An Inspiring Weight Loss Story with Rick Lascelle
In today’s “Success Sunday” interview, you’ll hear from one of our long-standing clients, Rick Lascelle.
You’ll discover his journey from being overweight to losing up to 30 lbs by making some really simple changes to his diet and lifestyle.
Enjoy!
Yuri: Hey, everyone, Yuri Elkaim here, and I’m really excited today because, on the phone with me or on Skype, whatever you wanna call it, I have one of our longstanding clients. His name is Rick Lascelle, and he’s out in British Columbia, so another fellow Canadian, which is always nice to speak with. And I’m really excited because, as we always do with these client interviews, it’s all about inspiring you to…basically, by hearing other people’s perspectives on things that have challenged them in the past and things they needed to overcome those obstacles, and hopefully you can learn from that as well. So, Rick, thanks for joining me. Welcome.
Rick: My pleasure.
Yuri: Awesome. So, why don’t we start off by just briefly telling people a little bit about your story? I guess from a health perspective, some of the challenges that you’ve faced in the past. Why don’t we start there?
Rick: Okay. My biggest challenge has probably been a weight issue. I’m about six feet tall and probably for a good part of my life—I’m 51 years old—I’ve had a bit of an abdominal issue you could say, so I’ve always kind of fought the bulge, and that was mainly due to probably poor eating habits, to be honest. I do quite a bit of fitness activity, but that’s only one aspect of the whole regime that you need to do in order to become healthier. So, definitely, it was a battle of the bulge that was my main issue.
Yuri: Okay, and had you tried certain things in the past that didn’t work for you?
Rick: Yes and no. I probably tried the odd diet, but they really didn’t work, mainly because of a support issue and lack of knowledge about proper foods. So, probably from that point of view, yes.
Yuri: Do you mind sharing one or two of the diets that you tried and didn’t really succeed on?
Rick: Yeah, sure, no problem at all. Probably, I tried the Atkins diet; that was quite a long time ago. And probably, I just found it too convoluted, too complex for me really to stay with it. And, probably, at the time, I was probably single, so I was probably more into eating out, fast foods, that type of stuff. My lifestyle probably really wasn’t compatible with it. And on top of that, I was probably lazy at the same time. And I tried Weight Watchers, and the whole point issue thing is okay, but it just didn’t work well enough for me actually.
Yuri: I’ve worked with a number of clients who initially get excited about Weight Watchers because they see the point system as kind of like a game, so it’s kind of fun initially, but I found that with their experience, they find it very tough to maintain that unless they’re really able to identify, “Okay, well, I understand that this food is roughly this amount of points,” so they’re not always counting points in the long-term, but at least they’ve associated some kind of relationship between points and that food. Is that something you’ve found as well?
Rick: Yes, yes, very much so.
Yuri: Okay, cool. So, where are you today in respect to those initial challenges with your weight?
Rick: I’ve dropped about 35 pounds, and it’s probably due to concentrating on your advice in terms of a lot more plant foods. I probably didn’t eat as much plant foods as I should’ve been, so I’m very conscious in that, and I’ve really taken as much sugar out of my diet as possible too. Those two big things have made, I think, a huge difference.
Yuri: Great. And what was the motivation? Was there a point in time where you said, “That’s it. Tomorrow morning we’re gonna get this thing started for real.” Was there a point in time where you can remember that happening?
Rick: Probably was more of a gradual plan. I can’t really pick on the exact date, but there probably was one day that I said, “I kinda really have to do this.” I, as probably a lot of other people, say, “You know, I think I’ll do this next week,” or “I’ll start this next week,” or, “I’ll start this tomorrow,” or, “I’ll start this in the new year or after Christmas.” So, it was a gradual thing, but, literally, there was probably one day, and I’d have to look back to see what actual day that was where I finally said, “Okay, it has to start today.” Part of my issue is, my work, my receptionist, she brings in homemade cookies every single day, and they’re awesome, they’re just delicious cookies and some of them are healthy and some of them are not. I’m the type of person, if I eat one, I’ll eat five, so I basically have to say no to them all the time; otherwise, I’ll just fall back in the routine of eating five a day.
Yuri: Yeah, and I think that’s a great point you just brought up, ’cause I think a lot—I mean, it just goes to show the power of your environment and the people you surround yourself with. And it’s tough; it is tough to say no to that kinda stuff, especially if—I mean, I’m the same way; if I have one, I’ll probably have ten. So, it’s helpful to surround yourself with good influences as much as possible. In your journey, have you had a good support network, friends, family who’ve supported you or a lot of naysayers? Have you found you’ve kind of been doing this on your own?
