Bob Kelly, 52, weighed 173 pounds in this after photo, taken in April 2015. Professional photo contributed by Karl L. Moore, www.mooreshots.com.
Bob Kelly, aged 50 (at the time of the photo), weighed 260 pounds in this before photo taken January 2014. Photo contributed by Bob Kelly.
By Michelle C. Brooks
Appeared September 29, 2015 in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Former weight: 260 pounds
Current weight: 180 pounds
Pounds lost: 80 pounds
Height: 5 feet, 9 inches
Age: 52 years
How long he’s kept it off: He started in January 2014 and reached his current weight in April.
Personal life: “I have a wife, Sherri; we have one daughter, Erin,” says Kelly. “I sell and install material handling equipment and industrial equipment. I’m the owner of the company, Georgia Storage Systems Inc. (www.georgiastorage.com).”
Turning point: “We had joined the gym and started working with a personal trainer,” he says. “I decided to do the 12-week challenge. My personal trainer at Gold’s Gym in Hamilton Mill really pushed me – I couldn’t do it without him … He recognized what he had — [he used] some of that tough love. Your trainer can’t be your spouse — he pushed me … In 2015, when I did this challenge the second time, my trainer pushed me to do it … helped me go from about 200 down to 173 not just lose weight but build muscle also.”
Diet plan: He followed a strict weight-loss diet which included seven meals. Breakfast was two eggs, two egg whites with turkey bacon, oatmeal with coconut oil and banana. Lunch was a pack of tuna with mustard and a sweet potato. Other meals included brown rice and chicken. “This is how champions train … My diet is much more normal now but I track my weight every day.”
Exercise routine: “Right now, I do cardio three times per week. I do weight-training three times per week, 45 minutes to an hour. My cardio now are all spin or ride classes.”
Biggest challenge: “Staying focused when there was a setback, not being fatalistic, about oh no I’m up three pounds from where I weighed.”
How life has changed: “Once I lost weight, I decided I needed to try barefoot skiing again; the wetsuit fits — I’ve probably never looked better in it. I have always been a water skier and learned to barefoot water ski over 25 years ago. With my weight loss, I barefooted many times this summer in the same wetsuit from 25 years ago.” He competed nationally in the 2015 Gold’s Gym Challenge and came in second place nationwide. “I won the 12-week challenge at my local Hamilton Mill gym and also was second nationally in my age group and won $2,500 from Gold’s Gym. I was in a 44-inch waist before my weight loss … I just took it to the extreme and got back to high school extreme — a 32-inch waist.”