Let me begin by saying, I am not a doctor, I don't even play one on TV, but I tell you this in case it might help someone you know or yourself. As many of you know I have battled to lose weight so that I can join the Army Reserves and next Friday I will take my physical and lord willing will be sworn in.
The way I lost the weight was fairly simple and I don't feel as if I have given up everything to do it. I am happier, healthier and I have way more energy. But in order to know the significance of where I am now, let me tell you exactly how bad off I was at the end of July. I stand 5'7" and in July I weighed in at 237 lbs, my waist was 48 inches and my body fat was at a whopping 37%! Today my waist is at 38 inches and I am at 203 lbs and my body fat is down to 22%.
But how did I do it? Was it drugs? Nope! But I did completely change my eating and once I get to my goal I will stop trying to lose weight and simply stay active and eat better. Here is a basic breakdown of how I got the weight off as well as a few suggestions.
The food:
Breakfast: Egg white fried in a little butter on an English Muffin with a slice of American Cheese and Virginia Ham from the deli about 4 slices. Coffee with flavored creamer.
Mid Morning: Yogurt or granola bar or piece of fruit such as watermelon, orange, grapes etc.
Lunch: Lean Cuisine panini sandwich, Lean Cuisine personal pizza or a Lean Pocket sandwich with either fruit or a salad with low fat dressing. (Recommend Kraft: Lite Asian Toasted Sesame, Lite Cesar Italian, Lite Catalina or my favorite Lite Balsamic Vinaigrette Parmesan Asiago. Did not like anyone's Lite Ranch or Lite Blue Cheese)
Mid afternoon: Fruit or yogurt or granola.
Dinner: Lean Cuisine or Healthy Choice dinner. With salad or fruit. (Unless I get home too late then it's an extra large salad for dinner.)
Evening snacks: Fruit
I will admit that at first it was common to be a bit hungry, but that has changed since my stomach has shrunk and I am not accustomed to the gargantuan meals I once ate. I naturally don't drink pop and always preferred water, but I am sure that diet pop wouldn't hurt you.
Some things to be aware of is a lot of the diet foods have a lot of sodium and if you are supposed to watch that it's something to be aware of. When I looked for foods outside of Healthy Choice or Lean Cuisine I would just read the label and find decent portions that were around 300 calories and below 10 grams of fat. One that became my favorite because of it's size and flavor is Stouffer's large sized stuffed green peppers. The package contains two stuffed peppers, (Two Servings) but I can eat the entire package without a shred of guilt because it totals 300 calories and about 8 grams of fat.
When looking for foods I have found that if you stick to the 300 calories and less than 10 grams of fat, it will easily keep you in the 1200 calories a day range and I really try not to take in more than about 1400.
My exercises started out as push ups and sit ups and two mile walks once a day and have graduated into a morning and evening 1/2 mile run and 45 push ups and 75 sit ups. I had to really push myself with the exercises and I am still not where I want to be but when you consider I started out not even being able to run a 1/4 of a mile without feeling like I was going to die and 17 push ups and about 21 sit ups was all I could manage, I have come a long way!
Couple of suggestions. Your scale is a liar you need to concentrate on your body fat percentage rather than your weight, remember muscle weighs more than fat! Celebrate improvements, 2 more push ups than last week is still an improvement and a 1/4 inch is still a 1/4 inch. Craving salt? Eat a pickle! Only 5 calories and nice and salty. Craving sweets? Fall in love with fruit and always have some with you! Have a goal and have a reward and tell everyone you are on a diet in order to force you to be accountable, because as you progress they will ask you if you have lost weight and if you force yourself to be honest...it's embarrassing to say you haven't lost much.
Well, that's my story! If any of you are planning to or on a diet and have any questions, I would be happy to help.
