Tired of the yo yo.

Hi Ken,

Right there with you, dude. I was about 5% body fat my whole life until I stopped construction and got a nice, comfy, sedentary career.

Answer these if you want to:
How old are you?
What is your height and weight?
What is your favorite food?
Do you enjoy vegetables?
Can you cook?
Do you drink beer? (I know.... dumb question)

I have started this journey a bunch of times. I have failed at every attempt. It's because I went too hard on exercise and too restrictive on food. I have followed the fad diets and have starved myself. I fell off that wagon with a crash and put all of the weight back on. This time, I took the advice from some really talented friends who know how to coach me to release weight effectively and healthfully.

I am at 296 down from 319 eight weeks ago. There's been no magic formula this time. I just got sick and tired of being sick and tired. Of course there are a lot of other factors that have affected my success and failure, as I am sure there are in your life as well. I have just developed better habits over the last 3 months or so.

It's important to be MINDFUL of what you eat. Eat what you want, but don't eat mindlessly. I used to eat an entire bag of Doritos because they were there. I didn't even pay attention to it, and didn't even really taste it after the first few. That's mindless. Now, if I want some Doritos, I look at the nutrition information and serving size, decide if it fits into my eating plan for the day, take ONE serving and thoroughly enjoy it. I put the bag away after taking my serving out, and before I begin eating. If I want another serving, I repeat the process. That's mindful.

I LOVE food. Most fat guys do. I also happen to be a badass cook, so I can make dirt taste good. It's easy to love food and still lose weight. If you can cook, you can control what you put in your dishes and you know what the macronutrient content is. You can be mindful about how much you prepare and you can enjoy the results of your effort.

Loving food and losing weight are not mutually exclusive. You can do it!

I am running a daily deficit between 800 and 1800 calories depending on the amount of exercise I do. I don't restrict foods, except refined sugar (because I am an addict), and dairy (because it makes me fart). I think restricting foods is a quick way to fail on your eating plan. I use MFP and a Fitbit Charge 2 to track my nutrition and activity. I bought a Nautilus machine ($400 on Amazon) and use it at least 3 times per week. I take rest days because there's no need to go crazy and hurt myself. I have started taking breaks for a short walk every couple of hours during the workday. It's working well this time around.

Tips:
- Log your food religiously. Everything that passes your lips. Calories in, Calories out is a good way to start being mindful about your eating.
- Cook your own meals as much as possible and be mindful about it. There's no need to restrict foods, unless you have a good reason for it.
- Get up and move every day. Everyone says that, and there's good reason for it. Take a walk, go for a bike ride, do some calisthenics. Anything will do. Take it easy in the beginning.
- Drink plenty of water. Try avoiding sugary drinks. Add lemon or lime for flavor, or use flavor drops if you like.
- Eat a LOT of plants. I mean veggies, not so much fruits. Veggies can make up the majority of your diet, and if you can cook, you can make them delicious and satisfying. Fruits are important, but they also contain a lot of sugar, so be... mindful (broken record much?). Potatoes, corn, beans are all fine in moderation, but fibrous, green leafy vegetables are the champion food for humans.
- Take your time. None of us got obese overnight. We won't get fit again overnight either. We have the rest of our lives to get fit and stay that way.

I didn't intend to write a novel today, sorry for being so long-winded. Hope it helps you.

Tonyfatguy

Hi Ken, I don't think you'll find better advice than what Tonyfatguy just offered (thanks much, Tony). Good luck! Best of luck to you also, Disshitagen.