Started taking my diet seriously and am seeing fantastic results

I have been at least somewhat fitness oriented for a while now but recently, probably some sort of midlife crisis thing, I really started taking it a lot more seriously and am seeing almost immediate results.

When I first started @normie.fitness I was attempting to eschew the virtues of being someone who drinks, eats lots of cheat meals, and still maintains a healthy physique. Now I still think that is possible, but I always was carrying around quite a high body fat percentage even though I was more than capable of riding a 50k bike ride, running a 5k, and spending hours lifting in the gym.

It is possible, but at the end of it all I just kind of wanted more.

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I will admit, I am a hypocrite. I preach this on other people on a regular basis but never really followed it intently until I met some like minded people and we really motivated one another to truly take this whole fitness thing very seriously. We keep in touch with one another on a group chat and are constantly updating the others about the benefits of certain foods and the pitfalls of others.

"You can't out-exercise a bad diet" is kind of true, because theoretically it IS possible, but we are talking about a massive amount of exercise that nobody other than David Goggins is going to be capable of keeping up. For example; On lazy days I would regularly order pizza delivery even though I know it is bad for you. I didn't realize exactly how bad it is for you though, until I started really digging into the numbers.

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We all do it, it's too easy not to. But when I started digging into the numbers I was horrified to find out that one of my regular orders was tipping the scales at over 1500 calories. When you compare this to the fact that I had other meals in that same day and the fact that I am only supposed to get around 2100 calories in a day to maintain (not lose) weight, this is a very bad idea.

So I still order pizza, but I have a designated cheat day for it.

I also stopped drinking alcohol entirely unless it is a special occassion and this has had multiple other benefits in my life too such as NEVER being hungover. As an avid drinker I can honestly say that in the past 30 years I have had at least some level of a hangover more often than not and well, that isn't good at all is it?

So what I am doing now is operating at a 500 calorie deficit every day combining exercise and being careful with my foods. My decision on what foods to eat isn't terribly complicated, it just involves eating entirely whole foods (not the store, like real foods that look the same when you buy them as when you eat them) and staying away from nut oils and definitely never eating anything deep fried. Staying away from processed sugar should be a given but obviously I am doing that as well.

As far as my exercise is concerned I was doing basically the same thing that I was doing before. I do a weight session 3-4 times a week, nothing major but an hour or so of rather relaxed, no-timed breaks, and just leave when I think I am done. I also would do cardio of running a 5k twice a week and always get my 10,000 steps in unless something tragic or really important with my work life is concerned.

Now I have pretty meticulously been tracking my weight and am delighted to say that while I still have the same strength and appear to have the same muscle mass, I have managed to lose 7.5 kg (around 18 lbs ) in 6 weeks. This is a major advancement for me because I look better in the mirror and am kind of excited to see what the next phase could be.

I was always strong but as it turns out the muscle that I have was hiding behind a layer of fat. I would imagine that I have a long road ahead of me because I am still over 90kg with my recent goal being to get to 85kg. In order to do this I am going to have to keep my protein levels high and my carbohydrates low.

This is actually a very exciting time for me because even though the change is gradual, I realize that this is a marathon, not a sprint. I am not frustrated, I am not hungry - when I am hungry I eat, period. I am not going to starve myself and I am not going to intermittent fast either. That trend has a lot of informational benefits to it, but I don't like it and it seems like a cult. Also, most of the people I know who have tried it have failed in the end.

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_{it's not really this simple, but this is a good way to look at it}

I'll write more about that some other time because I have a lot to say about it.

Basically, this has changed EVERYTHING for me and now I look forward to putting in the work in my day because I have a plan. I'm not just wandering to the fridge and having a go at whatever is in there. I have a focus like never before and I am not going to TRY to get to 85kg, I am going to succeed.