4 Things I Learned Losing 30lbs in 60 Days

4 Things I Learned Losing 30lbs in 60 Days

Introduction

So, I thought I was getting kind of fat.

I was 265lbs on Christmas Day, 2019. Today (as I’m writing this) is March 1st, 2020. I currently weigh 230lbs. My official weigh-in on January 1st clocked me in at around 258lbs, but that was on a completely empty stomach. For the sake of clickbait titles, let’s just say I lost 30lbs (give or take a few lbs) in about 2 months.

I’m 24 years old now, and the last time I weighed 230lbs, I was finally able to purchase cigars… *cough* which I definitely didn’t do *smokers’ cough*. For those keeping score, It’s been about 6 years since I was this scrawny.

This article isn’t focused on the actual things I did to lose the weight. I’m not a dietician. I’m not a professional in any health or fitness field. I have a business degree and some bro-science knowledge, but that’s about it. I’ll mention what I did to lose the weight at the bottom of the article for those who are curious, but this article will be mostly focused on the important realizations and mindsets that I had to implement in order to lose half a pound a day, every day, for 60 days.

My body is still not where I want it to be. In fact, because of the way I’m wired, I don’t think I’ll ever feel like my body is “perfect” or “perfect just the way it is”. I have physical goals that I’m still chasing, and I anticipate those goals will never truly go away. I’ll never feel like a “finished product”, and that’s just fine with me. I thrive off that energy.

Disclaimer: I know a lot of people have issues with their body image. I know some people have body dysmorphia and eating disorders that might make this kind of content difficult to consume. If you’re sensitive to those kinds of topics, then proceed with caution.

So, let’s get into it.


What I Learned #1: Don’t be happy with who you are. Be happy with who you could be.

I really hate the idea that you should be “happy with who you are”. I touched on this idea in my last article, but I think it’s incredibly important and worth mentioning again. I think it’s almost impossible to make drastic, necessary improvements in your life if you are happy with who you are. Any kind of change in your life is likely to be uncomfortable. What’s your incentive to do something uncomfortable if you’re happy with who you are? If you’re truly happy with who you are, don’t expect your life to improve.

You should find great joy in the fact that you are the embodiment of unformed potential. You have unlimited potential. You can literally improve your life in every single possible category, and I think that is what should make you happy; that is what you should focus on. You have goals you can chase for the rest of your life. I think that’s pretty exciting.

Here’s something you should consider: Nobody has the perfect body. There’s something physically about you that you can start improving today if you wanted to. If you refuse to improve things in your life that can be improved, you’re more likely to allow complacency into your life where it shouldn’t be. You’re more likely to be complacent with your job. You’re more likely to be complacent with your relationships. You’re more likely to be complacent with yourself. You’re more likely to be complacent with your faith, and so on.

Self improvement is a drug. Once you start making some small changes in your life to improve yourself, you’ll start to make additional small changes naturally. You’ll become addicted to it, especially if you make the conscious decision to start improving your life. This domino effect can lead to so many other incredible changes in your life.

Here are some questions to consider:

Are you happy with your body?

Do you think you can be happier with an improved version of your body?

Are you making changes to make yourself happier, or do you want to be stuck with complacency?

Comparison is the thief of joy; however, I think there is one exception to that: Yourself. I think you should frequently compare yourself to what kind of person you were yesterday. I would stop comparing yourself to others, and start focusing on your own self improvement. I would go crazy if I compared my results to someone like Bradley Martyn; however, I can take much more satisfaction when I compare myself to who I was last month.

The lesson here is keep track of your progress so you can constantly see the ways in which you improve. These past two months, I took a ton of pictures, a ton of videos, kept track of my body weight every day, and constantly monitored my progress. If you’re constantly monitoring your self improvement, you’ll have a hard time being okay with who you are today, because you’ll know you can be someone better tomorrow.

What I Learned #2: Start speaking things into existence by setting attainable goals for yourself.

On January 1st, 2020, I posted an Instagram story that told all my followers that I was going to lose 30lbs by March 15. Now, I’m not an influencer or someone who has thousands of followers, but I made a commitment to friends, family, and random strangers that I was going to uphold. I didn’t want to look like an idiot if I failed my goal.

Finding ways to hold yourself accountable for your actions will be a common theme in this article; and although I don’t necessarily entirely believe in the law of attraction, I think there is something significant about focusing your energy, thoughts, words, and behavior towards something you don’t have yet. I told my followers on January 1st that I was going to try and lose 30lbs. I wanted that number 30lbs to be specific, so I would hold myself accountable to a tangible goal. If I just told my followers I wanted to “lose weight”, I would’ve accomplished that goal within 48 hours. The goal needs to be specific.

The goal of losing 30lbs seemed daunting at first, but I quickly established “mini-goals” or “checkpoints” that made the 30lbs seem much more reasonable.

