A quick refresher course: About 3 months ago I was visiting a friend in Thailand that I have known for over 20 years. He and I had always been of similar size and over the years I have gotten bigger and so has he because well, we are 20 years older than when we first met. However, this time I was substantially larger than him and it has been this way in the past, but this time it was more noticeable to me because his girlfriend is a pharmacist and has one of those super-accurate scales that costs a lot of money. When it read out that I was over 98 kg (over 215 lbs) and while he had a bit of a belly, he was nowhere near that bad.
It was after that trip that I decided a change was necessary and I really put a lot of thought into it and knew what needed to be done.
src
I knew that there was a couple of things that had to be done and it isn't terribly difficult to understand, but you have to be motivated and dedicated in order for it to work. If I (or you) do this, you will lose weight. It's science and it is never wrong.
Consumer fewer calories in a day than your body burns
That's honestly all there is to it. A lot of people get out there and think that they need to run a race every day or get in the gym and hurt themselves on the first day in order to be fit. But I am not delusional and realize that I am never going to look like an underwear model. I just don't want to be a huge fatty.
So I got a calorie tracking app that has a food database and started logging all the things that I eat and drink. Based on my age and height it estimates that my body is burning naturally around 2100 calories a day. Therefore, if I eat less than this I will lose weight. if I exercise as well, it will lose weight faster.
It's not that complicated but something that a lot of people struggle with.
The first thing I did was to change my eating habits. I had been ordering delivery for nearly every meal and this is always dangerous because you don't know what they are putting in there. They are almost certainly using bad things like palm oil to cook it in as well because palm oil is the cheapest.
I then went and filled up my fridge with fresh fruit, greek yogurt, cheese (yes, cheese), and bought a bunch of meat. Oh and I needed some healthy carbs so I opted for potatoes.
I now cook most of my meals at home but discovered one place near my house that has healthy options with whole foods and this is exactly what I am looking for.
You might notice that i have a little furry witness to all of this in the background and don't worry, she got some of that delicious beef.
A word of warning to anyone out there that thinks that salads are the road to healthiness. Yes, they are mostly vegetables but a lot of places over the years have done this dirty trick to get you to buy salads where they sneakily make them unhealthy by using crazy amounts of dressing that is really bad for you. I'm not going to get into the specifics but if your dressing of choice has a texture like pudding, it's probably absolutely loaded with calories. Ranch was always a weakness for me and while it is not the worst one, it's still pretty bad at 90 calories per tablespoon. So drowning your 80 calories worth of vegetables in 300 calories of dressing well, that is no longer healthy. Also you have other things that I am not really considering like saturated fat and cholesterol to contend with.
Anyway, i'm no expert I am just looking at an app to tell me these things which even though i am not an app guy, and I never pay for any of them, they are really useful for discovering the truth about what you eat.
Since I lift weights, I also wanted to get a bunch of protein in my diet without breaking the scale with extra calories. This doesn't mean that you can just eat whatever you want that is high in protein though, and I went with eating a bunch of eggs with cheese cooked in.
That tastes a lot better than it looks.
My morning routine is like this:
- wake up at 6
- get a coffee and then watch some news something or other while drinking i
- eat some greek yogurt with fruit
- put a shirt on... this triggers the dog
- take said dog on a walk of about 2000 steps for humans and about 6000 steps for doggo.
- come back and eat a bunch of eggs
- do some sort of workout in the gym that is in my building - nothing major
At that point it is lunchtime and I will get into that at a later date as this post is approaching 1000 words and well
I started at 98 kg, and two months later my stable morning weight (a good time to weigh yourself from what I hear) is now 90 kg. I have NOT been doing a bunch of exercise. All I have been doing is eating mostly whole foods, staying away from snacking, and always staying under 2100 calories per day.
If you want to lose weight I think you can do it as well. Get some help from a food tracking app. There are a bunch of them and they are all free.
That's great that you are making progress! Slow and steady wins the race! It's frustrating, but in time it will all be worth it. It's sad, but sometimes even consuming more calories than you consume doesn't work. 99% of the time it does, but when you add in all the other factors sometimes it just doesn't. Personally, I blame some of the meds people are on these days. I think it messes up your body to the point that it becomes impossible to see any decent weight loss.
sure.. there are a lot of other factors that could only be determined by rather complicated doctor technology and stress tests. The information on the internet databases is fairly accurate and free though, so I am going with that for now.
The real problem for me that is obvious was the fact that for me I was consuming, regularly, about 75% of my daily allowance for calories in booze... and that is never good. I never thought I would be one of "those guys" but these days I am completely sober 6 out of 7 days of the week.
I get what you are saying. I know it's a pretty small group that falls into that category. The larger group is mostly just people who don't put in the effort. Drinking is probably my downfall as well. I only do it a couple nights a week, but it tends to make me snacky, and that is probably where the real problem starts!
ah yes, we never make good food decisions when hammered. I was actually able to control myself during my one drunk night last week though but that was because it was already in my fridge and ready to rock. Some air fryer quartered new potatoes covered in a bunch of spices and some sour cream and chive dip. Not exactly a plate of broccoli, i know, but better than ordering pizza delivery for sure
Yes that is a better choice than pizza. Depending on your mood, just as good too!
Yeah it's about time I go on a diet. I'm getting to be a regular fat ass.. almost 230 lbs.
it really is almost kind of addicting once you start to see results bro. Get a scale and just add MyFitnessPal to your phone and track what you eat. And get rid of the potato chips I see you munching on in all of your sofa videos... haha
Damn. Calling me out on the potato chip addiction.. savage..
Excellent as this is not a quick loss, but a lifestyle change and you will achieve your goals by sticking with it. Quick weight loss is no gods as it comes back quicker.
yeah that's what I have witnessed from all of my friends that tried dieting fads like intermittent fasting. That's too extreme for me. Only eating during a 2 hour window in the day? fuck that. I eat when I am hungry, but now I just make better choices about what to eat instead of just having burgers or pizza delivered.
Starting off with a 22 hour fast when you're new to it is fucking wild, lol. I've been doing intermittent fasting for like 4 years now but I started with 14-16 hours with a 10-8 hour window and then have stuck between rotating between 18-20 hour fasts leaving me 6-4 hours to eat depending on the day. I don't even just do it for helping with weight loss/maintaining weight, it just genuinely makes my stomach/digestive tract feel way fucking better.
Congrats on dropping the 17 pounds though. Hope you can keep up and hit your target goal sooner than later!
hey! long time no see buddy! gonna have to wander over to your page and see what sort of gruesome stuff you have in store for me :)
Good work! I've been battling things like this for far too long, for a couple of decades even while just following instincts.
Never had a real problem with weight, for me its more about all sorts of pollutants, and also getting enough vitamin, minerals and other necessary things from the food I can source...
Its really interesting that when I eat at small, family run Tibetan restaurants in Kathamandu, well then most of the problems simply vanish!