How to Lose 25 Pounds
Weight loss and becoming healthier is a top goal for many people but few manage to shed the pounds and keep them off.
We can all agree that excess weight is undesirable and harmful to our health. There is also an economic component since obesity has billions of dollars in total cost per year.
Believe it or not, I’ve had my own weight loss journey in recent years after a medical diagnosis prompted me into action.
I’ll share my story in hopes that it can help you achieve your weight loss goals.
This article will cover
- The 3 main focus areas for weight loss and a lean physique
- Tools and resources for you to leverage to meet your goal
I Got Pudgy
The best way for me to present an article about weight loss is to start by discussing my personal story about cholesterol and getting pudgy.
That’s right, I got pudgy.
Some of you reading this probably know me and have seen me in person, and others of you have seen my picture.
All of you are probably skeptical – and rightfully so.
The good news is that I like to document things which means I have proof that I will put into action – but first let me talk about Bob Harper.
Who is Bob Harper?
For starters, Bob Harper is a good looking dude. Better yet, Bob is so handsome that you can say he has a face made for television – which is exactly where he stakes his claim to fame.
Bob Harper is a personal trainer and actor who has been featured on popular reality television series The Biggest Loser as the primary trainer. Bob is the most prolific actor on the show, appearing in 251 episodes over a fifteen year period.
Why mention Bob Harper?
Aside from being two handsome men who love fitness, Bob and I are similar in a major way which I will get to later. For now, just keep him in the back of your mind because he is integral to the story.
Okay, back to me getting pudgy.
Getting Skinny
I mentioned in my rock bottom story that I had major knee surgeries in 2018 and 2020. Having a knee operated on is tough because of the lengthy recovery process, which usually involves non-weight bearing and crutches for several months.
A consequence of this process was that going to the gym shifted from being something I loved to do, to more of a chore requiring boat loads of effort. As a result, I just quit going to the gym until I was fully recovered.
Not going to the gym and being on crutches meant that my activity levels dropped, resulting in lower levels of hunger and food consumption. As such, not eating much food meant that I lost a lot of muscle mass and got skinny.
Getting Buff on Accident
I didn’t realize how skinny I had become until my sister pointed it out on the day that the above picture was taken. She wasn’t saying it in a negative or judgmental way, but no gym guy wants to hear that they’ve become skinny.
So, I must admit that my ego was just a tad bit bruised and I became motivated to get my muscle back.
Within a few weeks, I was back in the gym full time and ramping my eating up to pre-surgery quantities. This all resulted in some impressive weight gain in a relatively short amount of time.
Just how impressive? Well, I gained 15 pounds over the course of 3.5 months. All by simply hitting the gym and eating a slight surplus of calories.
I was so excited about these results that I even made this Instagram post about it. You’ll notice that the date was March 26th, 2021.
I knew that I would gain some of my muscle back and that my weight would increase. But I really was shocked by the amount of growth in such a short period of time. The excitement of the results motivated to kick things into overdrive.
Getting Buff on Purpose.. And Getting Pudgy
I had gone from being relatively sedentary and barely eating in the months following my March 2020 knee operation to pretty active and eating well. On the whole, I was hitting the gym 4 to 5 days per week and eating roughly 3,000 calories per day. I thought this was a lot.
At that point, I decided to escalate things further to see just how far I could go. I ramped up my calorie intake and training volume in the gym. Nearly overnight, my calories jumped up from 3,000 per day to 5,000 per day. Additionally, my gym training became extremely intense.
The result? In a word, I got pretty chunky.
I gained an additional 14 pounds over a 10 week period from March 26, 2021 thru June 8, 2021. My weight topped out at 197 which meant that I gained nearly 1.5lbs per week over this period.
Gym fanatics may find this impressive, but carrying that amount of excess weight was not good for my self-mage.
For the first time in my life, I experienced a lack of confidence with my body. Sure, arms and legs were pretty beefy – but the problem was that I had formed a pretty hefty belly.
If this all sounds dramatic it’s because it probably is. But, I can’t help the way I felt at the time and the belly was definitely real.
Take a look for yourself.
Am I Bob Harper?
Well, I’m obviously not Bob Harper, but I sorta could have been.
Let me explain what I mean.
I first learned of Bob Harper back in 2019, after speaking to my doctor about some recent blood work results. All of my numbers came back at optimal levels with the exception of my cholesterol which I was told was in the ‘higher end of the normal range’.
As a result, the doctor told me that I needed to be aware of this and think about making some lifestyle changes to lower my cholesterol.