I told myself I needed to weigh 250lbs on January 15.
I told myself I needed to weigh 245lbs on January 30.
I told myself I needed to weigh 240lbs on February 15.
I told myself I needed to weigh 235lbs on February 28.
I told myself I needed to weigh 230lbs on March 15.

As you can see, I actually reached my goal a bit quicker than I anticipated, but I owe that to constantly trying to beat my checkpoints by a few pounds every weigh-in.

The lesson here is to speak your goals into existence, and furiously keep track of your progress. Telling other people about your goals will help you become accountable. You should also set challenging goals, but create checkpoints that will keep you in line with your desired target. Keep track of everything - including your checkpoints. Don’t allow yourself to miss checkpoints.

What I Learned #3: Find ways to incentivize your success and punish your failures.

Setting this goal for myself had a built-in pay-off. There was an incentive for me to lose weight. A few weeks before 2020 began, a buddy of mine mentioned that we should try and get super jacked for spring break. We both had similar builds (around 18% bodyfat), and we both had similar goals (we should get much better abs). So, naturally, we began a little competition to see how shredded we could get. We weren’t necessarily competing against each other, but we were in this fight for self-improvement together. I wanted him to succeed, and he wanted me to succeed. Another one of my close friends joined the “competition”; and before we knew it, we were constantly messaging about our diets, our weights, our lifts, etc. We started sharing progress pictures, and it became a lot of fun. Being involved with other people going through the same hardships as you is it’s own incentive. They’ll help you stay on track.

If you’re familiar with the Joe Rogan Sober October series, it felt like that. We were just a bunch of dudes trying to better ourselves and have fun.

To be completely honest, I wasn’t quite sure why I was still so heavy. I didn’t need to be 265lbs anymore. My current weight wasn’t serving my purpose in life anymore. When I was still on a D1 track team, it made sense that I weighed 265lbs… but now? Why does a digital marketer need to be 265lbs? I think I could still cut down to 200-210lbs if I wanted to, but I know I’d lose a lot more strength and muscle mass if I continue down that path. I enjoy lifting, and I want to continue lifting heavy weights. 230lbs was the perfect middleground for me.

It’s also important to punish your failures, and I’m glad I have friends that can hold me accountable. Tell your friends this: “I’m going to venmo you $500 each if I fail this specific goal.” Don’t even think about it, just do it. You won’t regret it. My friends message me every day now holding me accountable to my goals. I’m not sure if it’s because my friends want me to succeed, or if they just want $500, but I appreciate the hell out of them for helping me stay on track.

I had some bad habits that I needed to get rid of, and putting your own money on the line will motivate the @&$# out of you. It doesn’t need to be $500, but it should be enough that it will hurt more if you lose the money than if you fail the goal.

Here are some examples you can think about:

“If I eat fast food this month, I’ll send you $500”
“If I skip leg day this month, I’ll send you $500”
“If I don’t do cardio 4 times a week, I’ll send you $500”
“If I eat any sugary treats this month, I’ll send you $500”

I had three specific things that I wagered $500 on. So far, I haven’t failed, but I know I would’ve failed already if I didn’t put money on it.

Do this with friends who want you to succeed. Do this with friends who you wouldn’t dare lying to. I don’t think I’d be able to live with myself if I failed the goal and then didn’t pay up.

Don’t be afraid of using tactics like this to stay disciplined. For the longest time in my life, I thought doing tactics like this was cheating. I thought it wasn’t real discipline. Let me tell you something: Using tactics like this helps. At the end of the day, your goal is all that matters. So do anything and everything you can to get to your goal.

The lesson here is understanding what is ultimately going to motivate you to your goals. Incentivize your goals, and get your friends involved. If they’re good friends, they’ll want to see you succeed. Then, do everything you can to stay on track with your goals - even if it’s going to cost you $500.

What I Learned #4: Overcome the voice in your head that wants you to fail.

At the end of the day, you’re going to have self-doubt when you do things you aren’t sure of. I think it’s natural for everyone. I don’t know if you’ll ever be able to truly silence that voice in your head, but you need to be aware that it’s there, and you need to try and control it. Whenever that voice pops in your head, acknowledge it, and let it pass. Meditate on it. Pray on it.

The biggest enemy I’ve ever had is the voice in my head that attempts to justify why I shouldn’t be making certain changes in my life. Your “default voice” in your head is always going to tell you to stay comfortable and seek pleasure, because your brain is wired to avoid pain if possible.

“If you lose too much weight, you’ll have to buy new clothes, and that would suck.”
“You can order a pizza tonight, you earned it.”
“You look fine the way you are, those extra pounds will probably just shred off at some point anyway.”
“I don’t think I’d ever be able to give up pizza or McDonalds, but maybe one day I’ll be able to…”
“Losing weight this fast isn’t healthy, and it’s not going to be sustainable, so maybe you shouldn’t do it.”

