Be good everybody and love yourself. You're the only you, you got!
Dan
PS- Please take time to read a little goodbye note to my dear friend Andrea, whom passed away recently, at the end of this blog. Many can relate to Andrea's struggle and her life is worth remembering. God Bless.
-------------------------------Weighing In----------------------------------------
Q.) Dan, I am going to loose 30
pounds for summer if it kills me. Would you mind offering some tips please??......GINA
A.) Hello Gina, thank you for you for contacting me and sharing your desire
to get healthier. 30 pounds is a very realistic goal. That being said, I’m not
quite sure of your current diet or medical situation, so I can only give a
broad answer. I hope it helps. You are welcome to email me at druff6@hotmail.com if you have any further
inquiries.
When I began my journey, I was drinking a lot
of soda, eating processed foods, and basically, living in the drive-thru lane. In the beginning, simple changes in the right
direction made a huge difference--a 100 pound difference to be exact! Keep in mind I was 625 pounds, but I see no reason why these simple food changes could not shed 20 or 30 pounds for another, in a three or four month time span, especially when adding fitness to the mix.
My fitness pal, The Boss, Thomas Burge, once told me that the key to weight loss was 80% food and 20% exercise. I've lived this truth, Gina, so, we're going to start there and talk about food today.
Small changes make a huge difference. For instance, switching from white bread to wheat, eventually decreasing bread consumption as a whole, is a good place to start. When I made these
adjustments, I had a preconceived food-mindset that continually set me back.
I truly believed I couldn’t
eat eggs without toast. In my mind, leaving out bread ruined my breakfast
experience. And believe me, eating was just that, an important event
that I looked forward to and needed, I thought, for me to be truly
happy.
Understanding this ideal
was in my head, and not a reality, I began to focus on “new” food experiences that
were not only acceptable but allowed me the thrill I needed. In other words, I learned to work my own food dysfunctions to my benefit.
Examples: A lover of
coffee, I experimented with a wide variety of brands, leaving out the sugar and cream, in order to decide which was best based on the raw basics alone. Sounds silly? Well, it worked. I've been drinking Black Coffee for over two years, which is far healthier then the alternative.
I added fruit—bananas at first—to my meal, which
gave a new flavor to my morning “event”. I never ate fruit.
I love bacon, so I’d allow myself a few more
pieces of that to counter balance the bread I wasn't having, eventually cutting back until
bread was no longer missed.
I’m sure playing such mind games
sounds odd to a person who has a healthy relationship with food, but for me,
everything I took a way I felt—emotionally. I could not just go cold-turkey and
sit down to, say, a bowl of fruit and oatmeal. That would have put me into a
very dark place. At the start of my journey, I still needed to have that “food
experience”, but I had to refocus it to other healthier choices.
Eventually, my emotional need for food
began to change. I began to only have bread when I’d eat breakfast out, like a
treat. Soda, which was a big no-no, I
drank like a thirsty camel in the desert. To cut that completely out would have thrown me over the edge. So, I went from a liter a day to
one 16oz bottle, and drank water the rest of the day. The balance of good and
bad foods in my life began to change, with more good taking over the bad, and then before I knew it, I wasn’t drinking Coke
at all. In fact, I craved water. My body wanted it!
All these changes, from white to wheat, and then no bread at all, to more fruit and less sweets. Little Coke to no Coke. All of it, shocked my body into dropping weight. It was the start.
Now with that said, I will tell you
there is one area that this gradual change up didn’t work for me and
that’s in regards to fast foods. The
first few months, I cut back to once a week. When I did eat it, I'd pick healthier choices like
fish instead of beef, but it simply didn’t work. My body had begun to function on a
healthier level, so, consuming this junk food made me sick. Outside of toxicity, or allergies, food should not make you sick. I cut it. I simply felt better NOT eating it.
Instead, I ate burgers at home, using good
quality low fat beef and often turkey. Rather than home fries, I would eat a
pickle and fresh fruit. I also tried veggies and raw nuts I normally would never eat,
even if you tied me up and gagged me, but I found that I loved many new and
healthier foods. My horizons were expanding, and it wasn’t long
before my pallet, as well as my mindset, began to change.
Did I give up all my favorite foods forever? No.
It’s just that I had to find a way to put them in their place and enjoy them on
my terms. In order to do that, I cut
them back--and in some cases out--as was necessary for my mental and physical
health. The key is to understand our relationship with
food first and then deal with it. Let's be honest. Are we eating to feel good? Is
eating the only time we're happy? It was for me.
So, you want to loose 30 pounds, Gina? Well, I think with a few of the food changes above and some activity, outside or in a gym, you should have no problem. But it all starts on the inside. You can have doctors, trainers, TV weight loss personality’s yelling at
you to eat this and that, or don’t eat this and that, get on the
treadmill—blah, blah, blah—but until you’re ready, until you really want it and
are serious, none of that will mean anything. You have to look in that mirror
every day, tell that man/woman that you want it, you’re ready and you’re going
to do it. Then do it wisely. Be gentle on yourself. Don’t get upset if you fail
one day and don’t make it to the gym or splurge on that drive-thru burger. It doesn’t matter if your trying to loose 30
pounds or 300, those small changes always make a difference. And
before you know it, small changes lead to bigger ones.
I am rooting for you, Gina. I’m on your side and in your
corner!
I’d like to
take a moment to remember a friend of mine whom passed away a week back. Her
name was Andrea. She was a woman with a
vibrant spirit and sense of humor. She loved her family. She was witty and she
made me laugh. On many a lonely night, cruising Facebook, I’d get to messaging
with her and her husband—also night owls—and before I knew it, that
alone feeling was long gone.
Andrea was a large woman, struggling
with her weight as so many do, and we often talked about the key to weight lost
success. I did my best to try to inspire and give her just the right tip that
might start her out on her own journey.
A few weeks ago, fresh out of the
hospital, Andrea wrote me another message. This time she was using words like
“wake up call,” and “rock bottom.” She had gained 100 pounds in the last year,
she said, bringing her weight up to over 400. To hear such words of
desperation, coming from a normally jovial lady, scared me. However, she was also telling me she was
ready to finally get the weight off and she asked if I’d mentor her, help her.
YES! Of course, I assured her I’d do everything I could to support her. I was so happy. Andrea was finally going to
take back her life.
She was ready. I
sensed it. Then the next day, I opened up FB, and this dear
soul was gone. Andrea had passed away in the night. I couldn’t help her. It was
too late.
Messages, just like Andrea’s, come to me
often. The struggle is scary and it’s
real. It’s not by chance that I say over and over, “you have the power to
change your life.” There’s a reason for
you to, “have your own mirror moment.” There’s freedom waiting for you beyond
that image. You must find you! Find your strength. Find your desire. Do it today. Don’t wait!
Andrea is healthy now. She walks in a
brand new body. Thank you Andrea, for your friendship and support, you were
always a good friend.
RIP sweet lady…PEACE.
Dan
