Tyler Christensen Took Control Of His LIfe Through Running
My guest today went from being unable to run a mile to running a marathon in a year and lost some serious weight in the process.
He now has goals that he didn’t think were possible a year ago and now he is excited to see what he is capable of.
I am looking forward to going a few easy miles with Tyler Christensen.
Supportive Community
Tyler first experienced the inclusiveness of the running community while in high school.
In high school, he was unable to make it onto other sports teams so he opted instead to join the cross country team.
Tyler felt welcomed immediately on the team regardless of ability.
His college years were the start of a lifelong struggle with weight when he gained 50 pounds over the course of 4 years.
He would run intermittently during undergrad as a way to keep his weight stable.
It was during grad school that Tyler really fell in love with distance running.
During this time of his life, Tyler completed several races, including marathons and a 50k.
Tyler never shed all of his excess weight even when running frequently, but the passage of time led to even more pounds.
Taking Control Of His Life
As an adult with a family and a job, running eventually took a backseat.
Major life events, including moving and switching jobs only added to the weight Tyler gained.
Tyler knew he had reached a breaking point when his wife suggested he take control of his life.
A year ago, they both sat down and created a plan for him to start on the path to a healthy lifestyle.
Everyday life was challenging for Tyler at 300 pounds and running seemed daunting.
Reality hit him that he used to be able to run marathons and now he couldn’t even run a mile.
Running as an obese man came with many extra challenges.
Tyler lost a considerable amount of weight in the first few months which helped his resolve to grow even more.
Trial and Error
Running alone would help Tyler to shed some weight, but eventually, he needed to address his diet.
Tyler has relied on trial and error with his diet to figure out what works for him.
Much of the conventional diet “wisdom” made him gain weight.
Tyler found he did better with only 3 meals a day and not allowing himself any snacks.
He also found that some healthy foods only seemed to make him hungrier.
Every time Tyler’s weight would plateau, he would change things up until he began making progress again.
While he still pays attention to the scale, he also values the importance of other body metrics as well for measuring progress.
Currently, he is down 97 pounds and hopes to get to 100 before his first year on this journey is over.
After the Run
From the very beginning of Tyler’s fitness journey, he documented his progress through various forms of social media.
Tyler came up with the name, “After the Run,” for his social media platforms, because it was during his runs that he had time to think.
It was only after the run that he could sit down and process all he had thought about and come up with new ideas.
Tyler has authored a few books in the past and is currently working on his newest one.
The subject of his new book will be about his health and fitness journey.
Tyler’s next big goal is training for his longest distance which will be a 50 miler later in the year.
Running has opened his eyes as to what he is really capable of.
This post is accompanied by an episode of my podcast, Diz Runs Radio.
Click this link to listen to my conversation with Tyler Christensen.
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Originally published at http://www.dizruns.com on May 13, 2019.