I’ve had non-stop anxiety for the past two months. It’s getting a lot better now that my weight has stabilized a bit, but I was emotionally all over the place for a long time. I think since my body was constantly changing, my brain was in a constant “fight or flight” mode that caused a myriad of issues that I never anticipated. I also went through relationship issues, business expansion issues, and other issues that added onto the anxiety. I didn’t feel like myself at all, and it would’ve been really easy to give up and listen to the voice in my head.

But I refused.

I meditated on why the voice was there. I meditated on why the voice was wrong. I would pray to God asking for help and guidance, and the voice would calm down.

I don’t really have much else to say about the negative voice in your head, nor do I have a specific lesson about the voice in your head. Everyone has that voice, you need to learn and understand when it’s speaking to you. You absolutely need to learn how to control it; otherwise, that voice will make sure you stand still.



Closing thoughts:

In summary, I didn’t like that I was getting chunky. I wanted to be more fit. I knew it was going to be challenging, but I had amazing friends help me reach my goal, and I utilized a bunch of different tactics to make it somewhat more realistic. I think these methods and mindsets make implementing positive change in your life much easier, and I’ll be using them moving forward. Let me know if you decide to use any of these methods moving forward too, because I’d love to hear about it!


My Diet & Exercise

Here’s what my routine looked like for the past 2 months.

Keto-diet & Intermittent Fasting

I stopped eating carbs. My current carb intake is roughly about 15-25 grams of net carbs per day. This is essentially the equivalent to just the top bun of a McDonalds sandwich. I stopped eating bread, pizza, pasta, tacos, sugar, ice cream, potatoes, and milk. My diet (when I didn’t have one of my 6 cheat days) has almost entirely consisted of these foods:
I tried to eat mostly fatty foods. Bacon and red meat were consumed almost every day. From what I understand, the more fat you consume, the more muscle you’re able to maintain. Your body will start eating away at your lean muscle mass if you don’t consume enough fat (or something like that).

I also didn’t eat anything from midnight until 6pm on most days. I did a typical 18 hour fast/6 hour eating window. The keto diet & intermittent fasting go hand-in-hand, because once you cut out carbs, you don’t find yourself getting hungry that often. From what I understand, fats and proteins can satisfy your hunger a lot longer than carbs can.

1500+ Calorie Deficit Everyday

The basic key to weight loss is pretty simple: Burn more calories than you consume. I knew I had to burn a LOT more calories than I would consume in 2 months, so I made the conscious decision to undergo a roughly 1,500+ calorie deficit on a daily basis. Most days I would burn in excess of 3000 calories, and I was eating maybe 1500 calories per day. I’m assuming there were also plenty of days where I didn’t even consume 1000 calories. I think most nutritionists tell you to be in a 300-500 daily calorie deficit, so obviously I went a bit extreme.

Did it suck? Yes. Was I anxious all the time? Yes. Did I not feel like myself? Yes. Did I have a hard time focusing on things? Yes. Was I in pain from the hunger? Ehh… not really. I took an appetite suppressant supplement called “Lean Mode” by Evlution Nutrition, and I think that supplement in combination with the keto diet was able to suppress my hunger pains for the most part. I also think I got used to being constantly hungry after about a week. Drinking a lot of water helps the hunger pains.

Lifting 6x a week, cardio 4x a week. (10 sessions total per week)

I typically lift Monday through Saturday in the AM, and then I’ll do a nightly cardio session Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I don’t do legs that often, but my legs are still way too big from my 5 years of heavy squats and cleans as a D1 athlete, so I became the ultimate “gym bro”, and now I only do legs once per week. My routine is usually something like this:

The cardio sessions are usually only 20-30 minutes long, and they’re not crazy intense. I’ll do 20-30 minutes of walking on a treadmill on the highest incline, or I’ll do 20 minutes on the stair stepper.

I was fortunate enough to not lose that much muscle mass these past few months. According to my InBody before & after scans, I only lost about 2lbs of muscle mass and roughly 28lbs of water weight & fat. I think the keto diet probably helped me maintain much more muscle than I initially anticipated. My strength levels have stayed about the same, surprisingly.

The original goal in my Instagram story also included a body fat percentage I wanted to reach. I did go from around 18% to 13%, but I fell short of my goal of 7%. However, I’ve come to learn that goal might’ve been physically impossible in such a short time span. I think it might’ve been possible with certain illegal supplements *cough* steroids *cough*, but I obviously stayed away from those. Maybe trying to get to 7% bodyfat with a longer time span will be my next goal.

I’m very aware that this is not an ideal training routine. I might be overtraining. I know I’m under-eating. I know keto can be somewhat controversial. I know I can improve my system. I’ve been lifting almost everyday for about 8 years now, and I just suppose this entire system is what I’ve naturally evolved into. I’ll work to improve my system once the weight loss competition is over, and the new system will probably be geared towards some kind of bodybuilding competition in late 2020, but that’s a whole ‘nother article I can write later.

