I have been at this for almost a year now and have had great personal success. I can't even complain. It has been relatively easy for me to make these changes. Yes, there have been struggles and set backs but I have never let it completely take me down. In no way have I or my journey been perfect. I just want to encourage people while I am changing my life.
I have had many people ask me for help and want me to tell them how they too can be successful. I honestly can't give advice. There is no magic formula, no pill, shake, meal plan or hypnosis that will work. You can want to lose weight, and try, but if you are not in it wholeheartedly, you won't succeed. Losing weight is basically a math problem. You have to burn more calories than you intake.
Here is what I did:
#1 - Made a mental change. A switch flipped in my head. Your brain, stomach and heart all have to agree on this change. They may fight at times but as long as you stay strong, they will all come together.
#2 - Deleted soda and all other sweet drinks from my life. I was drinking about a liter of Diet Coke per day, along with at least 1 coffee drink. A Venti quad shot white chocolate peppermint mocha has 660 calories. Not to mention the amount of sugar and fat. While I haven't given up coffee completely, I have changed the way I drink it. The same goes for soda. I still have the occasional Diet Coke. But I limit it to one.
#3 - Kept a food journal. I use MyFitnessPal to track everything I eat. You can customize your settings or it can help you find ones right for you. It has an extensive library of foods. You can even input recipes and exercise. I keep track of EVERYTHING that I eat. You can't think,"Oh, it's just a mini-snickers or a small bag of chips". It all counts.
#4 - Stopped eating fast food. There is an occasional trip thru the drive thru but mostly I avoid it all together. There are too many temptations and hidden calories.
#5 - Also dropped 90% of the dairy and carbs from my diet. I will still eat small amounts of each but mostly, they are both out of my life. Both made me feel sluggish and lethargic. If you feel like that a lot, take a look at your plate.
#6 - Meal Prep. I think meal prep is probably the most important part of this. I have talked about it a few times. Take a few moments on the weekend, sit down and make your weekly menu. Plan breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks. Then go get groceries. Prep your meats and your veggies when you get home. If your food is readily available, you will be less tempted to stray from your plan.
#7 - I took it easy on myself. Not every day is perfect. You won't eat great all the time but that doesn't mean you ruined it. I've heard the analogy that if you got a flat tire, you wouldn't slash the other three. You fix the tire and get back on the road. I took it one step at a time. Got my food schedule down and then added exercise, then personal reflection. Don't jump in the pool with your clothes on. Take it easy.
#8 - I found support. Not only are all my friends and family on Facebook and huge support system but I have joined some chat groups and websites where there are people on the same journey as me. We can commiserate and cheer each other on from opposite sides of the oceans.
#9 - Took my mental temperature. Throughout this entire process, I have been checking in with myself, mentally. As you are changing your outward appearance, you inner self is also changing. You have to adjust to your clothes fitting differently, your self image changing and your self esteem changing. I hated looking at myself in the mirror and taking photos before. I now love it. Although I am not to my goal weight yet, I have such a different view of my body as a whole. I am healthier than I have been since my teens.
#10 - I got up and got out. After I got my food in check, I started moving. At first, I just started walking. I could only go a few minutes without stopping. Now, I can do 10 straight minutes without having to stop, due to the pain in my foot. I am far stronger that I was.
I hope some of these tips helped. No every person loses weight the same so what works for me, may not work for you. Tread your own weight loss path. But never give up.
A little backstory...I went to the doctor for something and finally took that cholesterol test they've been hounding me about for years now. It had high Tryglycerides and low HDL. I had just eaten lunch, so it wasn't like it was a fasting test. My appt to review the results was out a month and I thought I'd lose some weight before I went in. From a guys perspective, the biggest things for me was keeping track of calories...ALL calories. I've been super busy at work and fixing up a house we have. I didn't exercise because I didn't have the time. I basically just started eating less and making better choices (chicken instead of roast beef sandwich, ect ect). I wound up losing 17 lbs in that month and have lost almost 30 total. I also scheduled a fasting test before the appt which showed only low HDL and they were fine with that. I used the myfitnesspal as well. Worked great.
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