Spotlight: Benjamin Weil
In September of 2019, I was finally done with the way I looked. I’m 5’10 and had reached my largest weight of 204 lbs (which isn’t a ton of weight in comparison to others but it was all fat/no muscle) and I was getting sick with colds monthly. I wouldn’t sleep well and I was unemployed which made the days at home very depressing. I would wake up and tell myself I would eat healthy, and when it came time to make my lunch of tuna salad and carrots, I decided to grab a couple tortilla chips to eat with the tuna, and instead would eat the full bag.
So I decided that when October rolls around, I was going to do the Tom Segura/Bert Kreischer “Sober October” challenge- eat clean foods and work out regularly and see how fit I can get in one month. Because I have done diets in the past that have resulted in fast weight loss but the weight came back (and also the intense diet gave me gallstones and I had to get my gallbladder removed), I decided that I wanted the challenge to be less of a “month long marathon” and more of a push in the right direction to having sustainable healthy habits. I did a month of regular workouts- basketball, lifting, ab exercises, and ate low to no carbs/sugar. When October was over, I decided that I would allow myself to eat whatever I wanted during holidays or vacation time, but come right back to clean eating when it was finished. I enjoyed thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, but as soon as the holiday was over, I was back.
From October to December, I got down to 177 lbs. My initial goal was to get below 175 lbs but by doing it in a sustainable way (not by eating 500 calories/day for one month and achieving it fast but not healthy). I continued on my health journey in January and decided that when February rolled around, I would start allowing myself to eat all my favorite foods on the weekend. Instead of one cheat meal or cheat day- I would give myself the weekend (I’m not trying to be a body builder, right?). It was a great decision. I would workout HARD for 5 days and eat clean and then get all my favorite things. Sure, it started to annoy my girlfriend that I would plan my weekend meals starting on Monday, but we made it work. And then… COVID.
In the first weeks of lockdown and not being able to go to the gym, my girlfriend suggested that we run outside and do ab workouts inside. I had never done much cardio in my life but decided to try it out. We started running regularly - 2-3x a week and went from doing an average of 1.5 miles to 2-2.5. My biggest goal was that I wanted to come out of the pandemic with having kept up my healthy habits. I wanted to look in the mirror and be excited. As the months kept going, we eventually got a pull-up bar and dumbbell. We started allowing some sugars like fruits and various types of vegetables, rice, etc. into our weekly clean diet. I finished 2020 weighing 145 lbs.
So far in 2021, the healthy lifestyle has stuck- eat mostly clean meals during the work week, and have some fun on the weekends. We run an average of 2.5-3.5 miles 3x a week, I do ab workouts 2x a week, and arms 2x a week. It isn’t a body builder amount of lifting, but it has kept me at this current stage of 148 lbs, strong core and working on my obliques! I love that it has become a lifestyle and not a quick diet. Thank you for your inspiration and for showing the pathway for me and so many people around the world. Something that I think is so SO important is that I know I couldn’t have done any of this (50lbs of weight loss) without the support I had. I am a terrible cook and my incredible fiancée completely changed her diet to be able to cook healthy dinners for us every night of the week. She loves running and pushed me to try it. She is 100% the reason why I’m able to make the mental shift from chicken nuggets to broccoli. Additionally, I have a stable job and supportive family and friend group- all essential to being able to take the mental leap of making a lifestyle change.
Thank you again for the inspiration!
Ben