over to Facebook. Most people have seen my page. Some do not like Facebook. But I have always been a “off the cuff” blogger. I never planned blog posts. I never waited to share news. I would just type and go. With the grammar errors I have/had, I probably should have waited on some of those posts.

But I still get emails like the other popular bloggers to promote things. I mean I am no “ChobaniPOMPopChips” kind of guy but I get asked from time to time to promote. True, I am no longer on those fantastic “Top 100 Weight Loss Blog” lists but I still am in the rotation of getting these types of emails….

Hi Jared,

Great Blog! I truly loved you post on weight loss. I think it was called ( Insert any post from my blog since they are all about weight loss). Anyway, how about trying three months of our awesome “blah blah blah”. And we will also give you one for a contest that we will never send out!

But I was waiting for my invite to Dietbet. I saw Roni do one earlier this year. When Roni promotes something I look at it a little because she takes a lot of time to really pick and choose what goes on her blog. After I got past the name of Dietbet (I thought is was like a Biggest Loser kind of thing) I loved the idea. And I finally got my email!

Dietbet is a weight loss challenge. I do not want to say it is a competition because instead of trying to beat everyone, you try to win with everyone. You want to encourage others. In fact, you are basically competing against yourself and motivating the group.

Your goal is to lose 4% of your body weight in 4 weeks. So if you weigh 200 pounds….your goal is to lose 8 pounds.

For some people this might sound easy. For others this is very hard. Either way, I do think that this is very attainable.

Everyone who meets the goal will split the pot. So it is very cool to have a large pot of “gold” to work with. Dietbet does take a small fee for hosting the challenge. Not only that, but they also verify your weight by a picture of a scale and a picture of you with “normal” clothes on (shorts, shirt, etc.). They do a lot of work actually.

Obviously there are people who could cheat the system but it is not like you will win thousands of dollars doing it. The goal is to make your goal, encourage others to make their goal, win back money and maybe a little more and maybe do another challenge. Or at least that is what I would do.

The entry fee is $50 for my challenge. It is no small amount of money. But the goal is to win back your money. Plus, I am looking at February and I do not want people to think 2013 is over because January was a bust. It was not.

I am also doing this challenge with everyone. I am going to weigh myself, I am going to root people on and I hope people would do the same for me.

But I do have a little backstory…….

So as I have said I lost over 200 pounds. 221.4 to be exact. Once I lost the weight I really focused on pushing myself at the gym and gaining some muscle. I was doing very well with it.

In 2011 I was ready to trim some of the fat that I gained. My eating was still on point. Then tragedy struck. It was the hardest thing in the world for my wife and me. I kept on working out. I needed it. But I turned to food. Food said it would help me through the tragedy. Food lied. Food always lies.

I began 2012 at 272 pounds. I was ready to make a change. There were days where I jumped full force into it and then would crash the next day. I could not figure out why. Then I thought about something weird. In blogging, there are a lot of people who quit. When they make a comeback they promise to post every day. After three posts they are gone again. I had to ease back into certain foods.

I lost close to 50 pounds in 2012. My eating is back to where it was. My workouts have always been good but this year they have been real good. I am not perfect. But I learned a huge lesson. No matter what tragedies you have in your life….it is not an excuse to go back to selfish behaviors.

At least not for me.

So I have not weighed myself since December. Based on my pants and shirts I would say I am pretty close to 220-225. I have more muscle now than I did before and I will be posting some pics soon.

February is also my five year anniversary of starting this journey and four year anniversary of losing over 200 pounds. So it will be real nice to celebrate being down over 200 pounds for four years because after February I will be under 220.

So I hope you will join me. If not I understand. Not only that, but if you have not seen my Facebook page please do so. My goal is not only share my life but share others as well. Some people get a lot of of it. I know I do.

So there you have it. I am posting today. I am also promoting a challenge.

On a Saturday. Wow, on a Saturday. The day where blog posts go to die.

The post Promoting a challenge and telling a story. appeared first on The Anti-Jared.

When I got to school one of the entrances was blocked off. Of course it made me nervous. Who would not be nervous? While I was walking to the other entrance I noticed someone I have not seen before. Who was he? Should I be concerned? Then again, I was wearing a hoodie. Maybe he was just as concerned about me.

I saw that there were two security guards instead of one today. Both with guns on their holsters. I wondered what they could do if someone charged in with an automatic weapon? Maybe…there were two of them.

By now you have heard the story about Victoria Soto. It went viral on the Internet after the shooting. The story has changed from the original one posted but it has still stayed the same in my mind. Every time I read it I tear up……..

