This me now...
This was me at my heaviest 405... taking up the whole bed!
So PART 1 was just a summary of my ongoing journey. How did I actually lose 125 pound? Like I stated before, I had tried soooooo many different diet and programs in the past. If it had been on tv or had a major online presence I probably tried it. Atkins, South Beach, low-fat, Nutrisystem, Blood-type diet, HCG, fasting, etc. What I came to realize was that something was wrong with all of them. They all were temporary fixes. I decided to use the same strategies I used to get out of debt shortly after graduating from college. The basic economic strategy I used to accomplish that was to earn more and spend less on a consistent basis. I had to change my way of life to get out of debt! “Eat less, burn more” had to become a new way of life for me.
The first thing I did was re-educate myself. I watched Food Inc, Fat Sick and Nearly Dead, Fed Up and Forks Over Knives. I needed to find out what was wrong with my diet and what was wrong with the foods I ate. Some of those documentaries pissed me off, to be honest. Losing weight and getting healthy is like a dwarf fighting a giant. I mean it’s me versus a huge industry who is mostly concerned with making money, instead of the people.
Shortly after watching documentaries and doing a bit of light research, I decided to cut soda out of my diet completely. I found that sweet drinks were accounting for about 700 empty calories PER DAY. Water adds zero calories and hydrates the body. A lot of times I found that I was thirsty much more than I was hungry. Anytime I felt hungry, I drank a cup of water first.
Next, I completely cut fast food out of my diet. I still ate out, I just had higher quality food. Instead of a burger and fries, I had a small steak and a baked potato. Once you go a month or more without fast food, you’ll realize how crappy it is. I mean it doesn’t have the taste that a properly prepared meal has. What it does have is more sodium, fat, and sugar. I found it necessary to cook more often and to cook with bold spices. I like grilled flavor so I grill just about everything to get that smoky flavor.
Next, I changed the amount that I used to eat. I work a lot, so I tend to eat out a lot. If you go to an average American restaurant like Applebee’s, Olive Garden, Chili’s, etc, you’ll find that a meal is really two. I would ask for a “to go” container right away. Whatever meal I ordered, I would cut it in half and save the rest of it for a later meal. Sometimes, I can get three meals out of one restaurant meal. That’s why I can afford to eat out several times a week for lunch. That $12 lunch ends up being dinner too. The stomach can only process so much at a time. Overloading it forces it to store extra as fat.
I then changed when I ate. I still like pancakes or waffles. I just decided that if I was going to have them, I would have a lot of them and I would have them in the morning. At least that way, I could have all day to use them as I burned up calories through the day. I stopped having heavy meals at dinner. Additionally, I stopped eating after 7 pm. I didn’t want my stomach still processing calories while I was sleep. I wanted my body to be burning calories in my sleep, instead of storing them.
The last part of my plan included burning more calories. I changed a lot of little things to accomplish that goal. I got some really good running shoes; not to run in, but to walk in. I knew that if my feet, knees or ankles would hurt, I wouldn’t keep walking. I walk at least a couple of extra miles everyday. What do I mean by extra? I park as far away from the entrance to a store on the parking lot. I take the stairs instead of the elevator in most buildings. I’ll go talk to a coworker face to face instead of calling down the hall. I found ways to get extra miles in by changing a few habits. I also found an activity I LOVE... BIKING. I got a quality bike and started biking at a local park. At first I could only bike a mile. After a while though, I could bike 5. Now I routinely do 15 to 20 miles if I have enough time. There is one more trick I used my bike for. I LIKE COOKIES!!!I made myself a deal. I could have a cookie or whatever desert I wanted BUT, I had to ride my bike to go get it. That made me think about if it was worth it. Sometimes the answer was yes and the bike ride helped burn off the calories from the cookie. Other times the answer was no, so I didn’t go get it. I was also strategic in making a physical activity the last thing I did before going to bed. Sometimes it was biking. Sometimes it was just push-ups and squats. Sometimes it was great sex. Whatever it was, I didn’t eat something after doing it. I just went to bed afterwards. (After taking a shower of course... lol)
In summary, this is what I did to lose 125 so far.
1. Made a decision to change my lifestyle
2. Re-educated myself about food
3. Drank more water
4. Ate higher quality food
5. Ate less food
6. Ate food earlier in the day
7. Moved my body more throughout the day
8. Found an activity I love!
PART 3 will be about how I plan on losing the rest of the weight. I have found that the more weight I lose the more difficult it has become.
Thanks for reading all the way to the end. I hope my journey helps someone else’s journey!