*Disclaimer: The following blog post has nothing to do with physiotherapy. It was written hastily. And it most definitely does not constitute medical advice.
I've always had a hell of a time fitting into suits.
I guess I've never had an easy time fitting into most clothing. This is mostly a consequence of my enormous thighs, which were partly built through weight training, but are mostly a result of picking the right parents (I've had the same body shape since my early teens).
My large legs are why - much to the chagrin of my sophisticated, well-dressed fiance - I spend about 90% of my time in "athleisure" (which luckily happens to be much more socially acceptable on the West Coast than it was back in Toronto. Everyone here is just, always ready for a hike, no matter what).
Anyways, any pant without a silly amount of stretch is basically impossible for me to wear. Jeans? Pretty much out of the question. Suits? A travesty.
Adding insult to injury, as I approach the ripe old age of 30 this year, I'm also noticing a terrifying propensity to store fat in places I've never stored fat. Love handles? Belly fat? What the hell, man.
It's important to point out before going further that there is nothing wrong with having a bit of body fat. I'm most definitely still in the healthy range, and I don't (think I) have any weird body image issues.
But I'm getting married this summer, and my large legs and emerging love handles will have to fit into a suit.
So I thought now might be a good time to experiment with tightening up my health routine and losing 5-10 lbs over the next several months, and then trying to stay at that weight for the wedding. Nothing extreme. Just down from 200 lbs to 193 ish. An inch or so off my waistline. 2-3 percentage points of body fat. That's the goal.
I know how to lose weight, in theory.
Knowing =/= Doing
I completed a nutrition coaching certification over a decade ago. I took a lot of physiology in University. I've spent countless hours researching nutrition. I've also rabbit-holed in and out of all the diet trends known to man (intermittent fasting, keto, paleo etc). But I've never actually lost an appreciable amount of weight on purpose. I usually don't even weigh myself, as I'm wary that obsessing over the number on the scale could easily slide into an unhealthy neurosis, so I make an effort not to obsess over such things.
Whenever I have weighed myself over the past several years, my body has seemed utterly content smack-dab at 200 pounds. Even when I was training Muay Thai 3-5 days per week last year, I hardly lost a pound of bodyweight.
It's possible I gained a bit of muscle while losing some fat during that time (though unlikely, given how catabolic Muay Thai is). What's more likely (almost certain) is that I was cancelling out the calories burned by devouring unspeakable numbers of Dr. Oetker's, Quattro Formaggi Frozen pizzas (*cough* please sponsor me *cough* ).
Anyways, it was only about a couple weeks ago that I formally decided to do this. I told friends and family to allow for public shaming in the case of failure (an important step).
That's also why I'm writing about it. As weight loss is as common a wellness goal as any, maybe some of the things I discover along the way will be useful to readers.
Misadventures in Calorie Counting
My first step was to subscribe to a calorie counting app. I got one called Carbon (Layne Norton's company). I know, I know - calorie counting is terribly inaccurate (both on the expenditure and intake side of the equation) - but more than anything I wanted to bring awareness to what I was consuming. Here's what I found:
I eat pretty well most days until the late evening. After dinner, as my fiance and I sit down to watch a show (we're currently bingeing Landscape Artist of the Year - which is sensationally soul-enriching, by the way), my brain demands something to munch on. I usually go for Doritos, because, well, they're utter ecstasy, and I'm a helpless Zesty Cheese addict.
Now, when it comes to body composition, there's nothing intrinsically evil about Doritos. I know that might be a hot take to some, but all the research I've seen shows that when it comes to weight loss, a calorie really is a calorie (there's a lot to that statement. Maybe I'll explore that topic more rigorously in a future blog).
The problem with Doritos isn't the caloric value of a single chip; it's that I can easily enter a fugue state, and only after regaining consciousness realize that I've polished off an entire, glorious bag. Which is 2100 calories. Which is the majority of my day's target calories. Compounded day by day, that aggressively moves the weight loss needle in the wrong direction. So long story short: I'm instituting a rule of no chips at night.
Another realization from calorie counting: I don't eat enough protein. Experts recommend that to maintain or build muscle mass, we eat 1 gram per pound of bodyweight. For me, that would be 200 grams. I struggle, on a daily basis, to get more than 150.
So if my goal is preserve muscle, but lose a bit of fat, I need to be better about my protein.
The upshot? I'll be prioritizing high protein snacks (protein powder, high protein yoghurt, turkey pepperoni sticks etc) instead of Doritos in the evening.
Ultimately, I found calorie counting onerous and time-consuming, so I cancelled my Carbon subscription.
Nonetheless, I learned a lot from measuring my food for a bit.
Back on The Horse
The other tactic I'll be implementing is to work more cardio into my weekly routine. Because cardio is boring and I don't like doing it at the gym, I'll be biking to work and running to and from the gym, instead of driving. This has the added bonus of getting a bit more sunlight, which does wonders for my mood.
That's all for now.
Like I said, most of the reason I'm writing this is to stay accountable for my progress over the next several months.
Will check back in sometime March. Wish me luck.
Comments