Before I jump into the details, I should first say that I am not writing these things to make anyone feel guilty about the state of their health. I'm not here to judge or shame you. On the other hand, if what I say makes you a little uncomfortable, I'm OK with that. If my words nudge you out of your comfort zone, great. If my story encourages you to take proactive steps to improve your health, all the better.

Also, you should know that I've been where you might be right now—wishing you could find the motivation to lose a "few" pounds or shrink your waistline by a "few" inches. That dilemma was a personal war I waged for much of my adult life. But sometimes we are given the opportunity to redeem our struggles. We can turn something unpleasant into something positive by sharing the lessons we've learned with others. Doing so gives them the chance to learn from our struggles by following the trail we've already blazed.

That brings me to my long-term battle against a bulging waistline.

Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash

I was a chubby kid. Unfortunately, I inherited a slow metabolism from my mom. This fact laid the foundation for what would turn out to be a lifelong struggle with my weight. And to some extent, it enabled me to remain slightly overweight for much of my adult life. It gave me an excuse.

I achieved a reprieve from my battle when I incorporated more and more sports into my life in my teenage years. In those days, my level of activity exceeded my caloric intake nearly every day. I was able to ride that wave into my late 20s. By then, though, my "grown-up" life—family and career—started catching up with me. The size of my waistline gradually started creeping up. When I finally started taking proactive steps to turn that tide in the right direction, I weighed about 220 pounds (about 99.8 kilograms). My waistline had peaked at 42 inches (106.7 centimeters). Since I am 6 feet 2 inches (about 1.88 meters) tall, these numbers classified me as officially overweight, on the slow train to obesity.

At this weight, my Body Mass Index (BMI) was 28.2, which was way too close to the obesity range. Maybe even a better measure of your health is waist-to-height ratio (WHtR). So for me, I calculated this value by dividing 42 inches (my waist measurement) by 74 inches (6'2", my height), which yielded a ratio of 0.57. The optimal target for this metric is 0.5, or 50%. Since my ratio of 0.57 was bigger than 0.5, clearly I was right to be concerned. 

For detail regarding calculating your BMI and WHtR, please refer to the bonus section "Notes / Additional Details" after this post. 

Photo by Ehimetalor Akhere Unuabona on Unsplash

Here's why it's important to pay attention to these metrics. Earlier I alluded to potential health risks associated with obesity, or even being overweight. According to the CDC Web site (among others), here are some of the many health risks if you are overweight:

• All-causes of death (mortality).
• High blood pressure (hypertension).
• High LDL cholesterol, low HDL cholesterol, or high levels of triglycerides (dyslipidemia).
• Type 2 diabetes.
• Coronary heart disease.
• Stroke.
• Gallbladder disease.
• Osteoarthritis (a breakdown of cartilage and bone within a joint).
• Sleep apnea and breathing problems.
• Many types of cancer.
• Low quality of life.
• Mental illness such as clinical depression, anxiety, and other mental disorders.
• Body pain and difficulty with physical functioning.

The WebMD Web site has a nearly identical list. Additionally, I have direct experience with this correlation between weight issues and health risks. My mom, who was overweight, battled two different types of cancer before passing away in her early seventies.

That's why it was so important for me to turn the tide on the way things were going with my waistline.

Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

I discovered two very similar programs:  MyFitnessPal and Noom (these are links to their Web sites, but they both have phone apps, which is usually how I used their tools). I refer to them as programs because they are so much more than diets. They are educational curricula, exercise trackers, fitness coaches, and calorie counters all rolled together. Here's the thing:  exercising daily and eating a vegetarian diet, my thinking was that I should have been doing enough to trim my waistline—but it wasn't happening, leading to enormous frustration. Can you relate?

That's why I decided to give one of these programs a try. I started with Noom, but eventually settled on MyFitnessPal. They designed a program specifically catered to my needs. For example, they asked me how much weight I wanted to lose and how quickly I wanted to lose it. Based on my answers, plus the amount of exercise I wanted to do (which is what I was already doing), they gave me a calorie budget that I was allowed to consume each day.

One useful aspect of this approach was that they didn't restrict me on how I could spend those calories on any given day. For example, if one day I wanted to have a dessert, I could splurge a bit, but then I would have to consume fewer calories for another meal. 

Of course, the education portion of the program provided a lot of useful information about nutritious foods that would make me feel full faster and for a longer period of time. But it was up to me to decide what to eat, and how much of it. Doesn't that sound better than so many of the popular diets?

Photo by Tim Foster on Unsplash

One of the biggest eye-openers for me was that when it comes to losing weight, in general, exercise does not matter as much as what you eat and how much you eat. An exception to this guideline would be if you are doing an extreme amount of physical activity, such as training for a marathon.

Another thing I learned is that if you eat the right things, you don't have to starve yourself to lose weight. For instance, you can pretty much each as much broccoli and green, leafy vegetables as you want (and can tolerate!). And there are plenty of other tasty examples.

Photo by Dan Gold on Unsplash

I have to admit that when I started on these programs, I wasn't terribly optimistic. I had been trying to lose weight in various ways for over 10 years. But I never really had much success. So, even though I really needed to lose at least 40 pounds, I set my initial goal weight to 210 pounds—only losing 10 pounds. With these programs, though, I was able to hit that target in about a month. I decided to push it a bit. I set for myself a seemingly impossible goal:  200 pounds.

You know what else I learned?  "Impossible" is only an excuse you tell yourself when you don't want to leave your comfort zone. "Impossible" is what you achieve over time if you take small but focused steps each day toward your goal.

