How I lost 10kg in 5 months, and why you can, too.
Until a few months ago, everytime I woke up from
sleep and contemplated myself in the mirror, I distasted the way I looked. I
hated the double chin that was hanging under my jaw. I loathed the roundness
of my face resulting from the fluffy cheeks, and most and foremost, I abhorred the hanging belly and the dangling man boobs that bounced off every time I took the shirt off. I had stretch marks all over the place, on by biceps near my shoulder, under my belly, my ass, my thighs, everywhere. It was a mess.
I felt hungry and lethargic the whole time.
Had no gusto for life and was unmotivated to do anything worth value. Every shirt I wore looked grotesque on me... Long story short, I had never came in terms with the way I look and I hated myself for it. So naturally, I had 0 confidence and was aimlessly existing in this fast-growing world with no purpose or desire.
Many people neglect this but what you eat, how you look, and your overall physical appeance affect the way you think and see the world. According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, if you do not meet the most basic physiological requirements such as food, wellbeing and fitness, there is no chance for you to ascend the ladder and become a better version of yourself. The road for self-improvement begins here.
Many people neglect this but what you eat, how you look, and your overall physical appeance affect the way you think and see the world. According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, if you do not meet the most basic physiological requirements such as food, wellbeing and fitness, there is no chance for you to ascend the ladder and become a better version of yourself. The road for self-improvement begins here.
image taken from SimplyPsychology.com
I hit rock bottom when it comes to that and experienced years of darkness and unproductivty. I didn't even come near the first level of the pyramid, I was still in the dark vault underneath with no light, totally isolated from the rest of the world.
But looking back at those times, I realize that I've made such giant strides towards self-actualization. I can't say I have reached the ideal version of myself I aspire to be, but I'm certainly closer to it than ever before. Fitness and nutrition had a great deal to do with it, and today, everytime I wake up from sleep and look at myself in the mirror, I smile. I smile because I love myself and I love the way I look. Finally I can accept that I look fairly average and not as appalling as I once was. How I reached this point? Sit back and slowly read the following. It’s been one hell of a ride and I’m more that delighted to share it with you.
But looking back at those times, I realize that I've made such giant strides towards self-actualization. I can't say I have reached the ideal version of myself I aspire to be, but I'm certainly closer to it than ever before. Fitness and nutrition had a great deal to do with it, and today, everytime I wake up from sleep and look at myself in the mirror, I smile. I smile because I love myself and I love the way I look. Finally I can accept that I look fairly average and not as appalling as I once was. How I reached this point? Sit back and slowly read the following. It’s been one hell of a ride and I’m more that delighted to share it with you.
Part 1: The Dark Ages
The Dark Ages of my life, which range from my teenage years until very recently, when it comes to
health and wellbeing was when I had the same habits as your average Joe. I ate thrice a day, enormous amount
of sugar and carbohydrates and kept constantly gaining weight. Sedentary can't come closer to the level of inactivity I had in those years. I was more like a sloth in the wilderness: eat trash food until I pass out, take long naps from the high levels of sugar, eat more after waking up, snack whenever possible, sleep, and repeat all over again on the next day.
Before puberty hit me hard I had this skinny typical cardio body gained from 2 years of practicing Taekwondo at a local gym near home. After I stopped training and spent the following years playing Call of Duty, I started constantly gaining weight until I reached a peak of 92kg at the age of 19 years.
That’s when I realized I had to do something. And just like anyone out there, I put my faith into some sports program and had my parents spend quite the money to buy it. I remember I did it on course of summer 2014. After I finished with that program, somehow, I dropped 4kg. I went from 92kg to 88kg. And since then, my weight kept oscilliating between 85kg and 88kg.
Before puberty hit me hard I had this skinny typical cardio body gained from 2 years of practicing Taekwondo at a local gym near home. After I stopped training and spent the following years playing Call of Duty, I started constantly gaining weight until I reached a peak of 92kg at the age of 19 years.
That’s when I realized I had to do something. And just like anyone out there, I put my faith into some sports program and had my parents spend quite the money to buy it. I remember I did it on course of summer 2014. After I finished with that program, somehow, I dropped 4kg. I went from 92kg to 88kg. And since then, my weight kept oscilliating between 85kg and 88kg.
