Mike Green: Nametag

Mike Green, from Nametag has been participating in our wellness program for over a year. He has seen superior results these past few months. Here is his story:

"People keep telling me that losing 31 pounds is a great feature-let me tell you what the real great feat. is, and how it makes weight loss easy.

'Want it.'

Want it? Most of us want to lose weight and/or to be healthy. I know I've struggled with my weight, off and on, since Jr. High School. However, the last four years have been particularly bad. At my peak of fitnessless, I had hit over 300 pounds. Most of the last few years, I've been in the mid 280's, feeding myself at least as many excuses for my weight as fatty, greasy, unnatural foods. Sadly, the excuses weren't just directed toward myself, but to my loved ones as well. Obviously, if there was something medically wrong with my body that made me gain weight, it would have already been taken care of.

This past year, I had honestly made some good attempts at getting consistent exercise. I hadn't seen much change in my weight, though, because I still had a poor diet-which I assumed wasn't so bad because I ate 'just like everyone else.' What a terrible way to think! Most Americans are at least overweight, if not obese. Most people have no problem eating burgers and fries, pizza, potato chips, or cookies... you get the point.

I realized very bluntly that I needed to make the changes in my lifestyle. I couldn't just have 'good days,' I had to have a good life! To accomplish this, I figured out how many calories I needed for my height and frame size to maintain my excess weight. I made it a point to track my intake, and decided to cut out between 500 and 1000 calories per day, because I needed an easy 3,000 calories to maintain. I made sure that every day I was doing what I needed to do to get the right amount of calories from healthy sources, and sometimes added a small 150 calorie snack of my choice. As I continued to make the healthier choices, the choices became easier to make. I wanted the fruit instead of the brownie.

I then made some changes to my largely sedentary lifestyle. I started exercising more and more, and began to like it more each time. It's true when they say old habits die hard, but the same applies to new habits. So get the old bad habits out of the way, and let the good ones settle in for the long haul.

In the end, what it comes down to is what you want. If you want to be healthy, be healthy. I've lost over 30 pounds in the last four months (and still have at least 50 pounds to go), and it's not even a struggle any more. It's natural because it's what I want."