EPTI’d purchase running shoes, gym shorts, iPod holsters, and a handful of other accessories in hopes that one of them would inspire me to exercise consistently. I’d start exercise programs I haphazardly pieced together or found online and give up on them almost immediately. They were challenging. More challenging than I felt they should have been, given how easy these same programs would have been for me just a few years ago. But that was closer to baseline, a place I could only vaguely recall.
For most of my post-pubescent life, I’d found a balance somewhere around 165 lbs., which seems reasonable considering my height of 5’11″. At my crisis point I sat at a sedentary 205 lbs. This weight gain ushered in depressive symptoms, which made it increasingly difficult to make changes. Finally, after listening to Tim Ferris speak about lifestyle goals, and doing far too much research, I decided to address my issue and take a small step forward.
STEP ONE: NO SODA
Experiment
I often find myself consumed by self-reflection. I’m sure it’s a narcissistic tendency resulting from some traumatic incident in my childhood, but I find it helpful when trying to make decisions about my life. The real issue in regards to my diet was that I hadn’t been making any decisions at all. I would reach for the quickest and easiest meal, not considering how little nutrition I was actually getting from it. Preparing to make changes meant preparing to make conscious decisions about what I ate.
It was easy to identify the worst decision I was making: soda. I was drinking it constantly; With every meal and every snack. I knew the dangers of soda. I knew how little sustenance I actually gained from it. I’d even heard that it dehydrates you, but it was so delicious. Who in their right mind would choose water over a cold bottle of Coke or a fountain Dr. Pepper?
I knew that I had lost control over this aspect of my life, so I decided to try to take it back. I had to articulate this idea in the form of a goal, and with New Years approaching, it made sense to try to attach it to a resolution. I seriously doubted I could make it a year without soda, on account of my deep and intimate love for the syrupy goodness. Instead, I decided to alternate months, starting with no soda in January. Most diets allow cheat days, mine allows for a cheat month. The logic here is that after a month without soda, I’d crave it a lot less.
Results
I shed 15 lbs. in less than two weeks. Don’t get me wrong, it was a struggle. I can recognize now that I had allowed myself to become addicted to soda. It was impossible to avoid. I work in an environment that gives me free and unlimited access to soda and all of the junk food I can stomach, which was a lot back at 205. People around me are sipping from soda cans constantly, or at least that how it feels when you’ve decided to give it up. It looks and smells like heaven, and I resentfully drank from my water every time a coworker cracked one open. I began drinking several waters a day, and then roughly one an hour, to curb my addiction.
There was a light at the end of the tunnel. My desire for soda slowly diminished day by day, and I found other non-sugary drinks that could take its place in a reasonable way. Tejava, a bold unsweetened iced tea I found at Trader Joe’s helped a lot, as did my morning coffee. After the first few days of suffering, I started feeling much better. After about a week I felt more healthy than I had in years. The experiment was a huge success. By the time February hit and I was allowed my first soda, I had no desire to break my pact. I ended up ordering one with a meal somewhere around mid-February and it was awful. Only then did I realize how sweet and decadent this treat was. Soda is a dessert, meant to be consumed in moderation. Drinking it with every meal was an abusive act. Since eliminating soda during odd months, I’ll probably have consumed less than 15 soda drinks this year. I’m surprised by my own will power every step of the way, and I still feel like I’m putting very little effort in.
Of course, the initial weight loss was very encouraging. I enjoyed watching the pounds come off and felt a sudden confidence gain. Into February, my weight loss had slowed and I was eager to take another small step forward.
STEP TWO: ADD BREAKFAST
Experiment
I based the next decision off of advice I’d heard my entire life: never skip breakfast. I’d been breaking this rule daily for most of my adult life. I might snack before lunch, but that’s when I’d eat my first meal. I’d continue to snack until dinner, which was my biggest meal of the day, and I might have another snack before bed. I heard someone speak about how breakfast jump-starts your metabolism and makes you less hungry throughout the day. They said that eating something, anything in the morning, was better for you than eating nothing. I had my next experiment, which I simply added to my ongoing experiment without soda.
