Modern Day Slacker

Losing It

October 21, 2008 at 4:08 am (weightloss) (weightloss)

A few years ago I managed to lose 70 pounds. Recently I’ve gotten down to almost 100 pounds (damn that last 5 pounds). While I’m not one of those people who parade around trumpeting my weight loss, when it does come up in conversation, people tend to always ask me how I did it. Did I get Gastric Bypass? Did I puke it off? Did I become a gym rat? Did I only eat lemons for 6 months? No. Noooo.

At one point I had found myself getting too fat for the pants I was wearing. The next size up meant i would have to get a size that only parade floats would be wearing. It was freaking me out. Then my roommate at the time mentioned he wanted to lose some weight and we decided to be diet buddies and started doing Atkins. Yeah, some people say it’s bad for you but if you follow it and do some exercise (and drink lots of water), it’ll help you out. So, I started doing some situps after work and stuck to the diet.

Time passed.

I pulled out my summer clothes and my shorts were giant, my pants were bigger and my winter coat started feeling tent-like. I got myself on the scale and I lost 50 pounds. Then i went to my mom’s house and checked with her scale as well (when you see that sort of change, you tend to not trust the first scale). The deal sealer was my mom’s neighbors telling me how thin I looked.

I managed to keep most of the weight off and as I said above, I’m really close to the 100 pound mark. I am the laziest person you’ll ever meet and if I can do it, so can you. You don’t have to follow Atkins to lose weight tho. When people ask me about what they can do (which is weird for me…still), these are some of the things I tell them.

1. Cut out alot of the useless sugar out of your diet and read the labels.
Check out the sugar content in Vitamin Water, Gatorade and even those frappacino-type coffee drinks. There is enough sugar in these things to last you 2 days. If you have an office job where you aren’t moving around alot, where do you think all that sugar goes? Also, condiments and sauces will getcha too. Ask for it on the side and dip because most places put too much on anyway.

2. Take it easy with the potatoes, bread, pasta and rice.
Again, alot of sugar that just sits there.

2a. I am not saying that you can’t ever have these things, but cutting back to once in awhile and substituting vegetables and maybe some lean protein like chicken and pork will help you out.

3. Eat vegetables & salads.
Yeah, no one likes eating most vegetables, but you know what? Neccessary evil. Throw some butter on them or a little cheese and eat them quickly at the start of your meal to get them out of your way if you really don’t like them as much. But your body needs the fiber to get rid of, literally, all the crap in you. Have fun with salads and try throwing all sorts of things in there. Maybe try making a basic salad and then throwing whatever meat/chicken/pork and veggies you were going to have in there as well. Keep an eye on the sugar content of your dressing and rock on!

4. Move around a little more.
I am the laziest person you will probably ever meet. I am working on that, however after starting to do situps made me feel better. I started doing 5 sets of ten and then moved up. And I did them while watching reruns of Mash, so try to have something to distract you while doing some exercise like tv shows you dvr, or a reality show or whatever. You get the point. Being distracted while exercising really helps you make your exercise regime fly by. Also, if you have digital cable, try the workouts that are on the OnDemand menu, some of them are short and easy to do if you are just starting to get off the sofa.

5. Don’t beat yourself up if you fall off the wagon.
Ok, so you stuffed yourself at Grandma’s house for dinner. Or at Thanksgiving. Or a tuesday afternoon lunch with friends. Keep in mind no one is perfect, and you are no exception. Also, Thanksgiving comes once a year as does Christmas and thinking you’ll be ok is bullshit. You know, I know it and everyone knows it. Just take it easy and get back on the wagon the next day. There’s always a next day.

6. Losing weight is a lifestyle change.
Keep in mind you are not losing weight, you are changing the way you live your life. If you do that you can keep the weight off. Yoyo dieting isn’t too great for you either.

7. Don’t obsess.
Many people tend to obsess over thier “dieting”. You aren’t dieting, it is just something that is. It is what it is. Be Zen about it

So there ya go. Cut out the sugar, move around a little more, be realistic and see what your doing as a lifestyle change. Be Zen about it. And always remember, it’s better to lose weight slowly, so hang in there.

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