Victoria Soto was 27 years old. She was a teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary. When the gunman entered her classroom she did everything she could to protect the children. There are different stories around. One story has it where she hid her students in the closet and when the gunman entered she said they were in the gym and she was then murdered. Another story has it where some children ran and some were murdered yet Victoria put herself in front of the children and was then murdered. There are other stories as well….

Every scenario has her as a hero in my eyes.

What is a hero? Everyone has a different definition of one. I have always said that policemen are heroes. Firemen as well. People in the armed forces are heroes. There are many heroes among us.

Teachers are very much heroes as well.

Victoria was young. Very young. I am sure she did not make a lot of money. Most teachers do not. That is not why they teach. They teach because they love children. They want to educate. They want to set an example.

No one at Sandy Hook deserved to die. Twenty six people died. Twenty innocent children and six innocent educators. There were so many other teachers who brought their students to safety. There were teachers who put their students first to make sure they were safe.

Victoria was one of them.

We live in a world where heroes are an afterthought. When we hear about the movie theater shootings in Aurora, CO we think about some orange hair guy in court and how he was mentally ill and his psychologist was to blame. Well, that is what I hear. Until I heard about four men who died during the shooting protecting their girlfriends. Putting others lives in front of theirs.

All weekend long I thought about the shootings in Connecticut just like millions did. I saw every political debate about it and saw both sides.

I thought about teachers as well. Every time I turn on the news I never hear about wonderful educators. I hear about “Former cheerleaders who have sex with younger underage student” or “Teacher who hits child” or “Teacher locks student in bathroom”. It seems like we look at the negative.

Of course we all have different opinions. That is not the reason why I am writing this. We all are looking at this massacre differently.

I am writing this because when I got into my son’s classroom to drop him off I looked at his teacher. She is a wonderful woman. I asked myself one question….

“Is my son’s teacher Victoria Soto?”

I think she is. I think many teachers are.

The post Is My Son’s Teacher Victoria Soto? appeared first on The Anti-Jared.

You know what is funny. I cannot remember the names of the two Biggest Loser contestants that wrote me a letter congratulating me on my journey. I do not remember the three doctors who told me that my weight loss was remarkable. I forget the name of the woman who wrote about me for CNN…..

Yet, I remember every comment that some woman from Duluth, OH named “Fattie Fatters” wrote about how I was narcissistic, how I was a poor writer and all I ever talked about was how I could not wipe my ass.

Male weight loss bloggers have a very short life expectancy online. They are extremely rare. A lot of them will blog right before they lose weight. Some will blog during their weight loss. Few will blog after.

Yet I have been here for five years. I refuse to be a blogging dinosaur. I try to utilize more than just my blog. I have been very active on Facebook and writing for other websites. Sometimes I forget why I blog in the first place…..so I can get my thoughts out.

When I first started blogging I was brash. I just lost some ridiculous amount of weight in a short time. I think I lost 60 pounds in less than two months. And the weight kept coming off. It was easy for me so that is what was written. I lost weight without surgery. You have to be all or nothing. Weight Watchers Core was the only way to lose a large amount of weight. These were my thoughts.

People either loved me or hated me. I would get a lot of beautiful letters from people and then I would get nasty ones. People do not realize that if you are condescending…..your point will never get across. No matter what. So I ignored a lot of it.

After I lost 221 pounds I started to gain muscle. My pictures were amazing and my confidence was high. My writing was getting better as well. I worked real hard to get my weight loss story out. By doing that and still having an “My weight loss way or the weight loss highway” mentality I got a lot of nasty emails and comments on my blog. Sure I got a lot of nice ones….but who remembers that? Well, we all should.

One of the hardest things for anyone to decipher is the difference between a “nasty comment” and “feedback”. I can tell you what changed me.

A couple of years back I got a letter from a woman named Elise. She wrote me a letter about how insulted she was that I called Atkins “The Ranch Dressing and Bacon” diet. She said that I had no idea what I was talking about and I did not know anything about the Atkins diet.

She was right. People always say they have tried every diet out there. I do not believe that. I think that many people “kind of” tried every diet out there. And when you “kind of” try something, you get “kind of ” results.

It hit me. After that I stopped talking about specifics in my diet. I stopped using terms like “only diet” and “best diet”. Will it really help people if I say drink water? Will it help if I say log your food which I do not do? Those are questions I had to answer for myself. The truth is I lost 221 pounds on numerous types of diets. It was more South Beach and Zone than Weight Watchers. But no one loses weight the same way.

So I focused on telling some weight loss humor. I would blog silly posts to get a laugh. Then people would send me emails about how annoyed they were with my posts and how I should talk about how I lost weight. Of course I got a lot of emails from people about how funny my posts were…..but who remembers that? Well, we all should.

