I Lost 68 Pounds of Fat in Five Years – This Is What I Learned

joeyfoshoey

For the last year or so, I've considered sharing more details about my physique transformation, but I’ve held off because I just haven't felt like I was "there" yet. It recently occurred to me that "there" is ever-evolving, and I can celebrate my accomplishments even though I know there will be more to come.

(Upper body physique photos taken throughout my journey with date and weight)

My weight loss journey has taken me five solid years of learning and changing. I'm not the same person I was when I started because that person made different choices and had other priorities.

Throughout these last few years, I've endured setbacks, injuries, otherworldly cheat meals, vacations (more decadent meals), career advancement, the death of my parents, PRs in lifting/running/cycling, grad school, marriage, COVID, and so many other things that modern life can throw at a person.

My progress was anything but linear, and I had to commit and re-commit again and again despite feeling like I would never achieve my goal. I had to learn a lot about myself- like accepting that I was severely addicted to food and comfort and that they controlled my life, leading to self-neglect.

Aside from personal enlightenment, I've learned much about food/nutrition, exercise, and my body. I’ve worked to develop the knowledge and experience to maximize my training and diet to fuel my efforts, letting me smash personal records and maintain a lifestyle of high activity (and fun!)

(A glimpse into the aforementioned fun- my wife and I participating in a local 5k race- Turkey Trot!)

Because this felt like such a personal journey, and because I'm not an expert and hold no relevant credentials, it is challenging to give good, broad advice to anyone seeking the same success. But I want to share some of the things I’ve learned because I found similar writings to be hugely motivating during the early stages of my journey, and I hope to pay it forward in my own way.

I'll briefly list items that I feel were core to my success. Please remember that I am not an expert, scientist, or doctor; this is not medical advice. Please consult with your physician before implementing any of the tactics below.

• CICO (Calories in, calories out) - Ultimately, you cannot lose weight without a sustained calorie deficit. A food scale and using a free app like MyFitnessPal is an excellent way to track everything that goes into your mouth. Getting into the groove is the most challenging part, but once you have it down, it hardly adds more effort or time to preparing a meal.

(My current MFP streak as of June 2025)

A great video on this subject from someone much more qualified to explain it: YouTube: Renaissance Periodization - The Truth About "Calories In, Calories Out"

• Protein (Building blocks for muscle) - Ensuring you have sufficient protein while on a fat-loss cut will enable you to maintain (and build muscle for newbies) muscle tissue through the diet. The higher end of the range is ~1g of protein per pound of total body weight, meaning a 165lb individual would aim to consume ~165g of protein per day.

(Barebells and Quest make some of my favorite protein bars of all-time, and they continue to release new and improved products!)

A pair of great videos on the subject:

YouTube: Renaissance Periodization - Preventing Muscle Loss On A Cut - Nutrition Strategies

YouTube: Renaissance Periodization - Preventing Muscle Loss On A Cut: Training Strategies

• Weightlifting (Building and maintaining muscle) - Exercise is not strictly necessary for weight loss, but retaining and gaining muscle mass will not only accelerate your progress but also provide you with a physique under the remaining fat tissue that will look great and provide strength as you continue the journey. Also, adequate muscle mass is a considerable component of longevity and maintaining quality of life as you age; it only becomes more critical each year.

More info: YouTube: Renaissance Periodization - Weight Training Is Bad For Weight Loss?

• Volume and Pleasure (Calorie density and food swaps) - I previously mentioned my food addiction. However, I'm not eating broccoli, rice, and chicken for every meal. I regularly eat quesadillas, cinnamon rolls, and fried chicken (seriously.)

I've made swaps for many foods to get the maximum volume for the amount of food I consume. There are lots of awesome swaps, including swapping for sugar-free soda and juice, low-fat mayonnaise, low-fat sour cream, sugar-free jam, protein bars (high-value bars that are >=20g protein per 200 calories), sugar-free beef jerky, sugar-free whipped cream, fat-free cheese, etc.

(A routine dinner consisting of fried chicken, Shirataki noodles, onion, garlic, mushrooms, and peas. ~600 grams of food, 350 calories/35g carbs/10g fat/48g protein. Typically seasoned with soy sauce and sriracha to taste.)

We’re in a golden era of increasingly delicious and affordable lower-calorie substitutes for whatever food you enjoy. I'm not saying you can go hog wild daily, and there will be an adjustment period to acclimate to some slightly different flavor profiles, but I’ve found it to be very worthwhile.

I want to state unequivocally that weight loss does not mean you can no longer enjoy what you eat- but you may have to find different foods to enjoy.

More on artificial sweeteners: YouTube: Renaissance Periodization - Artificial Sweeteners Make You Gain Weight?

• Too little food (Don't!) - I've had several brushes with inadequate intake levels. Not to a medically dangerous level, but much lower than optimal for my size and lifestyle. This has resulted in feeling hungry, tired, grumpy, and poor sports/physical performance. If you have a wearable fitness tracker (Apple Watch, Garmin, Fitbit, Coros, Galaxy Watch, Pixel Watch, etc.), ensure your weight/height/age is up to date and use it to estimate your daily energy expenditure.

This can be a massive benefit to determining your maintenance calories and setting up your fat-loss intake calories.

If you don't have a wearable, you can use a TDEE calculator for an estimate to get started ( https://tdeecalculator.net/  is a great resource, as is  https://www.sailrabbit.com/bmr/  if you want to nerd out on some deeper data).

