Being married to a woman who loves to cook and bake (and who does both well) and living a hectic lifestyle that, ironically, leaves me too exhausted to exercise have not necessarily been good for my body. I'm healthy, yes, but there's just too much of me. Thus, on July 16, I started weighing myself daily and tracking my weight as Susan and I set about to eat more sensibly on a daily basis.
A few years ago, Susan followed a certain internationally known weight loss plan and found success with it. She still has the materials from that plan: cookbooks, reference books to look up certain foods, a slide rule-type device for calculating how much of a food item one can eat depending on its calories, fiber, and fat grams, etc. We've been following that plan more or less this past month, measuring our portions and eating plenty to get us full . . . just not so much of the fattiest foods and a lot more of the better-for-us foods.
Some keys to success for me: reducing portions of high-calorie foods; upping my daily servings of fruits, vegetables, and grains; eating breakfast regularly; cutting out the daily sodas (I used to drink at least one at noon with my meal and often another one or two in the evening); drinking water throughout the day (previously, my daily water intake was zilch); and virtually eliminating nighttime snacking (I used to enjoy ice cream or buttered popcorn or nacho chips with ground-beef-and-cheese dip and soda while watching TV of an evening).
I still need to add regular exercise to my lifestyle, which will help not only with the weight loss but also with the fit of my clothes as my body shape improves. However, even with just the effort to eat better, as of this morning, compared to a month ago, I'm 12.6 pounds lighter . . . and counting!
12.6 pounds, that's great, I hope you guys keeps up the good work. Exercise is a little challenging for me to get in also. I'll be good on my days off, then I go back to work. Even though I walk alot at work it doesn't feel like a workout. Anyway, keep on eating right, but remember not to deprive yourself of the "good" stuff once in a while.
ReplyDeleteSee... this is hard for me to picture... as in my mind you will always be the skinny guy I met in 1988. :) I highly recommend yoga. It's great for strength and weight loss and general well-being... I know I'm bouncing back quickly thanks to 4 years of yoga....
ReplyDeletewow......even I with a job requiring lots of walking and lifting (Southwest Airlines employee lifting heavy luggage and cargo) wish I could lose a few pounds in my legs! Extra pounds seem to lodge there first for some reason. Congratulations on the accomplishment! Keep it up! I'll be cheering for you with my ice cream bowl in hand!! ;-)
ReplyDeleteThat's great! Contgratulations on your progress! I know what you mean, "...leaves me too exhausted to exercise..." My days are the same way. However, I've been told that the more you exercise, the more energy you will develop,so you can exercise more, etc. I told co-workers that I did more exercising during my trip to N.D. this summer, than I've done in the last year! Swimming,horseback riding,bicycling,hiking,golfing. Whew! But it was great to get out to do those things...and lots of fun--mostly because they included my brother and his family!! Too bad I had to take vacation to find time to squeeze-in all of that! ;-)
ReplyDeleteCongratulations! I had a hard time losing weight by myself, it's great that you have Susan to do it with you! I agree Cathy, the more you exercise, the more energy you get. AND it makes you happier! In the words of Reese Witherspoon of Legally Blonde "Exercise releases endorphins and endorphins make people happy!"
ReplyDelete~Tiffany