I Made It and Here's Ten Practical Ways How

I made my weight loss goal of 22 pounds today and am lighter than I've been in perhaps 25 years. I primarily credit my lovely wife for this because she has been pursuing a healthy lifestyle for a long time and I have gradually gotten on board. My MFP friends are wonderful and have been a big help too. I've learned a lot from the experience and here's my top ten keys to how I was able to do it:

1. Got a good doctor and listened to what he told me. It's about being healthy, not just losing weight.

2. Took a good look at myself and overcame denial about being overweight. I had been about 20-30 lbs. overweight forever and had convinced myself that my body had changed, I go to the gym and sweat so I'm in shape kinda, I could never be that weight again, blah, blah, blah. Total crap and a reality-based mindset is crucial.

3. Found healthy exercises that I really like to do and incorporated them into my busy life. I quit my gym, bought a nice bike, and commute on it to work most days. It's fun and I have to get to work anyway, so it doesn't detract from my leisure time and family life.

4. Made positive food choices that I could live with permanently instead of denying myself with a restrictive diet. I'm omnivorous but eat a lot of vegetables because you can eat almost unlimited quantities and still lose weight. I used to eat a ton of meat and developed potentially fatal cardiovascular issues. It was a bit of a transition to focus on vegetables but now I really like it so I don't feel like I'm sacrificing anything. Most days I eat homemade yogurt for breakfast with fruit, nuts, flax seed and cinnamon and have a crazy huge salad with a wide variety of vegetables for lunch, and I love it.

5. Stopped drinking calories--substituting water allowed me to make my calorie goals without feeling like I hadn't eaten enough.

6. Got in touch with my hunger and learned to differentiate between physical and psychological food needs. Having a balanced diet supplemented with a daily multivitamin gave me the confidence to overcome occasional hunger pangs without resorting to boredom eating because I knew I wasn't really starving.

7. Controlled late night snacking--I have a nice dinner, plan a healthy and filling snack like an apple or carrots and hummus, and close the kitchen for the night. I used to eat stuff like hunks of cheese, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cakes/cookie/pie most nights after a full dinner and that's just not sustainable.

8. Eliminated non-essential foods. For instance, I used to have oil and vinegar on salads and one day I dropped the oil and didn't miss it. Dressings can kill the dietary benefits of a salad so choose carefully--lemon juice is great too.

9. Adopted delaying techniques to control binges. While I don't eat much bread and white potatoes and do my best to avoid deep fried foods and soda, I never say never to any food. I love dark chocolate, and in reasonable quantities it is a healthy food. The way I keep it reasonable when I'm craving it is by eating a piece and then telling myself I can have another in 30 minutes. I didn't deny myself anything, just delayed it which leads me to savor that piece all the more. And often I lose the craving or forget about it so I never have that second piece. Even if I do, I never have that tenth piece.

10. Ratcheted up strength training slowly and consistently. While my exercise routines are primarily aerobic, a balance with strength training is a good idea. I don't belong to a gym and don't have weights in my cozy NYC apartment, so what to do? I started a morning routine of simple calisthenics--pushups and a series of crunches, and added more every Monday. It takes me 10-15 minutes and really gets my metabolism going for the day. I log these as strength exercises so it doesn't give me a calorie burn (I list my lifestyle as sedentary so I try eat back my other exercise calories).

I liken my approach to being in a canoe on a river. If you paddle upstream by adopting a diet and exercise plan that is unsustainable or unpleasant, you are paddling upstream. Sooner or later your arms will tire and you'll drift back to where you were or worse. By making positive and sustainable food and exercise choices, you are going with the flow. You still have to paddle so you can steer through the life's rough waters, but when things are calm you can relax and go with the flow.

These things have worked for me and I'm still learning every day. My approach may not work for you, but I hope that you are able to benefit in some small way from my experience.