People constantly ask me questions like "when did you start losing weight?" "How long did it take you to lose it?" While I understand these questions, I can't really offer an answer that makes them happy. So here's my best try at it....
Q: When did I start losing weight?
A: When I was 8 years old. That's the first time I went on a diet and lost weight.
Q: How long did it take me to lose it?
A: Since I was 8 (now I'm 34, you do the math). And I don't consider myself done yet because, I want to get down to about 10-15% body fat. I don't know exactly where in that equation I will fall or how much I will weigh when I get there but I'll know it when I see it.
Here's the bottom line. As soon as we stop looking at this journey as a block of time in our lives and start looking at it, instead, as a permanent change in our behaviors that will impact all aspects of our health including our weight, there is an immediate shift in our attitudes.
No longer do we start our new diet on Mondays or give up when we're just too stressed out. When our new goal is to be as healthy as we can be, change and success are inevitable.
Not convincing enough? Okay, for you guys who are still in the "I need to know when and how I'm going to look good": If you lose weight in an improper way, you will be saggy and your skin will look like crap (unless if you're 18 and don't have much to lose, in which case you will probably gain it all back and then some and you'll be saggy and blotchy when you lose it again when you're older). We really ARE what we eat. Muscle really DOES make everything look better.
If you think good health just means having a strong heart and no cancer (in which case, if you haven't been diagnosed with any conditions, you believe you're healthy) you are flat out wrong! Good health also means good mental health AAAAND for those of us who just started this journey because we wanna look hot, good health also shows up on the outside in the form of skin elasticity, nice hair, a clean, glowing complexion and about anything else that you're missing right now.
So stop figuring out what day your latest weight loss regimine is going to begin and, instead, DECIDE today that your new healthy lifestyle starts NOW. Right now! Not next Monday, not tomorrow morning. If you've eaten like crap already today, all the more reason to eat healthy the rest of the day and get some exercise in because your body doesn't stop suffering from your poor choices until you decide to "get back on track".
Also, when you approach things with this new, healthy attitude, there is no going "off track". There are yummy, not-so-healthy meals that you will savor and that will add to your mental well being because of it, and there are workouts you will miss because you're sick or just need to rest, but these will just be part of your healthy lifestyle because, once you feel this good (and you can't even imagine how good this feels if you've never been there), you will automatically be on track all the time with tiny little pit stops here and there that you will just call...."life".
Q: When did I start losing weight?
A: When I was 8 years old. That's the first time I went on a diet and lost weight.
Q: How long did it take me to lose it?
A: Since I was 8 (now I'm 34, you do the math). And I don't consider myself done yet because, I want to get down to about 10-15% body fat. I don't know exactly where in that equation I will fall or how much I will weigh when I get there but I'll know it when I see it.
Here's the bottom line. As soon as we stop looking at this journey as a block of time in our lives and start looking at it, instead, as a permanent change in our behaviors that will impact all aspects of our health including our weight, there is an immediate shift in our attitudes.
No longer do we start our new diet on Mondays or give up when we're just too stressed out. When our new goal is to be as healthy as we can be, change and success are inevitable.
Not convincing enough? Okay, for you guys who are still in the "I need to know when and how I'm going to look good": If you lose weight in an improper way, you will be saggy and your skin will look like crap (unless if you're 18 and don't have much to lose, in which case you will probably gain it all back and then some and you'll be saggy and blotchy when you lose it again when you're older). We really ARE what we eat. Muscle really DOES make everything look better.
If you think good health just means having a strong heart and no cancer (in which case, if you haven't been diagnosed with any conditions, you believe you're healthy) you are flat out wrong! Good health also means good mental health AAAAND for those of us who just started this journey because we wanna look hot, good health also shows up on the outside in the form of skin elasticity, nice hair, a clean, glowing complexion and about anything else that you're missing right now.
So stop figuring out what day your latest weight loss regimine is going to begin and, instead, DECIDE today that your new healthy lifestyle starts NOW. Right now! Not next Monday, not tomorrow morning. If you've eaten like crap already today, all the more reason to eat healthy the rest of the day and get some exercise in because your body doesn't stop suffering from your poor choices until you decide to "get back on track".
Also, when you approach things with this new, healthy attitude, there is no going "off track". There are yummy, not-so-healthy meals that you will savor and that will add to your mental well being because of it, and there are workouts you will miss because you're sick or just need to rest, but these will just be part of your healthy lifestyle because, once you feel this good (and you can't even imagine how good this feels if you've never been there), you will automatically be on track all the time with tiny little pit stops here and there that you will just call...."life".
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