Weight Loss Success Stories - Chase Lost 176 Pounds

First Name: Chase
Age: 27
Family Status: Single
Occupation: State Employee
Hometown: Bradenton, Florida
Pounds or Inches Lost: I lost 176 pounds! I went from a 54" pants to 34". 4XL shirts to L.
Height: 5'10"
Waist: 33"
Starting Weight: 364 pounds
Current Weight: 188 pounds

Chase's Weight Loss Story!

When did you become unhappy with your weight?

In April of 2009.

What made you decide to lose weight?

In April of 2009, at 364 pounds (at 5'10") I decided that enough was enough. I made the decision then that I was no longer going to accept being fat for the rest of my life. I was 26 years old and I suffered from high blood pressure, bad cholesterol, high triglyceride numbers, sleep apnea, anxiety, along with a myriad of other consequences that resulted from living a life as a morbidly obese individual.

What were the most important changes you made to lose weight?

Just an overall lifestyle overhaul. Going from buying all of my meals from restaurants and fast food stores to preparing all of my own meals with fresh whole foods. Instituting an exercise program, where certain muscle groups would be worked on certain days.

What was most challenging about losing weight?

Keeping my diet in check and making sure that I am always in a modest caloric deficit.

How long did it take you to start to see results?

Almost immediately, less than a month.

How long did it take for you to reach your current weight?

A year and a half.

How long have you maintained your weight loss and how do you do it?

I have maintained at around 190 pounds for the past 4 to 5 months. I am able to do this because instead of prescribing to a certain diet to lose the weight, I executed a lifestyle change. So, instead of making short-term changes to reach a certain goal, I am staying on the same routine since I started (diet and exercise wise). I'm in this for the long haul, so no short-term answer was going to do it for me. I wanted to institute changes that I could easily prescribe to for the rest of my life.

How has your life changed now that you've lost weight?

I have increased confidence and I feel much better about myself. My health has drastically improved. I sleep better and I have more energy throughout the day. The opposite sex is showing much more interest than when I was much bigger.

How did ShapeFit help you reach your weight loss goals?

I enjoyed reading ShapeFit's weight loss transformation stories to instill motivation in me.

Chase's Weight Loss Tips!

Weight loss tip #1:

Keep your calories in check and stay in a modest deficit (around 500 calories).

Weight loss tip #2:

Institute weight training into your program in order to preserve muscle mass while cutting. More lean body mass equals a higher metabolism.

Weight loss tip #3:

Keep a picture of the former you in your wallet, purse or your bathroom mirror. It will be a constant reminder of why you are putting forth the effort.

Weight loss tip #4:

Realize that there is no quick fix and that it is going to require a complete lifestyle change in order to have success that travels further than the short-term

Weight loss tip #5:

Do not neglect yourself a treat from time to time. It can be beneficial both physically and mentally.

Chase's Weight Loss Eating Plan!

Breakfast:

Half cup of Quaker oats mixed with 2 tablespoons of ground flax seed, 1 tablespoon of natural peanut butter, cinnamon, and 1/4 cup of blueberries. Serving of fat free Greek yogurt, glass of orange juice (mixed half with water).

Lunch:

Sandwich with either all natural turkey or chunk light tuna on Ezekiel bread, with onion, tomato, avocado, mustard, low-fat Swiss and spinach. Some raw almonds and walnuts, carrots with hummus.

Dinner:

Chicken breast or pork tenderloin or salmon or ground turkey with steamed veggies (spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, collard greens, green beans, etc), choice of either beans (kidney, pinto, black) or rice (brown, basmati, jasmine).

Snacks or Mini Meals:

Apples, pears, low fat cottage cheese, almonds, walnuts, string cheese, beef jerky.

Chase's Weight Loss Workouts!

Weight Training:

I have a 4 day workout split.

Monday: chest and triceps
Tuesday: back, core and biceps
Thursday: shoulders and forearms
Friday: legs and core

I always lift relatively heavy (around 6-8 reps each set). I focus on the compound lifts first, then follow with the isolation lifts. After each workout, I do 30 minutes of cardio. If you are going to implement cardio, don't do it before you lift. Utilize your primary energy for the lifting because that it what will drive your metabolism up throughout your transformation. Keep the intensity high during training. You don't necessarily have to go to failure every set, but keep it intense. Keep the weight high enough (especially during the compound lifts) that you cant really do more than 10 reps on. Keep the rest between sets to no more than a minute and a half.

Cardiovascular:

For my cardio, I have a Polar heart rate monitor and I like to keep my heart rate above 140 bpm and no higher than like 158 bpm. I'll will either do high incline walking (10% at around 3.5 mph) or I will do a moderate incline slow jog (4.5% at around 4.5 mph). On two of my off lifting days, I do wind sprints HIIT style (High Intensity Interval Training) around my neighborhood. During HIIT, I will run as hard as I can for about 30 seconds, then jog for a little over a minute. After 10 cycles of that, I AM BEAT! But it's a great tool for fat loss and it really spikes your metabolism for the day. You don't have to go all out during steady state cardio, just do enough to get your heart rate in the right zone for a decent amount of time. You don't even necessarily need to do cardio for fat loss purposes, as long as your diet is in check and your training is spot on. I do cardio for heart health purposes and I happen to enjoy it.

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