I've always loved a 'carb'. Fresh bread doorstep sandwiches (especially bacon) have been my kryptonite for a long time. In fact, ask my mum, and she'll tell you that as a kid a typical snack would be 3 slices of white bread squeezed together, or a doorstep cut of bread with butter... my snack of champions. All well and good when you are 16, playing rugby twice a week, doing martial arts 3 times a week and walking to and from school (3 miles) a day. Not so great when you are in your 40's, at a desk job where your exercises consists of walking to the fridge / car / bathroom or perhaps the shop and the occasional post-Christmas gym kick. In short. I'm very carb sensitive. Especially given my intermittently active lifestyle over the last 15 years. I'm also emotionally attached to food, often eating more than I need and for 'comfort' when either bored, tired or feeling the futility of trying to change things when you keep trying to lose weight but keep slipping back..
So here is my approach for the next 6 months...
1. Setting a goal to measure
At 112Kg I'm at my heaviest. I have a lot of pounds to shift. (48.4ibs to be precise) to reach my target of 90Kg by May 15th. That's four and a half months from now. 22kg in 24 weeks. No mean feat.
That's the same pretty much as a large bag of cement! (holy f*ck! I've been running with a bag of cement on my back?! Not surprising I've had so much damage to my ankle, really.)
Especially when you consider that weight loss typically slows down as you get leaner. That said I will be training harder and harder as I build up over time and the event gets closer, so I anticipate that this will compensate.
WARNING: By weight loss I mean excess body fat. I do not want to lose muscle as this will slow my metabolism further and make it harder to lose fat, and weaken me for the challenge at hand.
It's important that you measure consistently for both a dose of reality or progress. Don't make the mistake I did of thinking that you've had a great week only to eat an XL pepperoni pizza and watch the following weeks scales pop back up again. Inches are the best measure but weight is a big factor for what I'm doing as I'll be running so far. Every pound matters when you have to carry it for 100Km and the impact of it can be felt threefold in every one of the 150,000 steps you take along the way.
2. Talk about it
I have a wife and two kids. They love snacks. They love Pizza (fuck... I love Pizza!). It's important they understand what you are doing and why it matters. Their support helps. Especially when your little boy decides to wave a bar of chocolate under your nose as you put your 5th salad of the week together.
I'm having good days and bad days early on. I knew I would. Days where it's really bloody hard. This is when you need positive support. Also a good healthy snack (carrot sticks and Hummus are great for this). What really gets me through is to come back to my purpose behind all of this.
3. The 'Why'
This is the big one in goal setting. The purpose behind it all. I have taken some time to understand my 'why' (see my earlier blog post #1.). I have a clear picture of what I will look like when I do this and a clear sight of the sacrifices I need to make to get there. This helps hugely to keep me on course to target. It becomes my mission which I chose to accept.
And that mission is difficult, otherwise what is the goddam point of doing it. Nobody gives a shit about "Mission: Mildly Uncomfortable"
4. Thinking Differently / Gamification
One trick I've learned in my professional life which I'm finally applying to myself for a change is 'Change the way you look at things, and things you look at change'....
For this I've chosen to turn this stretch of my journey into a game. As a young kid I'd love to scoot around on my bike like I was Michael Knight in Knight Rider. So why stop as an adult?
Not That I'm pretending to be Michael Knight these days (though when you see me in running leggings and with my current Covid19 haircut, from a distance, you could be forgiven for thinking I perhaps still do), but I do change how I see those moments when my stomach talks to me. Those dark whispers of forbidden thoughts about a slice of cake, etc. And instead of relenting I envision it as a dark passenger (thank you, 'Dexter') trying to knock me off my path and my mission. An opponent to overcome. And feel more powerful as a result. Which brings me on to my next point....
5. Acknowledge your successes
No matter how small they are, I'm quietly celebrating each pound lost. I see my Dark Passenger when it comes to food getting smaller and weaker. I see the trickery and challenge it so much more frequently at the moment. And it's working. In only the first 5 days I have already dropped 3Ibs! I can excuse it and diminish the achievement by saying it's probably water weight, but I'm not. This is almost 2kg closer to my goal and my Passenger is 2kg weaker now.
6. Get a method that actually works for your type
Anyone who's been conscious of their weight will look at low calorie, low carb, paleo, small meal, low fat, low sugar and every other bloody diet and supplement out there. There is no magic bullet. So I'm going with key principles I know that I can live with and that work for me:
Eat clean. Drop all refined non vegetable carb. Move more. Increase fat. Pay Attention to calories. And getting fat adapted.
I'm following mostly a Primal Eating (Mark Sisson) method mixed with Maffetone Method eating and training (loving Dr Phil Maffetone's breakfast coffee). And it's working (will post separately about my plan and Fat Adaptation in another piece).
Since starting this I already feel better balanced in my everyday energy. I feel happier. I feel tighter. I feel less hungry (took me about 5 days for cravings to really go). I also feel that combining this with Maffetone training in a recommended heart rate range (180 minus age) I can go on and on without feeling hungry.
Right now, carbs are less of a thought for me and I'm really pleased with how it's starting to go. I still have some research about how long I should eat this way (I'll let you know) but it works and is getting me to where I want to go right for the moment.
Thanks for reading and catch you in the next one...
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