Zig Ziglar said that the best way to get what you want out of life is to help as many other people as possible get what they want out of life. Focus your energies on others and you cannot help but lift yourself higher.
I have encouraged many of my friends to start their own journey to healthier living, and to date they have donated over one hundred pounds. If they in turn help their friends then the ripples will spread to help who knows how many people.
Pay it forward. Tell your friends how you are doing and get them on board as your accountability partners. That is one of the purposes of this blog. Knowing that you are reading helps keep me focused on my daily maintenance. Let's keep each other accountable and encourage each other. If you use MyFitnessPal you can friend me. My username is steknow.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Movie Review - Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead
I want to encourage all of you to watch a great documentary, Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. It is the story of how Joe Cross, a businessman from Australia, went from 309 lbs to 220 lbs in six months while simultaneously curing himself of an auto-immune disorder. Great film. It is available on Netflix streaming and you can watch a trailer for it and learn more about Joe's program at his website, www.fatsickandnearlydead.com
Monday, March 26, 2012
By the numbers
Over the last year I have changed my focus with regards to numbers and healthy living. We all get wrapped up in the obvious one, the weight number. That can be a big mistake. Too many things can effect your weight on a daily basis. If you think about the fact that a gallon of water weighs eight pounds, then retaining even a quart of water can add two pounds to your total. Yet, we get all worked up when we gain a half a pound? Ridiculous!
There are other far better numbers to look at when working on living a healthy lifestyle.
BMI, or Body Mass Index, is a ratio of your height and weight. Divide your weight in kilograms by your height in meters squared and you will get a number. The number you get is your body mass index. Healthy is considered to be anything from 18.5 to 24.9. From 25 to 29.9 is considered overweight. 30 to 39.9 is obese, and 40 to 49.9 is morbidly obese. Anything above 50 is considered super obese. But again, one of the roots of these calculations is weight, and we know how misleading that number can be.
A better indication is body fat percentage. This number is a little harder to calculate, using a body pinch test, but it gives a more accurate picture of your health as it actually has to do with the amount of fat you are carrying, and lets face it, that's what we all want to lose. There are bathroom scales on the market that use electrical signals sent through your body to calculate both BMI and body fat percentage, and they are available at major retailers for less than fifty dollars.
For me there are only a few numbers that matter.
My cholesterol number was 213. Today it is 110. My LDL Cholesterol (that's the bad one) was 141, now its 58. My triglycerides were 108, now they are 54. My pulse rate is 68 at rest and my blood pressure used to be 140/92 and is now 116/58. Don't know if you understand all the science of these numbers but in layman's terms, I'm as healthy as a horse, though I'm not nearly as big as one, anymore.
And the most important number of all? 34. Yesterday I went into a store and tried on a pair of 34" waist pants. They fit! That was the number I was looking for.
Me, with Stephanie, one of my reasons Why.
There are other far better numbers to look at when working on living a healthy lifestyle.
BMI, or Body Mass Index, is a ratio of your height and weight. Divide your weight in kilograms by your height in meters squared and you will get a number. The number you get is your body mass index. Healthy is considered to be anything from 18.5 to 24.9. From 25 to 29.9 is considered overweight. 30 to 39.9 is obese, and 40 to 49.9 is morbidly obese. Anything above 50 is considered super obese. But again, one of the roots of these calculations is weight, and we know how misleading that number can be.
A better indication is body fat percentage. This number is a little harder to calculate, using a body pinch test, but it gives a more accurate picture of your health as it actually has to do with the amount of fat you are carrying, and lets face it, that's what we all want to lose. There are bathroom scales on the market that use electrical signals sent through your body to calculate both BMI and body fat percentage, and they are available at major retailers for less than fifty dollars.
For me there are only a few numbers that matter.
My cholesterol number was 213. Today it is 110. My LDL Cholesterol (that's the bad one) was 141, now its 58. My triglycerides were 108, now they are 54. My pulse rate is 68 at rest and my blood pressure used to be 140/92 and is now 116/58. Don't know if you understand all the science of these numbers but in layman's terms, I'm as healthy as a horse, though I'm not nearly as big as one, anymore.
And the most important number of all? 34. Yesterday I went into a store and tried on a pair of 34" waist pants. They fit! That was the number I was looking for.
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Semantics
There is a big problem with the whole world of weight loss and healthy living and it has to do with the words we use to describe it. Words are very powerful and how we use them colors how we see the reality.
Diet literally means, "the food you eat." That's it. However, we have changed the meaning of that word through common usage to mean a special short list of foods that we must limit ourselves to in order to lose weight, after which time we can go back to eating exactly the way we always have. Because of this restrictive idea and the prevalence of what I call, "Big D Diets," our entire idea of healthy living has become skewed. In order to lose weight, you have to change your diet, not go on a Diet. There is a difference.
A change in diet means you begin to eat smaller portions of healthier foods, eliminate or at least cut back on foods you know you shouldn't eat, and do so in a way that you can live with the rest of your life. A change of diet will make you feel balanced and healthy. Going on a Diet means you will feel angry and restricted while eating food that feels and tastes like cardboard, lose the weight, then binge right back up to where you started or even higher.
Another word we use is "lose." All our lives, we have been told to be winners, now we are being told to be a loser. My friend Evanna Evans called her program a weight donation program. She made it positive and fun, and she donated over 30 lbs!
Frame your experience in positive terms and enjoy the journey.
Diet literally means, "the food you eat." That's it. However, we have changed the meaning of that word through common usage to mean a special short list of foods that we must limit ourselves to in order to lose weight, after which time we can go back to eating exactly the way we always have. Because of this restrictive idea and the prevalence of what I call, "Big D Diets," our entire idea of healthy living has become skewed. In order to lose weight, you have to change your diet, not go on a Diet. There is a difference.
A change in diet means you begin to eat smaller portions of healthier foods, eliminate or at least cut back on foods you know you shouldn't eat, and do so in a way that you can live with the rest of your life. A change of diet will make you feel balanced and healthy. Going on a Diet means you will feel angry and restricted while eating food that feels and tastes like cardboard, lose the weight, then binge right back up to where you started or even higher.
Another word we use is "lose." All our lives, we have been told to be winners, now we are being told to be a loser. My friend Evanna Evans called her program a weight donation program. She made it positive and fun, and she donated over 30 lbs!
Frame your experience in positive terms and enjoy the journey.
Friday, March 23, 2012
How and Why...
People keep asking me how I have lost the weight. They are asking the wrong question.
The important question to ask when it comes to weight loss is not "How?" but "Why?". We all know how to lose weight. Eat Less. Do More. Eliminate, or at least reduce your intake of, foods that we all know are not good for us.
But until you determine why it matters to you, why you want to live a healthier longer life, it will not happen. As the actor said, "What's the motivation?"
Find your Why and the How will take care of itself.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
I've always struggled with my weight since I was 8 years old. At different points in my life I've been slimmer and heavier, but it has always been a fight. Last year, on March 4, I decided that enough was enough. Like Stephen King wrote in his story Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, it was time to get busy living, or get busy dying.
I decided it was time to live.
I have chronicled my success in a new book, Fat Is Not Funny, which I hope to have printed soon. In this blog I will be sharing the day to day successes and failures of maintaining. I hope to use the blog as a tool to inspire others and to motivate myself to stay on top of my food and exercise choices, knowing that you, faithful reader, are watching.
The opinions expressed in this blog are just that - opinions. They are based on my own experiences. You should do what is right for you and consult your doctor before starting any weight loss program. I am not a medical professional and I make no attempt here to diagnose or treat any disease. I merely hope to encourage and inspire.
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