Gafoo's Blog

I found that on most days, I would spend roughly 5-7 bucks on fast food. 5-7 bucks doesn’t sound like much but consider that I was eating fried food for at least one meal a day. 1 meal a day was averaging 1200 calories and 40 grams of fat. 1 MEAL!!! That was only one meal a day. Not counting that on days that I worked, I would be also eating another meal after work, another 1200 calories and 40 grams of fat. My schedule had me working 3-4 times a week so 3 to 4 times a week I would be getting 2400 calories and 80 grams of fat from just 2 meals. And trust me when I say, there is no way I was needing that many calories to sustain myself.
I actually don’t remember why I wanted to lose weight. I mean, I have always wanted to lose weight and in the past I have made half-assed attempts to lose weight. But this time I was making, in my mind, a serious commitment. I put some money towards a 24hr fitness membership. This works for me cause I don’t want to make my laziness contribute to a financial burden on my family. I figure if went at least 3 days a week I would spread out my gym membership to 3 bucks a visit (much cheaper than the fast food) and if I went more, it would be even better. Plus, I work 3-4 days a week so if I just go after work I can easily make my 3 days a week.
So here’s my plan….
First 2 weeks I will just exercise and not change my diet. I have tried enough crash dieting and crash exercising that I know I will burn out hard if I don’t give myself an “acclimation” period of sorts. So that’s what the first 2 weeks were about. Actually I don’t even remember if it was a hard 2 weeks. That is a facet that works for me though, I am being EXTREMELY nebulous with my time periods. If it takes me longer to adjust to each phase then so be it. I don’t really mind all that much, as long as I get it done.
Phase 2, Lose some fast food from my diet. All these phases will seem relatively easy. Again, a subjective term cause whats easy for me may be difficult for you. This one was really just paying attention though: Not supersizing the meal, getting diet sodas, not ordering a McNugget meal and then an extra double cheeseburger. And through the phase it got more and more. Eventually I was just ordering the entree with no fries and a medium or small diet soda (always splashed with lemonade to help with sugar cravings). Then the entree changed from a burger or fried chicken strips to grilled chicken strips or a grilled chicken sandwich (sans mayo). Nowadays, I am not even ordering an entree. It’s just a grilled chicken snack wrap and a diet soda. I am down from a 1200 calorie meal to a 260 calorie snack. This all bleeds directly into phase 3.
Phase 3 was calorie reduction. When I monitored my caloric intake, I realized that I was eating anywhere from 2500-3000 calories a day. I wanted to drop at least 1000 calories from my diet. I had researched that reducing 500 calories a day through either diet or combo with exercise would equal a pound a week. My original goal was to lose forty pounds so at the very least 40 weeks (10 months!) to my goal. Calorie reduction was (is) the toughest phase. I am so used to just eating and not knowing when to stop. I have finished many dinners with that “too full” feeling. So with the help of the phase 2 progress, I gradually cut back to 500 calories per meal. It’s weird cause this is where the first lifestyle change started to occur. I noticed how when I went with that small of a meal (usually a bit smaller than 500 calories) I would find myself snacking throughout the day. So I made my snacks worthwhile, like snacking on some fruit, or in the case of on the go, those McDoo snack wraps. Snacking frequently between small meals is encouraged with most regular diet and lifestyle plans because it make you feel satiated throughout the day. I also noticed that if I had an allotment of 500 calories per meal, I didn’t want to blow it all on one double cheeseburger (440 calories by itself) so I would almost always be eating something at home and forgoing the fast food.
Phase 4 has recently happened. Throughout this whole process I have been going easy on myself. That is to say, I haven’t tried to drastically change my habits all at once. For instance, I have cut back severely on the fast food but it’s not gone completely. Same thing with sweets and soda. Phase 4 was simply adding something good for my body: water and vitamins. I have actually started to drink my 8 glasses a day (usually more). And again, it seems relatively easy. Best way to do it is to keep it in front of you. You’ll start drinking it by habit. Same way if you always keep a pot of coffee brewing or if you keep your fridge stocked with soda. So I have kept a 1 liter bottle of water with me nearly the entire day and now am drinking about 2 (8-8oz glasses) or 3 full bottles a day. As for the vitamins, I know my food intake still isn’t right. It’s weighted more towards protein and carbs and less toward veggies. So I have started taking a daily multivitamin to ensure that I am least getting the proper nutrition. I took this straight out of most other safe dieting plans.
The remaining phases of this “diet” plan are slightly more nebulous as I know what I need to do but currently can’t envision myself crossing that bridge just yet. All of them involve more food and lifestyle changes. I am not afraid of them per say. I couldn’t see myself cutting down on fast food but I have. I couldn’t see myself giving up on french fries or fried foods but I have. Now the challenges are cutting back on daily fat intake, balancing the diet so I can make the weight loss permanent, easing myself out of the gym and into just a regular weight maintenance exercise program at home (no I am not using the gym to get super buff, just for weight loss). Of course I still have a long way to get to my goal (my new goal of 50 pounds instead of 40) but here are my current stats:
October weight: 225 pounds
November weight: 211 pounds
Current weight: 209 pounds
Since I started I have lost 16 pounds. I have only been on this diet for 7 weeks which means that I am ahead of the curve as far as weight loss by 9 pounds. Not too shabby if I do say so myself. Only 34 pounds to go. See ya in a few months, maybe more.