Eric Stendal

Okay, the cheeseburger hooked you and you read through the previous blog entry…good job! That means you must be here to find out what to do to get started. If so, read on reader.

If you’ve read the previous blog, you know that you must first make the decision to do the hard work that lies ahead of you. It’s not going to be easy, but it is doable, let me start off with that. Why do I tell you this with such confidence? Because you’ve taken the time to get real with yourself and you’ve come to this point with your WHY. The reason why you want to get healthy and take off the excess weight.

You got’s t’ah have a WHY!

Eric Stendal

Only you will know your real why. You may wish to share it with others, but it’s not necessary. But please believe me that your why must be heart-felt and real. Spend time considering your why and get that anchored in your soul.

Resources

If you’ve done that, then the next steps are to start reading those resources I provided in the previous blog. I have laid them out in the suggested order, but if the library or place you’re trying to source these books from is proving difficult, better to start with something rather than nothing. You do not have to have them all read before you start out.

The next step is to download “Lose It!” or perhaps “Carb Manager” to track the food you’re presently eating. I really, really suggest starting and remaining with Lose It! But, if you find some other app that suits you better, just remain with it. We want the ability to look back on the data you’re putting into it.

Then, download “Happy Scale“. I’ve been using this app since September of 2013 and I have statistics regarding my weight since then. The “yo-yo” dieting during these last 14 years is absolutely apparent.

Brutal, eh? I’ve had more details and entries from about the end of 2020 until now, but you can clearly see the ‘ups ‘n downs’ of my struggle. I can see in 2015 that I almost made it down to 175 lbs. And in 2021 I had a little taste of success when I dipped down to 166.8 lbs on Sunday, 16 May 2021. This is the power of tracking and keeping records of your personal journey.

Reasons

This new one for me began on 7 December 2023 when I weighed in at 200.1 lbs. Not happy. Decided then and there to finally hunker down and do what it takes to reign in on my impulse eating and really educate myself to understand the relationship between the food that I ate and the health I was ‘not’ receiving.

Additionally, my father passed away on my birthday in 2023. He had Alzheimer’s which led to the dementia. We know that Alzheimer’s is also called “Type 3 diabetes” and many of us are a mere ten to twenty years away from experiencing this type of diet induced horror show. If by changing what and when I eat, I could potentially ward off or even delay any onset of this rotten disease, why wouldn’t I?

So, once you’ve downloaded the apps, and armed with your scale and tape measure, you have to decide which day you’re going to begin. You get to choose. You will be measuring yourself once a week (easy to do) and you will be weighing yourself daily in the mornings. You will begin by adding or scanning any and all things that enter your mouth in the way of food or drink. I don’t care what it is, or what amount, or how sugary, fat, lean, tasty, or healthy you think it is. The first week is going to just keep doing what you’re doing and your job is to RECORD everything.

Lose It! has a feature called a ‘time stamp’ when you eat. This could be helpful to show you when you’ve eaten something, not just what you ate.

So these are your first steps. Start reading one of the books. Record your weight each morning after waking up. Take your measurements on the same day each week (once per week). And then, after a full seven days, have a look at what you’ve eaten, how much you weigh, what you measure. Think about your why and decide if you’re still content with doing nothing, or you want to move forward towards a healthier you?