Papa Joe Aviance Lost 250 Pounds on the '99-Cent Diet'

[Hum]

Ask anyone who?s lost a large amount of weight what jump-started their journey to better health, and they?ll probably tell you about their ?light bulb moment,? the instant that they decided they?d had enough and were willing to do whatever it took to change. For LA-based musician and clothing designer Papa Joe Aviance, that moment arrived in 2009 when his first house music release, ?Last Night a DJ Saved my Life,? hit #6 on the Billboard Magazine Dance Charts. When he saw the music video for the song?which at that time was playing on MTV and VH1?he couldn?t get over how large he?d become. ?I was 450 pounds?I was two cheeseburgers away from diabetes or high cholesterol,? recalls Aviance. ?I had been big for pretty much all of my life, and I was sick of hating myself. It was now or never.?

To start, he trashed nearly all the contents of his kitchen. ?I cleared everything out of my fridge that was going to get in the way of me losing weight?cookies, candy, sodas,? he says. ?I was only going to drink water or unsweetened iced tea, and no more fast food. At that point, I?d been drinking a two-liter bottle of Mountain Dew every day, and if I went through any local drive-thru, they knew my name?that?s how often I used to eat that stuff.?

But he had a roadblock to contend with?at the time, he was broke. Aviance, who was then pursuing music and clothing design on the side, had recently been laid off work. ?I was unemployed and couldn?t afford a gym membership or fancy diets,? says Aviance. ?I realized that walking was the easiest exercise I could do and it cost nothing. So I grabbed my dance music and tennis shoes, and started walking.?

At first, his walks were short?to the end of his block and back to grab the daily Billboard. ?The first time around the block?I couldn?t even do it, it was just mounds of sweat,? he says. But he kept at it. One trip around the block became two, and soon he was walking a few miles every day.

While he was determined to eat better, Aviance had to find a way to do it on a shoestring budget. ?A friend told me I should check out the 99-Cent Store. Since I couldn?t afford Whole Foods or Trader Joe's, I decided to see what they had.? Aviance was pleasantly surprised to find that the 99-Cent Store in his neighborhood had plenty of healthy foods to choose from. ?Oatmeal, raisins, nuts, bananas, apples, oranges, bell peppers, spinach, salad dressing, tuna fish, eggs? I was shocked. I was blown away,? recalls Aviance. ?It was a huge savings. I literally spent no more than $50 a week on food.?

Within three to four weeks, Aviance started to see changes. ?And within 3 months, I was like ?Hey, this is working!? he laughs. ?I started to take all of my clothes to a seamstress so she could take everything in. I was still too broke to go out and buy new clothes, but I didn?t care. I was on a mission.?

Aviance?s morning walks become so regular, that people in his neighborhood started to take notice. ?Since I walk every morning, people have started giving me high fives. I felt like a mini rock star in my community. I?ve even had people stop me and tell them I motivated and inspired them to start walking.?

Within 18 months, Aviance lost 250 pounds, and a visit to his doctor confirmed that he was no longer at risk for diabetes, elevated cholesterol, or high blood pressure. ?I?ve always been a very happy guy who would kid around with anyone, but when I was heavy, I felt like I had to be that way because I thought people were judging me based on my size. But now it?s a happiness that is really shining from the inside out.? To speed along his transformation, he started to incorporate breaks for pushups and other strength moves during his walks. ?I do pushups right in the street?the city is my gym,? he says.

Today, Aviance is a health and wellness expert touring the country to inspire obese children and adults to start moving. ?I want people to be as happy as I am, and part of that is being healthy. The sidewalk is my treadmill. Every morning I walk right outside my door and go. They can do it, too.? :happy:

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[Growled Member]

I walk 3 miles every day, but I have to do it in the evenings after work since that is the only time I have. I can testify that walking is good for a lot of ailments. I am proud for him.

[Hum]

Walking ? You can walk and not pay for some expensive gym ?! Amazing.

[Growled Member]

^ Yep. Amazing, isn't it?

[Torolol]

walking is good if theres clean un-polluted air within it.

[webeagle12]

Walking ? You can walk and not pay for some expensive gym ?! Amazing.

[TAZMINATOR]

Yes, Walking works for me.. I have done that. Try that for yourself and see if you have lost your weight.

But if walking isn't working for you, then you will have to use a different method to lose weight such as diet.. or whatever works for you.

[V9s]

Yeap...walking works. I started off walking 2 miles a day and have now been walking 5 miles a day for a few months now. Very tiring, but listen to a bit of music and you can keep going and going and going....

[MightyJordan]

Yeap...walking works. I started off walking 2 miles a day and have now been walking 5 miles a day for a few months now. Very tiring, but listen to a bit of music and you can keep going and going and going....

Agreed. (Y) It's the best motivator for me. The only annoying thing about it is that I'm a stickler for audio quality, so I always use my big monitoring headphones when I'm out and about. :p I've already managed to get myself to the point where I'm comfortably able to walk home from university; when I return in September, I'm hoping to be able to ditch the bus all together and walk in in the morning as well.

[slapfacemcdougal]

Getting your heart rate into the fat burning zone is what's at work here, the longer you keep it in your zone, the more calories you'll burn. Calories in, calories out. That's the way to lose weight. Lose more calories than you take in.

[Original Poster]

Ive lost 4 stone since november I stopped losing weight about 2 months ago and have just been holding now... how I did it? walked to the gym (about 1 mile away) 3 times a week .... lifted weights (as much heavy as i could) for 20 mins and walked back home...and then got a take away .... after I lost 2 stone (about january/start of feb) I then got my self a personal trainner (15 quid per hour) ... to train me in martial arts... he didnt just train my skills though ... he also made me work out till I vomited..... im nearly 3 months vomit free :) and I can now out run all my friends :)

I eat extremely well and I cook losts (i normally by some aload of onions once a month to go with cooking ) ... I buy loads of spices which last me a year or two ...people dont have to eat like they are poor ... if i am saving money I can eat less then whats above in a week... I can eat half of what i normally do cause i eat ALOT... if i wanted to eat more I could cut out the sirloins and spend more on cheaper food... I cook stews...casseroles... pies...soups.... noodles... currys both indian and chinese ... most peoples problem is that they cant cook