I am doing something similar on writing... I seat my bum down and force myself to write (whatever) for at least 5 mins reading time... Been doing it for 3 months and now, it feels effortless... But, the edit takesALOTLONGER TIME...
I didn't track it the way you did, but I had a very similar approach coming out of COVID. I suppose being a tad younger (just a tad!!), I had a little more flexibility to be a bit more leisurely in my approach. Portion control and cutting back on weekday drinking did me wonders - I went from 190 to 170 pretty quickly though I don't recall just how fast it happened - probably three to four months. I mostly just didn't want to buy an entire wardrobe of new pants, but I also got tired of my doctor telling me I was overweight. I wasn't overweight, I said, I just had more muscle than the average 5'8" joe!! I SHOULD weigh more than most people my height! But boy those 20 pounds came off a little too easy with some careful discipline. I'd probably have it spreadsheet it out if I want to hit my dream goal of back down to 160.
Kudos to you for getting it under control - hope you 'slay' those remaining few pounds soon. Good luck!
Congratulations to you and Sarah! It's a nice feeling to do something for yourself and be successful. Keep it up. If you want to get rid of your alcohol, I'll be pleased to take it 😁
I'm so interested in how you maintain your motivation! I've been doing a moderate low-carb/high-protein diet for 2 years and keeping up momentum is tough! But I do find the weight lifting helps incentivize me
I think the biggest prod to keeping on track is writing it down every single day and “seeing” the data and the graphs. You just can’t hide from it. I’m at this plateau now though and I’m going to be interested to see what it takes to carve off those last six to eight pounds.
Isn’t that muscle gain something? Truly, I didn’t know it was possible and it kind of snuck up on me, but I do love a hard session of lifting and if you do enough of these …
Loved this, Tom! Alan Carr's 'Quit Drinking' audiobook got me off the booze. I hardly even think about it anymore, and I was having probably four drinks a day for years. I loved Shiraz, but it's pretty rare these days that I fancy a glass. I'm about to start intermittent fasting to purge my visceral fat. I like the idea of your spreadsheet, and might do the same. Thanks for this.
Peter, good to hear from you here. I’ll check out Quit Drinking now, as I’m very nearly at that point (he says, the thud of last night’s Sazerac ringing in his temples).
Give the pool a shot; I love swimming as a piece of this. My world ran on Excel for so long that cells are no longer my favorite thing, but I am proud that I mastered pivot tables before I clocked out. I should update my LI with that.
Man, if I ever go into the pool it’s going to be a miracle! I’ve never liked swimming. But generally I tell myself, never say never. Perhaps I’ll change my mind some day.
Legit drinking a beer as I read this...but actually the alcohol really is the culprit for so much sneaky weight gain or at the very least preventing any significant progress.
I have always been "in shape"—fingers crossed that it will remain this way—but never a "fit" type of person. I love carbs, walking and stretching are my only forms of workout, and after years in corporate management, I am kind of allergic to spreadsheets. lol
If you love a data-backed full picture of your life, you may want to check out Live Learn Innovate Foundation (https://llif.org)'s Best Life APP.
Full disclosure: CEO and founder of LLIF is my friend and I serve as an advisor on its board.
Thanks Yi. I didn’t do much with spreadsheets in my work really, just occasionally, so they are untainted by those memories. I’ll check out the foundation you mentioned.
Congratulations on your successful progress Tom! And for writing about the ups and downs in such an interesting, helpful way that inspires others to give it a try which is a great way of spreading the word about metabolic health (my current obsession as you know). Thanks for encouraging me to keep spreading the word myself!
No. It’s all the chocolate you eat
I just ordered Attia's book. :) Thank you for sharing your transformation!
Ah, I hope you enjoy it. It’s been transformative for me.
I am doing something similar on writing... I seat my bum down and force myself to write (whatever) for at least 5 mins reading time... Been doing it for 3 months and now, it feels effortless... But, the edit takesALOTLONGER TIME...
