A Chestermere resident is hoping to inspire others to live a healthy lifestyle after losing 122 lbs within a year.
Sang Lee first began his journey to a healthier lifestyle after seeing a specialist last year for kidney and liver failure.
“He showed me a very dark world of where I was heading towards,” Lee said.
A week later, Lee started eating a Ketogenic Diet, where he cut out carbohydrates, and increased his intake of fats.
“Initially [weight] came down quite quickly, now I know it’s because carbs contain a lot of water, I was very bloated,” Lee said.
He added, “I didn’t have calves anymore.”
Although Lee was losing weight by eating clean, he also wanted to build muscle. He joined CrossFit Moirai after seeing a Facebook advertisement for a fitness and Body Mass Index (BMI) assessment.
“You go through a warm-up work out, it didn’t go well for me,” Lee added, “I couldn’t do most of the work out.”
For Lee, working out and eat healthy wasn’t about losing any weight.
“This whole thing was not to lose weight, that wasn’t the goal.
“My organs were shutting down, I was getting kidney failure, my liver was failing, my blood sugar was sky rocketing. I was injecting 400 to 500 units of insulin every day, and I was taking a whole wack of pills for everything,” Lee said.
He added, “My goal was to get my organs in line.”
Lee now doesn’t take insulin as his diabetes is at a standstill.
Staying motivated for Lee wasn’t an issue, as he saw his body begin to change every month which made him want to stay on track with his diet and exercise.
“The best part was going back to the specialist, and he said, ‘If I didn’t know your history, I would not say you’re diabetic,’ that was a very liberating feeling,” Lee said.
He added, “On a shallower note it’s nice not having to go to the big and tall stores. I had to buy a whole new wardrobe, which has been expensive, but it’s been a lot of fun.”
Activities that Lee performs every day are much easier now as well.
“We ski a lot, about 40 times a year, things like that have come much more improved now.
“The physical challenges are not there anymore, before it would be a challenge to put my boots on, because of CrossFit I move a lot easier,” Lee said.
However, now Lee has plateaued and is working on kick starting his metabolism with changing up with diet and increasing the intensity of his work outs.
“Right now, I’m a little bit frustrated because I’m not getting the results I would like,” Lee said.
In the past, Lee played volley ball and hockey while in college, however, after beginning his career and having children his own fitness and health become a second priority.
“Having kids, you ate what they ate, and then you ate your own dinner. Most offices always have a lot of junk food around, during Christmas there’s always a ton of chocolate, there’s always doughnuts, it happened for 20 years. It just builds up,” Lee said.
“Going to a gym is kind of daunting, because starting out you don’t know. When I was working out in college it was different, what was effective then, is modernized now.
“When I went to the gym I saw a lot of people walking around, they don’t really know what to do, so they go on the treadmill for a bit and then they go home,” Lee said.
Whereas at CrossFit Lee noticed there was no judgement, all fitness levels worked out together, and everyone supported each other.
The biggest piece of advice Lee has for people who are wanting to begin their journey to a healthier lifestyle is to get involved with a supportive group.
“Just doing it on your own is just so hard, it’s so hard to stay motivated,” Lee said.
“I was a bit of an extreme case, it isn’t that easy to lose weight, and build muscle, if you’re doing it on your own you’ll probably just give up,” Lee said.
He added, “Don’t wait to hit rock bottom like I did, where specialists are telling you, if you don’t shape up you’ll have to go on dialysis machines.
“Do it now. It’s a horrible place to be where their telling you, you only have 10 years to live at best.”
