Weight Loss: Yes You Can!

Looking back at my previous struggles with weight loss, it is not difficult to understand why it took me 8 months more than my expected time period to lose weight. That is a long time! But losing 25 lbs is much easier than keeping it off - it needed a lifestyle change. Yesterday, as I stood on the weighing machine, it felt good to be back at the weight I was in May 2007.

158 lbs.

And I'd like to share some very minor changes in my lifestyle which DID WORK! Believe me, I am the last person who would give up on good food or not eat out. I still do eat out a lot, go to parties, eat a controlled amount of junk food but haven't gained weight in the past 300 days. I am writing only after being convinced that some of the points stated below DO ACTUALLY WORK!

1. Gimme My Life Back- Its the Mentality: Losing 25 lbs and keeping it off was never going to be easy. However, I did REALLY WANT to be healthy, proactive and lose that extra flab. I did not view losing weight as a punishing regime, rather a detox exercise to get back my good health. That's it - straight and simple - I dragged my body to the gym/court/playground and the mind followed.
   
2. Do Your Homework: I did a lot of background research and experimented with various exercise routines before settling in with what best suits me and my body. All of us are built differently with varying tolerance to exercise and physical stress. Talk to your body and determine where to draw the line. Read about a healthy and balanced diet and slowly replace meals with healthier options.
3. Don't Kill Yourself over the Math: I lost 87,500 extra calories over the past 11 months - that's a little over 2 lbs in a month (1 lb ~ 3500 cal). In the beginning it might sound great to lose weight quickly, however, the body has a natural and safe rate to lose it. Although I did get motivated seeing big numbers on the 'Calories burnt' counter, I quickly realized that I was burning myself out on occasions and never returned for long periods.
4. Enjoy the Routine, Talk about it and Reward Yourself: As I started to exercise regularly (3-4 times a week), I thought of it as fun and enjoyed the time as a major stress buster. I started making friends who themselves were trying to get healthy and we encouraged each other from time to time. I bought myself a pair of 32' jeans, 2 tight fitting party shirts amongst other items as incentives to keep the weight off. Nothing feels worse than buying expensive clothes and not being able to wear them coz of your size! :-)
5. Eat: This might sound illogical but I eat a lot after all my workouts. I make sure that I get plenty of saturated fats, proteins, fibre, carbs and vitamins. I am willing not to lose weight but cannot compromise on eating food - period.

Here's a time line with certain activities I involved myself with over the past year or so.

Evidently, unlike my previous attempts, I never relied on one activity to enjoy and hence never let it become a single point of failure. For example, I started running and training for a marathon in May. My knee popped. I was sad. I joined the Washington Cricket League and started playing a lot of cricket. The season ended. I was sad again. I found a racquetball partner until September (after which his semester as a Phd. student took over). I went to India in October. Ate a tonne there yet still lost weight. Why? No beer. Point noted - I removed beer as a means to quench my DAILY thirst. Come November, I did cardio in the gym alone. I was sad again coz I hate doing cardio alone. I found another racquetball partner in December through Craigslist. I haven't looked back since then. Point being - I never stopped completely.

If I can, so can you! Talk about it, set achievable goals and just do it. It feels great to be healthy again...

"I know what Victoria's Secret is. The secret is that nobody older than 30 can fit into their stuff."