July 8th, 2017. The day I decided I wasn’t going to be fat anymore. Also, the last time I tasted pizza.
I woke up that morning and looked at myself in the mirror and sighed. We all know that sigh. The sigh of “I know I could do it, but it’s so damned hard.” So, as I’d done many times, I googled fat loss things and saw the same crap. Workout regimens, “8 foods you should never eat!”’clickbait articles, Dr. Oz peddling some miracle. Then I clicked on to a book review of Penn Gillette’s story on how he dropped a person’s worth of weight in like 6 months.
If Penn, a decidedly atypical role model for health, could do it, why not me? His cravings and pitfalls rang eerily similar to my own and he described a need for unwavering structure and belief in CICO.
I was trained as a chemist. Although I make money in the corporate world leading smarter people than I to deliver complex models, science, particularly evidence-based methods, is still in my blood. I knew if I had a plan that made sense, one with clear milestones and goals, I could do it.
So, I set off on my journey. MyFitnessPal, a scale that linked to MFP, a food scale, nothing but potatoes (per Penn G) and hot sauce, and a deep dive into caloric intake. That’s what the first three days entailed.
The next few months sucked. Hard. Food cravings were nuts. I’d cook food for Mon-Wed on Sunday, anything past that tasted funny. I said no to about 100 social engagements. No bars, no hanging with the boys to watch football. I basically became a hermit who focused on what he ate, watched TV, worked out 2-4x a week on the elliptical, and focused on hitting at least 7000 steps a day.
I haven’t missed 10,000 steps since February of this year. Not once. Even in the coldest Northeast weather. Still walked home 3 miles from work almost daily for a year. I’ve averaged over 15k a day since June.
Once I got around 50 lbs down, things became sort of easier. Not easy...easier. Food control became a way of life. People around me understood that I’d be bringing a sandwich to the work meeting where there was free pizza.
People see me now and ask “what was your secret?” They all have the same response. The kinda response you’d imagine a kid would have if you told her you got her a pony for her birthday and handed her a toy.
There is NO secret. No magic bullet. There’s understanding of caloric intake. Of how you burn energy. There’s nonstop persistence. There’s a need for a goal strong enough to overcome the cravings and endorphin release when you bite into that piece of fried chicken.
Losing weight is the easiest thing to understand how to do. It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done.
LoseIt was a big motivator. This Thanksgiving I’m thankful for you all, for the people in my life who listened to me freak out when the scale hadn’t moved in a few weeks. Especially, I’m thankful for the love of my life who cared about me at 250 lbs as much as she does today. Could not have done it without her.
tl;dr I spent 16 months losing 140 pounds. Took a ton of willpower, focus, and a great support system.
-> Learn the easy way to loose fat
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