by Leila
(Redmont, WA)
I am a 42 year old male, 6’2” and 8 months ago I weighed 336 pounds. I have been heavy all my life and have tried different diets on many occasions. I’ve tried no carb diet plan, low carb diet, high carb, etc. as well as many other types of fad diets.
Managed to lose weight quickly on all of those plans but eventually eating the same food over and over again and depriving myself of certain foods that I love got to me and I starting “cheating” and gained the weight back. Plus, I wasn’t exercising as much or as often as I should have been.
Additionally, looking back I realize that I was never mentally prepared to lose weight and wasn’t fully committed to the process. In the past year I was diagnosed with several health problems including hypertension and hypothyroidism. Of course my doctors want me to lose weight and, of course, they’re right. So this time I decided to do it right.
I did a lot of research on proper nutrition and exercise and decided that dieting wasn’t going to work. What I needed to do was to simply begin eating correctly; eating the way that “normal” people do and the way that all nutritional experts advise people to eat; I also needed to understand that this was going to be a long-term approach to losing weight and keeping it off and that expecting to quickly lose a lot of weight and keep it off was unrealistic.
I also researched my particular body type and thought about what my specific eating habits were and looked at areas to change. Giving it careful thought and doing the research made me much wiser this time around and by actively thinking about the process made me feel much more in control and actually looking forward to the process.
My plan is pretty straightforward; in fact, it isn’t so much of a plan as it is a set of guidelines to follow, such as:
1. Eat breakfast. Go through the morning hungry and you will eat more than you should later in the day and being hungry can result in eating the wrong foods.
2. If you’re hungry, eat. Your body is telling you something so listen to it. Just make healthier choices, such as eating a piece of fruit instead of a bag of chips or a protein bar instead of a doughnut.
3. Eat smaller meals more often (eating 5 times day). I eat breakfast, a mid morning snack, lunch, a late afternoon snack, dinner and sometimes an evening snack. Food is fuel and your body functions much better getting frequent small doses than infrequent large meals. Also, eating more frequently conditions your body to believe that it isn’t going to starve and it’s more willing to give up calories.
4. Eat more protein and less bad carbs (such as bread or pasta that are absorbed quickly). Eat more protein and more good carbs (such as whole grains, potatoes, etc. that are “slower”). Eat more protein and less sugar, fat and anything else that has minimal nutritional value. Eat more protein and more fruit and vegetables. Eat more protein.
5. Drink more water. No specific amount (very few people are ever going to drink 8 glasses per day or whatever the latest recommended amount is so don’t set goals that will only disappoint you when you don’t attain them), just try to drink more. It makes you feel fuller and your body works more efficiently when it’s hydrated.
6. The scale is a good long-term measure of your progress but don’t become obsessed with your weight; short-term, your weight can fluctuate very quickly due to a lot of factors. A much better measure of your progress is simply this; do you feel good about yourself and your efforts and do you feel like you’re losing weight? Looser feeling clothes are also a good indicator that you’re on the right track.
7. Enjoy yourself on special occasions, holidays, birthdays, etc. This is what “normal” people do. They just don’t do it every day. As the old saying goes; “it isn’t what you eat between Christmas and New Year’s, it’s what you eat from New Year’s to Christmas”.
8. Exercise. Find the time and find something that you are comfortable with. I’m fairly active in general but I also try to either walk or use an elliptical machine 5-7 days per week and I also do some strength training. This is also something that you can easily become obsessive over which can be dangerous so don’t feel guilty if you miss a workout. Take a walk during lunch at work. Do 10 sit ups and 10 push-ups when you get up in the morning. Anything helps. You’ll burn more calories but more importantly you’ll feel better and have more energy.
9. Accept the fact that you’re not going to get back to your high school graduation weight in a month. Recognize that this is a lifestyle change and try to develop habits that you can sustain for a lifetime. Understand that you will probably lose quite a bit of weight right away and then hit a plateau which you will be able to gradually work through and lose more weight until you hit another plateau, etc. Your body is used to your weight and doesn’t want to give it up to easily. Switch up your exercise routine if you plateau.
That’s it.
8 months later and I’m still 6’2″ (my alternative plan was to try and get taller but that didn’t work) but now I weight 270 pounds.
That’s still too much and 66 pounds in 8 months doesn’t sound as impressive as some of the claims made by celebrities endorsing the latest hot diet plans but it’s a pretty good start and the important thing is that I feel good about myself and the direction I’m heading. Remember workout routines and healthy eating will make you lose weight.
Good luck everyone, and don’t give up.