Month: January 2015

If you’re one of the millions of people who have ever gone on a diet, you’re likely to have gained the weight back after the diet ended, maybe even ending up weighing more than when you started. This is the unfortunate reality for many people, and it’s not their fault – it’s a problem inherent in the entire dieting mindset.

Let me explain.

Taking freak genetic and metabolic conditions aside, a person is only as overweight or fit as their habits allow them to be. Let me say this again – a person is only as overweight or fit as their habits allow them to be. So when someone “goes on a diet” and temporarily changes their eating and exercising habits, they wind up seeing different results and they lose weight. But as soon as they “go off” their diet, i.e. revert back to their old habits, they gain most of the weight back, and sometimes even more.

This is why it’s crucial to not start a diet that you can only stick with for a month or two, at which point you give it up and go back to your old ways.

So what’s the answer?

Instead you must implement new, healthy habits, and ensure that they stick and take root.

This is as simple as adding one salad a day to your meals.

It’s as simple as jogging one mile three times a week.

It’s as simple as doing 20 body weight squats or 20 push ups before each meal.

As simple as adding more protein and fiber to your meals.

By doing this you won’t lose 20 pounds in 20 days. It may be more like 20 pounds in 2 months. But guess what? You’ll lose the weight enjoyably and it’ll stay off, and because your self-perpetuating habits will prevent you from gaining the weight back, it’ll stay off for good.

Change your habits, change your life.

A lot of people view health as just the absence of disease. “Well there’s nothing wrong with me, I’m not on any medications, so I must be healthy… Right?”

I’m here to tell you otherwise. I got into health not because I was on medications or was overweight, nor for some lofty goal of helping others. It was quite a selfish reason actually – it was because eating healthy made me feel good. Not just good, great. Better than I’d ever felt before. And the further I went down the rabbit hole, the more it felt like I was on some new drug where every day was better than the last – I had nearly limitless energy, colors were brighter, and I was happy for no damn reason at all. I felt like I was cheating life somehow.

Let me back up a second.

It all started when I was working at Starbucks. I’d just moved downtown and just turned 21. Needless to say, I was burning the candles at both ends. It got to the point where I was drinking at least 8 shots of espresso each day, just to feel normal. I realized that that was far from normal, so I decided to cut back on the caffeine and booze and try to eat healthier.

Problem was, I hated vegetables. The plan? Put one leaf of spinach on my turkey/cheese/bacon sandwich. The next sandwich would have two leaves of spinach. Eventually I got to the point where there was a nice level of 10-15 leaves of spinach on my sandwich, and I actually liked it! I was on my way.

Then I progressed to salads, aka some meat and cheese atop a thin layer of baby spinach. Then I cut back on taco bell. Then I started doing yoga. And I realized that with each new addition (or subtraction) to my healthy lifestyle, I felt better and better. I had more confidence, more energy, more zest for life. The rashes that had plagued me since adolescence disappeared. I no longer needed 8 shots of espresso just to feel normal. I came into work chipper and full of energy while those around me went from manic to grumpy and tired in the matter of an hour, day in and day out.

At that point I wondered, “Just how far can I take this?”

That was 5 years ago, and to this day I’m still increasing my energy levels and feeling amazing beyond what I thought possible.

So I’d like to posit a new definition of health, not as merely the absence of disease, but as a dynamic state of vitality which has you thriving on the physical, mental, emotional and even spiritual levels.

In laymen’s terms, feeling freaking great. And yeah, not having any diseases or health issues is important too.

And remember, health is not a destination. It’s a continuous journey.