Let's Talk Weight

Firstly I have to share with you that after 2 long years today I rode to and from work for the first time.  It is only 7.5 miles but there is a 485ft elevation in the way coming home.  For the last week Sarah has been picking me up at the bottom of the hill and today I rode all the way home.  I was slow and it was hard but it felt amazing after all this time :0)

Since I am talking about exercise you might be asking yourself was the weight loss really attributed to exercise, it is not but after all that what everyone tells us.  When I went to the gym the fitness instructor showed me a representation of an overweight person that slims down in direct relation to the amount of exercise performed.   Well 3 years ago we did a whole year at the gym with a personal trainer and yes whilst I got stronger I did not lose weight.  2 years ago I was very fit and 190 lbs then as a result of injuries I was unable to train for 2 years losing both weight and muscle mass.  It has only been in the last month that I have started to train again and explore a completely new body.

It turns out that strength is directly related to exercise and weight whilst it can be influenced by exercise is directly attributed to what we eat.  Not rocket science really but a very significant concept to grasp.  It means that an hour session at the gym gets counter acted by the choice of food you eat afterwards.

Yes if you burn more calories than you consume you will lose weight but you have to burn lots of calories something that most of us do not do.  We also negate the effort we put in both in terms of weight and health through the choice of food we eat.

4 years ago during a particularly stressful day at work I met an alternative health practitioner who convinced me to attend a session.  Whilst the session was good the one thing he insisted on was attending a talk on healthy eating.  Now I must tell you at this point that I love food and would eat anything at the time so I was not very receptive to the idea of eating rabbit food.  Still I went along and to my surprise was inspired by the content of the talk.  Let me know if you are interested in the detail but suffice to say he started us on the journey to change our eating habits that led to Sarah enrolling to be a Health Coach and me losing 30+ lbs and returning to the weight I was at 19 sporting a 30" waist.

The journey was not easy and I fell off the wagon many times and even today the journey continues but I cannot stress the value it has had through back and knee injuries to finally getting me back to the type of activity I love.

You can have it too, I promise but it takes the following:

- Desire to want the change (not just wishing to change)
- Commitment to try new things and work through things like taste changes
- Perseverance to continue
- Forgiveness when you fall off the wagon (just get right back on)
- Support (We are here for you if needed)


For healthy living the other dimension is movement.  I was horrified to find out just how little I moved outside of occasional gym sessions.  When I say movement, I am not referring to high activity exercise, I am talking about simple movement, walking around etc.  In future posts I will talk about what I found out and the tools I use.

Today I am thankful for a wonderful wife without whom none of this would be possible
The love of 2 adorable pups
And the ability to climb a monster hill for the first time in 2 years

Let me leave you with an inspiring picture - enjoy :)