Weight Loss FAQ's

Not like we could hide it if we wanted... but obviously Alek and I lost a ton of weight. Quite literally, about 200 pounds between us. Weight loss of this magnitude comes with a lot of questions, and I want to answer them! We'll call them the "Weight-Loss FAQ's" or WLFAQ for short.


WLFAQ #1: What motivated you to lose weight?


Colleen's Answer: "While being overweight, there comes a point in your life where you realize the list of things you won't do or even try is longer than the list of things you will do or want to try. When you live your life around being heavy, you are limiting yourself and your life. In addition, I've always wanted to be a mother. And I was having a hard time picturing myself being able to run after kids. Kids also have this crazy way of looking to parents for guidance and setting a good example. I need to be that example."


Alek's Answer: "To make Colleen happy. I knew she really wanted to do this, and I wanted to be that support system. In hindsight, losing weight was truly something I needed to do for myself, too. But it was absolutely a positive change in my life."


WLFAQ #2: What was the most difficult part of losing weight?


Colleen's Answer: "You're going to think the hardest part was the diet and exercise, but that's just not true. Those were the easy parts. Confronting your own self-worth and self-esteem issues was hardest for me. There is still a part of me convinced that my heavier self wasn't worth my family's love - let alone Alek's love and there is still a part of me that is afraid that if I were to become heavy again, I would be worthless again. People look at me differently, hold doors open for me, offer to help me carry things, and are generally more interested in me as a person now. These noticeable changes in how I'm treated don't help that negative mindset about my former self I'm struggling with. Yes, Tyra Banks, heavy people ARE treated differently!


Oh, and clothes. I am unbelievably tired of spending money on clothes. I can't invest in anything "nice" because it won't fit for long, and I keep thinking of all the money I could have spent on our wedding instead."


Alek's Answer: "I sound like a jerk, but buying new clothes was the worst. I had to completely start over."


WLFAQ #3: How much more weight do you plan to lose?


Colleen's Answer: "I'm probably within 15 pounds of my goal weight. I hate to give a goal in pounds, because 1 thing I learned is muscle takes up more room than fat... so the number on the scale doesn't mean much to a person who weight trains 5 days a week. Believe it or not, I still weigh 176 right now. I also (unfortunately) am carrying an estimated 10-12 pounds in excess skin. I may not lose much more from the perspective of my bathroom scale."


Alek's Answer: "I don't want to lose anymore weight. I'm working on finding what I can eat on a regular basis to maintain my current weight."


WLFAQ #4: How do you find time to go to the gym everyday?


Colleen's Answer: "I literally had to 'make' time. I decided to wake up an hour earlier, hit the gym at about 5:50 AM, shower and go to work. I used to go after work, but things such as weather, being tired, having errands to run, or plans with friends interfered more often than not. Not much can happen at 5:50 in the morning to prevent you from going - and our evenings are free!!"


Alek's Answer: "Colleen is our time manager. When she tells me to wake up, I wake up! Although I am mentally not awake until about 10 minutes before our workout is done!"


WLFAQ #5: What did you eat/how did you do it?!


I recently spent the time typing up a high-level description of what we eat and some pointers. I will put that into a separate post! :)