Hey America,
I have some exciting news! Today I weighed myself and saw that I have lost a total of 68 pounds since July 2015. I have had a lot of people ask me what I am doing to lose this weight. Over the next few blog posts I will share 1 of my weight-loss secrets in each blog and give some additional insight about the process of losing weight in general. Before you even ask I will tell you why I will only share one secret per post. First, obviously I want to give you guys a reason to keep reading my exceptionally sarcastic but factual blog. Secondly, one thing I have discovered along this weight-loss journey is the importance of making lifestyle changes slowly. When most people start a diet they go HAM in the beginning with an extreme diet and exercise program. As we all know that when it comes to life eventually things happen or come up that cause us to fall off the weight-loss wagon. I cannot stress it enough that when choosing to become a healthier human it requires that you change your entire lifestyle. You have to make this more than a priority and decide that these choices and cuts in your diet are not just a temporary thing until you lose that 10 pounds. You have to decide that you will live your life this way, forever. So for today I think I will share with you my first weight-loss secret. This is actually what I started doing back at the end of July when I knew I needed to start making changes. I waited until I could master this one thing before I started trying to move onto the next thing. Alright, so here is my first BIG SECRET which helped me create the groundwork for a change of my entire eating lifestyle.
EAT really REALLY SLOWLY:
Ok, so I want you to close your eyes and imagine you are a turtle...ok just kidding, like how can you read this with your eyes closed? Ok, so the first lifestyle change that I made back in July was eating slowly. This means that every time I sit down to eat an actual meal I try to make it take 20 minutes or more to eat. This may sound like a piece of cake (which cannot take more than 2 minutes to eat if we are being real) but it's actually one of the hardest things to master. SO here is a little more insight into making meals take 20 minutes to eat. First off this doesn't mean you grab a plate of food, inhale it, grab seconds, inhale it, and then continue down this rabbit hole until 20 minutes pass. This means you grab an honest and small serving of food and make THAT take 20 minutes to finish. This is actually a pain to do. Our entire culture is about eating quickly and on the go. Think for a second about how often you sit down and take your time to really enjoy your meal? Even when eating as a family it is rare that a meal takes longer than 10-15 minutes to consume. We often live our lives on the go so we end up eating on the go. So I will now do what I do best and assume some questions you have about this concept and answer them.
Why 20 minutes?
Because I said so.
The End.
Ok, fine, here is a more in-depth answer. 20 minutes is the amount of time it takes for food to settle in your stomach. When you eat slowly you give your stomach time to acknowledge the food in your super sexy belly before you overeat. This doesn't mean you can never eat more than one portion of food it just means you need to wait and see if you are actually still hungry after your first HONEST portion has settled. If you are still hungry after 20 minutes go and grab another SMALL portion and eat that slowly as well.
How do you take 20 minutes to eat a small portion of food?
You can't.
It's Impossible
Accept failure and disregard this entire blog.
JUST KIDDING.
The best way to start out eating slowly is the art of DISTRACTION. You literally have to distract yourself while you eat so that you don't focus directly on the fact that you are eating. So one of the easiest ways to distract yourself while eating is to not eat alone. If you eat with another person try engaging in a real conversation and it will serve as a good distraction from you pounding hunger. Also it is just a good human practice to actually converse with another human instead of staring at your cellphone the entire time.
What if I don't have any friends?
You may want to figure out what makes you so unlikeable and work on that.
Ok, fine, try doing something else while you eat. Multi-task while you eat. This may sound weird and backwards from everything you have ever been taught about good food etiquette but this is what I have found to work the best. If I am eating a meal alone I will do something along with eating so that I am distracted from devouring my plate in ten seconds. When I started this method I would read my bible and take notes and tried applying the bible to my habits of eating. Sometimes I will stalk Facebook, play a game on my phone, write, or even watch television so that I don't focus on my food.
What if I am really busy and never have time to take 20 minutes to eat?
