Through his childhood, 48-year-old Rich Bracken labeled himself as the “husky kid.” He found football in high school, and the sport allowed him to tie his weight to his identity—”I was supposed to be big,” he says. Once he quit, he was sick of not feeling good about himself, and underwent a transformation. In over a year and a half, he dropped 110 pounds—and has kept it off for over 26 years. Now, he’s a public speaker who focuses on inspiring his audiences to accomplish whatever it is they set out to do, using his journey as example. Here, he explains the small changes he made to do it.
MY JOURNEY WITH my weight really started in 3rd grade. I was a busy, active kid up until that point. Then, my doctor diagnosed me with exercise induced asthma. Being an only child, my parents were protective, and I spent a lot more time inside.
I went from being very active to being very sedentary. It wasn’t just the lack of activity. My parents were feeding me whatever food I wanted to eat, too. I love my parents so much, but they didn’t know a thing about nutrition. So, I ballooned in the 4th grade. I became the husky kid. I got bullied relentlessly, and like most things, it became worse in middle school.
The only thing that really saved me was the fact that one of my friends pulled me into football. So, I tied my weight to my identity as a football player. I was supposed to be big. I played all through high school and went on to play one year of college. After stopping, I didn’t change my eating habits. I didn’t know how to be healthy. I wanted to lose weight, but I don’t even know where to start.
What I did know was that I wanted this to be a lifestyle thing. I wanted to really learn, and apply good habits to my life. I wanted to gradually lose the weight so it would last. I was raised with very little education on proper nutrition habits. I knew how to exercise, for the most part, from my days playing football. With nutrition, I had to ask a lot of questions.
I was taking a health class at the time, and decided to have my health professor look at my diet. He immediately said, “we really need to make some changes.” He taught me a few things about nutrition to get started. I started subscribing to Men’s Health and it really taught me how to how to work out differently, how to think about food differently, how to think about my body differently.
Over the following year and a half, I dropped over a hundred pounds. At my heaviest, I was 260, and I slimmed to 151. I’ve kept it off for over 26 years. Here’s what I learned on my journey that helped me get to the weight I wanted and keep it there:
Keep It Interesting
THERE’S NOT ONE right way to do things. A lot of people think they need to run, or do some other kind of miserable exercise to lose weight.
I’m not ashamed to admit this: I started losing weight by doing two things. One, the MTV Grind videos. And two, the Billy Blanks Tae Bo videos. Once I felt healthier, and I could get through an entire Tae Bo workout, I thought, I can probably run a mile. From there I got into running, biking, and even mountain biking. I’ve had stints with the elliptical machine, rowing, and yoga. I’ve done Jazzercise without shame. Now I’m a big Peloton fan. I use the app and the bike all the time. I just took my 700th ride the other day.
It was so important for me to change things up and doing things differently. It helped me from my routine feeling stagnant or stale. It’s really about evolving what feels good as you progress in your fitness, and as you age.
Watch Portions
PORTION CONTROL WAS not a concept I was aware of when I started my journey. At one point, my health coach said, “we probably shouldn’t eat an entire pizza by ourselves. It’s not a good idea for weight loss.” That was a real wake up call for me.
I learned that I can still eat very flavorful, and sometimes indulgent foods, as long as I’m not eating all of it or multiple servings at a time. To learn that, it took visualization. I needed a physical picture of a serving size to really instill that in me.
I also found that staying present to enjoy food, and stopping when it’s no longer satisfying, was very helpful. The first few scoops of peanut butter are always the best right? The faster you eat it, and the more of it you get, the less present you become to enjoy it. I learned to pace my eating to really enjoy food. I’m still not perfect at that, and eat faster then I probably should still, but it helps when I take a second to stop and enjoy when starting a meal.
Phase Out the Fad Diets
THERE ARE SO many ways out there to get healthy—Atkins, Keto, you name it. And for a while, I tried all those things. Every time, there was something about it I didn’t like. The regimen of it all didn’t sit well with me. I didn’t want to feel guilty about eating the wrong thing, or buying the wrong thing at the grocery store.
