A friend has asked me for some advice on how to lose about 30 - 40 pounds. Instead of replying to his facebook message, I decided a blog would best suffice. Not that facebook is a poor way to convey information and advice, but this topic can become lengthy, and perhaps others can benefit in some way from my experiences.
First off, I am not a doctor. Nor am I a nutritionist. Not even in the health industry. I have had some success, and failure, in my own personal quest regarding weight and health, and am willing to share what I have learned over the course of many years. Please read this blog as anecdotal, not prescriptive.
THE BORING BIOGRAPHY
My first battle with excess weight came in junior high school. My weight shot up much faster than my height, and I grew somewhat out of proportion. My mom was currently trying the Weight Watcher's diet, and suggested I try it with her. I will admit a level of success in losing some weight at that time. In my transition to high school, my weight leveled out to a more acceptable level for my height and body structure. I credit my excessive bicycle riding for this. My senior year found my almost-six-foot frame packing 210 pounds. Maybe a little heavy, but not excessive at all, given my level of physical exercise. I was in pretty good shape.
I enlisted in the US Navy during the summer straight after graduation. Boot camp found me at six feet, 210. Eight weeks later, I emerged quite a different person, having lost 40 pounds. Looking in the mirror, I would describe myself as "thin as a rail". Friends did not recognize me when I went home. It took me two years to gain back those 40 pounds. I wasn't trying to change, just letting my body and my lifestyle find each other.
When I met my afirstmentioned friend, I was back to my senior size. And happy with that. I looked really good, and felt really good. My friend was into martial arts, and also quite fit. We hung out for about two years, then life separated us, and we lost touch. Just a few years back, they found my wife on myspace, and we have been reconnected via facebook ever since. Someday, I'd really like a road trip to see him and his wife again.
My fitness continued into my late twenties, when I unfortunately suffered a back injury that would plague me for many years. My love of an active lifestyle disappeared in a cesspool of pain, and completely sedentary I became. Of course, I didn't change my eating habits. I had had those since middle school when my body started changing, and my exercise levels created a large caloric deficit that needed to be satiated. Even when I sat, all those years, I still ate like my body needed it, and the weight began to pile on. At some point, around the 280 pound mark, my world of denial was shattered by a headache that wouldn't go away. After three weeks, a visit to my doctor showed very high blood pressure. He told me if I didn't die from it, I would suffer a stroke and live to suffer. Harsh words, and not the first choice of path for my life. I listened.
With my blood pressure coming down, I began exercising. I was quite limited by pain, but walking was tolerable, so that's what I did. Two miles every morning. I also changed my diet greatly. Since then, my back condition has improved. Or become less painful, to the point where I am almost limitless when it comes to exercise. A wonderful place to be, a gift from above, and not one that I should squander. Do what I can, when I can, as much as I can. Good advice that I really wish I lived by. I did hit 212 lbs a few years back. My best so far. I've bounced back up a bit since then, but there are other obstacles I'm fighting, and believe me when I say the fight is far from over.
MY THOUGHTS ON DIET
After that fateful doctor's visit, I began doing research on diet, weight loss, and exercise. A lot of research. It didn't matter so much what the source was, even if it was discredited. I found that even a lot of the hokey diets out there need to start with a little truth to draw one in to the point where one becomes a believer, and is eventually willing to spend money. The sad truth is, most diet experts out there aren't experts at all unless they are being supported by your dollar. Otherwise, they are just an individual with an opinion and a blank sheet of paper. I kept my money, and read everything I could about diet, to the point of wanting to go to school for nutritionist. Maybe I should have?
I had two realizations about diet at that time: First, if I follow a prescribed "diet", and am successful losing enough weight to reach my goal, then at that time I would go off the "diet". Then what? The concensus was that I would then eat a healthy, balanced diet for the rest of my life. Fine. My question was, if I was going to eat the healthy balanced diet for the rest of my life, why did I have to start with a "diet"? The answer seemed to be to lose weight more quickly so I could become healthier more quickly. Although I believe that to be true in some cases, for me, the answer was simply to modify my diet to that healthy, balanced diet to begin with.
This led to the second realization: The key for me was finding a diet that I would be happy with for the rest of my life. Our society today is absolutely dependent on grocery chains supplying us with food. There are very few people out there who are living a true subsistence-level lifestyle. The rest of us are dependent on the nearby grocery store to supply our needs. Unfortunately, these stores are filled with foods that tip the scales far into the unhealthy realm. Learning to read product labels has turned me off to many of these foods. This has led me to a diet that is what I call "more natural". If the food is closest to the source, then it is probably the best for me. Most of us don't garden, so even source foods need to be purchased. These stores become our lifeline. Without them, we die.
This doesn't mean I'm a vegan. Not even close. I went to Burger King for lunch today. My choice, however, was a Whopper Jr. and a small fries, a far cry from the huge value meals I used to order. I do eat fast food occasionally. I don't want to exist without it, I just don't want it to rule my life. And though I do believe it is unhealthy, I believe I can eat a small amount and not suffer.
So what does my "more natural" diet consist of? Fruits and veggies. Less-chemicalized grains. Lots of water. Dark chocolate. Dependence on my wife, who is a magician in the kitchen, to cook food that is simple and close to the source, yet is somehow more tasty than any meal or food for sale in a store or restaurant. She makes homemade chocolate syrup for milk. Who does that?? The cookie jar is never full, though she tries hard to keep it that way. We haven't bought a loaf of bread in years. We do, however, buy wheat flour and yeast to make our own. Our garden has produced all the pasta sauce we need. We do shop for groceries, but again its produce, whole grains, and she even tries to sneak ground turkey into my meals. Shhh, I let her. And soups... oh my, the soups just keep coming, every one better than the last. Soups are great because you can boil the vegetables, then drink the broth and still get all the nutrients that you just boiled out of the veggies! I get scared eating out now, because I don't know what they put in the food...
