E172 Extreme Midlife Transformation with Dave Rose
Midlife transformation isn’t usually so obvious
Most of us at 50 make changes in our priorities, our values, maybe a new midlife career or a downsized home.
My guest, outdoor writer, photographer, and pro fishing guide, Dave Rose says that he is a completely new person at 51, the person he was always meant to be. So how do you say goodbye to the old you? How do you even begin to wrap your head around being a new person?
It must feel a bit like starring in a science fiction movie of your life.
Extreme weight loss after 50
Weight loss after 50 is not easy. In the course of a single year, Dave has lost 127 lbs. The total is 133lbs. considering his highest-ever weight. His pant size went from 50 to 38. He even became a smaller shoe size.
Interestingly, this episode is not really about weight loss at all. What I was interested in and I think you will be too, is what role does your mind play in deciding to change something that has been so central to your identity since you were a child.
Dave says he’s always been “The Big Guy”. Now he’s a skinny dude and more than just his weight has changed.
As a fit person of normal size, his role in many relationships has changed. He thinks of himself differently and has become a far more compassionate person who wants to talk with others who are living behind a wall of fat. Dave is very open in our conversation about that wall which he says served as his protective barrier from his feelings and from letting other people really know him or possibly hurt him.
We talk about how our long lost childhood still impacts our emotional fortitude as adults and the role of comforting ourselves through food, gambling, drinking, shopping, and other addictive behaviors.
A team approach to weight loss
For Dave, having a good psychologist and a weight loss coach made the 133 lb transformation possible. He began with a weight loss coach who taught him how to eat differently and kept him motivated. But when Dave realized that his brain wasn’t keeping up with the changes that his body was experiencing, he began working with a psychologist on his relationship with food going back to his childhood and the role his body fat played in his identity and as a protective shield. He credits the team approach for his success and the fact that he knows he can maintain his current eating habits and weight for the rest of his life.
Paying it forward
Like many midlifers who experience such happiness as a result of their transformation, he is paying it forward helping others who struggle with overeating and their weight.
Dave is now a certified coach for the program he enrolled in last year. He is passionate about talking with people who want to learn how he did it. He’ll chat with anyone who wants to reach out to him. If you’d like to connect with Dave Rose, he asks you to connect with him through his fishing guide website and introduce yourself. Please mention Experience 50! Include your phone number if you’d like him to give you a call.
Thanks Dave for being so generous with your story and for helping Experience 50 listeners!
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