I didn't track it the way you did, but I had a very similar approach coming out of COVID. I suppose being a tad younger (just a tad!!), I had a little more flexibility to be a bit more leisurely in my approach. Portion control and cutting back on weekday drinking did me wonders - I went from 190 to 170 pretty quickly though I don't recall just how fast it happened - probably three to four months. I mostly just didn't want to buy an entire wardrobe of new pants, but I also got tired of my doctor telling me I was overweight. I wasn't overweight, I said, I just had more muscle than the average 5'8" joe!! I SHOULD weigh more than most people my height! But boy those 20 pounds came off a little too easy with some careful discipline. I'd probably have it spreadsheet it out if I want to hit my dream goal of back down to 160.
Kudos to you for getting it under control - hope you 'slay' those remaining few pounds soon. Good luck!
Ha ha, you sound like me: I’m not fat, I’m husky! But yeah, when the pounds come off that fast, it’s probably a sign.
Congratulations to you and Sarah! It's a nice feeling to do something for yourself and be successful. Keep it up. If you want to get rid of your alcohol, I'll be pleased to take it 😁
I'm so interested in how you maintain your motivation! I've been doing a moderate low-carb/high-protein diet for 2 years and keeping up momentum is tough! But I do find the weight lifting helps incentivize me
I think the biggest prod to keeping on track is writing it down every single day and “seeing” the data and the graphs. You just can’t hide from it. I’m at this plateau now though and I’m going to be interested to see what it takes to carve off those last six to eight pounds.
Congratulations to you and Sara!!!
Thanks Dawn.
Great stuff Tom! The fat loss is very impressive but the muscle gain is...wow!
Isn’t that muscle gain something? Truly, I didn’t know it was possible and it kind of snuck up on me, but I do love a hard session of lifting and if you do enough of these …
Hard work plus good muscle-building genetics I suspect!
Loved this, Tom! Alan Carr's 'Quit Drinking' audiobook got me off the booze. I hardly even think about it anymore, and I was having probably four drinks a day for years. I loved Shiraz, but it's pretty rare these days that I fancy a glass. I'm about to start intermittent fasting to purge my visceral fat. I like the idea of your spreadsheet, and might do the same. Thanks for this.
Peter, good to hear from you here. I’ll check out Quit Drinking now, as I’m very nearly at that point (he says, the thud of last night’s Sazerac ringing in his temples).
LOL
Give the pool a shot; I love swimming as a piece of this. My world ran on Excel for so long that cells are no longer my favorite thing, but I am proud that I mastered pivot tables before I clocked out. I should update my LI with that.
Man, if I ever go into the pool it’s going to be a miracle! I’ve never liked swimming. But generally I tell myself, never say never. Perhaps I’ll change my mind some day.
Legit drinking a beer as I read this...but actually the alcohol really is the culprit for so much sneaky weight gain or at the very least preventing any significant progress.
Oh man, such a struggle around the alcohol. But it treats me worse the older I get.
Ah, so you are a "number nerd"! :-)
I have always been "in shape"—fingers crossed that it will remain this way—but never a "fit" type of person. I love carbs, walking and stretching are my only forms of workout, and after years in corporate management, I am kind of allergic to spreadsheets. lol
If you love a data-backed full picture of your life, you may want to check out Live Learn Innovate Foundation (https://llif.org)'s Best Life APP.
Full disclosure: CEO and founder of LLIF is my friend and I serve as an advisor on its board.
Thanks Yi. I didn’t do much with spreadsheets in my work really, just occasionally, so they are untainted by those memories. I’ll check out the foundation you mentioned.
If you end up download and use the app, I'd be interested in knowing your feedback!
I’m hoping to find some time to play with it today. I’ll let you know.
Very disciplined. How old are you, btw?
Are you talking about my diet or my ability to keep this essay length in check? I really did work hard to hack it down to size. I’m 61.
aha - yes !- I'm 71.
Congratulations on your successful progress Tom! And for writing about the ups and downs in such an interesting, helpful way that inspires others to give it a try which is a great way of spreading the word about metabolic health (my current obsession as you know). Thanks for encouraging me to keep spreading the word myself!
I think metabolic health comes close to being my obsession these days as well. Thanks Carole.
Well done! There's nothing wrong with celebrating your accomplishments.
Congrats! Nothing wrong with patting yourself on the back. How’s your energy?
Abundant!