BEFORE
AFTER
BEFORE |
AFTER |
Below are the three main tips I have regarding weight loss. I know that everyone is different and what works for me might not work for you -- but these are pretty universal. If you want to talk about weight loss issues please feel free to contact me.
BUY IN
You need to absolutely "buy in" to the idea of your being thin. When I was obese I never envisioned it as possible to be thin. People regularly called me big guy, I was expected to always clear my plate (as well as everyone else's), and I felt generally resigned to being fat. But I reached a point that I realized that I just didn't have to be fat - no matter how others saw me, or how I always saw myself.
Don't let anyone influence you; do it for yourself and for your health. Surround yourself with positive and supportive people who understand what you are trying to do and who will lend their support. Once I started exercising and losing a little weight I was able to "buy in" and make conscience choices to lose weight. Of course I went off course (and still do) but I get right back on. Only when you "buy in" to your being thin will you be successful. If you don't then chances are you'll give up. Believe in yourself!
DON'T DIET!!
Diet is a four letter word for a reason. In our society everyone looks for a quick fix. The thing is, that when it comes to losing weight and keeping it off there is no quick fix. You need to make a lifestyle change. How can you possibly be expected to stick to a diet over your entire life? This is unreasonable to ask of anyone. You simply need to make healthier choices in your daily living so that eventually they overtake your unhealthy habits. You obviously have to be able to live with the choices you make. I haven't given up any of the foods I crave (i.e. fries, "real" Buffalo wings, or especially carbs!), I just don't eat them all the time or in mass quantities like I once did. I am conscious of what I put into my body and I make general estimates as to my daily caloric intake.
There are simple choices you can make that are very helpful, for example:
These are just a few very simple examples, of course there are many more. Remember too, that just because something is low-fat/no-fat doesn't mean it doesn't have any calories, it doesn't give you a license to eat mass quantities.
EXERCISE
You don't have to run marathons or even run for that matter. But you have to do something. Try to find something you enjoy so you stick with it and it's not a chore for you. Make sure you exercise regularly. Everyone is so busy these days, but anyone can find at least a half hour to be active. Also try incorporating things like climbing stairs instead of taking elevators into your daily routine.
Running is obviously my exercise of choice. I have some trouble putting in to words why running is so important to me. I do agree with those who see running as a religion of sorts. Gary Guenther, a fellow DC Road Runner, recently wrote a terrific article for the DCRRC newsletter on running that eloquently put into words how I feel on the topic. I have reprinted the article below with his permission:
This Running Life: Running and Being
by Gary Guenther
At the risk of alienating some of you, I wish to wax philosophical for a few paragraphs. Before you stop reading further, let me assure you that I am not so foolish or vain as to impose on you my grand philosophy of life. The truth is that I have none to offer beyond the simple message that life strikes me as both a profound mystery and the ultimate journey. Rather, what I want to address concerns the relationship between running and the nature of life as we experience it.
Chances are that if you were to ask the average runner why he or she does so, the reply would involve a variation on the following theme: I run because it makes me feel good, improves (or maintains) my overall health and fitness, and helps me cope with the stresses of my life. If you were to put the same question to the average competitive runner, the response would probably include many of the same reasons, plus the satisfaction, thrill, and rewards that can come from pushing oneself in the crucible of race competition. In all honesty, these all are excellent reasons to run. Most are backed by the extensive findings of medical research into the impact of regular exercise on health. What could possibly be amiss about becoming a devotee of an activity with so many concrete benefits? Who am I to disagree or find fault with such a perspective on running? If running works for you, then just do it. Enough said, right?
Well, yes and no. On the one hand, there is nothing fundamentally wrong with approaching running as a means to various desirable ends and doing it in order to achieve them. On the other hand, something vital seems missing from such a rationale for running. The notion that running is a worthwhile activity because of the concrete benefits it can confer strikes me as too utilitarian, too narrow, almost too self-centered. Yes, regular running can produce a host of desirable effects, including significant weight loss, an enriched social life, reduced blood pressure, elevated levels of high-density lipoprotein and reduced levels of low-density lipoprotein in the blood, improved cardiovascular and muscular fitness, increased energy, and a boost in mood and self-esteem. But my own experiences as a runner -- and those of others -- indicate that there is more to this picture of why to run than meets the eye. How else to explain the sense of inner peace, calm, wonder, and connectedness to the web of life that sometimes overcomes me when I am running outdoors?
Dr. George Sheehan was a cardiologist, writer, and devoted runner who died in 1993. During the second half of his life, he acquired considerable fame in the running community through his articles in Runners World, books, and lectures. If he was anything, it was a passionate, persistent advocate of running as a path to well-being, self-fulfillment, and meaning in life. Among the many topics he addressed in a series of essays that can be accessed at the George Sheehan Trust Website (www.georgesheehan.com) was running as a religion. During a trip to Alaska, a reporter in Anchorage asked him if it was true that he believed running was a religion. The question had been on his mind during the flight from Seattle to Anchorage, so his reply came swiftly: "Running is like Alaska: it is not a religion, it is a place." Upon returning from the trip, Sheehan wrote an essay -- "Is Running a Religion?" -- in which he further developed the idea he expressed so succinctly to the reporter. In examining the "true nature of the running life," Sheehan concluded that running was an activity worth doing because it served as a, "retreat, a place to commune with God and yourself, a place for psychological and spiritual renewal."
I mention Sheehan's essay because in my mind it evokes the quasi-spiritual experiences I have had while running. This is not to suggest that I always feel a sense of inner calm, peace, and universal connectedness when I run. On the contrary, more often than not when running, I feel stressed about my job, family life, personal flaws, or upcoming races and planned hard workouts and seek solutions to perceived problems. But there are times during the middle of a run when my body seems to float and my spirit soars into realms of indescribable contentment. You may be inclined to attribute these sensations to the so-called "runner's high" that may be induced by the release of certain brain chemicals while running. But I doubt that is the full explanation. If the experience were simply a product of brain chemistry, then all runners would feel this way most of the time while running. Yet such is not the case. While I cannot explain why at times I feel transported to a state of near bliss when running, it does seem that running serves as the vehicle for this passage. Perhaps the explanation lies in the reality of the experience itself. If so, then running can be viewed as more than a means to an end: it is an end in itself, a kind of sanctuary of the spirit, a place in the Sheehan sense.
Why do I run? For a variety of reasons, of course. The ones that stand out in my mind are the many health benefits, the boost it provides to my mood and self-esteem, the thrill and potential rewards of racing, and -- last but not least -- the experience of being present in the interdependent web of life of which we are a part.
Happy running.
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