Photo began Trappe's weight loss journey

CEDAR RAPIDS -- For Christoph Trappe, 36, of Cedar Rapids, it was a photograph that brought about the desire to make some changes.

'I saw a photo of myself next to my grandmother in the summer of 2006 and I thought, 'Oh, my gosh. I was fat.' '

Trappe, a senior client relationship manager at MedTouch in Cedar Rapids, says he tries not to look at that photo these days, but it started him on a quest for change that took his 6'4' frame from 330 pounds at its peak, all the way down to 190 pounds at his lowest point, which ended up being too low.

'I started writing down what I was eating, how much and how many calories,' he says.

And gradually the needle on his scale started to go down.

'I started running, even though I didn't consider myself a runner. The first time I ran, I did 3 miles in 47 minutes.' Today Trappe can run that distance in half the time.

'I moved down to 314, 310 and then 299 pounds. That was a milestone,' he says. 'And then I went all the way down to 219 pounds and I thought that was tremendous.'

And then the thing that happens for many people happened.

'I gained some weight back and ended up going all the way back up to 268 pounds, and I thought, 'Why am I going back up again?' '

He lost the weight again, added weightlifting into his workouts and landed at 220 pounds, which is a steady weight for him today.

A couple years ago Trappe joined The Mac and five to six days a week he arrives there by 4:45 a.m. to get in a 90-minute exercise routine using the Fitness Buddy app (http://fitnessbuddyapp.com).

His workout regimen includes weightlifting and cardio, as well as time on the treadmill, the elliptical and a stationary bike. 'I used to swim, but haven't done that in a while,' he says.

'I try to get out of there by 6:20 a.m. so I can get home and help my wife with our two daughters,' Trappe says.

Getting started living a more healthy lifestyle is the hard part, and Trappe is adamant about his approach to that.

'You have to make up your mind and get started. There are 100 excuses why you can't do it such as I don't have the time,' he says. 'I don't have the time either. I make the time.'

'It's really pretty simple losing weight,' he says. 'You have to have more calories going out than in.'

But he admits eating right isn't always easy.

'The society that we live in, if you go to a restaurant, unless you order something from the 500-calorie menu, the different offerings that they have are a big chunk of your daily calories,' he says.

Trappe feels he and many others make the mistake of eating too fast. 'You know you sit down and just eat and eat quickly. You don't think about what you're doing,' he says. 'You don't even realize you are full until it's way too late.'

Getting in shape has changed the way he thinks about going out to eat at a restaurant. 'I don't go out to eat, I go out to socialize. That doesn't mean I don't eat something. I'll probably have a drink, have something small, but I'm not going to have an appetizer and a meal and a dessert,' he says. 'You have to change the whole mind-set of how you look at meals. You just have to live it and once you do, people start accepting it.'

As he's worked to get in shape, he's felt a lot of support from his friends and co-workers. He mentions a time when he used to work at the United Way and he won a cake. A co-worker blurted out, 'He's not going to eat that cake.'

'I didn't even have to say anything — the other person reminded me I was not going to have cake whether I wanted to or not ...  and that helps,' he says. 'Once you start living it, other people start reinforcing what you are doing.'

Trappe shares his experience and tips on his blog, MyFitnessTips.org.