5 Simple Rules For Losing and Maintaining Your Weight (relatively) Effortlessly
The Early Years…
I spent my childhood in the space between chubby and fat. Plenty of kids have growth spurts, and times where they look a little chubby, but I was one of those kids who looked chubby at my leanest. It wasn’t like I was completely sedentary; I never really got into video games, usually could be found outside playing in the neighborhood, and played organized sports beginning at age 5. Despite the relatively high activity level, I was never lean as a kid.
In middle school I started lifting weights to improve myself on the football field (I was still convinced at this time that I was going to play in the NFL), and sometime in high school I went on my first “diet”. Also during high school I significantly increased my workout schedule, lifting weights more and more seriously as my high school career went along. Even competing in powerlifting my senior year! Despite the increased workout schedule and occasional “dieting”, I was still never someone most people would consider lean. I ranged from stocky to chubby. Big-boned if you will...
After high school, when I didn’t have access to a free gym anymore (turns out I didn’t get drafted into the NFL, or even get a college scholarship!), I quit exercising all together. During my first year of college my weight ballooned up. The combination of no exercise, a terrible diet, and occasional alcohol made me fat fast! I went from stocky or chubby, to obese in less than a year! It didn’t take long for me to get sick of being obese, and I began to right the ship.
During my second year of college I got back in the gym, and started learning about nutrition. I put myself on a low-calorie/low-fat diet. Combining that with powerlifting and regular cardio, I lost the weight pretty fast. In less than a year I went from obese to under 10% body fat, and started competing in powerlifting again. Along that journey I learned enough about nutrition to be dangerous, and got myself to a place most would call “skinny”, for the first (and only?) time in my life.
Fast Forward 10 Years…
After a myriad of life changes in my late 20’s (career changes, major move, divorce), I fell off the wagon. Though I had a decent amount of nutrition and exercise knowledge I didn’t eat right or exercise. I was single for the first time as an adult, and I spent my evenings at happy-hours, instead of at the gym. Lots of alcohol and bad food combined with very little exercise, it turns out, is a recipe for obesity for a guy like me. For a period of about 5 years my weight slowly crept up until I was nearing 300 pounds. As I approached the 300 pound mark I also started to have a bunch of health problems (shocking I know!). The health problems of a man much older than 30! I had high blood pressure, acid reflux, sleep apnea, TMJ disorder, and migraines…just to name a few! Maybe most importantly though, I felt terrible every day!
Here’s what I looked like at my heaviest
In early 2011, I decided it was time to make a change. Somehow during the fat years, I had met and fallen in love with a girl. She too was a former athlete who had gotten away from sports and gained weight. Together we got a gym membership, and I designed us a workout program. We began exercising and we began eating better too. By the end of 2011 (9 months later) I had lost about 75 pounds and my girlfriend had lost about 50! Even better was that we had both seemingly cured our health issues!
Here’s what I looked like in early 2012 after the weight loss
Today I’m a Wiser, Leaner Version of Myself
Some 2.5 years after losing the weight, I’ve added significant muscle to my body and maintained my leanness without much effort. I want to share with you the lessons I’ve learned in the form of 5 simple rules for losing the weight and keeping it off (relatively) effortlessly.
As I mentioned above, when I lost weight the first time I did it by counting calories and macronutrients. What I’ve learned over the years however, is that counting calories isn’t sustainable for the large majority of us. In fact, I’ll take that statement one step farther and say that counting anything (even points!) isn’t sustainable for most. What is sustainable is eating until you’re full. What I now understand is that if I eat the right foods, I simply eat until I’m full and I maintain my weight. That seems pretty simple, right? Combine that with a few lifestyle rules, and what you end up with is a basic set of rules for sustainable healthy living. And without further ado...
5 Simple Rules For Losing and Maintaining Your Weight (relatively) Effortlessly
Eat Veggies and Protein at Every Meal-
Veggies provide the micronutrients we need for health. Protein makes us feel full and provides the building blocks for lean muscle. Every meal should center around lots of veggies, lots of meat, and not much else!
Move Every Day
Take the stairs. Park and walk. Play with your kids. Find a way to get movement into your day every day. 30-60 minutes of movement is a minimum! This doesn’t need to be “exercise” in the sense of increased heart rate or breathing, it just needs to be movement. If you have a desk job this is even more important!
Lift Weights
Building more muscle through strength training has a myriad of benefits, including increased metabolism. Strength training will help you stay lean, and it will help you age better! Start lifting some weights today!
Sleep More
Are you sleeping more than 8 hours per night? If not, you should be! Sleep deprivation has all kinds of terrible effects on our bodies, and if you’re sleep deprived it’s hard to maintain your weight let alone lose weight. If you want to be lean and healthy, you MUST find a way to sleep more! That doesn’t sound like such a bad thing, right??
Kick Up Your Heels from Time to Time
Love ice cream? Well, have that ice cream... From time to time. While we shouldn’t be emotionally attached to any food (I could write an entire article on this topic), I have found that one of the keys to sustainability is eating the foods you love. If you are eating well the majority of the time, your body can most certainly handle some excess in the form of a treat once in a while. I recommend making your treats the highest of quality (amazing grass-fed gelato, instead of Dairy Queen), but that’s up to you. Just don’t be afraid to kick up your heels from time to time.
Well, that’s my story, and 5-simple rules based on what I’ve learned. Give them a try for yourself, and see how it goes!
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