I'm just completing my first year of my new lifestyle.  I lost over 45 pounds in 2014, dropping me to under 150. Base upon my height, that is pretty close to my ideal weight.  I'll share [a] my story and [b] what has worked for me.

my short story

For over a decade I have been tolerating a an upward creep of my weight.  I often bumped into signs that I should take action.  Clothing choices was one, my pubic image was another, and annoying health issues comprised several others.  Finally I stopped delaying and booked a physical with my doctor, fortuitously at the start of the year (January 3).  I had to fill out a form of my health concerns, and I found myself qualifying them as possibly something that might be resolved with weight control.

So during my conversation with my doctor, I declared that I would try to lose some weight and see how the other symptoms might improve.  It was the prepared thoughts and that conversation that gave me the resolve to start a focused initiative.  The timing made it convenient to assign it as a new year's resolution, but it was my-frame-of-mind and not the start of the year that launched this.

To help keep me motivated and accountable, I weighed-in daily and charted my progress.  During that first winter month I saw the pounds shedding by just changing my eating habits.  Success encourages sustained effort, and from early on I was able to sustain my focus.  As our late Spring finally gave opportunity to ride bike, I began a ramp up to my best cycling season ever.  

Now cycling helped in two ways.  The first and obvious is that is is a calorie-burning exercise.  I enjoy it and it has re-emerged as part of my lifestyle.  The second is that my enthusiasm led me to read about nutrition for cycling, and what I learned guided me to even better eating choices.

I looked forward to July 9, my six-month follow-up with my doctor.  In January he has told me that he would be happy with a 10 pound loss at this stage. I had lost roughly 30 pounds.  All my tests (such as cholesterol) now showed results back in the normal range.  In January my doctor told me I had slipped into the "obese" category, and by July I had dropped through "overweight" to just a couple of pounds away from the "normal." Obviously, this six-month check-in was a personal victory and a time to celebrate, but my resolution was for a lifestyle change - not something that is completed and done.

I continued to cycle aggressively - not just for weight loss, but much for the love of riding and touring for hours.  Eating "clean" is becoming a natural desire, and the thought of even moderately junk food is unappealing. (Give me fresh vegetables and I don't need dip to make them palatable.)

As we approached the fall, Deb and I shopped for new clothes.  For years I had been wearing size 38 jeans.  To my surprise, I fit into size 32!  I used to ask for XL t-shirts, and now I won't even consider an 'L'.  I went though all my old clothes - keeping size 34's and designating anything larger for donation.  I wish I would have taken a picture of what Deb took to Salvation Army - the stack of pants, shirts, and suits (ouch) seemed to be at least two feet high.

I share all this as a testimony that a change in lifestyle - even for an older person (this year I've been 57) - can lead to results that we might have forfeited in the back of our minds.  My results surprised me.  I didn't subscribe to any packaged weight loss program.  I just made and committed to better choices.  

My goal was a new "lifestyle" - something that comes naturally.  My doctor asked me how much more weight I planned to drop.  I replied that I didn't know.  I wanted to stabilize eating and exercise habits that I could sustain as a lifestyle, and my body will naturally level around a weight based upon that. In my self-talk I've been candid about lifestyle-over-numbers.  The key, then, is for me to focus on establishing realistic habits.  And much of this past year has had to deal with challenges to my ideals.  For instance, how do I handle myself at restaurants or family events?  ...at desert time? ...while on vacation or at a conference?  What do I do in winter when my choice of exercise - outdoor cycling - is not practical?  I've experimented.  I've made mistakes, but I try to discover a better solution - or at least a compromise.

 

what worked for me

My approach stands on three legs: goal-and-resolution, eating, exercise.  

be resolved to a lifestyle change

It is essential for me to articulate a goal so I know what I'm trying to achieve - and what success looks like.  I recalled the weight range in which I used to feel good physically and about my image - but a particular weight or clothes size was not my real goal.  Rather, my goal was to establish a healthy lifestyle that sustains my weight in a range where I feel healthy, relatively slim, and professional.  My real goal - a new lifestyle in which my new eating habits and activities are routine.

I recalled that a lifestyle change must emerge with effort over time:  One must force himself daily into following a discipline.  Eventually the discipline becomes habits, and then habits lead to that lifestyle change.  As for daily discipline, I would record my weight every morning, think about my eating choices throughout the day, chart my cycling activities, and force myself to "get out there" to keep pace toward my annual cycling goals.  In my head I would regularly talk to myself about these choices and how to overcome resistance - more conversations than I can summarize now.   

Another way to look at "developing a new lifestyle":  When starting a change, I need to be very conscious of my decisions and sacrifices.  As time goes on I will naturally be less conscious of those decisions and my actions will feel less like sacrifices. Ultimately, a lifestyle reflects a natural inclination to choices and actions that are normal and without the sense of sacrifice.  After a year of discipline, I feel I am embracing my new lifestyle.  I still need to be somewhat conscious of the daily decisions and to guard against lax choices, but making the right choices feel natural and more welcomed than sacrifice. (For instance, when I want a snack I actually do prefer fruit or a lean sandwich and not chips.)

