Hi everyone! I've been on this subreddit for a while, and the posts on here are always very encouraging, so I thought I'd share my story. My journey is just beginning, but I'm confident that I can see this through to my goal.
I've been overweight/obese for a long time. For the past few years, I've hovered around 300 lbs. I've done different diets on and off with promising results, but was never able to stick to them. I would lose motivation quickly and return to my old habits.
Shortly after my 34th birthday last year, I received some great news. My sister was pregnant! I was going to be an uncle! I couldn't wait to start playing with the kid, teaching them all the games I knew and doing magic tricks, all the stereotypical uncle stuff...but I knew I needed to drop these extra pounds or I wouldn't have the energy or stamina to keep up. I needed to come up with a plan that I could stick with. I decided to go in steps to establish one habit at a time so I wouldn't feel overwhelmed with a bunch of changes all at once.
I started by finding cooking apps to help teach me to cook better and healthier foods instead of frequently going out for fast food. I found recipes that use fresh veggies and I've fallen in love with some of them. Steamed broccoli is one of my favorite side dishes, and it's so easy to cook.
Next, I started tracking my intake. I have a Fitbit activity tracker, so I started tracking my food on the app. It also helped me set up a daily caloric budget. I knew that I could go over the budget, but it might mean slightly less loss for the week.
I also knew that with my mindset, I needed a reward system. I needed to gamify my weight loss. I came up with the idea of randomized rewards. My overall goal is to get to around 180 lbs. In the past, I always looked at the big picture, and would quickly become demotivated. This time around, I'm looking smaller. Because I'm looking at an overall goal of 120 lbs lost, I divided it into 12 mini-goals of 10 lbs each. With each goal comes a reward that I have written down. I shuffled the rewards, placed them in envelopes, then shuffled the envelopes before writing each sub-goal on them. As I reach each of these sub-goal, I now have a reward for myself. I can still look at the big picture, but now I have smaller, much more manageable things to look at as well.
My nephew was born late June. I started taking daily walks through some local parks the same day he was born (Pokémon Go helps make it more fun, though being out in nature is nice enough on its own). In the first 5 weeks of enacting my plan, I'm down almost 10 lbs, and am about to open my first envelope. I'm still highly motivated, and I've seen a huge improvement in my overall mood. I'm excited to get out every day, and I'm looking forward to when my nephew is old enough to run around and play (or even if/when I have kids of my own).
[link] [comments]
from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/30pRzo4
No comments:
Post a Comment