• Maintenance (Reverse diet) - I initially thought that losing weight meant cutting your calories down and then staying at that lower intake forever- but that isn't true! When you lose fat, you lose tissue that isn't doing much to burn additional calories, so the restriction is temporary. You'll be able to return to nearly the same amount of calories as you were eating in maintenance (but beware of going beyond maintenance and into a surplus or introducing ultra-tasty foods too quickly).

(A few delicious meals I’ve been able to enjoy during maintenance, free of both guilt and weight gain!)

When I weighed 156.6 in February 2024, my daily calories burned at rest were 1,868. In March 2025, when I weighed 136.2, my calories burned at rest were 1,702. That is 13.9% less weight but only 9.2% less calories!

Here is an excellent video on the subject:

YouTube: Renaissance Periodization - How to Reverse Diet The RIGHT Way

• Media and Influencers (Creating an environment for success) - Although I did have an unhealthy relationship with food, I did not feel like I would identify as a "foodie.” But I do know people who are, and they share a lot of food and recipes on their social media, with their feed being an endless stream of donuts, cakes, ribs, burgers, steaks, etc. I think it is great to enjoy and share all kinds of delicious foods, but I found that turning food into a hobby was unhealthy for me in particular.

Since discovering this, I've tried to focus on curating my media environment by following creators with traits I admire- Science-based, evidence-based, healthy, kind, and entertaining. I avoid creators focusing on quick hacks or "one trick" marketing. I'll recommend a few creators who have been a critical source of knowledge and education in my journey.

Renaissance Periodization (Dr. Mike Israetel) -  https://www.youtube.com/%40RenaissancePeriodization/

⁠Jeff Nippard - https://www.youtube.com/%40JeffNippard

Jeremy Ethier -  https://www.youtube.com/%40JeremyEthier

• Enjoying movement (Other exercises) - I got into cycling and running relatively recently, but I’ve fallen hard and now do both frequently. That won't be everyone's experience, but I learned that distance running (what most people are doing when you see them outside- distances over one mile/kilometer) requires you to go slow and build up your endurance and speed over time.

I had never stuck with running for more than a week or two before. The hook for me was signing up for a local 5k race, which gave me a clear goal and timeline to focus on. There are many free couch to 5k programs on the internet, and building up your aerobic engine can be intoxicating once you get into it.

A screenshot from Strava showing a new 10k PR I set 12 weeks into my recent fat loss phase

I’m fortunate to live in Salt Lake City where we have a vibrant and inclusive fitness community. I’ve spent time with a variety of local run and cycling clubs and they offer a fantastic way to get into the sport.

Participating in the 2025 Salt Lake City Marathon Bike Tour with my wife.

Check out some highly recommended SLC run clubs here:  https://slrc.com/run-clubs

• Measuring progress (Scale, tape, photo, wearable) - The body weight scale is a decidedly blunt tool and does not accurately measure your body composition. Bio-impedance scales, which estimate body fat, are also wildly inaccurate. One can use these tools to track trends, but they are not much more useful than simply following the measurement of weight.

You can see gains in many different ways- how your clothes fit, how you look in the mirror, etc. If you want more highly objective data to track your progress, consider taking circumference measurements- arms, legs, waist, etc. and taking progress photos (under consistent lighting and time of day) to see how far you've come. I found this to be highly motivating for me.

DEXA Scans (Dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry) is a popular type of analysis most people can get easily in the US without the need for physician approval. I paid $75 out of pocket and was able to get some insight into my body composition at the end of my cut. DEXA is generally considered to be much more accurate than bio impedance, but a bit less accurate (and much less expensive) than an MRI. Find some of the highlights from my post-cut scan below.

My body fat % at the end of my cut registered at 8.8% per my DEXA scan

DEXA showed very little body fat and extremely low visceral fat at 0.13lbs

My bone density also offered strong readings, due in part to years of consistent weightlifting and running

Lastly, getting a fitness wearable (Apple Watch- but any will do) was hugely motivating as it enabled me to track my movement and gamify my activity. Any basic wearable can help with this, no need to dish out a ridiculous amount of money to reap the benefits.

A screenshot of my Apple Fitness Rings indicating my progress on meeting daily goals for active calories, exercise minutes, and stand hours

These were a few significant points that provides enormous lessons for me, and I’m still learning daily.

The last thing I'd say is that it is critical to be patient with yourself.

As you can see, my transformation didn't take 6, 12, or even 52 weeks. It took over five YEARS of effort, and most of it was very decidedly unsexy and undramatic. It looked like weighing food, long bike rides in my basement at a sustainable pace (relatively slow and unexciting), regular weightlifting, early morning runs, etc.

Progress takes time, and even small gains are a considerable cause for celebration. Even if you face some challenges and take a few steps backward, you've still made gains because you've equipped yourself with more knowledge and more resilience than before, increasing your chances of success on any given day or when facing any new challenge.

Lastly, I've made a little graph showing my weight as it fluctuated over the years. I've been weighing myself daily for a while now, and it has given me the ability to see how some significant life experiences impacted my health:

A graph of body weight across my entire fitness journey with callouts for significant life events and milestones

I hope my experience and thoughts can be helpful. Please feel free to comment if you have any other questions, and I'd be happy to help however I can.

Thank you for reading!

yakkystuff

Wow, what a thoughtful journey & transformation, congrats! Appreciate the summary, resources and share - you are spot on - it is inspiring to see the process too.

IcarianVX

Great write up. Thanks for all the info!