It's actually more like 4 weeks but I didn't really have a rock solid plan until about 2 weeks ago when the scales arrived in the mail and I started doing some serious tracking of my weight as well as what I eat and drink. So we'll just call it week number 2, ok?
My "honest weight" is down to around 92kg or 203 lbs. I started around 4 weeks ago at 98 kg or 216 lbs. I am quite proud of losing 13 lbs / 6kg in 4 weeks especially when you consider that for the first 10 days or so, I was basically half-assing it and didn't get dedicated until the pasts 2 weeks.
The main thing that I changed about my life is a couple of things really. I dramatically changed what I eat. It used to be that at dinnertime I would order whatever I felt like having and often, this was stuff we all know is terrible for us such as pizza or burgers. These days I have single-source protein for the most part and some sort of starch such as baked potatoes. My overall calorie count could be a lot lower if I didn't drown my potats in sour cream but I refuse to eat flavorless food like bodybuilders do.
For my lunches I continue to eat something healthy and protein heavy and luckily there are a couple of places that are on the delivery circuit here that specialize in health salads and because of the dressings they manage to be quite good and something that I really enjoy. Nadi gets some of it as well.
On the exercise front, I am not really doing anything profound just yet. There is a small gym in my building and I have been going up there to lift some weights and am starting to have a plan of sorts when I get in there. As it is now, for the most part, I just get in there and do something... which is 100% more than what I was previously doing.
Oh and Nadi definitely gets some of that lunch and dinner, just in case you were wondering.
When I do go out to eat, which isn't often, I make a choice based on which selections are likely to contain whole foods. I believe that processed foods are certainly a lot easier, but they contain a bunch of stuff that I likely bad for you. I also try to keep my protein levels up by ordering something that is protein heavy because protein makes you feel full longer, which is important.
Make no mistake: I do not starve myself. I am not taking part in any sort of intermittent fasting or ever being hungry. If I feel hungry, I eat... but I stocked up my house with fruit and nuts instead of stuff like chips and dips.
Fruit and nuts are also heavy in calories but at least they are the right kind. There is nothing processed in there and the ingredient sheet consists of whatever the food item is, and maybe a little bit of salt as far as the nuts are concerned.
I do not count calories for the most part, I only count protein and am careful to not consume any processed sugars. I am still losing weight at a medium pace because my input food was so unhealthy before that basically anything else would also make me lose weight. The biggest thing is that outside of bowling days and special occasions, I don't drink beer or any other kind of alcohol at all. I am incapable of having a "few craft beers " and then calling it a night. I am an "all or nothing guy" when it comes to booze and I think they have a word for people like that.
Something else that has done wonders for me is that I decided to get on a sleep pattern. I wake up every day at 6:30AM which for those of you out there with traditional jobs, is probably something you do anyway. I do not have a traditional job and basically just wake up whenever I feel like it, or at least that used to be the case.
I do not enforce any sort of bedtime, but by eating at regular times, waking up at a regular time, and getting some sort of exercise into my day every day, I find that I am ready for lights out around 10pm every night anyway. This doesn't do a lot for my social life but hell, I did a LOT of that over the past 20 years, likely enough for most people's entire lifetime.
So in summary, i
- bought a scale and take weekly pictures of myself
- I changed what I eat somewhat but never starve myself
- I get an hour's worth of exercise in every day
- I do not drink alcohol outside of Thursdays or special occasions
This has been working like a charm for me so far although my friends kind of wonder where the hell I am and unfortunately it is me, staying away from them, because I already know what they are doing and those are habits that I am trying to stay away from.
When we get to an honest weight of 91 kg this will be one hell of a milestone for me as an American: It will bring me below 200 lbs which is territory I have not seen for nearly 10 years.
I'm not going to TRY to do it, I am going to succeed. I think this is the correct mindset to have.
What have you done for your health lately?