Good morning everybody (at least in the timezone I live, which is in Western Europe).
Since I became 20, my weight increased constantly due to bad eating habits and especially working abroad (no exercise, constant stress, eating out all the time, oversized portions, soft drinks... you name it).
A bit on my background: I'm a 36 year old male and 172 cm tall. My actual job (I quit the one where I had to work abroad most of the time some years ago) includes working outside and therefore, I was able to keep at least a minimum amount of fitness. I was always able to walk long distances and go for hikes, but it was not as much fun as it could be and that was often a bit frustrating.
Obesity isn't running in my family, my parents never have/had any serious weight issues, just the little spots you get here and there when you get older. Weirdly my sister struggles from the same, but her eating habits are totally different than mine (constant intermediate eating of very sugary things and big sized meals). My sis actually had a castric bypass some years ago, but it doesn't work in a long term and is now causing bad side effects, while her weight is back up again and still on the rise.
So at the 30th of December last year I made a new attempt to lose some weight. It was one of those evenings where I just felt bad about my fitness, my looks, my big belly and my round face. I also planned to visit a new friend I recently met over the internet and I just wanted to try and get into a better shape. Just as a sidenote: I'm not going to post any pictures of me at the moment, this is not because of shame, but because of privacy.
Sadly I haven't properly tracked my weight during the journey (maybe because I thought at the beginning, that it's once again not going to work). I also had to switch to a better scale as my old one was massively inaccurate. But I assume that I started at 130 kg, which gives a BMI of 43.9. About my health: Some years ago I was diagnosed with hyperuricemia. Since then I have to take drugs to prevent gout and luckily this drug has no noticeable side effects and also next to no interactions with other medications. My blood pressure and my blood sugar were luckily always in the green and I want to keep it like that.
I set myself the following goals:
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I would like to be below 100 kg by the end of the year (achieved the second week of May).
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I want to get below 90 kg (achieved about one and a half week ago).
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My actual goal is to get below 80 kg and then see, how much more is possible/reasonable also based on my look.
So what is/was my plan:
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Switch to water completely: 2.5-3 liters a day: It takes about 2-3 weeks to get used to that and I'm still mostly drinking carbonated one (no fancy vitamin water). Sometimes a tea or a coffee with artifical sweetener.
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Eat less: I work as an engineer and it's simple maths: Less calories in than out. So I had to reduce my intake. I switched radically to only eating one full meal per day, which is lunch (for social reasons). I rarely eat anything between lunches, sometimes a fruit or a joghurt with berries.
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Do more: I always loved to take long walks (there are lots of forests where I live) and hikes. But as I started in winter, that was a bit of a problem. Some years ago I bought myself a crosstrainer and I started to use it every day(!) for at least 30 minutes (which took like 2 weeks before I was fit enough for that).
To my surprise, this worked way better than expected. On average I lose about 1.5 kg per week and yes, there have been some bad weeks where next to nothing happened (last week was such a week and yes, it's frustrating sometimes).
So as of today, my weight is 88.3 kg, which gives a BMI of 29.8 (yay, I'm officially not obese anymore).
I think my mind has changed when it comes to food: Although I eat normal sized portions for lunch, I go for healthy food: Lots of veggies, less fat, no unnecessary carbohydrates if I don't need them. But I'm not counting calories. If I cook for myself (like on weekends) I do sometimes compare and count calories when buying my food, but not to a massive extent. I also enjoy my food way more than before, as it's now like a "special" moment of the day and not something I can simply do all the time.
As I eat less, I know also get properly "full" and my stomach is now able to tell me, when it's enough. Before that, I could eat massive portions and I'm happy, that my body now limits my intake too and is able to tell me, when it's enough.
What are the "side effects"? Of course I look and feel way better, I was always a confident person, but that has now increased and I'm now also ready to get back into more social activitites (which is the next part of my life I should sort out). I can now buy standard clothes off of almost any shop I'd like which is really an improvement on my lifes quality. I feel way better, fitter and my body and mind now wants to be active, to go for hour long hikes and I just bought myself a new, proper bike two weeks ago, as I want to do even more. I now also started to track my activites properly with a fitness/gps tracker and record the numbers,
When it comes to my health: My blood pressure went from being in the upper range of "high normal" to the lower range (sorry, I can't give you any actual numbers as I don't monitor it at the moment). I also hope, that as soon as I'm reaching my goal of getting below 80 kg, the hyperuricemia goes away, as it inhibits me from becoming a stem cell donor (my dad died of cancer and I'd like to help others if I can).
Do I fear to get my weight back again? No. Of course I first have to prove that I can hold it, but my mind has changed. I know do sports as hobby, not as a torture. I can keep my eating habits and simply introduce a light dinner (salad, fruits, chicken) and see, how much it takes to hold my weight. Most important of all: I know that there's a method to effectively lose weight that works for me, so even if I gain some weight again (like on holidays), I can lose it again.
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from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/2zgckad
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