Who am I to tell you how to lose weight?
Good question. I’m not a doctor, nor a dietician. I have, however, travelled the road of a typical person who was once skinny in childhood, gained weight through college, marriage and kids. Tried different diets and exercise regimes with various degrees of effectiveness, but never with any long term success.
I’m your average guy.
I love food. I’m a foodie. Pizza, burgers, ramen noodles, fries, chips, ice cream, you name it, I love them all. But really, who doesn’t?
Oh, I love alcohol as well.
Eight years ago I reached almost 200 lbs on my 5’10” frame. That’s over 28 on the BMI index. I was going to the doctors on a regular basis for treating the following:
- Non alcoholic fatty liver (which is ironic, since I drank plenty of alcohol)
- Prediabetes
- Asthma
- Sleep apnea
- Acid reflux/GERD
- Insomnia/poor sleep
You get the point, a healthy person I was not.
Finally I decided to do something about it (well, the doctor pretty much forced me to do so). I was put on your regular diet, you know, no junk food, watch your calories & cholesterol, get some exercise. Even though it worked in the beginning to various degrees, sooner or later I would crack, go on a binge, or just slowly revert to my old ways. With that, the weight would come back.
Sound familiar?
I blamed my lack of discipline, or mental power, or self control. I felt embarrassed, and when it hurt enough, I would get back for another round, only to fail again somewhere down the road. Feel sh*tty about myself. The yoyo continued.
So far my story is no different than anyone else.
Let’s jump to the present me:
- Body weight of 155 lbs (22 BMI)
- Body fat of 15%
- No more fatty liver
- Normal blood sugar levels
- No more sleep apnea
- Minimum acid flux (still get it once in awhile, especially when I hit the buffet)
- Sleep an average of 7 hrs a night, naturally
- Most importantly, I’ve stayed in this weight range (+- 3 lbs) for the last 5 years, and the extra flab stays off pretty much effortlessly.
Basically I’m at my high school weight. Being “light on my feet” has never been a more appropriate way to describe how I feel everyday.
Mind you, I’m no elite athlete, nor do I want to be. All of my vitals are just in the normal range. That’s all I want, to be normal, feel healthy, and have the foundation to a more fulfilling life. Without health, none of the other stuff really matter. That, I hope, is something we can all agree on.
And I did this not by developing more discipline or self control (that comes later), but by thinking differently.
It all starts in the brain, the rest simply follows, naturally.
A different way of thinking gets the ball rolling, which leads to a cascade of changes, both mentally & physically, to shed weight and keep them off, with little “force” involved. The biggest change is not to massively increase your discipline (that’s way too drastic & difficult for most people), but to change your approach.
I stumbled upon this by accident, through countless trial & error.
I want to save you the trouble.
Next up: A thinner you.