The Fitness Race - How I lost 140 Pounds Eating At McDonald's: August 2006

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.

About Me

Name: Mark Little

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

Monday, August 21, 2006

My official weight (on the official scale I've used since I started this journey to improve my health and fitness) is now 176 pounds.

I'm losing weight slightly due to my increased activity training for the Sprint Triathlon on September 2nd (Labor Day weekend). It will be a 750 meter swim followed by a 19 km bike race and a 5 km run... my goal is to finish in under two hours.

I have increased my calories a bit (feels wierd for a formerly obese guy to conciously eat more), but the BMI tables say that even if I weighed 140 pounds I'd still be normal weight for my 6'1" frame.

176 pounds seems fine for me, though. No plans to lose more. I'm not trying to gain or lose weight, prior to this week I contemplated "not gaining weight" periodically. This week I'm contemplating "eating slightly more," to compensate for my triathlon training.

Monday, August 14, 2006

Believe it or not sports fans... this formerly 313 pound man is now a triathlon finisher. Yes, yesterday was my first experience at a triathlon. SWIMMING, BICYCLING & RUNNING!... ALL IN ONE EVENT! It was quite remarkable. After finishing dead last on the first leg, the swim (apparently, because the water was only 3 1/2 feet deep, most participants ran through the water instead of actually swimming the distance), I was then able to pass four people on the bike ride. The last leg of the run was a moderate incline, and I thought to myself, "these legs used to carry 313 pounds, they can handle this." So I "hit the nitros" and sprinted up the hill, passing four more runners, and then coasted down to the finish line. It was awesome. I thought I would include the picture as a kind of "I did it!" to the whole weightloss story.

Thursday, August 10, 2006

Well, I haven't had as much time as I had hoped to finalize my transitions for the short-triathlon this weekend, but since I am not doing this to shatter any records, it will probably be okay. I am driving today to get to the Detroit area. It is a long drive, but I am glad I chose to drive instead of buy an airplane ticket. I would have had a terrible time at the airport after what happened in Britain early this morning. That was just providence.