People have been asking me for months, "How have you
lost so much weight?"
I don't know if they are concerned that I may have a
terminal illness or that I'm super stress out with a new home, marriage, or
whatever...But no, I’m not sick, actually I feel very well thank you. And while, a new home and marriage have been
stressful, it’s been that most fantastic, rewarding journey of my life and not
what has caused me to lose weight.
Here is the honest answer and all my secrets:
I have lost a bit of weight, almost 50 pounds. I was up to about 220 at my biggest point;
today I'm at a much healthier 175, give or take. I didn't do this all at once mind you, but it
didn't take a lot of effort or at least I don’t think it did. I wasn’t even trying to lose weight; I just
wanted to treat my body in a more healthy way.
So everybody has been asking me HOW? Here it is.
This plan is not a weight loss plan; this is a plan to make
me healthier. Weight loss is only a side
effect. I recommend, if you like my plan
and want to try it, doing each step for a couple weeks before adding other
steps.
First, I have to start by saying you must understand that if
you want to be a healthier person you have to give up the idea of counting
calories and counting fat grams. If you just want to lose weight, this is not
the plan for you. Once you forget the
math and the diaries just eat good food.
The amount of fat in something or the calories it has is not a measure
of how “good” or “bad” a food is. Judge
food on it’s nutritional content and on how awesome it tastes.
Step 1: Stop drinking soda (pop, coke, whatever you happen
to call it)! We all know this one, it’s
just a candy bar in a can. First, I
moved to a cup of coffee in the morning, but have water the rest of the day. Don’t say, “Oh, I drink diet! It’s ok.” No.
No, it’s not. Diet does two things,
delivers a blast of caffeine and then tricks your brain into thinking it’s
getting sugar, REAL sugar. The only
problem is that the artificial sweeteners are not sugar and your body knows the
difference, so your brain triggers a response that makes you actually crave
real sugar! Water is the way to go, this is a big one.
Step 2: Eat breakfast!
I like a good cereal with a lot of protein, but eat something besides a
donut, bagel or Cheez-its. Eggs are
great, fruit, yogurt, cereal, just eat breakfast. We've all heard it before, but still some of
us don't like to listen.
Step 3: Eat real food.
If it’s organic, that's great, but don't get hung up on that. Just eat real, actual food that looks like it
looks when it’s growing. If it’s in a
box, bag or can, chances are it’s not real.
Really, what you’re looking to get rid of here are preservatives and
chemical crap that you eat every day and don't realize. Winter time can be hard getting real tasty
veggies but in the cold months I stick to frozen veggies, not canned. The rest of the year I stay on the outside
edge of the grocery for fresh stuff, or get to the farmers market.
Step 4: Don't ever, ever, ever buy anything that says
low-fat, no-fat, or low-calorie. Again,
this is about removing nasty chemicals in your food that hurt you from the
inside out. This is a billion dollar
industry, and the know how to advertise.
Seriously, they make that crap in a lab.
Step 5: Stop worrying about fat and calories. The amount of fat in something or the
calories it has are not a measure of how “good” or “bad” a food is. Judge food on its nutritional content and by
how awesome it tastes, not the numbers on the back.
Step 6: Cook. Cook
that food yourself. You’ll get healthier
food, know exactly what and where it came from, and have some tasty stuff to
share with your family.
Other tips:
Don’t be afraid to use butter – Yes butter…not
margarine. Butter is as close to good as
you can get. Those other things that are
meant to taste like butter…just aren’t and they have some really awful
chemicals in there. Olive oil it great
and I use it for most things.
However, I
don’t pour olive oil on my baked potato, I use real freaking butter and there
is no substitute.
Don’t eat anything that is a substitute for something
real. See butter. Don’t buy anything that says “Flavor”, that’s
code for chemicals that taste like real things, only not really.
Don’t eat anything that says “product”. Like cheese product or cheese spread. “Product” is code for, we could have made
actual cheese, but instead we made something that could be mistaken for cheese. By federal law, companies must label a food
item as “product”, “Flavored”, or “spread” if it’s not actually the real deal. If you look out for it you will be amazed at
how many items you purchase at your local grocery labeled this way.
Can’t read it? Don’t eat it.
I like to look at the back of a package the food comes in. If I can’t read the ingredients and pronounce
them all…I don’t eat it. This one is hard. Good luck.
Lastly, go local.
This is a great way to expand your dietary horizons also. Take a trip to Critchfield for really awesome
meats of all types. You may spend a bit
more for this stuff, but let me tell you it’s worth it. Go to the farmers
markets. Not only will you support a guy
that actually grew the veggie, but you can also talk to that guy about how the
animals are kept and what his wife’s favorite recipe is. Oh, she’ll be there too. You don’t want a chemically ripened apple
shipped from 1000 miles away, when you can have one from two miles away ripen
on the tree planted in Kentucky soil. I
promise it will taste better.
So this is not a true weight loss plan. This is a give my body what it needs
plan. Oddly enough, what the body needs
is real food not food like products. Having said all that…I am no doctor and don’t claim to know
anything more than doing what I have described above has made me lose
weight and I feel much better. Eat at
your own risk.
