Problem was, WEIGHT-LOSS CAME VERY EASY.
**WARNING: The back-story is a little long, but the information it contains is critical.
I have this entry about how to lose weight quickly. It is based on this GM diet I found on the internet where you follow a 7 day program and you are guaranteed to lose weight. It worked.
I went from this
to this
very quickly.
250-ish to 175 in a little over a year. Not bad, eh? It worked. No doubt about that. The thing is, when I was on this diet, I would follow the program for 3 weeks straight, take a break for a week and eat whatever I desired, and after that cheat week, I have gained half of the weight that I have lost in those 3 weeks.
During that time, my thinking was, 'I am still losing weight every month even after cheat week, so what the hey!'. That was my mistake. I have ignored the fact that half of the 3-week effort can be erased in just a week. Why do I easily gain the weight that I have lost? I wish I had asked myself this question during that time.
Since I had this obnoxious thinking that I can easily lose weight. I got careless (and stupid) and ate everything my heart desired during that Christmas season of 2010. For 25 straight days. I ate a lot of cake, chocolates, lechon, steaks, chami, chicharon, and everything that is considered "sinful", I devoured. Guess what happened? From 175 lbs. (Dec 20th 2010), I went back to 200 lbs by mid January 2011.
I said to myself, 'It's okay, I will lose it easily, watch me!'. A couple of years went by. Guess what, I was at 210 lbs by January of 2014.
You may ask, what happened in those 3 years? I would follow the diet for weeks. Eat everything I wanted for a week. A cycle of depriving myself of the things that I wanted to eat, only to indulge and erase all of my efforts. It became my way of life. If there's an upcoming event, I would follow the program non-stop until I hit 185 lbs. I will eat junk for a couple of weeks and I am back to my unhealthy form. It's not that I was not active. I exercised three times a week by playing basketball and running but still, I wasn't able to get into shape.
It was the last week of January 2014, after my parent's wedding anniversary that I have decided to change my lifestyle. I would like to eat the things that I love as often as I can and get in proper shape at the same time.
Right off the bat, I am telling you - It is possible, but it is not that easy.
KEYS TO SUCCESS
- BE ACTIVE
- EAT RIGHT
--------------------------
*BE ACTIVE
Before anything else, I would like to say that my (2nd) journey to weight-loss became successful with the help of fitness bracelets such as the one I'm using, Nike+ Fuelband.
photo from http://www.autogeekonline.net/
It is not really a necessity but this device helped me a lot by gauging the calories I burn every day. In fact, through this device, I switched from playing basketball to tennis. I only earn around 4,500 NikeFuel after a whole day with playing an hour of basketball. On the other hand, I reach 5,500 to 6000 NikeFuel after a day with an hour of Tennis. I burn at least 1,600 calories a day if I played an hour of Tennis.
Having said that, the point is to find an activity that lets you burn more calories. If I can't play Tennis? I run for at least 5km and try to improve on my time every single time.
Question: What if I can't do heavy exercises just yet because I am really overweight?
Answer: Walking and Biking were my weapons of choice when I still can't run. These are good activities to help you start your journey.
Remember: It is important to be active at least 4 times a week.
--------------------------
*EAT RIGHT
The meaning of this phrase 'eat right' varies depending on which person you ask. Some may say, go vegetarian. Don't eat red meat. Don't eat chocolates, cakes, and other sugary products -I am not here to tell you that.
I love eating lots of different kinds of food so much that I discarded all other definitions and stuck to one. EAT WHAT YOU NEED. This includes both the needs of your body and your mind.
Let's start with what the needs of your body are. If you don't know what your body needs, the only way to start is to have an executive health check up. This way, you'll know what food you have to avoid and what you should take more of. As long as you get the calories that you need, you're gonna be fine.
Speaking of calories, it plays an important part in our weight-loss journey. It's not rocket science. If you burn more calories than you take in, you are going to lose weight.
This is the fun part of the journey - Planning What To Eat!
The internet is your friend and can be a useful tool when planning what to eat throughout the day. According to most of the sites, A male adult requires 2,400 calories on average while females need 1,900. I am not sure how credible that statement is but it somehow gives me an idea how much is too much :)
The second thing I got from the internet is how much calories does the food that I usually eat contains? Here's my own common food list and their caloric equivalent. I am not sure how accurate are these but then again, at least I have a rough estimate.
