OK Marty, great! You were inspired! Thrilling, but how the hell did you do it?
I have discovered in my years of dieting, that there are no secrets to it.
Diet and Exercise..............that's it! I didn't join a pool or gym until recently. I lost almost all of my weight working out at home. I have a Nordic Track, that I don't use for a clothes rack. A resistance chair, (a chair with some resistance bands attached) some free weights and a mat. I started doing 10 minutes on the Nordic Track and then dying! But I did it everyday! As I felt stronger, I added time and started using the resistance chair. I constantly increased time, reps, resistance and hit the floor for crunches!!! I took no more than 2 days a month off, not always recommended but I was doing mostly cardio and abs and I needed the consistency to keep me honest. When I started, I had back pain so bad that I couldn't walk to the corner..........gradually, my back started feeling better and better. It's almost OK now but I still get some Sciatica from time to time. It just doesn't stop me these days and I no longer complain about it. If you can, walking is great. I did have my goals set on a Triathlon and was training for it, but music required more of my time so the Triathlon is on hold. But there is next year and I need something to keep me honest and new goals to reach! I am swimming 1-2 miles a day and I just discovered the gym. They've got lots of fun machines for me to sculpt all my problem areas and I believe I can whip this old body into pretty serious shape in time. I do think my knee surgeon was right about running, but we'll see down the road. If I had to pick one thing to do, it would be swimming, hands down! But then I am a little Pisces fish at home in the water!
As far as diet goes..........I eat fruits and vegetables, whole grains, a little fish, no meat or chicken, unless it's an occasion and there's nothing else.
In the beginning, I ate high volume, low calorie foods that would fill me up so I wasn't so hungry. Giant salads did it for me.............and lots of fruit.
I have found that my body prefers healthy, lighter and more wholesome foods and doesn't need the heavy flavors I once did. I enjoy the natural taste of foods much more. I try to take my time when I eat and savour the experience, being mindful of what I am eating and how it makes me feel. I also eat slower and chew longer............I used to eat so fast that my brain didn't have time to tell my stomach it was full until I was stuffed! I read labels and try and put the best fuel into my body that I can. I have friends that run their cars on premium and then go eat at McDonald's.
I now view myself as the steward of my body, responsible for it's care and maintenance. That requires making sure it runs in tip top order!
Perhaps this is one of the reasons I have been able to change my relationship with food. Pleasure has become, how good I now feel! What a concept! I'm sure a lot of people will look at how I eat and think it's very boring, I feed my body from the bounties of the earth and feel that eating whole and raw foods makes me more mindful of my connection to the earth and the Universe. OK maybe a little hippy dippy, but I am from the Woodstock generation after all! And all I know is that it works for me. I'm not against eating something that I wouldn't normally eat, I just have a little and I'm happy.
I still have 1 little cookie at night, my guilt pleasure, but only one! I make it a cookie with no junk in it. I have given up most other sugar except the natural kind like in fruit, which I love.
While I worked really hard at accomplishing this, I can't say that I suffered through it at all. In some ways it was very easy, I just set my mind to it and did it! Just like that! Even when I hit a plateau, I knew that I just needed to keep on keeping on! I had faith that if I did my part, everything else would fall into place. Now that I've reached my weight goals, nothing much will change, I am living a new lifestyle now that I intend to embrace for the next 40 years. I am little by little, becoming the person I wish to be inside and out! I am truly Blessed!
Blessings & Light,
Marty
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