Here Is the Story of Naturally Losing 24 Pounds Permanently

My Background: I am a web designer - done that for a living for over 25 years - was a software developer to start with gradually shifted to web design and now I build Internet websites of my own. So, as you can see my job really did not demand any real "physical activity". Once I am at the desktop, I rarely get up - unless to answer natures call, lunch, or meetings. I never did any exercises, although I was an active sports person till about 32. After that I just gave it all up (sports, I mean)! Other than my desk work, there was hardly any traveling. I lived about 2 miles from my work place and used to drive up each day.

I am a non vegetarian, love eating chicken a lot. I never did care about NOT eating fried foods or any of those fatty foods. Loved KFC and used to frequent it. I drink twice or thrice a week - sometimes its beer, other times whiskey. And yes, tend to eat a lot after I drink. I slept 8 hours a day, ate a heavy breakfast, light lunch when at work and a heavy dinner at about 9pm. Bedtime was about 10 or 10:30 PM.

All this had got me those 185 pounds. My Body Mass Index (BMI) was 27.4 - although not obese, certainly OVERWEIGHT. The normal BMI is a range from 18.5 to 24.9. I had to get there - lose about 22 pounds to have a BMI that was considered normal.

The Trigger

I went for a health check up - one of friends insisted I come along. I had no plans of getting myself checked up but he insisted it's a good idea to get a routine check-up done each year once I crossed 40! I casually decided to go ahead and went along with him the next day. To my utter shock, I saw the SCARIEST report ever in my entire life. My Triglycerides were at a SHOCKING 530. The normal levels are close to 200, I think.

The doctor who was analyzing the report was staring at me in complete disbelief. I came back home and started reading all those horrible things that high triglycerides could do to a person. In short, High Triglycerides indicate High Cholesterol and hence a host of heart ailments. I lost my sleep - literally - I was scared to death! The one advice my Doctor gave me was to start medication and immediately start on a weight loss program. This report really changed my life; I realized how stupid I was to ignore such a serious problem. I actually never had any health problems, but should have been alert after 40 - go for regular check-ups and stay fit. Well, better late than never.

Swinging Into Action

I decided I would lose weight - and will do it in a controlled manner. I did not want to get into a strenuous routine that I would hate after a few weeks. I wanted to do something that I could continue for the rest of my life. I had read is so many articles how people exercise hard, go on crash diets, take diet pills etc. They do lose weight. But only to gain it all back within a few weeks.

I did not want to run a 100 meter dash - I knew I was going to run a marathon and for that you need a lot of planning, patience and stamina - you should love to do it!
Since there was no immediate threat to my health - other than what the 530 number represented, I decided to take 1 step at a time. I kind of knew what I was doing wrong but never really bothered to change my lifestyle as I felt there was nothing wrong - so why fix something that isn't broken! Right?

Well, I was wrong - and now that I knew what was wrong I went about fixing it. One by One!