So I changed it up a little more. I did not blog as much and did more on social media sites. Facebook has always been my favorite. Twitter is too “real time”. I have 18,000 followers which really is 32 followers in real people. I get messages all day about how people are laughing at me with virus links. I am not a Twitter fan.

But I started my Facebook page a couple of years back. Everyone has Facebook. It is instant yet not intrusive. If you do not like me, then you will not get updates. you still have the right to check out the page. You can message on there and….well I love it. I cannot say enough good things about it.

I have been trying to find my groove since we lost our baby in 2011. I cannot lie, I have really been humbled in life. But what it has done is made me focus a little more on my family and myself as well. My eating and fitness has been strong. Did I fall? Sure did. I have said that at the beginning of the year I was 272 pounds. I have lost over 50 pounds this year. but I do not talk about it. That is not part of my story as much.

So I have been writing. I have put up really good posts on Attune and Anytime Fitness. I am proud of them. Thankfully, they are proud of me as well.

I also made an investment in promoting myself a little more on Facebook. I have worked real hard on some status updates and original pictures to post on there. Do I tell people the hottest ten tips of eating and working out? No….never will. There are millions of people with catchy names who do that.

My focus has been about why I decided to lose weight and all the games weight loss can bring. How maintenance is a tough place but possible and how life does not give you lemons. Life give your the capability to get lemons.

It has been successful on Facebook. I am proud and thrilled of everyone who has come on and liked my page. Yet recently I have had numerous people message me about how I am narcissistic and I write about the same thing and I should focus on helping others instead of talking about my dumb a**. It comes with the territory.

Of course I get emails, messages, status updates and comments from people who tell me that after five years, my blog has never been better. But who remembers that?

I do. I want to thank everyone for the support I have received over my five year online span.

The post Because People Will Hate You appeared first on The Anti-Jared.

I used to hate the word fat. I have written about it numerous times about how the word makes no sense to me. Fat is more of a feeling than anything else. It is what uneducated people insult others with It is what others say to shut people down.

” Jesus! You are so fat!!!!!”

But I realized that society will probably look at me and others as fat forever. Maybe it is the loose skin. Maybe it is fear of the scale at times. Maybe it is the way I look at food. Maybe it is the way I would put my stats up on an online chat dating site……

F- A/S/L please
Me- Um….36/M/US
F- Height and weight?
Me- Um…5 ft. 6 and over 200 pounds
F- Oh, well…my boyfriend is calling me. GTG!
Me- WAIT! I can squat 375 pounds!

The truth is I am not fat. Not anymore. Not since I got my life back.

The worst fat insults are those when you look in the mirror. I remember looking in the mirror at 420 pounds with disgust. Not because of my weight but what I became. I could not really do anything without a little assistance. I mean, I could wipe myself in the bathroom but needed to angle myself a little bit on the tub. I could pick up change off the ground. It took a few extra minutes to get down and get up but I could do it.

But when I got on track I was not fat. When I was able to finally buckle a seat belt without an extender…I was not fat. When I was able to wipe myself I was not fat. When I got the courage to finally continue to go to the gym I was not fat. Not in my mind. The most important mind in my life.

When I got down to 198 pounds I was done losing weight. I was more than happy with losing 221 pounds. Yet, society looked at me differently. As I have said in the past, Weight Watchers did not want anything to do with me because I was not 165 pounds. No ads, no job…nothing. I was not okay with it then. Prevention magazine passed on my story. Yahoo did as well. Men’s Health never answered my letters. Not many people did. I did get one story in AOL which I hate because it sensationalizes my eating……

“FAT MAN ATE 10,000 CALORIES!!!!”

And one other in CNN because of Susan Boyle. Yes, the “OMG…UGLY PEOPLE CAN SING!” period in reality talent shows.

But I have been now doing this for five years. Yes, I started my journey or diet or whatever this thing is in 2008. I laugh about it now that I thought I would be normal after losing all the weight. Someone who ate 14 frozen dinners at one sitting and once ate an Oreo that was on the ground would all of the sudden magically figure it all out after losing weight.

Well, I have. And I have not.

That is the thing. I know I will always struggle with food. It does not go away. So many people told me it has. Maybe for them but not for me. Because when we lost the baby last year I ate. I was down a lot of weight at the time. All I did was eat a Fiber One bar. And it turned into so much more.

People love to hear success stories. I love to hear about the failures and the “what now?”. I am still down close to 200 pounds. I would not be lying to you if I said that I eat healthy, I workout everyday and I have kept off most of my weight for close to five years.

