Being the Biggest Loser Made Me a Winner

How I Lost 24 Pounds in Three Months with Diet and Exercise

Being a fairly active male, I had never needed to go on a diet, at least not while I was in my 30s. Once I turned 40, however, I found that my metabolism was slowing down, and I was finding less time to go to the gym . . . not a good combination.

I wanted to start a diet, but I just couldn't find the motivation to do it. Then a Biggest Loser contest began at my workplace. All participants were paying $30 to join the contest. The money would be given to the winner. There were ten contestants that would compete for three months.

Because of my competitive spirit, I had found my motivation: the contest. It was exactly what I needed. Couple that with my bachelor science degree in nutrition, and a recipe for a weight loss diet was born.

For the first month of the diet, I went to the gym and exercised every other day. I ran on the treadmill for at least two miles and then lifted weights for about 30 minutes. I never spent more than an hour at the gym.

The food I chose as my staples during the diet:

Breakfast: a bowl of cereal sometimes, adding half a banana.

Lunch: a dry turkey/chicken sandwich on whole wheat bread. No cheese or condiments were added. Some sort of fruit, but usually a handful of grapes. I also ate a serving of raw vegetables, usually pea pods, broccoli, or carrots. I drank a diet soda and/or water.

Dinner: a can of low sodium soup. It's amazing how you can eat a whole can of soup like Chunky or Progresso and take in only around 350 calories. I also had seven crackers with my soup and a serving of raw vegetables or fruit. To drink, I had a diet soda or water.

During the diet, additional motivation was added when I weighed myself every day at the gym. Slowly the pounds began to shed. Some days it would appear that I gained weight, but I had to allow for discrepancies, depending on how much water I drank or what time of day I weighed myself.

I'm not going to lie. For the first couple of days, my stomach was constantly angry with me. I felt hungry, but the contest and the thought of losing another half pound when weighing myself each night at the gym kept me honest. Either I got used to the the hunger pain, or it went away.