I have just completed The Huffington Post's 30-Day Summer Shape Up, and I feel great. I went from 179 pounds down to 164 for a total loss of 15 pounds and lost a little more than an inch on my waist.
To give a little background on myself, one year ago I started a new job and law school almost simultaneously. Although this was an exciting time for me, I had a very different schedule and almost no free time on the weekdays. My routine was put in a rut, and I found I was sitting nearly 70 hours a week between work, school, and studying. Over that year, I felt like the first-time victim of the dreaded "freshman 15" working my way up to a 34" waist (from a 32") and very close to 180 pounds.
I needed to break some unhealthy habits. My father is pre-diabetic, and his father was diagnosed with Type-2 diabetes and passed away in his early 50s. I know the genetics are not on my side, and I do not have the metabolism that I had in high school, but I had enough with the excuses and needed to make a change.
About a month prior to The Huffington Post's 30-Day Summer Shape Up, I got a gym membership. The nice thing about my cubicle office job is that it shares a campus with a local community college. This allowed me to go work out on my lunches, so I clock out, grab the gym bag, get in a good 40-minute workout, shower, and then eat my lunch at my desk.
This routine was the right formula, but the pieces were wrong. I was still eating poorly at home and was not at the intensity that I needed to be at the gym, and that's fine. Some people can jump into a routine and immediately be gung-ho from the beginning with the right food, right routine, right intensity... I am NOT that person. I eased into this, which served to be effective because had I jumped into everything perfectly, I probably would have burned out quickly. Now, I have established a mindset and routine that is as solid and concrete as my morning cup of coffee (and I REFUSE to give that up!).
When the Summer Shape Up was beginning, it was the push that I needed to step up my half-dieting, half-exercising, and half-motivation. Some people find motivation in their self, or in a friend/workout partner. I used the mindset that I was part of a group of individuals fully dedicating themselves for 30 days for my motivation. The first and simplest thing I did was change my diet. Now, just because it was a simple fix does not mean it was easy. It is simple for me to buy Healthy Choice meals but not easy for me to give up my favorite food: pizza. Using the ideal that this was a 30-day dedication, I figured if people can give up smoking after years of being addicted to nicotine, pizza for 30 days should be easy comparatively.
Diet
I put myself on what I called the "Aulstin Gardiner" diet:
Breakfast: 0 percent Greek yogurt, fruit or cereal bar, and coffee. If I ran out of cereal bars, I would substitute shredded wheat cereal, whole grain/whole wheat bread toast with natural jelly or preservatives (no corn-syrup), or oatmeal.
Lunch: Protein shake after workout and a healthy microwavable meal. If I forgot to bring my lunch to work, I would grab a spinach wrap with chicken, no cheese, no mayo, and plenty of vegetables.
Dinner: A sandwich with lean meat like turkey or lean ham on whole wheat/whole grain bread with plenty of green spinach, red onions, dill pickles (great snack food -- only 5 calories), and healthy condiments.
Now, obviously, there is not a ton of room for variety in what I set out for myself. I knew I could not do this every day, every meal -- friends would want to go out for lunch or dinner, I'd grab some happy hour cocktails, and I went to a rehearsal dinner and wedding that I was in. I'd be crazy to try to bring a brown bag with a microwavable meal to a wedding/rehearsal dinner; could you imagine?
When I was not going off the plan I set, I used my common sense and found the healthy choices on the menu. I skipped the desserts, ate plenty of green foods, stayed away from fried foods, and would choose sushi restaurants if possible. Another thing I was very conscious of was what I was drinking. Liquid calories are some of the easiest things to cut out. I used to have a sugary energy drink a few times a week, some upward of 200 calories and 50 grams of sugar -- YIKES! I switched to green tea and water pretty easily. I think I went through a gallon of green tea about every five days and drank ice-cold water constantly at work.