Before: https://i.imgur.com/00WpNr9.jpg

After: https://i.imgur.com/RgezU3b.jpg (probably flexing slightly harder than the first picture)

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to post them below.

Currently, I'm still hovering around 230, but I'm trying to drop down to 220. I'm still doing keto. I'm still working out 6-7 times week.

Wow, nice man! What a load of dedication you have. As somebody who has gained and lost plenty of weight throughout the years, I know how difficult the process could be. Enjoyed the read! Enjoy your new healthy self!

My Height is 163, my weight is 154 lbs, For that am looking a little bit fat. I can't able to decrease my weight. Am not moving down!
Can you give me any suggestions?

IGKing said:

Preface: I wrote this article a few months ago when I had a personal blog, but I decided to re-post this here for anyone who might find it interesting. This is also kind of a long post. Heads up.​

4 Things I Learned Losing 30lbs in 60 Days

Introduction

So, I thought I was getting kind of fat.

I was 265lbs on Christmas Day, 2019. Today (as I’m writing this) is March 1st, 2020. I currently weigh 230lbs. My official weigh-in on January 1st clocked me in at around 258lbs, but that was on a completely empty stomach. For the sake of clickbait titles, let’s just say I lost 30lbs (give or take a few lbs) in about 2 months.

I’m 24 years old now, and the last time I weighed 230lbs, I was finally able to purchase cigars… *cough* which I definitely didn’t do *smokers’ cough*. For those keeping score, It’s been about 6 years since I was this scrawny.

This article isn’t focused on the actual things I did to lose the weight. I’m not a dietician. I’m not a professional in any health or fitness field. I have a business degree and some bro-science knowledge, but that’s about it. I’ll mention what I did to lose the weight at the bottom of the article for those who are curious, but this article will be mostly focused on the important realizations and mindsets that I had to implement in order to lose half a pound a day, every day, for 60 days.

My body is still not where I want it to be. In fact, because of the way I’m wired, I don’t think I’ll ever feel like my body is “perfect” or “perfect just the way it is”. I have physical goals that I’m still chasing, and I anticipate those goals will never truly go away. I’ll never feel like a “finished product”, and that’s just fine with me. I thrive off that energy.

Disclaimer: I know a lot of people have issues with their body image. I know some people have body dysmorphia and eating disorders that might make this kind of content difficult to consume. If you’re sensitive to those kinds of topics, then proceed with caution.

So, let’s get into it.


What I Learned #1: Don’t be happy with who you are. Be happy with who you could be.

I really hate the idea that you should be “happy with who you are”. I touched on this idea in my last article, but I think it’s incredibly important and worth mentioning again. I think it’s almost impossible to make drastic, necessary improvements in your life if you are happy with who you are. Any kind of change in your life is likely to be uncomfortable. What’s your incentive to do something uncomfortable if you’re happy with who you are? If you’re truly happy with who you are, don’t expect your life to improve.

You should find great joy in the fact that you are the embodiment of unformed potential. You have unlimited potential. You can literally improve your life in every single possible category, and I think that is what should make you happy; that is what you should focus on. You have goals you can chase for the rest of your life. I think that’s pretty exciting.

Here’s something you should consider: Nobody has the perfect body. There’s something physically about you that you can start improving today if you wanted to. If you refuse to improve things in your life that can be improved, you’re more likely to allow complacency into your life where it shouldn’t be. You’re more likely to be complacent with your job. You’re more likely to be complacent with your relationships. You’re more likely to be complacent with yourself. You’re more likely to be complacent with your faith, and so on.

Self improvement is a drug. Once you start making some small changes in your life to improve yourself, you’ll start to make additional small changes naturally. You’ll become addicted to it, especially if you make the conscious decision to start improving your life. This domino effect can lead to so many other incredible changes in your life.

Here are some questions to consider:

Are you happy with your body?

Do you think you can be happier with an improved version of your body?

Are you making changes to make yourself happier, or do you want to be stuck with complacency?

Comparison is the thief of joy; however, I think there is one exception to that: Yourself. I think you should frequently compare yourself to what kind of person you were yesterday. I would stop comparing yourself to others, and start focusing on your own self improvement. I would go crazy if I compared my results to someone like Bradley Martyn; however, I can take much more satisfaction when I compare myself to who I was last month.

The lesson here is keep track of your progress so you can constantly see the ways in which you improve. These past two months, I took a ton of pictures, a ton of videos, kept track of my body weight every day, and constantly monitored my progress. If you’re constantly monitoring your self improvement, you’ll have a hard time being okay with who you are today, because you’ll know you can be someone better tomorrow.

What I Learned #2: Start speaking things into existence by setting attainable goals for yourself.

