by Mark Szabo

Yes, that’s exactly what I’ve managed to do since the start of the pandemic.

In the beginning – panic eating

Don’t get me wrong – in the very beginning I was panic-eating just like the rest of us. Kathi and I were eating ice cream sundaes every night! Hot Fudge and Carmel Sauce were our go to favorites! Comfort food like mashed potatoes sounded awesome! Just like many of you, we used food to satisfy our need for certainty and comfort during those first few weeks of complete uncertainty.

After the first month I had ballooned up to around 225! Kathi didn’t want to step on the scale, but when her leggings felt tight, we both knew our panic-eating had to stop.

In April the textbooks for the nutrition certification course in which I had recently enrolled in had arrived.

Now, I don’t know about you, but the lockdown gave me a lot more free-time and it was the perfect opportunity to begin studying something I have always been interested in, nutrition and eating healthy.

I had tried numerous programs or “diets” in the past.

I’d done Atkins before, then Keto for a while. Tried Paleo, South Beach, and Mediterranean. I tried a packaged food program that I now can’t believe I ate those processed foods. They had no taste! Kathi hated it since it left her fending for herself since she wanted no part of pre-made meals!

Heck, one April I decided to try eating vegan. This was a number of years ago when Kathi still worked in the city. I was the chef in the house and I didn’t bother to tell her what I was doing. (See, whatever new diet regimen I decide to try, she was stuck having to try too 😉) However, she noticed after about a week of tofu and imitation meat products. She wasn’t thrilled with the vegan plan – mostly it was the cheese she missed.  Lucky for her, that attempt did not even last a whole month.

Looking for Health in all the wrong places.

So after all those different diets or eating plans I was still looking to be healthier. And this time was different. There was a realization of getting older and I didn’t want any short term fixes. I wanted lasting change.  For my food to fuel my body. To continue living an active life. I also wanted to change my family history. My dad died at only 62 years of age, and a few months later his older brother, my Uncle Bill, died at just 64. I don’t want that to be me. I see myself living to well over 100, and I want to live that long life being able to do the things I love, like hiking, scuba diving, exploring.

Finally, I also want Kathi to join me in this long healthy active life.  We share most of our meals together.  It’s important to me for us to share in this health journey! I want our meals to be tasty as well as providing the nutrition our bodies need as we age.

So after talking with a number of health coaches I know, I settled on the science and behavior based certification from Precision Nutrition. The program was supposed to take about a year to complete; I did it in roughly 3 months.

And then I put it all into practice,

and the pounds started falling off. Before I knew it, I was under 200! I stepped on the scale one morning and it read 199.4. I hadn’t been under 200 since the last millennium. Boy was I ecstatic!

But it didn’t stop there. Each week I was lighter and lighter. I’ve been consistently in the low 170’s for several months now. As of this morning I’m 172.6, and the lowest I’ve seen was 170.3, last week. I don’t know if I’ll see the 160’s. I’m not really even trying to shed any more weight.

Of course, I haven’t really been “trying” this whole time, either.

I’m not on any weird, restrictive diet. In fact, I’ve literally been eating Chocolate, Ice Cream, Pizza, Tacos, Burgers, and Pasta all along, and there have been a couple of occasions where I’ve gorged on a plate of desserts, or a really sweet and gooey Yogurtland bowl.

And still I was able to get down to my ideal body weight. The scale tells me I’m between 7.3 and 10.1% bodyfat. I think it’s being a bit generous, and I’d estimate I’m between 12 and 15%, which is right in the healthy range for a man on the cusp of his 50’s.

Although I studied this nutrition program because I wanted to get healthy and live a long life, I also did it because I want to help people. Besides teaching yoga and mindfulness, I wanted to teach people how to be healthy. To shed the pounds and negativity that’s holding them back from being their true Self. Living a full and abundant life!

Afterall that’s why Kathi and I started Eclectic Well-Being!

So, do you want to know the secret?

Join me for Well-Being 101 on Saturday, September 25^th from 10:30 – Noon, Eastern time, where I will spill it all!

✔ Learn to let go of what is truly holding you back from having the body you want, or anything else in your life that you desire by using this one simple technique.

✔ I’ll share one core principle which is the most proven effective way to make lasting change in your mindset and your body… It improves your chances of success by 95%… in anything.

✔ Discover how you can have more health, more joy, and get out of your own way without changing the core of who you are or doing things you don’t want to do.

This is a hybrid event, so you can attend in-person or via Zoom. Spots are filling up quickly, so register today 😊

https://eclectic.kartra.com/calendar/WB101Calendar