HOW TO LOSE WEIGHT AND EAT WHAT YOU LOVE
Bil Huk reached his wellness goals and stopped the cycle of emotional eating—you can too
Most of us would like to live more healthfully—whether that means eating more nutritious foods or logging more zzz’s. But when it actually comes down to it, there’s almost always an excuse to veer from the plan.
For Bil Huk, birthdays, long weekends and celebrations were reasons to eat anything and everything in front of him. “Food had become the focal point of my life,” he says. “I celebrated with it, medicated with it, ate when I was stressed, scared, happy, sad or bored.” After a diabetes diagnosis in 2018—which piled on top of a host of other conditions such as hypertension and sleep apnea— something clicked. “It was clear my poor health habits were going to kill me,” he says. “That wouldn’t be fair to my two young kids, or my amazing wife.” So, at 361 pounds, Huk turned to WW to help him reclaim his health and lose weight.
The first step was obtaining a personalized wellness program via an initial scientific assessment, which matches each member to the food plan that best suits them. The best part? No foods are off-limits. A holistic health plan looks at sleep, mindset and physical activity to support the lifestyle transformation. To help members crush their goals, the myWW+ app offers thousands of recipes, tracking and planning tools, coaching options, and more.
On the program, Huk lost
160 pounds and he’s on a mission to “keep evolving.” Read on to learn more about Huk’s journey.
What was it like starting your new routine?
“One of the hardest things to get my head around was the fact that I needed to lose 60 pounds just to get down to 300 pounds. It was like staring up at an enormous mountain with no climbing skills. It makes you feel like quitting before you start. But then I realized I just had to have one good day. Just one. Nothing more, nothing less. My advice to those feeling like they just can’t do this right now is you can’t change what you won’t confront. Just start.”
What small habits have had the biggest impact for you?
“If you love food, you don’t really know how much you’re eating unless you track. Your ‘food brain’ conveniently forgets all the bites and snacks. I reached my goal weight in February 2020, and I still track every day. I will for the rest of my life.”
What does a day of meals in your life look like?
“I start my day with a light breakfast: fruit and coffee, or eggs and coffee. For lunch, it’s mostly protein and veggies, such as a salad with chicken or beef. Dinners are our heavier meal where we eat most of our points.”
What are your favourite features of the myWW+ app?
“The recipe builder. Throwing all the ingredients of a homemade dish into the builder makes figuring out the points per portion super easy. There are also so many dishes from popular restaurants in the app, so it’s easy to track your meals. I need it to be easy because it helps to remove the typical excuses.”
How do family meals, or meals with friends, play into the plan?
“Because you can eat the foods you love on this program, it’s pretty easy to navigate family gatherings or meals out with friends. Before, I deemed them ‘special occasions’ and treated them as a free-for-all food fest. I love pizza night on Saturday, but if I was invited (pre-pandemic) to a birthday party on a Friday night, it made sense to choose which night to indulge on instead of both. Choosing when to indulge and when to make healthier choices lets you enjoy those special times in your life without sacrificing health goals.”
What are your favourite forms of exercise?
“When I started, I couldn’t walk a city block without my back screaming in pain. Now, when it’s not icy out, I run 10 kilometres as part of my routine. I’ve also developed a habit of pacing when I’m on the phone for work, so I get a lot of steps in. And we love hiking as a family because of the mental health benefits and how it makes us feel. Men, in particular, tend to turn to fitness first, but you learn quickly that you can’t outrun the fork. Exercise isn’t punishment for what we ate—it’s something we do because it feels good.”