Today was a big day. It was a day I was always working towards and hoping for, but it just seemed so far away. The lowest weight in my adult life was 208, and as of today I weighted in at 207.4!
(Graph)
Just over a year ago, I weighed in at 249.6. As a 6'3 male, this was living in the danger zone. Just 0.4 pounds more gained and I would technically be obese. I realized that I had to stop the cycle I was in and figure out how to correct the path.
So I hit the internet looking for answers. I was always a fat kid growing up, so over the last 15 years, I have done tons of lifting and working out. It never seemed to help me lose weight. I also went through a Keto kick, I lost a little bit of weight on it but it didnt really work out and I was constantly suffering from stomache and headaches. I needed a new strategy that was sustainable.
Around that time I stumbled across this sub. TBH I dont think I posted a single time... but I would read here every day. I read the threads on what people accomplished, I read the threads on peoples goals, but most importantly I learned what CICO was. Wow.
I was kind of shocked at first. How did I never know about CICO? How at no point in my life did someone point out the very obvious, "Hey if you want to lose weight burn more energy than you consume?". I never thought calories mattered once in my life. I mean sure, I knew they existed, but I thought they were just some bs that people said when they talked about health.
So I started counting my calories. My first few months were fairly disciplined, I would make sure I was at least a few hundred calories under my TDEE every day. I would take my BRM, add in 100 calories for every mile I would walk and I stopped working out entirely (sounds funny reading it). I would go for a walk 4-5 times a week in the morning, and try to make it 1-3 miles. At first it was hard and the distances were short, but it got better and better over time.
If a place didnt have calories, I didnt eat there. It was that simple. I was going to log what I ate and especially out of the gate I did not want to make any estimations. I also stopped going out to eat with my friends. This was really hard, but I just found that way too often out at a nice resteraunt that I just couldnt both be happy and eat clean. I was either miserable watching everyone else eat delicious food, or I was plowing through everything that hit the table. I had to take myself out of that environment if I wanted to find success, so I did.
Obviously the first 10 was the easiest. For some reason my scale lost a bunch of the data in the graph, but it doesnt really matter. The point is it started working very quickly.
My diet slowly became very consistent. It would look like this
No Breakfast
Lunch - 12 oz grilled chicken, 1/2 cup rice, 1 avocado
Dinner - Lunch - 12 oz grilled chicken, 1/2 cup rice, 1 avocado
Sometimes I would mix in some veggies. Sometimes it would be 9 or 15 oz chicken. Sometimes it would be a full cup rice if I felt run down, once in awhile it would be 1/2 avocado or 2 avocados. I ate this meal at least 10 times a week.
In the last year I have to have eaten over 400 pounds of grilled chicken. I absolutely hate grilled chicken. But the way I made it bearable was adding in a lot of spice and supplementary items I like. Rice+Avacado+hot sauce, and all of a sudden that chicken isnt so bad.
I would have a pretty bad day about every week or two, but whenever I did that, I IMMEDIATELY fixed it over the next day or two. Thats the thing people dont tell you, if you have a bad day, it really is ok. As long as you get right back to business the next day.
I have had some 4k calorie days in here, but the 2 days after I would eat 1500 calories and walk a few times each day. Boom, you are right back to even. You only really start to get crushed when you throw in the towel cause "your week is ruined anyway". Dont make that mistake.
I slowly started adding some lifting in to my strategy as well, but im still on the fence about it. Every time I add in lifting I get extremely hungry and have a hard time controlling my diet, so we will see how it works out. I think eventually once Im down to a weight Im happy being at Ill go on a longer more sustained lifting regimen and up my calories to breakeven or slight surplus. But it was extremely important for me to realize I could not lift weights and be at a significant calorie deficit, it was just too brutal and not sustainable for me (If it is for you awesome)
Now in the past, ive had good stretches that turn into some of my largest weight gains. Thats not gonna happen this time around, because now I am armed with the knowledge for success. Also remember, Losing weight isnt complicated, but it is hard. You will be challenged along the way. But if you stay disciplined and believe in the system, you will make it.
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from loseit - Lose the Fat http://bit.ly/2IvsLlY
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