When I was stepped on the scales and weighed myself, I was aghast at the number that came up. I’m not going to tell you what the actual number was - it’s too embarrassing. But when I plugged my height and weight into a BMI calculator, I discovered that I was now officially obese.

Me? Obese? WTF…how did that happen?

The Future as an Obese Person

That was the shock I needed to really think about where I was going in my life, and how my lifestyle was affecting my future. I knew that if I allowed myself to continue being obese, then my future could include any or all of the following health problems:

• Coronary heart disease
• Type 2 diabetes
• Bone and joint disease
• Hypertension (high blood pressure)
• Stroke
• Gallbladder disease
• Osteoarthritis (breakdown of cartilage and bone within your joints)
• Sleep apnea and breathing problems
• Cancer (breast, endometrial, kidney, gallbladder, colon and liver)
• Mental illness (clinical depression, anxiety, etc.)
• Pain and difficulty with basic physical activities

And that’s just the health issues. There’s also the embarrassment of being a seriously fat person, and the social consequences. Buying attractive clothes that fit becomes much harder, and you may not be able to fit into the seats at concert halls and stadiums.

What a terrible life to look forward to!

Deciding to Make Big Changes

I had a decision to make – I really was standing at a crossroads in my life. I could continue along the path I was treading, and resign myself to an unhealthy, unhappy future followed by an early death. That option did not appeal to me at all.

The other option was to make the decision to turn things around. I knew that would not be easy. Like most people, I have struggled with diets, weight-loss plans and exercise programs all my adult life. I would typically lose a few pounds, and then give in to hunger and social pressure. My diet and fitness regime would go off course, and the pounds would pile back on again.

But this time, it had to be different. I was going to get radical and do whatever it took to get life-changing results. Could I do it? To answer that question, I only had to look at my children. I want to be around to see them and their children grow up. 20 or 30 years from now, I want to be healthy enough to run in the park with my grandchildren, and to share decades of happiness with my family.

That thought made the decision for me. I was going to make it happen – regardless of how tough it might be. As it turned out, it wasn’t as difficult as I thought. It was all about making the right choices from the start. After that, everything was relatively easy.

Creating My Own Weight-Loss Plan

I started doing a lot of research on weight loss, healthy eating, diet and exercise. I learned so much in the next few weeks. What I discovered is that most of the ‘official’ advice on these topics is not very helpful at all.

Even experienced doctors just regurgitate what they have read elsewhere. Many so-called authoritative sources offer advice that I considered unhelpful. I soon realized that following yet another commercial diet plan would probably get me nowhere. I had to consider everything I had learned, and then create a personalized plan that could work for me.

That turned out to be one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life.

My Lightbulb Moment

The big lightbulb moment for me was realizing that exercise cannot do all the heavy lifting in weight loss. That was a big surprise, because that’s what we get rammed down our throats all the time. All the experts want us to think that working out like crazy is what we have to do to get results.

But that’s all wrong. Exercise is important, for sure, don’t get me wrong. Every extra calorie you burn makes a difference – and working out is good for you in so many other ways. But the reality is that you can only burn so many calories through exercise. Even if you go flat out, it is almost impossible to burn more than 500 calories in a high-intensity 30-minute workout. And you can pile all that back on by eating just a single donut and a Starbucks coffee.

This made me rethink my whole concept of how to lose weight. For years, my main approach to weight loss has been to focus on working out hard, squeezing in extra sessions at the gym, plus running and cycling when I can.

Now I realized that the key to achieving the weight loss I wanted was to focus on my diet and nutrition first and foremost. Exercise would be important, of course, but it would be a secondary benefit. So my next step was to figure out how to make diet and nutrition work for me.

Getting Radical about Nutrition

I knew I was on the right track now, but I didn’t want to go about diet and nutrition in half-hearted way. And I didn’t want to follow some half-assed diet plan that forced me to count calories and dictated what my meals would be.

Instead, I came up with my own plan which enabled me to eat extremely well, yet still cut back drastically on my calorie intake. Here’s how I did it…

#1. Cut Back Drastically on Processed Food

My research told me what I already knew in my heart. All that processed food I bought at the supermarket each week was my undoing. Manufacturers make food appealing by packing it with lots extra sugar, fats, salt and other undesirables.

With just a few exceptions, all the processed food in my kitchen got thrown out. My mantra was ‘if it’s in a tin, it’s a sin. If it’s in a packet, I can’t hack it.’ That meant no more cake, chocolate, candy, packaged meals, tinned foods, packets of meat or other junk. The only exceptions I allow are healthy foods that are minimally processed, such as:

• Tuna tinned in water (not oil)
• Vegetable proteins (veggie burgers, etc.)
• Oatmeal

…plus the very occasional treat.

