weight loss ideas

I've been struggling with my weight since I graduated from high school. I've tried every diet out there. Allot of them were bad & did more damage than good. But I learned something from each & everything I tried. Sometimes I learned what worked. Sometimes I learned what things were really really bad I've applied all those lessons into my training & diet & have gotten some great
results....finally. I thought I'd share some of the things I've been doing.

1st & foremost I pray. I pray to lose weight. & I even pray to become a faster triathlete. Its a truly selfish request of mine that God seems to be granting. So the first thing I want everyone to know is that I give all the glory to my Lord Jesus Christ! The reason I am able to succeed is because of Him. He's allowed me to learn the skills to be able to apply to losing weight, & he's
given me the fortitude to live with my emotional eating issues. He's put great people in my life to support me & to teach me. Great leaders for triathlon, faith, diet, & a better more rewarding way to live life, which would be for Him, not me. For all things that are good lead to Him. Period.

A great guy asked me this weekend what the heck my trick is to losing weight. I told him I'd put it up on my blog. So here it goes. First, pray. Ask for help from Him. The 2nd part is hardest. Accept whatever his will is regardless of whether His answer is the one you wanted or not. Be willing to accept his will regardless of whether its success or failure at what you requested. Its as
simple as that.

I'll also try to explain some of the things I've been applying to my diet that I've learned over the past 12 years of fighting a battle with obesity. I guess you could say the way I eat is by periodization. I eat 2200 calories a day to start (my base). I eat approximately 32-40 grams of lean protein every 3 hrs. That usually adds up to 6-7 meals a day. I then subtract the amount of calories those lean sources of protein have from 2200. The amount of protein I eat a day
always stays about the same. The remaining calories I split up equally into each of those 6-7 meals a day I eat. Those remaining calories are what I eat in carbs & fat. Then from there I keep track of my exercise. I figure out how many calories that day I am going to expend. I divide those calories into each meal I'm going to eat that day with a good portion of those being consumed immediately after my workout to start the body's recovery process immediately. These earned calories are always more carbs & fat. As I said, my protein levels always stay roughly the same. I don't add more protein from my earned exercise calories. By following this plan on light workout days I avoid eating extra calories, on heavy workout days I'm properly fueling my body with quality fats & carbs to allow for high quality workouts & refueling.

The other thing I've learned that I've got amazing results from is I only eat things I can grow, pick, or kill. If I can't grow, pick, or kill it I don't eat it. That allows me to eat fruits, veggies, lean meats, nuts, beans, & moderate amounts of dairy. It keeps me away from any processed foods.I've found staying away from processed food really helps me get & stay thinner. I have found through trial & error that if I eat the same amount of calories in clean foods rather than processed foods I lose more weight & feel allot better, I fatigue less during my workouts etc. Some people think this means I don't eat grains. Its true most of the grains people eat are processed, & I don't eat those. But I do eat grains. Just the unprocessed ones. I eat oat
meal (not individually packaged & flavored stuff because those are more highly processed), bugler, brown rice etc. That is all I have been doing. That simple.

God bless you guys, & thanks for tuning in.