I Am What I Ate

I remember a time, years ago, when I was afraid to buy Fat Boy Ice Cream Sandwiches. I always thought that as people saw me carrying them through the store, they'd think of the saying, "You are what you eat", and they'd think I was a fat boy. The ironic thing is that I was pretty thin back then.

I've also always been nervous to purchase low-fat or "light" items because people might think to themselves, "He must be fat because he's trying to lose weight." That's why I didn't switch to diet soda for a long time. But since the time that I decided that my health was more important than people's perceptions of me, I've changed a lot of my eating habits. No more second breakfast in the morning. No more midnight snacks (I try to squeeze them in by 11). I keep track of what I eat and only eat when I'm hungry.

I no longer order the largest thing on the menu. I stop eating when I get full, even if it means throwing the remainder of my meal away. I don't snack all day at work anymore. I drink water at restaurants. I've even eaten an occasional salad--and enjoyed it.

And for all my diet changes and increased workouts at the gym, here's the result:

Now, a 292.3 may not mean a lot by itself, but when you realize that that same scale was saying 319 just over a year ago, it puts it in perspective. Not that the 292.3 is a regular occurance--I'm typically in the 295 range lately--but that's the first time I've seen a number that low in over 4 years.

Before you say that I should be losing a lot more weight than that, let me just say that I'm not really trying to lose weight. I'm trying to be healthy. I'm doing it a little at a time as my mind and body are able to accept it. I'm not jumping right in to a diet and exercise program with the intent to lose 100 pounds in 6 months. I'm making small changes to the way I live my life to transform my bad habits into good habits.

So many people diet starting on a certain day and then just give up the whole thing the first time they mess up. I'm not dieting; I'm changing things one at a time to make myself better. If I mess up one day, it doesn't matter; I'll just pick up where I left off the next day.

I'm not anywhere near my goal weight (the government says I should weight 185 to be "healthy", but I would die of malnutrition if I ever weighed that little. My own personal idea of an ideal weight is right around 250) but I'm heading in the right direction. Even if my progress is slow, as long I keep heading this direction I should be just fine.