Then you really will fail. When you are making lifestyle changes they have to become an actual part of your life, permanently. Yes, there are times when I really don't have to ability to spend 20 minutes eating but those times are so much more rare now that I have made myself a priority. Look, this isn't an easy fix but it is a way to lay groundwork for a stronger and healthier future. You have to decide that you are important enough to make some serious lifestyle changes.
Additional tips for eating slower:
Set a timer:
Literally, pull out your phone and set a 20 minute timer. EVERY single time you eat set the timer. I do this all the time. It is rare that I do not do it. I don't care if I am out with friends or family or alone or whatever I am doing I set a freaking timer. I also check it frequently while I eat so that I can gage my eating habits. You want to eat your meals in a balanced way. So when you eat mentally break down your food into 4 portions and eat one portion per 5 minutes. If you eat 90% of the food within the first 5 minutes it is pure agony to wait to eat those last 3 bites of magical sustenance. If you only eat 30 % up front and then pile drive food with your last two minutes you will end up still hungry and have basically waisted your time and mine (because I wrote this incredibly insightful blog). Trust me, I've gone about this method so many different ways that I have perfected this method. Over time you will see that you start getting fuller faster and eating less overall.
Eat like a baby:
What this means is when you eat you eat really small baby bites of food. Sometimes I even precut my food so that I have small bites ready to eat. When you eat smaller bites and FULLY chew them (whole notha blog) you will stretch that 20 minutes further than you thought.
In a nutshell, start small when you start any changes to your lifestyle. Start by timing how long it takes you to eat a meal in general and then start extending that time little by little until you make it to 20 minutes. When I mastered eating my food in 20 minutes I have noticed that I usually end up taking 30 minutes or more to eat. Sometimes I even take close to an hour to eat because I have successfully distracted myself so well. Yes, I am a server's worst nightmare at a restaurant because I will be there all night eating my 3 pieces of chicken. This is hard work but I know you can do this. If I can do this you absolutely can too. I have faith in you.
Stay Sexy America.
Be True to you.
With love,
- Drew
Currently down 68 unicorn pounds.
Before Photo
After Photo
I have some exciting news! Today I weighed myself and saw that I have lost a total of 68 pounds since July 2015. I have had a lot of people ask me what I am doing to lose this weight. Over the next few blog posts I will share 1 of my weight-loss secrets in each blog and give some additional insight about the process of losing weight in general. Before you even ask I will tell you why I will only share one secret per post. First, obviously I want to give you guys a reason to keep reading my exceptionally sarcastic but factual blog. Secondly, one thing I have discovered along this weight-loss journey is the importance of making lifestyle changes slowly. When most people start a diet they go HAM in the beginning with an extreme diet and exercise program. As we all know that when it comes to life eventually things happen or come up that cause us to fall off the weight-loss wagon. I cannot stress it enough that when choosing to become a healthier human it requires that you change your entire lifestyle. You have to make this more than a priority and decide that these choices and cuts in your diet are not just a temporary thing until you lose that 10 pounds. You have to decide that you will live your life this way, forever. So for today I think I will share with you my first weight-loss secret. This is actually what I started doing back at the end of July when I knew I needed to start making changes. I waited until I could master this one thing before I started trying to move onto the next thing. Alright, so here is my first BIG SECRET which helped me create the groundwork for a change of my entire eating lifestyle.
EAT really REALLY SLOWLY:
Ok, so I want you to close your eyes and imagine you are a turtle...ok just kidding, like how can you read this with your eyes closed? Ok, so the first lifestyle change that I made back in July was eating slowly. This means that every time I sit down to eat an actual meal I try to make it take 20 minutes or more to eat. This may sound like a piece of cake (which cannot take more than 2 minutes to eat if we are being real) but it's actually one of the hardest things to master. SO here is a little more insight into making meals take 20 minutes to eat. First off this doesn't mean you grab a plate of food, inhale it, grab seconds, inhale it, and then continue down this rabbit hole until 20 minutes pass. This means you grab an honest and small serving of food and make THAT take 20 minutes to finish. This is actually a pain to do. Our entire culture is about eating quickly and on the go. Think for a second about how often you sit down and take your time to really enjoy your meal? Even when eating as a family it is rare that a meal takes longer than 10-15 minutes to consume. We often live our lives on the go so we end up eating on the go. So I will now do what I do best and assume some questions you have about this concept and answer them.
