The road to weight loss: an Airman's perspective

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Matthew Hubby
  • 436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  During the next two-and-a-half months, follow me on my journey towards becoming a healthier Airman; I currently weigh 180.1 pounds, my goal is 150.

I'll be the first to admit I am not the most physically fit Airman, nor was I ever. Basic training was hard for me physically, and I am not ashamed to admit there were times when I really wanted to just quit during the workouts.

But I didn't.

I pushed through the eight-and-a-half weeks and came out stronger for it. It's been two years since then, and, unfortunately, I haven't pushed myself as hard as I used to.

A lot of things have changed since I was in basic training. I've gotten married and my wife and I had our first child last November. For me, Making time for physical training isn't an issue; it's keeping the intensity up during workouts, finding the right food to eat and taking the time to cook good healthy meals that can be difficult.

Working out at the gym used to have a calming effect for me. I would go there and I would just run and lift weights. It would help clear my mind of any negative thoughts and emotions I had from the day. I'd come home refreshed and ready to deal with whatever it was that needed to get done around the house.

Then, one day, I started to look at each trip to the gym with a mix of dread and disappointment. A part of me didn't want to be separated from my wife and son, but I knew I had to do it to stay in shape. I'd rig my workouts to go as light as possible, to get in and out of there with minimal effort, not pushing myself at all.

You could say I had been setting myself up for failure. This is counter-intuitive to what I want, which is to succeed and take care of my family.

I was diagnosed with high blood pressure last year, which should have been a sign to me I wasn't doing enough, wasn't pushing enough, but I chose to ignore it. I started putting on weight, another warning I didn't heed. Instead I just sucked in my gut and zipped up my zipper.

Then the Biggest Winner program came along. When it was brought to my attention as something I might be interested in doing, there was a moment I thought about turning it down. However, by realizing that continuing what I was doing would never get me where I want to be, I accepted the challenge.

The Biggest Winner program is made up of 37 teams with 222 members participating. The goal is to be the team with the most amount of weight lost, but there's a slight catch. The weight loss has to be healthy, so each participant is only allowed to log in 3 pounds of weight loss each week.

My initial weigh-in for Biggest Winner was 182.6 pounds. A week later, I'd lost two-and-a-half pounds, bringing me down to 180.1 pounds. I'm 5-feet 5-inches tall, so my goal weight is 150 pounds to be healthy. I have 30 pounds to go, and I will be working hard to get there.
I have been watching what I eat, getting off soda and candy and watching my carbohydrate intake. I started focusing on the green vegetables and low-fat meats like chicken. My love of starchy foods is suffering a bit, but for my goal of 30 pounds, it is worth it.

I have also been doing small workouts during the duty day, taking the time to do a set of pushups and sit-ups every hour. This will only improve my scores on my PT test, which I hope to one day max out.

To that end, I propose a challenge to all Airmen out there: when you are doing something you enjoy, be it watching television, playing videogames or hanging out with your friends, set aside some time to do some pushups and sit-ups, and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised the next time you test, you'll be maxing out those two sections.