I was in Australia for a month in March. Looking at photos of myself, I was like WTH? I decided to do something about it. When I got back home I was 191 pounds, so I set a goal to get down to 160, which would put my BMI in normal range (just barely). I purposely decided to focus on my weight loss through eating better, and not add any exercises into the mix (except golf). I wanted to see how much progress I could make with food changes alone.
Before leaving Australia (awesome country, BTW) I spent time thinking about how I was going to attack this weight issue. I didn't want to start a diet. No Jenny Craig for me. Instead, I wanted to "redefine" my relationship with food. How I thought about it, and what part it played in my life. My motto became eat to live, don't live to eat. As did a few things right off the bat. No soda. Almost no beer. And no sweets. That means no ice cream, candies, etc. Honestly this wasn't as hard I as thought it would be. The beer thing sucked, but I occasionally have one now and then, so I didn't completely give it up. Next, I thought about what I did want to eat.
For breakfast, nothing but coffee. I have read conflicting stories about breakfast being the most important meal of the day, but I am not really hungry in the morning, so I just skip it. Around 10:30 or 11 I have a croissant. It either has salmon or lunch meat, and cheese. In the afternoon I either have a banana (or other fruit). For dinner, it is usually fish on the BBQ. I'd say 3 to 4 times per week. We add a veggie to it and that's it. In the evening, it's a fruit and possibly a yogurt. Our dog Alvin loves blueberry, so that's what I get. I let him lick the container. When I feel like munching on something, I have a small handful of nuts. I like cashews and almonds.
Another part of the plan was to officially weigh myself every week. Sunday morning is weigh in day, but every morning I check my weight. I chose this day because it helps me think about the weekend meals a bit more. I have to weigh in on Sunday, so don't go too crazy on Friday, and cut back as needed on Saturday. It keeps things under control. It also makes Sunday a bit of a free day food wise, because I have the rest of the week to get things back in control.
When we go out to eat I just try to be reasonable. Many times the wife and I will split something, just because the portions are so big. But this doesn't stop me from having a nice steak, sushi, chicken, whatever. I pretty much eat whatever I want to. I just eliminated the major offenders. Junk food is out, and so if fast food most of the time. I will still do the occasional Chipotle, but it is a treat when it happens.
Here are the results. Today I weight 156 pounds. If you are doing the math, that's 35 pounds. I feel so much better physically, and I am hitting the golf ball farther, and more accurately. I do not think it is a coincidence that my game has improved as the pounds came off. I have zero food cravings. I don't have food thoughts night and day. I believe that by eliminating a lot of bad food, it turned off something inside me that caused me to crave more of it. The entire process has been really eye opening. I can eat whatever I want, without guilt, but I just have to keep an eye on it. I have no idea how much weight I will actually lose, because the pounds just keep coming off. Sunday I weighed 158, and I am already down another 2 pounds. It is really shocking.
What are the takeaways from this?
1. Portion control
If you are overweight, you are probably eating too much. I know, go figure. If I want to have a burger, the wife and I will split one. The croissant I have in the morning has one slice of cheese. Not two. Dinner is composed on one filet, and it is not big. If I have a salad, it's not a massive one. Fits in a salad bowl. But I have whatever dressing I want.
2. You don't need to exercise to lose weight
There was a very specific reason I chose not to start working out until I lost the weight. My theory was that it was all about the amount of food I was eating. Exercise might have sped the process up, but then I would be left wondering, was it the exercise, or the food changes? Now I know. It was all about the food.
3. Exercise to be healthy, not to lose weight
This month I have started exercising, but it is to be healthier and to be more fit, and not for weight loss. And because I know what is possible by getting my food under control, I can focus on exercise knowing what impacts what. You can also be normal weight, and unhealthy, so dealing with these things separately makes sense to me.
4. Nothing tastes as good as thin feels
I set out to change my relationship with food, and I can tell you that nothing tastes so good that I want to be overweight to eat it. My wife, who has never been overweight a day in her life, dropped 10 pounds without even trying. Here MBI is 21 and she looks awesome.
5. Counting calories isn't necessary
I am not a calorie counter. It just seems like a lot of work. I just dropped the portions down. So if you think I somehow micro-managed what I ate, that's wrong. I can pretty much eat whatever I want, and I don't count anything.
6. Some things are impossible to eat or drink
I like beer. I really do. I just don't like it enough to be unhealthy for it. And over the past 6 months, every time I had a few beers it took a week to work the pounds off. The impact was eye-opening. I was in Chicago for a few days, and hit a few restaurants, and had some drinks. Took 2 weeks to get back under control. There are just some things that are not going to be compatible with staying healthy. I know what those are, and have adjusted accordingly. For example, if I want to have a drink, I will have a screwdriver as opposed to a run and coke, or a beer.
7. You spend less on food
A strange thing happens when you start eating better. Your grocery bill goes down. And the quality of foods you eat goes up. Eating healthy and saving money at the same time just feels right.
If I can do this, anyone can. I don't have any food cravings, and I am not dreaming about food. It's a new chapter in my life, and I am disappointed that it took me this long to get things under control. People tell me I look great, and what an amazing job I've done. One friend said I was a "legend" to lose it like this. You have such discipline! I tell them that this is nothing to brag about.
