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How I Lost 40 Pounds With Minimal Exercise

How I Lost 40 lbs with minimal exerciseThe weight loss Industry is filled with so many get skinny and fit quick gimmicks, crazy diets, kale shakes, and everything in between. I have lost 40 lbs with simple changes to my lifestyle.  I have never been into any sport and grew up as a chubby kid. I still am not and will never be a marathon runner or obsessed with healthy clean eating. I still enjoy cheat meals and some days I don’t want to work out. But  I will never go back to my old days of being inactive and eating and drinking whatever I want. Its just wasn’t a good feeling. It took about 2 years (not quick) to lose the weight, but I took small steps and started with small changes. I call them baby steps. Consistence is the key here. With these 3 small changes I made below are exactly how I lost 40 pounds with minimal exercise.

 

GET OFF THE COUCH AND MOVE!!!!

I don’t like the word lazy but that’s what I was. I made every excuse in the book not to get up and do some sort of activity. I’m tired, I worked all day, my knee hurts, my back hurts, its raining, its too hot, its too cold etc. etc.. Well truth be told I was overweight and lethargic from all the fat and sugar I was consuming. Its not fun carrying around all the extra weight and its hard work. I didn’t start exercising until I lost some weight.
Once I lost my first 15 lbs just from eating good and cutting back on all the junk food I was  started to have more energy. I started off very small I would go for a 35 min walk everyday after work so that was 5 times a week. Then I started to take the stairs at work. As time went by and I lost some more so I thought I wanted to try running. So I would use pole lines as my guide I would walk then start at a pole and run to another one then walk again and keep this pattern going. I did this for about a 2 months until I was able to go for the whole 35 mins and just run.
I joined a gym and tried to go 3 times a week and sneak in a run Sunday mornings. But I’ll never be a hard core gym junky sometimes. I go and do a weight routine and sometimes i just go ride the bike for 25 minutes until I get bored with it and go home. Its just about being active not everyone has to start running to lose weight or join the gym. Its about getting off the couch and going for a walk or playing a sort or anything that involves not sitting on a couch. Its hard somedays  and sometimes I still make excuses, but overall I’m active and happy. Remember its the little changes that can make a big difference.

FAST FOOD IS NOT A REAL MEAL!!!!

“Fast food is not real food” It was a comment that would change my life forever. It hurt and hit me hard, its exactly what I needed to hear. I was eating a burger, fries and of course a 6 pack of chicken nuggets when my cousin walked into my Moms house and looked at me stuffing my face. Then said to me in pure disgust “fast food isn’t real food.” I was embarrassed and ashamed of myself. I ate it all the time. Pizza, fries, burgers, and anything that could be deep fried. I called it golden food. There was no color on my plate ever, no salad no vegetables nothing just golden. I was a terrible cook so I thought I would start to get the healthier options at these places. I would get a chicken wrap or started  getting subs instead. When I started to notice a difference, I wanted to learn to cook so I started with the basics like chicken, rice and different salads. I now rarely eat fast food, but I still do enjoy pizza every now and again. As a treat not as my main food group or regular meals.

DON’T DRINK YOU CALORIES!!!

Before my weight loss journey, I was completely unaware of my calorie intake in my beverages alone. I was and still am a coffee lover. Its not the coffee that was bad for me. It was the triple shot of cream and 3 heaping spoonful’s of sugar. When I started doing my research I was shocked when I  added up the amount of fat I was consuming. A whooping 21 grams of fat in each coffee and I was having 3 of these a day every day.
Another weakness of mine was soda. I would drink a 600ml bottle of sugar filled soda at least once a day. This was around 320 calories that added up to be about 2240 calories a week. When I decided I was going to change my diet, I think these two things were the hardest to change. I didn’t like plain water and couldn’t stand the thought of giving up my coffee, so I took baby steps. I switched to diet soda and would only have it every second day and started drinking bubbly water with fresh lemons. I started adjusting well. I couldn’t give up my coffee but I changed to 2 cream 1 sugar and then 1 cream and 1 sugar to now finally just milk and no sugar. It took me about 6 months to do this, but I did it and now I hate the taste of sweet coffee. Like I said before its about making small changes and making ones that you can stick to.