How To Get (Back) In Shape

You can see this post as a follow-up from yesterday, but actually it was inspired my requests from friends that I received after publishing some of my wedding pictures.

Basically, it's the "How did you do this?" question that I received a lot since I lost all that weight. And my short answer always is: eat less, move more. But sometimes, people want to know some specifics, some tricks and I give them what worked for me.... Okay people, always remember, I am not a trained professional in the medical, nutrition or exercise field. What you read here is what has worked for me and my lifestyle... If it gives you a couple of items that you can implement in your life and if it's works for you, that would be GREAT!

The first thing, we have to make sure is that we are not embarking on another diet (short term view), but need to do a lifestyle change (long term view).

There is all the mental aspects:

• make a conscious decision to change your personal situation
• commit yourself to those changes and tell other people about your plans if that helps you to stick with it
• set yourself manageable milestones and goals
• reward yourself when reaching a milestone
• don't get down on yourself when you fall off the bandwagon every now and then.... BUT make sure to get back with the plan ASAP
• adjust your goals if circumstances change e.g. health, family emergencies, job demands etc
• establish good habits... once you make something your routine, it's much easier to stick with it
• try to motivate the people in your direct environment to join in with you
• try to avoid people that sabotage your efforts... it happens... oh yes

The exercise portion of it:

• if you haven't done anything in a while, start out with 30 minutes of exercise at least five days a week
• handle your exercise like an appointment, put it in your calendar to commit yourself
• most importantly: choose an activity you enjoy! if you resent the type of activity, chances are pretty slim that you are going to stick with it
• if you like to workout with company, find a workout buddy, if the person is unreliable, find another workout buddy
• set yourself goals e.g. 5K race, be able to keep up with the advance step class etc

The nutrition portion of it:

• eat breakfast
• reduce your portion size
• stash healthy snacks at work
• have your smallest meal in the evening (I know, that might be the biggest adjustment)
• reduce sugar (sparkling water instead of sodas) and fat (grilled instead of fried) intake
• treat yourself, give yourself a day off a week
• eat more veggies and fruit

You see.... Nothing earth shattering here. Most likely, it's nothing you have never heard of before... It's not rocket science, it's actually fairly easy... To loose weight you have to put in less calories in your body and burn more.

Even though I have lost my weight in 2008, there are still days and weeks, where my diet is less than clean. Sometimes it has been quite a roller coaster ride, but so far I was able to keep the upper hand. Nobody is perfect and I have to remind myself of that too... A skipped workout and a greasy burger is not the end of the world. When it comes to health, it's the big picture that counts and the fact that you get up more often than you fall down.

So long! ;-)