It was a 2012 New Year’s resolution – to lose weight.
Sound familiar?
Viron Washington of St. Louis actually stuck to his resolution and dropped the pounds, 110 and counting.
Washington, a medical assistant in Radiation/Oncology at Siteman Cancer Center said it was a result of a culmination of issues.
“I had started playing basketball with some friends at work and I could barely make it up and down the court and then, two, I didn’t like the way I looked in general. I didn’t like the way my clothes fit … and I didn’t like being tired and sluggish all the time,” he said.
A little prompting from his physician helped Washington put his obesity in perspective.
“I was never diagnosed with high blood pressure, diabetes or anything along those lines,” Washington said. “He told me that if I didn’t lose any weight, I would be leaning towards that.”
He was motivated to change his previously non-existent workout habits.
As a BJC staffer, Washington has access to an employee gymnasium. He began taking advantage of this benefit by going to straight to the gym after work. Washington’s routine includes taking classes there five to six days a week; cycling, spinning, cardio, weight training. Of course, it was a gradual build up to be able to do that much physical activity.
“The first month, that was the hardest month because … being so out of shape and overweight, that five minutes into working out, I was already dead tired,” he described. “The hard part was building up the tolerance.”
Five minutes on the treadmill one day, increased to six minutes the next day and progressed until he was able to work out for longer periods. Early workouts were only 20-30 minutes in length.
“Now I can stay and put in 45 minutes or an hour and get actually get a good workout in, because I could do it,” he said. Washington said he lost 25 pounds in the first month.
My girlfriend said, ‘Oh I am starting to see it in your face,’” Washington said. You notice it in your clothes, I didn’t notice it too much, but the people around me, they could see it.”
He began to see it too, after a few months. Periodically, Washington said he has to change his exercise routine to break through weight plateaus. Moreover, with exercise classes, his workouts may last as long as two or three hours each day.
Losing weight and increased physical stamina allowed Washington to push himself physically in ways he never imagined; as a participant in two 5K runs last year: Go! St. Louis Marathon held last April and the Glow Run 5K Run/Walk held last September.
“It’s something I never thought in a million years I would want or enjoy doing,” Washington added.
As the experts will tell you, regular exercise, coupled with dietary changes, produces greater weight loss results.
“I changed my diet radically, I cut out the fried foods … the sweets, the sodas, the beers; stuff I enjoyed,” Washington said. “I pretty much cut out all the negative things that contribute to weight gain.”
Easier said than done, but it can be done. For Washington, he said the hardest to give up was fried foods, Chinese foods and sweet drinks. Admittedly, he endured his share of setbacks. Washington said he would gain a few pounds and lose them again.
Furthermore, an employee weight loss challenge just did not work out that well for him. With the goal of losing the weight of a pumpkin in the six weeks before Thanksgiving, Washington first had to unload the “pumpkin” he gained over the summer.
“I had gained 15 pounds from June to October but I lost 21 pounds during that six weeks,” he said. “It’s really easy to go back to the other way. Real easy.”
His Body Mass Index has improved from morbid obesity, and although his current weight of 254 pounds is categorized as obese for his height of 6’2”, he is not worried so much about BMIs.
“Ideally, I’d like to lose another 20-25 pounds,” Washington said. “I think I would be a weight that is comfortable weight for me.”
To find your normal weight range using the BMI calculator, visit http://1.usa.gov/1aHAVvu.
