Do What You Like To Do

If you watch any daytime TV you are overwhelmed with the stuff they say you need to add to your daily regimen. In the first place you don't likely have the budget for the 35 supplements they would suggest you take and who has the time to keep up on that kind of crap anyway?

What you need is something easy that you can stick to. You need a sustainable program. You can't go to the fat farm with Jillian Michaels and work out 8 hours a day while someone else handles your diet. You have to get up and do what you are going to do by yourself and often while dodging the bad habits of those around you at home and work.

By now you're saying "This I know smart boy. Tell me what I don't know." So here it is.

Everyone has something that they enjoy doing that is also a form of exercise. For me it was walking. Whatever it is DO THAT THING. Do it as much as you can fit in to your life. If it is bowling you might want to avoid the alcohol and jalapeno poppers while you do it, but you get the point. Any activity is better than no activity.

Maybe your walk will turn into running or hiking eventually, but for now it is something in the right direction. You can't do everything at once. The weight goes on gradually and it will come off gradually.

Just because you are now getting active does not mean you get to eat all the crap you want. You need to look at ways to add more nutrient dense and calorie light foods and cut out the calorie dense and nutrient light ones.

An easy way to get started is to use smaller dishes to eat from. You also want to have any extra food away from the table. That way a second helping requires more than a quick reach. If you have even 30 seconds to think about it you have 30 seconds for your body to signal that it has had enough.

Next, on that smaller plate fill 2/3s of it with salad and vegetables. The serving sizes for meats are 4 oz. which is about 1/3 to 1/2 of what most restaurants and home cooks serve. I have come to a place where I realize that I don't need animal protein at all. Not that I have stopped eating it completely, but the less I eat the less I need.

The best examples of nutrient dense and calorie light foods are fruits and vegetables. I sucked at adding these to our diet when I was heavier. They are now 75% of our diet with another 10-12% being whole grains nuts and seeds.

I know that the idea of eating "rabbit food" is a tough sell for most peoples' spouses and kids so don't force them to eat it. Buy what you need to take care of yourself. If you make meatloaf and mashed potatoes for the family have some yourself, but use 1/3 of the plate for that and the other 2/3s for a salad or some steamed veggies. You can also help them by swapping the ground beef for ground chicken or turkey. By the time you add the seasoning no one will be the wiser. A little extra paprika gets the color right.

When you get healthy they will notice and some of them will begin mirroring your actions as well. The chubby hubby will always be the toughest convert. We men hate to give up our gravy and we hate even more admitting that we need to change what we do as we age. We all remember when we could hit the weight bench for a couple of weeks and be right back in shape. We forget that that was 20 years ago.

More soon....