Losing weight. Getting in shape. Getting healthy. They're this harmonious trifecta that people have made and spent millions on trying to achieve. And when you think about it, it's pretty ludicrous that it's become a $300 billion industry-$1 trillion depending on what you classify as part of the industry. But ignoring the obnoxious infommercials with ridiculous workout objects, and all that Hollywood fitness hot garbage people try to sell you, breaking these 3 things down to an achievable way of life is entirely possible. And we want to lose weight, get in shape, and be healthy for absolute good reason. We all know it feels better to be in shape. We know that when you lose weight and people notice, you walk a little taller that day. And when you feel you're being being proactive about your health, you feel good. Pure and simple. The problem is trying to find the approach that you'll stick to so that you can actually achieve what you want. There are so many diet & exercise approaches that don't work for one reason or another. And when I say 'don't work' I mean that they don't work for you. All of them may work for some people, but you have to find the one that works for you. It's tricky to find that diet & exercise routine that's manageable and doesn't become overwhelming to do after a while; something that can become a routine part of your life that once you achieve your goals you can also sustain them.
Everyone at some point has tried to get into the shape that is ideal to them and it doesn't work out for whatever reason. Or maybe you achieved it but then got out of shape again. You got tied up with something else in your life, it became too much, the gym was too inconvenient to get to, you kept eating tacos at 3am after drinking for 6 hours, etc etc. The key is, just like there are things that make us all individuals, the same applies to losing weight, getting in shape, and being healthy. You have to do what works for you. And almost as important as that, you have to keep it simple so that you don't get overwhelmed and give up. It is a lifestyle change that eventually becomes somewhat of a routine. It is entirely possible. You can buckle down and do it, and sustain it. It doesn't mean it's easy, or fun--especially at first. Just like anything good, you need to work at it, but there are ways to make it manageable so that you can actually do it.
So below is what I did to lose 35 lbs in 4-5 months, going from 232 down to 197. But before reading any further, the key thing to remember is that you have to figure out what works for you; something that will allow you to keep striving towards your goal. A plan that is simple enough to execute without giving up, but challenging enough that you push yourself and achieve your goals.
That said, these points could be a great way for you to achieve your goals. These could be the things that work for you. People kept asking me how I lost my weight and I'd say "diet & exercise." It definitely takes both in my opinion, but what does 'diet & exercise' mean? These points are the breakdown of how I lost my weight. I've set them up in order of importance. I want to share how I did it, because it will probably work for you.
Here are the ten points. Read them first. Then if you want a breakdown of them, continue reading below.
1. Have someone that you can report your progress to that can hold you accountable.
2. You have to count your calories.
3. Find a gym that's convenient to get to, and that you enjoy working out in.
4. Get yourself on a real exercise plan that you can stick to
5. Be mindful of how much you're eating out/stop eating out so much
6. Balance the surplus and excess you've had in the past with sacrifices now
7. DO NOT eat after 9pm!
8. Allow a 24 hour period at some point in the week to eat and drink whatever you want.
9. 10% of something is more than 100% of nothing
10. When you want to workout the least, is when you feel the best and most rewarded after doing it.
Have someone that you can report your progress to that can hold you accountable. This was crucial for me, and probably the most important thing I did to achieve my weight loss. My friend, Piet, and I committed to a weight loss competition together. The first person to lose 20 lbs won the bet, and the loser would have to buy something for the winner. Again, this is just how we did it because we knew it would work for us. We initially weighed in on a Friday and documented our starting weight. Then we would weigh in every Friday and report our weight to the other person by text. Once one of us hit our target weight, we had to sustain it or weigh less than that for another two weeks of weigh-ins before being declared a winner. By having to sustain that weight for another two weeks, it helps you understand what habits you need to sustain that weight so that you don't gain it back. If we would weigh-in over our target weight in that 2 week sustaining period, then we'd have to get back to the target weight at the next weigh in, and sustain it for another 2 weeks before being declared a winner. The other rule was that both participants had to eventually lose the weight, even if you lost the competition. Otherwise the loser would have to double whatever the bet was for the winner. Again, these rules were made specifically for us because we knew this is how we'd achieve our weight loss. If you're only relying on yourself to report to, you may allow yourself to slip and maybe not follow through. If you have someone to report to, there's a little more pressure, and some expectation to achieve your goal, because you don't want to report failure to your friend.
