How did I do it?

After announcing that I lost 25 pounds in six weeks, greatly improved my blood pressure, and am feeling better than I have in a few years, I've been asked countless times the obvious question, "How did you do it?"
I could answer this question in a few words, but since most people want details, here is the whole story. Six weeks ago at the time of this blog post, I went to my doctor for help with a severe sinus infection. My physician said he could help me with antibiotics, but was more concerned with my dangerously high BP. It read something like 210/100. He increased my blood pressure medicine dosage, and told me to check my pressure regularly and let him know if it did not come down. The reading, and the warnings I was given about what could happen if I did not get the numbers down, scared me. It was a huge wake-up call. For the sake of my kidneys, heart, and family, I decided that I would dedicate myself to getting healthier.
Let me first describe my lifestyle before the visit to the doctor: I would often stop at a famous local biscuit restaurant on my way to work in the morning. My favorite choice was a bacon, egg and cheese biscuit, sometimes with a side of sausage gravy. I would often add an extra egg to the sandwich! I ate that on the way to work with a large coffee, then sat in the break room reading the paper and talking with co-workers till work time. My job consisted mostly of standing in one place, at a drill press, combination miter saw, or fabrication assembly table. At ten o'clock break, I reached into my lunch box and pulled out a peanut butter sandwich, sometimes with preserves, honey, or maple syrup added. It made me feel better that I used whole wheat bread. I consider myself a pretty good cook, and usually made dishes for my lunch that made my co-workers jealous. The dishes almost always included white pasta or white rice, 8 to 12 ounces of meat or poultry, and some pretty amazing sauces, gravies, or real, creamery butter. Lots of salt was always included in the recipe. My serving size was usually enough to feed two or three people, and I ate it all by myself. I felt better because I often had a salad and/or a piece of fruit on the side. The salad was covered with cheese and drenched in dressing - some creamy kind. Once or twice a week our crew at work would order from a local Chinese restaurant, which also served huge, heavy, salty meals. Occasionally we would order pizza delivered from another local restaurant, of which I would eat three large pieces.
At this point no one is surprised how I gained weight in the first place, and what I needed to do. The other part of the story was my lifestyle after work. I would often come home, very tired from being on my feet all day, and sit. I often ate a pretty large dinner, sometimes stopping for burgers and fries, etc. I felt better because I drank coffee or water instead of soda. Sundays after church I would often hit an all-you-can eat buffet and challenge myself as to how much I could eat for my money.
The really astounding part of this story is that I had convinced myself that I wasn't really doing too bad. I knew I was very overweight and out of shape, and hated myself for it, but not enough to do something about it. I won't even go into the psychological elements that led me to that horrible lifestyle.
So now comes the answer to the question of how I lost weight, and started back on the road to a healthier me. The visit to the doctor, as I said, scared me. I knew I had to do something. I started by throwing out all the self-deceit and rationalizations I had made to justify my lifestyle. "Just do it," became my rallying cry. What follows is my current lifestyle, which I plan to keep for the rest of my life:
"Eat small, exercise big equals a lean, healthy body," is printed out and posted at my computer desk where I can see it every time I sit here to socialize on facebook. The simple truth of weight control is that you lose weight when you burn more calories than  you consume. For all the hype about this diet or that diet, this supplement or that one, this exercise equipment or that, it all comes down to calories. I first began focusing on cutting my calorie intake in half, an doubling the amount of exercise - well, honestly, you can double nothing and still get nothing. So let's just say I started walking every evening after work - about a mile at a very brisk pace.
Then my plan got a little more complex. Since my blood pressure was my greatest concern, I began thinking about the things I was eating, things I should avoid, and things I should add to my diet. The first thing to go was sodium, quickly followed by any saturated fats, trans-fats, and "empty" carbohydrates such as simple sugars, bleached breads, pastas, and rice. Here's the list of foods I now consume, in very moderate portions. These are in order of the amount of each type of food I eat:

100% whole grains
Vegetables, without sodium (or very low sodium) or bad fats added
Fruits and berries
Plain yogurt
Nuts and seeds, unsalted
Lean meat, poultry and fish, limited to four ounces per day, no salt or sodium added

Things I avoid:

Sodium
Saturated fats and trans-fats
Simple sugars
White breads, pasta, rice

The vegetables and fruits I eat are fresh when in season, or frozen, low sodium, no seasonings added. I also buy canned veggies, only when labeled "No Salt Added."

Once again, calories are a great consideration. I am currently consuming about 1200 calories per day. No more stops for breakfast biscuits!

My exercise consists of a mile or two brisk walking per day, and three days a week I add strength exercises. My choice of equipment right now is a pair of thirty-pound dumbbells. Otherwise, I focus on push-ups, crunches, pull-ups, and other things I can do using my own body weight for resistance. It's working for me. No expensive equipment or trips to a gym.

You know, I think we all know what needs to be done to get us in better shape. Endless searches online for diet and fitness information, buying equipment, videos, consulting trainers, and reading every diet and fitness article we can find is really sort of a waste of time, isn't it? Frankly, it's a stall. We know what we should be eating, and what we should avoid. We know that any exercise is better than none. It just comes down to one thing, as a famous tennis shoe maker says, "Just do it."