I started by eating what was available at work and buying protein bars or Starbucks breakfast sandwiches on my days off. Most days I’d eat a bagel with cream cheese or a donut. When I was feeling particularly naughty I’d have both. This started a pattern that, over the last year, I’ve been able to make slight adjustments to. Looking back, I’ve made radical changes to my diet since January ’12, but I got here by taking it slow.
I continued eating bagels and donuts for breakfast for a couple of months, throwing an apple or banana into the mix on occasion. From there, I slowed down on the breaded breakfasts and started to focus on things that would provide more nutrition. Sometimes I regress, but I’m conscious of my decisions and I’m able to address them more accurately moving forward. I now look forward to breakfast, regardless of what I’m eating.
Results
I lost another 10 lbs. in a few weeks. I had a lot more energy throughout the day. I also stopped snacking very slowly throughout the process as I would make small changes to my diet.
Of course, this step took a little more effort in the beginning. Whereas removing soda from my diet was simply not continuing a behavior, adding a meal to the day required proactivity. In the beginning, I was still eating fast food most days, which meant I wasn’t grocery shopping. Buying breakfast materials meant planning ahead, but I’d already made so much progress, so as long as I shopped smart I could minimize the amount of effort I put in and still meet my next goal.
I was eventually able to work up to buying enough fruit, cereal, eggs, yogurt, or simple protein bars/shakes to last a few days at a time, and I began looking forward to my mornings. I want to emphasize the simplicity of my breakfasts. I try to prolong sleep, with the occasional over-sleep, so I sometimes find myself rushing out the door in a panic. It might not be that dramatic, but I have a limited range of things I can pay attention to for the first hour of the day, and preparing a meal is not one of them. I’m working with some very primitive technology upstairs and it takes me a little longer to sync up to the day. I now buy things that I can grab on the way out and eat in my car, which I view as my contribution to the mighty quagmire that is Los Angeles traffic.
Once I was eating a breakfast that provided nutrition, I was snacking much less, and was ready to take my step.
STEP THREE: MAKE ADJUSTMENTS
Experiment
This part was much less clear and defined for me. Health is an ongoing path, but as long as you’re moving forward, you’re there. It requires a realistic awareness of where you are, and where you could go. A recognition of place and potential.
Because of breakfast and my limited refrigeration, I was going to Trader Joe’s every few days. While I was there, I was buying the iced tea that eases my soda fast and picking up my various morning feed. I started purchasing some of Trader Joe’s pre-packaged salads. Suddenly I was replacing greasy, dead, putrid fast food vomit with salads my fair grocer picked from the plate of God and mixed with dressings that cause divine experiences and have been the reported inspiration of dozens of religious cults across California. These salads started to replace some of my meals throughout the day. Adding breakfast had reduced the size of my dinners, and these salads fit in perfectly.
Results
The results are as ongoing as the step itself. Of course I still pig out on burgers and burritos. I won’t even mention what I do to a box of Oreo’s if I accidentally buy one or two. Regardless of the discipline I’ve managed to maintain over my diet since this started, there’s still an animal pacing around underneath, barking and snarling, anxiously awaiting the day I let him out of his cage.
Health is an everyday series of choices that I’m slowly claiming power over using the momentum from all of my previous victories. To this day, I continue to transform by setting immediate, short term goals, and adjusting my long term goals as I go. Everything scales as the true goal is to continue learning, experimenting, and improving.
Since starting these experiments, I’ve completely changed my eating habits. I’ve introduced vitamins into my diet. I’ve even found the energy and motivation to exercise consistently. None of these things were possible without momentum and the encouragement I give myself when honestly assessing the progress I make. I lost 40 lbs. without exercise by approaching my health in a slow, focused manner. Goal after goal, I continue moving forward. I’m inspired by others who do the same.
!
I can't stand anything carbonated.
