Finding my way- How I found the ways that worked for me.

Any journey must start, you can’t complete your journey if you don’t start it. Starting a journey can be scary and daunting, particularly if you don’t know how to get where you want to end up. We don’t have a sat-nav that will direct you the quickest way to fat loss, guiding us through the hazards of life and when we get to 30kg loss, a voice shouts out “You have reached your destination”.

Starting your journey is daunting to say the least, you are fat or overweight, this probably comes with many fears of ridicule, or associated pain and problems. I was rotund with a 50-inch belly size, I had plantar fasciitis, chronic leg swelling from BP meds. I also don’t really like attending gyms.

However these are all just excuses, when you realise, that staying at home because someone may giggle at you lumbering up and down the street, panting, sweating and your big belly bouncing over the waistband of the only shorts you can find that fits; is a better option than staying at home in your safe environment heading down a slippery slope to Diabetes, cardiac problems, pain, mental health issues and an assortment of other weight related illnesses.

As humans we like to find any excuse not to sort our problems out, it’s always raining, I don’t look good in gym clothes etc. Then change your plan to one that overcomes your excuses, if you don’t like gyms like me, then don’t go to one, work out at home. If you don’t like walking in the rain, buy a treadmill, if you don’t have space for one, make space. You need to overcome your OWN excuses before taking the first steps on your journey.

Since this is a blog about my journey, what did I do? Well, I had embarked on a strict keto plan to start even before considering exercise. You will lose weight on a keto plan, even without exercising, if you know how to make your body burn fat, it will burn fat, even when you are resting or sleeping. Great why bother exercising? Because you control the rate you lose weight, if you are happy with a slow steady loss, awesome, but if you want to lose weight at a much faster pace, then exercise is the way forward.

My own goals were not just to lose weight, I wanted to improve my heart health, avoid statins, avoid Metformin, and generally feel better. So, I needed to exercise!  If you have read my blog in order then you will know I purchased a relatively decent elliptical cross trainer, which was going to be my exercise of choice, I was managing a few hard minutes a day, it certainly got my heart going, I would collapse off the machine in a pool of sweat, heart racing and gasping for breath. I thought I was on my way to fitness.

However, the one problem with cross trainers, is they are incredibly dull and boring, even with an iPad in front of you, the monotony of the repetitive movement is enough to send you into a deep mental health abyss. Was this the way forward? Whilst I knew it was doing its job, it did not excite me in any way. I started to dread the 5-10 mins I was doing daily. I knew running was out of my reach at this time, due to weight considerations and mainly the weather. So, I started to look for an alternative.

Scouring the internet, I started my search by typing “Which exercise burns the most calories”. The results were quite interesting, Skipping? Or as they now call it “Jump rope”, which I think is a marketing strategy to present the activity as a more serious image than a girl in pigtails jumping a washing line in a school playground. Was I convinced, no. Was I interested, yes.

So, let’s look at Jump Rope, a quick internet search led me to the Jump Rope Dudes website and YouTube channel. Looking at Dan Witman’s before and after pic, what a revelation, this man had lost 60lbs jumping over a 3mm rope. Is that possible? Well, the video certainly makes sure that you know he did no other forms of exercise in the beginning and the success to his amazing weight loss was a healthy diet and skipping (sorry Dan, Jumping Rope).

So over to Amazon, and I purchased my first ever skipping rope, £2.98 for a cheap plastic jump rope, I thought I would try it for a few days! It arrived and I tried to learn to skip. (see post on – how I become a jump rope dude).

About 10 days into my jump rope journey, I was at work looking for an audio book to listen to, I work very long hours driving a car and not wanting to waste the time I have, I listening to the radio, audible suggested a book I may like, Atomic habits by James Clear. £6.99 later I started to listen to James’s book. Did it change my life, yes wholeheartedly. I have written an entire blog post about Atomic Habits, and since this post is about my journey and finding my way, I will try not to harp on about it too much here.

These earth-shattering discoveries, have changed my life, they have changed me. They have given me direction and focus. Are they groundbreaking, no not really, when you look at the basics it’s a dude jumping over a bit of plastic, and another chap who has studied and broken down some simple human behaviour. But are they powerful, oh god yes, simple easy things to do with so much life changing abilities, when combined with a good eating plan, you will have the power and ability to finally change both your body and your life.

As humans we live in the now, we go about our daily lives and don’t often plan or think about the future, we put down our desires as dreams, Wash board abs, fitting into your prom dress etc. We have these goals firmly embedded in our minds however we don’t know how to get there. I didn’t know how to get where I wanted to be! However, through trial and error, and a steely determination, I am now on the right path, I am not at my destiny yet, but I do know in my heart that I am heading in the right direction, I am no longer dreaming about weight loss, I am doing it. I am no longer wandering about the internet looking for answers, I have a plan, a system that works for me and if I don’t change that plan, I can lose whatever weight I want to, there is no end to my journey now. When you read James Clear, you will understand that it’s not the end goal that’s important, it’s the system. When the system works the results are limitless.

This blog is about my journey, you don’t have to copy my journey, what you must do is start your own journey, it may not be quick, it may be slow, but it does not have to be difficult, all you must do is start the journey, find a system that works for you and fits into your life. Even if you only lose .5kg in a week, over a year that would be 26kg or 4 stone!!!!!!!