The other day I saw a picture of me taken in my Navy days, circa 1986. I was wearing the uniform, had very dark hair and also very noticeably is that I looked LOTS heavier than I do now. I remember tipping the scales back then at around 190 pounds and I am now 165 pounds.
Seeing this difference in weight from 36 years ago prompted me to think about what I have done/are doing now dietary/exercise wise compared to what I was doing at that much younger age. Some of the differences:
- Back in the 1980s I was downing 2-3 sugar containing sodas a day. Now, IO strictly drink sugar free beverages
- Back in the Navy days I was attending more “Happy Hours” and was imbibing on lots more alcohol and nowadays, I may be good for one drink every 3 months
- Back in the 1980s my “exercise” consisted on playing softball and chasing my small children around. Now, I steadfastly hit the elliptical every day for 60-90 minutes
When I reflect on the differences, the big change was the migrating away from sugar based sodas to all 0 calorie drinks. This alone accounted for 18 pounds of weight loss.
Away from Posner’s personal weight saga and to the point of this entry:
Sometimes, one change in our behaviors can make a huge impact into our weight control success. We should all examine and perhaps make a bullet point list of our eating/drinking behaviors and identify the most glaring factors that contribute to our difficulty in shedding the weight. Once identified, try changing that one aspect that may be the most important contributing factor (such as alcohol cessation or incorporating true exercise) and see what happens on the scale.
It is much easier to make one or only several changes in our lives then changing the entire script. There is a chance that only changing one or several behavioral aspects is enough to get us to the healthier/happier weight we are striving for.
