How to change your life

A few years ago I found myself overweight, out of shape and in dire need of a change. I had never been an athlete, but I was relatively active before and through college. I would hike, bike and walk everywhere. I enjoyed food but I had enough physical activity to compensate.

After graduation I found a job and discovered the Internet. I spent my time in front of a computer, either working or playing. Going out with friends meant going to eat or maybe to a movie. I ate just as much but I was completely inactive. At my lowest point, I was 270lbs and out of breath after a single flight of stairs.

Those stairs were a wake up call. They told me that I was ruining my health and I needed to change. Unfortunately, I found it difficult to do what I knew needed to be done. I read a lot of books, researched on the internet and talked to friends. Each source was full of advice and useful information but it was all so confusing. I didn’t know what worked and what didn’t. I would try some diet, lost a bit of weight and then see it all come back later. I spent a year just figuring out what I needed to change. Only then did I start seeing results.

That’s what I’m hoping to help you, my audience, with. I’ve gone through all this and I think I can prevent you from making all the wrong turns I did. I’m not a doctor, a professional athlete, a nutrition specialist or a physical trainer. I’m just a normal guy who works long hours, has an active social life, a wonderful fiance and still manages to stay healthy.

The first thing you need to understand is that this is not a temporary change. If you’re thinking that this is a “diet” or some “three month workout regime”, then you might as well stop now. Those work for exactly as long as you stay on them and once you quit, the weight comes back, the muscles go away and you’re back where you started. This is a life change, pure and simple. You are about to start making changes that will have a permanent effect on your life.

Second, you are NOT going to go from fat to fit in a day or a week or a month or maybe even a year. It’s taken me three years so far to shape up and I’m still not quite where I want to be. It’s a gradual process. You’ll be making small steps each day but they’ll add up. You will not see that scale count down a lb each day, but you will see small changes. Clothes that were tight will start getting loose. Meetings you once slept through you’ll now have energy to pay attention to. You might even make it up those stairs without going out of breath.

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