The Art of Losing

This blog's for you, Maeva. I believe you asked me awhile back, for the link to my blog about losing weight. I was inspired tonight when I talked to two personal trainers at a church meeting. I've been in several instances since I've been to Hawaii where exercise has been the topic of conversation, so here's my story of how I lost over 80 pounds within a year period.

The first picture is actually my before picture. That was me in 2008. I weighed about 220 pounds. The biggest I've gotten, however, is 240. Everything that made me happy was somehow related to food. When I was 16, that was fine. It wasn't as hard to burn off calories. But, by the time I hit 25 years old, my metabolism began to slow down. I started to slow down, and I became more and more comfortable getting sedentary as well.

A few months after the picture above was taken, I decided to slowly diet. I didn't begin by running three miles a day. The fact of the matter is, is your body gets used to exercising. Yes, you can lose weight faster by working out more. That's common sense. However, you will plateau. I began by walking 10 minutes. Yes, that's how out of shape I was. I did that for about a week. I then moved on to 20 minutes, which is equivalent to a mile of walking, for two weeks. After the second week, I had moved up to 30 minutes and increased the speed. The following month, I began working out for an hour a day, six days a week.

I went from 196 to 170 within a month. This was in 2009. I eventually got down to 150. That's the slimmest I ever was. I never made it a goal to get down to a certain weight. At 150, I was wearing a size five. So although I was never that thin according to my literal weight, I was losing inches like crazy.

It's 2012, and I've managed to keep the weight off:

I have no secrets. I keep myself very active. I don't do any type of diet fads. I never have and never will promote that. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out to just eat less, workout more. Or, increase your intake of vegetables. Even some fruits are loaded with natural sugars. I love bananas, but if I eat those all day, it would defeat the whole purpose.

I also didn't join any gym. I didn't ask anyone what they did to lose weight. I just stayed consistent. I did incorporate spirituality into my exercise regimen. I think physical health is more about being mentally focused. If you have that, along with motivation, you'll lose weight and you'll keep it off.

I always ate about six meals a day. It would usually go as follows:

Breakfast: Oatmeal with a piece of fruit.

Snack: Raw almonds or raw peanuts.

Lunch: My lunch would vary. I'd usually eat some type of protein for lunch like chicken or tuna with a salad. I cut out red meat altogether.

Snack: Organic fig newtons with raw almonds and/or sliced apples.

Dinner: Meat and vegetables. Sometimes I'd have rice, but I was very careful about eating rice.

Snack: Something healthy. Can't remember what but probably more peanuts. lol.

I also drank a lot of water--usually about a gallon a day. Yeah, you'll go to the bathroom quite a bit, but it's really good for you. It makes you fuller and will help keep your metabolism up. I never drank soda.

This may sound corny to some, but I also prayed before each workout. I wanted to make sure I was focused on the important aspect of losing weight--not just losing weight but staying healthy. For me, health is part of my spirituality because it nourishes the soul.

So, there you go... for now. :)