I've been asked a few times about my recent results and thought I'd share some thoughts on the details. First, I will say that I don't think my results are anything special in the grand scheme of things. I mean, it's a big deal to me as I've reached a place I've wanted to get to for decades and I'm certainly proud of the accomplishment, but there are many far more impressive and inspirational things I've seen from others on here. Below is not the conventional answer that I normally see so maybe this is a worthwhile exercise and will be useful to someone.
I was recently asked, "What's your secret?"
There is no secret, only FatSecret ;-)
I can tell you specifics about what I did, Keto, 16/8 intermittent fasting, ... but I don't think that's very helpful. Those are non-important, interchangeable details. Those aren't how I got the results but rather the tools I used to achieve them. Another short answer is that I just got after it relentlessly, but that doesn't seem all that helpful either as it is devoid of specifics.
Mostly this was a result of good planning and execution. To set the parameters, this is the 121st day of the plan with about another month to go. The results are not as attributable to strict dietary adherence (although there has been that) but rather accountability to the plan and therefore myself. When I started this plan I was 189, now I'm in the mid 160s. 10 years ago I was 250, so this is the finally the last leg of this particular journey. In the past this phase has always ended in failure, so I tried to think of everything under my control I could change from previous attempts.
So what are the details then?
I started with the main objective. "It's end of Feb, I feel fat, I have a trip at the end of July, I want to get the maximum possible results in the allotted time". Everything comes back to that, specifically "maximum possible results", I don't mind wasting time but I abhor wasting effort. Whatever level I decide to commit to, I need to be all in.
Well. that just sounds like an awful time, still that's the goal, OK, so how in the hell do I manage this? What I came up with was to create a set of fundamental principles that cannot be violated (a violation means mission failure) and a framework by which to hold myself accountable. I had to make it simple and clear on a daily basis to set myself up to make the right decisions.
The rules as I stated them to myself: * Be completely honest with yourself always, no matter how you might feel about it or how uncomfortable the truth may be
* The goals and the plan to get there must be both realistic and attainable. This goes back to being honest with yourself. Tailor the plan to make it as easy as possible for you to achieve. There is no point in making this any harder than it needs to be.
* Regularly evaluate progress and look for areas of improvement based on the data collected. In order to do this effectively it is critical to have solid data which means...
A) Record weight daily, analyze weekly. No exceptions. (I even took my scale on vacation) B) Track everything consumed. No exceptions. C) Use a scale to weigh your food. If a scale is available, use it. No exceptions (granted, unless you only eat at home this is difficult to have 100% success with, but I changed things up so that I'm over 90% on this - I've eaten out maybe 10 times in the last 121 days, for example. When eating out I order things that are easiest to estimate).
The main idea with these 3 is to give yourself as accurate of information as possible to work with. Set yourself up for success here. How good are your decisions going to be with limited information vs good information? Why choose bad information if you don't have to?
The better the data, the better the evaluation, the better the correction, the better the results. The more you know about what you are doing the better the chance for success. The better your ability to see your success the more you are motivated to keep after it. The better the data the quicker you can identify and therefore correct bad trends.
* No cheating. Period. That doesn't mean don't have cake on your keto diet. If you eat it, track it, that's a decision but one that must be made. Don't eat now / forgive later. If you eat it and don't track it you have cheated and the mission has failed.
Note there is nothing in the above about this diet or that exercise etc..., this is why I talked about it as a framework, these are the things that support the most important thing about any diet, and that's being able to stick to it and see it through. Once I had this, I fit the rest to my personality/schedule/needs. For me that was Keto/Itermittent fasting and at times One Meal a Day. As it turns out that way of eating for me is pretty easy which also likely played a significant role, for someone else it could be something different. In any case the mental/self part is way more important than Keto vs Mediterranean vs Twinkie Diet. In the end no diet will lose weight for you, it's up to you to put in the work to lose the weight. So, that was the problem to solve and the above is how I attacked it.
