I Finally Just Give Up . . . FOR GOOD

[jvcarroll]

I'm not really an expert on this, but I have a lot of friends who have the same issues. I hope you don't think of this as an over-step. The one thing that I've seen work with any consistency is this (and I actually do a lot of this myself):

• Give yourself a break. Don't think in terms of numbers or measurements or anything like that. All of life is about progress, not perfection. Find a way to like your routine and make it livable. Other people's methods (even mine) may not connect with you and "crash" anything never does. Little everyday life changes do.
• Make it simple and only do 20 minutes of moderate cardiovascular (jogging/speed walking) exercise every other day. No more, no less. Consistently doing that one simple thing has worked for a lot of people and it's a big time saver. By moderate, I mean intervals. Try to go kind of fast for one minute and then take a minute or two off before doing it again. It's a less monotonous way of keeping things interesting and it builds stamina.
• Two or three days of light weight lifting for 20 minutes (or pushups and situps at home) every week will help jump start the metabolism and turn things into muscle. I don't mean Schwarzenegger. I mean healthy normal people muscle that happens more inside instead of the outward appearance.
• Compose a livable diet, not a freaky limiting one. Our bodies crave variety and there are loads of healthy things in moderate portions. It takes some planning ahead so that you're not stuck with bad choices or starving. Find healthy things you like and allow yourself at least one nutritious snack a day. A small bag of nuts or something like that can really help boost your energy between meals. I tend to bring a small backpack with me that's stocked with water, the most nutritious protein bar I can find and some small snack for just in case.
• Take a day off every week for pete's sake. Usually this day is Sunday. I'm not saying go crazy, but periodically relaxing the guidelines is the best way to keep them. After a while your body should want to respond to the healthier stuff anyway.

This is a way to live. It's not really a diet. And it's pretty reasonable to keep up with. I don't know if it will work for you, but it's worth a shot. The twenty minutes of cardio every-other-day alone will at least improve your mood and that's really what all of this is about. Being happy!

Anyway, I hope whatever it is you do leads you to a place of happiness and self-acceptance. You're a great fella and very talented. I hate to see people get down on themselves for needless things. We all have our challenge. I don't talk about it much, but I was significantly depressed for a while until a significant life change last year. In fact, I have a simple little list of how best to deal with life's angst that works for me. I only provide that upon request so I'll spare you of that. LOL.

Whatever you do, I hope it leads you to a happier place.

 

[D'Snowth]

• Give yourself a break. Don't think in terms of numbers or measurements or anything like that. All of life is about progress, not perfection. Find a way to like your routine and make it livable. Other people's methods (even mine) may not connect with you and "crash" anything never does. Little everyday life changes do.

While I have pretty much made my routine routine by the very definition of the word, a break would be nice; as I've said before, with the exception of Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and the odd cheat day maybe once a month, I honestly can't remember the last time I didn't do all of this stuff every single day of the week.

• Make it simple and only do 20 minutes of moderate cardiovascular (jogging/speed walking) exercise every other day. No more, no less. Consistently doing that one simple thing has worked for a lot of people and it's a big time saver. By moderate, I mean intervals. Try to go kind of fast for one minute and then take a minute or two off before doing it again. It's a less monotonous way of keeping things interesting and it builds stamina.

That would certainly be a switch, because I've often felt that perhaps keeping things simple is why I never saw results, so I'd try to push and exhert myself more and more, figuring making more effort would give me more reseults. But hey, 20 minutes of exercise every other day as opposed to three hours every day would be a relief, lol.

• Two or three days of light weight lifting for 20 minutes (or pushups and situps at home) every week will help jump start the metabolism and turn things into muscle. I don't mean Schwarzenegger. I mean healthy normal people muscle that happens more inside instead of the outward appearance.

Oh good, because I don't really wish to turn myself into a waxy, shirtless, beef mongrel like Ahhnold! What would you recommend in lieu of actual weights? Because I'll be honest with you man, I am waaaay too far gone to do pushups for situps: my gut is too big for me to achieve the latter, and I can only do up to six pushups before I collapse. But I seem to recall my previous doctor suggesting weight lifting as well, I just don't have any weight to do so with.

• Compose a livable diet, not a freaky limiting one. Our bodies crave variety and there are loads of healthy things in moderate portions. It takes some planning ahead so that you're not stuck with bad choices or starving. Find healthy things you like and allow yourself at least one nutritious snack a day. A small bag of nuts or something like that can really help boost your energy between meals. I tend to bring a small backpack with me that's stocked with water, the most nutritious protein bar I can find and some small snack for just in case.

I suppose I really should drink more water . . . it just doesn't appeal to me (flavorless, y'know?). Luckily, being carbonation intolerant, I can't drink soft drinks and sodas (and admittedly, that's always been an advantage in my favor), so just about all I drink is milk and Juicy Juice, lol. But yeah, I've been avoiding snacking at all costs as of late, but I could definitely do a small bag of nuts or proein bars from time to time.

• Take a day off every week for pete's sake. Usually this day is Sunday. I'm not saying go crazy, but periodically relaxing the guidelines is the best way to keep them. After a while your body should want to respond to the healthier stuff anyway.

I used to take weekend off in general, but it's only been within the last few years or so that I kept doing all this each day of the week.

This is a way to live. It's not really a diet. And it's pretty reasonable to keep up with. I don't know if it will work for you, but it's worth a shot. The twenty minutes of cardio every-other-day alone will at least improve your mood and that's really what all of this is about. Being happy!

I will admit, just reading your plan makes me feel like my mood's been improved.

Anyway, I hope whatever it is you do leads you to a place of happiness and self-acceptance. You're a great fella and very talented. I hate to see people get down on themselves for needless things. We all have our challenge. I don't talk about it much, but I was significantly depressed for a while until a significant life change last year. In fact, I have a simple little list of how best to deal with life's angst that works for me. I only provide that upon request so I'll spare you of that. LOL.

Y'know, just for the halibut, if you don't mind contacting me (here, FB, email, whatever), I wouldn't mind hearing your story if you'd like to talk about it; I always like hearing about my friends' lives and how they improve themselves.

Whatever you do, I hope it leads you to a happier place.

Thanks, me too.

 

[CensoredAlso]

I suppose I really should drink more water

Yes, that is very important. Not just for weight, but health in general. See it's never hopeless, there's always something else you can do to help yourself.

You're lucky you can't drink soda because that was always the killer for me, lol. As for juice, you'd have to take a look at the nutritional information to know if it's doing more harm than good (which I'm sure you know already).