- Jul 21, 2019
- 432
- 527
- Country
- United States
- Faith
- Protestant
- Marital Status
- Private
I'm curious what other people are doing.
I made some drastic changes to my diet and exercise back in November of 2018 when I discovered I had VERY high blood pressure. I was about 70 pounds overweight, lethargic, my depression was in a particularly low point. I'd reached a 'plain of lethal flatness' about life in general, so I had a decision to make - change my lifestyle in some significant ways, or slowly die of neglect.
While I was waiting for my doctor's appointment, I did some research online to try and get my head around the idea of making these changes to my diet and activity. After the doctor's appointment and his 'okay' telling me I was healthy enough to begin an exercise regimen, I began going to the gym 3 times a week. I wanted to start slowly, not only because I was so horribly out of shape and felt like I was dying each time I was in the gym, but because something I read online stuck with me and kept coming to mind:
"80% of your progress is done in the kitchen, not the gym"
My diet was my main focus. I had to change the things I ate, change when I ate, and change how much I ate. This was NOT easy for me. I've always had a strange relationship with food, so I was having to retrain myself about food. One thing I didn't want to do was to adopt some sort of 'named' diet that restricted me so significantly that I'd begin to resent eating. It took a couple of months to work out the kinks, but eventually I found a way to make the changes I needed to in the variety of foods that I eat so I felt like I was still able to eat 'good food' while also providing myself nutrition that I needed.
Trips to the gym eventually became more frequent, going from 3 times a week to 5 days a week. I went from pulse-pounding, profuse sweating after 15 minutes on the treadmill to a minimum of an hour every gym trip with little more than a healthy sweat and a heart rate right in the recommended range. Lifting weights got to be easier and easier as the months wore on. I began to feel stronger and was able to push myself harder and harder.
Sure, I made mistakes. In the beginning I cheated on my diet a little too frequently. In the beginning I pushed myself a bit too hard at the gym and ended up causing myself a couple of injuries that took WEEKS to heal from. I probably could have avoided these mistakes if I had someone to be accountable to, but since I'm the type of guy who likes to be alone and likes to do things alone, I only had me. No surprise I made some errors.
Since I began, I've lost almost 60 pounds of fat, and gained a bit over 10 pounds of lean muscle. I feel vastly different today than I did almost a year ago. My body feels healthier. Getting physically healthier didn't do a bit for my depression, even though exercise is touted as being great at relieving depression. All in all though, these changes have been positive to my life.
What about the rest of you? What do you do? Anything you'd care to share?
I made some drastic changes to my diet and exercise back in November of 2018 when I discovered I had VERY high blood pressure. I was about 70 pounds overweight, lethargic, my depression was in a particularly low point. I'd reached a 'plain of lethal flatness' about life in general, so I had a decision to make - change my lifestyle in some significant ways, or slowly die of neglect.
While I was waiting for my doctor's appointment, I did some research online to try and get my head around the idea of making these changes to my diet and activity. After the doctor's appointment and his 'okay' telling me I was healthy enough to begin an exercise regimen, I began going to the gym 3 times a week. I wanted to start slowly, not only because I was so horribly out of shape and felt like I was dying each time I was in the gym, but because something I read online stuck with me and kept coming to mind:
"80% of your progress is done in the kitchen, not the gym"
My diet was my main focus. I had to change the things I ate, change when I ate, and change how much I ate. This was NOT easy for me. I've always had a strange relationship with food, so I was having to retrain myself about food. One thing I didn't want to do was to adopt some sort of 'named' diet that restricted me so significantly that I'd begin to resent eating. It took a couple of months to work out the kinks, but eventually I found a way to make the changes I needed to in the variety of foods that I eat so I felt like I was still able to eat 'good food' while also providing myself nutrition that I needed.
Trips to the gym eventually became more frequent, going from 3 times a week to 5 days a week. I went from pulse-pounding, profuse sweating after 15 minutes on the treadmill to a minimum of an hour every gym trip with little more than a healthy sweat and a heart rate right in the recommended range. Lifting weights got to be easier and easier as the months wore on. I began to feel stronger and was able to push myself harder and harder.
Sure, I made mistakes. In the beginning I cheated on my diet a little too frequently. In the beginning I pushed myself a bit too hard at the gym and ended up causing myself a couple of injuries that took WEEKS to heal from. I probably could have avoided these mistakes if I had someone to be accountable to, but since I'm the type of guy who likes to be alone and likes to do things alone, I only had me. No surprise I made some errors.
Since I began, I've lost almost 60 pounds of fat, and gained a bit over 10 pounds of lean muscle. I feel vastly different today than I did almost a year ago. My body feels healthier. Getting physically healthier didn't do a bit for my depression, even though exercise is touted as being great at relieving depression. All in all though, these changes have been positive to my life.
What about the rest of you? What do you do? Anything you'd care to share?