When I first became determined to get in shape I had gone through nearly 25 years of fast food and couch sitting. Not since childhood had I been a really active person, and I never attempted anything near a healthy or low-cal diet. However, in April 31, 2007 at the heaviest I’d ever been, I became particularly frustrated with my weight and fitness. I’m not sure what it was that changed that day, but I decided to act. Over the next few months, I logged every meal I ate, began a self-designed exercise program, and payed careful attention to the mantra of “eating less and exercising more”. I lost 10 pounds in the first month, 10 pounds in the second, and the third, and the fourth. Before Summer was even over I was already 40 pounds lighter, but that was only halfway.
Here are a few things that I think were key in the first few months of healthy living:
1) It’s not a diet. A diet implies a temporary punishment of bad food and too much exercise. What is really needed is a lifestyle change. I went into this thinking that I needed to change the way I lived – from my eating, to my activity levels. I never gave myself a timetable or end date.
2) I thought of it as a project. I’m a technical guy so it is really enjoyable for me when something just works. The body is a machine, so if you vary the inputs the outputs should be different as well. Plus, with the constant food and exercise logging, I was able to literally see my progress. This helped me to know that I was on the right track. If you’re trying a routine and you don’t see any results, simply adjust the variables (slowly) until you start to see some progress.
3) Make small changes. When I started, I went slow. I wanted to make a few changes in my diet and a few changes in my activity level so that I wouldn’t shock my body with too much too soon. Also, just by making some small changes, you allow your calorie deficit to start building. It takes 3,500 calories to burn 1 pound of fat. So, if you lowered your daily calorie intake by just 500 cal. then after a week, you will be 1 pound lighter.
4) Set small goals. When I started, I set a goal of losing 15 pounds. Even though I knew I needed to lose more, I thought that goal would be manageable enough for me. When that goal was met, I set a new one. This process continued until I was happy with the weight I was at. I think that if I had set a goal of losing 70 pounds from the beginning I would have been way too overwhelmed to even get started. It was simply a matter of baby steps.
I’ll be sharing more of my story over time here at FitHacks. As you can imagine, it is far from ending.
