“Part 1 How I Lost 18Kg By Eating An Elephant”

“Part 2 How I Lost 18Kg By Eating An Elephant”

Changing My Physical Lifestyle and Enjoying Exercise

Before I begin, this is the story of how I lost weight. Remember that everybody is different and you should educate yourself on what is right for you, not what was right for me. Speak to your doctor or personal trainer or others as your mentors/experts/role models who can give advice on what physical activity you can do. Remember, you eat an elephant one mouthful at a time. Make changes gradually and make changes to things you will still enjoy. If you are over weight or have physical impairments, I am not one to give medical advice! But the question is are you going to make it the excuse to not change, or make it the reason to change?! Again, I recommend you listen to Tony Robbins “Awaken The Giant Within”. The Youtube audio clip is below.

Education

The first thing I had to do was to work out a training regime that suited me. I had gym memberships and for the first 6 weeks I would go hard. I would get sick or not be able to make a work out session a few days in a row and I suddenly lost all momentum/motivation to go back. Gym memberships for me were a complete waste of money! But what I did learn from going was the right exercises I needed to do to achieve the right outcomes I wanted. For this reason, if you don’t know what you need to do to lose weight from exercise then find somebody who does. Get a personal trainer or a friend who can take you to the gym or work out with you to teach you what exercises will achieve what you want to do. A personal trainer should also take into consideration any medical concerns and what level you need to start at and aim for as part of your work out regime.

Eating The Elephant So I Enjoyed Exercise

So my work out aim was to burn fat and to tone. I had a pair of joggers as all the equipment I needed (I also wore a hooded jumper and track pants being winter. The hood kept the heat in and my core temperature up). I needed to make training enjoyable so I wanted to do it more. Not start and then stop because I went too hard too fast or had no motivation.

Jogging

Firstly, learn how to stretch. I started jogging without stretching and developed shin splints, or soreness of the shins. I had to stop jogging for a few days and iced them as soon as they started to hurt. After they healed, I started my jog by stretching. Jogging on the spot and raising the knees for a few minutes to warm up. I then went through the stretches to ensure I didn’t get shin splints again.

I was unfit so I needed to start simple. Jogging helps to burn fat by getting my cardio (heart rate) up. I live on a quiet country road with little or no traffic and it’s about 3km as a round circuit. So I started the first day the most basic way I could. I walked the 3km’s of road. I did a high pace walk to get my heart rate up but a walk none the less. I could have started with a jog, but I started with a walk. It took me 40 minutes to walk.

The next day I jogged to the first telegraph pole. Reaching it I then walked for the rest of the circuit.

The next day, I jogged to the first telegraph pole, walked to the next telegraph pole, then jogged to the next telegraph pole, then walked the rest of the circuit.

I continued this routine, building each day how far I jogged. Always staggered. Finally one day I was jogging one, walking one until I returned home. I had went from walking all the way to jogging half of the distance in a couple of weeks. The next after that I jogged to the second telegraph pole, walked one, then jogged one, then walked and so on. So now I was doing the exact same thing, except I was jogging two, walking one. I continued to build on this each day one at a time. Going further until I was jogging two and walking one until I returned home. Then I started to jog three and walk one, jog two and walk one. I built this up to jogging three and walking one until I was home. Now I jog this in about 20-25 minutes. I will build this up until I am jogging the whole way around

Simply, I started basic. I was jogging and as I went further I found myself actually wanting to jog further then I had set. But I had to hold myself back to only jog to where I had set. I was enjoying what I was doing and wanted to do more. When I was returning home I felt good and enjoyed sipping my water!

Now jogging bores me! I find it monotonous. I prefer playing sport and running then just jogging.  So I started taking my MP3 player to listen to audio tapes ( I listen to business/self help books as to music! Such as Tony Robbins). I found this worked to take my mind off the jogging. I also sometimes take my dog for a jog, killing three birds with one stone!

Work Out Exercises

Again, have a trainer show you how to stretch. I stretch both before and after a work out. Because I have done my jog, I have already warmed up. If you are only doing exercises, then you will need to do a warm up before you start stretching.

I started by working out what exercises I could do that didn’t require any equipment. So I came up with the following below.

Push Ups; Sit-ups; Side Plank; Leg and Ab raise; Bench Dips; Calf Raise; and Squats.

Then I started very simple. The number you do is known as the repetitions or rep’s for short. I started with 5 push ups; 10 sit ups; 30 seconds side planks either side; 30 seconds leg and ab raise; 10 bench dips using a coffee table; 15 calf raises on the steps (I originally  stopped these but started back up when I started developing shin splints when jogging); and I later added 10 squats.

