bobbi+mike

This week, a guest blog… from the famous Dane. You know… THE DANE… the Dane who has lost over 50% of his body weight. ARE YOU KIDDING ME???

Here’s a quick refresher if you’ve forgotten or you’re new here…

In the beginning of his own personal healthy train (the first two are from high school/beginning of college… the last few were from more recently):

Here he is 2.5 years later…

I’m STILL blown away every time I see those.

I asked him to write about annnnnything he wantedSo without further ado… heeeeere’s DANE!

Hey, Healthy Train! This is Dane, one of the guys from the last HT, stepping into the blogger spot for our fearless leader. How did you guys do this week?!

I think for almost everyone, no matter where you live, it’s starting to get hot. And when it gets hot, it’s hard to want to get outside and be active (we love our air conditioning!). But grab your water bottle and get outside because this is the BEST season of the year to get sweaty and burn some calories!

For those of you who don’t know me, let me bring you up to speed a bit. I’ve been working consistently to get healthy for the last two years. I grew up in a tiny town in the middle of Missouri where it didn’t seem like a big deal for me to be fat, it was an acceptable part of our community. But by the time I was 22 and weighed almost 500 pounds, I knew that being morbidly obese wasn’t the way I wanted to live, and I decided to do something about it.

I’ve lost over 230 pounds (over 50% of myself!) in the last two years, through diet and exercise. I’m living a completely different life, doing things that I never thought were possible. I ran the Indianapolis Mini Marathon in May—which was a dream come true—I’m hiking with friends, and I’m really happy with the person I’ve become. I can walk into a store in the mall and clothes that will fit me, I believe in myself more. I may have to deal with extra skin and embracing the fact that I don’t have an athlete’s body, but I’m okay with that. What I’ve gained by losing weight is overwhelming, and I couldn’t be more thankful for the journey.

In March I had the amazing opportunity to travel to Cote d’Ivoire, West Africa, and I had one of the best experiences, it was one of those trips that I really needed, and that I learned so much on. The things that I saw and the realizations that I had made for a really great trip that I’m so grateful to have taken.

One thing I did learn is that traveling and living a healthy lifestyle are really hard to put together. We flew Air France, and the french love to serve up rich yogurts, cheeses, breads and butters at any opportunity they have. Everything was slathered in rich cream and while it was among the best airplane food I’ve had, I didn’t even want to think about the calories I was ingesting. Add to that the 90+ degree heat we experienced every day (which made working out impossible), and you’ll find me eating more calories than I’m burning. joy. I’m not quite sure how much weight I gained on the trip, but it was at least six pounds. It was annoying to say the least, but my mentality with weight gain is that I’ve seen that number before, and I know I can see it go down again.

As I set out to lose those pounds that I found, I went back to my daily routine, eating what I should, training for the Indy Mini — living my normal life. And then, on April 27, at 12:17 a.m., I got the call that I’d been waiting on for months. My nephew was on his way into this world—I was going to be an uncle.

As I rushed home to Missouri to experience the birth of my nephew, I kept thinking how excited I was to simply meet this little boy. I think kids are generally a lot of fun, but this was the first baby for our family, and is also the child of my little sister. Add to all of those things the excitement I had for the fact that this little boy was going to meet me as I am today, and needless to say I couldn’t get there quick enough.

Later that night, as I looked into his eyes I couldn’t help but think how he’d never know a ‘big’ Uncle Dane, an Uncle Dane who couldn’t chase him around the park, an Uncle Dane who was addicted to over eating. He was meeting a thin, active and happy Uncle Dane, an Uncle Dane who wants to be his example of those things for the rest of my life.

I tell you all of this to say that sometimes you have to find something in your life that will keep you going. I like to call these “Non-scale victories”. Need some ideas of what these may be? I’ve got ideas:

Some people will hang a piece of clothing up to remind them of what they used to look like (or what they want to look like).

