The Start of the Overhaul - Food

Have you ever wondered why you feel like you workout so hard sometimes and you don't see a difference after some time? It's what you eat. Working out is only a part of the whole equation. Different factors together contribute to weight loss and increase in health. In my opinion, what you eat is the most important factor, more than how you workout.

I know what you might be thinking because everybody thinks the same thing...what do I have to give up? Nothing. I wanted food from In & Out yesterday and that's exactly what I had for lunch. It's not about giving up the food you like to eat, but it is about controlling when you eat it and the frequency that you do.

My turn around began at just over 250lbs. It got to the point where I simply got tired of it, my own rock-bottom if you will. I didn't want to succumb to the health problems that obesity brings, especially with strong family history of Diabetes. Whenever I would go into a major bookstore I would check out menshealth magazine to get ideas on what I could do. The editor was also the author of the book The Abs Diet. I got so inspired by the testimonials that I decided to buy the book during the summer of 2006 and read the whole thing in two days. I made the decision that at the start of the fall semester I would begin to follow the concepts outlined in the book. Lets forget about working out for the time being and focus on what to eat. For those wanting to take serious steps, I highly recommend this book! There is a book for you too ladies! The menshealth website carries most of the same info, but the book is the best way to go to always have the Abs Diet reference in your hand.

Here's some "straight talk express" for you. (I try to find every chance I get to use that phrase...) This may be difficult at first. It's naive for me to say or for you to think that this should be easy when first starting to change your eating habits. This reminds me of one of my favorite scenes from the show Scrubs that I think is relevant right now. It's an exchange between Dr. Kelso and an obese 25 year old woman who wants to just have gastric bypass surgery.

Dr. Kelso:You are going to shut your damn yapper and listen for a change, because I got you pegged, sweetheart. You want to take the easy way out with the surgery because you're scared. You're scared because if you try and fail, there's only you to blame. Well, Missy, let me break this down for you, Bobbo-style. Life is scary. Get used to it.

J.D.'s Narration:And then it seemed like Dr. Kelso wasn't only talking to her.

Dr. Kelso:There are no magical fixes. It's all up to you. So get up off your keister, get out of here, and go start doin' the work.

**[Howie Day's "Collide" beings]**

Miss Goldman:What if it's too hard?

Turk:[leaning down to face Dr. Kelso next to Miss Goldman] Yeah, what if it's too hard?

Dr. Kelso:Turkleton, I have no idea why you're chiming in, but I'll say this to both of you. Nothing in this world that's worth having comes easy.

Losing weight and being physically fit and healthy is definitely worth achieving! I feel better in every way possible because of it. The beginning will be hard but my recommendation is to go full force. After even just two weeks you will feel a difference. You wind up not craving as much certain foods and you become smarter on what to eat...even when you go out to eat. There are always smart alternatives when going out to restaurants. The Abs Diet will help you lose 15 to 20lbs in your first 6 weeks. The first two weeks will just focus on food (without having to exercise) and you may even lose 5lbs just there without even working out and not starving yourself. I personally lost 16lbs in those first 6 weeks.

I mentioned in my first post of this blog, that a change like this should not be temporary. It should be a lifestyle change. It improves that quality of life in many different ways. Even after about two years of starting out on the Abs Diet, I don't necessarily follow everything I originally learned. I still do a lot of the same things but I've also learned other ways of working out and eating from different sources. At some point after you initially start you might plateau as you progress and will need to change things up to continue with weight loss. I hope to continue passing on ideas and tips as I learn about them.

I am a different person today than I was two years ago, that inactive crappy food eating person who didn't feel happy with himself. Today I enjoy different activities such as running (some 10Ks under my belt), weight lifting, a boxing conditioning class and hiking. I always try to look for new active things to do. These are things I didn't think I was capable of thinking back two years ago. I also didn't imagine the possibility that I might get under 200lbs again but I'm inching my way toward that, responsibly of course. I hope that as a reader you can find some sort of inspiration to start taking the steps. To all that know me personally, I'm more than happy to talk to you about this and give you help/tips to getting started.