We're all in the same boat now with lock downs and such. I think that many of us struggle with controlling our diet, either micromanaging to the point of stress, or fearing relapses of sorts, binging, etc. In the first half of last year I successfully lost about 85 lbs with a very balanced approach to diet and exercise. The only real rule I followed was CICO, with more of an emphasis on protein, as I was in the gym for at least 10 hours a week. Over the last half of the year, I unfortunately gained back about 30 lbs, but put on a substantial amount of new muscle and actually felt like I was in a great place to lose weight as the year wrapped up.
Cue the plague. I'm fortunate enough to still have a job and be working from home. This is an unprecedented opportunity for me, albeit with a lot more background stress than I'd want. hopefully many of you have this work from home luxury as well. I can't go to the gym anymore, so all I do for exercise is walk, and walk, and walk. It's rare if I walk fewer than 15 miles a day. It takes a lot of time, but I have nothing but time. I just listen to audio books and enjoy the weather. While I bemoan the muscles wasting away in my chest and arms, I know I can get them back in short order.
Onto the important thing: diet. At the start of my quarantine, I decided to start using lose it! (the app) as my myfitnesspal account was not working. Lose it premium has a feature where you can upload your raw DNA sequence and it will give you a genetic analysis of sorts and tailor a diet plan for you. It confirmed many things I already knew or had independently verified (such as gluten intolerance, high caffeine sensitivity, low B vitamin absorption). One thing came as a surprise though. I should do better with a high carb, low fat diet, rather than high fat low carb. When I thought back on every successful period of weight loss in my life, they all lined up with lower fat diets. Again with nothing but time on my hands, I decided to jump in with both feet.
My diet now primarily consists of things like: brown rice, steel cut oats, quinoa, amaranth, millet, teff, sorghum, vegetables (mostly peas, corn and carrots for now as I avoid the store), potatoes, sweet potatoes, some dried fruit and a modest amount of nuts, lean meat like chicken breast, turkey breast, fish, lean cuts of steak. I also supplement with Soylent or Huel. I've reintroduced actual )(1% or 2%) milk back into my diet, rather than almond/soy/coconut, etc. Coincidentally, I decided to basically do 16:8 IF. This is mostly just to help focus on work in the mornings, but I've actually come to enjoy the smaller eating window, whereas last year when I tried it, I hated it.
End result: in 8 weeks I've dropped 40lbs. I no longer feel like I'm fighting against the current of my diet. I went from drinking about 10 cups of coffee a day to not drinking any caffeine. Coffee was a huge part of my life, but I simply don't need it anymore. I sleep 8 hours a day, good quality sleep, and have plenty of energy in the day because I don't feel weighed down. A HUGE plus is that my skin has cleared up completely, as I've almost completely stopped eating wheat/barley/rye (abstaining from alcohol as well) and am avoiding the minor allergic reaction.
Final parting words: there's a "right" diet for everyone, but it might not be the same for each individual. I've never liked Keto/paleo/Atkins or whatever because my body couldn't handle it. You may be the exact opposite. You may want three squares a day, whereas I prefer 4 or 5 smaller meals. Use this time in your life to really focus on how your body reacts to food. Introduce or remove items gradually and see if it makes you feel better. It's ok to experiment. We're all trying to change for the better, and it's ok to change.
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from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/2SaQPPb
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