You might think the response to the headline would be something like, "Yes Tim, we've all known you have been overweight for some time, we just didn't think it was polite to bring it to your attention." Instead for me, being overweight is a cause celebre because I'm no longer obese.
According to the BMI calculator on the CDC's web site I've just crossed the threshold from obese to overweight today. You can kvetch about how much a person should weigh, the definition of obesity and whether the BMI is a good measure of fitness, but the simple truth for me is that I am much healthier now by any measurement system.
I would like to especially thank everyone who helped me get to where I am right now, most of you know who you are. Special thanks to the phenomenal cooks at my office who make great soups and salads for me and the co-workers who walk with me at lunch.
Now I'll answer a few weight related questions for you.
Q. How much have you lost.
A. I'm not really sure. I didn't start out to "go on a diet" so there is no obvious starting day for me. I can tell you in the last year I've lost about 70 pounds.
Q. How did you do it?
A. I ate less and I exercised more. I know that is terribly annoying to hear. Those nasty doctors were right my whole life. I didn't do anything resembling a fad diet. More than any other factor I think my weight loss is due to walking at lunch time.
Q. Why did you start walking?
A. I realized how good I felt after a long hike and how lousy I sometimes felt working inside all day. I decided a 30-40 minute walk could really help my emotional and cognitive state.
Q. Can you keep the weight off?
A. I don't really know. The good news is I don't feel like I restrict myself much. I eat plenty of rich foods. For instance, I had either a cookie or a scone everyday this week for instance.
Q. How do you feel?
A. It's great. The funniest thing is how much I like buying new clothes and not having to go to the fat guy's store. I love being able to walk and run and bike, only limited by the time and daylight available to me.
Q. Are you aiming for a certain goal weight?
A. I suppose I have a goal in mind. I'll let you know when I get there. I was told that by Midwest standards I am now "dangerously thin" and may require an emergency hot dish.
Q. Seriously there must be more to it than "eat less, excercise more".
A. There is.
Maybe 4-5 years ago I started trying to eat healthier foods. That meant eating more whole grains, vegetables and avoiding processed food and food with ingredients I couldn't pronounce. That was good for me, but if you eat three or four servings of really healthy foods it doesn't do much for the waistline.
Sometime late last year or early this year I tried to cut down on the volume of food I eat. I ate two helpings instead of three. Then I ate one helping instead of two. Then I stopped heaping my plate so high. Then I started leaving space on my plate. Each time I made a small change I noticed I really wasn't much hungrier after a meal. Now I can eat a cup of soup for lunch and feel great. I don't know if my stomach shrank or if the change was psychological or what. I do know now that some items that I would have eaten a few years ago leave me with a nasty stomach ache for hours.
I tend not to eat a lot of carbs, i.e. potatoes, pasta, breads but you wouldn't call it a low carb diet. I do try and purposely eat foods with more fiber content. For some reason I've really grown to love veggies this year and can't get enough some days. Amusingly it turns out I like veggies more than my favorite vegan blogger friend.
I avoid fast food. I don't do it because I have to, but rather somehow my taste buds changed. There isn't much on the menu that looks yummy to me. I can't remember the last time I had a burger at a fast food place. If you crave fast food be sure and watch "Super Size Me".
I think I'm also mostly happier now than I used to be. I'm quite sure "finding my happy" has helped my weight loss too.
Thats enough tedious diet/nutrition talk for now.
"I was told that by Midwest standards I am now “dangerously thin” and may require an emergency hot dish." -that's hilarious!
Congrats Tim! You look good!
well done. I'll send you some hot dish.
Ah thanks guys, you are so kind.