3. Find a gym that's convenient to get to, and that you enjoy working out in.
4. Get yourself on a real exercise plan that you can stick to
5. Be mindful of how much you're eating out/stop eating out so much
6. Balance the surplus and excess you've had in the past with sacrifices now
7. DO NOT eat after 9pm!
8. Allow a 24 hour period at some point in the week to eat and drink whatever you want.
9. 10% of something is more than 100% of nothing
10. When you want to workout the least, is when you feel the best and most rewarded after doing it.
Have someone that you can report your progress to that can hold you accountable. This was crucial for me, and probably the most important thing I did to achieve my weight loss. My friend, Piet, and I committed to a weight loss competition together. The first person to lose 20 lbs won the bet, and the loser would have to buy something for the winner. Again, this is just how we did it because we knew it would work for us. We initially weighed in on a Friday and documented our starting weight. Then we would weigh in every Friday and report our weight to the other person by text. Once one of us hit our target weight, we had to sustain it or weigh less than that for another two weeks of weigh-ins before being declared a winner. By having to sustain that weight for another two weeks, it helps you understand what habits you need to sustain that weight so that you don't gain it back. If we would weigh-in over our target weight in that 2 week sustaining period, then we'd have to get back to the target weight at the next weigh in, and sustain it for another 2 weeks before being declared a winner. The other rule was that both participants had to eventually lose the weight, even if you lost the competition. Otherwise the loser would have to double whatever the bet was for the winner. Again, these rules were made specifically for us because we knew this is how we'd achieve our weight loss. If you're only relying on yourself to report to, you may allow yourself to slip and maybe not follow through. If you have someone to report to, there's a little more pressure, and some expectation to achieve your goal, because you don't want to report failure to your friend.
You have to count your calories. It's tedious at first, but once you get the hang of it, it becomes second nature. You have to do this, though, to get an understanding of what a real diet is. You can't just "cut out sweets" and consider that a diet. That's not a diet. And actually, not even fun if you can't have any sweets. The best thing to do is keep an all-around balanced diet, but be mindful of your portions. It's always eye-opening at first to see how many calories you're taking in each day. It may even be disturbing. It was for me. I thought I was eating healthy, but when I saw how many calories I was taking in on an average day it was kind of alarming, especially when I factored in the beer. When keeping count of your calories, it's important not to lie to yourself. You need to be honest with yourself about how many calories you're taking in each day. Download a calorie counting app on your phone to start. There are several. My Net Diary is one that I used to start things off, but don't need to use it anymore. It's very helpful and crucial to getting things started.
Find a gym that's convenient to get to, and that you enjoy working out in. So many people sign up at a gym, and never go because it becomes too overwhelming to go, for one reason or another. You start putting up road blocks in your head of why you can't go. Either it's a little too far so you don't think you'll have enough time to get there and get in a full workout, or there's never any parking, or the biggest: it's too crowded, so you either can't get on the equipment, or there's just too many people there that you can't get into your element and workout in peace. Find a gym that's easy to get to, that isn't too crowded, and that you feel like you can have some good focus in. I really like the Chicago Athletic Clubs(CAC). I find that they're not too crowded, that have good parking options, good classes(yoga, spinning, etc), and I enjoy the vibe when I'm there. That's so important. Some places are like working out at the Globo Gym, Ben Stiller's character's gym from the movie Dodgeball. They're way too intense, or the people there are too much that you don't even want to be caught dead there. Find a place that suits you, and that you enjoy going to, and isn't too overwhelming to commute to. It's the only way to continue going there to keep up your workout.
Get yourself on a real exercise plan that you can stick to. You want to do something that is challenging, but isn't daunting to the point where you don't want to do it. For me, I workout at night after work around 8 or 9 o'clock. If I try to do it in the mornings, most mornings I won't get up to do it, or I feel pressured by time because I have to hurry and get to work. Nights are relaxing to me(but again, everyone is different). I've gotten done what I need to get done for the day. I love sports, so rather than sitting on the couch watching a game, I go on a treadmill and watch the game. Then I set aside nights in my week where I commit to going to the gym and make sure I don't break my plans, just as if it were an appointment. I don't break that appointment. Personally, I do Monday night to work the weekend off of me, Tuesday morning yoga and maybe something Tuesday night, rest on Wednesday, Thursday go hard with a run and a swim, rest Friday, Saturday do something active to sweat out the Friday night drinks, rest and relax on Sunday. It takes a couple weeks to get into a rhythm that you'll like, but once you find it, it gets easier to stick to it.
