I have been exercising for about a year without realizing it. I went from being nearly 200 pounds to only 150 pounds. This is not easy for someone like me with a naturally large frame. It is only a 7kg difference from my peak in college. Along with regular strength training, I have seen significant changes in my body shape.
Late-night snacks are delicious#
I initially decided to lose weight because of my health examination report before joining a new company last year. After working at a big company for a few years, I developed bad habits such as staying up late, eating late-night snacks, sitting for long periods without exercise, experiencing work stress, and anxiety. In return, I developed high blood pressure, fatty liver, obesity, and high uric acid levels. Looking back now, I am glad I chose to leave and cut my losses in time.
At first, my weight loss method was simple and straightforward - eat less and move more. I mainly focused on hunger and aerobic exercise, doing 2000 jump ropes a day and ordering various fat-reducing meals. There are countless fat-reducing methods and fancy fat-reducing meals online. During this stage, it seemed like eating rice was a sin. The weight dropped quickly, and I lost about 10kg in two months.
Starting weightlifting#
Later, I joined a new company, and I wasn't as busy as before. In order to improve my blood pressure problem (which was quite a blow to me), I decided to use my spare time to learn strength training at the gym. During this time, I learned a lot about training and diet from my coach. I learned what to eat and when to eat, and I no longer feared carbohydrates. I also stopped ordering takeout and started eating proper meals at the company cafeteria, selectively choosing healthy ingredients. After each strength training session, I would do 40 minutes of aerobic exercise. During these months, I lost more than 10kg.
Beginner's gains#
By this time, I had reached my target weight of around 75kg before my weight loss journey. I also learned that if I wanted to build muscle, I needed a caloric surplus. So I stopped controlling my food intake and focused on eating quality food at the cafeteria. I also stopped doing aerobic exercises and only focused on strength training. As I ate more, my weight started to increase. Until May of this year, except for a one-month break, I maintained a stable 4-day split training routine.
During these months, I trained at the company gym and met many colleagues who also enjoyed working out. I also followed many fitness influencers online and learned more scientific training and diet methods. I also introduced various supplements such as creatine, protein powder, multivitamins, fish oil, and glucosamine.
Later, I bought a book on fitness nutrition called "Fitness Nutrition Book" to learn more about nutrition related to fitness. After reading it, I realized that many traditional beliefs about diet were wrong (for example, honey is no different from white sugar in terms of nutrition 😂). I also learned what to eat, how to combine nutrients, when to eat, and how much to eat.
During this period of beginner's gains, I gained a lot of strength and muscle. I decided to use this opportunity to practice scientific weight loss and evaluate my fitness progress over the past year.
Living is tiring#
Starting from the end of April, I entered the fat loss phase. I calculated my calorie deficit every day, bought groceries online, weighed and balanced the three macronutrients, and spent about an hour every night preparing my fat loss meals for the next day.
At first, it was chaotic, but later I got used to it and learned to be more efficient. I tried to use as few pots and pans as possible and minimize dishwashing. Initially, I would cut and cook meat fresh every day, but later I started stewing a large pot on weekends, portioning and freezing it, so I only had to cook once a week, saving me half an hour every night.
This went on for over a month. During this time, I continued with my regular strength training and did very little aerobic exercise. I ate an appropriate amount of rice without starving myself. So far, I have lost nearly 5kg, which proves the effectiveness of the weight loss method. Science really does work 🫡.
As a beginner, it's not necessary to be so precise or complicated. We're not competing or anything. The goal is to maintain good health and a good physique by paying attention to our diet and exercise.
END#
This is the first post on my blog, just writing randomly to record and get a feel for writing. In the future, I will try to write down anything I want to say.
:)