One of the best things about writing for this blog is when I get an email, Facebook message, or tweet about how my story inspired someone to lose weight of their own. Over the past year, more messages like that have made their way to me than I ever expected. I mean, I started this blog to try to help people, but the reality of someone saying “You helped me” is actually pretty surreal…and humbling.
Earlier this week I got a message from a long-time blog buddy saying that he had lost 118 pounds, and that I got partial credit for getting his ass in gear. That tweet absolutely made my day.
And it got me to thinking–thinking about current projects, upcoming projects, and where my focus should be. It made me think about coaching, training, running, school, writing, everything. It made me think about books like Half-Assed (affiliate link to Amazon) and The World’s Strongest Librarian and how if I want to help the most people I can, I need to really get my story out there. I’m approaching the end of the writing process for my current novel, and once that’s done, I’m going to be writing my very own weight-loss memoir.
But I need your help. I want to know what you folks look for in that kind of book. I want to include the kinds of information and stories that would be the most helpful for you. It may be my story, but I already know what happened. What do you need to know? What do you want to know?
I’m writing this book for you, so shoot me an email, give me a tweet, or comment on this post to let me know what you want it to be.
Hey B.J.,
Hello from your former fatty, asthmatic, running, and girl gaming friend. Not sure if I’ve mentioned the gaming part in my previous communications, but yeah…there’s that, too. Rarely these days, but I guess we’re always gamers at heart. Anyway…
You were a key role in my weight loss last year, in addition to helping me to continue to push past the barriers that asthma created. What I found to be the most help was that you wrote in an approachable, day-to-day fashion. It gives you authenticity. Also great technique and blatant honesty/transparency is important to me. You aren’t shy about falling off the wagon, or admitting that it wasn’t/isn’t easy. Understanding this a lifestyle is primary, that there are no short cuts. Understanding technique for fitness is wonderful abs your great at that, too, but I think understanding that the real time and effort is and will always a choice to have a life, or lose it.
I think what it boils down is humility and pardon the cliche’, keeping it real.
Best of luck,
Darlene
I’d think a set of rules to go by in your daily life would be awesome. I see some recommend only having protein and carbs or protein and fat in your meal for instance and that way you avoid trouble foods like pizza for instance. Such rules would be rather easy to follow and you could even track your adherence to these rules.
I am only looking to lose 10-20lbs though. Nowhere close to 118lbs 🙂
Some people need motivation, true; most don’t.They desperately want to lose weight. They’ll do anything–spend money on any useless pill or ab machine. They need the information how to do it.
So if you were to try and be different from the thousands of other weight loss books, I’d suggest practical tips—this is your tdee, here’s how you figure activity level, here’s how you eat less, here’s how to make better food choices. The biggest beef i have with a lot of books in this genre is that they assume the reader is just some lazy person who hasn’t researched the internet extensively, hasn’t put years into trying all ready…given that they’ve put so much time and money elsewhere (it hasn’t helped), you have to think about what you’re going to offer that is completely different.
Hey BJ,
Great to hear you are sharing your journey. In the book I’d suggest you simply share your amazing story emphasizing the the healthy habits you built to replace the unhealthy routines you followed previous. Then just have ‘How to’ chapter at the end to with goals for the reader to start on!
Best of luck with the book!
I think the biggest part of getting myself to lose weight and be active was realizing that no one at the gym is going to make fun of me, or if i’m out running no one is going to laugh at the fat girl.
I think a chapter that focuses on the mental part of exercising – the fear and anxiety – that leftover terror from high school gym class – and realizing that most gyms are full of people who are encouraging and friendly and are not the jocks from Revenge of the Nerds that are just there to make you feel like garbage.
That was the toughest part for me. Fear of showing up to the gym and getting laughed at. Fear of going to a 5k and coming in last and people would laugh at the fat girl. Fear that it would never get easier.
Getting over the mental hill was much harder than any actual hills 😀
(oops, and i meant to say, runners have turned out to be the most friendly, encouraging, and wonderful people i’ve ever met, which if you’d told me that in high school i would have brooded off into a corner and cried.)
G’day BJ,
Great piece, good to see you pumping out quality content. Keep it up.