The Fitness Race - How I lost 140 Pounds Eating At McDonald's

...And you can too! In the fall of 2004, I had had enough. I knew I had been morbidly obese for years, but the grim reality of a short lived future slapped me in the face. After years of hearing what the doctors told me about my weight, I actually listened to what he said. He told me I wouldn't live much longer, and when I did go, it would be a "drop dead" event. The following is a short description of my story, and the journey I followed to go from where I was to where I wanted to be.

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Location: Schaumburg, Illinois (888)467-8593, United States

After struggling with his weight for more than twenty five years, in Nov 2004 Mark McKenna Little made up his mind that being unhealthy was no longer acceptable. Through sensible eating and increased physical activity (absolutely NO drugs or surgery) he lost 140 pounds and now does four triathlons per year. Early in 2007 he challenged a group at his church that if they were serious about losing more than forty pounds each... he would mentor them to make a total body transformation. SO, THE 2007 FITNESS RACE WAS BORN... Mark Little owns an unrelated business, which he operates, but is mentoring 15 individuals to make similar health and fitness transformations in their lives by September 30, 2007. Many of those in this group have well over 40 pounds of excess weight, but have set a goal to get light enough to do the 2007 Accenture Chicago Triathlon with Mark on August 26, 2007. FOLLOW THEIR STORIES BELOW

Sunday, April 24, 2005

I just returned home from a 9 day/8 night cruise where I was a speaker at one of the forums. What an experience. I was very worried, as you may have been able to tell in the last entry, about "falling off the wagon" while on the ship. Since I have been able to become accustomed to knowing what I am eating and how many calories my intake had been, this cruise was a bit perplexing. I was fed items that I have never eaten before. Things like conch stew, and star fruit, and papaya, and a whole myriad of other foods. Since I had no web access, I couldn't just go online and determine what a healthy portion of conch was. So I am feeling a little trepidation about going in to get weighed at Shape. I did find a couple scales on the cruise ship in their weight rooms, but after stepping up on a number of them, determining my weight was near impossible. I am not sure if it was the ocean waves or that the scales were off keel, but I just couldn't get a consistent reading from any of them.

posted by Mark Little | 7:09 AM | 0 comments

Wednesday, April 13, 2005

I am getting ready for this cruise at the end of the week. I am little concerned about having no internet connection. This is my link with my Shape coaches. So here I am, going on a trip, completely seperated from my accountability coaches, surrounded by decadent foods, with nothing to do but lounge around and eat or drink.....and get some sun. This will probably be the biggest test I have faced since starting this journey. Wish me luck!

posted by Mark Little | 8:24 PM | 0 comments

Friday, April 01, 2005

I binged all week and finally stepped on a scale today. I gained back nearly 30 pounds. Once I got started I just couldn't stop bringing my hand to my mouth. I think this will set me back a little.....or a lot.

APRIL FOOLS!!!!

No, actually, things are going well. I am just as determined as ever. Again. It has been the healthy choices that I have been making that have led me to where I am today. The combination of healthy foods (more fruit, McD's yogurt parfait, smaller portions) with regular exercise (treadmill, weight lifting, stationary bike) and the accountability (Shape Team, my friends, and my own conscience) this is working better than anyone could have imagined when we started.
I haven't been able to track my weight properly for nearly a month since I have been away on business, so I hope the weight is still coming off.

posted by Mark Little | 7:54 AM | 0 comments