John Overhauled His Habits And Lost 77 Pounds

John Overhauled His Habits And Lost 77 Pounds

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Name: John Taumoepeau
Age: 40
Height: 6'2"
Before Weight: 299 pounds
How I Gained It: I am not sure how I got to 299 pounds, but what I am sure of is that I ate, did not workout and ate a lot of junk food. I used to a be an athletically-built 6'2",229-pound wannabe NFL player. I realized at the end of my senior year of college that was most likely not going to be a reality. So from 1993 to 2010, I would say I "ballooned" to wind up at 299.

I had a girlfriend who eventually became my wife, so I could always throw out the "it doesn't matter how I look card." Work kept me extremely busy -- there was never any time for working out. Every year, though, I did make an effort to work out. It only lasted maybe one to three months, but I always tried. What I never tried was to change my diet. I ate whatever I wanted because I just wanted to be happy.

And I pretty much ate whatever I wanted. I would eat pizza for dinner three times a times week. I often skipped breakfast, but grabbed a Venti latte from Starbacks everyday with a shot of vanilla. Lunch was usually sandwiches and always a bag of chips with a Gatorade. On the weekends it was a steady dose of eating out. Hamburgers, fries, pizza and always desert. I often ate cookies everyday. I loved peanut butter cookies and I could eat 15 at a time! And I always snacked. Chips, popcorn, French bread with butter, Hawaiian bread. So: lots of processed food and lots of junk food. Plenty of soda everyday ... maybe five cans a day. I drank maybe 10 Coronas every weekend.

Breaking Point: My kids were eight, seven and two and I was having a hard time keeping up with them running around the house. I finally decided that I should lose a few pounds and start working out again. I always make that same decision every year. I weigh in and I always weighed in (over the last five years) somewhere between 265 and 275. I rarely weighed myself so I had no idea how much I weighed. This time I jumped on the scale and I saw 299. Visions of cutting short my time with my kids filled my brain and thus inspired me to lose weight.

How I Lost It: Enter ... Tim Ferris. I read his book, recommended by a friend, "The Four Hour Work Week." I made changes in my career because of that book. Different topic for a different time. It just so happend that I heard he was coming out with another book. I was a big fan of his first book, and I knew I wanted to lose weight. I had just made a big commitment to working out, so I thought "why not give Tim's 'Four Hour Body' a try?" The diet called for me to eat lots of protein, veggies, beans and eggs for lunch and dinner. For breakfast I have a protein shake with Athletic Greens supplement plus a protein bar. I have one cup of coffee per day, just black. For snacks I have almonds. That's pretty much it. On Saturdays my diet calls for a cheat day ... so I crazy on that day and load up on the carbs! You would not believe the amount of food I consume. And now I'm at 222 pounds!

After Weight: 222 pounds ... for now

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