10 Weight Loss Tips From The Once Fat QBQ! Guy

Four years ago today, something yuge happened in my life. Carrying a whopping 195 pounds on my 5’ 6” frame, I walked around the block.

Allow me to define “whopping”: In 1976, as a high school senior, I wrestled in the 132-pound weight class. (a photo and some powerful personal accountability content here)

The reality is, I’d become fat. Yes, fat.

Sadly, the top right April 2012 picture confirms I looked like Elvis in his final days.

But, the day after my walk around the block, I walked to a nearby intersection and back.

Two miles!

I then walked 2 miles the next day, then 3, then 4, and then 5 on some days. Before I knew it, I’d lost 43 pounds—and have kept it off.

I feel a hashtag coming on …

#SUCCESS!

Jack Lalanne—the original fitness guru who I watched my mother watch on black & white TV in the 1960s—famously said, “Exercise is King, Diet is Queen. Combine the two and you have a healthy kingdom.”

Thus, there is another half to my #SUCCESS equation: calorie intake.

Ask me what I’ve been eating and I’ll answer with one word: “Less!”

Yes, yes, I know—it’s a “diet plan” that won’t ever sell on TV.

Walk a lot and take in fewer calories and you’ll never be fat!

Not much of a commercial. Why?

Too simple. Too obvious. Too inexpensive. Too truth-based.

So, I’m celebrating today going from beached whale status to getting comments like this:

I walked into the Olathe, Kansas community center the other day and was greeted by a favorite client—Husqvarna VP of HR, Debbie Slocum (pictured above). Because we’ve done business for a decade, she knows me as well as any buyer can know the salesperson who sells her stuff.

She took one glance my way and said, “John! You’re half the man I once knew!” and gave me a hug.

The hug was nice, but being called “half the man”??? Even better.

Allow me to share what I’ve learned …

Ten quick and casual weight loss lessons:

1. Eat less than you burn off each day, even if it’s a tiny bit.
2. Stop looking for the closest parking spot to the building. Move more!
3. NO EXCUSES. Read: 5 Lessons Learned When I Quit Making Excuses
4. View food as fuel, not fun.
5. Begin today, since tomorrow never comes.
6. Start small on purpose, like walking around the block.
7. Don’t buy the “everything in moderation” myth. I put pounds on standing next to pizza, much less trying to eat just one slice.
8. No health club needed. Really.
9. Always keep this principle in mind: Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.
10. Ignore people who try to shame you into eating, saying, “Oh come on, it’s only one piece of cake!” Do it your way.

In the end, just like success in any endeavor, it’s about personal accountability.

Zig Ziglar, the most famous “motivational speaker” of all time, once said, “For years I was overweight by choice because I never accidentally put anything into my mouth.”

So, no more blame. No more victim thinking. No more procrastination.

NO MORE EXCUSES.

Just an accountable question. We call it The Question Behind the Question—or QBQ:

“What can I do today to take ownership of my problem?”

Then do it.

Of the ten quick and casual lessons above, which will you apply today?

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