A Few Small Changes Can Make a Big Difference

It’s been 13 years since I’ve seen the underside of 200 pounds. I can’t count how many times I’ve tried to lose weight. This year, I once again made my New Year’s resolution to drop the old spare tire.

At my all-time high of 230 pounds, I decided to try again and set my goal to lose 30 pounds. But this time I would do it a little differently--which underscores the best advice I’ve heard: Try different things and keep trying until you find what works for you.

I’ve cursed genetics and metabolism enough to know that you must focus on the things you can change, accept the things you can’t change and pray for the wisdom to see the difference.

This time around I made a few adjustments that seemed small at first, but weren’t so small after all.

The first was to take beer out of my diet. Duh! This was harder for me than for most beer lovers because I have been playing rugby for more than 11 years. It’s a demanding game that provides for a great workout; however, the social functions all seem to involve beer.

After every game, the home team throws a keg party. I tended to more than replenish the calories I had burned in the form of suds. I think eliminating these empty calories got me off to a good start.

Second was to increase my workouts from three or four times a week to five or six times a week. I’ve always been athletically inclined, but I’ve found that this extra one or two workouts per week seems to make an enormous difference.

I also used to weight train a few times a week. Although good for you, weightlifting does not burn the calories necessary to stimulate weight loss.

Getting into the gym five to six times a week is tough enough, and since I don’t have time to stay for more than an hour at a time, the weights will have to wait.

Third was to find the right aerobic exercise. Believe me, I’d tried them all. My advice: Find that one activity that does it for you. In my case, it’s the stationary bike because it makes me sweat like nothing else, and it lets me read at the same time.

I’m always sure to have good reading material to occupy my mind and speed the passage of time during the 45 minutes to an hour that I’m on the bike. This is vitally important in dealing with the boredom factor. Many people find it hard to put in a long workout because the boredom is more difficult to tolerate than the workout itself.

Step four is minimizing my meals at restaurants. This too may sound like common sense, but I didn’t realize until I stopped eating out how bad I am when it comes to restaurant meals. I hate the fact that some restaurants charge a premium for the “lite” or “low fat” meals. I’ve always felt that if I’m gonna pay the money, I might as well eat the good (read: bad) stuff. My solution is to not pay the money at all.

These factors have enabled me to lose weight for the first time in my 36 years.

So far I’ve lost 24 pounds. Along the way I expect to gain some back only to have to work harder to lose them again. At least now I know how to do it. I’ll just go back to the drawing board and tweak my program until I find what new combination will get me past these last few pounds.

It’s like a baseball game in which you’re the batter, but you get as many swings as you want. As long as you don’t stop swinging you’ll eventually hit that home run. And when you do, you’ll be more proud of yourself than ever before!

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

The Vital Statistics

Name: David W. Ortolf

Age: 36

Occupation: Insurance agency owner

Old Weight: 230 pounds

New Weight: 206 pounds

Time It Took to Get There: eight months

Feel Like Sharing Your Success Story?

Losing weight is as individual as gaining weight. Do you have a story on how you got in shape and stayed there? If so, we’d like to hear from you with a 500-word essay listing what worked in terms of diet, exercise, encouragement / support as well as your emotional and physical changes.

We’d also like you to send us full-body color photos of you, before and after.

Send essay and photos to “How I Did It,” Health, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053, and include daytime and evening phone numbers. No phone calls, please. Submissions cannot be returned.

In addition to publication, winners will receive a Los Angeles Times gym bag and a gift certificate for a free pair of athletic shoes of your choice, redeemable at any Big 5 Sporting Goods store.