A lazy persons guide to getting in shape
DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT A DOCTOR, PLEASE CONSULT ONE IF YOU HAVE ANY MEDICAL ISSUES BEFORE DOING ANYTHING EXTREME. ALSO SOME OF THE LINKS ARE AFFILIATE LINKS, BUT I DO LOVE THESE PRODUCTS AND WOULD USE THEM REGARDLESS.
Introduction
I am always fluctuating, I love food and my mood and other factors like being busy or stressed sometimes get the better of me and I comfort eat. I don’t actually mind this so much, but I do mind being heavy and slow, my movement changes and I don’t feel healthy. During the first lockdown I ballooned up to 93kg I started dieting around September 2020 and as I sit here it is January 11th 2021, and I weigh 78kg. I am going to give you tips on how to do this, but really in the grand scheme of things, does it matter? Probably for health it does, feeling comfortable when you move and do things is also great, I can now run and wouldn’t have considered it when I was big. I am even happy with the way I look, but I love food, and that will never change. If you wan’t to lose weight here are the rules I followed, and I think you can too.
Not the biggest, but big me :)
Eat More Protein, and measure how much you eat.
This has been a game changer, I try and eat between 1.5 to 2 grams of protein per kilo of lean body weight. So if I weighed 93kg and was 25% (probably generous for how fat I was) fat I would eat up to 69.75 x 2 = 139.5g
Protein stopped me eating as you feel full, it also means when you do eat something else you eat less. Add protein shakes if you can’t get enough (I hate them and down them like medicine). This will help you no end, even if you do nothing else on this list.
Eat Less than you burn.
I was strict with this, I didn’t even eat the energy I burnt from exercise, I was on 1500 or less calories a day. I would say this is over kill, you can eat more. Use an app my myfitnesspal to track everything you eat. I used a scale to measure food out to make sure I wasn’t lying to myself about how much I was eating and it made the next point easier.
Eat the same things most days.
I ate a lot of salmon, smoked and baked. Eating the same things and having them ready makes it easier for you to not cheat and takes away any thinking. If I felt hungry still (but this is a super emergency), I would measure out 30g of cashews as a snack on days I trained loads to boost my calories.
Cut out the carbs.
You don’t need them, if you want them limit them to less than 80g and try and get below 50g. I am lucky I don’t have much of a sweet tooth, if you do save it for the next point.
Have a cheat day!
You know what, people are hating on cheat days recently. I’m sorry but food is life and we have some great food. I would recommend on these days to work out hard too and eat what you want just stay within maintenance calories with the extra exercise calories. Don’t commit carbicide. This will actually help you realise what you could be eating everyday if you weren’t so damn heavy right now and it’s a decent amount for you, if you just lost the weight.
Exercise easy and again, keep it the same everyday.
I kept my exercise to a few main strength and conditioning exercises and built these up slowly. You can start very simply, if you have a kettlebell swing it everyday for 3 minutes, if you don’t? Do squats for three minutes. Slowly build up with what you are comfortable doing, that’s how I started now I do the below.
At home I did:
Kettlebells, 100 swings and 10 Turkish get ups everyday. I started at 24kg and now use 32kg with a 36kg on the way.
Pull ups, I have an app as I want to hit 30 pull ups, so every other day I do pull ups using the app and they keep increasing, am back up to 20 in a row now.
Push Ups 100 I do these between the swings just to be able to do push ups as I like them
Ab wheel and Russian twists, so my abs come through hahaha, this is my vanity exercise. Probably doesn’t work they way I want, but hey they are still useful
Those are my at home exercises, I take between 30 and 45 mins to do them, in the rest sometimes I do star jumps or high knees to keep my heart rate up, but you don’t need to.
Then I started running everyday. I started with 3 laps of Brompton cemetery which is about 6k with the bit too and from the cemetery. Now I do a pyramid of 6, 8 and 10k. I hate running, I use this time for audiobooks and podcasts, and I don’t compete with myself. If I end up running faster I only know at the end, and I have been getting faster without even caring about my time.
Above all else I’ve written here, be kind and do not judge yourself, or let anyone else judge you.
