He Cut Body Fat According to Plan
Over the past few years, I had gradually found myself not liking how I looked or felt. I decided that needed to change, so I made a commitment to myself that I intended to keep.
For 1998, I made a resolution to cut my body fat in half. I wasn’t sure how much half was, but saying “half” sounded good and felt attainable.
Initially, I spent some time gathering information from books and magazine articles on nutrition, exercise programs, motivation techniques and habit formation. From all of this, I gleaned what I felt would work for me. I took pictures, measurements and initiated my plan.
It included these guidelines:
Nutrition / Diet
* Multivitamin supplementation daily.
* 90 to 120 ounces of water daily.
* 2,000 to 2,400 calories daily.
* Protein and carbohydrate intake with each meal.
* Dietary cheat day, one day a week.
Exercise / Sleep
* Aerobic activity (brisk walk, jumping rope, bag work or stationary bike), 20 to 30 minutes, four times a week before breakfast.
* Lifting weights, 45 to 60 minutes, three or four times a week.
* Sleep six to eight hours a night.
Motivation
* Read out loud, each morning and night, the accomplishments I wanted to achieve during the year.
* Visualize for five minutes every morning the “me” that I was working toward and the steps I needed to take to get there.
* Take pictures every month to see my progress.
Habit Formation
* Each night, prepare a list of things that I needed to accomplish the following day that would take me a step closer to my desired goal.
I reached that goal in July 1998, reducing my body fat from 24% to 10%. I lost 32 pounds of fat and gained 23 pounds of lean body mass. My body weight decreased from 225 pounds to 216 pounds. I have continued to make gains since then because of the support I received from my wife and children and the healthy lifestyle habits I formed.
Today, I like how I look and how I feel. If I can do it, so can you.
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Vital Statistics
Name: Anthony Dale
Age: 43
Occupation: Actor
Old Weight: 225 pounds, 24% body fat
New Weight: 216 pounds, 10% body fat
Height: 5 feet, 11 inches
Time to Get There: 19 weeks
Want to Share Your Success Story?
The How I Did It column is taking on a new shape. In the past, we’ve asked you to share your success stories about losing weight. We still want to hear those stories, but we also recognize that there is more to physical fitness and staying in shape than weight management.
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