Summer is a time to relax; it is a time to contemplate the future, reminisce the joy of the past, enjoying life doing exciting activities. Summer is also a time to achieve a few personal goals. Some of my friends plan on reading twenty books over the summer; some plan to run a marathon; some plan to drive around the country in a van. My goal over the summer is to be able to fit into those awesome jeans that had been sitting in the closet for the past years.
While many of my friends have resisted change and conquered the freshman 15, I was not so successful. Studying at Caltech is no easy task; one spends an enormous amount of time in sedentary environment and often forgets to exercise. After one year, I not only did not lose weight, but also added some. I was very disappointed at myself for losing this battle to the pull of fatty snack. Thus, I’ve decided, once again, that I will not only lose the weight I gained over the year, but also get in shape once and for all.
Ever since freshman year of high school, I have been making this resolution at the beginning of every summer. I told myself that I would get in awesome shape over the summer and maintain it. However, I never succeeded in retaining the fruits of my victory. School commanded a majority of my time so I forgot about exercising. Soon enough, all the weight I lost over the summer came back.
But this time, I had enough. I had enough of finding myself excuses for not being disciplined about snacking, for being lazy and not jogging, and most importantly for not maintaining. Succeeding in losing the weight is just one part. If one keeps on losing weight but doesn’t maintain it, losing weight is useless in the first place. Why lose it if you will gain it back?
I have done some thinking at the beginning of this summer. I made this realization and have made plans that would change my life permanently. In order to lose weight and maintain it, one has to be realistic and change gradually. Sudden bursts of extreme workouts and starvation are not answers to slimming down. Persistence, dedication, faith, and a smart plan are the keys to victory in a war with weight loss.
I also analyzed my diet like how I studied my research. I looked into my diet and my exercise pattern. I tailored a series of reasonable daily exercises and a meal plan. In the past two months, I have stuck to my theory of gradual “habitual shift.” I initially ate one less meal than before. Then, after becoming comfortable with eating two meals a day, I began to exercise, not rigorously. I started by jogging a mile per day. The next week, I increased the distance to 1.5 miles. The next week, I ran 2 miles. Eventually, I capped at 3 miles per day. To be honest, I never felt so energized before from running.
By August, I have, once again, lost 15 pounds. But, the difference this time around, I feel excited and normal instead of hungry and tired like all the years before when I exercised with extreme rigor and starved myself. I feel I have reached closer to sustaining my weight loss than ever before.