On January 1st, 2020, I posted an Instagram story that told all my followers that I was going to lose 30lbs by March 15. Now, I’m not an influencer or someone who has thousands of followers, but I made a commitment to friends, family, and random strangers that I was going to uphold. I didn’t want to look like an idiot if I failed my goal.

Finding ways to hold yourself accountable for your actions will be a common theme in this article; and although I don’t necessarily entirely believe in the law of attraction, I think there is something significant about focusing your energy, thoughts, words, and behavior towards something you don’t have yet. I told my followers on January 1st that I was going to try and lose 30lbs. I wanted that number 30lbs to be specific, so I would hold myself accountable to a tangible goal. If I just told my followers I wanted to “lose weight”, I would’ve accomplished that goal within 48 hours. The goal needs to be specific.

The goal of losing 30lbs seemed daunting at first, but I quickly established “mini-goals” or “checkpoints” that made the 30lbs seem much more reasonable.

I told myself I needed to weigh 250lbs on January 15.
I told myself I needed to weigh 245lbs on January 30.
I told myself I needed to weigh 240lbs on February 15.
I told myself I needed to weigh 235lbs on February 28.
I told myself I needed to weigh 230lbs on March 15.

As you can see, I actually reached my goal a bit quicker than I anticipated, but I owe that to constantly trying to beat my checkpoints by a few pounds every weigh-in.

The lesson here is to speak your goals into existence, and furiously keep track of your progress. Telling other people about your goals will help you become accountable. You should also set challenging goals, but create checkpoints that will keep you in line with your desired target. Keep track of everything - including your checkpoints. Don’t allow yourself to miss checkpoints.

What I Learned #3: Find ways to incentivize your success and punish your failures.

Setting this goal for myself had a built-in pay-off. There was an incentive for me to lose weight. A few weeks before 2020 began, a buddy of mine mentioned that we should try and get super jacked for spring break. We both had similar builds (around 18% bodyfat), and we both had similar goals (we should get much better abs). So, naturally, we began a little competition to see how shredded we could get. We weren’t necessarily competing against each other, but we were in this fight for self-improvement together. I wanted him to succeed, and he wanted me to succeed. Another one of my close friends joined the “competition”; and before we knew it, we were constantly messaging about our diets, our weights, our lifts, etc. We started sharing progress pictures, and it became a lot of fun. Being involved with other people going through the same hardships as you is it’s own incentive. They’ll help you stay on track.

If you’re familiar with the Joe Rogan Sober October series, it felt like that. We were just a bunch of dudes trying to better ourselves and have fun.

To be completely honest, I wasn’t quite sure why I was still so heavy. I didn’t need to be 265lbs anymore. My current weight wasn’t serving my purpose in life anymore. When I was still on a D1 track team, it made sense that I weighed 265lbs… but now? Why does a digital marketer need to be 265lbs? I think I could still cut down to 200-210lbs if I wanted to, but I know I’d lose a lot more strength and muscle mass if I continue down that path. I enjoy lifting, and I want to continue lifting heavy weights. 230lbs was the perfect middleground for me.

It’s also important to punish your failures, and I’m glad I have friends that can hold me accountable. Tell your friends this: “I’m going to venmo you $500 each if I fail this specific goal.” Don’t even think about it, just do it. You won’t regret it. My friends message me every day now holding me accountable to my goals. I’m not sure if it’s because my friends want me to succeed, or if they just want $500, but I appreciate the hell out of them for helping me stay on track.

I had some bad habits that I needed to get rid of, and putting your own money on the line will motivate the @&$# out of you. It doesn’t need to be $500, but it should be enough that it will hurt more if you lose the money than if you fail the goal.

Here are some examples you can think about:

“If I eat fast food this month, I’ll send you $500”
“If I skip leg day this month, I’ll send you $500”
“If I don’t do cardio 4 times a week, I’ll send you $500”
“If I eat any sugary treats this month, I’ll send you $500”

I had three specific things that I wagered $500 on. So far, I haven’t failed, but I know I would’ve failed already if I didn’t put money on it.

Do this with friends who want you to succeed. Do this with friends who you wouldn’t dare lying to. I don’t think I’d be able to live with myself if I failed the goal and then didn’t pay up.

Don’t be afraid of using tactics like this to stay disciplined. For the longest time in my life, I thought doing tactics like this was cheating. I thought it wasn’t real discipline. Let me tell you something: Using tactics like this helps. At the end of the day, your goal is all that matters. So do anything and everything you can to get to your goal.

The lesson here is understanding what is ultimately going to motivate you to your goals. Incentivize your goals, and get your friends involved. If they’re good friends, they’ll want to see you succeed. Then, do everything you can to stay on track with your goals - even if it’s going to cost you $500.

What I Learned #4: Overcome the voice in your head that wants you to fail.

At the end of the day, you’re going to have self-doubt when you do things you aren’t sure of. I think it’s natural for everyone. I don’t know if you’ll ever be able to truly silence that voice in your head, but you need to be aware that it’s there, and you need to try and control it. Whenever that voice pops in your head, acknowledge it, and let it pass. Meditate on it. Pray on it.

