The Switch - Part 1

Whenever I meet someone new and they find out about my weight loss, or if I run into someone I haven't seen in a while, I inevitably get the same question.   How did you do it?  As time has gone on, and after fielding this question more times than I can count, it has really started to get annoying.  I know it's just my own neurosis that sets me off, but if you think about it, it's really an obvious answer: diet and exercise.  Ten bucks says you've never heard that those two things can lead to weigh loss.(sarcasm)

I know that in this day and age, when someone loses a significant amount of weight, say over 100 pounds, one of the increasingly common methods is surgery.  This is the one reason why I calmly answer the question instead of berating those who ask me.  I'm not a big fan of surgery but I'll save that for another post.

So, you might be wondering, what should people be asking?  The question isn't how you lost the weight, but why.  The reality is that people have pretty much always known, whether you want to admit it or not, how to go about losing weight.  It's all over the media or any information you read regarding healthy living or weight loss, unless its for one of those diet pills or supplements I suppose.  The thing that changes is why you finally start following what everyone has been saying versus ignoring them and living life the way you want to.

Along with weight loss, there was one other major change I've made in my life with regards to health: quitting smoking.  I was a regular smoker for about 12 years.  A couple years before I started losing weight, I quit smoking cold turkey.  Now here is where you should ask why as I've already told you how.  For me, the answer is to help someone else.  My girlfriend at the time, soon to become my wife, had wanted to quit and she asked me one weekend, over a cigarette, if she would quit smoking, would I.  I said sure.  At that point, I was bound and determined not to smoke.  I had flipped the switch in my brain that told me I really don't need to anymore, even though at the time I still enjoyed the habit.  The point is that there is something in your life, some experience or epiphany, that happens that makes you set your mind to accomplishing what you want.  That goes for quitting smoking, losing weight, picking your nose or whatever.  I guess that adds one more thing to the 'how' answer, which is determination.

Now to the weight loss.  If you've watched my Today show video, there is a brief description in the overview about what the trigger was for me.  To be honest, those were the straws that broke the camels back.  You see, my switch had been flipping for years, but one doctors visit and one experience with a morning routine was what pushed it all the way over.  After that, diet and exercise were easy to get motivated for.  The switch had finally been flipped.

More to come with The Switch - Part 2.  Stay tuned.