176 pounds later, he surpasses his goal

On Dec. 19, Stuart Kuntzelman weighed in at 214 pounds. He hasn't weighed that little since he was 10 years old.

When he folds his size 38 jeans, he said he is still in awe. Emotionally, he said, it's still difficult to comprehend.

“I was a size 68 at my biggest,” Kuntzelman, a St. Charles resident, said. “And now I can shop at any store I want. It's just amazing.”

But it was not an easy battle.

In 2001, Kuntzelman broke 500 pounds. He said he was disgusted with himself and vowed to commit to shedding the pounds. In a seesaw of weight loss and gain, his lowest weight was 270. But last Christmas, he was 390. And he was tired of being the fat guy.

“I felt like a stuffed sausage in clothes,” Kuntzelman said.

On Jan. 1, 2011, he set a goal of 225.

From January through April, he lost 65 pounds, hitting 325. This he accomplished with diet and exercise alone. But he felt like he was just guessing at what was right, sometimes feeling frustrated and other times satisfied. From April through August, he was stuck.

The hardest part of losing weight — especially when it's a huge amount — is finding the right mental state, Kuntzelman said, “when you're 100 percent ready to do this and focus.”

So, when he plateaued and still had 100 pounds to go, Kuntzelman sought professional help.

While most people eat between 1,500 and 2,500 calories per day, Kuntzelman figured he needed to lose 2,500 calories per day.

He said he began to think about his weight loss in terms of banking. Anything he ate was money withdrawn. Any calories burned was money deposited. At the time, Kuntzelman figured he was about 210,000 calories in debt. With 3,500 calories in a pound, that's 60 pounds.

With newfound accountability, Kuntzelman said the pounds starting coming off, once again.

His dietitian, Tom Jordan of First Health Associates, said it wasn't hard to hold Kuntzelman accountable.

“He was the most attentive person in all of our nutrition classes, soaking up every word and implementing them into his plan on a weekly basis,” Jordan said. “He's a true testament to what can be done if you decide you want something, develop a structured plan on how you're going to get it, then stay accountable and disciplined to achieving it.”

Kuntzelman and his diet group members encouraged one another, and the only excuse for not exercising was injury. He only took three days off from exercising in 12 weeks.

“This thing, it's 90 percent mental,” Kuntzelman said. “The accountability is the biggest thing.”

While accountability is important, Jordan said Kuntzelman did this for himself.

“The real key to Stuart's success,” Jordan said, “was Stuart.”