The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

What's one of the first things everyone tells you when you talk about getting into better shape? "It's really all about moderation." While that might be technically true, it's also next to impossible. After I got over a 2-year illness about 5 years ago, I went on an exercise tear, and lost a ton of weight in the process. Not only did I exercise a great deal every day, I became Mr. No with regard to desserts, fried food, fast food, junk food, soda pop, etc. I was stricter on my diet than Donald Trump was with his illegal immigrant workers. Time after time, I would get told, "It's okay to snack here and there. Just do it in moderation." When I became more lax with my diet, I wound up gaining most of the weight back, and I've ended up going through such a cycle on multiple occasions since. Moderation may sound nice, but it's much easier said than done. It's fairly easy to say no to cigarettes, alcohol, or junk food after a certain peri...

I honestly never saw myself becoming the person I am today, especially when it comes to how I'm now often times repulsed by others' poor eating and drinking habits. Perhaps it's largely due to the fact that I used have horrendous eating and drinking habits 5+ years ago. About 10 years ago, I drank a great quantity of soda. Following some cavities due to that great soda consumption, I switched to Gatorade and that wasn't much better. I also ate fast food on a very regular basis, wasn't coy about eating junk food, yet naively enough, I felt so long as I exercised regularly, I could help off-set all those calories and get into better shape as a result. My naivete was, of course, wrong. I was lucky to break even on the scale in a given week, and would often times add a pound or two. Nowadays, while my eating and drinking habits are by no means perfect, I've learned that one's diet is the most important ingredient to being healthy and staying in shape (or get...

Not long after I moved to Columbus, Ohio from Omaha, Nebraska in the late-winter of 2008, I decided to finally make some changes in my life to improve both my health and appearance, and with that, my confidence. I didn't go to any gyms or hire any trainers. I simply made some common sense changes, like going from soda pop and Gatorade to water, and from fried food (meat) to grilled, and working out more. Just with the water change alone, I lost approximately 5 lbs. my first week. Without even working out a great deal, I lost a good 25 lbs. just with the alterations in eating and drinking habits. Following my health struggles for two years, I put things in overdrive as far as exercise was concerned and lost another 25 lbs. (I had gained about 5 lbs. in those two years where I was ill). I eventually learned that so long as I didn't regress to my awful habits of old, eating and drinking certain things was alright, so long as it was done in moderation. Well, my girlfriend has dec...

Well, it felt nice stepping on the scale this morning. I had weighted 186 not long after moving to Columbus from Omaha four years ago. I remember awaking one morning, hopping into the shower and when I got out and saw myself in the mirror, I was not pleased. On that very day, I decided to make some serious changes in my life. I lost 26 lbs. and was fairly happy being at 160 for my 10-year high school reunion just a year later. Just after I got back home, though, an illness struck me and I was sick for close to two years. Due to this, I couldn't do much of anything, let alone work out. Fortunately, I kept my eating/drinking habits in tact and only added about 5 lbs. to my weight in those two years to up myself to 165 (net -21). Once I began feeling better in late-December of 2010, a new energy struck me and I went on to lose another 24 lbs. - decreasing my weight to 141, a total loss of 45 lbs. Of course, not long after that, I had my gallbladder removed and it took a great deal mor...

Two months after I moved to Columbus, which was about 4 years ago, I remember getting out of the shower, looking in the mirror and not liking what I saw. My weight had increased to 186 lbs. and due to my poor workout and eating habits, I wasn't about to see a decrease in my weight anytime soon if I kept things going as they were. So, on that day, I decided to make some changes. I stopped drinking soda pop and sports drinks and went straight to water and water only. I stopped eating junk food. I went from fried meat to grilled. I also began to work out more. I lost a good 20-25 lbs. over the course of the year through these altered habits. I then became ill for a couple years, which prevented me from working out. Fortunately, while I couldn't work out, my eating habits didn't alter and I only gained 5 lbs. back. When I finally got to feeling better, I felt a motivation I had never possessed before and went on to lose another 20-25 lbs. for a total of around 45 lbs. since the...