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At Halloween 2017 I was a 6'2, 240 pound male in my late 40's who was overweight, weak, and constantly fatigued. Now, about 16 weeks later I weigh 200 pounds and feel terrific. It was more of a lifestyle change than a single diet or exercise program. Here are some of the changes I made....
Sleep: Rob yourself of it and you will lose energy and consume more calories during your extra waking hours. Maximizing my sleep quality all started when I moved to a new residence. The old one had too much light coming in and noise from the neighbors. I set up the new bedroom to have ZERO outside light come in and luckily it has much thicker walls to cut down outside noise. I also bought a new bed which was vastly superior to my old one. I took the experts' advice and only used my bed for sleeping....not laptop work, TV, or anything else. So going into my bedroom only means one thing to my body...bedtime. I also made sure to not look at my phone, laptop, or TV for at least 30 minutes before going to bed. (The bright lights will affect your ability to sleep.) I now use that time to write a bit (pen and paper) and do some light stretching. No more eating too close to bedtime either, which I've done my whole life. Nothing but water 90 minutes before bed from now on. Lastly, I continued to buy fresh pillows every 6 weeks which I had started doing several months earlier. They're just $3-$10 at Walmart, Ross, Marshalls, etc and always feel great when new. Plus, old pillows are gross if you think about it. Buying expensive ones doesn't seem to help anyway. This all yielded more and better quality sleep than I'd experienced in YEARS,which gave me more energy to......
Exercise: I'd started and stopped many workout programs over the last 30 years. I always seemed to conveniently leave out ab/low-back work. This time I laid off on hitting the biceps from every conceivable angle and started taking core-work seriously...2 weeks before doing anything else. Then, I added total body workouts with dumbell, kettle ball, and no-weight movements. A stronger core helped every other exercise I was doing so the gains came quicker than usual. I have a single adjustable bench now and have just started lifting heavier weights. For 16 weeks though it was just 5-25 pound weights at higher reps (10+). Cardio-wise, I had couldn't run a mile to save my life at first. So I walked for an hour three times per week. Then I mixed walking and running, interval style. Then I stop-watched my running to make sure I did it for 30 minutes throughout the hour. For the first time in my life I can now run 30+ minutes straight. Sometimes I'll replace a run with a 90 minute walk, but that's mostly for the sake of going on a nature hike. I fuel all of this with my new and improved....
Diet: I am not kidding when I say that I used to eat fast food 60 times per month with a couple of extra soft drinks thrown in per day. Dumb, I know. Now I eat a Paleo-ish diet, spread out over 5 smaller meals per day. Basically all natural, organic stuff like fruit, vegetables, nuts, fish, and eggs. No bread, rice, dairy, etc. A Paleo diet would have you eat more chicken and red meat but I'm giving those animals a break after what I've put them through over the years. I replace them with non-paleo proteins like beans, peanuts, etc. A cheat meal for me is pasta with regular 'ol tomato sauce. I've replaced soft drinks with water and an occasional Pom-Wonderful (just a shot to stave off other cravings). Kicking caffeine has been its own blessing. No more fogginess in the morning or jitters during the day. Of course it also helps me get better....
(See above, repeat)
We all have different genetics, conditions, injuries, habits, fears, and comfort zones. Thus the path to a healthier lifestyle is different for everyone. May all of you find the paths to yours.
Great post, and I love the style and flow of your writing.
Funny how it takes decades to discover success overnight, eh? Glad you joined the club and are able to indulge in a better, healthier and thinner life. It would appear that based on your view into your success that you're likely to be able to maintain your improved overall status.
My wife was just making fun of how I eat last night because I enjoyed half of a sandwich, ate the content of the second half while picking out the caraway seeds from the bread I didn't eat. As I told her last night, no food tastes as good as thin feels.
Well, food can taste pretty great! I just think of it as fuel now instead of a comfort item. It feels like a waste of a workout if I follow it up with sugar, flour, cheese, etc. The thought of junk food isn't as appealing anymore anyway. A perfectly ripe, organic orange absolutely tastes better than a soft drink. And salmon with just a bit of salt tastes better than a burger loaded with condiments.
So one thing for those changing their eating habits to consider is that it gets MUCH easier after a month or so.
I agree with your last statement. The key is to find what works for you; and then stick with it. I've been on so many weight loss journeys over the years. I know exactly what to do for my body to lose weight. I am very sensitive to starchy and sugary carbs. I eat lean protein and vegetables and low/no sugar foods. 30 mins of exercise a day will do the trick.
The hardest part is getting started again when you have regained weight yet again. I've eaten food for other reasons than than satisfying hunger. Poor choices have been my downfall.
Good for you OP...you found your solutions and sticking to it.
