Weight Loss

As some of you know, I've been a bigger kid for quite a long time. Though when I was in my Senior year of High School, I got fed up with it and decided to make a change. I now want to share my knowledge and experiences with everyone so that I might be able to help them.

When I was starting my Senior year I weighed 230 lbs, not a healthy weight at all. By the time I was graduating I got down to 200 lbs. Much better, but still not where I wanted to be. Now over a year later I am now down to 185 lbs. Which for now seems just fine.

The road to loosing weight is never an easy road, for anyone. Though I have figured out a few things to hopefully let your journey be a successful one too.

The first thing I want to say is using fat burners and diet pills are out. They can really mess you up and what most of them really do is just give you the runs (I have not used diet pills btw, this is just information I have gathered). Also while you may loose some weight you haven't changed your lifestyle so you are prone to gaining all the weight back as soon as you are off the pills.

The second and most important thing is to get yourself in a proper mind set. This is where most people fail, because they have all the ambition in the world, but when it comes to exercising their self control, it is no where to be found. What I mean by this is that while most people want to loose weight, but the road is hard and full of distractions. The key here is to have your mind stay focused. You have to think about every decision you make with food. Like when you are going to eat something unhealthy when you're not hungry, you must realize this and say "no" and walk away. This is really hard, but it becomes easier with time once you integrate it into your being. When you are eating you realize that eating until you are satisfied instead of eating until you are full will make a huge difference. Still hungry after your first portion? Wait a few minute, (try 5 - 7 minutes) if you are still feeling hunger pangs after this time, go ahead and either get a little more or get a healthy snack. Another aspect is retraining yourself to think about what you are going to eat when you go out also. Like if you are going to a fast food restaurant this is going to be hard, but not impossible, trust me. The key hear is to make the best choices you can. Get the grilled chicken sandwich and save yourself some calories. Don't get a pop, get tea, water, or juice instead. Also don't fool yourself into thinking you are eating healthy when you know you're not. Prime example is getting a salad, which sounds healthy, but then if you get it with breaded chicken and full-fat dressing, you really are not doing yourself any favors.

Moving on, something else important is to get yourself a support group. I know for the men out there this sounds like a really lame and un-masculine thing to do, but it is uber important. I say this because going it alone is a very trying experience, but with help the road gets a bit easier. You will slip up from time to time, and it is nice to have people there to put you back on track. I am not perfect and I would have weak moments like everyone, but I had my family and Jen there to back me up. When I would start to mess up they were always there to make sure I knew it, and at times I would get really pissed at them for this, just ask them, but by them reminding me I usually stopped what I was doing out of anger, which still stopped me from doing it.

The next tip is very easy and everyone can do it, ready??? Drink lots of water. I know everyone has told yoy this but it is true. If you are having trouble over eating, drink a large glass of water before your meal and then when you eat, you will feel full faster, letting you not over eat!

To go a long with the water statement, do yourself a favor and stop drinking pop. I know, I know, its addictive and it taste so good. Really though its just like anything else, the longer you go without drinking it the less you crave it. There are many alternatives, all which are better than pop. Try water, tea, some flavored waters, energy drinks (gatorade, powerade, not red bull and stuff like that) these great Fuze drinks.

I think this is a good start but in my next post I will finish up my dieting tips and possibly start into some exercises.

I hope this will be useful for everyone.