Beau Jackson

So it’s been a week and I’m approaching my weight loss goal.  Fast eh?

It sounds a little silly, but when it comes to losing weight I feel it’s best to lower your standards.  I know that in the back of my mind my ultimate goal is around 220 pounds, but from day to day I set my sights on five pound increments.  Last Monday, I weighed 269.5.  This morning I weighed 265.5.  As this is my first goal, I’ve lowered my expectations even more and I’m shooting for an “even” 265.  I’m hopeful that tomorrow will see the attainment of that goal, and then I will have a new goal of 260 and so on.  I guess to me, five pounds seems possible where 50 pounds does not.  So I’m always aiming at the next five pounds.

Here’s a free weight loss tip from me:  Water.  Drink it.  Lots of it.  Lots and lots and lots of it.  I got one of those “mega mugs” from the local convenience store – it’s 64oz.  I fill it with water at work after I’m done drinking coffee in the morning, and then I just sip on it all day.  By quiting time, I’ve drained it.  When I get home, I drink another glass of water before dinner, and another glass of water with dinner.  The whole point is that water does not contain any calories, and your body will actually burn (a very few) calories just warming the water up to 98.6 degrees.  And if you’re stomach is full of water, then you don’t feel so hungry, and you’re not as likely to want to snack on things.  I could go on with the health benefits, but hey – I’m just trying to lose weight here, so the fact that water helps with that is key.  Everything else is just a bonus.

That’s two-hundred-sixty-nine and one half pounds.  Pounds of what you ask?  Pounds of me, says I.  That’s what I weighed this morning, and that my friends is as high as I am willing to let that number get.

Four years ago or so I weight right around 270, and I decided that enough was enough.  I changed my eating habits – I didn’t go on a diet per-se, I just stopped stuffing myself.  I started exercising, and by that I mean I started walking.  Just 10 minutes a day at first.  Then after a few weeks 20 minutes.  Then 30 minutes a few weeks later.  Eventually I was walking about 50 minutes a day.  That’s all the exercise I did, but that’s all it takes.  After about five months, I was down to 215 pounds.

People noticed my progress, and I’d get asked what kind of diet was I on?  South Beach?  Atkins?  Nope…I was on the good old fashioned “Eat Less, Exercise More” diet, and I can state from personal experience that it works fabulously.

So what happened?  Well, about three years ago or so, my Dad died.  I lost all enthusiasm for exercise so that stopped.  Gradually I began to eat more.  Gradually I began to gain weight again.  And here I am looking at 269.5 again.

They say time heals all wounds, and I’ve healed.  And I’m tired of being fat again.  So, starting today I have changed my lifestyle back to the healthy one I gave up on.  The one where I eat less and exercise more.  We’ll have to see what November (5 months from now) brings.