What the hell have I been thinking for the last 20 years?
Before leaving Australia (awesome country, BTW) I spent time thinking about how I was going to attack this weight issue. I didn't want to start a diet. No Jenny Craig for me. Instead, I wanted to "redefine" my relationship with food. How I thought about it, and what part it played in my life. My motto became eat to live, don't live to eat. As did a few things right off the bat. No soda. Almost no beer. And no sweets. That means no ice cream, candies, etc. Honestly this wasn't as hard I as thought it would be. The beer thing sucked, but I occasionally have one now and then, so I didn't completely give it up. Next, I thought about what I did want to eat.
For breakfast, nothing but coffee. I have read conflicting stories about breakfast being the most important meal of the day, but I am not really hungry in the morning, so I just skip it. Around 10:30 or 11 I have a croissant. It either has salmon or lunch meat, and cheese. In the afternoon I either have a banana (or other fruit). For dinner, it is usually fish on the BBQ. I'd say 3 to 4 times per week. We add a veggie to it and that's it. In the evening, it's a fruit and possibly a yogurt. Our dog Alvin loves blueberry, so that's what I get. I let him lick the container. When I feel like munching on something, I have a small handful of nuts. I like cashews and almonds.
Another part of the plan was to officially weigh myself every week. Sunday morning is weigh in day, but every morning I check my weight. I chose this day because it helps me think about the weekend meals a bit more. I have to weigh in on Sunday, so don't go too crazy on Friday, and cut back as needed on Saturday. It keeps things under control. It also makes Sunday a bit of a free day food wise, because I have the rest of the week to get things back in control.
When we go out to eat I just try to be reasonable. Many times the wife and I will split something, just because the portions are so big. But this doesn't stop me from having a nice steak, sushi, chicken, whatever. I pretty much eat whatever I want to. I just eliminated the major offenders. Junk food is out, and so if fast food most of the time. I will still do the occasional Chipotle, but it is a treat when it happens.
Here are the results. Today I weight 156 pounds. If you are doing the math, that's 35 pounds. I feel so much better physically, and I am hitting the golf ball farther, and more accurately. I do not think it is a coincidence that my game has improved as the pounds came off. I have zero food cravings. I don't have food thoughts night and day. I believe that by eliminating a lot of bad food, it turned off something inside me that caused me to crave more of it. The entire process has been really eye opening. I can eat whatever I want, without guilt, but I just have to keep an eye on it. I have no idea how much weight I will actually lose, because the pounds just keep coming off. Sunday I weighed 158, and I am already down another 2 pounds. It is really shocking.
What are the takeaways from this?
1. Portion control
If you are overweight, you are probably eating too much. I know, go figure. If I want to have a burger, the wife and I will split one. The croissant I have in the morning has one slice of cheese. Not two. Dinner is composed on one filet, and it is not big. If I have a salad, it's not a massive one. Fits in a salad bowl. But I have whatever dressing I want.
2. You don't need to exercise to lose weight
There was a very specific reason I chose not to start working out until I lost the weight. My theory was that it was all about the amount of food I was eating. Exercise might have sped the process up, but then I would be left wondering, was it the exercise, or the food changes? Now I know. It was all about the food.
3. Exercise to be healthy, not to lose weight
This month I have started exercising, but it is to be healthier and to be more fit, and not for weight loss. And because I know what is possible by getting my food under control, I can focus on exercise knowing what impacts what. You can also be normal weight, and unhealthy, so dealing with these things separately makes sense to me.
4. Nothing tastes as good as thin feels
I set out to change my relationship with food, and I can tell you that nothing tastes so good that I want to be overweight to eat it. My wife, who has never been overweight a day in her life, dropped 10 pounds without even trying. Here MBI is 21 and she looks awesome.
5. Counting calories isn't necessary
I am not a calorie counter. It just seems like a lot of work. I just dropped the portions down. So if you think I somehow micro-managed what I ate, that's wrong. I can pretty much eat whatever I want, and I don't count anything.
6. Some things are impossible to eat or drink
I like beer. I really do. I just don't like it enough to be unhealthy for it. And over the past 6 months, every time I had a few beers it took a week to work the pounds off. The impact was eye-opening. I was in Chicago for a few days, and hit a few restaurants, and had some drinks. Took 2 weeks to get back under control. There are just some things that are not going to be compatible with staying healthy. I know what those are, and have adjusted accordingly. For example, if I want to have a drink, I will have a screwdriver as opposed to a run and coke, or a beer.
7. You spend less on food
A strange thing happens when you start eating better. Your grocery bill goes down. And the quality of foods you eat goes up. Eating healthy and saving money at the same time just feels right.
If I can do this, anyone can. I don't have any food cravings, and I am not dreaming about food. It's a new chapter in my life, and I am disappointed that it took me this long to get things under control. People tell me I look great, and what an amazing job I've done. One friend said I was a "legend" to lose it like this. You have such discipline! I tell them that this is nothing to brag about.
What the hell have I been thinking for the last 20 years?
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