In the modern world where everything is in the reach of our fingertips, we sometimes forget that there are things more important to us, especially our health. When working in IT, it’s a common perception that at some point you’ll be more stressed and work more towards reaching the deadlines by the cost of health. I wasn’t an exception.
I was more aware of my weight for a few years and worked hard towards reducing the weight as well as getting fit. My journey started in 2017 with weight lifting to cardio. There were several things I tried over the years.
Mid of 2018 I started a very strict diet limiting my daily calorie intake to between 1000-1400. I lost around 8 kg within 6 weeks. It was pretty intensive because I continued running while following the weight lifting. So, I dropped from 117 kg to 109 kg.
I followed the MI40 training program and it helped me to reduce up to 103 kg. Then I reached the plateau. I had no idea how to reduce it further. I have never consulted a nutritionist before or have never talked with a doctor about following a diet. So, it was a challenging task.
A New Chapter
We moved to Denmark in 2020. Moving to another country is a very stressful process and I stopped working for several months before moving and also stopped dieting. At this time I gained another 2 kg. When I started my training again, my diet was not in order. Then came the pandemic. Gyms were closed and I started to go for long walks.
Living in a bike-friendly country, my interest in cycling started with seeing MTB tracks in a nearby forest. So, the biking era started. I could maintain my weight and also keep myself active through bike riding for a year.
More serious about weight Loss
It has been 2 years in Denmark and as a new year resolution of 2022, I made a decision that I will be fitter by the end of this year. I was 102 kg and I started my MI40 workout regularly. During the 2nd week of January, I stopped eating red meat and stopped drinking sugary drinks including chai and other sugar-added drinks. Also, reduced eating cakes and all the baked good which has butter and sugar. Also, I was following intermittent fasting on a few days of the week.
By mid-February, I lost 3 kg. In my previous attempts, I tried to do my diet by reading online and following different approaches. Sometimes Keto sometimes something else. Sometimes they work pretty well and sometimes not. So in March, I met Signe, who is a nutritionist, who helped me to reach my goal in a much shorter period. She reviewed my food log and although my workout is getting better, she suggested changing a few things in my diet.
A new lifestyle
This time, I realized it was not another new diet that I’m going to follow but a lifestyle change. I was highly motivated from the beginning as I was already started to change my diet and workout. At the start of March, I was weighing 99 Kg, my body fat percentage was 23.6%, and my metabolic age was 44. Although my overall cholesterol was a little bit over, mine was 3.3 mm/ol, the target was to bring it down to 2.5 mm/ol. My BMI reading was Obesity and the reading was 30,8. It was a wake-up call for me. Although I have reduced by around 20Kg at this time, still being obese was not something I expected.
So, I stopped taking any food made of white wheat flour and stopped eating rice, red meat, deep-fried food, cheese and any milk-based products including milk. I felt bloated when I drank milk, so my nutritionist suggested to cut off until I get tested for lactose intolerance which I have yet to do. I replaced milk with plant-based milk for example oat milk or soy milk. But with a smaller amount. We used to eat a lot of cheese and milk products but I had to cut them off. Also, chocolates and other sweets. Initially, it felt like I’m gonna be starving, but once I started, it didn’t feel much harder.
Although I could eat whole grain food, I wanted to achieve my goal faster. So I stopped eating any bread, rice or any direct carbs. Also, all the dairy products and products are made with cheese and dairy. My usual breakfast still is, a big jar of frozen veggie smoothie which has fewer calories but keeps you full for several hours and has a whole lot of nutrients as I added a lot of seeds and nuts. I started to enjoy salads and found some great recipes online. Sometimes they contain more beans and seeds other times more salad leave varieties.
In the beginning, I followed a more vegan diet. So I cut off meat and fish as well. I must have known that if I’m following a vegan diet, I must have known to get proper food supplements. So within 2 weeks, I lost another 4 kg but I felt very weak and it started to make trouble in my weight training. So, Signe suggested that I must reach my daily protein target to avoid this. According to my body, I must take at least 105g of protein per day. But with a vegan diet, I wasn’t getting that. So I included chicken and fish in the diet.
At the end of March, I was weighing 93kg and I started seeing a lot of changes around my waist. The new way of eating and workout has already become my lifestyle.
