07-26-2013, 08:15 PM
1.) I downloaded MyFitness Pal onto my phone. You can also use their website myfitnesspal.com. I track all my calories, exercise, weight, and measurements in that.
2.) I then just started eating better. I cut out as much fast food as possible. I swap greasy, processed stuff, for healthier alternatives. It costs a little more, but it's worth it. I love pizza, so I learned how to make a thin crust pizza on my own. Swap 1000 calories for the boxed delivery stuff for 400 calories for a flat bread / tortilla pizza, and I'm just as full. I love chips and dip. I swapped that out for healthier rice and pita chips (that are awesome), and salsa (black bean and corn salsa.... YES PLEASE), or Hummus (Roasted Red Pepper..... /drool). If we go out to eat, I look for healthy alternatives. I make sure that Portion Control is a large part of this for me. I never learned about that growing up. My parents are both very heavy. They never taught me about things like that. I learned while doing this. Changing out the box meals for a homemade version is HUGE. My kids love Beef Stroganoff w/ Mushrooms. A box meal, while not a "lot" of calories, is just loaded with junk. Making it from my own stew meat, and my own ingredients, and fresh mushrooms just makes it healthier. Sometimes, the healthier version is even more calories, but it doesn't have a ton of sodium, and ton of preservatives.
I eat more lean meat, more chicken, fish, etc... More Fresh Veggies. More Fresh Fruit. I'm a terrible jerk about making sure I know what I'm putting in my body. My wife says I'm the calorie Nazi.
3.) I make sure I'm not just a bump on the couch. I get out and exercise. I coached my son's baseball team. I go for walks. I get a lot of exercise at work just based on my job. I make sure that I log all of my exercise as well. I want to know what I'm doing to burn calories, and MFP calculates calories burnt based on my weight and measurables.
4.) I don't drink as much alcohol. I still enjoy a drink every now and then, but I'm not killing a fifth of rum when I do have something to drink, or drinking a 6 pack of hard cider, or whatever. It sounds silly, but my god the calories in Alcohol is staggering.
5.) I have support. My Wife never lost the baby weight after our daughter was born, so she's trying to lose that as well. My mother has lost 110 pounds, My dad is finally trying to get healthy. I have friends who are trying various thins to tone, trim, etc... And I have a friend who was a pitcher in Japan for a while, and he's great motivation even if only over Skype. Trying to do it on my own would suck.
The biggest thing for me was just changing my attitude about food. I used to not care, and I'd just eat whatever. I find I spend more time thinking about food now, and what I'm going to eat, and planning dinner, and planning out what I'm going to "snack" on than I did before. I decided I wasn't going to call this a diet, because a Diet is something that you quit, or finish. This is a lifestyle change, and I'm treating it as such.
Before I tried to rationalize my weight. My knees are bad, my ankle is bad. My shoulder was on the way to being a worthless joint. Now, I'm pushing through and I feel amazing. It doesn't hurt to walk as much. It will always ache, but the severe pain is gone.
My next "Lifestyle Change" is to quit smoking. That's going to be tough. I've been a smoker since I was 13, so.... 20 years. My dad owned a tire shop, and I worked there after school / summers, and would go over to the gas station to pick up stuff for the guys. The gas station knew where I was going, and never noticed when I started buying an extra pack of smokes along with it. Hell, Generic Smokes were 79 cents a pack. The guys didn't notice a buck less in change either. I "can" smoke at work (not at my desk), so that's tough. And I'm a Driving Smoker. If I'm driving, I smoke. and I drive ~1hr round trip to work every day. I'll get there, but it's going to be slow.
I just bought myself a digital slr camera. I'm going to use that as motivation to walk the bike trail we have here locally more often.
2.) I then just started eating better. I cut out as much fast food as possible. I swap greasy, processed stuff, for healthier alternatives. It costs a little more, but it's worth it. I love pizza, so I learned how to make a thin crust pizza on my own. Swap 1000 calories for the boxed delivery stuff for 400 calories for a flat bread / tortilla pizza, and I'm just as full. I love chips and dip. I swapped that out for healthier rice and pita chips (that are awesome), and salsa (black bean and corn salsa.... YES PLEASE), or Hummus (Roasted Red Pepper..... /drool). If we go out to eat, I look for healthy alternatives. I make sure that Portion Control is a large part of this for me. I never learned about that growing up. My parents are both very heavy. They never taught me about things like that. I learned while doing this. Changing out the box meals for a homemade version is HUGE. My kids love Beef Stroganoff w/ Mushrooms. A box meal, while not a "lot" of calories, is just loaded with junk. Making it from my own stew meat, and my own ingredients, and fresh mushrooms just makes it healthier. Sometimes, the healthier version is even more calories, but it doesn't have a ton of sodium, and ton of preservatives.
I eat more lean meat, more chicken, fish, etc... More Fresh Veggies. More Fresh Fruit. I'm a terrible jerk about making sure I know what I'm putting in my body. My wife says I'm the calorie Nazi.
3.) I make sure I'm not just a bump on the couch. I get out and exercise. I coached my son's baseball team. I go for walks. I get a lot of exercise at work just based on my job. I make sure that I log all of my exercise as well. I want to know what I'm doing to burn calories, and MFP calculates calories burnt based on my weight and measurables.
4.) I don't drink as much alcohol. I still enjoy a drink every now and then, but I'm not killing a fifth of rum when I do have something to drink, or drinking a 6 pack of hard cider, or whatever. It sounds silly, but my god the calories in Alcohol is staggering.
5.) I have support. My Wife never lost the baby weight after our daughter was born, so she's trying to lose that as well. My mother has lost 110 pounds, My dad is finally trying to get healthy. I have friends who are trying various thins to tone, trim, etc... And I have a friend who was a pitcher in Japan for a while, and he's great motivation even if only over Skype. Trying to do it on my own would suck.
The biggest thing for me was just changing my attitude about food. I used to not care, and I'd just eat whatever. I find I spend more time thinking about food now, and what I'm going to eat, and planning dinner, and planning out what I'm going to "snack" on than I did before. I decided I wasn't going to call this a diet, because a Diet is something that you quit, or finish. This is a lifestyle change, and I'm treating it as such.
Before I tried to rationalize my weight. My knees are bad, my ankle is bad. My shoulder was on the way to being a worthless joint. Now, I'm pushing through and I feel amazing. It doesn't hurt to walk as much. It will always ache, but the severe pain is gone.
My next "Lifestyle Change" is to quit smoking. That's going to be tough. I've been a smoker since I was 13, so.... 20 years. My dad owned a tire shop, and I worked there after school / summers, and would go over to the gas station to pick up stuff for the guys. The gas station knew where I was going, and never noticed when I started buying an extra pack of smokes along with it. Hell, Generic Smokes were 79 cents a pack. The guys didn't notice a buck less in change either. I "can" smoke at work (not at my desk), so that's tough. And I'm a Driving Smoker. If I'm driving, I smoke. and I drive ~1hr round trip to work every day. I'll get there, but it's going to be slow.
I just bought myself a digital slr camera. I'm going to use that as motivation to walk the bike trail we have here locally more often.
nobody ever slaughtered an entire school with a smart phone and a twitter account – they have, however, toppled governments. - Jim Wright