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54 Pick-Up
Michael Shinafelt |
Happy Birthday To Me! "Yes" it's today, thus I thought I would celebrate by reminding myself of who I am and where I've been. When I think about it, it's quite a journey. Cheers to me turning 54 the best is yet to come!
Weight Loss is
a very personal journey. It is one that has to be done for the
correct reasons or it is not going to work, I repeat not going to
work. Take it from one who said they were going to do it several
times before they actually did. I am 5' 7 and said I was going to
lose it when I was 180 lbs. I then said I was going to do it when I
was 190 lbs. Then I reached 200 - yep I said I was going to do it
again then too. Well guess what I didn't do it until I reached 213!
By then I fit into none of my old clothes (well that happened at 180
to be fair) and only bought things that work with my expanding waist
line i.e. large shirts, drawstring pants etc...
Sometimes you
have to lay your pimp hand down! Yep, this is when I finally decided
to drop the weight and drop it noooow! It's about wanting to feel
good about yourself. It's about claiming who you are. It's about, as
Janet Jackson so directly put it Control. "Yes" weight loss
is about taking control of who you are and being in a positive mind
space. Life is a journey we are not going to be who we are one
hundred percent of it. This being stated, once we allow ourselves to
access who we are on an honest and real level then we can do
anything!
Who are we to
judge ourselves? The first step to happiness is to accept who you are
and deal with it. Life is not about perfection it's about acceptance.
Does this mean you have to like everything? Hell to the Fucking
No! It means deal with it and find out what works for you. That is
exactly what I did.
Being authentic
is the best gift you can give yourself. Start there, make your weight
loss journey about your happiness. It's not about pleasing anyone
else. I can tell you I found a wonderful guy with a six pack when I
was 213 lbs. He liked me for me, because despite the fact that I was
overweight, I still had some self esteem. Of course he loved the fact
that I lost it. But it was because I wanted to. Doing it for yourself
is the key to victory.
I decided to
take this journey when I was 51. Thus proving you are never too old
and you are never too late. Honestly I was tired of looking like a
balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade.
Thus one day I
got out of my bedded stupor (I suffered from clinical depression for
three years prior, was treated and learned how to manage my life
through therapy and anti-depressants which I have not been on for
over four years now) and said: You've got this Mother F#cker! I
wanted my outside to match my inside. I wanted to like what I saw in
the mirror.
And so the
journey began...I started with the best diet I knew: fruits, veggies
& meat. Although you should eat lots of meat, protein anytime of
day is acceptable. You should try to do your fruit aka sugar that is
acceptable in the ayem and veggies round the clock. Sound boring? It
truly isn't, it's all a matter of reprogramming your way of
thinking.
OK, I will
admit it isn't easy. When I started for every 5 pounds I lost, I
gained three back for a long time. The key is I did not give up. That
would have been an easy thing to do. Get discouraged and throw in the
towel. I owed this to who I am, not who I wanted to be. I am this
person who wants this from themselves, not what anyone wants from me.
It's about who you are and what you want. “Yes” I have emphasized
this before. But it is the key element to what I am stating.
As I continued
on this journey I kept moving adding in more exercise to what I had
been doing. FYI weight loss is an 80/20 proposition - 80 percent what
you consume 20 percent exercise. Exercise is to keep you and your
mind healthy and focused. It's also there to take the weight you have
lost and make it look fab! One of the unexpected benefits of me
dumping the weight is doing my weekly routine of: Spinning, Abs,
Weights & Yoga I have achieved definition in my stomach for the
first time ever at 53 years old. Imagine that?!
What that you
ask? Do I still drink alcohol? The answer is "Yes" but in
moderation. Honestly at this point two glasses of wine gets me tipsy.
That's what Uber is for. (call a driver, don't drive drunk!) Do I
have cheat meals, you are damned right I do. Most of the week I eat
clean, but there is that one day a week I eat, not like a pig. But I
will eat something not on my diet and in moderation. I have a thing
for pizza, burgers, Mexican food and my ultimate favorite snack is
brie and crackers.
OK, now I'm
hungry for some In-N-Out Burger, but I had pizza yesterday so it's
off limits until next weekend. The one trick to adhering to healthy
eating habits is to reprogram your way of relating to food. Don't
think of it as depriving yourself, because you aren't dieting you are
eating cleaner and more efficiently. I view my changed eating habits
as being good to myself. Also reminding myself of all the hard work
it took me to get there and not wanting that effort have been a waste
of time. I remind myself of how great I now look naked too. Hey,
that's a big one!
