I’ve had a weight problem for about ten years now.
Being overweight didn’t used to be a problem. It meant you had eaten more than you needed to survive – thus, you were a successful person. And most people become overweight simply by eating when and what their body tells them to, because our biology has not caught up with our sociology – it is no longer necessary to put weight on as a safeguard against starvation later. In fact, in this day and age, being overweight is like hanging a permanent sign around your neck that reads, “I have no self-discipline”.
Except that I do have self-discipline. I have done things that required serious self-discipline in the past and will do more of such things in the future. Why am I still having trouble with this?
I am six feet, four inches tall. I weigh about three hundred and forty pounds. Because of my height, I am not really rotund, but I still weigh about a hundred pounds more than I should.
About two years ago, I seriously started on a plan to lose weight. I did some research, reading books like The Hacker’s Diet. I then got off caffeine, drank only water, took vitamins every day, and ate a very small number of calories (around 1800). I also worked out at home at least three times a week. My workout consisted of playing Dance Dance Revolution for about fifteen minutes to get my heart rate up, then doing a series of calisthenics. I burned about 250 calories per workout. The very low number of calories was quite difficult to maintain, but I told myself that every time my stomach growled it meant I was losing weight.
Initially, this worked great. The pounds seemed to melt right off, and it appeared that I would reach my goal of 240 far faster than I thought I would. I don’t know exactly how much weight I lost because my scale was not reading right (something I didn’t find out until later) but I probably lost about 35-40 pounds. My legs looked great, and I started having to tighten my belt lest my pants fall off. A female co-worker of mine told me I was looking “splendid”, which was quite encouraging.
But I was overdoing it. For a 340-pound male, 1800 calories is practically nothing. After about three months of this, my body went into starvation mode and I stopped losing weight. This was also when I discovered that my spring scale was not accurate, since it was telling me that I weighed 295 but the new digital scale I bought, which went up to 300, refused to weigh me. So I didn’t even know how much I’d lost.
After about a month of continuing to practically starve myself with no results, I got frustrated. I stopped exercising and started eating “normally” again. And all that weight came right back on.
My story is a very common one. Despite all the research I had done and all the good intentions I had, I had gone about this project exactly wrong. The worst thing you can do to lose weight is temporarily alter how you exercise and eat, because even if they work, once you reach your target weight you will go back to normal…and the weight will come back on.
My weight is a consequence of my eating habits and exercise habits. Thus, if I want to change my weight permanently, I must also change those habits permanently. There is no way I can maintain a healthy weight drinking as much soda as I do, so I must stop drinking soda – permanently. There is no way I can maintain a healthy weight exercising as little as I do, so I must start exercising – permanently. And there is no way I can maintain a healthy weight eating as much mayonnaise as I do, so I must stop eating mayonnaise – permanently. I must break myself of my bad habits and replace them with good ones, and I must continually reinforce the good habits lest my decades of bad habitting reassert themselves.
So I’m going to start again, within the next week or two. I’m going to do a little preparation and then I’m going to start back down the road to good health…more gently, this time. It will take longer and be more difficult, but the result will be permanent success.
Good for you! I have been hovering around 180 for the past month or so. People generally have their weight fluxuate during the month, so I don’t feel bad when it goes up to 182 or even 184, nor do I get excited when it goes to 178.
That said, I haven’t exactly put a lot of effort into losing weight. I did, however, manage to drop from 195 to 180 in since July of last year.
I started eating more fiber and less food in general. I wasn’t starving when I did so because my lunches would consist of two sandwiches plus whatever snacks I put in the bag. I cut down to one sandwich. I started eating more fruits and vegetables. I would also try to be more conscious of how full I was. Normally I would try to eat everything on my plate since that is what you’re “supposed to do”, but now I stop when I am full. I read about the Zone diet, but never actually read any books on it. Just this guy’s posts: http://hwebbjr.typepad.com/openloops/2006/01/how_to_lose_50_.html
But you’re right about eating and exercise habits. I stopped eating the food at my office that people leave for everyone, like leftover meeting pizza or donuts. I don’t think about my diet as a temporary sacrifice like most people would.
Good luck! I haven’t really set any hard goal, but I’d like to lose another 10 lbs this year.
Thats great your starting again. I was in your situation a few years ago. At 6′ 1″, I had balloned to 295lbs. My body fat was near 40%. I had tried all sort of “diets”. Then I came to realize what you are talking about, changing habits permanently. I needed to change my life not do another diet. I found the solution that worked for me. I’m at 12% body fat and have maintained that for over 2 years. Becoming healthy and fit is hard, it takes time but the rewards are worth it.
You owe it to yourself to dispell all the myths about diet and exercise. I’m glad I did. Visit http://bodyforlife.com or go buy bills book body for life.
Good luck!
I’ve found that calorie counting and exercise works well. Sure you can have that 500 calorie snickers, provided you’re going without your dinner, oh sure you can have those cheese puffs, but it’s going to cost you a meal 😉
It’s not all as extreme as that, but in a way it is. I found it’s not about limiting what you eat so much as changing to lower cal foods. And then you can’t just count on that soley, you need to exercise.
When I was really working i’d try to eat only about 1000-1200 calories a day and then of course exercise to burn off more calories than I consumed. it takes about 3500 to burn off a pound (US), and so eventually i’d do about 7000 calories in a week, so i was doing about 2lbs a week, which is pretty good. Before I knew it I was down to like 190. Now that i’ve not really payed attention i’m going upwards towards 200 again.
Keith
Sorry I missed your comments, guys…thanks a lot for the support. Keith, you’re right – the only way to lose weight is to eat fewer calories than you burn, and counting calories is the best way to do that. This is too much work for most people, which is why fads like Atkins, etc, are still around.