Everytime I tweet about losing weight and posting images, a lot of people ask questions - so thought I'd write something decent down about what I've done so far and am currently working on.
12 months change:
My diet used to be so so bad, energy drinks, constant sugar intake. Kill that! I also used to order takeaways at least 2-3 times a week, because it was easy and the bigger you get the lazier you get from my experience.
Starting exercise was difficult, I'd attempted is an unknown number of times and got bored after a week or so. Try find someone you can exercise with and you'll keep each other motivated and push each other to go further. This still applies in running/cycling and weightlifting, whatever your goal is.
Don't make excuses about "not having time". 1 hour every few days is simple. It doesn't even have to be that long at all to see a huge difference.
My initial weight loss was rapid, my weapon of choice was the bicycle, cycled 12miles every Monday and Wednesday, and about 18-28miles on a Saturday - I kept this up for a few months until I hit a fairly decent weight. Combined with fixing your diet, the weight literally falls off. I've since started using an indoor exercise bike, as England's weather is unpredictable and nobody likes cycling in a face full of cold rain.
Now I've hit a decent body fat percentage, I've switched to weight training to strengthen my core, upper and lower body. I do some high-intensity interval training (HIIT), which involves the indoor bike again. 15-25mins of 30-60secs of extremely difficult incline peddling, then 30-60secs of extremely lightweight peddling. You break a sweat super fast and it's great for fat loss. Right now I'm working mostly on diet maintenance and the weight lifting side of things, which I do 3-4 times a week for well over an hour.
This will give someone an insight if you want to follow a similar path as mine.
No actual food, I used to eat porridge/some form of high fibre cereal, now I combine that with a protein shake.
- Mix a packet of oats with semi-skimmed milk
- Add a scoop of protein powder, and blend away
Eating a bigger lunch always made me feel horrible, so I eat as the minimum to get through. Options:
- Chicken wraps
- Chicken sandwiches (brown bread)
- Bacon/salad sandwiches (brown bread)
On workout days, I eat a lot of decent carbs, proteins and fats, so don't start eating lettuce as your body will need the juice to burn.
- Chicken with any sauce (red/white/cream based) (home made), brown rice
- Pizza
- Stir fry
- Anything you know isn't super fattening, but have a decent meal
Non-workout days I tend to eat slightly lighter meals, simple pasta, chicken breast and potatoes perhaps, or a small pizza for example.
Fruit and lots of water. I drink about 10 glasses a day.
We've all heard of "cheat meals", aka, that high fat/calorie takeaway/bad meal we all love that you're allowed "once a week". This was actually the thing that made it harder for me to get into a decent eating routine - so my advice is pretend it doesn't even exist. You're so focused on waiting for "cheat meal day" that you don't focus as much on the healthy eating side of things. Once you work out, feel burns, you get great pleasure eating decent food that doesn't make you bloated and feel terrible. If I even eat one meal that I used to get 2-3 times a week, I physically feel dreadful inside for the entire evening. If I want to eat out for dinner twice a week, just think about what you're ordering, and don't go stupid.
Good luck! Feel free to post comments below :)
Looking good, mate. What's your weight-lifting routine?