The biggest enemy I’ve ever had is the voice in my head that attempts to justify why I shouldn’t be making certain changes in my life. Your “default voice” in your head is always going to tell you to stay comfortable and seek pleasure, because your brain is wired to avoid pain if possible.

“If you lose too much weight, you’ll have to buy new clothes, and that would suck.”
“You can order a pizza tonight, you earned it.”
“You look fine the way you are, those extra pounds will probably just shred off at some point anyway.”
“I don’t think I’d ever be able to give up pizza or McDonalds, but maybe one day I’ll be able to…”
“Losing weight this fast isn’t healthy, and it’s not going to be sustainable, so maybe you shouldn’t do it.”

I’ve had non-stop anxiety for the past two months. It’s getting a lot better now that my weight has stabilized a bit, but I was emotionally all over the place for a long time. I think since my body was constantly changing, my brain was in a constant “fight or flight” mode that caused a myriad of issues that I never anticipated. I also went through relationship issues, business expansion issues, and other issues that added onto the anxiety. I didn’t feel like myself at all, and it would’ve been really easy to give up and listen to the voice in my head.

But I refused.

I meditated on why the voice was there. I meditated on why the voice was wrong. I would pray to God asking for help and guidance, and the voice would calm down.

I don’t really have much else to say about the negative voice in your head, nor do I have a specific lesson about the voice in your head. Everyone has that voice, you need to learn and understand when it’s speaking to you. You absolutely need to learn how to control it; otherwise, that voice will make sure you stand still.



Closing thoughts:

In summary, I didn’t like that I was getting chunky. I wanted to be more fit. I knew it was going to be challenging, but I had amazing friends help me reach my goal, and I utilized a bunch of different tactics to make it somewhat more realistic. I think these methods and mindsets make implementing positive change in your life much easier, and I’ll be using them moving forward. Let me know if you decide to use any of these methods moving forward too, because I’d love to hear about it!


My Diet & Exercise

Here’s what my routine looked like for the past 2 months.

Keto-diet & Intermittent Fasting

I stopped eating carbs. My current carb intake is roughly about 15-25 grams of net carbs per day. This is essentially the equivalent to just the top bun of a McDonalds sandwich. I stopped eating bread, pizza, pasta, tacos, sugar, ice cream, potatoes, and milk. My diet (when I didn’t have one of my 6 cheat days) has almost entirely consisted of these foods:

• Bacon, Eggs, Steak, Cheese, Cream cheese, Ground Beef, Sugar-free BBQ Sauce, Pork Ribs, Chicken Wings, No-carb Protein shakes, Spinach, Ranch Dressing, Cauliflower, Asparagus, Broccoli, Almond Flour, Swerve Sugar-Replacement Sweetener, Heavy Whipping Cream, Unsweetened Almond Milk, Gatorade Zero, Coffee, Low-carb pre-workout

I tried to eat mostly fatty foods. Bacon and red meat were consumed almost every day. From what I understand, the more fat you consume, the more muscle you’re able to maintain. Your body will start eating away at your lean muscle mass if you don’t consume enough fat (or something like that).

I also didn’t eat anything from midnight until 6pm on most days. I did a typical 18 hour fast/6 hour eating window. The keto diet & intermittent fasting go hand-in-hand, because once you cut out carbs, you don’t find yourself getting hungry that often. From what I understand, fats and proteins can satisfy your hunger a lot longer than carbs can.

1500+ Calorie Deficit Everyday

The basic key to weight loss is pretty simple: Burn more calories than you consume. I knew I had to burn a LOT more calories than I would consume in 2 months, so I made the conscious decision to undergo a roughly 1,500+ calorie deficit on a daily basis. Most days I would burn in excess of 3000 calories, and I was eating maybe 1500 calories per day. I’m assuming there were also plenty of days where I didn’t even consume 1000 calories. I think most nutritionists tell you to be in a 300-500 daily calorie deficit, so obviously I went a bit extreme.

Did it suck? Yes. Was I anxious all the time? Yes. Did I not feel like myself? Yes. Did I have a hard time focusing on things? Yes. Was I in pain from the hunger? Ehh… not really. I took an appetite suppressant supplement called “Lean Mode” by Evlution Nutrition, and I think that supplement in combination with the keto diet was able to suppress my hunger pains for the most part. I also think I got used to being constantly hungry after about a week. Drinking a lot of water helps the hunger pains.

Lifting 6x a week, cardio 4x a week. (10 sessions total per week)

I typically lift Monday through Saturday in the AM, and then I’ll do a nightly cardio session Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I don’t do legs that often, but my legs are still way too big from my 5 years of heavy squats and cleans as a D1 athlete, so I became the ultimate “gym bro”, and now I only do legs once per week. My routine is usually something like this:

• Monday - Chest
• Tuesday - Legs
• Wednesday - Biceps & Triceps
• Thursday - Shoulders
• Friday - Back
• Saturday - All around upper - anything I feel like is underdeveloped, I’ll hit again on Saturday.