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2236 kcal
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Fat: 162.23g | Prot: 150.46g | Carbs: 37.91g.
Breakfast: Great American Steak Company Beef Ribeye Steaks, Ole Extreme Wellness High Fiber Low Carb Tortillas, Johnsonville Chorizo, Green Giant Hass Avocado, Yancey's Fancy Smoked Gouda with Bacon, Kroger Sharp Cheddar Shredded Cheese, Herdez Salsa Verde, Herdez Guacamole Salsa, Monster Beverage Absolutely Zero, Jimmy Dean Premium Pork Hot Sausage, Butter (Salted), Oscar Mayer Traditional Bacon, Egg. Dinner: Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Publix Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast, Chicken Wing (Skin Eaten), Yellow Summer Squash. more...
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![](https://m.ftscrt.com/static/images/box/membersicon.gif) Comments
Thank you for sharing, and congratulations on your accomplishments!
30 Jun 19 by member: melissatwa
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Very nice write up!!! It is up to us, is a good message
30 Jun 19 by member: liv001
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Wonderful info! Hopefully some who it hasn't clicked for yet will read this and finally understand - very well written! Congrats on all your hard work!
01 Jul 19 by member: Nikina70
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Thank you for sharing your discipline and determination.
01 Jul 19 by member: erikahollister
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Congratulations, you identified the necessary actions and followed through.
01 Jul 19 by member: gz9gjg
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01 Jul 19 by member: FullaBella
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Thanks for the kind words, I appreciate it very much!
I'd say looking back the most surprising thing in all this as I pushed through the grind was at some point, perhaps 6-8 weeks in or so it actually became much easier, it really did become a mission.
I'm not sure if I finally became fully invested or if I had done it so long I just got used to it, but at some point after all the effort, the thought of messing things up by breaking a rule became more and more of an abhorrent thought. It has been relatively easy since then. I think there is a lot of power in this and gave great incentive to stick to it.
01 Jul 19 by member: juraitwaluzka
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Nice post! I agree wholeheartedly on the weighing of all the food possible. Without that, there is no telling if you're on track as far as calorie goals go.
02 Jul 19 by member: -Diablo
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I've used both scale and cup / oz measurement but lately I'm trying to convert everything to a scale after seeing how a 'cup' of something can weigh more depending on how it's packed. The bonus was finding out just going by the food diary on avocado's vs weight the caloric content wasn't as high. It's all just awareness as my loss doesn't match the math that CICO suggests. But then again, maybe the weighing food change will affect that.
02 Jul 19 by member: FullaBella
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Yeah, measuring cups/ spoons are terrible for accuracy. Search food scale vs. measuring cup on YouTube. You can be off by 25% or more on several foods throughout the day.
02 Jul 19 by member: -Diablo
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I'm convinced that if I didn't weigh my food I would've failed. My thinking was to remove every opportunity for me to make mistakes. I figured if I could be perfect in execution the only thing left was the diet plan itself which seemed sound enough. I really didn't want it to be my fault in the end. Since perfection is impossible I tried to simplify everywhere possible - less decisions overall means less bad decisions.
There are some things, such as the low carb tortilla I have most days that I don't weigh - I go by the label there, but this is a non issue because even if it is wrong, it is consistently wrong in the same exact way, so the math still works (the absolute calorie number is irrelevant, the number is whatever it is, I just dial it up or down accordingly, so consistent measuring is the important part here).
I even weigh the liquids, for example, Olive Oil. Also I use grams, I hate ounces for this, not granular enough. Cups and teaspoons are an absurd measurement unit. Again, simplify, just weigh everything, one thing to do.
One side benefit I realized - my "always weigh everything" rule stopped this "Well, it's just cheese and that's allowed on keto so I'll grab a piece". I'm far less likely to break out the scale for that, but if I eat it anyway then I have cheated and therefore have failed. This has been mostly a snackless journey.
02 Jul 19 by member: juraitwaluzka
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juraitwaluzka's Weight History
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