Not that long ago I decided after seeing a friend for the first time in years and realizing that I was quite a lot larger than him that I was going to change things about how I live. Just like you hear in the movies or on YouTube channels or something like that, the largest part of this entire combat with your own body and losing weight is diet.
For many people this is the hardest part but strangely, this has actually been the easiest part for me because other than one particular thing, pizza, I am not really all that tempted by food that is bad for you.
For whatever reason, Pizza Hut stuffed crust pizza is something I crave and there really isn't any other food thing that I feel this way about.
But but but.... this is not the hardest part about what I am changing in my life now because I simply don't order it and that the job done.
The hardest part for me has been that a bit after you start, you don't see returns very much anymore even though you are still doing the same program, still not cheating, and still putting in the work and from what I have read, this is completely normal and your individual results are going to depend on a lot of things such as how overweight you are, how old you are, and lots of other things that can't be calculated such as your genetics.
I had heard this was going to happen and I believed it, there was no reason not to, but after a certain amount of time your weight loss tapers off and stepping on the scale becomes less and less of a rewarding experience.
I have stuck to essentially the same program since I started this, which wasn't that long ago but it has been kind of shocking to me that it would taper off as fast as it did.
In the first 10 days or so of me doing this new diet and exercise program, I lost 5 kg or 11 lbs. In the following 20 days of doing the same thing, I lost less than 2kg or under 5 lbs.
Since my initial goal was to lose 20lbs (I actually said just 10 but then later upped it to 20 when the 10 was really easy) I felt as though I was making really fantastic progress and I still think that I am, but it is kind of frustrating to make these sacrifices and stand on the scale the following morning to see my "honest weight" and see that I weigh exactly the same as I did 2 days, 15km, 2 hours in the gym, and strictly-adhering-to-a-diet ago.
This is not a reason to stop of course because I am sure there are things going on such as me gaining muscle from the increased activity as well but if you do get involved in something like this just be aware that it is likely going to happen to you as well.
My rapid weight loss at the start was likely because I went to eating clean and prior to that I was eating just whatever I felt like it whenever I felt like it. When I was feeling a bit peckish (mildly hungry) late at night I would cover 5 crackers with loads of peanut butter and the chase i down with milk. This "snack" is roughly 800 calories and I was completely unaware of this until I bothered to start looking.
Now I am a lot more sensible with what I eat. I was quite proud of myself for an accomplishment that I made yesterday, for example.
A friend was having a dinner party and I know these people and was aware that the food was going to be plentiful and they were going to be drinking a lot of alcohol. The dinner was meant to start at 7 and everyone met up for drinks at 5 to "pre-game" which is something that I used to do frequently.
I didn't go to the drinks beforehand and instead of indulging in the beer, wine, and spirits that were at the party, I brought my own soda water and diet Pepsi (that'r right! I don't drink Coke!)
I was offered other drinks dozens of times while I was there and I didn't say yes to any of them. I ended up not having any alcohol while I was there and when I went home around 10pm (which was about half an hour longer than I wanted to stay but you know... courtesy) I was level-headed and went straight to bed. I woke up today at 6 with a clear head and no hangover, which is the opposite of how I would have felt in the past.
For me, skipping the alcohol isn't just about the calories, but about the after effects of alcohol when you over-indulge and for me, there is no such thing as "a couple drinks." Every time I drink at parties I indulge too much and end up with a hangover. I am incapable of taking it easy in relation to alcohol. The only answer for me is to not take part at all.
I still had fun at the party and feel fine today. I am sure the others in attendance are feeling a bit of pain today because they were going a bit nuts with the booze.
I admit it did feel strange to be the only person not drinking at the party but earlier in the day during a jog I was listening to Joe Rogan talk to a fellow comedian and both of them were talking about how they stopped drinking. Joe said "why would I, someone who is health-oriented, intentionally poison themselves several times a week?" and that is the way that I am kind of looking at it now.
Back to the weight loss over time though
According to basically everything I can see online EVERYONE experiences this rapid weight loss at the start and then it tapers off and people even start to see a weight GAIN after a certain amount of time. I haven't gotten to that point yet but I am sure it will come.
I decided when I started this though that I was not going to "try" to lose weight, I was going to succeed. I don't really find it all that difficult honestly, you just have to stay focused and be a bit strict with yourself. My goal is to make it to 88 kg and at the moment my honest weight is 91.5kg. I don't know how much longer it is going to take for me to get there because even on days where I work pretty damn hard I end up only losing 500 grams if I lose anything at all.
Stay the course, me!