“Pass the bread, please” says the man that can’t fit into his shirt while holding the butter knife with one hand and the plate of margarine with the other hand. “Let’s go, pass it down while it’s still warm.”
That man was me, I would eat bread like some people spend money they don’t have, on credit cards. I could not afford the luxury of eating all the bread and asking for doubles but I still did it because I didn’t know what it was doing to my bottom line.
I would eat bread like some people spend money they don’t have.
You might ask, how could you not know? It’s the same question I ask my friends that are 50k in credit card debt and have no emergency savings, no lifeline and no cash in the bank. They are constantly spending more than they earn and buying luxuries with their income.
I am not talking about people who are spending money buying the basics and are on minimum wage. I am talking about people who make multiple six figures and still can’t make their mortgage payment because other things take priority.
Losing 75 pounds puts things into perspective for me. When I look at a luxury food item for example let’s say, chocolate. I ask myself, can I afford that? Am I in the condition to purchase that and eat it? If I am being true to myself, I will answer that I really can’t afford it because I am still overweight and I am not burning enough calories each day to justify that bar of chocolate.
When I look at a luxury food item for example let’s say, chocolate. I ask myself, can I afford that?
Someone once told me that if you can’t eat anything you want, you are simply not living. Who would want to live like that. I simply smile and say your are right. I my mind I think to myself, how can anyone live with 75 pounds of extra fat on their body, carry around all that weight just because they can’t control their habits, their desires and their impulses.
Being fat held me back from doing simple things like running after my kids and playing catch or like standing for long periods of time. It held me back from going for a nice 6 mile walk around the park which is one of my favorite things to do now.
Being fat held me back from doing simple things like running after my kids and playing catch
The interesting thing is that I can afford to eat bread right now because I am happy where I am, I need to eat it in moderation. I ate bread every day for the past week and did not gain a pound. Why? Because I didn’t over eat more than I burned and I also was aware that It’s a luxury.
Overspending on luxuries when you can’t afford to do that is a bad habit that we justify and so is overeating the wrong types of food.
When someone asks me how I did it? I say, for three years I struggled and I pushed through. Yes, I failed a bunch of times caving for Pizza, burgers and other nosh. For the most part I got off wheat, sugar, rice, potato and pasta. To accelerate the process and cut back on fruit and stopped eating dairy products.
Yes, I failed a bunch of times caving for Pizza, burgers and other nosh.
My brother went to a nutritionist for a year and she was working with him to get him to lose weight. He actually gained weight and was classified as morbidly obese, he desperately wants to lost 75 pounds. I pleaded with him to try this diet out. He commited to 90 days and in the past 3 weeks he shed 30 pounds. Now he needs to stick to this diet to get to his goal, drink a significant amount of water and take his vitamins. Get enough sleep and break a sweat a few times a week.
If we can control our mind and our emotions the rest is setting up the right habits and watching the pounds melt away.
I am sure many people will say that eating too much protein is bad for you, that you must drink your milk and you must each some carbs to survive. Try this out and realize that although you think you need that luxury called bread and sugar, the reality for is me is that when I committed to losing weight more than I committed to feeling good about what I ate and I took action, I lost weight and saved time and money along the way.
Don’t try to get rich quick, realize that it can take a few years for you to get to your goal, do it slow and steady and stay rich for life.
BIO: Joe Apfelbaum is the CEO and co-founder of digital marketing agencyAjax Union. He is a public speaker, certified Google Trainer, and published business author. Joe enjoys speaking and writing about a broad range of business topics in his seminars, webinars and articles. Joe is the host of the popular podcast CEO Mojo and the producer of GrowTime.tv. Joe is a member of the Board of Directors of the Entrepreneurs Organization in Brooklyn, a group with over 11,000 CEO’s and a contributing member of the INC Business Owners Council, a community of the fastest growing companies in the United States. Joe is proud of all his accomplishments, but most of all he is proud of his successful foodie wife and beautiful amazing kids.