Why 20 minutes?
Because I said so.
The End.
Ok, fine, here is a more in-depth answer. 20 minutes is the amount of time it takes for food to settle in your stomach. When you eat slowly you give your stomach time to acknowledge the food in your super sexy belly before you overeat. This doesn't mean you can never eat more than one portion of food it just means you need to wait and see if you are actually still hungry after your first HONEST portion has settled. If you are still hungry after 20 minutes go and grab another SMALL portion and eat that slowly as well.
How do you take 20 minutes to eat a small portion of food?
You can't.
It's Impossible
Accept failure and disregard this entire blog.
JUST KIDDING.
The best way to start out eating slowly is the art of DISTRACTION. You literally have to distract yourself while you eat so that you don't focus directly on the fact that you are eating. So one of the easiest ways to distract yourself while eating is to not eat alone. If you eat with another person try engaging in a real conversation and it will serve as a good distraction from you pounding hunger. Also it is just a good human practice to actually converse with another human instead of staring at your cellphone the entire time.
What if I don't have any friends?
You may want to figure out what makes you so unlikeable and work on that.
Ok, fine, try doing something else while you eat. Multi-task while you eat. This may sound weird and backwards from everything you have ever been taught about good food etiquette but this is what I have found to work the best. If I am eating a meal alone I will do something along with eating so that I am distracted from devouring my plate in ten seconds. When I started this method I would read my bible and take notes and tried applying the bible to my habits of eating. Sometimes I will stalk Facebook, play a game on my phone, write, or even watch television so that I don't focus on my food.
What if I am really busy and never have time to take 20 minutes to eat?
Then you really will fail. When you are making lifestyle changes they have to become an actual part of your life, permanently. Yes, there are times when I really don't have to ability to spend 20 minutes eating but those times are so much more rare now that I have made myself a priority. Look, this isn't an easy fix but it is a way to lay groundwork for a stronger and healthier future. You have to decide that you are important enough to make some serious lifestyle changes.
Additional tips for eating slower:
Set a timer:
Literally, pull out your phone and set a 20 minute timer. EVERY single time you eat set the timer. I do this all the time. It is rare that I do not do it. I don't care if I am out with friends or family or alone or whatever I am doing I set a freaking timer. I also check it frequently while I eat so that I can gage my eating habits. You want to eat your meals in a balanced way. So when you eat mentally break down your food into 4 portions and eat one portion per 5 minutes. If you eat 90% of the food within the first 5 minutes it is pure agony to wait to eat those last 3 bites of magical sustenance. If you only eat 30 % up front and then pile drive food with your last two minutes you will end up still hungry and have basically waisted your time and mine (because I wrote this incredibly insightful blog). Trust me, I've gone about this method so many different ways that I have perfected this method. Over time you will see that you start getting fuller faster and eating less overall.
Eat like a baby:
What this means is when you eat you eat really small baby bites of food. Sometimes I even precut my food so that I have small bites ready to eat. When you eat smaller bites and FULLY chew them (whole notha blog) you will stretch that 20 minutes further than you thought.
In a nutshell, start small when you start any changes to your lifestyle. Start by timing how long it takes you to eat a meal in general and then start extending that time little by little until you make it to 20 minutes. When I mastered eating my food in 20 minutes I have noticed that I usually end up taking 30 minutes or more to eat. Sometimes I even take close to an hour to eat because I have successfully distracted myself so well. Yes, I am a server's worst nightmare at a restaurant because I will be there all night eating my 3 pieces of chicken. This is hard work but I know you can do this. If I can do this you absolutely can too. I have faith in you.
Stay Sexy America.
Be True to you.
With love,
- Drew
Currently down 68 unicorn pounds.
Before Photo
After Photo
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