Don't get me wrong. I am not disparaging exercize. It's critical for fitness. However, I believe when it comes to weightloss, it's 90% diet.
I was watching an ironman competition. If you are unfamiliar, it's a triathlon that is 2.4 miles of swimming, followed by a 112 mile bike ride, followed by a full 26 mile marathon. If you are too slow on any segment (like if your swim takes too long) then they don't let you continue because the whole thing will take too long. It's the kind of thing you have to train hard, for a very long time, to be able to complete. So, my cousin was competing and I was watching the finish line and I was stunned at the number of people who were fat and even obese who were able to cross the finish line. I couldn't believe one could train for such an event and still be overweight like that.
Then I read Penn Jillette's book, "Presto!: How I Made Over 100 Pounds Disappear and Other Magical Tales". He lost 100 lbs in 3 months (under a doctors care) all with diet and I was inspired. Now, the first thing the book says is that if you take diet advice from a magician, then you are an asshole. I didn't look at the book as an instruction manual. I simply took inspiration from it and did what worked for me. And I lost 30 lbs in 4 months. Basically, the thing that did the most for me... I stopped eating when I wasn't hungry. I used to always eat 3 meals a day, but, quite frankly, if I have breakfast, I'm usually not hungry at lunch time. So now, if I'm not hungry, then I skip the meal.
That doesn't work for everyone. If I do get hungry later in the day, I don't mind. Hunger isn't pain. It doesn't bother me. I can wait. Some people get hangry if their blood sugar goes down. But, for me it worked.
Anyway, I highly recommend the book. Even if you aren't looking to lose weight, it's really a good read.
I was watching an ironman competition. If you are unfamiliar, it's a triathlon that is 2.4 miles of swimming, followed by a 112 mile bike ride, followed by a full 26 mile marathon. If you are too slow on any segment (like if your swim takes too long) then they don't let you continue because the whole thing will take too long. It's the kind of thing you have to train hard, for a very long time, to be able to complete. So, my cousin was competing and I was watching the finish line and I was stunned at the number of people who were fat and even obese who were able to cross the finish line. I couldn't believe one could train for such an event and still be overweight like that.
Then I read Penn Jillette's book, "Presto!: How I Made Over 100 Pounds Disappear and Other Magical Tales". He lost 100 lbs in 3 months (under a doctors care) all with diet and I was inspired. Now, the first thing the book says is that if you take diet advice from a magician, then you are an asshole. I didn't look at the book as an instruction manual. I simply took inspiration from it and did what worked for me. And I lost 30 lbs in 4 months. Basically, the thing that did the most for me... I stopped eating when I wasn't hungry. I used to always eat 3 meals a day, but, quite frankly, if I have breakfast, I'm usually not hungry at lunch time. So now, if I'm not hungry, then I skip the meal.
That doesn't work for everyone. If I do get hungry later in the day, I don't mind. Hunger isn't pain. It doesn't bother me. I can wait. Some people get hangry if their blood sugar goes down. But, for me it worked.
Anyway, I highly recommend the book. Even if you aren't looking to lose weight, it's really a good read.