Item
|
Calories
|
Item
|
Calories
|
Rice 1 cup
|
200
|
Apple
|
80
|
Large Egg per piece
|
66
|
Banana
|
100
|
Pork ¼ cup
|
130
|
Grape per piece
|
2
|
Beef ¼ cup
|
120
|
Mango
|
135
|
Chicken ¼ cup
|
95
|
Orange
|
71
|
Fish ¼ cup
|
80
|
Pineapple per cup
|
80
|
Shrimp Sugpo per piece
|
40
|
Watermelon per cup
|
45
|
Shrimp small per piece
|
20
|
Strawberries per cup
|
53
|
Butter 1 teaspoon
|
100
|
Asparagus 1 cup
|
36
|
Tasty 1 slice
|
90
|
Tofu 1 cup
|
81
|
Metamucil 1 teaspoon
|
20
|
Broccoli 1 cup
|
40
|
Coffee black 1 cup
|
2
|
Carrots 1 cup
|
45
|
Instant Cup Noodles
|
300
|
Cucumber per piece
|
30
|
Ice cream 1 cup
|
300
|
Eggplant 1 cup
|
38
|
Lettuce 1 cup
|
7
|
||
Tomato 1 cup
|
29
|
||
Potato large
|
120
|
||
McDonald’s
|
Corn 1 cup
|
140
|
|
Sausage Egg Muffin
|
390
|
||
Hashbrowns
|
320
|
||
Big breakfast
|
480
|
||
Large Fries
|
490
|
||
Cheeseburger
|
290
|
||
Fillet o Fish
|
340
|
||
McChicken
|
340
|
||
Burger McDo
|
250
|
||
Double Cheeseburger
|
420
|
||
Big Mac
|
510
|
||
Quarter Pounder
|
560
|
||
6pcs Nuggets
|
320
|
||
Spaghetti
|
270
|
||
2 pcs Hotcakes
|
410
|
||
Apple Pie
|
170
|
||
Sundae (choco/caramel)
|
270
|
||
Coke Large
|
260
|
As you can see, my list includes "unhealthy" items and that's okay. Like I said, EAT WHAT YOU NEED -
which brings us to the mind part. There will be lots of times that you will feel stressed out. May it be from your work, life noises, or the weight-loss journey itself. This is where feeding your mind comes in. I am a firm believer of the positive effects a comfort food can bring. Sometimes, nothing can make you smile but an order of Caramel Sundae - it is okay as long as you're still within your daily budget for calories and it does not severely go against what the doctor said after your executive check up.
After getting used to eating right (consuming below your daily limit and within the doctor's advice), you will come to a point where you reach the Ninja Level where you can eat and feel full throughout the day, while being below your daily calorie limit AND *drum roll*... burning more than what you take in.
Awesome, right?! It is possible and it becomes so easy after some time.
This is the part where I would share with you the things that I normally eat just to give you an idea.
**Sidetrack ALERT - Metamucil is a Psyllium Dietary Fibre supplement which tastes like a normal Tang Orange juice. I prefer to take this regularly instead of forcing myself to eat boring things like oatmeal *peace*
For breakfast (in order of intake)
*1 glass of Metamucil - 20
*1 Banana - 100
*3/4 cup of rice - 150
1 large egg - 66
Total 336
Notice that I drink the glass of Metamucil and eat the Banana first so that I will feel full right away. This allows me to not finish a whole cup of rice. Oha!
For lunch (in order of intake)
*1 glass of Metamucil - 20
*1 Banana - 100
*1 cup of rice - 200
1 cup brocolli - 40
1/2 cup Chicken - 190
Total 550
Again, I drink the Metamucil and eat the banana first to help me get full easily. If you dont have access to Metamucil, drink a glass of water instead.
For mid-afternoon snack
*1 cheesebuger - 290
Notice that the snack is heavy. The reason is, for dinner, you can now afford to eat light meals as you are still full from the snack and you are about to go to bed anyway.
For dinner (in order of intake)
*1 glass of water - 0
*1/2 cup of rice - 100
*1/2 cup of fish - 160
*1 cup asparagus - 36
*1 apple - 80
Total 376
TOTAL for the day: 1,552
Now, imagine if I removed the cheeseburger from the equation and substituted it with a healthier - but also filling - banana. That is 190 calories less - making it only 1,362 for the day. Now imagine if I played Tennis that day. I have enough energy because of the carbohydrates and potassium that is now in my body. I can burn up to 1,600 calories - a lot more than my intake! Jackpot!
This is what I have been doing these past months. Being able to eat the things I want (as long as I'm within the daily limit) and lose weight at the same time.
Now I haven't shared with you the best part yet! On weekends, when I have more time to exercise, I try to do more Tennis or running during the day BUT... there's a big BUT, yes. I can now eat whatever I want in quantities that I want! I call this day *Eff You Calories Day*. I used to do it once, but now, I can do it twice a week. I am extra active but I eat whatever. As in, WHATEVER I WANT. Here are some of the things that I eat as a reward for my extra active day:
They all look sinful, yes? Guess what, you get to eat them if you earn your right to :)
I wrote this entry because a number of my friends are asking what exactly did I do to lose a lot of weight. This entry's aim is not to show people that it is easy, but to show that it is possible and not that complicated.
Here I am at around 168/165-ish
I just started going back to the gym to lift weights and build on my strength. I really got hooked into playing tennis and I wanted to be at least a decent player. Wish me luck!
Sa uulitin,
Chewy
