x
Breaking News
More () »

'The exercise is easy, the diet is easy. It's just the mental part at this point'

Super Fitness Weight Loss Challenge competitor talks about the toughest part of staying focused on getting fit and losing weight.
Credit: WTOL 11

TOLEDO, Ohio — Have you ever had that ah-ha moment? That moment when the light bulb finally goes off? That moment when you feel like you are hitting that bullseye? 

For Chris Siegel, one of this year's participants in the Super Fitness Weight Loss Challenge, that light bulb moment is right now.

Seigel said it first hit him when his daughter asked him to a daddy-daughter dance.

 “I went shopping for something to wear and I had a really tough time finding anything that would fit," Siegel said. "I was really down on myself and I wanted to look good for my daughter. It was at that moment that I knew I was going go join this challenge and get this weight off once and for all.” 

Siegel said he walks 8 miles a day, 4 miles in the morning and 4 miles in the afternoon after work. 

“I pretty much get up thinking you just gotta do it," he said. "Because there are a lot of mornings I don’t want to do it. But you just get up and you just do it. And then when you get home from work, I eat dinner and then some time after, I do it again."

He said on days when he just doesn't feel like getting moving, he tries to exercise twice as hard.

“I didn’t think I would get this far this fast. but this process has pushed me to get there faster," Siegel said. "So I really appreciate that part of it. It's really mental mostly."  

His strict routine is sometimes delivering results, but Siegel says the exercise and diet portions are the easiest part of his weight-loss program.

"I’m to the point now where it's just getting over that mental hump and really that’s the hardest part now," he said. "Because the exercise is easy, the diet part is easy for me now. It's just the mental part at this point. Keeping it consistent. Consistency is what I focus on every day."

He has cut his sugar and carbohydrate intake and also is sticking to protein and vegetables. Siegel keeps to a simple meal plan that rotates four entrees through the month. 

“Sausage and sauerkraut which is very low in calories," he said. "Then fajitas, then usually, one week I will eat a big lunch and just eat a bowl of cereal for dinner. Salads I usually save for when I go out to dinner because they are usually better when you go out to dinner."

His goal is to lose more than 100 pounds before the finale. 

“In my mind now, its 60 percent mental, 20 percent exercise and 20 percent food," he said. "If you don’t get past the mental part, you are never going to get there.”

More on WTOL:

Before You Leave, Check This Out