For 3.5 years, I would eat and drink whatever I wanted. At
the beginning of this time, a long-term relationship had come to its end, and I
re-introduced meat to my diet after living as a vegetarian for close to 7
years. I remembered quickly the foods I used to enjoy, like chicken wings, peppered
salami, and brats. Drinking also made me feel better, of course, so I indulged
in a lot of craft beer, wine, and the occasional mixed drink. Ultimately, I started
dating someone new; someone whose family likes to gather for football and
basketball games, potluck style. There were new dips I had never tried and
someone always brought pizza, chili cheese coney crates, or hot wings. I didn’t
even try to stop myself.
Ultimately, I would gain 45 pounds atop my already 20 lb. overweight
frame and end up at just under 200 lbs. on the scale. This low point was right
after a weekend in Gatlinburg for New Year’s 2017. I finally reached my wits
end. I couldn’t afford to keep buying new clothes and maybe more importantly, I
felt extremely unhealthy and weak.
On January 9th, I changed my eating and exercise
habits. I’m not going to call it my New Year’s resolution, as it’s something
I’ve been wanting to do for a long time, but I did feel it would certainly be
easier to start these changes after all the holidays were over for the year.
Sure, I could have made my changes sooner, but when you’re battling a food
discipline problem it’s definitely ten times harder to start creating new
habits when you have tasty and fattening foods shoved in your face at every
turn!
I also wanted to start at a time where I could make going to
the gym a regular habit. Being out of work for holidays and/or PTO time would
have made that more difficult, and I don’t currently have any workout gear at
home, save for a set of 5 lb. dumbbells and a yoga mat. Not that these tools
are without merit, but as someone coming back into it from 0% activity, and
having so much weight to lose, I really wanted to add some strong cardio in
first to get my heart pumping, and hopefully lose some of my middle-aged belly.
In the past, eating healthy and nutritious foods - and
sticking to it long-term - has actually never been a problem for me. I would
consider myself somewhat of a food connoisseur, so I haven’t have trouble finding
ones I love all along the spectrum. Adding extra fruits, veggies, healthy
grains, and proteins to my diet is actually fun. I’ve become decently knowledgeable
about nutrition in my time as well, so I’ve learned how to create healthy, balanced
meals.
Part of my issue regarding exercise in the past has been that
I’m too lazy to go out of my way to drive to a gym, especially on work nights.
I like having a nice block of time at home in the evenings, so I feel “off”
when I don’t get enough of it. I am fortunate in that my place of employment moved
to a new building a few months ago, which has an in-house gym on the 2nd
floor. All of these factors seemed to make it a perfect time to get back on the
horse.
I started my current journey by deciding how many calories a
day I would consume in order to lose weight. They say you burn a certain amount
per day just by doing your usual thing: sleeping, running internal processes,
such as digestion and circulation, or typing on a computer. I used my current
information in a calculator on the Self website to try to get an idea of this
number. You can find that calculator here: https://nutritiondata.self.com/tools/calories-burned.
At the time, I was 0% active, and since I sit at a desk job I
chose sedentary as my activity level. According to this calculator, I burn
about 2139 calories. That seems awfully high to me, but they do suggest that
this is just an estimate and the true number can be very individual to each
person. I imagine things like frame size, muscle mass, etc., come into play as
well.
I’m all about making changes safely and slowly, especially
since I wanted this to be a long-term effort. I figured I would aim to lose 1-2
pounds per week. I didn’t want to do this by using any weird pills or taking
part in short-term diets, like super low-carb or those ones that basically make
you lose a bunch of water weight. I also didn’t want to completely restrict
myself. If I really wanted to eat a particular thing, I would do it.
Based on all this, I chose to limit myself to no more than
1350 calories per day. This amount would allow me to fit in a snack and a
fulfilling dinner, and was based on past success. For exercise, I decided to commit
to 3 days per week to start. I wanted to choose an amount that didn’t seem
overwhelming while I was building this new habit. I didn’t want to over commit
and get discouraged, but I wanted it to be enough to make a difference.
So how has all this worked so far?
I use My Fitness Pal to log my foods and exercise. I will
note, however, that you have to do your own research. Some of the wishful
thinking calories listed in the app that other people have added over time are
crazy! If something doesn’t sound right, I google it or verify it against a
nutritional menu or label. I also use measuring cups and spoons, plus a scale
to weigh out ounces. This has been really helpful while I re-learn portion
sizes. Some of them are sad. 😡
It has been awesome to be able to ride the elevator down a
few floors, change into my workout clothes, and just start exercising without
having to battle traffic or stress about how much time I will have leftover for
my relaxing evening. This has worked out well so far. I have also been adding
some floor exercises and general stretching at home just to mix it up on the
days off. I’ve even added extra days a couple of times, especially after those
couple of guilty weekends. (I’m human). I plan to eventually buy a stationary
bike for at home. I’ve had one in the past and found great use for it while
watching TV. No excuses! I am really proud that I have stuck with the exercise,
even more so than the diet changes. I have actually been looking forward to
exercising each time. I wouldn’t say I’m as excited about it as some of the
people you see, but I feel accomplished somehow each time and I feel like I’m
getting stronger. My legs especially have seen some noticeable toning. Still
working on that beer belly. Being middle-aged sucks. 😛
Food-wise, the best part has been discovering completely new
recipes or new and different ways to change up old ones. It has also allowed me
to discover some fun new spice mixes and sauces too. I try to do any prep I
might need to do, like grocery shopping or cutting up veggies, on the weekend. The
only frustrating part has been that there are still a lot of places that don’t
post their nutritional information. I try to avoid those as much as possible.
If I do go, I try my best to estimate, but you’d be surprised at how fattening
or calorific some meals are, even ones you thought looked or sounded lighter!
Calorie-wise, I have been trying to stay in the range of
1250-1300. This has seemed to work and I rarely feel hungry now that I am used
to my changes and the carb and sugar craving are lessening. Actually, I
recently ate a yogurt I used to love and was surprised at how sugary it was to
me! And my only complaint about going out to eat now is how salty most places
make the meats, like chicken breast or steak. It’s amazing how quickly our
bodies can adapt to changes when we let them.
As for my lack of restrictions, I have found that I usually
choose to forego the delectable bad stuff. That short-term high you get is temporary
and there is almost no nutritional value involved. I have been way more satisfied
when I have put together those balanced meals or extra proteins. I usually try
to consider the trade-offs. “Will eating this thing really be worth having to
eat less today to stick to within my range?” Maybe sometimes it is. Sometimes
you might just need a fun-size candy bar! I have missed drinking, though. I can’t
lie. I decided to stop until I got my diet under control, and I’ve found I’ve
been okay without most nights. I’m definitely going to go back to it socially,
however. I mean, I have a birthday coming up soon. 😀
All in all, I have gone from 197.8 to 182.8 as of last
weigh-in. 15 pounds. Not bad for about 50 days.
Once you finish, you are invited to turn in your Coney and drink tickets and stay a while, but it was so crowded and the lines were super long. My friends and I actually ended up giving our tickets away to some lucky revelers, and walked a couple of blocks to The Eagle OTR. Apparently, they have some excellent friend chicken. I actually chose a Shrimp and Kale salad, however, since I had a birthday dinner later that night at Boi Na Braza. I did get a chance to enjoy some Sweet Baby Jesus!, though.
