The end of the year is not an easy time for weight management. It is particularly hard when you are on crutches. Did you know the average male adds 3.4% of his body weight each year (5.2% for women)? Most of this is gained around the holidays.
After I recovered from the ankle break, I tried to start running again. I never was able to return to my marathon years. Before I knew it, I was in the position of not being able to lose weight because I couldn't run, and I couldn't run until I lost weight. Or, so I thought. At that time in my life, I thought I could outrun my bad diet. I didn't realize then that weight loss is 80% diet.
A couple years later, I had a surgical procedure which was also around Thanksgiving. I don't know how much I weighed at the time, but I was getting bigger. I tried to stay active, but it didn't work. I was still gaining weight. By the end of 2010, I was over 300 pounds. That's when my wife and I decided to join weight watchers. I was shocked when I stepped on the scale. I had no idea that is what I weighed, I had convinced myself that I wasn't that big.
I was very successful with weight watchers for 5 months. I lost 40 pounds. By the end of the year, I had gained a few pounds back, but I thought I was in control. I was wrong. Half way through 2012, I had regained 26 pounds. Again, I convinced myself that I wasn't that big.
It wasn't until the summer of 2013, after looking at vacation pictures that I realized I was a big dude. People just aren't nearly as big as me. Heck, I was twice as big as my adult kids. It was then that I started to take control of my life.
I have finally returned to the same weight that I was 11 years ago. But, I am still overweight. The last 16 months of conscience eating has been a slow process. I have lost over 50 pounds. This calendar year, I have lost 20. That's only 2 pounds a month. See how 2 pounds a month adds up?
During this time, I have read at least 6 books on diet. I lean now towards a high protein, higher fat, low carb diet. We all know bread is bad, I just never knew how bad these sugars were for your body. Sometimes I falter, which is why it has taken me 16 months to lose 50 pounds. There is no magic pill. There is only perseverance. Keep pushing forward. It is a lifestyle change. Through this process, I have realized 2 fundamental truths for weight loss success: 1) log food intake; 2) drink lots of water.
When you log food, log every thing. This is what holds you accountable to yourself. There are many apps for logging food. I think Weight Watchers is the best. But, you have to be a member to use it. Value Diary uses WW points if you are using WW. I am currently using MyFitnessPal. Livestrong is also good.
For water intake, The new wave of thinking is to take 1/2 your body weight and drink that many ounces per day. For us big folks, that's a lot of water. I don't know if there is any scientific evidence that water is better than any other non- caloric beverage. When you drink that much water, you just don't feel like eating. My greatest success has come when I am drinking a lot of water.
