I knew that I have a serious problem. I'm addicted to food. My portion size is so ridiculously out of the realm of what any human needs, that I have literally been killing myself. I knew I had to beat my addiction to food, if I ever wanted to do this. It was time to start eating to live, not living to eat.
After I told Amy that I was ready to do this, we sat down and made a plan. Actually, she challenged me to a goal she set for her self for January.
Month 1 Challenge: No soda, No fast food.
WOAH! Hold on. Seriously, I'm on the road for work 3-4 days most weeks, and I live on Dr Pepper. You want me to go without both for a month....
I didn't think I could do it. That small challenge seemed monumental a month ago.
Now it's January 1. Here we go. No soda, no fast food.
This was a crazy month. I worked a ton of hours and was on the road for work almost as much as I was home. It would have been SOOO easy to give up before I ever got started.
BUT
I made it. The first week wasn't horrible. I did pretty good outside of a few insane cravings for soda. By the second week, I started actively tracking my calorie intake each day. Using the my fitness pal app. I was given about 2500 calories a day, and I was staying under that without feeling hungry. Towards the end of the second week, I got stuck out on a job and had to get fast food. After an hour discussion with Amy, she convinced me that it was ok. That I just needed to make smart choices when I was faced with those situations. So I did. Over the course of the month, there were 5 times that I had no choice, but to grab something quick. I found that there are several healthy options at every fast food place, and when in a crunch, they actually work for me.
By the third week, I really started paying close attention to what I was putting in my body. I cut back even further. I started eating a lot more fruits and veggies, both for snacks and at mealtime. By the end of the month, I found myself staying around 1800-2000 calories a day. It was working. The soda cravings were dying down, and for the first time in my life, I was content eating "healthy".
Amy and I had started really looking at the meals we eat on a regular basis. We started finding things in each meal that we could change, to make them healthier. Whole wheat pasta and lean beef for spaghetti night, chicken instead of beef for tacos. Eating less cheese on EVERYTHING. Simple, small changes that make a HUGE difference.
It's really crazy, just how much I ate before. Learning what I have about calorie intake over the last month, I realize just how bad it was. I could easily sit down and have a plate of food with over 3000 calories.. for one meal. My mind had convinced my body that it needed that much to be full.
It's been an interesting, informative, and hard 35 days. The journey is still just beginning. I still struggle DAILY with food choices and the temptation of just saying screw it. The results fortunately speak much louder than my doubts.
One month down. 24lbs lost.
Start : 1/1/2014 a miserable 397 LBS
Now : 2/1/2014 a less miserable 373LBS
I know it's one small victory on the road of my LONG journey. It's a pretty damn good start. I know I won't lose everything I need to just from changing my diet. Which brings us to next months goal. Exercise!
Until next time.
-Big Matt
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