When I achieved this "impossible" goal after only a couple months, I decided to really go crazy. I thought I'd shoot for an ideal weight for my height:  180 pounds. At 180, my BMI would be just over 23, well within the "healthy" weight range. From a waistline perspective, it would get me back to around a 36" waist, which would put me just under the recommended 0.5 WHtR.

It took a bit more doing, but I once again achieved "impossible". In fact, I am now maintaining a healthy weight of 175 pounds My BMI is about 22.5 and (with a 34" waist) my WHtR is 0.46. And I have to tell you, I feel better now than I did 20 years ago!

But this isn't about me. What outcomes would you like to strive for? What would it mean to your spouse and children if you were able to drop your BMI and WHtR into the healthy range? What would your lifestyle look like if you were 10 or 20 pounds lighter?

Another cool outcome is that my wife decided to give the program a try herself. She was initially skeptical of the MyFitnessPal and Noom programs. But she couldn't deny my remarkable results. And now she, too, has lost nearly all the weight she wanted to lose. She looks and feels terrific!

Photo by Everton Vila on Unsplash

When it comes to weight loss, there's always a nagging question. Will I be able to keep it off?? 

As an example, my wife had previously signed up with one of those companies that sells shakes and granola bars and other packets that resemble food, all of which help you lose weight. She did reach her desired weight, but then she gradually gained it back as soon as she stopped eating their weird food. Here's the thing:  you can't eat that weird food forever. And when you go out to a restaurant, they don't usually sell weight-loss shakes and bars. Or weird food, unless that's the kind of restaurant you picked.

It has been about a year since I hit my ideal weight, and I've been able to maintain it without much difficulty. There have been a few times (like the holidays!) where I have allowed myself to intentionally deviate a little bit, and I've gained a few pounds. But now I know what to do to get back to my ideal weight—and I do it.

Another huge benefit to programs like these is the knowledge and confidence you gain to make small behavior changes, which enable you to keep the weight off for good.

Have you ever lost weight, then struggled to keep it off? If so, you're not alone. A program like MyFitnessPal or Noom might provide just the help you need to win that battle once and for all.

Why was this transformational journey so important to me? I want to do everything I can to avoid those health issues listed above. Of course, some health issues are unavoidable and beyond your control, but why would you not want to take proactive steps to prevent the health risks that you can control? 

I hate to say this because I know it sounds preachy (and that's the last thing I want to be), but I've learned from my own experience that being overweight is a choice. It is a result of a series of less-than-optimal choices, day after day, year after year. Undoing that takes proactive, mindful decisions—better choices, day after day, year after year. 

How would you feel if you chose to be healthy? How would it improve your retirement years? Is there something you'd like to do that you don't think you'd be capable of right now?

You don't need to worry about "being disciplined". That will come with making one right choice at a time. When you have a choice to make (to eat this, not that, or whether or not to take that walk around the block), just ask yourself where you want to be in your retirement years. Do you want to be in a doctor's waiting room? Or would you rather be on the beach or in the mountains or in an art museum (or whatever your paradise destination of choice is)?

Wherever you choose to look for motivation, I am confident you can do it. If I did it, you can do it. What goals will you set for yourself? What is one thing will you do today to point yourself in the direction of achieving them? That's all it takes—one right choice today. And then another one tomorrow.

If your weight and waistline are not where you'd like them to be, I encourage you to do your future self a favor and take proactive steps today—before it's too late—to improve your health. It won't be easy, but few things really worthwhile are. And this transformation is definitely worthwhile. 

Your future self will be glad that you took control of your health.

I've add this "postscript" section to include a few additional data points and other details. This information isn't essential to the content of this article, but I included it here in case anyone else out there is a data geek like me. So the information is here in case you're interested, but it's purely optional bonus content.

Let's spend a moment clarifying the metrics. There are a number of ways to gauge whether your weight is within the healthy range. Weight itself isn't really the best measure since it does not take your height into account. Thus, a common metric is Body Mass Index, or BMI. There's a tricky formula for calculating BMI, so fortunately there's a Web site that will do it for you. 

Once you've calculated your BMI, there's a standard chart that shows the different category ranges. The list below is from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Web site. It pertains to adults 20 years of age and older:

• If your BMI is less than 18.5, it falls within the underweight range.
• If your BMI is 18.5 to <25, it falls within the healthy weight range.
• If your BMI is 25.0 to <30, it falls within the overweight range.
• If your BMI is 30.0 or higher, it falls within the obesity range.

Obesity is frequently subdivided into categories:

• Class 1: BMI of 30 to < 35
• Class 2: BMI of 35 to < 40
• Class 3: BMI of 40 or higher. Class 3 obesity is sometimes categorized as “severe” obesity.

BMI is certainly a good way to measure and predict health risks associated with your weight—for most people. A problem arises, however, for athletes and anyone who is very fit because muscle weighs more than fat. This means that BMI (and weight, for that matter) can be incorrectly skewed if you are muscular and have a low percentage of body fat. Thus, there are a number of studies (including this one described on the ScienceDaily Web site) indicating that your Waist-to-Height ratio (WHtR) is an even better predictor of weight-related health risks than BMI.

It's also easier to calculate and to remember the ideal target. To determine your WHtR, simply divide your waist circumference (here's the correct way to measure that) by your height. According to an article published on the National Institute of Health's (NIH's) Web site, each person's goal should be to keep that ratio at 0.5 (50%) or less.