It took a rehab stay for me and nasty drugs where I lost my appetite, which got rid of 30 lbs...I let myself eat too much stuff in my retirement years. My treat for working 40 yrs...
I'm 79 and work very hard to keep that 30 lbs off. Heavy duty exercise is not in my life anymore due to joint issues...Sleep is great as I've worked long and hard on my sleep combo...when we sleep we lose weight. Foods are now more sensible and healthy but I treat myself to a personal pizza now and then..but no breads in my house.
Nice job, loved reading your post About a year ago I finally found what worked for me to finally start shedding off those inches (I say inches because the scale didn't really move, but those once too tight jeans were suddenly falling off of me!). Then I got pregnant (which was planned, we had been trying) and now I have so much more weight to lose. I'm hoping the same type of exercise will work, but I need to build myself back up to that (muscle/circuit training a few times a week, mixed with lots of jogging). Now that I'm not breastfeeding anymore, I'm trying to cut down on my calories & junk food which seems to be the biggest challenge for me.
Now that the baby sleeps through MOST of the night, I find that going to bed at 8:30-9 & getting up at 5 to exercise results in pretty good sleep...my once insomniac butt now can't stay awake past 9 pm anymore. Stories like yours are what keeps me going!
Inspiring post man good job. Can I ask what made you decide to change your lifestyle now? Why not years ago, what was the tipping point?
Honestly, improving my sleep situation is what made this happen. I've always been a light sleeper and sleep apnea as an adult made it worse. Even if I was in my bed for 8 hours I would never truly get 8 hours of deep sleep. Or even a few, it seemed. Consuming caffeine into the afternoon and eating late at night made matters worse.
Buying two new $5 pillows started it, then the new bed and quieter apartment really improved matters. With better sleep I was no longer a zombie in the morning. For 30 years the most tired I'd be at any point during the day was right after getting out of bed! If I could advise anyone to do anything first, it would be to fix THAT. Then you can really workout, not just go through the motions.
Remember, the whole point of working out is to exhaust yourself (or a muscle group), refuel, rest, and repeat so you recover slightly stronger. Most people don't have a hard time remembering to eat after workouts, but they do miss the part about recuperating properly. Getting a good night's sleep is vital if you want any chance of sticking with a workout program. Maybe you all sleep like logs, but I didn't. I finally decided to rectify it once and for all.
I believe most out of shape people "decide" to change their lifestyle several times per day. Sometimes we suffer through an ill-designed exercise/diet plan as long as we can, then ultimately give up... usually because the plan had little chance of ever working. For example: Skip breakfast to save calories, eat just a weight loss (candy) bar for lunch, then a devour a gigantic dinner that weighs you down so much that you often cancel your workout. Just because you're hungry for most of the day doesn't mean you're making progress. The example above is what Sumo wrestlers do to GAIN weight for crying out loud.
Another thing to remember is that periodically starving yourself to lose a few pounds will ultimately have the reverse effect. Just like eating smaller meals throughout the day is better than binging on one per night, so is eating consistently throughout the week. If you barely eat all week to look good for the weekend, then go back to eating normal, your body will store more fat than usual when you resume your regular routine. Why? Because you just told it to! It assumes you will need fat reserves for the next drought. Keep your calorie intake steady throughout the day AND the week. I graze all day like a cow and that works for me. First order of business for everyone though is to not skip any meals. I think most would find that eating four smaller meals per day will serve them better than three - as long as you're not adding calories.
Looking long term, remember that if you go on low calorie diets you are also losing muscle. Muscle cells are active cells and active cells burn fat. So your reward for starving yourself for a wedding every spring is more fat, less muscle, and a slower metabolism! With a slower metabolism it will be even harder to achieve your goals. It slows naturally as we grow older but there's no reason to help it along! Again, keep it steady throughout the day AND the week while revving it up higher during your workouts.
Older folks, as always, run any diet/exercise plans by your doctor. If you can't even get a greenlight to dance...try a new doctor!
I have lost 60 pounds and kept it off by watching what I eat and using my treadmill everyday from 3-5 miles. I find by exercising I don't want junk food like I did. I sleep the same , always 4-4.5 hours a night I always have slept the same since childhood.
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About a year ago I finally found what worked for me to finally start shedding off those inches (I say inches because the scale didn't really move, but those once too tight jeans were suddenly falling off of me!). Then I got pregnant (which was planned, we had been trying) and now I have so much more weight to lose. I'm hoping the same type of exercise will work, but I need to build myself back up to that (muscle/circuit training a few times a week, mixed with lots of jogging). Now that I'm not breastfeeding anymore, I'm trying to cut down on my calories & junk food which seems to be the biggest challenge for me.
