Reviewing my weight loss journey
The good, the bad, and the ugly.
I know, the title sounds like I’ve reached the gold standard 10 - 15% body fat with a Greek god physique. Spoiler alert, I haven’t. In fact, I’m somewhere in the middle and at this point, I’m okay taking things at my own pace. But hold on, how did we get here?
The Precursor
Dear reader, it’s my duty to inform you (for context) that I have always been a fat kid. Combine that with a relatively short height and you have the worst of both worlds. During my school education, I was oblivious to it, and during my college education, indifferent. However, the infamous COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown that soon followed drove some change in me.
The year is 2022 and I created a goal for myself to productively use the lockdown period — reach normal BMI. Nothing else mattered to me, as long as it contributed to my weight loss. Every day after work, I ended up running somewhere between 3 to 5km in the evening.
To help increase the pace, I adopted intermittent fasting and started skipping dinner. It was damn difficult to control the urge and cravings in the first few weeks, but I eventually got acquainted with it.
Months passed by and one fine morning, I noticed something. The weighing scale showed 68 kg as my weight. This, according to me, was a dream come true. Never in my life had I been in a normal BMI. This helped fuel the momentum for a few other months that saw the lowest weight as 61.1 kg.
That, my dear reader, is where the happy story comes to an end. I crossed Reach Normal BMI off my to-do list and eventually gave up intermittent fasting and the evening run. In my defense, the transition period also involved moving from Kerala to Bangalore. That said, I could’ve found alternate ways to create a new routine. I should’ve. However, my mind was not entirely up for it and that’s a story for another day.
Long story short, I gained back all the weight I lost and some. At one point around mid-2023, I weighed around 86 kg. I knew it wasn’t good. It was terrible. A few weeks went by and sometime in December (probably due to Dr.Pal), a random burst of motivation awakened me and I got motivated to restart my fitness journey. Not with the previous approach though. A revamped approach that takes the best of what worked, alongside a dose of sustainability.
The Revised Approach (Backed by Science)
Unlike the previous just run bro approach, I decided to put some effort into formulating the plan. I watched tons of videos to absorb the good stuff and tune out the bad stuff. I watched anatomy videos1, lose weight videos, lose weight quick videos, motivational videos, and the like.
Being the avid viewer of Ali Abdaal that I am, I decided to take a DEXA scan to understand my body composition. For those out of the loop, body composition is a reliable metric to understand what your body is made of. There are various ways to measure body composition, but the most accurate one is the DEXA scan.
I did, however, procrastinate for a few weeks to take my DEXA scan. And the results blew my mind (not in a good way). I got to know that I have 36% body fat. 36%. For context, I weighed 78 kg when I took the test and as of this writing, I’m at 76.5 kg.
With this newfound realization that I should do something about my body, I started changing my routine and lifestyle.
Notable Changes
Diet
I reintroduced intermittent fasting to my life. As was previously the case, I struggled the first week, but can now stay satiated longer. I didn’t adopt a fancy new diet, but I must disclose that I have changed my preferences.
Preference: Protein > Fat > CarbohydrateI have also started incorporating salads whenever I can, but won’t beat myself up to it. Same with intermittent fasting. If I feel too hungry, I just call it a skip day and have dinner. However, I won’t let it happen twice a week. To quote Bryan Johnson’s Blueprint protocol, one must strive to embrace systems over willpower.
Excerpt from Bryan Johnson’s Blueprint Protocol:
Embrace ♥️:
systems over willpower
data over human opinion
harmony over addiction
compounded rates of self improvement
Rebel 👿 against:
addictive algorithms
corporate profiteering at your detriment
social norms encouraging bad behavior
self aided destruction (SAD)Zone 2 Cardio
According to studies (source: trust me, bro), doing zone 2 cardio helps boost fat loss. But wait a minute, what is zone 2 cardio? Simply put, zone 2 cardio refers to utilizing 60 - 70 percent of your maximum heart rate during a workout. The general practice to find your maximum heart rate is to subtract your age from 220. For example, if you’re 25 years old, your maximum heart rate is 195 BPM.
As per the studies, doing a 30-minute zone 2 cardio burns more fat, as opposed to carbohydrates. As the intensity goes up, the body switches to glucose for energy and doesn’t put in the effort to utilize fat for fuel.
However, that’s not to say that Zone 4 cardio is useless. While you might not get the same fat loss benefits, it tends to burn fat in decent percentages (sometimes more as long as you put in the extra effort). If that works for you, more power to you.
For the rest of us normies, zone 2 cardio is the way to go.
Pro tip: I’ve found the Elliptical to be the best use of my time for those elusive zone-2 cardio gains without a lot of body fatigue. Sure, a treadmill is objectively better, but it also tends to be hard on your knees. The key is to stick to something that is sustainable long-term.
Walking
If you’re someone with a lot of time to spare (or dedicate), walking will work wonders for weight loss. An ideal low-intensity activity that you can do pretty much any time of the day, walking also comes with cardiovascular benefits.
There is an overarching opinion that walking is merely a waste of time. I beg to differ. Sure, it isn’t an efficient use of time when you compare it to a full-fledged workout, but it doesn’t put you in a state that needs a lot of recovery time either.
For starters, walking 10K steps a day is a good place to be in. I try to reach 10K steps every day. I measure my progress monthly so I get insights on what goes wrong on days when I don’t complete 10K steps.
Don’t get me wrong though, walking ideally shouldn’t be your only form of exercise. If it is, it’s recommended to have long brisk walking sessions for better benefits. That said, if you are not working out at all, walking is a great place to start.
Accountability
Accountability is a double-edged sword. Force too much and you will end up rage-quitting. Have no checks and you will go off-track. If you can find an accountability partner to keep you motivated, this will work wonders, at least until you have a good routine. Shout-out to the Activity Family for keeping each other accountable.
Perspective
At this point, reaching a normal BMI is not my primary goal. I would be lying if it isn’t one of my goals. More than that, reaching a healthy body fat percentage (ideally around 15%) is what I’m going for. This also requires some form of strength training exercises, something I’m planning to incorporate over the coming weeks.
I also have a new goal — not sabotaging my progress embracing sustainability in my lifestyle.
The Path Ahead
I’m planning to write a follow-up to this sometime next year, ideally with a normal BMI and around 15-20% body fat. Stay tuned for that! hehe.
If you have recommendations for weight/strength training exercise routines, feel free to reach out to me.
Until next time!
Stay healthy,
Subin
Yeah, they don’t hold back on showing an actual person’s insides like it is a casual Tuesday.