My Weight Loss Journey In 2020
May 31, 2020 5:15:23 GMT
mousestalker, Beerfish, and 2 more like this
Post by HabitsH on May 31, 2020 5:15:23 GMT
In the beginning of the year, my health and diet was awful. My weight was 75.3kg (166lbs), which at a height of 1.65m (5'5") makes me overweight. I frequently ate junk foods (McDonald's, KFC, pizza, potato chips, carbonated drinks, lots of rice, etc) and I didn't exercise. Previously I have tried fasting but it never worked and I ended up eating a lot more. I work as a production engineer (9 to 5 job with a travel time of 40 minutes - 1 hour one way). Consequently, I found that my health condition worsened - I felt tired after going up a flight of stairs, I felt headache / had high blood pressure after eating mutton, etc. Clearly, something needed to change or I was going to be in serious trouble.
On 28/2/2020, I decided that by hook or by crook, I'm going on a water fast. So I water fasted for 28 days straight from 28/02/2020 - 26/03/2020. During that 28 days, I did not eat anything, but merely drank water and if I needed energy, I would dissolve some Himalayan salts in plain water and drank it. The first week of the fast was pure mental and physical torture but I forced myself to keep on going. I also went for brisk walking for a minimum of 30 minutes to 1 hour daily.
I stopped my long water fast on 26/03/2020 because I felt I was getting too weak and my face was getting pale. My weight was 60kg (132lbs) when I stopped water fasting. This is a before and after picture:
After breaking my water fast, I transitioned to a low carb One Meal A Day (OMAD) diet. Initially, I drank chicken broth and ate simple vegetables in order to get the body used to such a long period of fasting.
Once my body got used to food again, I stuck with the low carb OMAD diet but this time I ate cauliflower rice, eggs, salad together with fish or chicken (occasionally there'll be pork or duck during the weekends). I stopped eating any form of junk food, carbonated drinks, rice, noodles, bread, etc.
With regards to exercise, I started to run and do workouts with kettlebell (there's a 8kg/17lbs kettlebell) and a resistance band (40kg/88lbs). I don't run daily but I do alternate between the kettlebell and resistance band. Since I live in Malaysia and they instituted a movement control order, I ended up running within the housing area that I live because the cops don't go into gated and guarded housing areas.
Now, three months after my weight loss and new diet, my weight is 56kg (123lbs) and here's how I look.
My running pace has been improving from 6+ minutes per km running early morning to mid 5 minutes per km while running in hot 33C/91F afternoon Malaysian weather.
So even though 2020 has been a challenging year with the Coronavirus epidemic and subsequent movement control & lockdowns, I've managed to accomplish what I myself thought was impossible - Lose nearly 20kg/44lbs in three months and switch to a healthy diet. It does take sheer willpower, perseverance and determination to start and to keep on going.
Are there any bad side effects from all this? Well, I don't function well in cold environments anymore (so I don't like air conditioners anymore and snow will be even worse), all my clothes don't fit me anymore (I went from size L & waist size 34 to size S and waist size 28) and I spend a lot more money on food now (salad supplies and salmon are not cheap in Malaysia but I think its better to spend money on good food).
I never set out to inspire people but my weight loss journey have turned out to be an inspiration to people in my immediate social circles, both in real life and in online communities elsewhere. I thought I'd share my story here as well.
On 28/2/2020, I decided that by hook or by crook, I'm going on a water fast. So I water fasted for 28 days straight from 28/02/2020 - 26/03/2020. During that 28 days, I did not eat anything, but merely drank water and if I needed energy, I would dissolve some Himalayan salts in plain water and drank it. The first week of the fast was pure mental and physical torture but I forced myself to keep on going. I also went for brisk walking for a minimum of 30 minutes to 1 hour daily.
I stopped my long water fast on 26/03/2020 because I felt I was getting too weak and my face was getting pale. My weight was 60kg (132lbs) when I stopped water fasting. This is a before and after picture:
After breaking my water fast, I transitioned to a low carb One Meal A Day (OMAD) diet. Initially, I drank chicken broth and ate simple vegetables in order to get the body used to such a long period of fasting.
Once my body got used to food again, I stuck with the low carb OMAD diet but this time I ate cauliflower rice, eggs, salad together with fish or chicken (occasionally there'll be pork or duck during the weekends). I stopped eating any form of junk food, carbonated drinks, rice, noodles, bread, etc.
With regards to exercise, I started to run and do workouts with kettlebell (there's a 8kg/17lbs kettlebell) and a resistance band (40kg/88lbs). I don't run daily but I do alternate between the kettlebell and resistance band. Since I live in Malaysia and they instituted a movement control order, I ended up running within the housing area that I live because the cops don't go into gated and guarded housing areas.
Now, three months after my weight loss and new diet, my weight is 56kg (123lbs) and here's how I look.
My running pace has been improving from 6+ minutes per km running early morning to mid 5 minutes per km while running in hot 33C/91F afternoon Malaysian weather.
So even though 2020 has been a challenging year with the Coronavirus epidemic and subsequent movement control & lockdowns, I've managed to accomplish what I myself thought was impossible - Lose nearly 20kg/44lbs in three months and switch to a healthy diet. It does take sheer willpower, perseverance and determination to start and to keep on going.
Are there any bad side effects from all this? Well, I don't function well in cold environments anymore (so I don't like air conditioners anymore and snow will be even worse), all my clothes don't fit me anymore (I went from size L & waist size 34 to size S and waist size 28) and I spend a lot more money on food now (salad supplies and salmon are not cheap in Malaysia but I think its better to spend money on good food).
I never set out to inspire people but my weight loss journey have turned out to be an inspiration to people in my immediate social circles, both in real life and in online communities elsewhere. I thought I'd share my story here as well.
). Good luck!