#2. Ramped Up on Fresh Fruit & Vegetables

All that processed junk was replaced with a wide range of fresh fruit and vegetables. I now eat about three times as much fruit and veg as I did previously, and I feel so much better for it.

It took about a week for my taste buds to adapt to the new diet. At first, I was craving those sugary, fatty, salty foods I had been eating for years. But within days, that craving faded away and I rediscovered how good natural fruit and veg really tastes.

This was a real eye opener for me. Nowadays, grapes taste like sugar bombs to me – I had no idea fruit could be so delicious. I love biting into fresh plums, oranges and fruits of all descriptions. The same goes for vegetables. I started steaming veggies instead of boiling them, and the real flavor shines through.

I honestly don’t miss any of the processed food I threw away. In fact, now I wonder why I ever wanted to eat it!

#3. Drastic Reduction in Meat and Dairy Products

I haven’t gone vegan or even vegetarian, but I have certainly reduced the amount of animal products I consume by a big margin. After all, animal products are high in fats, and therefore deliver the highest number of calories per gram.

I have mostly cut out red meats altogether, but I still eat chicken, tuna and various vegetable proteins (veggie burgers, soy protein burgers and more). I keep the quantities modest, but I am conscious of the need to eat enough protein.

 I switched from full-fat milk to non-fat milk. It took me about a week to adapt to the different taste, but now I would never go back to full-fat or even half-fat milk. I enjoy eggs because you can do so much with them, but ration the quantities. I also eat a fair bit of cottage cheese, plus some regular cheese as a less-frequent treat.

A Simple But Effective Diet Plan

The above may not be revolutionary, but it works like gangbusters for me. I am able to enjoy decent-size meals three times a day, without ever counting calories, and still lose over a pound a week consistently.

Although I try to mix things up to keep them interesting, a typical day’s nutrition for me will look like this:

Breakfast

• 1 glass of orange juice
• Half a Ruby Red Grapefruit
• Oatmeal porridge with walnuts, almonds and honey
• One banana
• Tea or coffee (no sugar)

Lunch

A healthy salad that may include:

• Tomatoes
• Capsicum
• Avocado
• Lettuce
• Pickled onion
• Mixed nuts
• Chicken, turkey or tuna
• Egg, cottage cheese or regular cheese
• 1 piece of wholemeal bread with peanut butter
• Fruit for dessert

Dinner

My evening dinner is the biggest meal of the day, and I don’t hold back on the quantities. You don’t need to when it’s all good, nutritious, low-calorie food:

• Veggie burger, soy protein or chicken
• Steamed vegetables (carrots, cabbage, sprouts, maize, peas, cauliflower, broccoli, etc.)
• Fruit for dessert

A New Exercise Regime

As discussed above, you don’t have to work out like crazy to lose weight. But being active helps you in several ways:

• Any calorie you burn through exercise helps you achieve your goals
• Regular exercise speeds up your metabolism to burn more calories
• A good exercise regime leads to better health and a whole wealth of benefits

Because of this, I decided to stop being half-hearted about exercise. I now work out six days a week, and I feel so much better for it. The key for me was to find exercise that I enjoyed – and that meant mixing things up.

I go to the gym three times a week (Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday) to do half an hour of weight training, followed by half an hour lapping the pool. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, I go to my local park and either cycle or run for an hour. Saturday is my rest day.

Working out is no longer a trudge – it has become the highlight of my day. I enjoy every moment, and can’t wait to get back to do it all again the next day. That really makes a difference to your results!

The Diet and Lifestyle that Changed My Life

It is no exaggeration to say that my new lifestyle has changed my life. I feel so much better and healthier, and I look forward to every new day. I am more energetic and productive than ever before, getting more done in a week than I did in a month previously.

Best of all, the weight has continued to drop off me. On average, I lose at least a pound a week, and it is often rather more than that. Most important of all, it is a consistent drop over time. Because I love my new life so much, I am not tempted to eat junk food that would derail my plans.

I am not counting calories, so I don’t have to worry about feeling hungry. After a big veggie dinner, I feel absolutely sated…but still manage to lose weight week by week.

I still have a few months to go, but I am absolutely confident that I will be able to reach my target weight soon. More importantly, I know that I will be able to stay at that weight, because the temptation to eat and live badly is gone forever. This is my new lifestyle forever.

Change Your Life for the Better Today

The point of this blog post is not to brag about my achievement. It’s to demonstrate that anyone can get in shape if they really want to. I struggled with my extra weight for many years, but now those years of misery are behind me.

If you want to be the best possible version of you, then start making plans to change your life today. Work out a nutrition and exercise plan that works for you, and then stick to it for a whole year. You will be amazed at what you can achieve.