Love yourself more, Eat less
I was chatting to my cousin Daniel the other day and wanted to share his weight loss story. Daniel lost over 50lbs in weight in a relatively short period – just over six months, dropping from a hefty 210lbs to 154lbs. Moreover, he has managed to maintain the new weight. I interviewed Daniel a couple of weeks ago to find out what he did:
LM. So Daniel what kick-started you to focus on losing weight in the first place?
DC: Well it all started when I saw pictures of myself after coming back from holiday in 2012. I guess I’d lost focus on my weight and through excess eating, the scales had gradually crept up without me even being aware! When a well-meaning friend asked me ‘who has eaten all the pies?’ when he saw the pictures, I knew it was time to change! I was also approaching my 40th birthday, so an important milestone in my life.LM: What was the first step?
DC: For me, the start was finding out not only where I was in terms of weight, but why I was there. I used ‘my fitness pal’ app to log what I was eating and drinking. I was shocked how many calories I was actually consuming, and that awareness helped me cut back?
LM: Did you change your diet dramatically?
DC: I didn’t actually change the types of foods I ate all. In other words, I didn’t stop eating sugar or decide to only eat raw foods or adopt any of the popular nutritional theories out there. All I did was reduce the quantity. For instance, instead of having a whole pizza, I ate half. Instead of a whole box of chocolates, I’d have three.
LM: What about exercise?
DC: Yes, I did add consistent movement to my daily routine, exercise that worked for me, like playing football and cycling. The combination of reducing my calories and upping the exercise was the formula that led to the results I got.
LM: Given that 95% of diets don’t work, are you worried about regaining the weight and more?
DC: For me this isn’t a ‘diet’, it’s a life-style choice. I’m also not fanatical about it. Some days, I may over-eat and that’s fine. I’ll cut back the next and keep a check on the scales as I don’t want to repeat my past mistakes?
LM: So how does it feel for you now?
DC: Amazing! I haven’t been this slim since I was 21! I’ve had to change my whole wardrobe which was fun, if expensive, but I feel like a whole new person with masses of energy to help me live my life.
For more tips on sustainable weight loss, sign-up for our Healthy Habits newsletter:
