I’m 72% of the Man I Used to Be
March 17th, 2011 | by mmb5 |I have done it. My 7 day average weight was 162 this morning, which means I have finally hit my goal weight and have lost 63 pounds from what was likely my peak weight 18 months ago. I started half-heartedly to lose the weight last April and went into high gear starting around Memorial Day. On June 12 I weighed myself on a new scale and clocked in at 209.2. Today, I clocked in at 161.4 and a seven-day average of 162.0. I’ve been asked how I did it…so here’s what I did.
I ate less and exercised more.
Sorry it’s not more exciting than that, but it does sound harder than that. So here’s what I did to make that possible.
You have to constantly remind yourself you want this. Keep the excuses to the minimum. It’s OK to miss a day of exercise or eat more than you should once or twice a week, but you can’t continue to justify it. And it will take longer the more you make the excuses.
Find your Achilles heel, and minimize it. Mine was actually a joint one — snack chips and sugar. I cut both down considerably. You may want to journal for a week before you start, see what are easy cuts, and take them out.
It’s the calories stupid. Don’t overthink whether or not it has too many carbs, or it’s too fatty. As long as you balance higher-fiber foods in, those will balance the carbs/fats. It doesn’t mean continue them at what you have done before, but having some bread will not throw off whatever delicate equilibrium you were trying for. Basic rule of thumb for me was your daily calorie intake should average 7.5 times your current weight, and make sure to get fruits and vegetables every day. Go too high and you’re not going to lose anything. Go too low and your metabolism will be slower than the relay race at the Molina family reunion.
You will not notice anything. Really, you don’t. You see yourself all the time. You’re going to be losing at best 4 ounces a day. People who see you occasionally will be your biggest encouragement, since they will see you at 5-10 pound loss intervals.
You will have hunger pains. Deal with it. I learned to counter that with either low calorie hard candies or fiber bars. I’ve eaten lots of fiber bars.
You have to truly exercise. You should do exercise that will at least burn 100 calories a day. For me that was a interval walk/jog combo that generally covered 1.25 miles in 16 minutes. Also make sure you do it first thing in the morning. It’s out of the way, and you can’t use the day got too busy later as an excuse.
Weigh yourself every day, but don’t sweat it day to day. What I ended up doing was weighing myself every morning after the exercise, but the number that mattered was the 7-day average. Generally, that was half-a-pound higher than the daily, but it was steady drop. If you follow only the daily fluctuations, you will only frustrate yourself. And keep the numbers in a journal so you can make cute charts like this one:
The slight uptick was a two week vacation where I did not weigh myself.
Save splurging for eating out. The only time I really splurged was when I would eat out. And that would mean still ordering the healthiest thing on the menu I would like. Even the most innocent things on a menu will clock in with a 4-digit calorie figure. And if you have to resort to fast food because you have no other choice, lay off the fries. Pop is also pretty dangerous: 120 calories for every 8 ounces.
When you’re done, some habits you will not be able to bring back. You’ll just have to accept that. You’re not young forever.
Hopefully if you’re thinking about this, you will take the steps necessary to go for it. I’ve gone from a 40 waist to a 33. I have not been a 33 since junior high. You won’t need as much sleep and you won’t be as irritable. And those things your doctor nags you about (cholesterol, triglycerides) will take care of themselves.