Ray was one those people who always hated dieting growing up. Over the years, however, he became a convert and today keeps a trim figure. It’s been 2 years since he started on his dieting journey. As a good friend of his since college, I’ve had the chance to be in contact with him through the years and know his story well. I’ve always felt that his story could be instructional and inspirational for many other middle age working adults. So, I’ve decided to write this article for everyone who may be helplessly observing that their metabolism is growing slower with age and their waistline is expanding.
Some three years back, Ray was in his mid-30s and going through a time when he promoted quickly at work, working long hours and given higher responsibilities. He somehow felt that the first side effect of harboring stress in mind was some weight gain, but he lived in denial for a while. It started at a very slow speed at the beginning and his family missed the initial hints. Then he started developing a slightly "double chin," his face becoming a little plump and his waist line started growing. Next thing he knew, the holes in his belt began shifting towards the edge and one day his favorite pants didn’t fit anymore.
One day Ray was driving to his office and his car broke down. Thankfully, the service station was only 50 yards away. He was on a quiet part of town so he knew that he could not get much help. "No big deal," he thought, since the car was a relatively small one. He got out of the car and starting pushing it to get it moving. The car never started but he managed to push it all the way to the service station. But what happened to him after that opened his eyes. He was gasping breathlessly and soon vomited out all the breakfast he ate.
He looked almost like a wreck after he threw up and felt exhausted and terrible. People quickly helped him to rest in their office. Ray felt extremely embarrassed. While waiting for the mechanic to handover the car he looked down the road from where the car broke down. It was just under 50 yards away, and it stunned him. He realized that he had become so unhealthy that pushing a compact sedan car for less than 50 yard push made him throw up literally. That was the day he decided that he was going to work on becoming healthy. He made up his mind to follow a health regiment and to strive for a quick weight loss.
From that day he tried each and every trick in the book. But all of them seemed to fail or showed only negative results. His weight continued to rise and his options becoming fewer. At that point, a lot people would have probably given up and relegated on their commitment.
But good of Ray, he would not give up. Instead, he used his failures to learn what did not work well for his body to tailor a perfect weight loss plan for himself. He realized that doing workouts alone each day was not sufficient to reduce his weight. There was only one option - dieting - which he really tried hard to avoid, since he loves to eat.
He decided that no matter what, he was going to find a diet that he liked enough for him to stick to it, so that he would be able to reduce his weight and maintain it long term. Finally, he got his best tip from a talk show. That talk show host interviewed a movie star who had a history of excess weight in his younger days. He explained how with one simple discipline in life he was able to reduce his weight form 220 pounds to 170 pounds! And, he managed to maintain his 170 pounds for the last thirty years.
The trick was not to consume carbohydrates after 7:00 pm. It initially seemed very simple even though it required discipline. It took less than a week for Ray to realize that his hunger pangs will kill him (after work) if he did not take a reasonable dinner in the night.
So Ray found a middle way that could work for him. The first step he took was exempting himself on Saturdays and Sundays. Next he decided to take only fruits after 7:00pm on weekdays. This step allowed him to cut off on the heavy dose of fat that he used to take during dinner. He also started going to bed early. In one year, his weight dropped 15 pounds and he was thrilled.
Since then, by continuing with is diet, Ray has been able to maintain his weight. I guess the moral of this story is that if at first you do not succeed, keep trying and adjusting. Eventually you will find your path. Having good health is well worth the effort!
Shannen Lee has been a freelance writer for the last 3 years. Check out her writing here on the Best Bathroom Scale website.
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