Exercise
Using the emails on the work outs and exercises from the Summer Shape Up helped make sure I was using the right form and got new ideas for sets to substitute in so that I would not plateau. I had my own routines and knew how I wanted to attack my workouts, but the "Fix Your Form" emails were the ones I paid attention to the most. This helped me get the most out of what I was trying to do and kept me from injuring myself by having bad form. I did not use the circuit trainings, mostly because I am a cardio nut. I warmed up by running a mile on 7.5 on the treadmill (pacing for an 8-minute mile). I know that is not for everyone, but I love a good run and a great sweat. I knew that a good eight minutes of hard, sweating cardio would get my blood pumping and burn the calories throughout my routine on what I was doing that day.
I made sure that at a minimum, I worked out four days a week in the gym. I also started learning salsa! This was so much fun and, wow, is it a workout. I would sweat so much; I would bring a small hand towel with me when I went out. I also joined my dad on a 36-mile bike ride for the Tour de Pepper on a Saturday morning during the Summer Shape Up. I never did a bike ride like that before and it showed. Getting in and out of my car was a chore for three days after that.
But it was all worth it! I have curbed my eating habits to avoid the junk, hopefully for good. I also have established a sticking routine that has lasted much longer than 30 days. One of my brothers lives in Houston (I live in Fort Worth, Texas) and came up on my birthday in April. He recently came back up for Father's Day and ended up playing golf like the Day 28 email suggested. Since he does not see me on a daily basis, he was able to see the effects more dramatically. When I met up with him for lunch, he complimented me on how great I looked for a solid two minutes, even made me blush. Even though I do not get that type of confirmation from everyone, I revel in my small victories -- even if I am the only one noticing how different my pants fit.
Lastly, yes, I rewarded myself with some victory pizza, and it was delicious.
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I appreciate all the comments giving advice as well. Obviously, I can't expect everyone to follow my plan and never wanted this to be THE MODEL to work for everyone. Everyone should find their own path to weight loss through a healthy diet and exercise, preferably from a professional if possible. The point of my article was not to tell everyone what works for any one person except myself. The purpose was to share my success and motivation and hope to influence others to find their own path to a healthier "you".
I saw a few people pointed out that I am a male in my 20s. Although you are correct, I'll be 30 next April and couldn't be more excited for the next decade in my life. I know that my age will not stop me from being motivated to be active and healthy to avoid the struggle that multiple family members have experienced through being obese or overweight.
As a final update, I have dropped from 164 down to 156 (as of today). That is an additional 8 pounds for a total loss of 23 pounds! I have never felt better and have really stuck to my routine and diet with some minor adjustments based on some of the advice I have received.
Eliminate all grains and starches. Fast for 36 hours weekly.
The hardest part for me is that I love bread. But an occasional misstep isn't a big deal. In fact, I eat a beagle or two, or some other fancy bread about once a week. About once a month something comes up (birthday or holiday) that cuts short my fast. I'm still losing 3 pounds a week.
I'm sure it helps that I'm a skate/snow-boarder who gets 10 to 15 hours of riding weekly. And that I like most raw vegetables and don't eat a lot of sweets.
The fasting is what attracted me to this. It supposedly clears plaque from your viens and consumes abnormal cells.
It is a modified "caveman" diet, in that I don't take in a bunch of extra fatty meats.
Since April, I've lost 30 pounds and 4 inches around my waist.
20 pounds and 2 inches still to go.
I cut out white sugar for a whole year and lost 15 pounds just from that alone. It's little tweaks in your diet that can make a huge difference. It doesn't mean you have to cut out everything, just things that add unnecessary calories along the way (like refined sugar, white rice, bread etc.)
There are those who've diminished your accomplishment by attributing it all to your age and decent genetics. It's true that in the 20's most of us can lose more easily, but you've done it while many just think about it. And you are keeping it off. That's great. You are an inspiration.
Heart-breaking.
I'm not saying the author of the post won't keep it off - I'm speaking of the bigger picture in our society - that the 'goal' is lose pounds, not be a whole, well person. ...That it's more moral to be thin, It's somehow more righteous and good. Being overweight is seen as a weakness and a failing.
As someone who works out, is active, is in great health and eats well but who will never be skinny, I'm so tired of people buying into the thinner is automatically better for you myth.