About the time I hit my goal of losing 10 pounds, our friend Lou Rosenfeld posted on Facebook in March that he’d lost weight and trimmed his waistline.
I found the timing interesting — it’s tempting to scarf heavy casseroles and skip exercise during a bitter winter like we had this year — and I was struck that we’d both taken a similar approach of making a series of small changes.
Lou agreed to share some observations on what worked for him.
This is good news. I’ve lost about five pounds in the last couple months, and even better, an inch and a half off my waistline.
I’m already in decent enough shape, and wasn’t looking to lose a bunch of weight –just trying to keep it under control as I close in on 50. I figured I could stand to lose five or 10 pounds, but was more focused on feeling healthy.
As is so often the case, small changes have big impacts. So here’s what I’ve been doing:
- I have a few bags of nuts and seeds at work–cashews, peanuts, sunflowers–and a handful here and there really staves off hunger (and starchy things, like the sugary granola bars they sell at work). Higher protein, higher fat; the pangs go away without ingesting much.
- I keep dark chocolate bars at work. A few shards knock out my sugar cravings, and I’m happy to believe the cretins who suggest that dark chocolate is good for one’s health.
- I brought a 32 ounce water bottle to work, and I try to drink one per morning and another per afternoon. It fills me up, water is great for you, and man, lots of exercise running to and from the head.
- I’m not a big fruit eater, but I’ve gone crazy for clementines this winter. I’m eating at least a couple each day. They’re replacing something that’s likely something starchy.
- I’m thinking twice about all processed foods. The includes anything out of a cereal box. I love cereal, but two or three times a week is plenty. And just one bowl; if I’m still hungry, a handful of nuts or a clementine will do.
- Carrots are my friend, plain or dipped in hummus. It’s not hard to find good ones year-round; smaller and thinner are the tastiest, and they really don’t need to be peeled, so they’re very easy to eat — at home or wherever. Best of all, they keep my jaw busy, soaking up plenty of nervous energy, and maybe even resulting in a net loss of calories when all’s said and done.
I have been running more on the weekends, and I still do my twice weekly workout with Jon Captain Quinn. That’s helped a lot with muscle mass, endurance, and posture. But I suspect that the weight loss has more to do with diet than exercise. I’m not sure I’m eating less, but smarter, replacing a few not-so-good things with a few great things.Anyway, repeat after me: small changes. Small changes. SMALL CHANGES!