I started this at 2 sets (or doing them each twice in circuit) and then slowly started adding another set to make it 3 sets. I have increased these to now be

17 push ups; 33 sit ups; 50 seconds side planks either side; 50 seconds leg and ab raise; 20 bench dips using a coffee table; 13 single leg calf raises on each leg ; and 17 squats.

Time Exercising

As my jogging time reduced I increased the rep’s and sets, increasing the time I spent on work out exercises. Try to keep up the intensity of your workout so you are keeping your heart rate up as well as burning fat and muscle toning. So I did this within 1hr- 1hr 20 min including warm ups and stretches.

Drinking Water

You lose hydration through your jogging and workout. As I said in my eating habits, I would go for my jog and return to sip a room temperature glass of water. I sipped as didn’t want it all hitting my stomach at the one time and it gave me my break time before starting into the work out exercises. After the work out exercises I would have another 2 room temperature glasses of water. Shower, have another glass of water, my breakfast, then another glass of water. That is about a litre of water in an hour and a half. This helped to cleanse my system such as kidney’s and liver. Talk to your trainer about having protein and electro lyte drinks.

Exercise and Feeling Good

When you exercise you feel good as a result from the body’s release of endorphins.  Initially I felt tired as my body was becoming used to eating better and exercise. But this soon passed and from the exercise and drinking water I felt better in the mornings with more energy and alertness.

Hints and Tips

1. Educate yourself- if you don’t know how to exercise to get the results and outcomes you are wanting, you need to learn from someone who does.
2. Having the right eating and exercise habits working together- Naturally, you need to have the right eating habit with your exercise. One doesn’t work without the other.
3. I found jogging and working out in the mornings better for me. I have done gym sessions after work, but I was too tired and hungry from the day. Talk to your personal trainer when the best times to exercise are and for what purpose and ultimately what fits into your schedule. Some gyms are now open 24 hours so you can avoid the 5 o’clock traffic jam at work out stations.
4. I find working out on my own lets me do my thing. When you’re jogging with someone else and you have different run rates it makes it difficult. But working out with a partner also allows you to have company and motivation/inspiration. Decide what works for you.
5. Exercise isn’t just running and work out’s. Playing sports or doing other activities as hiking or bike riding can be equally as rewarding for your health, socialising, meeting new people and spending quality time with family. Work out what works for you!
6. If you start to feel yourself sliding on the intensity of your increases, don’t keep increasing. Stick to the set or reps you are on until you are ready to move up. Each work out exercise is different so you may increase some and leave others the same depending.

Cont’d “Part 4 How I Lost 18Kg By Eating An Elephant”

“Part 1 How I Lost 18Kg By Eating An Elephant”

Changing My Eating Habits

Before I begin, this is the story of how I lost weight. Remember that everybody is different and you should educate yourself on what is right for you, not what was right for me. Speak to your doctor or nutritionist/dietitian or others as your mentors/experts/role models who can give advice on what you can eat. Remember, you eat an elephant one mouthful at a time. Make changes gradually and make changes to things you will still enjoy. If you have children, I am not one to give parenting advice! But the question is are you going to make them the excuse to not change, or make them the reason to change?! Again, I recommend you listen to Tony Robbins “Awaken The Giant Within”. The Youtube audio clip is below.

My first decision was to become more AWARE of what I was eating. I had to change my eating to one where I enjoyed what I was eating. I didn’t want to become a ‘calorie counter’ so to speak, where every meal I needed a calculator. But I did need to make decisions on what I would choose to eat. For example, if I went out to lunch, I would choose something like a Caesar Salad over a battered fish and chips. I like Caesar Salad, so I merely made the choice to eat what was healthier. Also, instead of having a coke, I just had a water. When you have as many business meetings at a cafe as I do it feels cheap when your colleague orders a cappuccino and you only drink the water from the complimentary cravat! But that is part of the change. I have a friend who is a former body builder and martial arts competitor. I remember him telling me when he was competing in his early 20’s he would go to clubs and drink water, not alcohol, because he was in training.

Secondly, I had to cut back on the amount of food I ate. As discussed, I would fill my plate with food for dinner and then go back for seconds. Usually for no other reason then I it was there and I could. I chose to eat lighter meals and less. For example, where I could eat 2 or 3 sandwiches for lunch, I had just one but filled it with salad to make it filling. Dinner, I would still have meat with vegetables, but no gravy and only a small piece of meat (I was told the size of your palm was a good indicator) and vegetables I tried to have little in potatoes and stick more to greens and carrots etc. Another rule of thumb I used is I should be able to fit the meal inside the plate indent, not outside of it, except for say a leaf of lettuce and I didn’t heap the food.