Daily routine
Earlier I used to plan my day around my work schedule. But now I plan around my workout schedule. I usually wake up very early throughout the year except in the Summer. I wake up around 4:30 am and do my morning stretches. It takes around 30 – 45 minutes. Then I hit the gym by 5:30. I like to work out in a fasting state, so it helps me to burn more calories. I come back home around 6:45 – 7:00 am. So by this time my daily workout is done. I usually go to the gym p
every other day, 3 days of weight training and one day of functional training. Then I’ll have my breakfast smoothie and one or 2 boiled eggs depending on the workout intensity.
Then prepare my lunch to take to the office. It is usually salad and either chicken or fish stir-fried with very less olive oil. I prefer to cycle to the office so I can burn some more calories. At 11, I have my lunch. I come back home and have my dinner around 5 pm. Rye bread with peanut butter and banana is my favourite dinner meal. It’s easy to make. Otherwise, I make broccoli buns or bread with seeds and nuts which can be used for a few days.
I try to keep my daily calorie intake to less than 1500/day. If I feel hungry in between meals, I will have a cup of coffee or Knækbrød (Crips bread). I use a lot of almonds and walnuts in my meal plan. After dinner, I go for a walk for at least an hour as part of my daily 10,000 steps a day.
In March 2022, I followed the diet along with weight training. Then I incorporated running into my weekly workout in April. My previous C25K training helped me to jumpstart with running easily. Initially, I ran 5 km then eventually increased to 7km – 10km. I run once or twice a week as it has some negative impact on muscle building.
Results
At the end of May, my results were astonishing. I have lost around 17kg. My body fat percentage reduced to 16.3%, my metabolic age reduced to 24 and my overall cholesterol reduced to 2.4%. I gained more muscles. My waist has been reduced from 110 cm to 89 cm. Also, the BMI reduced from 30.8 to 26.3. It has become more of a lifestyle than a short-term weight loss. I don’t have the urge to eat junk food. Also, continue 16 – 18 hours of intermittent fasting a couple of times a week.
I became more energetic and also I could focus on things more clearly and I could do a lot of activities without getting too much tired. On the other side, I had to buy new clothes. I used to buy the clothes from XL to XXL but now it has come down to Medium to Large. Trying out new healthy food recipes became my new hobby so I don’t look for chips and chocolates. Vegan food became my new favourite but I include chicken and fish on the workout days.
Learnings
I prefer to make all my meals because I’m very much careful about the calories in the ingredients. It helps me to achieve my goal faster and easier.
It is always a good idea that you consult a professional with regard to nutrition before you start or in the early stage of your weight loss journey. You can learn a lot from the internet, but at the same time the sources can be contradictory to each other and coming to a conclusion by yourself is almost impossible. So, it’s better to follow a nutritionist or sometimes even your GP can help with it. This is my nutritionist Signe’s contact information if you would like to get some insight. (Phone: +4522291550, Email: [email protected])
There are enough healthy food blogs that you can easily find online. When you are following with a nutritionist, you will easily get an understanding that if a food item is healthy or not. But always try to make food at home. Sometimes batch cooking help a lot. I used to make batches of salads and baked chicken for office days. I sometimes prepare them on Sunday nights.
The weight loss journey can be super hard if you don’t have a goal. It doesn’t matter how small or big it is. When it feels like you can’t do this anymore, remember the reason why you did start it in the first place.
Start a weight loss journal to keep a track of your progress. I used the Notes app on my phone and I used to write how I am feeling, what I ate, how my workout was and how much sleep I got on a particular day. I maintained it for more than a month and when it became a lifestyle, I don’t log in regularly. When I go through the logs, It shows me the progress.
I used to attach my daily meal photos so that when I run out of meal ideas, I can always find a good recipe in my logs. Keeping a food journal in an app will help you to check your nutrition and whether the food you eat is healthy or not. I am using an app called Madlog which is more of a Danish app and has a danish food database. Use something which is local to your country. That way, you can easily find food items which are available to you.
There will be people who are willing to bring down your motivation or there can be situations in life which can burn you out. You may go out of your perfect diet and workout plan but try to come back on track. I didn’t have any cheat days until I lost at least 15kg. There were a couple of situations in which I had to jump out of track and then the intermittent fasting helped me to come back on track.
It feels like a lot harder. But when you start to see the results, and when you feel that you’re on the right track to achieve your goal, it becomes much easier. Make it a lifestyle rather than a short-term weight loss. Incorporate weight training with your weight loss goal. You must be particularly aware of losing muscles in the process. The weight training helps you to build more muscle. More muscle means more strength.
Always remember it’s a journey and a lifestyle. It may take time but don’t lose hope.
Send me any questions that you have and I will try to answer as much as possible. Good luck.
Inspiring, thank you for sharing
Thank you Darwin 🙂