Patriot Health Digest
Some of the best ways to drop weight are also the ones that are most time-tested and even easy. After promising himself that he would make a change and get back into shape, Norway citizen Eirik Eide began with a series of small changes: Walking daily, lowering his calories, and increasing his bodyweight evercises. Here, Eide goes over how he kept his momentum and shed over 60 pounds.
I love sweets and I love sports, and I used to be pretty athletic. When I was at home I did not eat a lot of “bad food,” but after I left, I had some years where I slowly packed on weight. I was consuming a lot of calorie-dense food, so even though I was still active, I could not get past the fact I was eating a lot of extra calories.
In 2018, I packed on weight really fast—probably due to the nice weather that summer brings here in Norway. I was eating a lot of high-calorie food and drinks. I don’t remember feeling very bad. At my largest, I was 247 pounds. One day I looked at the scales and the number was something I didn’t like.
My first challenge was understanding the calories inside my meals; I started by going for better foods. I also began going on walks, which got me in better mental and physical shape without a lot of work. I then eventually started doing bodyweight training and full-body workouts. Taking progress photos helped me stay motivated—progress was very slow and it is easy to forget where you began.
At first, the weight came off fast, but not at a dangerous rate. Things slowed down some and eventually plateaued, with it taking around two years for me to get rid of 62 pounds. I started packing on muscle, too, so my body fat dropped; my arms and chest have grown the most from weightlifting.
Losing weight for me was all about changing my diet, so I was not consuming more calories than I could burn in one day. Just learning the calories in different foods even helped me; I didn’t study the calories or obsess over them, but having a good grip on what I ate was a real big deal for me. And walking for exercise helped my body and, without being too hard.
Author: Blake Ambrose