Fortunately for me, my then girlfriend was a pharmacist who happened to work in a unit specializing in care for patients who suffered from obesity related ailments. In other words, I knew that she had good knowledge on cholesterol and could give me the ins and outs of what to do.
To my surprise, all she talked to me about was Bob Harper.
She didn’t know his name, but mentioned that I didn’t want to end up with the same fate as the biggest loser trainer who had a heart attack at a relatively young age in spite of being in great shape.
High Cholesterol
I didn’t listen to my girlfriend that day in 2019. Nor did I listen to my doctor’s suggestion of lifestyle changes. Instead, I went on and continued with my normal routine as if none of these conversations ever happened. I wouldn’t really think about cholesterol again until nearly 1.5 years later.
This cholesterol story now merges with the earlier one about my weight gain and we now find ourselves in September 2021.
I went to a new doctor that month and took more blood work. This time around I found a slight surprise as my cholesterol levels had increased. I was now officially in the high range. Albeit the ‘lower end of high’.
Ironically, this new doctor gave me a similar recommendation as the previous – telling me that I needed to be aware and think about making some lifestyle. It wasn’t a very convincing recommendation, so the advice didn’t stick.
The new doctor and I decided that it would be best to have a six month follow-up to keep a closer eye on the cholesterol. I gave a half-hearted promise to make the necessary changes and was out the door.
Dangerously High Cholesterol
The trouble here is that I was still bulking and eating 5,000 calories per day.
In essence, I had to choose between packing on a significant amount of pounds via boatloads of calorie dense – cholesterol boosting foods or making lifestyle changes which likely included eating less.
I chose boatloads of food and extra pounds. As a result, my cholesterol shot through the metaphorical roof.
During my six month follow-up in March 2022, the doctor pulled my numbers and gave me a very emphatic reaction which is atypical of doctors who usually try to remain calm and collected about things. His response was:
“wow, your cholesterol is high-high now. What are you doing? This is a problem.”
Not Bob Harper
Perhaps it was the emotion in his voice that stuck, but I heard my doctor loud and clear this time around. I gave him an equally emphatic promise that I would make necessary changes.
This was enough to get him to give me a very skeptical look and hesitant agreement for six more months to make improvements on my own. I would be put on cholesterol lowering medication if I could not make the changes on my own.
I wanted to avoid cholesterol medication and also not suffer the same fate as Bob Harper, which meant that I had to make some changes.
I didn’t know how I would go about it, but I was motivated to figure it out.
It was game on.
Losing 25 Pounds
I dropped my weight from 197 to 175 in the six month period of March – August 2022. For those counting, that is a total of 22lbs.
Sure, it’s 3lbs short of the 25lbs mentioned in the title, but I could have easily lost the additional 3 pounds if necessary.
How can I be so sure of this?
I’m sure that I could have lost and additional 3lbs+ because I now know what it takes to pull it off. In other words, I had the formula for losing weight and lowering cholesterol down to a reliable process.
The funny thing about lowering your cholesterol is that the process involves practically the same steps that are involved in losing weight. In essence, the inputs to weight loss are identical to the inputs for lowering cholesterol.
Additionally, these inputs are super simple – which I like.
I have no better proof of the results than the pictures I’ve taken throughout the weight loss journey. Check them out for yourself.
Focus Area #1: Diet and Nutrition
It's All About Calories In -vs- Calories Out
The first, and most important area you will want to focus on is your diet and nutrition. There is an old saying in the fitness world that “you can’t out exercise a bad diet” because weight loss or gain all comes down to a simple formula that takes the difference between the amount of calories you eat vs how many you burn.
That said, the standard dietary recommendation is for people to consume around 2,000 calories per day with consideration that each person’s individual needs would be a bit different.
You can’t out exercise a bad diet because the amount of calories in a typical meal is significantly higher than the amount of calories burned during a normal exercise session – and you eat 3 times per day.
Track Your Calories
I recommend that you at least begin to track your calories for a period of 2-3 months so you can establish a baseline for how much you eat and make adjustments accordingly.
Tracking calories takes a bit of extra work, which turns a lot of people off – but it is a powerful strategy to begin getting a hold on things and understanding your dietary habits.
There are many tracking apps on the market for you to choose from. Some are better than others, but you will be fine as long as you choose one and stick to it. You will also need a food scale so you can accurately measure out your food before inputting into the tracking app.
What You Eat Matters
Despite having one of the most abundant and resource rich economies in the world, the United States currently ranks 46th in world life expectancy. How is this so?
One of the major culprits is obesity which impacts 4-in-10 people. Consequently, obesity related factors contribute to far more deaths in the U.S. than other developed countries.
