Justin's 5 Step Guide to Weight Loss

This is partially inspired by noticing something on several websites I like to visit that seems to be a current trend.  3 Steps to such and such; 5 Ways to do this better; 7 Ideas to improve this or that area of your life, etc.  Has anyone else noticed that?  Maybe it’s just the websites I frequent but now that I’ve noticed it I see it all the time.  Stef and I always get a good laugh out of it anyway.

Anyway, I would like to put some disclaimers on here to start with.  First, this is not doable for everyone for obvious reasons as you will soon see.  Second, this is based on a pattern I’ve seen develop in my own life over the past decade.  Third, stay tuned in December or January because I will most likely have a follow up blog called ‘Justin’s 5 Step Guide to Weight Gain’ since that’s a typical pattern I go through too.  Fourth, this is not a 100% guarantee or your money back program; although, maybe it should be since I’m charging $0 for it, right?

Ever since age 23, I’ve been traveling overseas for at least one month per year.  It’s a bit of an addiction now to be honest.  I love going overseas and exploring new cultures and learning from other peoples’ ideas who grew up in a different context than I did.  With that in mind, here comes my first step.

Step 1:  Leave America, for at least a month.  Six out of the past seven times I’ve been overseas for a month or more I’ve lost at least 10 pounds during that time.  The one time I actually gained weight but I’m going to call that an anomaly.  I don’t really know what qualifies as an anomaly to be honest, but that’s what I’m going to call it in this case.

Step 2:  Eat smaller portion sizes at meals.  For me, this really goes hand in hand with Step 1.  I never realized how big meal portion sizes are in the states.  This is also due to me eating out a lot in the states; meal portion sizes in restaurants in particular are just insane.  Unless you go to a very expensive restaurant, in which case the portion size will be much smaller (or normal for most other countries) and you will naturally feel ripped off due to the amount of money you’re dropping on the meal.  I seem to have this problem of cleaning my plate, whether I’m satiated or not.  I just keep eating until the plate is finished.  You know that point in the meal when your brain says, “Okay, here’s a good stopping point.  Let’s not eat until we’re completely stuffed and can’t swallow another bite this time, okay?  Remember last time how you felt sick 20 minutes later when it had digested?  And by last time I mean the last 6 months’ worth of dinners.”  Yeah, I rarely listen to that voice for some reason.  Something I certainly need to work on when I get home.

Step 3:  Don’t drink 2 bottles of Coke a day.  Last summer I actually gained weight from overseas.  Looking back I’m pretty sure the 2 Cokes a day didn’t help any.

Step 4:  Walk to and from work most days.  Again, this is not very practical for most people.  Even here, when Ryan is in town I usually ride with him to work.  However, I do walk a ton more than when I’m in the states usually, probably because I don’t have a car when overseas.

Step 5:  Have a mid to high level of stress for long periods of time.  This is probably the most important step.  Ryan pointed this out to me the other day and I hadn’t really considered it before.  That’s probably the reason I’ve lost 35 pounds this time around instead of the usual 15 or 20 that I usually lose.  Cultural stress can just be draining sometimes. 

Well, there it is, my very own 5 Step Plan for weight loss.  Maybe I’ll publish it and get a piece of the how many billion dollar diet and weight loss industry in the states and UK?  Ha, probably not, but hopefully you enjoyed a little humor throughout it!  Reminder: stay tuned in December or January when I post the follow up blog ‘5 Step Guide to Weight Gain.’  Hopefully I can avoid it this time around, who knows?  There will certainly be some significant differences; the biggest one in terms of food will be eating at home instead of eating out so much.  Stef loves to cook (thank you Jesus) and I prefer her cooking to restaurants so that’s pretty awesome!