And I knew that reaching a particular weight or clothing size was just phase 1.  I knew I would be facing a phase 2 which would involve a new discipline - eat and exercise to maintain a weight/size without the satisfaction of losing one-more-pound, and without gaining.  I am working on that now.  For instance, I am learning how to cope with the winter months that affects my bike-riding and activity level.

eat "clean"

"Clean" eating refers to eating natural foods that have not been processed.  For me this has led to fruits, vegetables, whole grain breads, lean meats, eggs, milk, raw nuts, etc.  In the first couple of months, before I increased my activity level, I was surprised at how much weight I lost by just switching to unprocessed foods.  (Nearly 15 pounds in two months!) Let me clarify:  This means eating these foods in their natural forms and not in casseroles or packaged meals that contain these items.  Deb pointed out that health experts advise to shop on the outer areas of the grocery store and not in the aisles.  We now do this, and our refrigerator and pantry reflect these new choices.

As I started to read how serious cyclists should eat, I found those articles promoting the same approach and explaining why it works.  When I returned for my six-month follow-up, my doctor affirmed this. He said the new food model is that a plate should have relatively equal portions of four groups: fruits, vegetables, lean meats, and whole grains.

I do eat a good amount of whole-grain bread. I am not anti "carb."  Certainly, I avoid sugars and white or processed breads.  But I consume natural complex carbs through fruits, vegetables, and hearty whole-grained breads. And while engaged in a multi-hour bike ride, the cyclist is encouraged to eat such things. 

"when" to eat and portions

I tried to focus on one criteria:  Is my stomach really hungry or is it just my mouth that is prompting me to eat?  I came to realize that more often than not I thought I was hungry only because of a habit, or a smell, or an aftertaste, or boredom.  When I redefine "hunger" as an urge driven by the stomach, I found I was hungry less often and that my hunger was satiated with smaller portions.  One trick Deb taught me is to brush my teeth to cancel that false signal that my mouth was sending me.  I haven't been perfect here, but I do best when I "listen" to my stomach and not to my mouth.

I ought to add that evening can be a challenging time.  Sometimes I just have to resolve that after my supper I simply don't eat any more.  Again, not easy to follow through, but such discipline seems always to pay off on the scale.

choices in public

I have found that it is important to develop a strategy for handling eating in public and in social situations.  I entered the year not knowing how to handle these scenarios, and I was determined to figure it out as these situations would arise. With some regularity I will need to go out to restaurants and share meals at other homes. Most restaurant entrees are focused on taste with little care for calories or clean eating.  The American diet has drifted so far into fats and processed foods, that (I have observed) most home cooked meals at family or social events stray too far from the "clean" eating I now embrace.  How do I navigate these events without being insulting?

The answer seems to be balancing two tactics: look hard for the better options and cut way back on portions.

Restaurants: At a restaurant I often can find items like a simple sandwich (no mayo or sauces), a chef's salad, a fruit plate, an omelet, etc.  And if the restaurant serves large portions, I often tell myself before I start that I will eat only half or so of the meal that is set before me.  I can take the rest home.

Road Trips:  Often I'm able to quietly pack my own bag of snacks - fruit, simple sandwiches with whole grain breads.  I prefer to steer the car toward a Subway, or better yet, to a grocery store or service island that likely includes natural food options.  If I can't find a reasonable alternative, I'll eat little or order only something to drink. Once in a group the car stopped at McDonald's and I ordered just a Diet Coke and quietly controlled my hunger until the next road break.  That does demand will power, but -  really - how often am I so hungry that I can't wait another two or three hours?!

Social Gatherings:  Avoid anything that strays too far from my diet, and be willing to eat very little.  If I don't have confidence in the food options, I might bring my own fruit or sandwich, or I might eat a little "clean" food before I arrive.  

exercise

In the past I found that my favorite "exercise" activity is bicycling.  Visiting a gym is not ideal for me as it takes more time in travel and involves competition for various machines.  So this year I resolved to return to some serious cycling goals.  My previous annual best was 1512 miles, I set a goal of 2000, and ended up well beyond 3000.  As with any discipline-to-lifestyle, I started out at a slow pace, but by late summer I was riding an average of 150 miles per week.  I clearly found an activity that I enjoyed.

Yes, one benefit of cycling is that it does burn a lot of calories.  Had I not been riding much, I think my rate of weight loss would have slowed down much earlier.  But long and intense rides require that I "fuel" myself during them, and so much of the calories burned on long rides were fueled with food and not from burning fat.

Two other benefits of serious bicycling are muscle building and cardio endurance.  I could feel the muscle difference when I crossed my arms.  And eventually my resting pulse dropped to low 50s and often into the 40s - rates typically considered for athletes.

I knew I'd be facing a challenge come winter.  The snow- and ice-packed roads of winter came unexpectedly early this year.  After research, I invested in a quality indoor trainer.  Riding indoors is clearly more boring, so instead of multi-hour rides outside I try to get in one-hour rides or 20 miles (which in the summer I considered as short rides). I recently added a mount that allows me to read from my tablet while pedaling in the basement, and this makes indoor riding less boring and more productive.  i think I found a sustainable winter approach to staying in shape and elevating my metabolism.

 

my outlook for 2015 and beyond

My 2014 resolution did not target numbers to be attained - rather it focused on developing and sustaining a new lifestyle.  I guess the hard part is past - making significant changes to my daily habits and choices.  It took nearly ten months to reach the general weight and body size that I have now have. As I start the next year, I sustain my 2014 resolution into 2015.  The challenge now is to demonstrate that I'm willing to sustain this lifestyle and its benefits.

I want to sustain this quality of life into the rest of my life.