Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014
Pushing past barriers n Finehout loses more than 200 pounds with caloric-deficit diet By JAKE WADDINGHAM
CNA staff reporter jwaddingham@crestonnews.com
After trying several fad diets of weight loss pills, drinking apple cider vinegar and trying other “offthe-wall” methods, Russel Finehout was frustrated with no results. At 23, Finehout was about 390 pounds. His weight was starting to take a toll on his health, causing chest pain because of an enlarged gallstone. He also suffered from nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. “He (the doctor) was pretty straight up with me,” Finehout said. “He told me that I basically had more years behind than I did ahead if I didn’t change the way I was living.” Finehout, a 2006 Creston High School graduate, started to study weight loss and realized all of the fad diets he had tried in the past shared a common theme — a caloric deficit. “I started using just a caloric deficit for my diet and
tracking my calories,” Finehout said. “That’s when I started to see the weight actually come off, when I was tracking what I was putting into my mouth.” Finehout used a threeringed binder to log everything he ate throughout the day. His goal was to have a deficit of 500 to 1,000 calo-
“I got to the point where I was happy with my weight, and started going back with a different mindset of gaining muscle instead of losing weight.” — Russel Finehout
ries daily. He also started to do workouts at the gym. “I was kind of embarrassed to be in the gym, but I really didn’t let that stop me,” Finehout said. Because of his weight, Finehout could not run or do other fitness activities
Contributed photo and CNA photo by JAKE WADDINGHAM
At 390 pounds, Russel Finehout, right, knew he wanted to make a lifestyle change, but had no success with several fad diets. In December 2011, he started a caloric-deficit diet in addition to working out and by June 2013, Finehout cut his weight to 189 pounds.
for a long duration, so he adopted a high-intensity training method. One of his workouts would be to run for a minute, then recover by walking for a minute. His next set would be to run a little harder for 40 seconds before a rest. Breaking barriers Finehout’s weight-loss journey started in December 2011. Within about a
year, he had reached his first milestone, breaking the 300 pound-barrier. “One day I was coming back from the gym and it was really an emotional experience,” Finehout said. “I had been trying to do it for such a long time. “I started like crying in my car on the way home from the gym because I had finally pushed past this barrier that I had been fighting
forever.” Finehout also started to enjoy weight training, but knew it would be difficult to continue to lose pounds and build muscle. He worked on perfecting his weightlifting form, but his focus remained on counting calories and losing weight. After fighting through a plateau at 270 pounds, Finehout’s next milestone was breaking 260 pounds —
his high school weight. Finehout’s three-year battle with his weight reached it’s pinnacle in June 2013 when the scale read 189 pounds on his 6 foot, 1 inch frame. “I got to the point where I was happy with my weight, and I actually Please see BARRIERS, Page 2