Date picture was taken: January 26, 2018.
Weight: 88 Kg
Height: 1.7m.
Weight: 88 Kg
Height: 1.7m.
I never paid attention to my health, to be
honest. I did some research, as far I remember, googling for some advice
here and there and the amount of results destroyed me. Billions and billions
of posts and pages all claiming they are offering the ultimate method to lose weight
and gain muscle. Who am I to judge if they were right or wrong? Even the ones
that seemed credible enough to lure me to click them, offered me to buy a
shitty product they sold after the long sensational honey-like introductions.
Nevertheless, I tried researching the
chemistry behind weight gain and loss, and I couldn't handle the jargon words that hit
me such as carbohydrates, proteins, fats, triglycerides…etc. I
didn’t have the brains nor the patience back then to understand/learn about
them. As an English literature student in the infamous Preparaoty
Insistute for Literary Studies and Humanities of Tunis (quite the mouthful), I was already feeling anxious about studying the Anglo-Saxon culture through Beowulf and reading 17th Century English literature.
I was far from science and scientific terms as east is far from the west. Indeed, it felt like a region of my brain had stopped working because I couldn’t manage anything that involved numbers and the sort. And all of this really turned me off and made me forget about using the internet as means to learn how to lose weight. I had ALMOST started to feel happy about myself. But deep inside, I still had this rage encapsulated in me.
I was far from science and scientific terms as east is far from the west. Indeed, it felt like a region of my brain had stopped working because I couldn’t manage anything that involved numbers and the sort. And all of this really turned me off and made me forget about using the internet as means to learn how to lose weight. I had ALMOST started to feel happy about myself. But deep inside, I still had this rage encapsulated in me.
So my eyes were closed. I was shut down down in some dark dark dimension of my own, and I was unable
to get out. I was so desperate, to the point of starting following generic myths like eating a good healthy volumnious breakfast and a lot of veggies would help. I tried too much bullshit advice I can't even recall most of them, and ALL to no avail.
If I could condense this period of my life in a few words, it'd look something like this: I was fat and sad. I was miserable. My confidence was below null and was always self-conscious about my physique.
If I could condense this period of my life in a few words, it'd look something like this: I was fat and sad. I was miserable. My confidence was below null and was always self-conscious about my physique.
Part 2: The Awakening
After I graduated from the aforementioned
institute, I left Tunisia to Hungary wherein I resumed my academic career studying
Psychology. This was a turning point in my life as I was exposed to a totally
different culture, people speaking a different language (boy oh boy am I wirting
articles about Hungarian) and most importantly, a whole different major.
When I signed up for Psychology, methought
it wouldn’t really surpass Freud’s famous model of personality or some Social
Psychology stuff. Theory. But I was shocked to read the syllabus and find out that I’m
taking Anatomy and Physiology, and not once, but twice! for the first and
second semester.
Wait, what? Anatomy and what the f***? The few first days upon hearing this news, I was in total panic. Anatomy and Physiology as in the stuff the medical students take? As in the stuff the biology majors take? Seriously? How am I going to handle this? I skipped all my biology lectures back in high school and had no intention in going back….etc etc had my drama going on for a week or so and then decided it was time to cut the bullshit, bend my neck over my desk and start studying.
Wait, what? Anatomy and what the f***? The few first days upon hearing this news, I was in total panic. Anatomy and Physiology as in the stuff the medical students take? As in the stuff the biology majors take? Seriously? How am I going to handle this? I skipped all my biology lectures back in high school and had no intention in going back….etc etc had my drama going on for a week or so and then decided it was time to cut the bullshit, bend my neck over my desk and start studying.
The first few slides of the course
contained some basic chemistry concepts and other anatomy principles (for the
sake of keeping this in plain English, I’m not going through them). I found some troubles in the beginning and then, hey, I could
actually handle this. I was even surprised at myself when I sat for the first A&P exam and passed it. Not
bad. However, still fat, still sad.
