If you have read any of my other health-related blog posts here at The Fun Times Guide, you would probably know that I’ve posted a few articles on losing weight because I fought a battle against some bulge… about 90 pounds of it. That was a fight that I won, but my obesity story wasn’t a war in which I easily claimed victory.
No way. In fact, it took me 4 years of arduous effort to drop the equivalent of 5 full-size bowling balls and 2 bags of sugar from my 6-foot frame. Now, at around 175 pounds, I feel wonderful, have no health issues such as diabetes or cancer to worry about, and will do whatever is necessary to avoid going back to my once-heaviest weight.
I know many other individuals are also looking to drop the excess weight and keep it off, so I thought I’d share some tips on losing weight that worked for me.
Create Areas In Your Home That Are Conducive To Exercise
I would never owe my weight loss success to just one specific thing, since I believe getting healthy involves many components. However, having a treadmill in front of a television was definitely helped me reach my weight loss goal. I would hop on the treadmill for 30 minutes and watch a favorite TV show while going for a brisk walk.
Would I have spent 30 minutes using exercise equipment if it was located somewhere else in the house? Probably not, and I know myself enough to understand that.
So, the bottom line is, you, too, need to know what will make using the treadmill, an exercise bicycle, or another type of equipment more appealing for you. If it means putting your exercise equipment in the sunroom, near a television, or in whichever other location you prefer, then by all means do it.
Arrange Healthy Foods In An Appealing Way In Your Refrigerator
Before my weight loss, I would put my sodas on the top shelf and my fat-infused cold cuts on the next shelf below, meaning some of the least healthiest foods in the house were on full display to myself every time I opened the fridge door. So, it is no wonder that I would so frequently reach for foods that were bulking me up. The minute I started to push the soda further back out of sight and replace the salami with turkey, I found some of my eating habits start to change.
What’s more, I would put healthy foods, already prepared and ready to eat, in convenient locations within the fridge.
For example, I put cold bottles of water on the top shelf where the soda once resided. Diced peaches and shredded lettuce (for salads) went in to clear food containers, which would in turn be placed toward the front of the middle shelves. And, so on.
This really simple change led to eventual, big differences in how I ate, and went in tandem with buying more fruits, such as bananas and raisins, that helped me reach my goal of eating five fruits and vegetable servings every day.
Splitting Meals Is Great For Losing Weight
Portion control is a phrase that gets thrown around a lot in the weight loss circles, and for good reason.
Reducing your food intake can help lead to wondrous results, as it seemed to do for me when I cut the size of my meals by about one third to one half during the most intense part of my weight loss battle.
Even though I reached my goal weight a long time ago, I still will avoid pigging out at the buffets, and I will definitely guard my appetite when eating high-caloric entrees. In fact, my girlfriend and I will quite often split steaks, pasta, and other meals that are high in fat, carbohydrates, or calories.
Have A Cube Job? Losing Weight Still Isn’t Impossible
If you’re a cubicle dweller like me, you’re probably going, “Yeah, right, Josh – how do you stay active in a cubicle role? C’mon, really?”
Oh, but I do. And it all starts with making the decision between the elevator and the stairs. You could probably answer for yourself which way I swing with that daily dilemma (and props to you if you correctly identified stairs as the answer!). But, remaining active even during work hours extends beyond hitting the treads versus hitting buttons in the elevator cabin.
I will literally get up and walk around the office every 30 to 60 minutes, which has a twofold benefit:
- A simple walk around the office does qualify as activity; and
- Breaking up my sitting periods helps promote healthy blood circulation and potentially prevent blood clots.
I also will get up and stretch my arms, legs, and back inside my cubicle work area every hour or two, which is probably more beneficial to warding off achy body parts than to losing weight, but since any amount of extra activity at work won’t hurt, I thought I should share this with you, too.
Are there any weight loss tips that I forgot to share with you?
I don’t think so, especially since many of the tips I used to help lose weight I still use on an everyday basis to help maintain the healthy level of weight I have reached. And, weight maintenance is probably as hard as losing the extra pounds in the first place, so whether you are trying to knock off 50 pounds before next summer or you’re simply trying to keep off the weight you’ve already lost, you will certainly find the tips I shared above beneficial to your improving your daily life.
I want everyone to live their best life… for as long as possible. So I often write about the health screenings that we all should be getting — to help catch potential health issues early. (Yes, I get my screenings too.) I also share my knowledge and experience with specific health problems that I am personally familiar with.