After my recent post, many of you have asked me for details on how I lost those 50 pounds. For me it was a 3-phase process, taking place over the course of a couple of years. Here’s how I got started on my weightloss journey:
Phase I
1. I realized the extra 50 pounds hanging around weren’t my dirty little secret. They were there for all to see. No mumu or stretch pants could conceal them. The guy at the DMV made that clear.
2. I acknowledged the reasons why I got there. I’ll spare you the psychoanalysis, suffice it to say there were obstacles/challenges in my life I hadn’t dealt with properly. I was medicating with butter cream and a host of other junk.
3. Tough love. I banned my trigger foods. I’m a person who has a hard time with portion control. It was my habit to come home from work and snack mindlessly in front of the TV.
Here are my biggest offenders:
4. I replaced bad behaviors with healthy ones. I grew a garden. Instead of coming home from the office and flopping down on the couch with my chips, I’d go out and work in the garden. Healthy vegetables plus weeding/rototilling, etc = a giant leap in the right direction. The garden was my therapy. It grew to be a 900 sq. ft. ‘therapy couch’ for me. My angst was worked out in the soil.
I joined a gym. Before going to work, I attended the 5:30 step class three mornings a week and weight trained the other two with some time on the Stairmaster afterward.
25 pounds came off easily.
Stay tuned for phase II.
