Newspaper Article

The following article was written about Brian's weight loss.  It was written by is friend and running buddy, Brandon.  He was featured in the Mount Vernon Democrat this week.  Earlier this year, Brian was also highlighted in his company's newsletter.  I am so proud of Brian!

Hard work and consistency pays dividends 
By Brandon Cole
 
            When
someone loses a lot of weight their friends want to know what wonder drug they
took or fad diet they used. This is why I have to share the story of my running
colleague, Brian Mitchell.   
            Last
year from the beginning of January to the end of December, Mitchell dropped a
whopping 86.6 pounds. His company offered a Biggest Loser campaign with
prizes.  “A lady that won the contest in
2011 (lost 30 percent body weight) was my original inspiration,” said
Mitchell.    “I realized at that moment
that I wasn’t quite sure that I could lose 30 percent of my weight, but I knew
I at least needed to lose 70 pounds for my health.” The company also offered an
in activity component, which he credits for getting “moving” again.
            “In
high school, I would cut weight for wrestling, but from a scientific standpoint
I did this all completely wrong,” said Mitchell. He decided that he would
educate himself on items such as caloric intake and caloric burn prior to starting.
“I began my lifestyle change by making healthy choices a priority. I refused to
go on a diet and would not keep myself from anything I really wanted”
            Using
the Harris-Benedict equation, Mitchell figured out how to estimate his caloric
daily burn. This is an equation that uses the basal metabolism rate and takes
in account one’s activity level.  The product
of this equation gives a person the amount of calories a person needs in order
to maintain their weight. With this information, a person can tell how many
calories they can consume and still be in a deficit resulting in weight loss. 
A woman’s BMR
equals 655 + (4.35 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) – (4.7 x age
in years). A man’s BMR equals 66 + (6.23 x weight in pounds) + (12.7 x height
in inches) – (6.8 x age in years). If this seems complicated, you can plug in
your body information to an online BMR calculator.  
After a person
figures out their BMR, they will multiply that number by their activity level
factor.  A person with little to no
exercise in their life would multiply the BMR by 1.2.  A person with light activity would use 1.375,
moderate (1.55), very active (1.725) and extra active (1.9).  
“I began eating
above my BMR, but well below my daily caloric burn,” said Mitchell. “I decided
if I worked out and burned calories that I would consume 50 percent of those
calories to keep me going strong and let the other 50 percent of the extra
exercised induced calories to add to my caloric deficit. I really wanted to
lose this weight, at first for the money, then it became for the pride.”
Remembering that
running was a great calorie burner during his wrestling days, Mitchell returned
to the activity. With a goal of a mile on his first run, he had to stop and
walk after just a short distance.  Each
day and week after week, Mitchell kept up the running and slowly began to build
stamina.
In March,
Mitchell ran in the 7K Run of the Luck race and by April he completed an 8K at
the Southern Indiana Classic marathon, half marathon and 8K. “The sense of
accomplishment I got from these two races soon built a pride inside myself to
go harder,” said Mitchell. 
On Oct. 7,
Mitchell finished the YMCA Half Marathon in a time of 2:07. Leading up to this
race, Mitchell cites the encouragement from family and close friends giving him
that extra drive. “The greatest part of the whole race was being able to finish
it with a friend,” said Mitchell.   
Along with
running and eating right, Mitchell found at work he could spend 45 minutes of
his lunch hour walking. At the end of December, Mitchell had lost 31 percent of
his total body weight, which translates to over 86 pounds and has him within
four pounds of his high school wrestling weight of 10 years ago.
Mitchell admits
he is still getting use to his new appearance. Over the past weekend he went to
buy a dress shirt and realized he had lost two inches off of his neck. The
salesman noted that Mitchell’s shirt was the same size as his.  The statement caught him off guard. “I looked
at myself in the mirror and sure enough he was correct.”