It’s not every day a high school student gets fit and loses weight. Most students don’t take initiative to attempt such a large undertaking, but seniors Leif Montgomery and Damian Hogan broke conventions and took on that daunting task.
With a journey that began in Health class their junior year, Montgomery and Hogan took their preliminary steps forward in getting fit and losing weight.
“The key is to get educated,” Montgomery said. “You have to know what you shop for, how many calories you safely need to eat, and dieting tips.”
A lesson involving choosing breakfast, lunch, and dinner meals shed some light on healthier eating and was a spark for their aspirations.
“We had to pick what we would usually eat from some fast food restaurants for three meals,” Hogan said. “When we had done that, we counted up the calories.”
Counting calories is a big part of getting fit.
“If you like math, this is a fun part to it,” Hogan said. “Simply track what you eat and make sure it’s not more than what you should eat for the day.”
Diet can mean everything and is a great start to reaching a fitness goal. For Montgomery, just the food he ate provided a great advantage by just cutting out unhealthy foods.
“I had to convince my grandma to cook healthy,” Montgomery said. “Once that happened, I dropped from 340 pounds to 300 pounds fast.”
Another part to getting fit is exercise. In order to burn more calories, getting active is crucial to losing weight.
“I jog whenever I can,” Hogan said. “Cardio is really important and a big part to the whole process.”
It is important to set goals. Goal setting is an effective way to keep up personal morale and spirits.
“Set small and frequent goals when you first start out,” Hogan said. “Eventually, you can set bigger goals as you start to lose more.”
Some people have different reasons for losing weight than others. Most people realize something about themselves that they want to change.
“I wanted to figure out why I didn’t like myself.” Montgomery said. “I wanted to fit into my ROTC uniform.”
An important thing to keep in mind is that there is nothing wrong with getting some help from someone, according to Montgomery.
“Without the Health class, I wouldn’t have been able to get the start that I did,” Montgomery said.
After losing more than 145 pounds, it can be tough to keep up with being fit.
“Right now I’m wavering between 195 pounds and 225 pounds. After 145 pounds it gets tough to lose more weight,” Montgomery said. “Now its time I start trying to gain muscle as opposed to weight loss.”
Keeping up the pace and resisting to slow down is a tough aspect. There are different ways in which people can continue keep themselves motivated.
“Check your progress. Take pictures, record numbers, or even find a reasonable example of what you would like to reach,” Hogan said. “Do it safely of course, and don’t go too crazy.”
