Workouts, no junk food result in 60-lb. loss

Name: Sean Mackey

Age: 27

Occupation: Business owner, ITS Networks

Height: 6 feet

Weight now: 280

Weight when started: 340

Fitness accomplishment: Started a healthy lifestyle eight months ago. Lost 60 pounds.

Background: Born and raised in Tucson. I was healthy, but I'm kind of a stocky guy. I played football in high school and then just got focused on my career and starting my own business. That contributed to a lot of eating out, eating junk food and working late. It also was the chips, cookies, candy. That was 90 percent of the problem.

What steps did you take to lose the weight? I talked to my wife several times about it and around the first of the year our family tried to do a diet together. That lasted about six weeks, and then in April I signed up with SWAT Personal Training. I began working with a trainer Monday, Wednesday and Friday and did cardio on my own the other days.

How were you able to go from not exercising at all to working out six days a week? You see a lot of people starting to get diabetes because of poor diet. That wasn't something I wanted to deal with. I was concerned about the long-term cumulative effects of a poor diet.

The biggest thing for me is just not having (junk food) around. When I go somewhere, I make sure that I am full before I go so that I am not tempted to grab something unhealthy. I also try to have a water bottle with me so that I can drink water and have something to do.

What was the turning point? I got tired of being overweight and not feeling well. I'd wake up each morning and my feet would be sore and tight. I'm 27, and I thought, "I shouldn't feel this crappy and if I don't change it now, it's just going to get harder to lose the weight and change my habits."

It was also frustrating to go into the stores and not able to just grab clothes off the rack and know it would fit. I decided to bite the bullet. Getting a personal trainer seemed like a big financial commitment, but I was willing to do it to get my health squared away.

What was your biggest challenge and how did you get past it? A large part of my diet was sugar and junk, so initially because I changed my eating habits and because of the intensity of the workouts, the weight loss was moving along pretty good. At around 305 pounds I hit a plateau that lasted three or four weeks.

When you are going through it and putting in the hard work and eating right, it's kind of disappointing because everyone looks to the scale as the determining factor of how successful you are.

I didn't quit. I kept moving forward and eventually I had a breakthrough. Since then, there have been smaller plateaus that don't last as long, but they are equally frustrating.

What did you focus on to stay motivated while the scale refused to budge? You have to look at lean muscle mass versus body fat. During my first plateau the numbers were significant. I had gained 5 percent muscle and dropped 5 percent body fat. I had to focus on the long-term goal rather than whether I lost my two pounds for the week. I focused on how far I had come, and that my body was still changing and getting stronger.

What is your advice to others? Don't weigh yourself daily. It's tempting to jump on the scale two times a day, but I won't put myself through that anymore. I won't weigh myself until it's been a month. I can tell my body is changing because I've had to get smaller jeans and shirts. Focus on what's ahead of you such as eating right for the day, or your next workout.