Rick: Probably a bit of both. My wife has been an awesome support, and, to a certain degree, a few people around me, yes, but you’re always fighting, not individuals specifically but, “Is this a fad? Is this not a fad?” or, “You should try this new HCG diet,” or, “Weight Watchers did work for me; you should go back to that.” So, you have a lot of advice from people around, but, really, for me, if I stick with my wife, which, obviously, I always do, she’s probably the biggest support, and people slowly realize that, “Yeah, he’s sticking with it. I’m not gonna change his mind or her mind,” so that’s great, and they see the success. But it’s not for everyone, and you kinda have to work your way through it. It’s been a good personal journey.
Yuri: Nice. So, what does a typical day look like for you now between, for instance, meals and exercise routines?
Rick: I typically probably do exercise almost every single day. I try to take one day off during the week. Breakfast is probably my most important meal that I have to get in, ‘’cause if I don’t get that in, I just feel really fatigued throughout the day. And I’ve learned that I’m not a get-up-in-the-morning-to-work-out person. I’m more of a workout person probably later in the day. I start work at around six o’clock, six-thirty, so for me to get a workout in the morning, I’d have to get up at four-thirty or four o’clock, and that’s just not gonna work. So, definitely for me it’s a late-afternoon or evening workout and getting that good breakfast in and then taking healthy snacks throughout the day and smaller portions throughout the day of my lunch and my supper and try to realize that supper, a lot of times it’s a later meal just because of the way my day works out. I try not to eat a lot because that just really affects my sleeping habits at the same time.
Yuri: And what are some of the go-to recipes that you enjoy for breakfast or for snacks during the day while you’re at work?
Rick: Probably in the morning I try to have some type of a steel-cut oatmeal and then later in the day is some protein drink and some fruit just to get that full feeling. Lunch is lots of greens and supper is lots of greens too, but I look at the whole protein-carb issue in terms of when I should be eating those proteins and carbs as per when I worked out during the day. And I have to admit, the weekend, it’s tough not to have a nicer breakfast meal. I have to admit, I’m a bit of a pancake fanatic. I love pancakes but you can make healthy ones. And I’m also a peanut butter addict, which probably doesn’t help.
Yuri: Peanut butter pancakes. There you go.
Rick: Oh, you’re putting peanut butter on pancakes with a touch of syrup; heavenly. So, I have to realize my pitfalls and work around them, but my support, meaning my wife, has just been awesome, so that really helps a lot.
Yuri: That’s great. And workouts, what kind of workouts are you doing?
Rick: A combination of a whole bunch of different things. I am a runner, so I do a lot of half marathons, but I try to really work in a lot of strength training with that and cross training. So, a lot of spin classes I do and strength training, I probably try to do them around lunchtime a bit and then do my runs later at night, ’cause, as I said, I just can’t do those in the morning. So, it’s probably more cardio than it is strength, and I have a hard time changing that ’cause I love running so much and I love doing the cardio so much, but I’m trying to get more and more into the strength training ’cause I know that’s beneficial.
Yuri: Yeah, it definitely helps. And with the runs, are you doing kind of a steady-state run or are you using intervals or a combination of both?
Rick: I love your Treadmill Trainer. I’ve used that. I think those workouts are awesome.
Yuri: Nice. Which volumes have you been using?
Rick: I have the hill trainer. When I first got it, I had three, four, do we have five yet? I’m not sure. So, three, four, and five if we’re up to five, and the hill trainers I use. So, those are just great. And then I do a long run on my own on Sunday with another group.
Yuri: Great. Good for you. That’s awesome. Okay, so what advice—if you were to run into somebody in the street and they were having the same challenges as you, what kind of advice would you give somebody who’s looking to lose weight, looking to get on the healthy path, and maybe be a little more consistent with their workouts?
Rick: For me, it’s really getting a support group. Also, I can’t do it by myself. I’m just lousy trying to go at it alone. I need a good support group, and I need a good set of resources, and the resources that you give on a weekly basis and the Treadmill Trainer and stuff like that have just been a godsend. They’re excellent. I do have a bit of a background in physical fitness, but you’re into it much more than I am, so having that resource there has been a godsend, as I said. And, as I said, the support group too. It makes a huge, huge difference, and if someone is willing to go on that journey with you or support you on that journey, that helps so, so much.
Yuri: Great, awesome. That’s great advice. So, I think that’s pretty much everything I wanted to discuss with you. Obviously, I know you’re busy, so I don’t wanna take up too much of your time. I just wanted to thank you, Rick, for taking the time to share your story, give some inspiration to other listeners. Is there anything else you wanted to finish with, anything that we haven’t touched upon?
Rick: I just want to thank you very much for what you’ve done for my physical fitness and for everyone’s physical fitness. I think you’re doing an awesome job. It’s too bad you went to U of T; I’m a Queen’s grad. But other than that, you keep it up, what you’re doing, because it’s inspirational and it’s very, very, very helpful.
Yuri: Awesome. Thank you very much for that, Rick.
Rick: You’re welcome.
Yuri: Have a great day and we’ll speak to you guys soon.
Rick: Thanks.
