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| Pre-weight gain |
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| The first time I got overweight after high-school. I was careless and regained the weight. |
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| CBS 4 Great Weight Off click here to watch |
I experience the same anxiety every year at my annual physical. This is when I’m going to get the bad news, I would tell myself. Being obese for more than a decade, I knew what my weight could possibly do to me. High blood pressure. Diabetes. High cholesterol. Heart attack. Stroke. (Gulp!) Early death. My wife, mother, friends, family and co-workers had all told me I needed to lose significant weight, but it wasn’t until a July 2013 visit to my doctor that pushed me into action.
Dr. Humberto Jimenez walked into the examination room and I braced myself for my results. To my relief, the doctor said all my labs came back fine. I exhaled. That's when it happened. The physician noticed my sudden comfort and asked why. I explained how I always expected the worse, considering my weight. My doctor then slowly turned his face to me, paused and looked me straight in the eyes.
“Oh, you WILL get diabetes,” Dr. Jimenez told me. “You WILL get diabetes, high cholesterol or high blood pressure unless you do something about it now, David. You are about to turn 40. If you don’t lose weight now, you never will. Don’t you want to be around to see your daughters grow up?”
That last question was what really shook me. With two daughters under the age of 7, the sheer thought of not being there for my kids’ birthday parties, graduations, weddings and first day of college really scared me. I was going to be there for my kids. I was going to be there for my wife, Lucia. I was going to be there for my family. I needed to make some serious changes. And do it now.
Dr. Jimenez didn’t know it at the time, but he helped set in motion a life-changing, weight loss transformation that not only transformed my body but lifted my confidence and inspired my family.
THE HARDEST CHALLENGE OF MY LIFE
I weighed 260 pounds when I walked into Dr. Jimenez’s office on July 22, 2013. I was around that weight for more than a decade. My wedding day on February 10, 2001 seemed so long ago. I weighed 185 pounds when I walked down the aisle with Lucia.
Dr. Jimenez told me I needed to eat less and exercise. He told me that it would take 2,500 daily calories to maintain my current weight. So dropping to 2,000 calories a day would cause me to lose a pound a week. I needed to work my way to 1,500 calories, which is what a sedentary male my height should be eating. Dr. Jimenez told me I should subscribe to MyFitnessPal, a smartphone app to log all my food.
FEELING TERRIFIED
Food and I have such a great relationship. I love to eat. So it was going to be difficult --- scratch that, incredibly challenging! --- to cut back on all my favorite foods. Bistec empanizado. Platanitos maduros. Flan. Cheeseburgers. I love them all.
I HATE EXERCISE
I also began exercising. Well, walking. There had only been one period in my life that I consistently exercised outside of playing sports at the park with my friends. I would listen to tales people would tell about the euphoria from exercising. I never believed it. In college, I weightlifted for six months with my buddies Ruben, Patrick and Berman. I never experienced any enjoyment from weightlifting. I hated it. It hurt. I got sore. Tired. I never got it. Why would people exercise?
Still, I had to do it. I walked my dog a mile and a half two or three times a week late at night after my kids would go to sleep and would bicycle four to five miles on Saturdays and Sundays. It wasn’t much. But it helped. To my surprise, I lost four pounds in one week. I couldn't believe it. I don’t know if that was just a fluctuation in weight or if it was all water. But that’s all I needed. Those results motivated me. I can do this.
It was difficult, but there was no turning back now. There were nights when I almost broke down. “I’m so hungry,” I would cry out to Lucia. I was also battling a Coke addiction at the same time. But I couldn’t quit. Scott Wilson, our former campus pastor, once told us that boredom and loneliness was an enemy to good decision making. So I began to get busy whenever my cravings would come around. I would do anything necessary to avoid acting on them. I would do yard work, help my mother paint, clean out the pantry, go for a walk, whatever. One time, I spent a whole day cleaning the tile grout with a toothbrush. I would practice delayed satisfaction. If I wanted to eat a certain food, I would make a future date with it. I could only have it if I had enough remaining calories and I had been ‘good’ otherwise.
The lengths I went to avoid my cravings sounded insane, but it worked for me and I wasn’t alone. J.K. Rowling was a good companion for a series of months. I’ve been tolerating my 2½ hour daily commute with the assistance of leadership podcasts, sport radio replays, news reports, religious lectures and interviews. I migrated the podcasts into my walks and bike rides, but I craved something more. At the time I started reading the Harry Potter children's novels. But like exercising, making time for reading is difficult with two kids, homework and long commutes. So I combined the two and got the Sorcerer's Stone audiobook. For the next few months, Harry, Ron and Hermione accompanied me everywhere I’d go. I would listen to the books when I was active and read a few pages before going to bed. I built a long lasting relationship with those seven long books. Thank you, J.K. Rowling!
KEEPING IT A SECRET
I didn’t tell anyone about my diet for a few months. I wanted a before and after comparison. But as the months passed, people started noticing. I lost 10 pounds in two months. My clothes started feeling loose and my co-workers started asking. I would just give a smile and say thank you, but wouldn’t let anyone in. I was afraid of failing. I would hit a plateau and it would frustrate me. Then I cut down my calorie intake from 2,000 to 1,800. Then from 1,800 to 1,600. I would have periods of success and periods of stagnation. But I never quit. By the holidays, everybody was on to my weight loss transformation. I had lost 30 pounds by Thanksgiving 2014. I needed help and motivation to get through Christmas. I couldn’t have done it without the motivation of Lucia, my co-workers and friends. By New Year’s Day 2015, I had lost 38½ pounds. I couldn’t believe it. This was really happening.
