I weighed 357 pounds the last time the Eagles reached the Super Bowl – I’ve lost 132lbs since with small, easy changes
SUPER Bowl Sunday is a day of fanfare, eager anticipation, and of course food.
Sunni Upal, a sport reporter for The U.S. Sun, shared his weight loss journey over the past five Super Bowls.
The last time the Philadelphia Eagles reached the Super Bowl in 2018, I was more than 110 lbs heavier than I am now.
That Sunday I woke up in Chicago, ate a slice of deep-dish pizza for breakfast, and dashed for a flight to Minneapolis, Minnesota.
It was on that flight to the Super Bowl host city when I decided I should probably do something about my weight when I returned home to London.
I weighed 357 lbs and wore pants with a 52-inch waist that day, it was time to get serious about my health.
The first goal was one most people would have, to trim up before a wedding in the summer.
It required a complete lifestyle change from turning my whole diet around to improving my exercise.
And the result was 44 lbs lost in four months, far beyond my hopes and expectations.
The following year I went back to the Super Bowl in Atlanta, Georgia weighing 249 lbs, 108 lbs lighter.
People often ask “What’s the secret?” or “How did you do it?” but there really isn’t one and there are no shortcuts.
The biggest key is to set small, manageable targets and to try and stick to them.
I focused on losing two pounds a week rather than thinking about the bigger picture, knowing if I did that then they would all add up.
The targets have to be sustainable, whether it’s diet or exercise.
There was no point in me running for 90 minutes a day because I hate running and I wouldn’t keep that up.
Instead, working out every day was 20-30 minutes of cardio and 40-45 minutes of weights.
And for the diet, I didn’t cut out all my treats in one go because I would just be craving something bad.
I slowly lost all the bad things from my diet, but still kept one or two small treats in, like a hot chocolate before bed.
Treating yourself is important, the odd takeout meal is brilliant for morale and one of those every other week won’t break a diet.
And it’s important not to get down when missing a target.
Even if I didn’t lose the amount of weight I wanted in one week, that’s when I looked at the bigger picture and reflected on the progress.
This year the Eagles were back in the Super Bowl and I was lucky enough to attend my fifth.
I tipped the scales at 240 lbs this week, after a couple of days of not-so-fine dining in Phoenix, Arizona.
The lowest I got down to was 225 lbs, just to achieve a full 132 lbs of weight loss, but I felt too skinny.
There were times I ballooned back to 255-265 lbs during lockdown with the lack of activity and too many home treats.
But by making sustainable changes, I didn’t sweat that I’d be able to lose it again.
Now back to the gym and onto the diet to work off those Super Bowl hotdogs.