I learned that there are so many different ways to be healthy—you don’t have to commit to a certain concept. For me, I combined my research on what foods are good for you, how I like to eat, how my body reacts to different foods, and understanding portion control to put myself on the right track. Everyone’s journey is very specialized to them, so it’s important to ask for help, from a dietitian or even a doctor, to figure out what that track looks like for you.
The stark line that I have grown to consider over the last decade or so, is: If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Stay Stocked
I TRAVEL A lot for work. When I’m on the road for extended periods of time, I can feel a difference. Yes, there are some healthy options in airports and gas stations and such, but having the unhealthy options in front of you can make those choices difficult.
I find I’m at my best on the road when I keep healthy foods stocked on me. I carry around a handful of protein bars for when I need something quick. I know it keeps me on my regimen, and if I make those healthier choices, I’m more likely to make healthy choices throughout the day, like at restaurants. I always know to watch my portions when I eat out, because they always give you more then you need.
COURTESY BRACKEN
I also try to prepare options for myself by planning ahead. Sometimes I’ll look at restaurants around the hotel before I go so I have a short list of my safe places to go. Or I’ll go to a grocery store and grab food for the room. That way I’m not going overboard on unhealthy food if given the opportunity.
Focus on Feeling
WHEN IT GETS hard to stay on track, I remember that I wanted to do this to become healthier for myself. I wanted to be comfortable. I didn’t want to be out of breath. I didn’t want to be out of energy. I reminded myself of how I felt versus how you want to feel.
There’s this saying: Nothing tastes as good as feeling healthy feels. I take that with a grain of salt, of course (no pun intended). But, reminding myself that it was more important for me consistently to feel healthier, to feel comfortable in my own skin, was important to keep me on track.
When you’re heavy, you really take on that identity. You think, I’m just the fat guy. That was the description that I had of myself. I had to unlearn that, and remember I’m the healthy guy, and that I love the way that feels.
Allow What You Love
THE MOST IMPORTANT thing to me was giving myself grace in the moment. A lot of people think they either have to be perfect, or they have to start all over. You have one day you didn’t eat well and didn’t exercise, and you think you’ve lost all your progress. You think you have to start back over again. Or, that it’s just not in your future to be healthy.
I love bread, wine, and cheese. And without those things, I would live a much less full life. So I allow myself to have them, in moderation, without guilt. Once you take that guilt away, it feels way easier to stay on a healthy trajectory more regularly.
COURTESY BRACKEN
I spent so long making my old body my identity. I had to get out of my own way, and remember that I am able, and worthy, of getting healthy. I struggled with body dysmorphia for a long time. Understanding that I earned this and that I should feel proud of myself took me a while.
I spent way too much of my life thinking negatively about myself. I was reminding myself of how bad I felt, how little energy I had. I was reminding myself of how low I felt mentally, and how terrible my view of myself was.
Once I got over those negative thoughts by remembering that I am worthy of health, the self motivation became so much easier. If I enjoyed myself maybe a little bit too much on a Friday night, I no longer beat myself up over it. And I was able to get back on the wagon quicker.
I’m getting closer to 50 now, and I have a much broader view of my health. I have two sons that I want to be able to be as active as possible with for as long as I can. I want to be a good example to them as much as I possibly can.
I do what I do as a speaker now to encourage people that they can do hard things. They can get out of their own head, they can change the the internal dynamic and narrative that they’re telling themselves. They can be the best version of themselves they can possibly be. I thought for a long time that I was one of the least likely people to be able to pull this off. I love to eat. I’m not a huge fan of cardio, to be honest. But I did it.
It is the most difficult thing I’ve ever done, physically, mentally, and emotionally. But it is also, without hesitation, the most valuable and worthwhile journey I’ve ever been on. So if you’re thinking about making some kind of change to your diet, physical activity, whatever—you deserve to live in the body you want, and it is absolutely possible to do so.
Cori Ritchey, C.S.C.S., is an Associate Health & Fitness Editor at Men’s Health, a certified strength and condition coach, and group fitness instructor. She reports on topics regarding health, nutrition, mental health, fitness, sex, and relationships. You can find more of her work in HealthCentral, Livestrong, Self, and others.
