M33 5'10" SW:205 CW:160 GW:170 - Some thoughts, data, and my bare chest

A few days ago I hit 160lbs, down from my starting weight of 204.8lbs on October 9th, 2019.

https://i.imgur.com/2rrKdGN.png

I lost this weight at a pace of 0.35lbs/day, including holidays, birthday parties, and some blown days. My initial goal was an "ambitious" 170, but I rode my momentum to 160 which I consider my final goal. From here on I think I'll recomp.

https://i.imgur.com/kpBDrPr.png

Growing up I was an athlete and stayed at 10% BF or less until age ~22. From there on, without a team and coach to push me, I slowly began gaining weight over time.

As I slimmed down, colleague took notice, asking the typical "how did you do it?" and "what's your secret?". The more interesting question, I think, is why I did it;

WHY?

• To look and feel good.
• To increase my success on the career stage.
• To motivate loved ones.
• To lead by example and show my kids being healthy is important.
• To challenge myself.
• To see what my body can do, at the ripe age of 33.
• To see what it takes and how hard this is.
• To treat my body like the wholesome, serene temple that it is.
• I'm a nerd engineer and enjoyed logging, calculating, fine-tuning everything.

The biggest surprise was that throughout all of this, I learned a ton about nutrition, food, and the human body. That in itself was both a revelation and a punch in the face, as I now realize how utterly oblivious I was in the past with regards to nutrition. Armed with this new wealth of knowledge, I doubt I could ever go back to an unhealthy weight.

EXERCISE

• Exercise regime is roughly 2 sessions of each HIIT and heavy weight lifting per week.
• Lifts are improving slowly.
• I will now switch to more heavy lifting as I've hit my goal.

DIET

• Daily intake ranged between 1200 and 1800 calories, mostly around 1500.
• An averaged loss of 0.35lbs/day means I've been at a ~1200 calorie deficit, putting my TDEE around 2700 (bit hard to believe).
• Ate lots of lean protein, otherwise diet consisted of whatever's in the fridge.
• No junk aside from holidays and occasions (4000-6000 calories per day).
• I sometimes fast for up to 16 hours, I believe the main benefit of IF is pushing hunger off to a later time.
• Drank water from one of those annoying bottles that flashes at you every 20 minutes.
• Weighed absolutely everything on most days, including dressings and spicy sauces.
• Staples of my diet included; bananas, berries, nuts, avocado, every vegetable imaginable, chicken, tuna, greek yogurt, oat-based cereal, and almond milk.
• Never turned down a surprise snack or meal, so long as it wasn't a Krisky Kreme Donut.

ASSORTED TIPS, TRICKS, THOUGHTS

• If you're making progress, "Yesterday You" deserves mad props. Picture Yesterday You and high-five that person. It's strangely therapeutic and motivating.
• Sugar addiction is serious shit, cut that shit out.
• Being a parent is no excuse for gaining weight - cook clean for your kids and eat what they eat. A Mediterranean inspired diet is easy, fast and kids love it (nuts, berries, etc).
• Do yourself a favor and use a science-based approach to weight loss.
• CICO is science-proven. CICO is king. CICO is life. "Diets" are the methods by which you achieve CICO.
• There is no "best diet". People achieve success on all sorts of diets, good and bad. The one thing they all have in common is a caloric deficit. Diet programs help people stay on track and accountable to themselves.
• The words "detox" and "toning" don't belong in any weight loss or fitness program.
• Learn to quickly assess the caloric content of food; beef is 15% fat, 25% protein. Fat is 9 calories per gram. Protein is 4 calories per gram. Therefore a ~100g piece of beef should contain ~235 calories (google says 250, pretty close!).
• Same thing for fruit; you can weight the contents of a banana without peeling it, as ~65% of its unpeeled weight is pure edible fruit. You can do this with avocado, etc. Useful for weighing calories ahead of time.
• A shout-out to eatthismuch.com for meal inspirations.

Any questions, just ask!

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