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Dear Stan, Ref Men only: new pect-ing order - last week's GulfWeekly.
It drives me crazy whenever people around me talk about the magic of gastro bypasses, liposuction and diet pills.
In my opinion all you need is a strong determination and a powerful food management system.
I call recall vividly the day I decided to stop harming my body and put an end to the unnecessary consumption of cholesterol-inducing, fat piling foods. Like many of you, I had my share of horror stories that revolved around failed diets and lost hopes. Such omens were the first hurdle in my illusive path towards a healthier me, yet the whole idea enticed me to the bones and there was no turning back.
My journey began in December 2007 with a body mass indicator of 29, a total weight of 97.5 Kg, dangling love handles, male boobs, and many persistent colon problems. I decided to focus on gaining the necessary knowledge on holistic healthy lifestyle systems and my extensive search made me choose the simplest, yet most comprehensive healthy lifestyle ever: Calories Count!
As the name implies, Calories Count is all about making sure that what enters the body doesn't exceed a certain limit i.e. 1,200 calories per day for guaranteed results. Fair enough, isn't it? There are good calories and bad ones and you need to limit your food intake to five distinctive food groups: low-fat dairy, lean meat, fruits and veggies, whole grains, and monounsaturated fat.
Sounds boring? Maybe! But you get to eat a meal every three hours, which adds up to five to six meals per day, not to mention the 45 minutes of cardio training twice per week.
My second hurdle was to endure the massive effect of junk food withdrawal, after years of continuous abuse, the body gets used to high fat, high calories food items and breaking this cycle sends the whole body into a whirlpool of starvation and tiredness. Fortunately, our bodies can adopt to new diets amazingly and soon enough the viscous starvation cycles ended abruptly as I began reaping the benefits of a new, healthier me.
Additional boosts of energy, a happy colon, high self-esteem, looks of admiration and good conversation openers were a few of the many benefits that I started reaping after a month into Calories Count.
My scale now points at 76.6 Kg, a body mass indicator of 25. 4 inches of my waist, two shirt sizes reduction and muscles in places I never imagined. The Calories Count is now an integral part of my daily life and I can't imagine myself without it.
So, what is my secret? The answer to this question is the reason why I wrote this letter to begin with: to succeed in this method you need to have two important things apart from the usual details on what to eat and what not to eat: a) To think of this journey as a source of inspiration and share it with everybody and b) To have a support group of individuals that can back you up when you try to cheat over the weekend.
Interested? Let me know and I would love to help. I am 29, I live in Sanad. I have a full time job as head of HR at a company in Bahrain.
Calories Count is not a business venture rather a way of life and I would really love to share it with others.
Ahmed Shukri
Ahmed.mm.shukri@gmail.com
