Get Even More Visitors To Your Blog, Upgrade To A Business Listing >>

How I Used Technology to Get in the Best Shape of My Life and Save My Son

How I Used Technology to Get in the Best Shape of My Life and Save My Son

How-To Geek

In 2013, I weighed 210 pounds. In October of 2017, I weighed 136 pounds and donated a kidney to my youngest son, Ax. This is our story.

Like most people, I wasn’t always overweight. I’m a pretty small guy—5-foot-6-inches and around 150 pounds for the longest time—and for years I worked a job where I spent a lot of time on my feet. But when I switched careers to write for a living, that changed—I went from walking seven or more miles every day at work to sitting behind a keyboard. I didn’t think about it at the time, but I should’ve changed my lifestyle as a result.

I started writing full-time in April of 2011, so it was right at the transition from winter to spring (in Texas, anyway). When cold weather came back around, a harsh realization came with it: none of my cold weather clothes fit. I had gained quite a bit of weight without even realizing it.

Me at my biggest (or very close to it)

Still, I didn’t do anything about my sedentary lifestyle or eating habits—I just bought new clothes. Eventually, I reached my maximum weight of 210 pounds. At that point, I knew I needed to do something, so I decided to get active. I bought a bike because I enjoyed riding as a kid, but it didn’t work out well. It just wasn’t as fun as I remembered it being, which retrospectively makes a lot of sense—I was incredibly overweight and out of shape. I ultimately ended up selling that bike and going back to my previous lifestyle of sitting on my ass and eating way too much food.

Then, close to the end of 2013, I decided enough was enough, and it was time for real change. In August, my wife and I walked into a bike shop to take a look, and I ended up leaving with a Specialized Sirrus—my first “real” bike and something that would ultimately change my life forever. It was a birthday gift from my wife, who was apparently just as tired of me being overweight as I was (or maybe more).

Then and (basically) now.

The Start of My Weight Loss Journey

The Sirrus, which is from Specialized’s life of hybrid road-style bikes, was the first bike I’d ever owned that didn’t come from a box store. Before that bike, I couldn’t have imagined spending $500 on a bicycle, but after riding it for the first time, I understood the fuss. I understood why getting on an appropriately-sized bike mattered, and I realized how much nicer shifting felt. This was the bike that got me excited about riding bikes.

It didn’t start easily, though—five miles was about my max distance before I felt like I was dying. I did smaller distances like that for a few months with little-to-no weight loss (I think I dropped five pounds or so over the first couple of months). Frustration crept in, and I almost gave up. Instead, I did some research and learned what I should’ve realized all along: diet is a crucial part of weight loss. Saying it out loud now it seems so silly and obvious, but back then I just thought if I were more active I would start losing weight. Nah.

My first bike (well, as an adult).

So I started researching and read about CICO (calories in, calories out), which is a tried and true method of losing weight for many people. The gist is pretty straightforward: burn more calories than you take in, and you’ll start losing weight. Because of genetics, some people lose faster, and others struggle more with hunger pangs and blood sugar issues, but barring any medical issues, this method should work well for most people. I downloaded MyFitnessPal from Google Play and started tracking my intake.

Read the remaining 60 paragraphs

This Post is Sourced From and Authored on: HowToGeek.com
Please go read the full article on their site, following this link: https://www.howtogeek.com/394681/how-i-used-technology-to-get-in-the-best-shape-of-my-life-and-save-my-son/
Please See Our Article Sourcing Policy

Buy Computers & Laptops - Gauteng



This post first appeared on A Technology Blog By Technoserv, please read the originial post: here

Share the post

How I Used Technology to Get in the Best Shape of My Life and Save My Son

×

Subscribe to A Technology Blog By Technoserv

Get updates delivered right to your inbox!

Thank you for your subscription

×