Lifestyle Change – Healthy Lifestyle

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i have made a lifestyle change about 2 years ago. i started walking 15 minutes after each meal back then. now i walk more than 2 hours a day. i lost about 60 pounds just by walking, then i lost another 25 pounds by eatting healthy.

i also got papa involved. he was very fat with diabetes, and i saved his life by "forcing" him to walk (it was more like constant nagging).

i went from a 235 pound "fat slob" to a 150 pound "health freak" in a little under a year. it is really great being healthy. i have much more energy and a lot happyer than when i was fat.

i even notice papa too. he used to get tired from just walking up the stairs. now when we go shopping he is walking so fast and he doesnt even get tired. and i can get my arms around him when we hug.

I was just thinking today how amazing it was that my 12/nearly 13 year old AS son and I started last October/November with the occasional/three times a week 10 minute weight-lifting/upper-body workout session in front of one of other of two free short ThinQFitness videos which I had found online, and how despite a hiatus around the end of the year, and again in February when we both caught a horrible flu'ish bug which knocked us out for a couple of weeks, we have not only managed to maintain the habit, but extended it, week by week, until we now do 45 minutes at the same time every day except Sunday, using over 20 different short free videos for variety and balance, ( Core/bodyweight workouts, weightlifting, flexibility and stretching/callanetics, cardio, etc ), in english, german, russian, and korean/chinese! :lol

In the beginning neither of us could face/handle introducing/inserting more than 10 minutes of this alien new activity into our lives, and even that was a strain, but we have gradually got used to doing it, and enjoy finding new videos, and I like rearranging the workouts to get the best "flow" etc ( several subfiles in my "bookmarks" etc! ) . And 45 minutes now feels totally normal! :O

We also manage to get out fora walk about three times a week, occasionally more often, for between 45 minutes and an hour or so, but that is dependent on the weather, and so is more sporadic, because I have to think about it, whereas the videos are there every day, at the same time. :lol
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I have been unhealthy most of my life. My family were not very good cooks, or very healthy people while I was growing up, they had bad habits like drinking a bunch of soda, coffee, eating mostly fatty foods, and a lack of fiber in nearly all meals, and other important nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Meals every day consisted of hamburger meat. corn, and noodles with tomato sauce and maybe some chopped onion, hamburgers, toast or just bread slathered with butter, bags of crackers, pizza, canned chicken noodle, you get the idea. That was the bulk of my diet. Drinks included all kinds of caffeinated soda full of sugar, coffee, and sugary juices. That was what they had and I had to have it too. Honestly, for many years it was all I knew. It was not only what I knew, but I was addicted to it too.

During my last year of high school, the diet really began to take it's toll on my body. It got to a point where I was slightly above 5 feet tall 170+ lbs, eating the same old stuff I've always been eating, that was always around, and drinking the same things too. I was so ashamed of my appearance and felt unhealthy. I no longer could run fast for long periods of time, my body was degrading. For so many years, I was told by my family and doctors I had bowel problems and had no good advice from them to help me, but the doc did give me things (medications) to help... There were many days (especially for my real younger years it was very normal for this to happen) I remember not going for over a week, one time even almost a month... I even though I might die, because my parents told me if I don't go poison is building up inside of me. All of this was a regular occurrence, and to feel able to go to the bathroom not even on a regular basis, I had to take laxatives very regularly for many years. What I did not know for the years of my adolescence and teen years is my diet was heavily lacking in hydration, fiber and vitamins that help digestion, and if I just ate and drank stuff that had what I needed, I would never have been in such a awful position as I was, I could have avoided it if my parents offered me healthy choices. But the stuff I needed was not around, or it would be in cans, full of sodium, or cooked into a ton of oil or fat.

Anyways, after realizing my whole body is out of whack, I began researching how to lose weight healthfully, how to eat healthier, and how to get in athletic shape. I spent many years doing that, reading articles, asking questions on forums, and even making a weight loss/muscle gain thread of my own with pictures. It was very important to me, I didn't like feeling unhealthy and fat, it was horrible, especially for someone who actually enjoys being active. So I had to change...

