In this blog post, I talk about
- My life when I was 200 pounds overweight
- What being 200 pounds overweight cost me
- Why losing excess weight can help you financially
When I was in my 20s, I weighed 360 pounds. I am five feet eleven inches in height so you can imagine how that weight felt. Since I was younger at the time, I didn’t really have major health problems. I really couldn’t exercise or even do a push-up. However, I didn’t have to take any medications.
That was about the only good news of being morbidly obese.
What I came to realize was that being that obese was costing me alot. Let’s just skip over the fact that I had to pay a premium for my clothes because I always had to get a 3XL shirt or 3XL shorts. Being that overweight meant that I didn’t feel comfortable socializing. That meant I really didn’t make the connections one should make in order to find business or income opportunities.
Being that overweight also affected my confidence. I think there were probably a couple of business or other ideas I would have started if my weight didn’t literally hold me down. It may sound like I am making excuses. That is probably right. However, being 200 pounds overweight didn’t help with my confidence.
That being said. I had some good success in my 20s. I was a copywriter for one of the top ad agencies in the world. I was making six figures and living in an ocean view apartment in Los Angeles. In many ways, my young life was good. However, it could have been much better if it wasn’t for the impact my weight had on my everyday life.
When I turned 30, I realized that I was lucky. I was 360 pounds and didn’t have many health problems. However, I knew that my time was running short. Could I live a healthy life being 200 pounds overweight at 40? I didn’t think so. That’s when I started to take some first steps in improving my health.
At age 30, I started by walking everyday. I still wasn’t confident enough to go to the gym. By just walking about an hour each day and without making any changes to my diet, I was able to lose about 80 pounds in about 16 months. When I hit the 250 pound level, my weight loss started to level off. That’s when I started to make adjustments to my eating.
The first thing I did was switch from regular soda to diet soda. That alone cut about 2,500 calories from my daily intake. I started to lose more weight and get down to 220 pounds. From there, I started to cut out the sweets. I loved to eat cupcakes or Twinkies each day. That helped me get down to 200 pounds.
At that point, I started to slowly switch over to a plant-based diet. I also switched from diet soda to water. Along with a regular, moderate workout schedule, I was able to get myself down to 155 pounds. I am happy to say that I have been able to stabilize my weight for the past 5 years.
I am 46 now and I have more energy than I did when I was younger. This has allowed me to pursue more opportunities, work harder and get more done. I certainly don’t think my productivity level would be this high if I weighed 360 pounds. Heck, I don’t know if I would still be around if I were 360 pounds today.
Now, I want to add a disclaimer here. I don’t think that losing weight equals making more money. However, if you are looking to be more productive, it is a good idea to make your body (your physical machine) and your mind (your personal operating system) as optimal as possible. You don’t have to do anything extreme. In fact, from personal experience, gradual change is the best. Here is what I would recommend.
Step I recommend to improve health and lose weight
- Walk every day
- Gradually exchange unhealthy foods with healthier foods
- Engage in moderate 15 minute exercise at least 3 days a week.
These days I continue to follow a mostly plant based diet, exercise 5 times a week and walk 2 hours a day. It’s routine for me now. However, ten years ago, all of that would have seemed impossible. Thanks to living a healthier lifestyle, I don’t take any medicines, I don’t have any health issues and I am ready to pursue new ideas and new dreams.