This is your journey and your choice, there is nothing wrong with how you are. If you want to lose weight and get in shape that is great. If not, enjoy that food, but make sure you do it all for the right reasons. Eat good food if you are going to be big and learn about all the different foods out there. If you are going to lose weight, put the same love of food into it. Moving should be fun, the same as eating.
You are only competing with yourself, and you don’t need to thrash yourself just beat yourself a little everyday. I would say as long as you are honest with the above don’t use the scales for a bit just use the mirror and tune in to how you feel.
Conclusion
It isn’t easy, but actually it’s not hard either. It’s the impatience of reaching your goals that is the challenge. You can do this all very slowly and still see great results. Doesn’t have to take three months or even a year, just be better than yesterday each day and it will all come together.
Stuff I used to help me & some things that i think helped me
Disclaimer again: Some of the links are affiliate
Supplements:
Testofuel: This was recommended to me by my student as a testosterone boost. I like this one a lot as it combines a lot of the other vitamins I was taking, it contain vitamin D and K in good amounts as well as magnesium, so it actually means I can just take one pill. It also has other things for testosterone, if they work it’s just a bonus!
Athletic Greens: I caved and got this, I don’t eat nearly enough fruits and veg so am hoping this is saving me. It has loads of vitamins and other nutrients in it and I feel good taking it. They say don’t replace whole foods with supplements, I say replace it with a whole foods supplement.
Symprove: Now this one is a game changer, it’s a probiotic drink that you drink first thing in the morning, I had on and off stomach issues and this has fixed them. It tastes funky but its 70ml of a shot so you will live and it is worth it for the benefits, I can’t emphasis this enough. This one works.
Krill Oil: I was reading about inflammation and this kept coming up, Again not sure if it works, but it won’t hurt to add it. Use the link and get free delivery.
Creatine: Again another one I read about, I do feel it makes a difference to my strength, I take around 5g a day, which seems to be enough and everywhere I read says you can take this consistently. It also has other benefits like cognitive enhancement apparently, so it’s a win win.
Gadgets & tools:
Weekly pill box: This is so cool! it has 7 mini pill boxes for each day so if you are out you can take the days pills with you rather than having to take the whole thing. I set this up on Sunday night for the week. This will take out the thinking out of your supplements
Kettlebells: no good links for this one, but you can google it. I recommend no less than 16/20 for a guy and 16 for a girl. If you follow the Simple & Sinister program in the book recommended below, you will speed through the weights, so start heavy and slow, to save money. These are like gold dust right now!.
Running shoes: These On running shoes are great, I like the idea of barefoot, but felt that we aren’t meant to run on concrete. I wanted some cushioning without going overboard. These have that. They are also starting a shoe subscription so you can send back your sustainable shoes every 500km to get a new pair and they recycle the old pair! Genius idea, can’t wait to try it those when they release them this year. In the meantime I like the Cloudflow shoes.
Running belt: The flip belt is so good, I used to stick my keys in my short pockets and they would jangle around, now I secure them in this belt and don’t even know they are there, I also stick my phone in here and again, makes it much more comfortable when running.
Books:
Simple & Sinister: This is a great kettlebell book. It’s simple in that it is only 2 exercises, the kettebell swing and the Turkish get up, and it is sinister in the details and as the weight goes up. I do this everyday, if I am tired I will go down a weight on some days but usually I manage at my current max. It will ease you into shape.
Apps:
Myfitnesspal: This is already popular for tracking food, I have got better and better at using it without lying. It keeps you focused and your mind on your food and weight goals. Great app!
Interval timer: Any will do, just search for one and set it up for the kettebells, again it limits the time of the workout, so you get it over with. I set it as below:
Warm up: 4 minutes
Kettlebell swings: 10x1 minute. So I do 10 a minute, you can add star jumps or even push ups in between if you get bored :)
Turkish Get Ups: 10x1 minute again so I do each one in 30 seconds with a 30 second rest, you can rest in between these. The fear of dropping it on your head means you need one.
Gadgets:
Scales: You need scales! This keeps you honest with the food you are eating, I weigh out everything as I eat it. I use it to prepare my coffee in the morning and it saves you over eating nuts and other goodies as if you weigh them you have no excuses.
Fitness tracker: I use an Apple Watch, but any will do. This is actually really useful again for tracking movement and exercise. This also saves you a bit when you over eat, as long as you are under your total calories you will be fine.