Add Support, Subtract Weight:  

In the battle to lose your belly, strength comes in numbers. But not reps or calories: The more people you have on your support team, the more encouragement you'll receive to eat healthier and exercise longer.

 

Don't believe it? Talk to Jason Seale, a 29-year-old campus coordinator at the CSB School of Broadcasting in Austin who used to weight more than 400 pounds. Since he joined the Belly Off! program in January, he has received encouragement and compliments from others in the Belly Off! community almost daily—and has lost almost one-fifth of his weight.

 

"On my first day in the Belly Off! Club, someone I had never met before wrote to me and told me that there were so many other guys like me that would just give up, and that I should be the person to prove them all wrong."

 

And as the encouragement kept pouring in, the pounds continued to drop. In just 6 months, Seale has successfully dropped 80 pounds and cut 10 inches off his waist.

 

His Motivation

Seale hadn't looked at a scale since surpassing the 350-lb. maximum capacity on the one in his doctor's office 4 years ago. He knew he had a problem, but he couldn't control his eating.

 

"The most awful thing about it was that I'd go to fast food restaurants, and I knew I'd ordered too much and would be full, but I would still continue to eat more," Seale says.

 

A common lunch for him was two double whoppers, a large fries, soda, and a couple of fried desserts. Each of his two daily meals would total more than 4,000 calories, but they were a comfort to him, and his life increasingly revolved around them.

 

When the people Seale cared about began expressing concerns over his health, he decided to step back on the scale, and what he saw changed his life.

 

"When I saw that I was 433 pounds and had 52 percent body fat, I thought, 'Oh my god, half my body is made up of blubber.' I was emotionally wrecked."

 

Seale decided enough was enough, and he turned to the Belly Off! program to regain control of his life. How He Did It

Seale ditched the fast food and traded in his two huge meals for 5 to 6 small, healthy ones.

 

Now Seale always makes sure he eats breakfast (usually Egg Beaters or an omelet), and snacks on yogurt, vegetables, and string cheese throughout the day, with a salad and roasted chicken breast for dinner.

 

He also joined a gym, sticking mostly to the planned Belly Off! workouts, with an added emphasis on resistance and interval training to boost his metabolism.

 

"Now I look forward to going to the gym," Seale says. "I look forward to feeling worn-out afterward because that means I worked hard and pushed myself."

The Payoff

Seale now weighs in at 348 pounds—and two shirt sizes smaller than back in January.  But even with all his success, Seale believes he'll need to rely on the Belly Off! community even more as he strives to reach his ultimate goal of 250 pounds.    

 

"I have come a long way, but I know that if I fail myself now, I am also letting down all those people who have been rooting for me along the way. That gives me the drive to meet and exceed my goals."

 

Seale also uses the Belly Off! program and his astounding before/after pictures to inspire and motivate newcomers.

 

"No one is going to hold your hand throughout this process," Seale says. "But encouragement is contagious, and a little motivation can go a long way to making a real difference."

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