How I did it Part II - The exercise

How I did it Part II
The exercise

Well to start off the exercise had to build up. I knew I had to do at least thirty minutes a day since I wasn’t on the biggest loser, but wouldn’t be able to do a lot of cardio. One of my best friends used the elliptical at 24 hour fitness in Victorville and I felt that sweat would be part of what would change me. I started doing 30 minutes and I would increase this by a couple of minutes each week until I got up to an hour. I then changed my workout up and started walk/jogging in order to keep my body in shock and would do some weights along the way. I’ve never been too big on bulking up so I kept it down a little bit.

This was probably the first two months of my journey and then two things happened. The first was that I would wake up just a little earlier and would run a mile in the morning. Also the new 24 hour fitness opened up and I started to swim at night too. I would swim about a 1000 meters and then ride the spin cycle for (on hard) about 25-45 minutes depending on how I felt.

When it came to weighing myself I waited about two months until I started weighing myself. I knew I was 270 and when I stepped on the scale in July (3 months later) I was about 230. I was pretty ecstatic, but knew that I had a lot to go.

After this I wish I could say there was something more I did other than staying on my diet, but it was staying on my diet and increasing my exercise frequency, intensity, and length. Saturdays were designated for longer periods of exercise like a 5-8 mile run or playing soccer.

The more weight I lost the more I was able to do and the more energy I had to do everything. Let me fast forward a little bit to today. Right now I’m up to 7-10 miles in the morning and a 45 minute spin cycle ride and ten minutes of the treadmill at night with abs and pushups.

I weigh myself every day still as a barometer of where I’m at and to keep myself in check. If I gain some weight the day before I think about what I’ve eaten. There would be some weeks where I lost 5 pounds and some where I lost 1. I had to never be discouraged.

It helped that along the way I kept myself accountable with God and our relationship grew. When I noticed a plateau I would pray about it and He would give me an answer. There were two big plateaus I hit. The first was when I was about at 185 and needed to lose more. I started to drink a two cold glasses of water in the morning to jump start my metabolism. Then I would eat fifteen minutes later. When your body has to bring its body temperature up then it starts your metabolism. The second thing I did was cut out all kinds of alcohol. It was a personal choice inspired by Ephesians 5:18 and I knew I wasn’t being a good role model to my students if I continued to drink.

That’s it, if you have any questions send me an email or a comment.
Nicholas.Gaspar@gmail.com

How I did it part I - The Diet

I was asked by a coworker to describe what I did to lose the weight I did. For those of you who don’t know I’ve lost about 115 pounds over two years time and have been in the best shape I’ve ever been in my life. I think I’m just missing abdominal muscles (ha!).
The first thing I did was change my diet. I knew what was bad for me and what my digestive system had a hard time dealing with; breads, cheese, and red meat. I ate flatbreads and got rid of cheese and red meat altogether. I had to go out on a limb and tried the meatless burgers and patties. I started to snack more frequently. Every two hours I would have something, whether it was a 100 calorie pack, fruit, fruit snacks, or something else I always made sure to eat something. I also changed my drinks from sodas and other drinks with calories to diet drinks and stuff without calories while also adhering to the serving size. All of my portions adhered to the portion size. This way I could keep track of my calorie intake for the day. I tried to hit about 1200-1500 calories a day.
My breakfasts would include either – egg whites and an English muffin; fiber one cereal with fat free milk or silk (I’m lactose intolerant); an English muffin with peanut butter; whole grain pancakes with sugar-free syrup; or an assortment of fruits.
My lunches would include – a sandwich with one piece of bread, mustard, and turkey or chicken; salads with fat free dressing or light dressing; or leftovers from dinner.
Dinners – Poultry was my main staple. A half a chicken breast with brown rice or some other vegetable; spaghetti with marinara sauce and turkey balls; turkey burgers on flatbread with sweet potato fries; salads with chicken or turkey; chicken or taco tacos(baked corn tortillas) with black beans;
Never did I fry anything, put any additive or condiment on my food that included fat or calories, or put anything in my food that changed the caloric value. Take away butter from rice, don’t put cheese in your beans, and remember that vegetables are God’s way of adding flavor. You like spice? Add peppercinis or banana peppers. Different flavor? Add Tapatio, honey mustard, or vinegar. There are low or no calorie alternatives to adding taste to your food. Find ways to marinate your chicken or ground beef.
Last thing I did was cut out alcohol. It was a personal choice, but alcohol is generally empty calories.
Next time I’ll talk about my workout, exercise, and weigh-in routine. Also I want to point out that when I decided to do this I had also made a huge commitment to God. I knew that my body was a temple. Yeah, being healthy is probably the way to spend more time on earth, but it also gives me more opportunities to share. As I’ve gotten healthier my relationship with my dad and God has grown immensely. It’s just now time to adapt to this new role I have.