I have it on good word that an OYBer lost 50 pounds in the past year by following the simple and unique OYB Diet Plan…after several years of frustration from trying other methods. I wanted to share her story for holiday inspiration (and any other time).
She reports that the first and most important factor is *not trying*. The key to her “not doing” was getting something cool going in life that activated her and gave her more focus than usual, something that finally got all her faculties cookin’. When they were all cookin’ they were eager to get in better harmony with each other. The rest was like falling off a log.
But the facts still remain: after getting the new endeavor under way, last winter she walked a couple miles a day, then started jogging a couple miles. When it got warm she started riding her bike every day for doing errands, getting groceries and bringing kids to preschool. Smallish 5-to-10-mile jaunts with trailer, 20 mins to 1 hr max. She also cut back on beer, had wine for dinner in a new favorite small glass, and stopped going back for seconds. Bingo, a done deal.
The Official OYB Total Plan also includes daily goofball calisthenics like sit-ups and push-ups mixed with yoga-ey stretches, ballet moves and martial arts-like pirate-fencing poses: if you have kids (or S.O.!) and are doing it right, they end up on top of you, adding resistance. All range of motion must be used and stressed every day, yo! The Plan also suggests XC skiing in the winter in snowy regions, as being cheap, easy, local, effective. However, we have to report laxness in these two aspects in this particular case.
We report another success story on the Modified OYB Diet Plan. A certain squire desired to make a small not entirely pitiful attempt at regaining an aspect of his youth by losing plentiful poundage. He triumphed with a slightly more severe expression of the OYB Program with 20 pounds lost in just a few months and is now back to size 34’s and an evening dance card. Without rules or gadgets he cut back on starches and the daily sixpack and started BOTH jogging 3 miles and biking several more every day. French wine played strongly in the picture and perhaps “dampened” the tremendous gains such a regimen would normally produce.
Lastly, we (OK, I) report my own small wavering victory: whenever I can exercise for an hour a day, doing anything, I’m happily into my 34’s. But I end up sick with colds most of every autumn, dashing those plans and bringing the 36’s looming to the horizon. I’m no fool for deserts, nor a big drinker, but I’m known for occasional 2nds and 3rds with exceptional meals…which are (happily) common around here.
Anyway, here’s the OYB Diet Plan for the Holidays: First, find a project that gives you zest and keep it going during the whole darn holidays. (Fat chance, pun intended.) Second, beware the darn seconds and shun the frubious thirds. Do smaller portions of desert: eat slower, maybe. Third: get outdoors an hour a day and sweat some! The holidays love a little leg-stretching and fresh air! Wherever you are, it’s not just the roasting chestnuts that make the spirit bright: it’s the bundling up and trundling off with a lift in your step! Don’t back off, get out there, wear some blaze orange, hit the trails, chop, split, rumpush.
