How I Lost Seventy Pounds

I lost seventy pounds the old fashioned way. Sorry, no easy tricks here just good old fashioned blood, sweat and a change in eating habits. No it wasn't easy, it was a lot of determination and exercise. My weapons of choice Russian Kettle Bells. Crazy metal weight shaped like a ball with a handle on it.

I started these workouts November 2011. My starting weight was 210 pounds, now 140 pounds. It took about a year and a half to lose the weight. I choose to lose the weight slowly. I did this to give myself a better chance of changing eating habits and slowly building up my endurance to exercise. We all tend to just jump into a new exercise routine to quickly causing us to burnout and give up.

By losing weight at a slower rate you have a better shot of keeping the weight off. The quick fix weight loss plans tend to make you hungry and then your body insists you eat. How discouraging that is for all of us who have tried these trend diets. Also a drastic drop of calorie intake makes your metabolism slow down. This is of course the opposite of what we want.

What your looking for is a healthy way to speed up your metabolism. The best way of course is to learn what foods work for you and to change your eating habits accordingly. Yes exercise will help with getting your metabolism to speed up. Aim for one to two pounds per week of weight loss. By having this new healthy eating and exercise life style, you will have a much better chance of keeping the weight off. Your energy levels will be increased, helping you get through the day easier, and with a happier mood.

We all have our reasons for wanting to lose the extra pounds. You want to look better, be healthier, or have more energy. My reason I have never been out of shape in my adult life until I had my son. For six years for whatever reason I turned into a slug. One day my son told me he was embarrassed that I was fat. That did it for me. I got good and angry with myself. There was no excuse for me to have this extra weight on me, frankly it was pure laziness. The next day I got up off the couch and started my way back to my "fighting weight".

Being one of the lucky ones, I love to exercise and to sweat. It is something I look forward to five days a week for at least an hour per session. My body craves it when I have missed a day or two of workouts. If you don't like to do a heavy workout, look for what you do like. Take a walk, jog, swim. If you like nothing to do with exercise no shame in that not all of us do. Keep in mind it will take you longer to lose the weight without exercise.

I never used a support group or friends to help me stay motivated. I am a bit of a loner and enjoy challenging myself. I also had the echo of my son's voice in my head, "mom I am embarrassed your fat." That was a good motivator for me. The best advise I have is keep a positive attitude. We all get discouraged with long term goals, no matter what they are. We do have set backs, this is ok. Just keep a good frame of mind and know that you will get there with a good attitude. Remember you have friends that will help you stay motivated if you need them and also there are weight loss support groups out there.

If you choice to incorporate exercise into your new life style, keep in mind your body will need a break from time to time. Don't worry that you'll lose your mojo for getting back to your exercise routine. Your body and mind are going to crave it. Your body will let you know when it needs a break. You will feel fatigued, your muscles will not want to do the exercise. Sometimes referred to as leaving yourself in the gym. Nice benefit to these breaks is that your body will come back stronger and eager to get back to the exercise. When I feel this I stop my workouts for a week, this usually does the trick.

Here Are Steps I Took To Lose Seventy Pounds

1. I Started to gauge and adjust what I was eating. Frankly I was eating whatever, whenever I wanted. I made a conscious choice to change my eating habits and not go on a diet. Saying diet for me is a sure fire way to fail. That is when I feel deprived of things I want to eat.

2. When I ate a brownie I would have one and tell myself I didn't need more. I have been eating brownies my whole life I know what they taste like and didn't need to keep eating them. That thought process worked and is still working. So whenever I want a treat I will have one or a small ice cream. You get the idea, moderation is key to just about everything in life.

3. Normally in the morning I have a cup of coffee and a yogurt. Hang with my son for a bit, and then workout. This gives me a little bit of time to wake up before jumping right into a workout. During my workout I have a bottle of water with a tablespoon of lemon. I wrote a hub page on why lemons are so good for us.

4. After the workout I have a couple pieces of french toast and a sliced apple or banana. I consider this my lunch. I will have a treat but again I have reduced the size or the number of treats I will have. This is something you will have to adjust where everyone is different with their metabolism rate.

5. For dinner I have half a plate of veggies with a protein. I am a major creature of habit and have stir fry veggies with olive oil every night. The olive oil is a nice way to help cleanse your system. Before dinner I have two bottles of water which helps fill me up and keep me from over eating. Before bed I have another bottle of water, this seems to work for keeping my system cleansed and regular.

Now Here Is How I Got Going With Exercise

1. I found out about Russian Kettle Bells and love this workout. It is a hard workout which I enjoy. I went online and found some kettle bell workouts for cardio and strength. I am not an exercise expert so do your research on kettle bells. good reference to start with is a man named Pavel Tsatsouline (link listed below for reference)

2. I was so out of shape I had to do the kettle bell workouts without the bell. I would add a little bit to the workout each week at a time. It took me a few months before I was doing these workouts with a kettle bell in hand for every exercise. At this point in time I am working out with a 25 pound bell and mostly a 35 pound bell. I do my arm workout with a 15 pound bell. The key for me was to be patient so I wouldn't burnout from doing these workouts.

3. The workout week for me is three days of cardio, one day of arms and abs, then one day for lower body. These workouts take over an hour each day. Remember I love to workout so up to this point it is working for me. You may not need to workout this long to get the results your looking for.

I can't say this enough.... be patient, go slow and build yourself up so you don't burnout. Eating habits take time to change and you need to experiment with what is going to work for you. Losing weight isn't easy it takes patients, I believe for most of us there isn't a quick fix. It takes eating habit changes and exercise. When the time is right you will be motivated and ready for this challenge.

Good luck and happy losing with your new life style! YES MY SON IS PROUD OF HIS MOM!

Thanks for reading,

Alison Ruth