Be mindful of how much you're eating out/stop eating out so much. This one can be tricky because there's a lot of grey area to sort through. Everyone eats out. In America, it's way too convenient, and pretty much a way of life(which is too bad in some ways, but I digress). First off, there are different ways of eating out. There are sit-down restaurants with great food that can have healthy acceptable options, sit down restaurants with not the healthiest food and/or huge portions, places where food is prepared quickly but not terrible for you, and unhealthy crappy fast food. We all know what is not good to eat on a diet(crappy fast food), but not everyone has a concept of what's acceptable and unacceptable at the other places. Eating out isn't all bad, but most places where you can buy prepared food give you too much food for one meal. For the most part, this is where the calorie counter comes in and can be very helpful. But you also have to maintain some self-control.
- Eat half of something, and see how your stomach feels after about 5-10 minutes. You can still nibble at it, while your stomach is making up its mind if you're full or not, but don't overdo it. Usually I'm surprised that I feel content after eating half of something, and I don't need anymore food. If I'm feeling like I need to be intaking something more because everyone else is still eating, I'll keep sipping on water.
- As a general rule, I think it's a good idea when eating out at a restaurant to just eat half of something, and take the other half home. You're not sacrificing that much by doing that, plus you get a good portioned meal for later that you don't need to prepare or buy.
- If you have to eat at Jimmy John's or Subway or Potbelly's, find the acceptable options to eat on your diet...especially depending on how focused you are on losing weight. At Jimmy John's, I get the Unwich, which is a sandwich of your choice wrapped in lettuce, with everything on it including all the 'Freebies'(basically tons of vegetables). The bread is 2/3 of the calories. and you may be surprised that the unwich is enough for a meal and that you don't need all the bread to make yourself full. At Potbelly's or Subway, just get the smaller sandwich. It's still a big enough portion for your body to be content with as a meal. And at both places, don't eat chips! The sandwich is plenty for a meal. You don't want to leave hungry, but you don't need to be stuffed full. Find the happy median, and remember that you gained weight because you lived in excess. Which kind of brings me to the next point.
Balance the surplus and excess you've had in the past with sacrifices now. Sorry, but it's true. You've got to balance that out because you've gained weight from living in excess. Now you've got to make some sacrifices. And I'm not saying torture yourself. Don't do that, but you do need to cut back on stuff. And because you're used to a certain lifestyle that has gotten you to this point, it will take some adjusting. And it won't always be easy or fun. There will be some struggling moments. Embrace them. Making this balance is necessary and incredibly rewarding. That feeling when you get on the scale at the end of the week and see that you lost 3 lbs is way more invigorating than the feeling of being extra full after a big sandwich with chips and a soft drink.
DO NOT eat after 9pm! Straight up. This is an easy one to call people out on, mostly because it's so easy to do, but will without a doubt contribute to weight gain/or lack of weight loss. Don't do it! It's mindless calories that you don't need! Eat a healthy dinner and leave it at that! You just have to be strict about this one. Part of sacrificing something.
Allow a 24 hour period at some point in the week to eat and drink whatever you want. This is important for rewarding yourself, but also not going crazy of deprivation. I do mine from 3pm on Saturday to 3pm on Sunday. I still make sure, however, not to eat a 4am Mexican feast after drinking. It only sets things back. But I have a Saturday night dinner, then go out drinking, and a good hangover brunch, and that's it.
10% of something is more than 100% of nothing. I always remember this when I'm feeling too lazy to workout. Because even if you can't get in a full workout, or you just don't feel like it, remember this and just get out and do something. You'll be glad you did, and it just helps you to change your frame of mind, and realize that when you don't want to do something, even if you do a little, it feels productive, and you think about doing it more in the future.
So these were the key bullet points that helped me lose my weight. I hope you find them helpful, and even effective. And I'll say it over and over, this is how I did it, but you need to figure out what's best for you. These methods may be good for you. I'm still fighting to lose that last 7-8 pounds to get down to 190, but it's been TOUGH. Maybe when I do that, I'll do another post about losing that last little bit.
If you have any questions about my methods feel free to email me. conallwalsh@gmail.com.
Otherwise, good luck with your healthy lifestyle endeavors!
::Conall::