We can see from the above chart that the U.S . is the runaway leader in deaths by obesity which shows clearly that something bad is going on in our country and driving these trends.
What’s going on is that fact that Americans are generally sedentary compounded with very poor diets.
I can say from personal experience that we have a vague understanding that there is a direct link between diet and health. And that we have an even lower level of understanding of what actually makes up a healthy diet.
Notwithstanding, diet does matter and is the most important factor. This is why I urge you to learn as much as you can about healthy eating.
Focus Area #2: Strength Training
The second area for you to focus on is strength training. Strength training is the process of using weights to build up muscle and strength in your body.
I’m a real gym guy who just loves to pump iron in the old-fashioned sense of the term. But, strength training as I recommend to you is not about hanging with the bros in the gym getting buff.
In fact, my strength training recommendation is about helping you improve your quality of life by reaping scientifically proven benefits. What are these scientific benefits I speak of you might ask?
In brief, strength training is scientifically proven to help you strengthen bones, improve balance, and keep mentally sharp as you age. Additionally, strength training is proven to help you burn fat which is what we are looking to do here.
How to Strength Train
You may be a little intimidated if you’ve never exercised with weights before. There are dozens, or perhaps even hundreds of approaches to strength training which only makes things worse. The good news is that the process doesn’t have to be complicated.
Most gyms offer a ‘line’ of equipment that is designed for novice exercises. I’ve used these lines many times throughout my life and can say that all of them are identical, and all are a great place to start.
You may also want to consider hiring a personal trainer to help get you started. Again, most gyms have a team of personal trainers who can assist you. You can also can hire me since I have a few years of personal training experience.
I’m also fully certified personal trainer incase that helps with your decision.
Focus Area #3: Conditioning
Conditioning is the process of exposing the body to a high level of strain via cardiovascular workouts such as running, biking, interval training, or any of the other numerous ways to push the body. Conditioning is important because it helps tone your body, improve cardiovascular health, and enhance the way you move and feel.
How to Condition the Body
There is some form of conditioning for nearly everyone out there. I’ve had 4 knee surgeries and a wrist surgery, which have resulted in limited athleticism and mobility. Even so, I can still do conditioning workouts which I’ve demonstrated live in my program.
You can purchase my program, or you can search the internet to find many great examples. The key is to find something that you can do pain free.
Additionally, opt for conditioning workouts that you enjoy doing and don’t be afraid to mix it up from time to time with new workouts to keep things interesting.
Transform Your Body Today!
There it is. The formula for losing 25 lbs can be distilled into 3 simple steps which are diet & nutrition, strength training, and conditioning. If you master these three areas – you will certainly lose weight and improve your health.
Change and Action
As with so many things in life, the knowledge of what to do is simple. The execution can sometimes be a bit more tricky. That’s why I’ve put together my program to help you out. I also offer individualized personal training if you need even more help.
Regardless of the path you choose, you have what it takes within you to accomplish your goal. And you now know exactly what to focus on to get there. Stick to these things and ignore all of the nuance that the fitness industry tries to throw at you.
Nothing should stand in your way at this point, so it’s time to get out there and achieve the body you desire.
Ready, set, go!
6 Responses
Very informative piece. I like how you related your own personal obstacles with not taking heed to your doctors advise because I’m in that same boat. This definitely helps motivate me to at least start back walking/jogging to improve condition my cardiovascular condition which in turn will help with my type 2 diabetes.
I totally understand where you’re coming from! It took me several years of ignoring doctor’s advice before making changes. But today is a great day to begin. Consistency is the biggest key though and you can definitely do it!
Great post. I’ve always struggled with my weight. I lose and then gain it all back. The main issue I face is my relationship with food. Very timely info
Thanks and thank you for the comment. Most people follow the same pattern of losing the weight and gaining it all back. There are actually some scientific reasons for this. I will connect with you to chat through it!
Great post! I’m actually on my journey with this now. I too had an ACL surgery and since then been in and out the gym. It didn’t help moving to freezing cold Michigan! Being back in Florida has definitely helped, but I agree dieting and doing these type of workouts is definitely a change to our HS workouts back in the day! Great article and great tips.
Ah I’m excited for you along your journey and looking forward to seeing the results! Sounds like you know all too well the impact that surgery has on you – just seems to slow you down and zap motivation. With a focus on diet and consistent training (weights + cardio) you can have whatever body you want. Goodluck!
And check out my most recent article about building lean muscle!
https://breakingbroke.com/building-lean-muscle-the-complete-guide/