With A&P2, however, that’s when things
started to change. When I was studying for the second part of the course, I
already had a good understanding of the fundemantal physiological procecees in
our bodies. So when I read a scientific article, I could, more or less,
understand what’s going on. At some point of A&P2, we had to study these
chapters:
- Digestion
- Regulation of Metabolism
The course wasn’t as thorough as to cover
everything in the world of nutrition because such objective in unattainable
within the boundaries of a chapter in a densed biology course in the university. But
it did however go through the most crucial facts when it comes to food and
digestion. Mind you, I never attended that course. I downloaded the slides and
kept researching online. Somehow, making a google search using the right words
yielded a very different productive result.
And on the course of my studies, I remember the moment I realized the
root of my health issues and how I awakened from the long dark years of being fat and
sad. I was sitting at Starbucks and studying for this subject just like any
other day and then I stumbled on the cycle carbohydrates go through to be
digested and what aftermath it leaves (high insulin levels = hunger = eating
more). Basically, as a rule of thumb, if you do something in excess it will
backfire at you and yield more damage than benefit.
Looking at my diet, holly shit, I was
probably getting 99.78% of my calories from carbohydrates. In such case, your body
consumes what it needs to function properly, stores a good amount as fatty
tissue, and dumps the rest. That’s it. This was the root of all of my problems. Dear Lord Almighty! Finally I learnt the
mysterious cause behind gaining weight! I couldn’t believe it!! But it still all look quite vague to me because the slides were bullet points and that was it. Even the explanations on YouTube weren't that thorough until I stumbled on this particular video;
This video went through the question I had in mind before watching while covering a great variety of the interrogation marks in my head. It explained the stages carbohydrates go through to be digested and put the whole thing in motion. Hard to admit, I was in tears.
Picture a random guy sitting at some table in Starbucks with his dried espresso cup next to him weeping like a little girl. I had tears in my eyes and on my cheeks because I was happy. I felt as if God hath finally spake unto mine humb- enough melodrama.
Picture a random guy sitting at some table in Starbucks with his dried espresso cup next to him weeping like a little girl. I had tears in my eyes and on my cheeks because I was happy. I felt as if God hath finally spake unto mine humb- enough melodrama.
Part3: And Let the Journey Begin!
I remember I binge ate junk food for the
rest of the week I was awakened on, and then on the next Monday: that’s it.
From here on out, it’s only meat, eggs and cheese. Zero carbs. I had doubts and
felt anxious the whole thing might go awry and make me fatter or whatever, but
I couldn’t care less if I died.
So from the next week, I remember it was
the beginning of April, I cut carbohydrates completely and what do you know? 4
weeks later, went from 88kg down to 84kg…
I know, right? How the f*** did that happen? When I stepped on the scale and saw the numbers, I stepped off it and stepped on it again to verify it were actually showing the right numbers. And holly Lord it was!
 |
| Weight: 48kg Date picture was taken: May 28, 2018 Heigh: 1.7m |
I know, right? How the f*** did that happen? When I stepped on the scale and saw the numbers, I stepped off it and stepped on it again to verify it were actually showing the right numbers. And holly Lord it was!
With this came the best feeling ever. When
I started wearing my clothes again, I noticed that my pants don’t fit me
anymore. I had to dig a new whole in my belt to make it tight enough to hold
the pants up. In the dark ages, my shirt used to show the sexy definition of my
man bobs, but now it’s just way too loose to show anything.
I literally couldn’t believe any of this
was happening. THIS THING ACTUALLY WORKS! And it worked like a charm!!
So I carried on doing my research and
started acquiring more and more knowledge about this fascinating science of
nutrition, and the more you know, the better. From one link to another, from
one YouTube video to the next, I stumbled on some ketogenic diet video
promoter, claiming that this diet is the best out there and the only one diet
that can help you burn fat as fast as you want.
Knowing the stuff I did, I couldn’t just
believe such bullshit so was taking everything I saw online with a grain of
salt. I started looking up keto for the next couple of months and 2 months
later doing just that while sitting at home studying and playing video games, I
reached 79.6kg.
