Make the time...
Who says they don't have the time to do things because their workload is too heavy. I most certainly do.
In November 2003 I decided it was time to lose some weight. Even though I was not grossly overweight I was above the recommended limits for my age and height. I weighed 88 Kilos and my ideal weight is 70 - 80 Kilos. I joined up to the local gym and had a program organised with the primary aim to get my weight down to 75 Kilos and a secondary aim to tone up.
What did I change and how did I fare ?
I chose a gym that was local (1km down the road), very friendly and full of good advice. Being open 24 hours (except over the weekend) was also a bonus - no excuses about not being able to attend. Mind you, getting there with low energy levels was difficult. So the things I changed:
- Reduced sugar in coffee from 2 teaspoons to 1 - I drink far too much coffee
- Changed from regular coffee to decaf (nothing to do with diet but better for health)
- Reduced take-away food. It was amazing how quickly I fealt guilty eating the stuff. It turned out that when I would get take-away for the family I would get something completely different
- Changed from full cream milk to fat reduced milk
- Visited the gym for 1 - 1.5 hours between 3 and 5 days per week. Alternated between cardio work and a simple weights program on each visit
- Generally watched what I ate in terms of fat / carbohydrates / sugar
And the result
By the time June arrived I had reached 76 Kilos and could not get it any lower - the body was comfortable at this level. Fine by me.
And just in the nick of time too. The workload has increased and I don't get as much time to go. I actually missed 3 weeks due to illness and lack of time. But, I'm back into it about 3 days per week and only doing weights - I get plenty of exercise walking each day getting to and from work.
I walked into a kebab shop near where I work (after a 6 month break from it) and the guy that owns the shop noticed I had lost weight and asked "What's happened to you". My reply was simple, "I've stopped eating kebabs"
2 Comments:
I like to think I eat well, but I can't be bothered learning about nutrition, sugar, carbohydrates blah blah blah.
I've found a good substitute though. I let Coles and the GST tell me how much well I'm eating. Every time I go to the supermarket I look at the receipt and see how much GST I've been charged on my $30-$50 worth of groceries.
Since the Democrats got GST removed from your basic unprocessed foods I reason the less GST I'm charged the better I'm eating. Most of the time the GST amount is either nothing or under $1 which I guess means I'm eating pretty well.
No junk food either of course. I agree once you get over the first hump it's not too hard to keep clear of it.
I only know of nutrition stuff because I have 12.5 years experience as a 'Pathology Technician' - medical not hardware.
I don't study nutrition info too much. I just look at the relative values and choose the one with the lowest value.
I certainly don't eat well. I've been here since 9am, have had two coffees between then and 12 noon - and nothing to eat.....time for a real break.
I really like the GST approach.
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