Aesop knew what he was writing about when he penned the story “The Tortoise and the Hare”. We all are aware of the ending as it was a basic children’s tale with a winning moral ending that we recited and learned many years ago. My interpretation of this fable encouraged me to follow the slow road to my goal of losing weight while getting fit and healthy in the interim. I did not want to be self-scammed by my unsavory readings regarding losing a few inches in the waist or shedding some unwanted weight I was lugging around. Each ad or article I encountered regarding a fast approach to rid body fat always seemed to be some shady scheme with promising results of overnight transformations. Some of the research seemed to be so unrealistic such as being able to lose 30 pounds in 30 days, or that a miracle berry, elixir or pill would change my life around by being able to wear skinny jeans. The fast-paced path was certainly not anything I would subscribe to, as I always believed you had to pay your dues and work hard for anything that was worthwhile. Therefore the word “easy” as far as losing weight and getting healthy was and still is not part of my vocabulary. Thank you but no thank you, as it was not my motive to be shammed, scammed, slammed or spammed into a foreseeable unhealthy and risky format of becoming a person of lesser poundage.  I wanted to take an honest approach towards my objective. For me it was not about how I looked in a tight fitting dress, but more about living a fit and healthy lifestyle. I wanted good basic knowledge that I would be able to utilize and maintain for the rest of my life.

It all started when I was working for a health care system several years ago, I had some routine blood work done and discovered that my good cholesterol wasn’t really that good, and my triglycerides were quite high (triglycerides=too much fat in my diet). I felt an obligation to be in good health, as I didn’t want to become a patient in the cardiac or Bariatric ward, since doing the work myself was the goal I set for myself. I perceived the idea that if my employee signed my paycheck, I should oblige them by becoming a “poster child” for their organization. I was one month into my program and I was five pounds lighter. Even though it wasn’t even a 1% loss, it made me feel like a million dollars. Who knew that this small event would make me feel so liberated. Without knowing, I was actually changing my mindset and setting up a routine that I continued with for many months.  As long as I was consistent with my eating habits, which were now more like Jack Spratt himself by consuming lean items on my everyday menu, and working out every twelve hours I was hoping to transform myself into a tortoise-like being. Yes indeed a tortoise, because they have no problems carrying their own weight as well as having a very long life span!