This was a historic decisive moment in my
short lifespan. For the first time in the last 7 years, I drop under 80kg. I
remember I used the scale at the gym and when I saw the numbers, I also did the
same thing. Stepped off. Step on again. Yup. There was no mistake about it.
And then after doing more research and
asking people about this while discussing it with other persons on nutrition
sites and forums, I was introduced to intermittent fasting and OMAD (One Meal a
Day), and a month later, I dropped to 78kg, and that’s where I am now.
 |
| Weight: 78kg Date picture was taken: August 28, 2018 Height: 1.7m |
This by far is the best shape in my life.
My face has never looked better and my body has never looked slimmer or healthier.
Part 4: Coming in Terms with Myself
So that happened, and at this point of my life, whenever I wake up from slim, I feel good about myself and how I look. When I look at myself in the mirror, I smile because finally I loved myself. Every day when I'm looking at myself, I take some time to carefully observe the way I look and might sound a bit narcisstic, but I started kind of adoring myself and my looks.
This has come with so many other improvements in various aspects of my life such as mental clarity, confidence, being more energetic and the rest of positive life impacts.
Why you can do it too?
If you have read the post carefully, you would understand that all I did was studying and researching various nutrition topics and understanding the basic biochemical principles involved in weight loss. I can't call my diet a ketogenic one, nor paleo or vegan. What I did was simply applying my knoweldge of biochemistry to my eating habits and my lifestyle and little by little, I started seeing results.
I could track down the the food that I'm eating on daily basis knowing to how many calories and what macronutrients involved and such. The only difference between me in the dark days and myself now is that I'm fully aware of what I'm eating. Meaning if I had a moment of weakness and binge ate junk food for the weekend while watching some movie on Netflix, I know that these calories won't go unnoticed and that I'll probably gain some fat. And when I start cutting and eating more healthy, I could already see the results showing up on the scale a week or two later.
The knoweldge I have gethered along this little journey of mine is treasurous. Something I want everyone in every part of the world to know about. It's free and accessible to everyone and it's not that complicated to the point that you can't even fathom. Little by little, step by step just like a brick by brick to build a house, your knoweldge will expand and you'll understand more and more of what's going on and eventually start seeing results.
That's why I decided that I'll be making a series of blog posts about some crucial nutrition facts that everyone should know to effectively lose weight. The series will obviously be free and welcome to critique, so if you're interested, you can start your journey with me.
Your journey for self-improvement begins here.
Part 4: Coming in Terms with Myself
So that happened, and at this point of my life, whenever I wake up from slim, I feel good about myself and how I look. When I look at myself in the mirror, I smile because finally I loved myself. Every day when I'm looking at myself, I take some time to carefully observe the way I look and might sound a bit narcisstic, but I started kind of adoring myself and my looks.
This has come with so many other improvements in various aspects of my life such as mental clarity, confidence, being more energetic and the rest of positive life impacts.
Why you can do it too?
If you have read the post carefully, you would understand that all I did was studying and researching various nutrition topics and understanding the basic biochemical principles involved in weight loss. I can't call my diet a ketogenic one, nor paleo or vegan. What I did was simply applying my knoweldge of biochemistry to my eating habits and my lifestyle and little by little, I started seeing results.
I could track down the the food that I'm eating on daily basis knowing to how many calories and what macronutrients involved and such. The only difference between me in the dark days and myself now is that I'm fully aware of what I'm eating. Meaning if I had a moment of weakness and binge ate junk food for the weekend while watching some movie on Netflix, I know that these calories won't go unnoticed and that I'll probably gain some fat. And when I start cutting and eating more healthy, I could already see the results showing up on the scale a week or two later.
The knoweldge I have gethered along this little journey of mine is treasurous. Something I want everyone in every part of the world to know about. It's free and accessible to everyone and it's not that complicated to the point that you can't even fathom. Little by little, step by step just like a brick by brick to build a house, your knoweldge will expand and you'll understand more and more of what's going on and eventually start seeing results.
That's why I decided that I'll be making a series of blog posts about some crucial nutrition facts that everyone should know to effectively lose weight. The series will obviously be free and welcome to critique, so if you're interested, you can start your journey with me.
Your journey for self-improvement begins here.
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