TLDR below.
Who: 29 year old male 6 feet. Grew up skinny as a child but in my 20s got up to 220 lbs.
What: Lost 40lbs in 5.5 months eating anything I want.
How: Staying under 1500 calories daily (this total was adjusted. I started at 1700 and slowly moved down as I lost weight)
Starting weight: 212lbs (BMI 29.6 --> .4 away from "Obesity")Finishing weight: 171lbs (And still going probably)
Secret: Greek Yogurt and Water
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Prelude:
To start I know nothing about weight loss. When I was 23 or so I did the Tim Ferriss slow carb diet and had great success (lost 15 months in one month while also doing 30,000 steps a day as a landscaper).
I know this isn't healthy and the restriction of that type of diet is so dreadful... ALWAYS eating eggs and chicken is brutal. The mental aspect of losing weight is greatly underrated.
Since I don't know what I'm doing, take this post as a grain of salt since I don't know the potential health issues with this diet. But I didn't care because I knew my weight was holding my self-esteem back.
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Story:
February 2021: Almost 1 year into Covid and I'm at 212lbs and not feeling good about it. I turned 29 which I think was a bit of a mental shock. I can't get away doing dumb shit with eating habits and still "being healthy". I'm not a kid anymore, 30 is around the corner.
I REALLY didn't want to do a restrictive diet. That scared me cuz I've usually failed at it because sometimes you just fucking crave a cookie or Popeyes. PLUS I would ALWAYS be hungry.
So I found a post on either Reddit/YouTube talking about how weight loss is strictly about calorie deficit. I bought in. If I could not be hungry while dieting, and eat what I want, I think I can do this....
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Step by step: (Step 5 is the only mandatory step)
Step 1: Buy a food scale. They're not expensive.
Step 2: Download MyFitnessApp (I'm not associated --> extremely good for tracking calories). AND TRACK THE CALORIES OF EVERYTHING YOU EAT. In the app you can scan barcodes of food that will give you the exact calorie count. ALWAYS be conservative with your estimations. If you're not sure if a banana is 80 calories or 100 calories, then mark it as 100 calories.
Step 3: In the app, add your goal weight and how much you want to lose per week. Choose "Sedentary" lifestyle (even if you're not). I chose 1.5lbs a week. (I've read 2lbs a week should be max.)
Step 4: Load up on 0% Greek Yogurt. This is the magic pill for me (see pics below - lol). Greek Yogurt is low in calories and high in protein. This shit will fill you up without hurting your calorie count. Also, drink a shit ton of water. I am doing about 2-3L per day (I would look up what is a safe amount for your gender/weight).
Step 5: Eat whatever the fuck you want but stay under your daily calorie count. I ate cookies, Subway, A&W, Popeyes throughout the 5 months. I unfortunately couldn't eat at other restaurants because not all of them give calorie information. Remember to be conservative in calorie estimation
Step 6: Track your weight in the morning after you pee. Some people say do this once a week. I did it daily. I don't know why but I needed to remind myself of my goal (the action of stepping on the scale). Weight loss isn't linear in my experience. It acts more like a dropping chart on the stock market. 3lbs down and 1lb up is still 2lbs down --> Your brain may try telling you otherwise
Conclusion: I can't tell you how good it feels to be back into a normal BMI (23). Clothes not fitting is such a good feeling. I bought a belt in 2015 that I still use. I started at hole 3, then got fat and ended up at hole 1 (barely fitting), and now the belt is too big for me. It's so fun putting the belt on to what I was at my worst and seeing how huge it is. Overall, I just feel better about myself and very proud of what I've done. Next step is to bulk up a bit (now I can't get away with fat guy arms making me look muscular hah!)
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Tips:
- Protein shakes helped me a lot. Every morning I had a scoop of protein (35g), handful of spinach, 220g of frozen berries, a banana, and 250g of 0% greek yogurt. Filled me up quite a bit and only ~500 calories. Added some iron and omega 3 supplements and this checked several nutrition boxes
- I tried eating things high in protein as my understanding (I could be wrong) is that this is what fills you up
- Buy into this being the most important thing you do. Put priority in this over other things in your life. ---> Take this with a grain of salt, everyone's life situation is different. But I turned down "drinking with the buddies" (for example) in order to focus on this. The calorie intake takes precedent.
- MyFitnessApp has an ability to look up food calorie count that don't come with a calorie chart. For example a chicken breast from the market.
- DON'T TELL ANYBODY ABOUT YOUR GOAL. Dopamine release occurs in ANTICIPATION of a goal. When you tell people about your goal it makes the brain think the goal is being reached which actually decreases this release, making motivation/action more difficult. (Yes I'm a psychology master's student)
- No seriously eat what you want. If you have 200 calories to go today and you feel like a 200 calorie cookie, eat the fucking cookie. For me, being too strict made me less eager to get this done.
- Don't adjust your goal. I always had my eye set on 170lbs. Guys my height at 160lbs look too skinny to me so I was happy with 170. That's 40lbs which 99% of people will never accomplish. I didn't care. I was going to do it cuz I knew it would feel amazing. My eyes were set at 170. When I got to 175 I got a little lazy with it so I had to have a check with myself. 175 isn't good enough for me, 170 is the goal.
- If you do cardio/workout. That counts as extra calories for the day. Sometimes I wanted food that was above my calorie daily count. For example I had 100 calories left in the day and I wanted to eat a 200 calorie cookie. So I would get on the treadmill/bike and do a 100 calorie workout. (Remember: These calculations are ESTIMATIONS --> ALWAYS be conservative.)
- Coke Zero (while not good for you) has 0 calories. It was nice having that kick beyond water every once in a while.
- Greek Yogurt: As I said this is the magic pill for me. What most people say is "Doesn't it taste bad". Ummmm no it tastes like fucking victory. Yes it tastes bad but honestly I don't mind because I know it's helping GREATLY. It's like the old Buckley's commercials --> It tastes awful and it works. I'd rather be full and eat greek yogurt than hungry.
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My progress chart: https://imgur.com/K98nDZ5
5.5 months of Greek Yogurt: https://imgur.com/86GiFn8
TLDR: I ate anything I wanted and stayed under my daily calorie goal and lost 40lbs in 5.5 months.
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