I also would be missing the most important fact….

I STRUGGLE ALL THE TIME.

I still fool myself. I still think I am strong enough to eat a trigger food. And why not? I lost a ton of weight.

Food is a bitch. No other way to say that.

That is not the point of all of this. But maybe it is?

See, I truly thought that people in weight loss, the inspirations, had to be skinny. They had to have six pack abs and wear spandex. The women had to wear bikinis and heels and say “PEOPLE! DO NOT BLAME FOOD! BLAME YOURSELF!!!”

Or the guys who wear Under Armour everything and yell “FEEL THE BURN!” Feel the burn? Who you been sleeping with?

But see, I have had a lifetime of struggle. I have more loose skin than a Thanksgiving turkey and my stretch marks are everywhere. I have a muffin top and I am bald.

And if you do not think I see the awesomeness in the mirror everyday, you are mistaken.

Because fat people can inspire others. Fat people can inspire themselves. This year I have really come to my own with my writing. I have really been pleased with Facebook and so many other things. I look at the hotnesses at the gym and wonder if they inspire. Not only that, but I wonder if they have any idea that I inspire. Inspire myself to the point of no return.

I have had an incredible successful 2012 with my weight. The loose skin is there. So is the baldness. I still weigh over 200 pounds. The most amazing thing is that society might call me fat.

I am okay with that. Fat people can inspire others in weight loss.

But when I look in the mirror, ever since I weighed 353 pounds and was able to wipe myself….I do not see a fat man.

I see greatness. And I am proud to have shown it to others.

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How do you help others? That is still one of the hardest things to do. Although weight loss has a lot to do with support and others, it is still a very individual journey. As someone who has dealt with weight his whole life, I also know answers everyone gives. Eat more unprocessed foods, workout, drink water, track, and uptake of protein are just a few things everyone has heard. Every time a magazine gives “NEW SHOCKING WEIGHT LOSS TIPS” I guarantee one of those is on there.

Lately I have been getting a lot of emails asking for help. People who were in the same boat as I was. Morbidly obese and lost. I really have been thinking about how can I help. How can I really give advice that is not condescending and is truly accurate. In the last four years I have been on different plans, so I cannot say there is a “best” diet. I have done tons of workouts so I cannot say there is an “only” workout. So how did I lose over 200 pounds?

Because nothing was more important to me than losing weight.

I did a low calorie diet for two weeks before I joined Weight Watchers in 2008. I did it because I was afraid the scale did not go over 400 pounds. I realized after the fact that they go pretty high.

When I walked in every week to get myself weighed in I asked two questions….

“How much weight did I lose?”
“What is the most someone lost here?”

In 52 weeks I gained a pound only one week. Every other week was a loss. I lived and died by Weight Watchers for months. When they told me that 50 pounds was the most someone lost I said OK. Then when I lost 50 pounds, I asked what is the most someone lost in Florida on Weight Watchers. Then Florida. Then the US.

I tracked every piece of food. I memorized the way points worked. Then it got to a point when I did not think points would work for me, so I went to a more natural way to eat.

When I first started, I told my wife we were not going out to eat for four months. I asked her not to bring in any food for four months. Even though I worked around food, I was able to convince myself not to eat the food at work. When they asked me to taste a new cake I passed. When I needed to taste a sauce I passed. When a woman started to cry because she made me a special cake, I apologized. I felt bad. I still did not eat the cake.

Because all I thought about was losing weight. I would be lying to you if the scale did not motivate me. When you are over 400 pounds, you are not motivated by skinny jeans and six pack abs. No one will say “Wow, you look slimmer in those size 56 pants!” No, the scale told me that I was doing the right thing.

And everything else was not as important. I woke up thinking about going to the gym. I went to bed hungry some nights. I passed on a lot of good food. All I wanted to do was lose weight. It was the most important thing to me.

Was I selfish? Maybe at some points. When I would freak out because I could not go to the gym I was selfish. When I would get angry that a food did not have the accurate calorie count on it I was selfish. Because my life was on the line. That is what I thought. That is what I needed to think.

There were so many days I did not think it was worth it. I mean, I have a good wife and my life was good. I realized my life would never be dramatically different. Except for Jared Fogle, no one is successful ONLY from weight loss. I already felt good. Yet, I kept going.

And I still do to this day. I refuse to miss a workout. I really watch the food I eat. I do not believe in the “obesity epidemic”. When I go to the hospital there are plenty of thin people there. There is not an obese wing. I do not think that obesity is tearing up society. Maybe because I was always the fattest person in the room. Maybe because I do not truly understand what obese is. I only understand my obesity.

