Background
I was always the lanky kid in high school. I was on the wrestling team, a black belt in Taekwondo, and I loved competition. I was even able to run 5 minute miles.
Then college happened, and like a lot of people, I gained the freshman 15 45. In grad school, I got into pretty serious relationship with cheap breakfast food, and ended up gaining another 20 lbs. I hate to say it, but I really just accepted that this was who I was now. I spent a couple years really obese and just figured I'd never be able to run a mile again. When I moved across the country to start a new job, I told myself I'd get my act together, but I never did. I actually ended up gaining even more weight. I stayed in a really bad relationship with someone I thought was my best friend because I honestly thought that I wouldn't be able to find anyone else.
Over the course of 3 months, I went through a really bad, really protracted break-up, a weight gain all the way up to 275 lbs, and finding out I couldn't even walk a mile anymore without my legs killing me.
On October 10th, 2018, I hit rock bottom. I took two pictures of myself that day so I would know how awful I looked and felt. On that day, I decided to start counting calories religiously, and I decided to lose all the weight I gained at work, in the relationship, in grad school, and in undergrad. I was going to lose 95 lbs and get back to my old wrestling weight class in high school.
Tactics
I started researching the best ways to lose a lot of weight quickly, and the best ways to track it. I ended up getting a smart scale that I started using on 11/15/18. I went to the gym to do cardio, but I still couldn't do it without my legs feeling like they are breaking under my weight. So I decided to lose some weight before I went to the gym. On December 20th, I was able to walk a mile again. Since then, I've done the same workout most days.
- Do 1 mile as quickly as I possibly can
- 1 minute rest
- HIIT every quarter mile until I hit 30 minutes of cardio
- [OPTIONAL] If I had a cheat day (my coworkers love happy hours), I do another 20 minutes of cardio
I don't do a ton of weight lifting yet. I'll do it twice a month, but I know my body and I know my mind: I'd push it too hard and I'd hurt myself. Seeing the amount of weight that I'm able to lift go down would be demoralizing on a regular basis. I know it isn't ideal, but cardio is much more important to me for now.
For my diet, I stick between 1300-2000 calories a day. Basically, I eat when I'm hungry. I don't eat when I'm bored anymore. I never go to bed hungry. Unfortunately, my diet is not great. I'm eating a lot of fried food still, and a lot of carbs. As I enter the waning stages of weight loss, I'm going to try to eat better foods.
I weigh myself every morning after I wake up. I know a lot of people don't like doing that because plateaus can be difficult to deal with, but I had no problem with them. I'm a statistician IRL, so the data was really important for me to track my progress and make micro-adjustments accordingly.
Results
Before: 10/10/18 - 275 lbs, ~37% body fat After: 2/24/19 - 215 lbs, 24% body fat
(Using smart scale body fat estimate checked with navy method of measuring body fat, so it's not perfect)
I've lost 60 lbs, but I still have a ways to go. I'd like to lose 35 more lbs before I start a clean bulk to gain back the muscle I lost, but I'm not obese anymore! I'm able to run a 7 minute mile, and I think I can get back to my 5 minute miles once I get to 180 again. I don't get winded going up the stairs at work or in my apartment building anymore, I can walk to/from work without being drenched in sweat, I'm more mobile, and I'm so much happier. I'm going to try and start boxing soon since there's a pretty great gym for it right by my apartment, and my cardio is so much better now than it was when I started this journey.
I had to hit my rock bottom before I was kicked into high gear, but I am so glad that it happened. I was in denial with how unhappy I really was back then. Life is so much easier now that I don't have to lug around all that dead weight (my big fat ass, and the rest of the baggage too!).
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