I get asked regularly about what I eat and what my healthy lifestyle looks like…so I am going to address that this week in daily posts. To first offer a little context, over the last 3+ years I have dropped ~60 lbs (was 220 – now 160′ish), became a vegetarian+ fish, and a competitive cyclist. I do stress this has been a 3+ year journey, and honestly a 30 year challenge with balance issues when it comes to food.
Some key factors along the way:
- Vegetarian +fish = many ask why. Simply because I feel so much better. This started after a spiritual fast I was a part of with my church where we gave up all sorts of foods for 21 days, and when I added meat back in I quickly realized how bad or sluggish it made me feel. So, over time I dropped meat all together.
- Eat often = my metabolism is actually a bit slow. So, a trainer I had years ago worked with me to speed it up by eating much more often. Part of this process was me moving to smaller meals more often. Really working hard to eat 5-6 times a day if not more.
- Quality foods = I did not start with quality foods, frankly…I first focused on eating often, and lowering my calories. But, after I started dropping weight I wanted to live healthier. So, I continue to try and cut down on/out processed foods. A simple way to look at it is, I try and eat more good food and less not good food. Good = natural. Not good = not natural.
- Robin joined in= at first my wife Robin was not on board…at all! I really can’t blame her, I am an all in or all out guy and she had seen this before. But after a year, she was seeing results and warmed up to a healthier lifestyle. Now she is a true part-time vegetarian, but did not start out this way and she cooks very healthy. She uses PlanToEat.com, and has some amazing recipes. I recommend you join and connect with her and see all her recipes.
- NO SODA! = no explanation needed. I drink water and coffee only, and lots of water.
- Activity = I added in activity over time. I lost my first 30 lbs with no activity at all…it was all food choices. But, I started to hit a wall and then added activity. That started as light bike riding that is now a much more intense cycling schedule.
So, I hope this helps a bit…its not complete, but gives you the idea. If you have questions just take a moment and comment below, I will be happy to respond. Starting today, and going through the week I will be posting what I actually eat and what my activity looks like. I will also share more about the tools I use, etc. I hope you enjoy the posts…and fire off your questions now.
Updated with 7 days of links here!
Great stuff, Terry. I was once 250 and am now around 165. Like you, it started with eating differently and then ended up in cycling. I am loving it. I’ve kinda slacked on the healthy food side of things, but I’m sure this series will help encourage me to get back to eating better again. Looking forward to the rest of the daily posts..
Wow Seth, that is encouraging…great job! I hope this series does help!
Can you give an example of your 6 meal a day plan? What does that look like? What is considered “a meal”?
Thank,
Adam
You bet…I am blogging it everyday. Right now you can see Mondays plan, then I will hit all 7 days.