Without Even Trying...

My journey from 210 pounds to 190 pounds took about 18 months. And, at that point I could maintain it almost without trying. Granted, there were no weight-loss speed records set reaching my goal, but I had set myself up for long-term success. Now I was ready for a new goal, and to implement some new habits.

Small Changes
Getting below 190 seemed a little more difficult by just doing what I had done to get there. In fact, I stayed close to that weight for some months. After refining my established habits, and dropping a few more pounds, my progress slowed. The new goal of 180 pounds would require learning some new habits.

It was time to go after my precious, naughty snacking. I decided to limit the snacking of sweets and desserts to after meals only, reducing the quantity, and frequency. This was going to be tougher than my other new habits had been to create. And it was. With just a little effort, though, I started making progress again. Pretty soon I was hitting 182 pounds, which helped reinforce my new habit.

Setback Time!
Sometimes negative experiences can have very positive results. The spring of 2007 I started experiencing significant low back pain. This episode eventually subsided, only to return that summer during our family vacation. Getting in and out of the car was especially painful, and driving a ski boat across choppy waves about made me cry!

We got home from that vacation, and I resolved NEVER to have this kind of pain again, if there was anything at all I could do about it. My focus turned from just weight loss, to getting strong and being in all-around good health.

Adjusting and Refocusing
Because I was addressing my back problem, I focused on core strengthening. The approach was two-directional. First, I put myself on a workout regimen that included weight training my lower body (legs and back) and core workouts using P90x, an intense boot camp-style DVD workout program. Secondly, I went to a chiropractor (a first for me) for evaluation and relief. Dr. Lance Vanderloo at Vanderloo Chiropractic helped get me straightened around. I was a little nervous about the adjustment thing, but Dr. Vanderloo was very gentle, and in a few weeks I was feeling much better.

All of my diet habits held, and I was now adding weight-resistance training to the mix. Plus, I found that walking helped relieve my back pain, too. These things all combined to bring my weight down below 180.

Weight Is Gone, Now What?
It was about this time that I started to realize that I needed some different ways to track my progress, rather than just watching the scale. I didn't necessarily want to be lighter, I just wanted to be healthier. That meant better muscle tone, strength, and lower body fat percentage. Basically, I was wanting to increase lean muscle, and decrease body fat.

This is the one I got

So, I bought an inexpensive skin fold caliper. This measures your body fat percentage by measuring the thickness of skin folds at precise locations on your body, then it uses an algorithm to make a calculation.

My hero

My new goals were coming into focus. Because of the progress I had made, I was willing to set some pretty ambitious, ultimate-type goals. First I decided that I want to see my belly's muscle definition (i.e. see my six-pack), which meant I would have to get my body fat percentage down to 7%-8% and then, that I wanted to maintain the kind of health and fitness that will allow me to play racquetball when I am 90-years-old.

Just reading these goals, and knowing I will reach them gives me a big smile!

To recap my new habits so far:
1) Reduce meal portion sizes
2) Use mind and spirit to visualize and focus
3) Weigh, measure and document progress often
4) Reduce "bad" snacking
5) Walking, core and weight training

Next time: Have You Lost Weight?