I began eating mostly healthy foods, taking multivitamins, consistently. I would work out for 20 or so minutes on the treadmill for starters doing high intensity fast paced cardio, and move on body weight exercises after a rest and warm up for 10-15 minutes afterwards. I kept it up, until it became easy to do, then I would increase the intensity of the run, and lifting. My diet consisted of lots of fish (back when healthy fish was cheap), vegetables like fresh cooked potatoes, green beans, collards, onion, and I began juicing and eating fruit a lot. As 5 or so months went by, I found myself going from 170+ to 120, then finding my most comfortable weight, which I think is 130-140, and I was semi regular for the first time in my life for over a decade! Afterwards I took some martial arts classes, loved it right away, and decided to buy a punching bag, some wraps, and gloves. That was a wonderful thing, because I got so much enjoyment out of practicing my striking, and also working out. What a hard work out it is too, but I loved it and kept doing it. I also looked up a bunch of other types of exercises to do, I got obsessed with this stuff, and now I just love it, it's one of those things that makes me feel alive. Because of this big life change I got more attention from women, and dudes, and it made my confidence soar. Also, I found if I have a good run before hanging out, a lot of time it would make me more social too.

I always tell my overweight friends who ask me how I lost the weight and became muscular, you must be consistent, determined, and have a strong will. If you want it, you gotta get it, it's not going to just happen, and it won't be easy. A large part of doing it is learning, knowing what works for people, then you, then the rest just takes doing what you have learned and having the patience it takes to obtain all of the benefits of a healthy life style. Make no excuses, don't eat cheat foods, unless it's your special cheat day, don't miss a work out because you're lazy or don't have time either, if you can't do it all, do something at least.

Just recently, I have been healing up some injuries, just your typical wear and tear, and being rough with the guys and what not, and I think I may have PTSD from abuse, I feel somethings off at times. During that time I began getting more depressed, and was eating bad and I believe I gained an overeating disorder, plus I was not working out enough... A lot has been happening in life. No excuses though, I have been honest with myself, and hard on myself at the same time and it has helped me get back to normal. I was again about 160 or so IDK, don't weigh myself anymore, just know from scales I had stepped on from certain times... and I'm back down to 140 again... I am back to running for 20-45m consistently, doing some free weights, body weight exercises, cardio drills on the bag and of coarse eating well. Back to feeling better again, and I hope it stays that way. It's a ongoing struggle, but I refuse to let it win. I know what to do and I just have to do it and keep doing it... I know it feels tons better than being fat and unhealthy, or one of the two... It feels great to feel the way a person is supposed to. I can do so much more and I feel so better. It's really hard to explain how good it feels to be healthy after being so unhealthy for so long, without feeling like I am being over the top... It's just wonderful to feel good and lack most of the negative feelings I had when I was fat and unhealthy. I am very dedicated and obsessed with being healthy, but I still slip up. I never give up though, because I've been through the rough and tough before, and I know I can do it again. Other people can do what I did and am doing too, I'm nobody special. All you need to do is learn, focus, do what you know you have to do, and ignore the distractions.

Awesome post!

I experienced something very similar after I turned 29, following a decade of pretty heavy/constant/often binge drinking, and frequent takeaways esp bacon cheeseburgers, lots of chocolate bars, very little fruit and nearly no vegetables at all. I was by no stretch of the imagination fat but I had just experienced a huge manic-depressive breakdown and continuing severe depression, and I suddenly realised that I needed to look after my body. It wasn't easy. I relapsed often, but gradually over the years I have built up increasingly healthy eating patterns. I still relapse; I am currently in a dairy and chocolate breakout!! ! :lol

Which is probably why I have been posting more again on WP recently; i have noticed that my interest in "virtual realites"/online "life" increases significantly when I eat dairy and sugar.

I don't have quite the same "excuse" as you though. Although my family ate rather rudimentarily until I was about 10, ( when my mother experienced some sort of dietary epiphany of her own, and began feeding us elaborate salads every evening ), it nevertheless rarely sank below the "meat and two veg" sort of standard, which however much it favoured the starchy cereals and sugary desserts, usually managed to include at least three servings of vegetables per day in amongst the rubbbish, plus a decent protein or two.
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hello, just to let you all know, i removed the original post as it is a spammer, but your responses are so awesome i wanted to keep the thread in place. so now you know why AdamAutistic's post is showing as the first post in the thread.

So have you tried vegetable disguise, yet?

what is that?

I remember you posted once about not eating vegetables, so I posted a bit about mixing pureed vegetables into sauces and gravy etc and making fresh soups. I think you said you were going to give it a go.

oh that, yes i have. i thought you meant a specific product lol. i grated carrots finely to put in my shepherd's pie.

Turnip wig.

TURNIPS ARE EVIL AND THEIR EVIL FLAVOUR PERMEATES EVERYTHINGGGGGGGG

They are abhorrent.

PUT THEM OVER THERE WITH THE BRUSSELS SPROUTS AND ASPARAGUS *HURL*

Shoot them at the sun.

yes