Meet: Susan and Jay, aka Mr. and Mrs. Get Fit

Ages: Susan – 30, Jay – 31

Occupations: Susan – Writer at a marketing company, Jay – Editor and Photographer

Location: Ohio

Pounds Lost: Susan – 54.5, Jay – 47

They’re in this together. And that’s what I think is so awesome about this couple! Susan and Jay vowed to shed some pounds January 1 – but unlike so many, many, many New Year’s resolutions, this is one that’s actually survived. They chronicle their weight loss journey at Mr. and Mrs. Get Fit so be sure to cheer them on! Today, let’s give them a Weight Loss WooHoo! – Just FatFighterTV’s fun way of celebrating healthy weight. ;)

Pre-Weight Gain (The Single Life):
(S) “We both have always struggled with weight. When we met each other, we were looking pretty good because of course, we were young and single. We weren’t thin, but we were in pretty good shape.”

(J) “I think when you’re actively trying to make sure you’re attractive to the opposite sex, you worry more about how you look. Once you’re in a relationship – not that you don’t care about how you look – but it ceases to be as much of a major focus for a lot of people.”

How They Gained the Weight (Part 1):
(S) “The other problem when you get married or become a couple is you inherit each other’s bad habits. Like Jay would make giant things of macaroni and cheese and eat a huge bowl and I would be like, ‘Oh, I guess that’s okay and normal because he’s doing it.’ And then I would eat ice cream every night after dinner and he would be like, ‘Well, Susan’s having the ice cream, so I will too.’”

(J) “It would be things neither of us would eat normally when we were single. I was somebody who almost never bought ice cream because I didn’t really have a taste for it. But all of a sudden, when somebody else is bringing it home, it’s right there in your freezer and staring you in the face. And watching someone else eat it, you’re like, ‘Oh, that looks good!’”

(Part 2):
(S) “When we had our daughter two and a half years ago, I think it was the last straw. We just totally gave up on being healthy because we were just so overwhelmed by parenthood and we both are working parents. It was so hard to manage healthy meals and staying active. We were just trying to keep our heads above water with taking care of her and getting our work done.”

(S)“We found ourselves gaining and gaining and gaining until a year ago. We were both at our very heaviest we’d ever been. And we were feeling totally miserable with ourselves and feeling like we’ve got to do something about it.”

Wake-up Call:
(J) “I have high cholesterol in my family history. Also, not having a healthy diet and exercise regimen in my life helped aggravate that high cholesterol. I was unable to take cholesterol-lowering medication as of last year because my liver enzymes were completely out of whack. I was so overweight, I had developed fatty liver, which is essentially like cirrhosis of the liver but it’s not caused by alcohol – it’s caused by the fact that you have way too much fat in your body.”

(S) “I think that was a big wake-up call, but we still didn’t start losing right away because we hadn’t really made up our minds. For me, it wasn’t so much health as it was, first of all – vanity. Vanity’s a great motivator. But also, I was really feeling like a crappy mom. Our daughter was eating what we were eating. I just found myself like, I don’t want to be this role model of eating bad foods and not being able to keep up with her in the backyard running around or whatever. For me, it was more lifestyle. For Jay, it was straight out medical – he needed to do it. Eventually we made up our minds.”

Weekly workouts:
(S) “I try to workout 5-6 days of the week if I can, and I try to at least three of those days do strength training. I also try to do cardio – I either do the machines, like treadmill and elliptical. Sometimes I just do stuff outside – I’ll just go for a walk or a run or kind of a mix of both. We have a stationary bike in our basement and sometimes I’ll do that when I’m watching TV. I just try to change it up and get good intensity of workouts and mix it up with the weights.”

(J) “I’m not as much of a fan of the gym environment, so I tend to workout pretty heavily on our exercise bike at home as well as with free weights and resistance bands that we have. Also, I go walking when I can. We both try to workout 5-6 days a week if we keep ourselves honest and motivated to do it.”

Diet Philosophy:
(J) “We have the attitude that you can have some “non-healthy” foods as long as they’re not a regular part of your daily intake of food and as long as you’re also willing to work hard in your exercise to try to burn more calories to make up for the increased calorie and fat intake.”

(S) “We used to be on a first name basis with the pizza man. We were convenience people and now we have to find ways around that. Even when we treat ourselves, we don’t go crazy and pig out. For one thing, our stomachs are smaller so we can’t – it’s kind of like nature’s gastric bypass surgery. We just physically cannot eat what we used to.”

(J) “At least not without making ourselves ill.”

Daily Challenge:
(J) “My primary one is just finding the motivation each day to try to exercise. The eating is not as big of a problem as is the need for exercise for me. I can usually do pretty good with watching what I’m eating for the most part.”

(S) “My daily challenge is finding the time to buy the right foods and prepare them in ways that are healthy because it’s so much easier and faster to eat fat food. To eat fit, you really have to shop right, cut up your vegetables and all that stuff. And then finding the time to exercise because I work full time and we have a two year old. It’s a daily challenge against time.”

(J) “It’s obviously not rocket science when it comes to losing weight. It’s more a matter of no one really wants to do it. You can’t eat whatever you feel like eating. And you have to get off the couch.”

Their Tips:
(S) “When you’re embarking on a weight loss journey, find something that you can stick with. That was important to us this time after many failed attempts. The previous times, we set expectations for ourselves or we made plans that we just couldn’t live with long-term so that’s when you give up. Even if it’s maybe not going to be as great, fast results as you would like, if you know you can stick with it, you’re already succeeding.”

(J) “I know it’s hardly original because people say it all the time, but I think having the expectation in your mind that weight loss is not going to be overnight is incredibly important. I don’t know about most people, but we didn’t gain our immense amounts of body fat in a couple of weeks, so it’s hardly rational to think regardless of what methodology you use to lose weight, that you’re going to lose the pounds and get fit in a couple of weeks or a couple of months. It’s going to take awhile.”

Favorite healthy recipe:
(S) Mr. and Mrs. Get Fit Ultimate Snack Mix

(J) Mr.’s Favorite Eggs

Susan and Jay’s Weight Loss WooHoos!:
(S) “Mine is total vanity oriented. I actually don’t wince when I see pictures of myself. I look at pictures of myself and I go, ‘Oh… WooHoo! Look at me – I look pretty good!” I’m not where I want to be yet, but I couldn’t look at pictures of myself before. And now I look at them and I think, I’m proud of myself. I look good. I like how I look. That’s a great feeling.”

(J) “It’s entirely a matter of the energy level I have now versus when I was even more overweight than I am today. Particularly when I’m out playing with our daughter – the ability to walk down the street or run around with her at a park and not feel like, Okay, I need to sit down. That’s fabulous.”

Fabulous, indeed! Susan and Jay’s average weight loss has been 1-2 pounds a week. Susan’s goal is to lose 33.5 more pounds; Jay has 64 more to go. Mr. and Mrs. Get Fit – you guys can totally do it!! Way to stick with it and be in this together!

See more weight loss success stories on the Weight Loss WooHoo! Wall of Fame.

If you know of someone who deserves this honor, just let me know – send me an email at sahar [at] fatfightertv [dot] com