Eric Stendal

Did the cheeseburger get your attention? Good. What if I told you that at the end of all this, after achieving the weight and health you’d like, you could enjoy one of these bad boys guilt free? Well, read on!

The Beginning

I thought I would write about my decision to get healthy – to change how, what, and when I eat in order to be more healthy.

On December 7th, 2023 I stood on my scale and weighed in at 200.1 lbs. The most that I’ve ever weighed in at was 200.6 lbs a few years before that. As you will soon see, my weight has gone up and down, up and down with typical fashion. I’m avoiding that from happening this time. Why? Because I’ve finally decided to.

Between then and now, as of the writing of this, I have had a two-week vacation where my wife and I with our little Chihuahua drove down to Florida to enjoy some well-deserved sunshine and family time. I gained four pounds during those two weeks; I took it easy with any ‘restrictions’ but managed to do pretty good under the circumstances.

Looking at one of the photos I took of myself at the beginning of this, I can clearly see how much heavier I was. Not only that, but I can see my ‘un-health’ if I can call it that. I didn’t feel healthy inside myself, never mind what I looked like outside. That is one of the main reasons I’m making these permanent changes in my eating.

How Does One Begin?

So, what did I do? What am I doing? Where would one start if they wanted to get healthier? The very first thing is to really dig deep and come up with the reason WHY YOU want to get healthier. Be honest with yourself. If the reason is to look better, name it. If it’s to be healthier, claim that. If it’s to help your body become more resilient to ward off infections or viruses, good. Whatever your reason, you’re going to have to have something real and heart-felt to keep you on the path of success and prevent this new regimen from becoming just another ‘thing I tried and didn’t work’.

Once you have your ‘why’, then you’ll know that you’re ready to begin. Now, I have to say, I’m not a doctor or nutritionist, but I’ve done my homework and that’s where I suggest you start as well. The internet is chock full of resources that are available to you. I have some trusted sources and some books that I could commend to you to read and learn from. The more information you have, the better you will be at warding off the many temptations and chances to backslide that life will present to you. And trust me, they will present themselves, and yes, you ARE your own worst enemy!

There are a couple of other tools you may wish to obtain to help you. I purchased a Renpho Smart Scale. This scale syncs via Bluetooth to their free app. You can track your weight, and other measurements – 13 points of analysis of main body composition indicators. Things such as including body weight, body fat percentage, BMI, bone mass, protein, muscle mass, etc. The smart BMI weight scale’s app can not only set goals and save historical data, but also display your progress in charts in weekly, monthly and yearly views. It’s well worth the few dollars.

Secondly, a tape measure. You can get one of these at the Dollar Store. The scale is going to record your weight but that’s not the only marker you need to succeed. A tape measure is going to help you track your inches being lost while your weight may stall.

In addition to reading these books, you will want to (and need to) track what and when you’re eating. Not only when you are on your journey, but before you even begin. You will start by not changing anything you’re doing now. Nothing. Except tracking. Brutally honest tracking.

To do this, I suggest the following apps:

• Lose It! (Apple Store and Android version)
• Happy Scale (Apple Store and Android version)

I do not wear a wrist-watch tracker. If you do have one, there are many other apps available to you that you could use as well. I had found that even when I did own my Apple Watch, I never waivered from these two apps. They have been the bedrock to my weight loss journey and should be highly considered for you too.

So, this is to be continued. If you’re still reading, good for you! I’ll prepare an update entry on how to begin on your own journey. If you can’t wait to dive in, check out one of these books from your library or online and being to educate yourself. If possible, read them in the order that I’ve placed them. It’s helpful, but not critical.

Let me know who you’re doing or if you have any questions in the comment area.