The Weigh I Was

On a great spring day in May 2008, my son, Justin, and I, doing some father-son bonding, enjoyed an afternoon at Tropicana Field watching a Tampa Bay Ray’s pre-season game. While enjoying a drink at the Brew House, I asked the bartender to snap a picture of us to capture the moment. After a long evening of drinking numerous 40 oz Bud Lights and eating two buckets of butter-drenched popcorn, we decided to call it a night. The next day I synced my pictures with my laptop and was horrified by the image that appeared before me. The person in the picture look nothing like the reflection I saw every morning in the mirror. The person in the picture was a 40-year-old fat guy who was oblivious to anything healthy. A guy living with the notion that he was still a 20-something and need not worry about heart disease, diabetes or cholesterol.

I decided to evaluate my daily eating habits and was shocked with the results. I would start my day with four cups of coffee, supplemented with chips and donuts, instead of a balanced breakfast. That led nicely into a lunch full of deep-fried, high-calorie, fast food from McDonalds, further clogging the arteries. In the evening, my unhealthy diet slipped into high gear: a big, fatty steak, loaded baked potato and lots of bread. I would wash this down with either two or three Black Russians or a six-pack of beer.

Without noticing it my weight had swelled from 160 lbs to a whopping 227 lbs. This would not be so bad if I was 6’ 3”, but I am 5’ 7.” Looking at this picture of the real me, I realized my body was starting to resemble a Hershey’s Kiss . . . not very attractive. Every day tasks, such as tying my shoes, climbing a flight of stairs, or just walking around my job site, left me winded.

I decided it was time a change.

At the time, I had just started a new project for The Salvation Army, which was scheduled to complete in eight months. Also, around the same time Hennessy started a corporate membership discount for employees wanting to join the YMCA. I convinced myself that I could do this. If I would start a regimen of diet and exercise, I would be at my goal weight by the time I finished the construction project.
I started the same way we all do - with the kitchen purge. To eliminate all temptations, I threw away all the “bad” food in my cupboards and went to the grocery store to purchase every diet and health food I could find. This is the same process I took with every diet attempt. As Albert Einstein once said, "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." Fortunately, for me, this time would be different.

It was near the beginning of my new regimen that I received a visit from a subcontractor that had lost a very noticeable amount of weight. He shared his success story with me and, before the day ended, I had made an appointment with Dr. Cesar Lara.

The weight loss program prescribed to me was different than any I had tried in the past and the results were virtually immediate. I’ll be honest, the first couple of weeks were difficult, but it paid off. At my first weigh in I had lost 12 lbs! All of a sudden the size 40” pants were falling off of me and the size 38” pants fit comfortably.

At that point, I knew I could really do this. I thought it would be easy at first. Twelve pounds in one week would put me at my goal weight in just six short weeks!

Well, that wasn’t the case. It was a lot of work. I started an exercise regimen combined with the assigned diet from Dr. Lara. In a very short amount of time, I noticed that the aches and pains I used to wake up with every morning were gone; I no longer got winded doing everyday tasks; and my body was changing before my very eyes.

I reached my goal weight of 163 lbs. in six months and was ready to try out my new lifestyle change without the aid of Dr. Lara. I am proud to announce that after a year I am still within the guidelines I have set for myself and have not noticed a weight gain.

Today I eat a sensible breakfast within 20 minutes of waking up, a healthy snack around 9am, a lunch void of fast food, another healthy snack in the mid-afternoon, and a satisfying, but properly portioned, dinner around 5pm. I don’t work out as often as I’d like due to my work schedule, but I am still trying to get to the gym three times a week.

All of the changes in my body have drastically improved not only my self esteem and my work attitude, but also eliminated the need for medication to control my cholesterol and blood pressure. I feel like a new man. My energy level is radically improved. In this time of poor investments, this is by far the best investment I’ve ever made.

Posted by Al Marr

Al Marr’s impressive weight loss continues to inspire his co-workers. One co-worker after another has signed on with Dr. Lara due in large part to Al’s story and encouragement. To date, Al and his fellow weight loss buddies have lost a total of 300 pounds and counting.