Keep a photo of yourself on your fridge so you are reminded of your hard work when you really want to splurge.

Take your measurements. You wouldn’t believe how much your body changes ALL OVER as you’re losing weight.

Personally, my nephew is my motivation to stay the course, he reminds me that I’m worth it and that others are depending on me to stay healthy. I’m closer to my goal weight than I’ve ever been, but I also know that when I get there, I have to maintain that weight. But my nephew is more than motivation for right now, he’s a motivation for my life, and even though he cries and poops his pants, I’m excited to see where life takes us. If there are a few things I know about the future, it’s this: It’s going to be happy, healthy and full of fun, because I’m finally living the life I’ve always wanted.

I wish you all the best as you work towards a better you.

Keep moving,
dane.

I have to show you all this… I’ve been watching him train for the Indianapolis Mini Marathon via Twitter for a while and when these photos popped up on Facebook, I couldn’t stop crying/smiling.

A man who was nearly 500 lbs 2.5 years ago just ran THIRTEEN and a half miles. AYFKM?! When I think about that… it brings me goosebumps. Seriously, at this moment… I’m covered in them.

He makes me think that I could run the mini next year! (and I HATE running! The most I’ve ran at one time was 8 miles ((in the Army)) and I think I nearly died… okay, not really… but it was pretty intense… I was puke central. G-R-O-S-S!)

A HUGE thanks to you Dane for that. I know how uncomfortable it is sharing such a vulnerable side of yourself so publicly so… thank you… beyond words. You are an incredible person and I’m lucky to know you and call you my friend.

PS. you need a real point and shoot… your iPhone pics aren’t doing your amazing life justice. You can thank me later

Here is a photo that I took of the new him a couple of months ago

SO, how’d you all do these last two weeks? Me = down 4.3% BAAAAABIES! (since the beginning of this round of healthy train)

TOTAL since the BEGINNING of the ORIGINAL healthy train? 19.9% uhm… let me pick my jaw up off of the ground! I’ve gotta tell you… the first 10 even 20 lbs… I didn’t see a HUGE difference but the more weight I lose… even the smaller numbers are showing a difference. I’ve not had this kind of confidence in myself in YEARS. I am like a completely different person than I was 2 years ago.

Yes yes yes, feeling GOOD about that

And for the top five six:

Wow Jill! Get it girl.Can’t wait to see your progress pic in a month

Jessica, you made it!!! (her mini goal was to make it into the top 5) BOOOOOOOYAH!

As for why there are six instead of the usual five… Scott has been SUCH an incredible motivator both on twitter and with the Facebook group… and he’s working SO ridiculously hard… annnnnd… he’s only .02% below #5. Whatever, it’s my train… so I can break the rules if I want

Mini goal for the next two weeks?

No eating after dinner.

What’s yours? (like always… put it in the comment section to keep yourself accountable!)

To those on the train, be sure to weigh in via the Google doc!

Speaking of the Google doc… PLEASE only fill in your own box.Also, no deleting… anything, ANYTHING! k, thanks

A few quick reminders:

• Next official weigh in is July 9.
• If you’re a twitterer, be sure to add the hashtag #healthytrain to your HT tweet.
• Join  “bobbi’s healthy train” group on Facebook… ANYONE can join… not just the people with the before pics. My trainer is an admin … so if you have fitness questions, ask ‘em there!  Dane is also an admin, so if you have questions about diet/need motivation… he’s the guy to talk to. We’d love to have you…
• You don’t have to be officially competing to participate.
• If you haven’t measured yourself yet, DO IT!
• We’ll be taking optional “progress pics” July 23 to keep the motivation levels high, oh… and I fully expect the top 5 to join in on that, we’d love to see what these huge numbers are looking like… OHHHH YESSSSSS!!!!
• Finale date is October 29th.

I adore you guys… thanks for keeping us all motivated!

LOVE!!!!!

~bobbi