TL;DR

I had some health issues at the end of 2023 that negatively impacted my quality of life. I had numerous doctor visits, and after several tests, the issue was diagnosed, and I received treatment. I’m feeling much better now. One thing the doctor ordered me to do is to lose weight - a lot of weight (~70 lbs) - and it should happen quickly. Another motivation to lose weight is to look better in my son’s graduation pictures in May. When he graduated from high school five years ago, I was shocked looking at the pictures. I felt bad about my appearance, and I don’t want to have that feeling again.

Where to start?

The doctors’s recommendation was essentially to stop eating and start the day hungry and go to bed hungry. In other words, stop eating and live with a massive caloric deficit to lose weight. I don’t believe in starvation diets. Your body goes into defense mode and tries to protect as much of the available energy. It’s a silly and dangerous idea.

3 week fasting

A friend of my wife gave me a plan for a three-week fast. This involved cutting down caloric intake to a bare minimum. It was challenging in the first couple of days, but I have some intermittent fasting experience, and it wasn’t too bad.

How it worked out

I started on 01/23/24 with roughly 278 lbs and finished on 2/12/24 with 259 lbs. I lost 19 lbs, and I’m proud of it. Most importantly, the amount of body fat was reduced by 6.1 lbs, and my muscle mass stayed the same. That is good. I was exercising every other day. Nothing crazy for now. Rowing machine for 10 mins, then kettlebell training for 15-20 mins. And I have a daily goal to walk 1.5 miles. And on most days, I was able to do it.

Some days, I craved certain foods. Not candy or sweets. Veggie broth, yogurt, cottage cheese, tea, coffee, and a small allowed selection of fruit and veggies didn’t seem appealing to me on some days. Then I noticed an interesting pattern: feeling bored, desperate, procrastinating, etc. I would go into the kitchen to look for something that I could eat. The problem was that I wasn’t hungry. It was only a way to satisfy any of the feelings that crept up. It seemed to me that I was compensating for those feelings with food. It would usually provide comfort, but not during this 3-week fast. I am prone to fall back into this trap once the weeks are over. I guess that is some sort of human weakness that I have to accept or find a solution.

And what is the plan moving forward

Now, it’s about reducing my weight further. In small steps with better eating habits. That entails not eating too late in the evening. I’m trying to use 7 pm as the cutoff time. My other change will be to exercise at least 4 times per week. This will combine strength training and endurance training.

I signed up for the fun Bay to Breakers on May 19th, 2024. I have not attended this event since 2017. This will be fun and I have a plan to exclusively exercise for this event in the upcoming weeks. The good thing about having to exercise with a goal in mind is that it keeps me motivated.

I’m motivated to stay active and to change my eating habits. In general, I’m eating less food than at the beginning of the year. That is great. I want to see faster results when it comes to weight loss, but I’m aware of the fact that the weight didn’t come overnight, and getting rid of it will take some time. So, small progress is progress too. I always have to remind myself about it.

It’s a journey, and I’ll go this way further. I can do it.