Americans get a bad rap for being overweight which I think is mostly justified as I think our society plays a big role in this. Everything is about convenience and getting more for your money – drive-throughs, front row parking, super-size, unlimited refills, etc. We always used the time excuse. Our lifestyle in the US provided very limited time to work out, but the truth of the matter we choose to do other things in our free time (sleep, watch TV, eat, etc.). When we took the plunge and decided to move to the UK we thought it would be a great opportunity to try to get a bit healthier. Many of the Americans at our company who have completed a work assignment in the UK have lost weight and I was hoping to be one of them.
Fast forward one year. Cory is 40 pounds lighter. He weighs in the 170s and swears that the last time he saw the 170s was in high school. While I haven’t quite hit Cory’s big numbers, I have lost about 8 pounds and am pretty sure some of my size 4 dress pants (vanity sizing of course) that are sitting back home in my KC closet may fit. And yes I made Cory pose for this photo. He participated fairly willingly.
Our eating habits aren’t bad, but certainly aren’t fabulous. (My Chai Tea Latte habit has gotten worse with the strategic placement of a Starbucks right outside my office door, we eat ice cream regularly and we would get laughed at if we tried to order a light beer.) The key difference is the amount of activity we’re doing on a day to day basis. We aren’t huge fans of public transport so we walk everywhere. Every day we walk to work which ends up being about 2.5 miles round trip. On top of that both Cory and I have started running about 3 times a week over lunch. We both are wearing fitbits and are averaging 16,000+ steps a day. If you haven't heard of fitbit, google it and check it out. Very cool pedometer.
We’re a bit worried about our return home to the US. Hopefully we don’t eat ourselves back to our old stats in the first month. Only time will tell.
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