oppo
Full Access Member
...so I quit making excuses.
Being a football player and powerlifter in high school, I always had a big appetite. Actually, that is an understatement. I used to eat absolutely ridiculous amounts of food but with a young metabolism and a ton of exercise, I could get away with it. Back then, I was a solid 225. After school, the weight started creeping up until I looked in the mirror and didn't recognize myself. I honestly don't know what I weighed at that point. By the time I stepped on a scale, I was down to 285 pounds so I cleaned up my eating habits and hit the gym. 3 months later, I was 210 pounds with a 32" waist. Once I relaxed the gym workout and eating habits but still much better than before, I settled back to about 225 pounds and stayed there for several years. Later, after my wife and I got together and family responsibilities took over, eating a healthy dinner early and playing softball was replaced by working late and grabbing whatever crap was convenient. The weight started coming back. Later, I started playing ball again which helped keep things in check a little but then 2 things happened that triggered lots of weight gain. First, got a bad case of plantar phasciitis which basically ended my playing ball and made just walking a struggle at times. That is when the weight really started coming back. Next, I ended up working out of town and spent most of my time living in "man camp" where much of the food was provided by the company which means dinner wasn't chosen based on being healthy. Once again, I was afraid to go near a scale. When I finally did, it said 328 pounds. That hurt to see. Then, a couple months ago, some of the young guys were talking about the gym they had been going to and I decided it was time to quit making excuses and being miserable and do something about it so I joined the gym and cleaned up my eating habits. In just over 2 months, my strength and overall fitness has improved greatly and I am at 266 pounds and dropping steadily. I am strict about what I eat but I eat foods I enjoy and don't starve myself. In fact, it is funny when someone who has seen how much weight I have lost sees my plate.
The real secret to losing weight is there is no secret. Eat right and burn more calories than you eat. Don't listen to all this low fat BS. Low fat just means high in refined carbs which is the same as eating sugar. Instead, eat lean meats, fruits, vegetables, and keep the carbs in check. Basically, exactly the type of diet the human body intended to function on.
There are also a lot of little things we can do to reduce calories. The amount of calories we add from butter and oil alone is truly astounding. Oils are 120-130 calories per tablespoon. A pound of mushrooms, which cooks great in water, is about 100 calories. It doesn't need 500 calories of oil added to it. One thing I can't stress enough is to read labels. If you are eating out, check the calories of the menu items. What you find might shock you and it will definitely help you make better choices. Also, this is the HARD part, we need to try and view food as fuel rather than recreation. That doesn't mean we can't eat yummy foods but it does mean that we will look at them differently and make smarter choices. You wouldn't put bad gas or oil in your truck so why put crap in your body?
I still have a long way to go but I am tired of making excuses and not liking what I see in the mirror. I will get there and hopefully encourage some others along the way.
Being a football player and powerlifter in high school, I always had a big appetite. Actually, that is an understatement. I used to eat absolutely ridiculous amounts of food but with a young metabolism and a ton of exercise, I could get away with it. Back then, I was a solid 225. After school, the weight started creeping up until I looked in the mirror and didn't recognize myself. I honestly don't know what I weighed at that point. By the time I stepped on a scale, I was down to 285 pounds so I cleaned up my eating habits and hit the gym. 3 months later, I was 210 pounds with a 32" waist. Once I relaxed the gym workout and eating habits but still much better than before, I settled back to about 225 pounds and stayed there for several years. Later, after my wife and I got together and family responsibilities took over, eating a healthy dinner early and playing softball was replaced by working late and grabbing whatever crap was convenient. The weight started coming back. Later, I started playing ball again which helped keep things in check a little but then 2 things happened that triggered lots of weight gain. First, got a bad case of plantar phasciitis which basically ended my playing ball and made just walking a struggle at times. That is when the weight really started coming back. Next, I ended up working out of town and spent most of my time living in "man camp" where much of the food was provided by the company which means dinner wasn't chosen based on being healthy. Once again, I was afraid to go near a scale. When I finally did, it said 328 pounds. That hurt to see. Then, a couple months ago, some of the young guys were talking about the gym they had been going to and I decided it was time to quit making excuses and being miserable and do something about it so I joined the gym and cleaned up my eating habits. In just over 2 months, my strength and overall fitness has improved greatly and I am at 266 pounds and dropping steadily. I am strict about what I eat but I eat foods I enjoy and don't starve myself. In fact, it is funny when someone who has seen how much weight I have lost sees my plate.
The real secret to losing weight is there is no secret. Eat right and burn more calories than you eat. Don't listen to all this low fat BS. Low fat just means high in refined carbs which is the same as eating sugar. Instead, eat lean meats, fruits, vegetables, and keep the carbs in check. Basically, exactly the type of diet the human body intended to function on.
There are also a lot of little things we can do to reduce calories. The amount of calories we add from butter and oil alone is truly astounding. Oils are 120-130 calories per tablespoon. A pound of mushrooms, which cooks great in water, is about 100 calories. It doesn't need 500 calories of oil added to it. One thing I can't stress enough is to read labels. If you are eating out, check the calories of the menu items. What you find might shock you and it will definitely help you make better choices. Also, this is the HARD part, we need to try and view food as fuel rather than recreation. That doesn't mean we can't eat yummy foods but it does mean that we will look at them differently and make smarter choices. You wouldn't put bad gas or oil in your truck so why put crap in your body?
I still have a long way to go but I am tired of making excuses and not liking what I see in the mirror. I will get there and hopefully encourage some others along the way.
