Nebraska Man Sets New Year's Resolution, Loses Over 220 Pounds in One Year
Jim Clements has shared his weight loss journey with thousands on Facebook
— -- A Nebraska man who set a New Year’s resolution last year to lose weight is now celebrating a weight loss of over 220 pounds and a new lease on life.
“There’s so many things that I couldn’t do before,” Jim Clements told ABC News. “Just a few days ago I went to a go-cart track with my son and could ride in the car with him.”
“Its little things like flying on an airplane and not having to use seatbelt extenders, that’s really exciting,” he said.
Clements, 33, of Omaha, Neb., says he grew up being teased for being the biggest kid in class and kept gaining weight as an adult. When he stepped on the scale after Thanksgiving last year and saw that he weighed around 500 pounds, he says he saw the loss of his grandfather flash before him.
“I lost my grandpa to cancer as a young kid and it was a revelation that I was going to do the same thing to my son,” said Clements, the father of a 5-year-old son named Luke. “I was just using food instead of smoking.”
Clements consulted with his doctor and nutritionist and began to implement a new food and exercise plan on Jan. 1, 2014.
“I focused on keeping carbs down and ate proteins and the carbs I did take in I tried to make as healthy as possible,” he said. “Before I started on this journey, it would not be a shocker for me to stop at a doughnut shop on my way home and get a dozen doughnuts and then come home and have dinner.”
“I had no self-control or moderation,” Clements said. “This morning, my breakfast was a chicken breast with a little seasoning and an all-natural granola bar.”
Clements says he also took a lesson he learned from his past “hundreds” of failed diets and used Facebook to keep himself accountable.
Since the start of his weight loss journey, Clements has posted updates, photos and his weekly weigh-in numbers on his Facebook page, “Jim Getting’ Slim.”
“The only difference of my failed diets was one time I had a boss who was very supportive and made it very public and told everyone how proud he was,” Clements said, adding that once his boss moved on to a new job, Clements went back to his old ways.
“I thought there has to be something about that public accountability,” he said. “From day one, I said, ‘I’m going to sink or I’m going to swim in front of everyone and I think that’s played a huge role in my success.’”
In addition to inspiring his Facebook followers, Clements says his extreme weight loss has also inspired his family members, including his wife, Chelsea, Luke and his extended family.
“My mom, aunts and uncles have all lost weight – almost 100 pounds collectively,” Clements said. "Luke walked out one day lifting 5-pound weights saying he wanted to be strong like daddy. To see my son learning my good habits instead of my bad habits is really a cool thing."
Though he has already dropped nearly half his body weight, Clements says he has another 30 or so pounds to lose before he reaches his first goal of moving out of the obese weight category.
His New Year’s resolution for 2015 and beyond is to get his body in “excellent physical condition.” In September, Clements hired a personal trainer at his local gym to help him achieve that goal.
“The most important thing is to have hope and determination and you have to know that this journey isn’t easy,” Clements said. “There are so many diet books that try to sell you on easy steps and that’s not true.”
“It’s going to be hard but it’s not impossible,” he said. “If you believe in yourself and push yourself, you’re going to reach your goal.”
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