Resolve guides healthier lifestyle

If you’re like most folks, you’ve created a list of resolutions for the new year — exercising more often and losing weight being among the most common.

Dallas Carter, who was featured in People magazine in January 2011 as one of the folks who were "half their size," has managed to meet and maintain these goals through a sensible plan of eating less, eating healthier and increasing exercise.

The 30-year-old Mililani resident began his journey toward good health in 2005, when his 5-foot-10-inch frame weighed in at about 380 pounds. "I may have weighed more at the time. They had to bring out a special scale when I went to the doctor’s office," he said. Since then, Carter has gone from a 56-inch waist to a 34-inch waist and from a size 4x shirt to a medium-large.

"I’ve always been bigger than the rest of the crowd. I played offensive line in high school," he said. "I was the big guy and found my identity in that."

Carter decided things needed to change when his daughter, who is now 7, was born. "I knew it was what I needed to do. It wasn’t because someone was telling me to lose weight. I had a reason to do it that was beyond superficial."

At his lowest weight, Carter dropped to 170 pounds, but now weighs in between 185 and 190. "I’ve had lots of obesity-related deaths in my family — deaths in their early 40s and 50s (from heart disease, diabetes and respiratory problems). I knew that was my path, and that helps keep me on my toes."

Carter works as a wellness coach and consultant, helping others achieve their goals. After trying many different things, he began making small, healthy changes to his diet and ate less. "I started to eat enough to live instead of eating as much as I could. And I learned the importance of a regular exercise program." Little by little, he replaced the fast food and high-calorie snacks with fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meats and meal replacement bars. He also ate five smaller meals per day. "People need to make it a lifestyle change — make sure that what they are doing is sustainable for the long run."

His two key suggestions for folks embarking on a weight-loss or healthy-eating journey: Eat a high-protein breakfast within an hour after getting up; and don’t drink your calories. "These things don’t cost money and require minimal effort," Carter said. "Some people can drop 50 pounds in a year just by eliminating soda."

Carter hasn’t stopped eating the things he loves. "I enjoy them on a cheat day. I just don’t eat them the other six days a week."

Carter’s exercise routine began with walking and hiking and later evolved to doing routines from the home exercise regimen P90X, something that he still does on a regular basis.

"P90X is not easy and probably not what I should have been doing, but it helped track my progress," he said, "In the beginning I couldn’t get past the warm-up of the first video. At first I could only do five pushups on my knees, but eventually I could do that many on my toes. Later I was doing 40 to 50 pushups and could really see the improvement."

He suggests finding exercise that is fun and recreational, something that promotes an active lifestyle. "I enjoy playing basketball with my friends, so it’s more likely I’ll do that."

Another tip: Surround yourself with people who will support your new lifestyle. "There will be lots of naysayers that simply want you to fail because they can’t get their own results. Avoid the negative influences," he said.

And do the same for others, he said. "If you have a friend who is trying to lose weight, be supportive, sympathetic and empathetic. My wife and friends really cheered me on."

Carter says creating a reward system also helped him meet his goals.

"Deadlines are huge," he said. Precise goals also help, such as, I want to lose 15 pounds by Feb. 15 — as opposed to saying, "I want to lose weight."

And last, Carter said achieving physical change is partly about a mental journey.

"People need to dig deep into the why of their new-year resolution. If they hit the real reason that they want to meet that goal, they can be really committed, raising the chances for success."

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“Be Well” features inspiring stories of people dealing with health challenges. Reach Nancy Arcayna at narcayna@staradvertiser.com or call 529-4808.