Mitchell Krzyzek, 34, of Seekonk, Mass., remembers the day he decided to lose his extra weight once and for all.
It was Dec. 30, 2007, and he and his wife were at home eating takeout food from Wendy's. "I bought a Baconator, large fries and large fruit punch.
"After the meal I felt so lethargic. I thought: 'I've had enough. I have to get this weight off and keep it off.' "
At 6-foot-5, Krzyzek weighed 309 at the time but has since slimmed down to 235. Instead of eating out so often, he started cooking his own meals regularly and cut his food bills in half.
His story was selected by a panel of experts to be featured in the sixth annual USA TODAY Weight-Loss Challenge in the newspaper and online at dietchallenge.usatoday.com. This year's series, which runs every Monday through mid-May, focuses on how to lose weight on a budget. Readers who trimmed down without adding to their debt were asked to share their stories.
Krzyzek says he has struggled with his weight for as long as he can remember. When he was in his mid-20s, he weighed 310 and got down to 230 by eating well and exercising.
Then he got married and returned to his bad eating habits and regained the weight.
Part of the problem was that he and his wife, Susan, who then worked as a night-shift nurse, relied on fast food and takeout.
"On my way to work in the morning, I would pick up a breakfast sandwich, doughnuts or bagel with cream cheese at Dunkin' Donuts," Krzyzek says.
"For lunch I would always get a large sub with tuna and cheese, and for dinner we usually went out for Chinese or fast food. We always brought it home and sat in front of the TV."
The money for all this was "flying" out of his pockets, Krzyzek says.
But he started preparing simple entrees for dinner, such as chicken fajitas, steak fajitas, rotisserie chicken, pork chops, cod or salmon. He serves them with vegetables and wheat bread or sweet potatoes.
Krzyzek, an accountant, calculates he spends about $15 a day on food for himself now compared with $30 a day before he started to lose weight. That savings more than covers the $51 a month he pays for his gym membership, which he gets at a discount price through his wife's employer.
He works out regularly on the treadmill and elliptical machine and using free weights.
Cooking saves a lot of money, as well as calories, he says. "It is cheaper than when we could go out and spend $40 on dinner for two. You don't realize how it adds up over time. I'm saving a lot of money now."
In the long run, Krzyzek says, weight loss boils down to "hard work and determination." And he's still at it.
The Weight-Loss Challenge participants are sharing their thoughts and progress on Twitter. "I love Mondays because I'm full of anticipation for a great workout week," he writes.
But he's no slouch the other days: He reported on Twitter that he ran 4 miles on the treadmill Thursday.
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