FRESHWATER
12 June 9- 23, 2017 VOL. 36 • ISS. 13
HOW TO By Cal Kellogg continued from page 11
loss seeking advice on how they can do the same and I expect that there are a lot of folks out there that I’ ve never spoken with face to face that see what I’ ve done and would like to do something similar.
I’ m going to tell you how I did it and how you can do the same, but let me make clear I’ m not a trainer or a doctor. Before you embark on any sort of fitness regime you should visit your doctor to make sure it’ s the right thing for you to do. Here’ s how I attacked the problem.
Admit Where You Are, Acknowledge Where You’ d Like To Be
The first thing I did was admit to myself that I was grossly overweight. Next I admitted why. It wasn’ t my genetics or glands or big bones or the fact that my 3rd grade teacher didn’ t like me. I admitted to myself that I was fat because I ate like a pig. I put the food in my mouth in huge quantities and that’ s how I came to wear size 58 pants!
My long-term goal was to get down to 260 pounds and size 44 pants. My medium-term goal was to get down below 300 pounds within a year and my shortterm goal was to get below 350 pounds as soon as possible.
HOW?
After a lot of online reading I put together a very basic program for myself. First I went to one of the many sites that featured a Basal Metabolic Rate calculator. A BMR calculator takes your age, height, sex and weight and comes up with a caloric baseline. It’ s the number of calories you’ d burn if you just stayed in bed all day without any exercise. My number was 3,200 calories at that time.
Based on that number, I decided to put myself at a 500 calorie per day deficit. That would allow me to lose about a pound per week without exercise, but I planned to work out too for even more fat loss.
In terms of my diet I did two things. First I cut out fast food. Second because I’ m a fisherman and hunter I always have lots of low fat high quality protein on hand in the form of venison and fish fillets. I started hitting fruit stands and the organic veggie section of my supermarket. My meals consisted of meat and veggies and I pretty much cut out processed carbs.
I tend toward binge eating, so I made sure that I always had strawberries, celery and carrots on hand for times when I wanted to binge.
Finally, I consistently drank and continue to drink 1 gallon of water per day. I drink diet soda and coffee too, but to this day I make sure to polish off my gallon of water. It acts almost like a solvent and helps you to process body fat and eliminate toxins from your body.
The Workouts These days I feel great so I lift weights, hike with heavy packs, chop wood and do a lot of other extreme stuff, but early on I did nothing but walk. If you’ re moving, you’ re burning calories. I started out walking around my neighborhood briskly for 30 minutes per day. Soon I expanded to 45 minutes and then an hour. After that I started taking on more challenging up and down ground. These days my typical hike is about 5 miles in the American River Canyon which takes me about 90 minutes.
Supplements
Initially I didn’ t utilize any supplements but as time went by and I started losing fat, I integrated whey protein powder into my diet as well as creatine for faster recovery after challenging workouts.
Over the past two years, I’ ve been taking products from Plexus. My wife introduced me to Plexus. I watched her lose 80 pounds using the products WITHOUT working out.
She explained that Plexus is all natural and GMO free and can help tune up your metabolism and gut health. I was 265 pounds when I started Plexus and it has helped me drop right at 40 pounds of body fat to date … The“ Pink Drink” works, I only wish I’ d discovered it at the beginning of my journey. It would have helped me achieve my goals faster.
Visiting with My Doctor
I love my doctor, but there is no denying that we are the odd couple. She is a soft-spoken 40 something lady from India that stands about 5 feet tall. And of course, I’ m a 6’ 3” inch‘ Merican from Redneck USA.
Yet we see eye to eye on the subject of health. She is a big fan of diet and exercise and doesn’ t really like passing out pills. She often asks me in-depth questions about the weight loss path I’ ve travelled. Apparently, it is exceptionally rare for men over 40 to take off substantial amounts of weight and maintain the loss.
I have a family history that features some heart issues. When I visited her in 2011 I had high blood pressure and was taking medication for it. She ordered a stress test. It showed that one section of my heart was enlarged by 1mm.
“ You really started this program at the right time,” she told me reading my tests.“ When you hear that high blood pressure is a silent killer, one of the things we are referring to is the way it can enlarge the heart. Your heart is just starting to show effects right now. You have nothing to worry about if you lose weight, but if you were to continue down the same path, you’ d like develop serious problems in the not too distant future.”
These days having just turned 50 I’ ve been off high blood pressure meds for several years and have a pretty clean bill of health save for some regular middle age aches and pains.
In a couple months, I’ ll be back in her office again. I’ ve got the curse of all 50 year old men staring me down … The dreaded colon ostomy … Sounds like a good time for all … Yikes!
I’ m Here To Encourage …
Of course, there is more to my overall weight loss programs than the basics outlined above. If you’ d like more information on my program or on Plexus, inspiration or feedback about weight loss, don’ t hesitate to reach out to me. I’ d love to hear your story, offer my support and encourage you to make real and lasting change in your overall health. If you’ re interested shoot me an email at calkellogg @ fishsniffer. com.