And that is how I can give advice or help. Because I cannot tell you what you need to do to lose weight. There are millions of programs and so many good trainers and gyms out there.

How bad do you want to lose weight? Because if you “kind of” want it you will “kind of” get results. If you are obese, having a couple of minor changes will not lead to an extreme weight loss. It takes a lot of courage and determination. People will tell you it does not. I do not believe it.

Nothing was easy about it for me. That is fine because my results are not typical. I still struggle, but I would rather struggle than lose the battle.

I do not know the best workouts or meal plan. I have said this before here. What I do know is that you have to make some sacrifices. You have to be willing to avoid certain things. And I am not going to give a stupid “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels” comment. But I will say it is a good feeling when people are laughing with you instead of at you.

It is a better felling when you are laughing. Laughing because you are happy.

The post Because Nothing Was More Important To Me Than Losing Weight appeared first on The Anti-Jared.

About four months ago I decided to go completely unprocessed. I gave up all dairy, flour and sugar.I only eat fruits vegetables and lean meats.

There was no challenge that I did. I am not a fan of challenges. I understand that some people need them as a kick start to something great, but I think a lot of challenges are there to promote companies. Plus, I do not think it is right that because I am doing something that others should as well. I do not think the way I eat is the best way for everyone. In fact, I think that if you ask 100 people what the best diet is, you will get 99 different answers and one answer where someone says “I hate the word diet, I like to think of it as a lifestyle transformation journey lovefest!”

I do not feel better by going unprocessed. I never understood why someone thinks they feel so much better when they eat a peach or broccoli? I never did. I always felt better when I ate less and then I lost weight, regardless of the food. I felt better when I was able to bend down and walk without back pain. I felt better at 353 pounds, when I was able to wipe myself in the bathroom. But I am not going to sit here and tell you that now rainbows and unicorns follow me everywhere.

I do not think there is anything wrong with processed foods. Restaurants are not bad places to be. I think that for some people, a frozen dinner or a “100 calorie” snack is better than eating a ton of food. I think a diet that has rations works better for some. I am not going to sit here and go on a rant about the evils of processed foods. There is nothing wrong with them.

I do not think the way I eat is elite. People like to think that “Paleo” is this uber elite way to eat. No, it is a diet. And just like all diets it is getting more and more abused as people see that they can make money on it. Paleo cookies and Paleo bread is popping up everywhere. There is no elite diet out there. Wait, there is one. The elite diet is the diet the person who never had a weight issue is on.

I do not think you should only eat unprocessed foods. So many people are “Born again health nut” where they were once fat and now that they lost weight want to change the world. I was like that. Hell, if you have ever had weight loss success you were like that. Change yourself and then the world. I refuse to be the person that scolded me when I was 420 pounds.

So why did I go unprocessed?

Because I was 420 pounds. Because I realized that when you are lost in the woods you have two options. You either try like hell to find your way out or sit and wait for someone to save you. I have lost weight so many times in my life it is not funny. And every time I become smart. Only to gain weight back and become dumb.

Last year I fell after losing the baby. I did not tell anyone. I kept it to myself. I did not gain a lot of weight because of my workouts, but I would have. I am an extreme weight loss success story.

I think I made a lot of excuses that I can “Only eat one” of things or “Tomorrow will be my day”. I got up to 272 pounds when honestly, I could have easily been over 400 pounds again.

And that is the thing. I am not going to keep fooling myself. I have lost close to 50 pounds so far this year. I have not starved myself. I have gone to buffets, restaurants, convenience stores and work and have eaten unprocessed. People say that it is hard. That is not hard. Being 420 pounds was hard.

And I refuse to be this dumb guy who does not get it. I refuse to keep falling in this trap that so many people fall into. I am not looking for the latest and greatest thing. I have no desire to do so. Food is not my life. My family is my life. My writing is my life. My workouts are my life.

My life is my life.

So here I am. I have no desire to talk about what I eat everyday. I have no desire to Instagram my food and I have no desire to talk about the diet I am on.

That is not why people have read my blog and followed me for four years. I used to think people come here because I lost over 200 pounds. There are plenty of people who have blogs who lost 200 pounds.

I am writing this and telling you this because you need to find what works for you. You cannot sit there and wait for a challenge or for an inspiration to tell you what to do. I cannot control processed foods. 99% of people can. I am in the 1%. I am okay with that because I have to be.

But I drive by McDonald’s and still love the smell. I look at fresh cookies and tell myself I can only have one. I look at Halloween candy and think “It is fun size, one will not kill me.”

I will never find out if it will kill me or not.

I am unprocessed.

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