How I Finally Lost Weight at 48
Would you like to Know the Secret to Losing Weight?
Well, keep reading and I’ll tell you how I finally learned how to lose the pounds and keep them off.
Fact: I’ve struggled with weight problems for most of my life.
I weighed over 160 pounds in sixth grade.
In seventh grade I was laughed out of the gym because I couldn’t climb a rope just a few feet.
In high school I finally lost weight when I found distance running. At 18 I was thin for a brief moment in time, but the pounds came back with a vengeance. I experienced another skinny period in my mid-20s, but I would usually yo-yo between chubby, plump, and kinda-fat.
Another fact: Exercise alone doesn’t work. I trained for a marathon several years back, but didn’t lose a pound.
It wasn’t until after the marathon, dealing with a minor knee injury, that I finally got it.
At the age of 47 I had figured out how to slim down and keep the weight off. (Slow learner, I am).
The knee injury was just serious enough to keep me from running.
During this time I focused on diet and the most casual exercise of them all — walking. I also learned to embrace the manliest of all exercises, yoga.
And at 48 I finally had a system that worked.
Since that time I’ve never regained the weight, and now feel better than ever.
So how did I do it? Finally lose weight at 48?
Here’s my list of 10 practices that keep this boy thin. It might not do the same for you, but the combination below has changed my life for the better.
1. I Ditched the Equipment.
I gave up on treadmills and weight machines for walking, and began yoga and resistance training using my own body weight.
When we sold our house I gave away the equipment, was forced to get creative, and have never looked back.
In fact, I now workout more than ever.
My mornings are a mix of crunches, stretching, and average Joe yoga (see #3).
Ever hear of hindu squats? Me neither until a few years ago. My office neighbor caught me doing this and thought it was the funniest thing she’d ever seen (I have to agree).
For years I was a man of lists, regimens and schedules. I also thought you needed heavy equipment to work out.
The added benefit? Machines or gym memberships no longer junk up my life.
Now working out is a habit that doesn’t end with my morning routine …
2. I Walk Whenever I Can.
I park several blocks from my office building and always use the steps to my fifth floor office.
On weekends we go to the city, a town, a trail … and walk. We walk in our neighborhood, up and down our apartment steps, and on trails in and around Seattle.
During summer I easily walk 3–5 miles a day, all while working an average of 10 hours a day.
In fact, there’s a health club by by office I walk by every day.
Walking is the easiest exercise in the world. It’s meditative, restorative and so easy to weave into your day.
3. I Practice “Average Joe Yoga.”
I don’t want to spend money or time on a yoga class. So instead, I do my own routine in the morning or I shut my office door and do bendy, stretchy poses for 20 minutes.
I do this in the a.m. and once or twice during the day. If you want to learn basic yoga, realize Google is your friend. Search, study the basic poses, and get started. My lower-back thanks me daily.
4. I Ditched the Man-Purse for a Backpack.
It quickly made me realize what a pain in the ass the average satchel is.
A backpack makes sense, because it’s so comfortable and makes walking a breeze.
6. I Created a Custom Stand-Up Desk
Do you see a pattern here?
I refuse to pay for parking, won’t fork up dough for a yoga studio or gym membership, and while stand up desks are all the rage, I’m sure as hell not going to pay for one.
I refused to buy one because … a.) I’m frugal, and b.) Standing for hours is as unhealthy as sitting all day.
Go ahead rig your own. Mix standing, sitting and walking, then throw in a stretch or two and see how much better you feel.
8. I Gave Up Sugar.
Okay, it’s next to impossible to completely eliminate the white stuff, but I dramatically reduced my sugar intake.
I was never big on desserts, but sugar found it’s way into my body. Cereal at night, packs of Ritz crackers (high fructose corn syrup anyone?), and I was that guy who put eight packets of sugar in my coffee.
Sugar is everywhere and if you buy packaged process foods, you’re sure to see gobs of sugar and salt.
Yogurt, bread, peanut butter… you name it.
If you eat or drink too much sweet stuff, your liver– now overloaded with fructose–coverts sweet to fat. That fat is soon in your bloodstream and helps generate a form of cholesterol called small, dense LDL. This is the bad variety that forms the plaque associated with heart attacks.
When we eat or drink sugar it spikes insulin which can cause adverse effects in certain tissues — we’re talking cancer. I could go on because there are so many reasons to avoid sugar.
Funny thing happened when I kicked the sugar habit. I not only lost weight, I had more energy. Sugar is addictive, its effects probably worse than you think, and the more you read about it the more you’ll avoid it.
9. I Cut Back On the Big 3.
What foods do I enjoy more than any? The trifecta of bread, pasta and cheese.
This combo was my vice, and I was eating way more than I needed. Toast in the morning, a sandwich at lunch and a burger at night. Bread, bread and more bread.
And when I ate pasta, I ATE pasta, usually gorging myself, after stupidly starving myself.
I also put cheese on just about every sandwich I ever made.
I love all three and trust me, I have not given them up, but I’ve cut back dramatically.
After cutting back on sugar and the big three, I was amazed at how easy it was to keep the weight off.
10. I Mainly Eat Food I Must Chop and Cook Myself.
Not having enough time or money is no excuse for not eating good food. (I bet I’m as busy as you.)
And yes, produce is expensive, but you don’t have to eat like a rabbit.
Packaged food is gross and loaded with ingredients you can’t pronounce, most poison to your body. When I go to the grocery store I spend most of my time on the perimeter, but I’m not only talking about salad stuff. There’s cheaper produce (potatoes and carrots anyone?) And what about eggs (one of the best whole foods you can buy)?
Buy a whole chicken and debone that sucker like Jacques Pépin.
Chop like Yan Can Cook. Sauté like Gordon Ramsay.
Okay, I’m no nutritionist, so please don’t tell me how bad potatoes or bananas are. They’ll still a hell of a lot better for you than just about anything in a box.
Take time to cook, and enjoy the process. You might be shocked how meditative it can be.
11. I increased my intake of fats.
Okay, this one might sound counterintuitive, but do some research into good fats and what they can do for you. Nuts, eggs and healthy oils.
So-called guilt free foods (basically anything labeled “fat free”) have exploded, but people aren’t getting any thinner.
Fat has been labeled the bad guy, but most don’t realize cutting fat is not the answer and might be the worst thing you can do.
What you need to do is replace bad fats with good. Study up on monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat. Learn about trans fat and saturated fat, then get busy …
a.) getting rid of the bad fats and …
b.) buying more of the good: Olive oil, avocados, nuts.
Yes, I mentioned eggs above. There’s still some debate on cholesterol in eggs, but research has shown that moderate egg consumption is good for health.
12. I don’t eat at night.
This one is hard, I know. But you don’t need me to tell you that eating at night is one of the worst things you can do.
Recent word has come out that eating at night is not that bad (it’s more about the calories you consume per day), but the problem is eating at night usually involves snacking, meaning chips, crackers and popcorn.
Again, I’m nothing close to an expert in this matter, but I have lived a fairly long life and through years of experimentation have finally found a mix of practices that help me stay relatively thin.
I also feel better and have more energy. So, take the above advice with a grain of salt if you’d like, or maybe try out and few and see how they work for you.
I would love to know what has worked for you.
Please let me know in the comments below.