Arizona Doctor Discovers Triathlons as Ultimate Weight Loss Program - Loses Sixty Pounds.

I never intended to get fat! I am not exactly sure how it happened, but there I was a 6’2” thirty-four year old pushing close to 270 pounds. My cholesterol was high, my triclecrides were high, and my blood pressure was high. I was on a direct course for developing diabetes, increased risk of heart disease, increased risk of cancer, and a ton of other diseases related to obesity.

It gets worse. I am a doctor, a sports chiropractor to be exact and my office is located inside a health club. Unfortunately, like many other doctors and other health professional out there, I was not practicing what I was preaching.

Living in sunny Arizona, land of endless summer, sooner or later you have to go to lake, water park, or you are invited to a cookout and pool party. That is when all my excuses caught up to me. Despite knowing health risks associated with being overweight, it was feeling of low self-esteem and embarrassment that finally drove me to action.

So there I was, a doctor, ready to get weight off. I hate to admit it; I tried some of those quick fix gimmick supplements. I tried a bunch of fad diets. I bought a bunch of books from all “weight loss experts”. Sure I would lose a little weight, but I could never stick with diet for any length of time. When I went off diet I would gain weight right back. Then tried working my butt off in gym, running almost every day. That got real boring, and I found that running everyday is not best thing to do when you weigh close to 270 pounds.

There I was again, still no direction, no focus, no drive, nothing to guide me. Frustrated about not getting any results and what to do, I thought I was just going to have to accept that I was overweight and deal with it. I gave it a real effort and it did not work.

During all of this, chiropractor that I bought my office from mentioned that he was beginning a weight loss program at his office, which was based on his experience with triathlon training. That got my attention. I really wanted to give program a try, but I lived too far from his office to come in on a regular basis. So I began researching sport on Internet.

The more I read about triathlons and triathlon training, more sense it made to me as a way to help me lose weight. If you are going to do an event that involves swimming, cycling, and running you obviously are going to have to train that way. The idea about jumping into pool for an exercise swim was not something I was looking forward to, and last thing I wanted to do was to put on a swimsuit and workout. Then I remembered how painful my knees were from running around, and swimming would be easier on my joints.

I also began reading about using heart rate monitors and affects of exercising at different heart rates. Many of authors of books on heart zone training were triathletes themselves, and they gave numerous examples on how using heart zone training you can track your progress and maximize your exercise program.

The more I searched triathlon Internet sites, more I became interested in sport. The people who competed in triathlons looked really fit, it was inspiring. That is when I decided to take my commitment to losing weight to next level. Weighing close to 270 pounds, I signed up for my first triathlon. Five months away, I was going to do a sprint race, which was a 500m swim, a 15-mile bike, then and a 3-mile run. This was a much shorter distance than many triathlon races, however at time I could not do even one of events let alone all of them back-to-back.