Why conventional diets do not work: the story of a man who dropped 136 kg

46-year-old Shawn Anderson from Ponca City (Oklahoma) was able to lose weight on 136 kg, but he did not succeed the first time.

Photos from the personal archive of Sean Anderson

About how he was able to achieve this goal, told the publication NBC News.

Anderson remembers the day when he decided that he needed to do something with his weight. He was 36 years old, and, despite following a diet for almost his entire life, he weighed 505 pounds (229 kg). He suffered from hypertension, leg edema and breathing problems. His health problems forced him to skip work, despite being sedentary.

“I went to the doctor in June 2008 and she described to me in detail how my high blood pressure was affecting my internal organs. She told me, “If you leave this office and drop dead in the parking lot on your way to your car, none of us will be surprised,” the man said.

After that, he called his wife Irene and said: “Everything! Everything will change right now. ” When he returned home, his wife and two daughters met him with hugs and tears.

His motivation lasted for three days.

After a hard day at work, he bought almost 2 kg of ice cream on his way home.

“I did what I’ve done my whole life. I turned to food. After a visit to the doctor and an emotional decision that everything would start to change right away, three days later I was on the couch with ice cream. Irene and the girls saw what I was doing and they simply had no words. They couldn't believe it," Anderson recalls.

Control and accountability

Anderson spent months trying to figure out what he could do differently. He decided that he needed a greater degree of accountability and support. So, 15 September 2008, he launched his blog The Daily Diary of a Winning Loser. Every evening he shared his feelings and experiences in writing.

He set a daily limit of calories in 1500 and forbade himself to “lend” calories from the next day (looking back, he thinks he could raise the limit to 1900 calories and still lose weight). Within this limit, he allowed himself to eat everything he wanted.

"At first I often used Taco Bell or McDonalds. If by the evening I had several hundred calories available, I would buy a bar Snickersand then wrote on his blog, almost bragging that I was losing weight, but at the same time I ate Snickers, Anderson said.

Over time, he concluded that if he changed his diet, he would be more satisfied with the quality and variety of food. Therefore, he began to cook more and ate less fast food, while still keeping his calorie limit.

The first step is the hardest

Anderson also began to increase his physical activity. His first walk lasted less than five minutes, but in less than a month he walked one mile (1,6 km). In the end, he expanded his workload to elliptical workouts, treadmill and jogging.

His plan worked. After a year and a half, his weight was 230 pounds (104 kg). His blog has gained popularity. He wrote the book The Path to Transformation (Transformation Road), in which he described his success in the way of weight loss. He talked about his weight loss on the radio and in local hospitals. He managed to keep such weight for the next year and a half.

Weight return

And yet life was not ideal. “There is another side to this. This is something much deeper. I thought that when I reached 230 pounds, my life would be amazing in every way. I thought my career would be more successful and my marriage would be better. I was down to 230 pounds, but I still wasn't happy. It was such a huge disappointment,” Sean said.

His marriage broke up around the time when he reached the goal of losing weight, and later a painful break with his girlfriend again made him seize grief. He scored 164 pounds (74 kg) and stopped blogging. He hated himself and did not want to leave the house, because many people knew him from his speeches about losing weight and now noticed his huge weight gain.

Weight is not what defines us

15 May 2014 in the life of Anderson happened what he called his insight. A penalty for speeding forced him to extend the validity of the expired driver's license. His old ID photo was taken when he weighed 230 pounds, and by the time it was extended, his weight took off almost to 400 pounds.

“I hated that photo. I was overcome with negative emotions. Then suddenly the thought came - why do I let the shape of my face determine my self-worth? I'm a great person, no matter how big my face is or how much I weigh. I would never treat another person the way I treated myself. “All the positive things I love about myself are the same whether I weigh 500 pounds or less,” the man said.

After this, he decided that changing things cannot define a person. He made a list of things that remained the same regardless of his weight - talents, likes and dislikes, hobbies, his love for people.

“Focusing on these things was like watering a flower in the middle of the desert—it starts to flourish. I have developed a new understanding of myself and appreciation for who I am. I was no longer going to base my self-worth on my weight. It was a complete change in outlook on life,” Sean admitted.

Recovery

Anderson admitted that he was addicted to sugar. This recognition helped him move from the mentality of the diet to the mentality of recovery, and he completely abandoned sugar. He also resumed his caloric limit, this time giving himself 1700 calories per day.

He photographed everything he ate and signed up for MyFitnessPal. He tweeted photos and listed ingredients.

“I have increased my accountability to what many would consider extreme. I didn’t do that with my initial weight loss,” Sean explained.

He switched his diet mainly to simple foods that contain only one ingredient: avocados, apples, chicken breasts, with the exception of Ezekiel’s sophisticated bread, which does not contain sugar or flour. However, he did not eat foods that he did not like. Salad, broccoli and cauliflower pizza did not make it to the menu. However, he loved avocados, sweet potatoes and asparagus.

He is back to blogging. He honestly admitted to readers that he gained 164 pounds and that he intends to lose his weight again.

Sean’s typical daily menu:

• Breakfast: scrambled eggs made from whole eggs and egg whites with a slice of cheese, half an avocado on Ezekiel bread toast and an apple.
• Lunch: a toast cooked at work from a corn billet for toasts, with low-fat beans, salsa and cheese, salad, sour cream and half avocado.
• Dinner: steak, chicken drumsticks or fried fish with mashed potatoes.

He weighs the ingredients to control the number of calories.

Achieving the goal and moving forward

Anderson lost the weight he gained after the first attempt to lose weight, then asked a few more kilograms, and now his weight is 205 pounds (93 kg) with an increase in 190,5, see. Last time he weighed so much at the age of 10 years. He has maintained this weight for more than two and a half years, adhering to a limit of 2300 calories per day.

Every day he starts with meditation and prayer, two glasses of water, 20 push-ups and 20 squats, followed by a cup of coffee.

“In order to maintain a healthy body weight, I have to have a plan every day. This is what I have to do for the rest of my life. I know that I am capable of getting back to 500 pounds, and it takes daily practice to prevent this,” the man admitted.

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