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| Slow transformation |
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| Corporate Run 5K |
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| Weight loss in 365 days |
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| The next year's annual check-up with Dr. Humberto Jimenez |
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| Before and After |
My goal was clear. I wanted to get below 200 pounds and I wanted to keep it off. But 2015 would bring on greater goals and new accomplishments. I found myself plateauing more often. I was already close to the 1,500 calorie mark. So something else had to change. Lucia would try to motivate me to exercise, but I would just put it off. She even bought me a heart rate monitor to calculate my burned calories more accurately. Then two things happened. First, Jorge Llovet, a colleague, challenged me to run the Miami 5K Corporate Run. Steeve Joseph, a church leader, invited me to join the church’s basketball group. There’s nothing like a challenge to get a person’s competitive nature going. The fear of embarrassment also had a strong tug.
TIME TO RUN
I started slow and steady with running. I ran years ago, but stopped after suffering shin splints. I was afraid I would get them again.
So I started doing interval walking and jogging. But these intervals were really exaggerated. Again, I didn’t want to get discouraged. So I would walk three minutes and do a light jog for 30 seconds. Sounds lazy, right? It took a long time, but little-by-little those intervals got closer. A two-minute walk and a minute jog soon became a one-minute walk and a minute jog. Soon enough, I ran my first mile since college. I couldn’t believe it! It went from a mile around the neighborhood lake to a mile and a half, then two miles and a week before the Corporate Run, I completed three miles! I had never run that far. I had walked a 5K before, but not this. I was going to run a 5K and I wasn’t ever going to stop or walk.
RACE DAY: OVERWHELMED WITH EMOTION
The Corporate Run 5K in Downtown Miami, held on April 24, 2015 was a rainy and muddy day. But nothing was going to get in my way.
The rain cleared up by the start of the race and we were off. As I turned that first corner, I crossed paths with Katy. A former colleague at CBS, Katy Nadeau-Meagher and I had been paralleling the same life change as we motivated each other on social media. I became overwhelmed by emotion. I couldn’t believe it. I was running a race!
I wasn’t out of breath. I wasn’t tired. I was going to do it. I couldn’t have fathomed this. It started pouring rain again, but nothing was going to stop me. Block after block, mile after mile, I was doing it. As I turned the final corner onto Biscayne Blvd., the rain stopped and the clouds cleared. A setting sun welcomed me as I sprinted the last straight away across the finish line. I did it! Life would never be the same. I was now a runner!
TRYING TO MEET MY GOAL: 200 POUNDS
I weighed 210 pounds by April 2015. I was in a mad dash to lose those last 10 pounds before my 40th birthday on May 23. So I joined Steeve’s basketball group. That was a lot of fun. I hadn’t played basketball consistently since high school and it showed. But at least I was fit. I couldn’t step back and hit the 3-pointer, but I could hustle.
I would scramble for rebounds, sprint for loose balls and pass the ball around the perimeter. I wasn’t winded. I thought I was going to crash during games. I only had endurance problems on that first Saturday. After a swig of Gatorade, I never looked back. Week after week, I started finding my shot again. I still don’t have good ball control or court vision, but I was having a good time. Lucia even bought me a basketball hoop for Christmas, so I can be ready for next season.
A NEW YEAR
I never made my weight goal in 2015. New Year’s Day hit and I was still above 200 pounds. But it’s not a sad story, because I reached other milestones I never could have imagined. I got down to 203 pounds and have stayed consistently around the same weight since. Exercise and portion control is now part of my lifestyle.
I still walk, jog, cycle and shoot hoops on a weekly basis. As a symbolic gesture I got rid of all my big clothes in July, encouraged by my co-worker Eurecka Brown, and treated myself to a new wardrobe on my one-year anniversary. Lucia has been exercising longer than I, so now we’ve got our girls seeing the importance of healthy living.
I pray to never fall back. I lost 32 pounds in 2003 for the “CBS 4 Great Weight Off” (click here to watch) with the Atkins Diet. My motivation was winning a game and not being embarrassed on local TV. The motivation was bad, so I quickly gained the weight back and more. But this time is different. I’m so grateful for the people around me. Many of my friends have also changed their lives with better eating and exercise. Monika, Leo, Tiana, Eddie, Julio, Ruben, Patty, Robert, Anibal and Jennifer started losing weight before me and have reached greater accomplishments. We now motivate each other. Jorge, Natalia, Steeve and others have been great guides and supporters in my journey.
A LIFE-CHANGING CONVERSATION
The thought of being afflicted with diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol never motivated me. It was a physician who changed everything for me. I thank God for Dr. Jimenez. If it wasn't for his direct, stern warning and advice during my annual check up in 2013, it might have been too late to take action.
I can now play with my daughters without getting tired. I can jump on the trampoline with them and run in the park. God is good. I am so grateful for Him and the people He put in my life that in all honesty saved it. Thank you, everyone. There’s no looking back. I have 2016 goals. I’m introducing healthier foods into my diet, expanding my palate and hoping to compete in a triathlon.
Cheers to a New Year, New Goals and New Resolutions.
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