You will notice that this post is coming just over 3 weeks after I kicked off my journey. I admit, this is a long amount of time, but that was intended. I didn't want to post an update until I had really made some progress and had something to actually update about. My reasoning for this was two-fold. First of all, I didn't want my first post after starting this venture to simply be me stating the obvious (ie "hey guys, I'm exercising and dieting on the first day.... huzzah!") Secondly, not allowing myself to post anything until I really started to see some progress gave me a small goal to reach, and got me excited to push harder and harder so that I could start blogging again.
Because you are reading this post, you can rest assured that I did indeed meet my goal, and have made some solid progress that I would like to share with you, so sit back, relax, and read on.
A lot has happened over the course of the past three weeks, so I will try to break it down and give you a full summary of this first bit of my journey.
Starting out the first week, my main goal was to hit the gym five days out of the week, and really get my diet under control. The gym didn't concern me as much as the diet did however, because that required the bigger change. Thirty minutes at the gym every day is a much smaller feat than completely changing and restructuring one's eating habits. As I mentioned when I laid out my plans, my diet plan contains two major steps: caloric restriction and intermittent fasting. Because of this, I have to monitor two completely separate things: tracking all of my food so I hit my daily calorie goals, and making sure that I am only eating during my 8 hour feeding window.
Going into the first couple of days, I will admit that I found myself hungry on more than one occasion. I had cut my calories in half (if not more) and was used to eating late at night (and now I stop eating after 8PM), so my body definitely needed to adjust. As the days in the first week went forward, I grew used to the fasting/tracking routine, and my body finally adjusted to everything. That, combined with the gym time that I put in this week caused me to already start to feel substantially better both physically and mentally.
Moving into the second week, I started doing more research, and reading everything I could about intermittent fasting. I found Martin Berkhan's list of "Supplements You Might Actually Find Useful" and decided to read up on several of the things I saw listed there. Berkhan recommends that all of his clients, at the very least, take the top four supplements on that list every single day, so, after researching a bit more, I went out and picked up those supplements (a daily multivitamin, calcium, fish oil, and vitamin D3).
I started to take my supplements daily near the beginning of week 2 and, after a few days, I was starting to feel a difference. I don't know quite how to explain it, other than to say that my body felt more balanced. I assume this is due to the multitude of deficiencies that my body had as a result of my previous diet. I was so impressed by these supplements that I started to research further, into other supplements that might meet my goals. I scoured through hundreds of different supplements for everything from fat loss to memory, and finally decided that a super B complex was the only other thing that I wanted to add to my supplement arsenal.
So, at the end of week 2, I was eating a set amount of calories of good wholesome food, only eating between noon and 8PM, and taking Men's One-A-Day, calcium, fish oil, vitamin D3, and a super B complex every day with lunch. At this point in time, I started to feel better, every day, than I had in years.
Going into this past week (week 3), I found myself focusing on maintaining all of the new habits that I gained in weeks 1 and 2 (my diet, exercise, and supplements), and I'll be damned if I didn't get through the whole week totally unscathed with nary a calorie over my budgeted allotment.
And that's where I sit right now, as I write this post. I'm at the end of the third week of my journey, and I feel fantastic. The change in diet, massive increase in activity, and supplements that I'm taking are all working together to make me feel incredible every single day. I'm sleeping much better than I think I ever have, and I'm feeling confident and excited about getting healthy for the first time in as long as I can remember. I'm excited to hit the gym each day, and I'm excited to wake up each morning and take another couple steps towards my goal. It's a liberating feeling, really, to finally be away from the shackles of obesity and have no desire to go back.
And so, I close off my first update, happy to say that my journey, thus far, has been a resounding success.
Oh, and for those of you who have been curious about my weight loss thus far: I've lost 25 pounds of pure fat.
Until next time, godspeed.
Going into the first couple of days, I will admit that I found myself hungry on more than one occasion. I had cut my calories in half (if not more) and was used to eating late at night (and now I stop eating after 8PM), so my body definitely needed to adjust. As the days in the first week went forward, I grew used to the fasting/tracking routine, and my body finally adjusted to everything. That, combined with the gym time that I put in this week caused me to already start to feel substantially better both physically and mentally.
Moving into the second week, I started doing more research, and reading everything I could about intermittent fasting. I found Martin Berkhan's list of "Supplements You Might Actually Find Useful" and decided to read up on several of the things I saw listed there. Berkhan recommends that all of his clients, at the very least, take the top four supplements on that list every single day, so, after researching a bit more, I went out and picked up those supplements (a daily multivitamin, calcium, fish oil, and vitamin D3).
I started to take my supplements daily near the beginning of week 2 and, after a few days, I was starting to feel a difference. I don't know quite how to explain it, other than to say that my body felt more balanced. I assume this is due to the multitude of deficiencies that my body had as a result of my previous diet. I was so impressed by these supplements that I started to research further, into other supplements that might meet my goals. I scoured through hundreds of different supplements for everything from fat loss to memory, and finally decided that a super B complex was the only other thing that I wanted to add to my supplement arsenal.
So, at the end of week 2, I was eating a set amount of calories of good wholesome food, only eating between noon and 8PM, and taking Men's One-A-Day, calcium, fish oil, vitamin D3, and a super B complex every day with lunch. At this point in time, I started to feel better, every day, than I had in years.
Going into this past week (week 3), I found myself focusing on maintaining all of the new habits that I gained in weeks 1 and 2 (my diet, exercise, and supplements), and I'll be damned if I didn't get through the whole week totally unscathed with nary a calorie over my budgeted allotment.
And that's where I sit right now, as I write this post. I'm at the end of the third week of my journey, and I feel fantastic. The change in diet, massive increase in activity, and supplements that I'm taking are all working together to make me feel incredible every single day. I'm sleeping much better than I think I ever have, and I'm feeling confident and excited about getting healthy for the first time in as long as I can remember. I'm excited to hit the gym each day, and I'm excited to wake up each morning and take another couple steps towards my goal. It's a liberating feeling, really, to finally be away from the shackles of obesity and have no desire to go back.
And so, I close off my first update, happy to say that my journey, thus far, has been a resounding success.
Oh, and for those of you who have been curious about my weight loss thus far: I've lost 25 pounds of pure fat.
Until next time, godspeed.
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