Thirdly, as discussed I had to change what I ate. I needed to change to having meals that I enjoyed but were also healthy. I also had to change when I had my meals. I started having breakfast around 7am as I would sometimes skip it. I would have a piece of fruit for morning tea. I had lunch at around 12pm, which by this time I was starting to feel hungry so I had to eat. Sometimes I could hold off if I had meetings but due to my change in eating I had to eat consistently. I would have another piece of fruit and then around 6pm I would have dinner. For my dessert and as my treat, I had two squares of chocolate (or a chocolate biscuit etc) which I nibbled on slowly to savour. Before I could eat two rows of chocolate in a few bites and not feel as pleasured by the treat because I didn’t enjoy the treat by savouring and taking my time.

One of the big changes to what I ate was bread! I could have breakfast with 4 slices of toast, lunch 2-3 sandwiches so another 4-6 slices of bread. Then for dinner a slice or two of bread. That is close to half a loaf of bread! I loved my bread. I didn’t stop eating it, I just cut back and had it for lunch only.

Finally WATER!!!! If there was soft drink in the fridge I would drink it. I rarely drink alcohol and generally only in a social setting so this was not a big thing for me, but is something friends have started to change in their eating habits. I now drink pretty much only water. If I am at dinner or in a social setting I might have a soft drink, but it depends on the occasion. With my exercise in the morning I can drink about a litre of water within the first hour and a half of my day. Considering that we are meant to drink between 2-3 litres per day, this is a great a start to my day!

How and When I Did This

Below is a rough plan of what I would normally eat in my day. It is just a guide. As I said, my goal for eating was to become more AWARE of what and how much I was eating. Ultimately to continue with my eating habit to make it part of my lifestyle, I have to enjoy the food that I eat or it has to make me feel good.

• 6:30 am Sip a glass of room temperature water after a jog.
• 7:00 am Drink two glasses of room temperature water after sit ups; push ups etc. Shower.
• 7:30 am Drink a glass of water; have two weet-bix with half a tablespoon of sugar and milk for breakfast; drink another glass of water.
• 10:00 am Piece of fruit and water.
• 12:00 pm Lunch being a sandwich with a slice of sandwich meat with salad-tomato, cucumber, lettuce, cheese. No margarine (If you want to make a change that you won’t notice, stop putting margarine on your sandwiches!). 2 glasses of water.
• 3:00 pm Piece of fruit and water.
• 6:00 pm Dinner with a piece of steak or chicken the size of the palm of your hand. Salad of tomato, cucumber, lettuce, cheese OR vegetables of beans or peas, carrot, broccoli and half a potato. This should all fit in the base of the plate. If you have big plates, use a sandwich plate! Several glasses of water. Dessert two squares of chocolate or a chocolate biscuit.

Hints and Tips

1. The word ‘Diet’ these days is often used to describe a short term fad eating trend, as people have referred to what I have done as a “Water Diet”. Water is important, but only one part of the equation. So I avoid using this word and prefer to use the terms “eating habit”, “improved eating” or ‘lifestyle improvement’. It is the connotation of the word that can mislead you and the people you talk to as to what you are trying to do and achieve. Watch the below TED Talk by Sandra Aamodt: “Why dieting doesn’t usually work”.
2. Have two glasses of water before your meal to help fill your stomach so you don’t feel so hungry.
3. Eat to the point where there is still a little hunger but you are not hungry ie you can still fit a few more mouthfuls in. A sign of over eating is feeling full or bloated! You will soon find the point where you will feel satisfied in the amount you have eaten. This is what I had to do because I was eating too much and my point of satisfaction was over eating until I was bloated.
4. I was raised to have a ‘clean plate’. That is you ate everything that was on your plate because you shouldn’t waste it, there were starving children in countries less fortunate then you! I had to get that out of my head. I also only bought and prepared enough food that I would eat, as salad is easy to do this with. You should see a change in your food bill as a result.
5. Drink water throughout the day. Have a water bottle on hand at work. Staying hydrated reduces loss of concentration.
6. Swap what you currently eat for things similar or less. I still have bread, but I only have one sandwich and not three. I still have dinners out, but I have the healthier option to the less healthy option, water instead of softdrink.
7. Watch this Ted Talk on how sugar affects our mind and eating habits “How sugar affects the brain- Nicole Avena”.

Cont’d “Part 3 How I Lost 18Kg By Eating An Elephant”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32aFTpjEMT0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32aFTpjEMT0