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The SodaSucks.Com Diet in 1 Minute!
For me, it all started at the health fair.... I had to be "shocked" before I could take action.
I have learned that it is much easier to drink way too many calories than it is to eat them. By drinking water instead of soda, juice, etc. my calorie intake has probably dropped 40-50%!!! When I quit drinking soda, I probably lost ten pounds, virtually instantly.
Controlling calorie intake and exercise is key. By eating once a day, any food, up to 2,000 calories total, and walking around 10,000 steps a day, I have lost over 40 pounds since April 2007!
I bought a pedometer and carry it with me every day! I didn't buy a crappy five-dollar model. I sprung for a good one that goes in my pocket. I just have to remember to take it with me every day!
My diet has cost me maybe $100 tops. $40 for a good pedometer, $40 for a 40 pound kettlebell. My friend gave me a 25 pounder for free.
The Long Story of the SodaSucks.Com Diet
I am a 28-year-old guy. Like many young men my age, I lived on fast food, soda, and caffeine. I ate like a pig, and began to look like one too. Things came to a head in Early 2007. On April 18, 2007 I visited the health fair. During my visit, I learned that I weighed 205 pounds, had a 42-inch waist, a BMI of 31, 22.6% skinfold measurements, and blood pressure of 144/122 and 142/100. I was even labeled a "high health risk"! I think my "high water mark" was sometime in late 2006, early 2007, when I probably weighed 215 pounds. If I continued down this path, my health was going to seriously suffer. The funny thing is that I thought I was doing an OK job. In reality, I had lots of work to do. So my journey began.
The weird thing was that I started all of this out of a fear that I would get type 2 diabetes and be stuck giving myself insulin shots for the rest of my life.
The first thing to go was all fast food. My sin was the spicy chicken sandwiches, and the burgers from the dollar menu.... I usually ate three sandwiches a meal and an extra large soda with no ice to wash it down.
Another sin: The local "greasy spoon" joint had "shake night" on Thursday nights. $1.50 for a shake. I had two. Every week! So that was probably an extra 1,200 - 1,500 calories right there! I stopped that routine in January 2008.
It would not be unusual for me to drink a two-liter bottle of soda in a day. When I went out to eat, I would go to my restaurant of choice, get whatever food I was going to get, then head off to the convenience store and get 64 ounces (yep. that's half a gallon...) of my favorite soda. My favorites were Cherry Pepsi, Apple Flavored Soda, and Pineapple Flavored Soda. They were quite delicious.
The next thing to go was caffeine. I thought if I got rid of the caffeine, I would get rid of the soda. I was a caffeine addict. I was able to learn how much of an addict I was with the lovely six-day headache I got by quitting caffeine.
BUT... I started drinking caffeine free soda..... I drank Sprite like a fish. I just replaced one poison with another, and I kept piling on the calories.
Then I went out of town with a friend. He told me that my problem is eating too much dairy. Cheese is "cow mucus". I didn't stop eating the cheese, but decided since I was out of town, and out of my routine, I would quit drinking soda.
I returned home and stopped drinking soda. It was hard to get into the routine of drinking water. Before I never drank water. It was tasteless and useless. Now, I am always drinking water. By losing the soda, I probably instantly lost ten pounds. - and probably drastically reduced my risk for type 2 diabetes.
Next, it was time to tune up my diet. I found that I was eating like a pig. I usually ate three meals a day, and ate as much as I could stuff into my guts. This probably meant that I was eating a good 3,000 to 4,000 calories a day.
I set a strict mandate to eat once a day. I chose that I would eat my meal around 8:00 PM. Personally, I didn't want to eat early in the day, and then not get to eat until the next day. I would rather just wait until the end of the day to eat and then I would be able to sleep between meals. Many people told me I was doing it wrong. They said to eat at the beginning of the day. They said I would feel bad. But I lost the weight, and generally speaking, feel pretty good.
I am still generally eating one meal a day. I can eat any food I want, as much as I want, up to around 2,000 calories. Fresh fruits and vegetables are "FREE" - they do not count against my calories - and can be eaten any time during the day - as long as I don't drown them in salad dressing or dip. As soon as I reach my target weight of 150, I will probably increase my calories to around 2,500 - 3,000 a day, just to kind of hold steady. This really depends on how much I exercise. I will try to keep my calorie intake and use the same.
I have personally decided to have a protein rich, carbohydrate poor diet. I try to eat lots of meats, fish, etc. and try to stay away from the breads, potatoes, rice, starches, etc. I think a lot of that stuff is just empty calories - with not much nutrition. A lot of it has to do with the general low quality of our food supply. We demand convenience, and we get it - our food is convenient, but it is pretty much empty calories and poor nutrition.
I also try to eat tons of vegetables, and take a multivitamin in order to keep up with vitamins I may need.
The other thing that I have been successful at is starting an exercise program. For me, I have decided to do kettlebells and walking. One thing that really helped was that I lost my job, and my car, and now I have to walk everywhere.
I keep very close records of my walking. I went out and bought a good Omron Pedometer, one with dual accelerometers. It can go on my belt, or in my pocket. I have a spreadsheet on google spreadsheets where I type in my steps, my aerobic steps, and my aerobic time. I have the spreadsheet add up everything for me on a yearly basis, and I also have a chart to show my walking habits. The pedometer says I should walk over 10,000 steps a day. I am usually doing that every day. In 2008, I have walked over 300 miles!!!
Another thing that helps is that I started a job in food service / student dining services, so I am always walking around and moving. But I have to be very careful not to eat and nibble on food throughout the day.... Some days I am not very successful.
Today, I have made much progress. It has taken learning self-control over food, fighting gluttony, and exercising. On October 20, 2007, I weighed 160 pounds. I am only ten pounds away from my goal of 150! I have lost between 45 and 55 pounds. In this journey, I have used every single belt loop in my belt. Actually, it is time for me to buy a new belt. I can see a difference in my body. I am sure if I went to the health fair again, things would be different.
My diet has cost me maybe $100 tops. $40 for a good pedometer, $40 for a 40 pound kettlebell. My friend gave me a 25 pounder for free.
I have just recently learned that some breakfast cereals can be pretty darn good. Right now, I sometimes will eat Total Raisin Bran. It has plenty of vitamins and minerals, and is only 170 calories per serving. Not bad!
So there we are. My journey from lard to healthy. Things will not be easy going forward. I still must regulate my diet and exercise otherwise I will just end up right back where I started.
The End.