Lower Weight Helped With Lifting Weights

Joe McDermott, 68, Tampa

Height: 5-foot-6

Starting weight: 195

Current weight: 165

Why I did it: At the beginning of 2007, I was recovering from having my left triceps reattached to my elbow. I had been a competitive weightlifter for 47 years. Since I was already weak, I decided I might as well lose some weight and make a comeback in a lower weight class.

I've often lost weight for a weightlifting contest in the past, but I immediately put it back on. I'd take a couple of weeks to get down from the mid-190s to lift at 181 pounds. I got down to 181 pounds for one contest and put back 15 pounds within a day and a half.

Another reason to try to take the weight off permanently, was that as I got older, it got a lot tougher to take off the weight for a contest.

How I did it: I always jogged some. When I tore my triceps off my elbow, it hurt to jog, so I stopped. When I started back jogging, my heel began to bother me, so I decided to walk instead. I read an article that said a Japanese study showed that walking five miles a day was optimum for your health. So, since the beginning of 2007, I've been walking five miles a day.

I've lived in Florida for eight years. It's a great place to walk. There were times jogging in my former hometown in Michigan that my eyelids would freeze shut. That happens when the wind chill is more than 30 degrees below zero.

I work out four days a week at the gym. But, that's what I've always done. Also, I spend about 30 minutes in the morning doing stretches, primarily for my back.

Only a few changes were made diet-wise. At the beginning of 2007, my dentist suggested that I try cutting back on juice and soda to see if that would help with a problem with my gums. It did and it also took away a lot of calories. I really like juice. I also like root beer or black cherry floats. My replacement beverage is iced green tea; no calories and lots of health benefits.

I also love pasta and pizza. Pasta adds instant pounds for me. I have not cut these foods out entirely, but I do have them less often.

I eat more fish now. It's only within the last two years that I've ordered fish when I was out to dinner. My aversion to fish came from having to eat fish on Fridays as a kid. And maybe because it was usually Mrs. Paul's fish sticks.

Hurdles: Unlike my past more radical diets, this really hasn't been too bad. Evening snacking still remains a problem.

Going the distance: By June of 2007, I was down to 165 pounds. I've stayed there since. It's been about 45 years since I was at this weight. Although my health wasn't one of the reasons to take off weight, my cholesterol number in February was the lowest ever; and my blood pressure, which was always reasonable, was even better.

This July, I set a world record at the World Association of Benchers and Deadlifters event in Michigan. My record was in the bench press in the 165-pound class for the 68-74 age group. It's not the 400-pound bench press I could do in years gone by, but 331.6 pounds at a body weight of 162 pounds isn't bad for an old great-grandpa.

The sword in the picture is the trophy from that meet. The picture was for the program for the world meet coming up in November.

Best advice: Don't get too radical in the dieting; try to make a few changes. I think most important is the exercise. Try the walking. Start with a comfortable distance and gradually increase it. Good luck.