A life less round

I mentioned in my last post that I had finally begun the battle with my waist line. Mathematicians out there will even have deduced how much weight I’ve lost so far (@20 lbs). Those of you that haven’t met me in person should know that that is a drop in the bucket – something on the order of a metric tonne remains to be dealt with. But it is finitely a start in the right direction, of that I am proud.

So what’s the secret?

I wish I could say I’ve hit on a magic formula. I haven’t. But I can tell you what I’ve done, and maybe that will help.

• Deeply, truly want to do something about it. For too long I’ve paid this lip service.
• I think the biggest change I made was to drop soda 100%.

  

  Maybe you’re made of sterner stuff than I am, but saying I could have 1 a day, or so many a week, that just doesn’t work. The first few days I’m good about it, but then I slip one day and it’s all downhill from there. No, better (for me) to say its out of the diet completely and move on. I still drink caffeine, but it now comes to me in the form of coffee and tea, which I am killing the planet to supply myself with at random intervals (see debates about Keurig, which has been a godsend while destroying the world). Mostly, I’m drinking a ton more water. To kill the soda urge, I’ve started drinking random cans of carbonated water, to get the feel of fizz and the burn of fuzzy water without everything else. You have to be careful on the carbonated water, though – they’re not all made equal, and some contain thing other than water and co2. The real motivation here was to get away from the laundry list of chemicals that go into making a soda taste ok, in particular the crazy sweeteners being used. 99% of the time I take my coffee with truvia now, which is an acquired taste but a lot more natural than a chemical compound made n a lab to trick my body into thinking something is sweet.

• Of course, there’s the exercise. Not hours at a gym each day – I’m averaging about an hour or so a week right now, with little activities interspersed to help. The best bit there is that Kim, who has been a fantastic source of support, has been going swimming with me in the indoor pool at the gym. It was more than a little embarrassing at first to take my shirt off in public, but even just 20 or 30 minutes of pool time has made a huge difference.
• Go to sleep a little hungry, craving just a little. Sounds mean, and it sucks, but these craving are part of why I have a problem in the first place, right?
• Intentionally parking at the far end of the parking lot at work so I have to walk a little.

I’m sure there are other little things, but this covers most of it. As a single unit, maybe nothing, but taken as a whole, it seems to be working. And as I lose more weight, most of it is getting easier to do. Funny that.

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