But there is one thing I have learned that applies to
virtually every aspect of weight loss – don’t rush it! Use common sense, be methodical about your
decision making and take your time. To
lose a lot of weight effectively, and in a healthy way, you are going to need
to make a lot of changes in your life.
There is no reason to make all of these changes at once. In fact, making too many changes too quickly
will likely lead to unhappiness and ultimately failure.
I made lots of small changes over a long period of
time. Here some examples:
·
Soda -
The first step on my weight loss journey was to give up Coca Cola. After about three
months without drinking soda, I felt confident that I could make another
change. Next, I gave up all drinks with
sugar in them (e.g., Gatorade and iced tea among other things). Three months later, about six month in all, I
was ready to add more water to my diet – actually in my case it was Crystal Light Pure not plain water. At
first I made sure to drink at least 16 ounces of water a day. After successfully doing that for a couple of
weeks I starting drinking 32 ounces of water a day. Eventually, I was drinking at least 64
ounces of water a day!
·
Eating
More Often – Like many obese people, I skipped meals. I rarely ate breakfast and more often than
not I did not eat lunch. This meant that
dinner was frequently my first meal of the day; accordingly I almost always
overate. A huge meal was often followed
by something sweet, then a snack and then maybe some leftovers before bed. And I did all of this eating at the end of
the day when I was relaxing and least likely to burn any significant calories. I changed all this by deciding to eat three
meals every day. At first, I didn’t pay
attention to what I ate – only that I was eating three times per day. After a couple months of success I started
adding snacks. I eventually ate three
meals and three small snacks (about 100 calories each per day). My snacks were usually high in protein since
they are more filling – a couple ounces of ham/chicken/turkey, a piece of part
skim string cheese, yogurt or some nuts.
After six months or so I was eating three meals and three snacks every
day. Once that became a habit, I started
to slowly make changes to what I was eating at every meal – e.g., whole grains,
more fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, calories counting, etc.
·
Exercise
– For most of life I never exercised at all.
I started exercising by walking my dog Sammy. At first it was ten minutes a few times a
week. Slowly, our walks got longer. Over many months I transitioned to six forty-five
minute walks a week with Sammy. Once I established
walking as a habit, I started to focus on walking faster – then further. Eventually, I was able to walk four miles in
56 minutes. At that point I realized
that if I could learn to run, I could spend the same amount of time exercising
but go much further and burn more calories.
So that is what I decided to do.
At first I would walk seven minutes, jog one minute and then walk seven
minutes. After a couple of weeks, I
would walk six minutes, jog a minute and then walk six minutes. Over many months, I slowly was able to run an
entire mile, then two miles then three – and eventually I ran a half
marathon. It took me almost two years to
move from no exercise to a half marathon, but I did – the slow and steady way.
All of these slow incremental changes allowed me to lose
about fifty pounds during the first two years of my journey. By the third year, all of these changes came
together. I was eating a healthy diet,
hydrating regularly and exercising a lot.
I lost the last fifty pounds in six months.
Making lifestyle changes is not easy and it does not happen
overnight. It is important to make small
changes and establish good habits slowly. In the end you will improve your
health, protect yourself against injury and most importantly you will lose the
weight that you want to lose and hopefully enjoy your experience.
I am living proof.
Sometimes, slow and steady really does win the race!
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