The cardio sessions are usually only 20-30 minutes long, and they’re not crazy intense. I’ll do 20-30 minutes of walking on a treadmill on the highest incline, or I’ll do 20 minutes on the stair stepper.

I was fortunate enough to not lose that much muscle mass these past few months. According to my InBody before & after scans, I only lost about 2lbs of muscle mass and roughly 28lbs of water weight & fat. I think the keto diet probably helped me maintain much more muscle than I initially anticipated. My strength levels have stayed about the same, surprisingly.

The original goal in my Instagram story also included a body fat percentage I wanted to reach. I did go from around 18% to 13%, but I fell short of my goal of 7%. However, I’ve come to learn that goal might’ve been physically impossible in such a short time span. I think it might’ve been possible with certain illegal supplements *cough* steroids *cough*, but I obviously stayed away from those. Maybe trying to get to 7% bodyfat with a longer time span will be my next goal.

I’m very aware that this is not an ideal training routine. I might be overtraining. I know I’m under-eating. I know keto can be somewhat controversial. I know I can improve my system. I’ve been lifting almost everyday for about 8 years now, and I just suppose this entire system is what I’ve naturally evolved into. I’ll work to improve my system once the weight loss competition is over, and the new system will probably be geared towards some kind of bodybuilding competition in late 2020, but that’s a whole ‘nother article I can write later.

Before: 260 lbs (January 1, 2020)

After: 230 lbs (March 1, 2020) (probably flexing slightly harder than the first picture)

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to post them below.

Currently, I'm still hovering around 230, but I'm trying to drop down to 220. I'm still doing keto. I'm still working out 6-7 times week.

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SnobbyRobot said:

My Height is 163, my weight is 154 lbs, For that am looking a little bit fat. I can't able to decrease my weight. Am not moving down!
Can you give me any suggestions?

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Stop eating carbs. Research the keto diet. That's the best way I've found to lose weight. I also get a huge cognitive benefit from not consuming carbs so it's a win-win.

Going from 260 to 230 is easy, just stop eating cheetos

Wow! Great Man!I moved 230 lbs to 190 lbs in last years. But In corona time Backed again in same place lol

Nice progress mate, you are ripped AF

SnobbyRobot said:

My Height is 163, my weight is 154 lbs, For that am looking a little bit fat. I can't able to decrease my weight. Am not moving down!
Can you give me any suggestions?

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Start with less intense HIIT workouts. Eventually, dive into something aimed at burning much more fat.

Green tea and honey does it's magic from inside.

I weigh myself everyday, and i just bought a fittrack scale, it gives you like 17 measurements about your body. Syncs with your phone so you can track your progress, defiantly essential for anyone losing weight, the key is to weigh yourself daily, and get an understanding of what food puts the weight on, and what helps you lose weight.

Panther28 said:

I weigh myself everyday, and i just bought a fittrack scale, it gives you like 17 measurements about your body. Syncs with your phone so you can track your progress, defiantly essential for anyone losing weight, the key is to weigh yourself daily, and get an understanding of what food puts the weight on, and what helps you lose weight.

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I have one of those too. It’s amazing.

Panther28 said:

I weigh myself everyday, and i just bought a fittrack scale, it gives you like 17 measurements about your body. Syncs with your phone so you can track your progress, defiantly essential for anyone losing weight, the key is to weigh yourself daily, and get an understanding of what food puts the weight on, and what helps you lose weight.

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I also weigh myself on a daily basis!

Anyone serious about weight loss has to get one of these! Otherwise you can't say you're serious because you're not tracking your results on a daily basis.

That's some dedication op. Don't get me wrong, but here I am struggling to gain weight, I eat all sorts of food but won't chub up. Any tips

Great job man, keep up the good work. If you ever need advice, I do online coaching FOR FREE for people who take it serious through discord. Hit me up anytime if you're struggling or need advice

Congrats buddy, you definitely crushed it!
Now don't fall back into bad habits and try to keep that physique.

PaulRD said:

That's some dedication op. Don't get me wrong, but here I am struggling to gain weight, I eat all sorts of food but won't chub up. Any tips

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PM me. I'll reply tomorrow. I'm 6'6/198cm and went from 53kg to 95kg in 4 years. I have been there.

PaulRD said:

That's some dedication op. Don't get me wrong, but here I am struggling to gain weight, I eat all sorts of food but won't chub up. Any tips

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When I was trying to gain weight, this was my go-to. I went thru 2-3 bags a month: https://www.gnc.com/best-sellers-shop-all/350367.html

I would definitely advise against the keto diet if you're trying to gain weight. Just be conscious of the fact that you'll only gain weight if you're burning less calories than you consume, so maximize caloric intake and do a bodybuilding-type workout plan (not much cardio).

