Weight-Loss Story:
Jack Newham

Age 42, from Dallas, Texas

Hi my name is Jack, and I live in Dallas. I'm a big-time barbecue
enthusiast. I love all things barbecue, and I'm grilling in the backyard
all the time. Most of my meals come straight from the grill. I think
that's also what's been my downfall in the weight department. I've been big
into grilling since I've been living on my own, and a couple of years ago it
really caught up with me. I've been eating a lot of meat over the years,
and I understand that that's the kind of thing that can cause weight gain.
Especially steak, I grill a lot of steak. There's nothing tastier than a
medium-rare sirloin basted in my favourite sauce. I'm getting hungry just
thinking about it! But I don't do that anymore.

I never had a problem with my weight before. I was always an average sized
guy, I played a lot of sports. That probably helped to keep me in good
shape. But I don't really play sports anymore. I don't have much time or
opportunity, I'm getting older. There's not much call for players of my
age! So when I started gaining weight, I didn't really know how to deal
with it. In all honesty, I didn't really care too much, and I kind of
avoided thinking about it. It seems normal, I mean it happens to a lot of
guys around my age. My family was starting to notice though. They ribbed
me about it here and there. They didn't really mean anything by it, but it
got me thinking about my weight. I really started to notice it then. I
wasn't huge by any means, but I got to thinking that if I kept going on this
way, I would just get bigger and bigger and I know that isn't healthy.

I wanted to lose the weight, but I didn't want to give up backyard
barbecues. I mean, that's what I know, that's what I'm good at! So I saw
on tv that there are ways to cook healthy meals on the barbecue -- ie
grilling vegetables and such. I'm not a total carnivore, I've always eaten
vegetables with my meals, but never very much. So I started taking recipes
I was seeing on tv, and changing them up and trying my own ideas. I put a
lot of different veggies on the barbecue now, all kinds of different stuff.
There's ones that I like, and ones that I don't, it's all an experiment.
I've also taken to grilling a lot of fish, which is healthier. When I'm not
doing that, I do chicken, which is better too. I still grill steaks, but
not very often -- it's a treat for when I've been good. I'm enjoying my
barbecue more than ever before, and yet I'm still eating healthy. Who'd
believe it was possible?

Even I knew that wasn't enough though. You can't just eat healthy and
expect to drop the pounds. I wanted to do some exercise. But I didn't know
what would be good for me. So I experimented with that too. I started with
jogging. That didn't work though. With the extra weight I was carrying, my
ankles were taking a lot of impact and they got real sore after I was out
for a while. So I took to walking, which was a great low-impact activity.
It was also easy to do because I could look around and get distracted by
things and forget I was exercising. Walking was my favourite exercise of
all the ones I tried, and I kept it up pretty easy.

I've been living healthy for about 9 months now, and I've been getting great
results. I've lost about 46 pounds. That's not all though, I think I'm
gonna have no trouble keeping up the lifestyle and staying healthy for years
to come. I'll probably live longer for it.




Based on 90 votes, this diet story has an overall score of: 4.39

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(#1) Anonymous posted on Jan 09, 2006 (IP: 24.10.194.1)

He sound`s just like me, i`ve been trying not to pay atention to my weight and my family says things about it now. i`m 38 and i`m at 243lbs, thinking it`s time to change things.

(#2) Diana posted on Mar 21, 2005 (IP: 209.240.205.63)

Hi, it is nice to hear that you lost weight the Healthy way! Walking is Great! For you body and Mind. You should be very proud of yourself, keep up the good work, and have a great day, Diana. You helped motivate me, I have about 20 pounds I would like to lose! Thanks for sharing your story with Me! Bye!