After finishing my sophomore year of college I decided to change everything regarding my food choices. Upon mulling over thousands of websites, magazines, and blogs about health I came to a few very simple conclusions that completely changed my life.
First step: Exercise
Anyone who knows anything about the human body knows that exercise is critical to maintaining healthy body weight and functionality. The problem is we are a time-starved generation. I used to look at the incredibly fit runners, bikers, and ball-players awestruck thinking
How do they have the time?
Knowing that if I really wanted to be fit, or if I really wanted to change I would have to buckle down and dedicate a small portion of my day to fitness.
I started off with a short 15 minute warm up and ran .... well walk-jogged a couple days a week. That's all it took to get me started 20-30 minutes of light exercise and all of a sudden my life started to change.
Regardless of diet or body type, light to moderate exercise will change the way you feel about yourself, your surroundings, and your future. After an entire year of "eating" the regularly available frozen and processed foods I felt like I was weighed down, clogged, and unhappy. A few weeks after activating my life, I could honestly say my body was smiling again.
This appetite for exercise continued to grow and grow. After a few summer months of sticking to it, my body began to crave exercise in the mornings... it became as essential as breakfast or for some of you, a morning cup of coffee. It became my jolt of energy, my jump start, and my routine.
Second Step: Lifestyle changes in "diet"
I hate the word "diet." It implies restrictions and limitations. Millions are on diet fads or extreme diets that, in the end, destroy the body's natural function of maintaining healthy weight. We get discouraged and look for a quick remedy. Well here's a big secret, there is NO quick fix to losing weight. Pills, drinks, starvation, fasting, long-lasting cleanses, over-exercising all damage the body. What I like to call an effective diet is a change in lifestyle. It has to be something that completely becomes a part of you. To "diet" for a matter of weeks or months honestly has NO overall effect on your body. You may look stunning for a few months or for that high-school reunion, but your body naturally wants to put those calories back into your system. My biology professor on campus has a theory, which is supported by many professionals in the medical field, that our bodies tend to want to store the maximum amount of calories that we have ever held. Meaning, if you were at one point 250 lbs your body remembers that and the survival instinct of your body wants to have those 250 lbs for heat, protection, and starvation situations. You have to control your body weight long-term to prevent your body from "storing" this emergency fund of fat cells.
Feel free to read and comment on my other posts about what kind of changes I made to my diet and exercise regimen.
I have currently lost over 25 lbs , decreased my BF % from 21% to 15%, and have never had more energy or been happier.
Please note that everything shared in this blog is entirely opinion and the writer has no medical experience or certification. All health questions should be directed to health professionals. This is simply my experience with health.
