drking’s BodyBlog

 …but it’s not good if you want to have a fit physique.  We all have those two or three things in life that we love to indulge but we know deep down that they aren’t compatible to our fitness goals.  One of mine was beer.  Tasty, cold, refreshing, yummy beer.  Unfortunately, the mirror reflected my love of beer.  Most of the time, we see ourselves differently than others see us.  It takes a wakeup call for one to see the “real” person in the mirror.  I didn’t realize how much I had ballooned over the years until I saw a picture of me that accentuated my round face and ample belly.  At this point, I decided to change the person looking back at me in the mirror.  I committed to a lifestyle change and lost 50 pounds of lard.  People ask how I did it as if it was something magical.  I’m writing this to share some of the principles I used and to let the inquisitive know that there is no magic, just perseverance and patience.  So, here’s a snapshot of what I did to shape up.
 

1)  Commit to change and don’t allow others to interfere with your commitment.  You’ll be called obsessive by others but I just see them as lazy.
2)  Exercise hard.  No half-assed efforts either where you walk for 10 minutes and pat yourself on the back.  When I decided to change, I not only gave up beer but smoking as well.  I recall the first few times of exercising and trying to run on the treadmill.  I was winded after three minutes.  I didn’t stop though.  When I couldn’t run anymore, I went directly to the stationary bike and pedaled until I had to push my legs with my hands.  I would lift the heaviest weight I could, which wasn’t much, even when I knew I looked like a pansy.  The key is to do it until you know you’ve given your all.  Don’t get caught up in the specifics of exercise and for hell’s sake don’t care about other people’s opinion of you.  Now I can run for miles and I actually look forward to it.
3)  Eat right.  Don’t view food as a pleasure, view it as a source of fuel and building blocks for your “machine.”  I’m surprised at how many people don’t know what healthy eating is.  If you don’t, educate yourself.  I stripped all sugar, fried foods, refined flours, sodas, and the like from my diet.  I started eating six meals a day.  Like clockwork, I would eat.  You have to re-think eating and actually plan what you will eat.  This will keep you from relying on fast food joints which are definitely out of the picture.  I haven’t eaten at Mickey D’s or BK in years.  This is coming from someone who would receive Christmas cards from fast food corporations because I patronized them so frequently.  Chicken, tuna, lean cuts of beef, skim milk, cottage cheese, broccoli, whole grains, spinach, whole fruits (no juices), nuts (almonds, walnuts) are foods that I ate.  When I didn’t have time to eat a whole meal, I would have a protein shake.  I ate low glycemic throughout the day (except after working out).  If you don’t know what low glycemic is, Google’s your best friend.
4)  Don’t get caught up in all of the supplement hype.  If you are significantly overweight, steps 2 and 3 above will peel off the fat.  As you progressively loose more weight it will become more difficult to loose the fat.  This is when you throw in supplements and kick up your exercise intensity.  Ephedra worked for me and it worked like a charm.  Everyday, at a minimum, I take fish oil and a multivitamin.  Depending on my current goals, I may add in creatine or other supplements. 
5)  Water is your friend.  Drink it and learn to enjoy it.  I used to hate water and would mock the water toting tree huggers.  Now that’s all I drink.  Drink it and like it.
6)  Educate yourself.  BB.com and other websites have a ton of information.
7)  Persist.

So, even though I still love beer (I wasn’t an alchy btw), I know it’s not going to help me get to where I want to be.  I’m at a point now where I can allow myself one on occasion.  If you’re not where you want to be, pass until you’re happy with your progress.  Your weakness may be candy, buttery confections, or sugary drinks.  Whatever it is, decide who you want to be and determine what’s preventing you from achieving it.  Make a change and stick to it.  That’s the magic.

I may have left out a thing or two, but this is the basics.  If I think of anything worth mentioning, I’ll blog later.

Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.
- Ben Franklin