If you have a lot of weight to lose, you were probably like me at one time. I would always try one diet after another and never get anywhere. If I lost weight, it wouldn't last and I would have to find another diet that worked.
So how did I finally lose over 150 pounds and keep it off for almost three years now? Well, believe it or not, I didn't focus on losing weight when I finally succeeded.
Well over a year ago I was fed up with my weight. I had grown fat and lazy. Laziness was further perpetuated through the programming my brain had undergone with the years of poor eating and neglect. I was addicted to sugar and fatty foods and eating the way I did sent me spiraling into depression which often then made it easy to be lazy. It ensured a self fulling prophecy of health failure since like any addition the substance (food in this case) tricks the brain into satisfying itself but with destructive results.
I woke up to what was happening and decided to try and lose weight. Knowing well it was going to take a lifestyle change I cut sugar out of my diet and ate a high protein / low carb diet and lost over 40+ lbs. However with the rising costs of food, having a family that has no dietary restrictions and having a disposition that proved to be weaker than I first thought, I fell back into my old routine of addictive sugar/fatty diet and gained my weight back. Cost of food was really the breaking point since it is very expensive if you want to move completely away from eating processed foods.
I've been eating healthy foods for over three years now. Mostly vegetables and fruit with minimal turkey, chicken and eggs. I do get a lot of nutrients from the food choices I make, but from what I've been reading, making smoothies gives you the ability to absorb even more nutrients. I figured it would be worth a try.
Last week, I made my first smoothie with broccoli and cauliflower. I thought it tasted disgusting, to be honest. I love eating broccoli and cauliflower whole, but juicing them was not a good idea. Maybe it was the way I made them, maybe I didn't add enough ingredients.
I just had my body fat checked again yesterday at Southern Connecticut State University. I had it tested a little over a month ago and wanted to see if there was a difference since then.
The numbers were good but it wasn't a big drop. I went from 13.35 down to 13.24 percent. That's okay, at least it's in the right direction! The woman who checked my body fat explained that it's a slow process as the body fat gets closer to 10 percent. I have patience though and I'm enjoying the results in my arms, chest and legs. I love having more muscle and I notice I have a lot more energy. Some other people have commented on that as well.
My motive is to build strength, and one way to help with this goal is the kettlebell swing.
I attended a workshop at the local YMCA yesterday and the instructor went through the process of how to do them properly. A lot of people do these exercises incorrectly at first, so it's important to find a class if you're interested in learning the technique.