How do you resist the urge to eat unhealthy foods and also break / resist unhealthy eating habits?

IGKing said:

Stop eating carbs. Research the keto diet. That's the best way I've found to lose weight. I also get a huge cognitive benefit from not consuming carbs so it's a win-win.

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Can you elaborate on the cognitive benefits that you get? Are you more productive?

I can vouch for what OP is telling. Keto rocks.

thebotmaker said:

How do you resist the urge to eat unhealthy foods and also break / resist unhealthy eating habits?

Can you elaborate on the cognitive benefits that you get? Are you more productive?

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Awesome question. Here's my rule of thumb:

1.) Only buy keto items at the grocery store. Simply don't put non-keto items in your cart otherwise you fail.
2.) You're not allowed to go out to eat by yourself ever. Just eat groceries.
3.) You're only allowed to eat non-keto if you're with people and you're eating out. This creates some balance and also doesn't make the diet restrictive when you're being social... just try to limit this to once or twice a week.

Here are some good keto recipes I eat frequently:

- Bacon, eggs with cheese. (if you can find low carb bread, that's even better because then you can have toast too... research "Sola bread"
- Low carb tortilla tacos (meat, taco seasoning, sriracha, cheese, salsa, lettuce, guac)
- Low carb burgers (see if you can find these buns at your local grocery store frozen section) https://www.instacart.com/landing?product_id=20022878 (Bacon, cheese, ground beef, ketchup, etc)
- Low carb tortilla quesadillas (literally just tortilla and cheeses) and salsa/guac
- Steak (avoid low-fat cuts of meat like chicken breasts)
- Chicken wings with low-sugar bbq sauce or hot sauce
- Pork baby-back ribs with low-sugar bbq sauce or hot sauce
- Drink low-carb protein shakes with unsweetened almond milk + LOTS of heavy whipping cream (adding heavy whipping cream makes everything taste amazing)
- Magic spoon cereal + unsweetened almond milk is INCREDIBLE
- Low-carb cheesecake (almond flour crust)
- QDoba or Chipotle has amazing keto bowls (lettuce, meat, queso, cheese, vegtables)
- You can make pizza if you use something called "fathead dough"
- Bulletproof coffee
- Iced coffee with heavy whipping cream

Essentially, you can eat as much of these foods as you want, you likely won't get kicked out of ketosis with any of these foods... and you'll still lose weight.

Cognitive benefits: No brain fog, ever. My thinking and thought process is super clear. If you struggle with brain fog - try cutting out the carbs/doing keto. It'll help a ton.

Hope this helps!

IGKing said:

Awesome question. Here's my rule of thumb:

1.) Only buy keto items at the grocery store. Simply don't put non-keto items in your cart otherwise you fail.
2.) You're not allowed to go out to eat by yourself ever. Just eat groceries.
3.) You're only allowed to eat non-keto if you're with people and you're eating out. This creates some balance and also doesn't make the diet restrictive when you're being social... just try to limit this to once or twice a week.

Here are some good keto recipes I eat frequently:

- Bacon, eggs with cheese. (if you can find low carb bread, that's even better because then you can have toast too... research "Sola bread"
- Low carb tortilla tacos (meat, taco seasoning, sriracha, cheese, salsa, lettuce, guac)
- Low carb burgers (see if you can find these buns at your local grocery store frozen section) https://www.instacart.com/landing?product_id=20022878 (Bacon, cheese, ground beef, ketchup, etc)
- Low carb tortilla quesadillas (literally just tortilla and cheeses) and salsa/guac
- Steak (avoid low-fat cuts of meat like chicken breasts)
- Chicken wings with low-sugar bbq sauce or hot sauce
- Pork baby-back ribs with low-sugar bbq sauce or hot sauce
- Drink low-carb protein shakes with unsweetened almond milk + LOTS of heavy whipping cream (adding heavy whipping cream makes everything taste amazing)
- Magic spoon cereal + unsweetened almond milk is INCREDIBLE
- Low-carb cheesecake (almond flour crust)
- QDoba or Chipotle has amazing keto bowls (lettuce, meat, queso, cheese, vegtables)
- You can make pizza if you use something called "fathead dough"
- Bulletproof coffee
- Iced coffee with heavy whipping cream

Essentially, you can eat as much of these foods as you want, you likely won't get kicked out of ketosis with any of these foods... and you'll still lose weight.

Cognitive benefits: No brain fog, ever. My thinking and thought process is super clear. If you struggle with brain fog - try cutting out the carbs/doing keto. It'll help a ton.

Hope this helps!

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Thanks so much for this info. But how do you know when something is low carbs so you can know to buy it?
How many carbohydrates should you look to consume daily at around 20 years old?