Andrea Metcalf: 5 Things You Should Do Every Morning
How Exercise Can Lower Your Risk of Alzheimer's Death
Craig's Love Of Sports Helped Him Shed Half His Weight
Posted on Mar 29th 2010 10:00AM by Martha EdwardsFiled Under: Motivation, Success Stories
Name: Craig RosenwaldAge: 49
Height: 5 feet, 4 inches
Before Weight: 360 pounds
How I Gained It: I was always a big kid. My mom was a great cook and eating was always a big part of our frequent family get-togethers. As I grew older, it was not uncommon to grab fast food or grab a quick cheese steak or hoagie for lunch or dinner a few times a week. And Tastykakes were always something I looked forward to after a cheese steak. I continued to live that way for so many years and at some point just I stopped thinking about what I was eating. Exercise was not even a thought.
As I got older, I put on more weight and tried to lose it many times in many ways. I tried the liquid diets. I tried the Atkins diet. They worked while I was on them, but ultimately I went back to my same old ways. I was diagnosed with sleep apnea and was using a BiPAP machine for a few years. Buying clothes was the worst -- I could only shop at the Big and Tall shops.
Breaking Point: I've been a season ticket holder to the Philadelphia Eagles for 20-plus years. The tailgating at Eagles games is legendary. I realized I had a problem when I was finding it difficult to walk back and forth to the games. At the same time, my brother was on the Jenny Craig program and lost about 50 pounds. Seeing his success and how easy it was for him to stick to the program was a big motivator. Plus, there was an office only two miles from home. No more excuses -- I decided to give it a try.
How I Lost It: The Tuesday after Super Bowl 2007, I walked into Jenny Craig and said I was ready to try losing 100 pounds, all the while thinking, "No way this is going to happen." I started the program, and in the first two weeks I lost 20 pounds. That's when I decided it might for work and started to get serious about losing weight.
I was diligent in eating the Jenny Craig food, and was losing weight three to four pounds per week and buying new clothes every three weeks. I bought a used recumbent bike and started to exercise. I would watch the Philadelphia Phillies every night as I rode my bike for 30 to 45 minutes. Thank goodness the Phillies were fun to watch in 2008. As the weight started to come off, I had a store of clothes that I was able to give away to Salvation Army, Goodwill, Purple Heart and other charities. I went from a 62-inch waist to a 38-inch waist. I was able to go shopping at the mall to buy my clothes -- I could never do that before, and it was fun. But more important than the clothes was my blood work. I honestly never had blood work done when I was heavy, but the doctor told me that losing weight was critical. After being on the program and losing 100 pounds, I finally had it done -- I was expecting to be on some medication for either high blood pressure or high cholesterol, but the doctor was as surprised as I was when all my blood work came back completely normal. And my sleep apnea has almost gone away.
I had the total support of my friends, family, employer, fellow employees and my consultant, Jan, to help me stay strong and on the program. I can't thank them all enough. Now that I've lost the weight, I've re-introduced myself to people who have not seen me for years.
I have kept 90 percent of the weight off since then by eating right. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I've learned that food is not something to revolve your life around. It's a little work, but the rewards from eating right are huge. I hope to live many more years than I would have just a few years ago.
After Weight: 180 pounds
Craig re-gained some weight due to surgery and now weighs 210 pounds -- but he's already begun to drop those 30 pounds.
Craig's not the only one who's lost half his body weight -- check out how Keith lost an amazing 200 pounds!
