Left: Oscar James Frazier, Jr., at 440 pounds. Right: Frazier, today, at 262 pounds. (Photos courtesy of Oscar James Frazier, Jr.)
Oscar James Frazier, Jr., from Bluffton, South Carolina, is 35, 6′1″ tall, and currently weighs 262 pounds. But less than two years ago, he weighed 440 pounds. This is the story of his weight-loss journey.
The Turning Point
In
June 2013, I went to Florida and met some old military buddies.
Everyone looked to be in good shape besides me. During the trip, I
decided to take my two kids to Universal Studios. In the Harry Potter
section, there was a ride we tried to get on where the attendant had me
sit in a test seat to see if I could fit. I couldn’t. I stood there, in
front of a crowd of people, as my children asked me to join them on a
ride I couldn’t get on. I had never been so embarrassed in my life. At
that moment, I decided that nothing would ever happen to me like that
ever again.
The Changes
I
began paying more attention to, and limiting, the calories I was taking
in. I stopped eating out, gave up fried foods, quit drinking alcohol,
and ate more vegetables like spinach, kale, and broccoli. I also drank a
lot of water. I ate a lot of chicken breast, ground turkey, and salmon.
I chose egg whites instead of eggs and even almond milk instead of skim
or whole milk. I evaluated everything I ate and tried hard to cut out
unnecessary calories.
For
months, I walked twice a day for a total of seven miles. I learned that
gaining muscle would also help my body burn fat, so on top of walking I
was working out with weights. On days off, I was doing three to four
hours of exercise.
I
told myself in the beginning that I was going to lose 100 pounds — and I
accomplished that. By June 2014, I had lost 151 pounds. In that year of
losing weight, I graduated from the police academy and also became a
certified fitness instructor. I created a fitness brand called Beast4Fitness so that I could help others struggling with their weight like I had.
The
fact that I set out on a mission and that I stuck to it feels so good.
The ability to focus and stick to what I said I was going to do gives me
the feeling that I can do anything I set my mind to. Now, I have more
energy. I also really like not having to special order my clothes
anymore.
The After
By
the time I lost 100 pounds, I had moved away from Kansas, so not a lot
of people knew about my transformation. When friends and family learned
about my weight loss, many people reached out to me telling me how proud
they were. A lot of them have even started working out and changing
their eating habits because they were inspired. I didn’t expect that to
happen, but I’m so happy it did.
The Struggles
I’m
currently working two jobs, now that I’m a trainer, so finding time to
work out is hard. To make sure I get movement in where I can, I’ll stop
what I’m doing on my job and do push-ups, park my car father away in the
parking lot, and sometimes even jog to the door for no reason other
than to raise my heart rate. When I know I can’t make it to the gym, I
create ways in my daily routine to exercise.
Advice
We
all know what it feels like to start something and then quit, but what
does it feel like to set a goal, stick to it, and finish it? Write down
your current weight and the weight you wish to be, and start working
toward that today. Keep in mind, though, that since you didn’t gain it
all overnight, you won’t lose it all overnight, either. There will be
days when you eat poorly or you miss a workout; we all have setbacks or
fall down. The key is not staying stagnant or beating yourself up.
Forget it and move forward.
The
scale can feel like it’s working against you sometimes. Going two to
three weeks and not seeing the difference we expect on the scale can be
disheartening. What I’ve learned is that just because your weight isn’t
changing, doesn’t mean you’re not losing fat. You’ve got to continue to
work hard and push through those small plateaus. The results will come.
Weight-Loss Win
is an original Yahoo Health series that shares the inspiring stories of
people who have achieved healthy weight loss. The series is authored by
Andie Mitchell, who underwent a transformative 135-pound weight loss of her own. Have a success story of your own to share? We want to hear it. Tell us at YHTrueStories@yahoo.com.
0 comments :
Post a Comment