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Four years ago, Tyler Whitman weighed 400-pounds. He was at a Phish concert, dancing with friends and feeling lightheaded. Then he fainted and hit the ground.
When Tyler woke up he had a breakdown. He told his friend David ‘I am so tired of being the fat guy’ and from that moment forward he took steps to lose weight and get healthier. Today, the 6’3″ guy is living at a healthy 185-pounds but it took A LOT to get him there.
Fellow Phish fan (I won’t say phan, dammit) Tyler Whitman was featured in a recent profile in the New York Post. He detailed how his journey into weight loss began with surgery at New York University but has since :
In December 2015, Whitman kicked off his health journey when he had part of his stomach removed in a gastric-sleeve operation at New York University.
Today, at a fit 185 pounds, Whitman’s gone from “the fat guy” to a thriving broker — and the newest cast member of Bravo’s “Million Dollar Listing New York,” which premieres Thursday.
“One of the [storylines on the show] is how weight loss has affected my career,” says Whitman.The surgery was a major part of Whitman’s slim-down success, but it’s not the whole picture: There’s also his newfound passion for fitness and — deliciously — a diet consisting mostly of Chipotle. Whitman eats at the Mexican fast-casual chain twice a day — every day — and credits it with keeping his weight in check. (via)
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bo_1886hj3U/
I recently lost 40-pounds myself. I hit that weight that I had in the back of my head was a ‘hard stop, get it together’ limit for me and dedicated myself to eating more proportionately, healthier, and doing cardio 6 or 7 times a week which sounds very similar to what this guy was doing.
Within five months of getting the stomach surgery he’d lost 100-pounds but he said that he had hit a wall on weight loss, a plateau. That’s when he decided to really dedicate himself to fitness in the form of a ’90 fitness classes in 90 days’ challenge.
Organized classes are an excellent way to rip-off that band-aid and start getting healthy. I’m huge advocate of CycleBar. The music is different every time, the classes attack your entire body and not just your legs, the classes are held in dark rooms so you can lose 15-pounds of sweat without everyone being like ‘who TF is this sweaty guy?’ It’s great.
Between ‘dozens of spin, yoga and Barry’s Bootcamp classes’, Whitman had made it down to a healthy 185-pounds and that’s when the challenge of ‘keeping the weight off’ came. This is where Chipotle enters the game.
Now in a solid fitness routine, Whitman began to re-examine his nutrition. He turned to the Whole30, a restrictive diet that bans grains and processed foods. In the middle of this diet, he heard about the potential of healthy Chipotle bowl options.
“A friend tipped me off that if I was careful about ingredients, Chipotle was a great place to eat [Whole30] compliant meals on the go,” says Whitman.So, for the past year, he’s eaten two 750-calorie chicken burrito bowls — one for lunch, another for dinner — every day. And he’s kept the weight off.
Whitman says his typical bowl includes: brown rice, fajita vegetables, chicken, mild and medium salsas, sour cream, guacamole and lettuce.“I genuinely think it’s delicious,” says Whitman, who passes on cheese, beans, tortillas and chips, and orders a “light” portion of the rice and sour cream. He’s been working to build more lean muscle, so he asks for extra chicken. For snacks, he has two 190-calorie s’mores flavor Quest bars per day.
It’s an unorthodox meal plan, but it “gets me within my calorie and protein goals, and that’s all I count,” says the broker. “I eat 2,000 calories and 180 grams of protein, and everything else works itself out.” (via)
It’s eery how much this daily diet looks like my own. I’m not nearly as strict with what I eat every day as I could be. But for the most part, I’ll have an EVOL frozen bowl for lunch. These pre-portioned meals which look very similar to what he’s getting from Chipotle give me the protein I need, there are some great flavors (Hawaiian BBQ Chicken, Sriracha Chicken, etc), and it stops me from eating until I’m full at every meal.
Aside from doing cardio regularly, the biggest difference between my life now and my life 9 months ago when I was 40-pounds heavier is that I eat enough, and don’t eat until I’m full at every meal. Being able to lock down portion control was the biggest game changer for me and it sounds like he’s doing that with Chipotle.
Each meal (lunch and dinner) includes a 750-calorie Chicken Burrito Bowl with brown rice, vegetables, chicken, salsas, sour cream, guac, and lettuce.
Personally, I’d go fucking insane if I ate the same thing for every meal (twice a day, every day). I need the variety. I’ve currently got some BBQ chicken going on my smoker as I type out this article. But it’s all about finding something healthy that works for you, and I mean that in terms of diet and exercise.
You aren’t going to lose weight if you hate the exercises you’re doing and can’t stand what you’re eating. I think the first step in making that fitness/health change is figuring out what will work best for you and then pushing that to the max. But I could be way off here, that’s just what appears to work for this guy and what I’ve found has helped me lose 40lbs in the past year.
To read his full profile on the New York Post, just follow that link!