Saturday, February 9, 2019

Halfway there, the final push!

In 2015 I was 102kg (225 lb), which at my meagre height gave me a BMI of about 36. I was testing the waters of morbid obesity and it was showing in my appearance and in my health. At just 25 years old I was diagnosed with high blood pressure and non alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Around the same time I was re-evaluating my food choices for ethical reasons and went vegetarian for around a year. I then transitioned to veganism. This made it super easy to lose weight - the lifelong trend of gaining a little weight every single year of my life simply reversed, and after 2 years I had shed 20kg, and my BMI had firmly retreated from not just morbid obesity, but normal obesity too.

I'm now just over 80kg, and if trends continue I'll hit a normal BMI in the next 10-14 weeks.

I'm writing this post because it's my first day in a concerted effort to hit that goal. I'm going to eat as recommended by the Dr MacDougall program for maximum weight loss.

On this program I will eliminate all animal products (as I have been for nearly 2 years), all oils and fats, all fatty plant foods like tofu and avocado, all refined plant foods like flour and it's derivatives (bread, pasta, etc) calorie dense plant foods like nuts and seeds, and all drinks but water and green tea.

That leaves behind whole plant foods like strachy carbohydrates (potato, sweet potatoes, yams), whole grains (rice, quinoa, couscous, barley, bulgar wheat), cruciferous vegetables, colourful fresh fruit (limited to 2 portions per day) and veg, legumes (chickpeas, beans, lentils), spices and a little salt/sugar to season, though I will not cook with salt, sugar or salty stocks and soy sauces.

I will aim to eat 1500 kcal per day, and will exercise moderately every day for at least 30min, but at least 3 days of the week I'll go to the gym and do intense CV and weight training.

By end of April I aim to:

  • reach a BMI of 25, weight around 72 kg
  • complete the couch to 5k program and be able to run a 5k continuously in 35 mins or less
  • be in a position to come off my remaining low dose blood pressure medication

At that point I will maintain the program for a few more months until mid summer, by which time I'll have reached the middle of the correct BMI range.

I will then up my calories to maintenance, reintroducing refined whole grains like whole grain pasta, bread, as well as nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, though I will maintain my abstinence from animal products and refined fats or oils.

I turn 30 at the end of the year so I'd like to have a consistently healthy BMI and be working towards improvements in muscle mass and CV fitness by that point.

Wish me luck! I will post updates.

submitted by /u/lurkalurkaii
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from loseit - Lose the Fat http://bit.ly/2E25o0O

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