Are there foods that I avoid? Diet anything makes me cringe. I trust the megalithic food corporations like I trust the government. For every one thing they tell me, I want to know the five things they aren't telling me. If there's less fat, there's more sugar. If there's less sugar, there's more salt. And don't get me started on artificial sweeteners. If it says aspartame, I run. I avoid partially hydrogenated anything. Take me to the source, where mankind hasn't "improved" it yet. I don't drink diet soda at all anymore, and regular soda on an extremely limited basis. I switched from Mountain Dew to coffee when I need caffeine. I can't drink my coffee black yet. I still need cream and sugar, though those ingredients have been decreasing steadily.
Taste becomes an issue. We are accustomed to accepting what taste is put in front of us. I learned this by growing my own tomatoes, then tasting the store variety. I never want store tomatoes again! We have learned to accept certain tastes as necessary and without option. When we begin to back away from processed foods and move towards source foods, our taste changes, and we begin to better appreciate the taste of true food, as well as the true taste of food.
My entire "diet" mentality is this: Balance and moderation, and knowledge is power. It is convenient to just buy what they sell. It is inconvenient to suffer with diseases, and more so to die.
MY THOUGHTS ON EXERCISE
Do something. Sounds fairly simple, right? Have you ever asked yourself why exercise and fitness is such a booming industry? Why does there need to be one thousand and one cardio programs on the market? Did the first one thousand not work, so we needed another? The answer is simple: Not only are we all different, but we ourselves change over time. What worked for us last year, or last week, may not work for us today.
Could we maintain a decent level of fitness with Richard Simmons every day? Most of us could. How about Denise Austin? Yup. Billy Blanks? Absolutely. PX-90? Insanity? One of these programs, done on schedule, would help most of us maintain an acceptable level of fitness for the rest of our lives.
What about other workouts? Pavel and his kettlebells are great. Chuck and Christie will sell me a Total Gym. Actually, I bought one from a garage sale. Still have it. It makes a great doorstop. I have a kettlebell, too. Its somewhere outside in the weeds by my back door, ready for my "Morning Workout Explosion!" 12 lb body bar? Yup. Use it? Nope. Made my own set of gymnastic rings in the basement. Used them twice.
What does all this tell us? We aren't going to do what we don't want to do. Or said differently, We're going to do what we want to do, which isn't usually exercising. Or, we're only going to do what is convenient. Newsflash: Good health is never convenient. It takes time. Effort. Sweat. Sometimes blood. Pain. Risk of injury. Then why do it? Because if you don't, and you develop a disease, then caring for the disease takes more time. More effort. Sometimes more sweat. Usually more blood. Usually more pain. And usually a higher risk of injury. I know. It makes sense in the head, but gets lost in the translation to the body.
How then do we commit to exercise? See the answer above: We're going to do what we want to do. When I was 20, I learned to ride a unicycle. Not well, just enough to not fall right away. 25 years later, I decided to relearn. My longest ride to date is over 10.5 miles on a 24-inch tire. Imagine riding a child's BMX bike 10 miles with no coasting. Why did I do that? I enjoyed it. Why is it now my go-to exercise? Because I enjoy it. I'll have to find something else during the bad weather, but for now, its at the ready. I also have a pull up bar in my dining room door-frame. I do use it, although not enough. It is convenient, and I enjoy it. What else do I enjoy? Friendly competition. I'm doing a facebook-based 30-Day Plank challenge, where we increase the plank time gradually over thirty days. Will I be able to do a 4-minute 30-second plank at the end? Eek! But there are others involved, and that makes it more fun. I tried the one-year push-up challenge, starting with one and adding one push-up every day. I eventually injured my shoulder doing too many push-ups. I was somewhere over 150 when I quit.
What don't I like? Running. Or more specifically, jogging. On a hard surface. My answer to that is sprints. I love sprinting barefoot on a football field. Its just inconvenient to travel there to do a few minutes of sprints. I believe running with heel-strikes on a hard surface is very bad for one's health. On the other hand, ball-strikes on a soft grassy surface feels fantastic! If you're interested, do an internet search for "tabata sprints".
What is the answer then? Find a few exercises you like, and do them. Mix them up. Find a partner or group that shares your interest. Or just do it alone, for the pure joy of it. My friend was formerly a black belt. There's a fire that could be rekindled!
WHERE TO START?
Understand yourself. Where you used to be, where you are now, and how you got there. Look for the potential. Quit making excuses. If you can't quit with the excuses, you must watch an entire season of "The Biggest Loser". And turn off the TV (unless its an exercise video). Ok, fine, just watch a lot less.
Take a cold hard look at what you eat and drink. Read labels. Understand what you are putting into your body, and how it is affecting you.
Find an exercise that you like. Do you prefer being indoors or outdoors? With others, or alone? Strength or cardio? Fat burn or body sculpt?
IN CONCLUSION:
Balance and Moderation is the key to everything you do, and knowledge is power. Power to be healthy. Power to be commercially unshackled. The Power to be a better, healthier you. NOW STOP READING AND GO DO IT!!!!!!
