Day 221 Nothing Is Off Limits and A Thursday 5K

Day 221

Nothing Is Off Limits and A Thursday 5K

I received a message today from a young woman asking how exactly I'm losing weight so successfully. She spent her entire youth thin, but after two kids she finds herself about 60 pounds overweight. She told me that she thought about buying some diet pills but decided against doing that because of the expense. I'm very proud of her for not buying the diet pills. The expense is really the least of the reasons not to. First of all let me say that I'm not a doctor, dietitian, or nutritionist. You should always consult a doctor before starting your journey. I'm just a guy that's been morbidly obese 90% of my life who's finally finding his way out and learning all along the way. I'm very happy to share what I've learned about losing weight, in fact that's all I want to do the rest of my life, share my story and how I'm doing it. So what would I say to someone just starting on their journey of weight loss? Well, here we go...

First of all you should realize that there isn't a food that is completely off limits. Let go of the misconceptions you might have about what foods are suitable for weight loss. All foods are suitable for weight loss. Once you fully grasp the concept of “nothing is off limits,” then you completely eliminate the deprivation factor that derails people from weight loss attempts everyday. Then you should familiarize yourself with nutrition labels. There's only a couple of things to really focus on: Serving size and calories. Buy a calorie book or look up calories online. In a very short time you'll get really good at this part. Set your calorie budget. I allow 1500 a day. Then use your calories like cash. Make sure you budget them and spread them out over the course of the day. I try to keep meals under 500 and snacks under 150. Make sure you're eating something at least every three hours. Drink a minimum of 64 ounces of water a day, a little more if you can, and exercise! Do whatever you can. If you can't get out of the house, any exercise that gets your heart rate up will do just fine. Just move any old way you can. It'll get much easier along the way if you stay consistent. Once your calories are under control and you're exercising everyday, then it's time to realize that the food and exercise part is only about 25% of successful weight loss. The other 75% of losing weight is all in your head. The mental exercises are the most important things to do along this journey. Realize that food is your friend, not the enemy. Fully accept 100% personal responsibility for your actions or lack of action. Don't blame anyone or anything for your excess weight. Complete honesty within yourself is paramount to your success. Decide that you'll make this a very important thing in your life and be dramatic about it. Protect it from your own excuses and rationalizations that tend to creep in after the initial starting excitement starts to wear off. Don't allow yourself to be your worst enemy. I did for years, it's not good. Like yesterday's blog said: Keep it simple! And remember it's all about making more good choices than bad choices. Understand that changing the way you look at food and exercise is the key to long term weight loss and good health. Learning to eat a portion instead of a “Sean” portion has been a big breakthrough for me. Sticking with an exercise plan despite how physically difficult it was in the beginning was a giant breakthrough too. You'll be shocked at how quickly you can progress along the way if you just put out a consistent positive effort. Writing about how you feel along the way can be a real education for you about you. You don't have to share it with the world wide web, keep it just between you and your family if you prefer, but whatever you decide...Just write, it's been one of the biggest contributors to my success so far.

I made a trip to Stillwater tonight to visit with family. I recruited my Aunt Jean and Uncle Keith to do a 5K with me at Boomer Lake. When I first started, a 5K was something we would do on special occasions, like holidays. But now a 5K is a regular part of our routine. The lake 5K tonight was wonderful. The breeze off the water and the ducks added a wonderful feel as we trucked along. My pace closely matched up with Keith, so instead of listening to music we talked the entire 5K. I had the iPod ready and in my ear in case our individual pace started to drift from one another. I love listening to music while I exercise. I also enjoyed my conversation tonight with Keith.

Every now and then I get a message in my inbox that doesn't have a return e-mail address. If you ask a question in an e-mail without an e-mail return address then I can't respond unless I do it inside this blog.

Thank you for reading! Good night and...

Good Choices,
Sean