So what in the world does a thin guy know about losing weight?

So yes, it is true.  I have been thin all of my life (and no, I am not bragging).  I realize that this makes it hard for many to believe that I (or people like me) know anything about losing weight.

I totally agree that those who have the success stories of going from obese to normal size have a different vantage point than I have, and I understand how they may seem more credible.  I mean hey, they actually did lose a lot of weight.  They have been there and done that.

It reminds me of Drew Manning of Fit2Fat2Fit.  Over 3 years ago, this guy, a trainer who had never been overweight, decided that he wanted to increase his credibility by putting himself into the shoes of his clients who were challenged with losing a lot of weight.  He gained over 60 pounds, and then took it back off to demonstrate how to do it.  I definitely respect that, and encourage you to click the link to read about what he did.

Although I have never had to lose a lot of weight, I contend that I do have something to offer those who need to lose weight.  Stay with me for a few moments and I will explain.

#1:  I have had to lose some weight myself

I have not had to lose a lot of weight, but I still have had to lose some weight here and there.  When I say this, many have not believed me because they only see me from the outside.  You have to trust me on this one.

See, throughout college I worked at Chick-fil-A.  Great place with really good food, and a few healthy choices here and there too…but it was still fast food.  Anytime I worked there, which was an average of 10 hours a week during school and maybe 30 hours a week when out of school, I was able to get at least one meal on my lunch break.  And after a while of eating so many chicken sandwiches, waffle fries, polynesian sauce AND sipping constantly on sweet tea, soda or lemonade, anybody will pick up at least some weight.  With me, it was all in my midsection.

Being a naturally thin person, I do not gain much weight on my extremities, but I do gain it on my stomach pretty quickly.  The stomach is almost everybody’s problem spot.  With thin folks like me, this leads to an undesirable condition some folks call “skinny-fat“.  Look it up.  Being skinny-fat is no fun, and makes you feel weird because everyone thinks that you are so skinny from looking at your arms and legs, but when you see the tire in the mirror when you get home at night, you know what the real deal is.

#2:  I know from my own experience what works

In my own experience of making certain dietary adjustments, I have at times been nearly shocked about how some of those changes caused me to drop body fat.

For example, there was a time that I did a fast that excluded all breads and major sweets (I still did some dressings and sauces).  Because it was a fast, I was not focused on the weight so much.  I also played basketball twice a week for about 2 hours at a time.  Trust me when I tell you that the weight fell off so fast, that by the time I weighed myself again, I had gone below the weight I was before I left high school (and I’d been out of high school almost 10 years by then).  More importantly, I struggled to pinch the belly fat around my waist; I had become the leanest that I’d ever been.  That taught me that there really is something to the carb thing, even if I think the low carb movement sometimes was a little extreme.

#3:  I am very, very passionate about this stuff

Being an engineer, troubleshooting comes relatively naturally to me.  I often have to think for long periods of time about how to make things work that do not work.  That coupled with my desire to see folks at their healthiest (and knowing they can be that way) makes me an extremely passionate health promoter and trainer.

I reminisced just yesterday on all of the people I have known in my life who died from cardiac arrest and heart attacks.  Some were in my family, and the others were from churches I’ve attended.  These all were folks who were loved by me and many others, and who very likely could have been around years longer than they were.  They were lost, not to infectious diseases, but rather, to lifestyle diseases.  Lifestyle diseases are those that are brought about by the way we live, which means that they more often than not are preventable.

Because of this, I feel that I must help however (and whoever) I can.  I cannot just stand idly by and watch so many people that I know travel down the same road to disease and death when I know that road leads to destruction…when I know that I have some ideas on how to help someone avoid the road altogether…when I know that there is another road that leads to a much higher quality of life than many of us could ever dream of.

This is what led me almost a year ago to start this blog and give it the title, “Your Health At The Crossroads.”  I believe that God has given me the passions, knowledge and experiences that I’ve had to be able to help others who are at the crossroads where they must choose between a life of sickness or a life of fullness…even between life and death.