Well, I last posted about being a fatso a little over a month ago. Let’s talk about some of the shit that’s gone on since then. First, Thanksgiving happened. My cousin came to town, and that week was a bust in terms of diet. However, we did stay in steamboat over that weekend, and I did the Steamboat Turkey Trot the day of. That was nice. I ran slow though.
To be honest, I didn’t start the diet and everything until November 29th. With shit going on, that was the earliest I could dedicate myself to some healthy living. Let’s re-cap the things that I started doing since then:
- Food Diary – Holy shit. I was so, so wrong about my calorie consumption. I downloaded MyFitnessPal and started tracking everything. Including things like coffee creamer, beer/wine/booze, and estimating stuff if I ate out. The results have been great. It prevents me from brainless snacking. It also forces me to weight what I would rather “spend” calories on. Is a handful of almonds worth it? I could have a glass of wine later instead…
- Booze – I had to cut back my drinking. A real pain in the ass when you’ve become accustomed to a few glasses of wine every night. From the calorie perspective, this is an easy win though. Also, one the weekends, I’ve begun only having vodka and soda. Not a bad cocktail! Just boring.
- Technology – I invested in an Apple Watch. I know it’s a bit lame, but whatever. The $400 reminder on my wrist is having a positive impact. You become addicted to getting steps and creating a chain of hitting all your movement goals. There have been a few times already where I’ve wanted to go home and chill, but have forced myself to go to the gym.
- Workouts – I chopped my foot with a hatchet on December 4th. So fucking dumb. I will write about that separately. As a result, I haven’t been able to run. I have been able to do the indoor bike though, and I’ve jumped at the opportunity. I’ve transitioned into a different workout strategy that focuses more on the cardio/calorie burn, and less on muscle production. This means I’m doing at least 45 minutes of cardio at the gym, with only 6 or 7 strength training exercises to maintain the muscle I have. I do this everyday.
- Ignore Workout Calories – One of the things I’m also doing is ignoring the extra calories I burn working out. While a lot of fitness apps allow you to add calories back into your total, I’m not doing that. As a result, I’m burning an extra 1,000 calories a day than I’m consuming. Right now, my daily calorie goal is 2,100. Apple Watch is telling me I often burn between 3,000 and 4,000 calories a day.
The Results
While it’s only been a couple weeks of dedicated effort, I’ve lost 6 pounds! That’s good stuff! It’s also reaffirming in the sense that this shit is not rocket science.
Right now, my strategy is simple: operate at a caloric deficit. It’s the most basic form of dieting (used by weight watchers and shit), but it’s also very effective. I’m simply eating less than calories I burn during the day. Maybe I’ll start doing macros or some other crap in the future, but for now, this is working, and I’ll just keep on keepin’ on.
Next post: My Hatchet Wound. Be sure to check it out.
Los Borrachos Denver 