Diet & Weight Loss Journey

I know that a lot of people struggle with weight and you are not alone.  I have struggled with weight issues since I was a preteen.  However, I have been mostly successful with maintaining a healthy weight by either necessity or due to physical activity, but now I am a bit older.

I’m 42 years old and I began seeing my metabolism decline around 36 or 37 and especially after I had back surgery which greatly reduced my physical activity for a time.  Age and gravity to not help either.  Everything loosened up and gravity started to pull it down to places that fat and skin didn’t belong.

This was particularly a problem with my chosen profession as a Soldier.  Every six months we have to have our height and weight recorded.  A Soldier is allowed a maximum weight depending on their height.  If you are over your max weight, you are then subject to a test that measures your body fat percentage.  The Army’s method is not very accurate, is subject to vast human error, but is cheap and fast.  The body fat test calculates your height and measurements between your neck and waist circumference.  Thus, the thicker your neck the more inches you are allowed on your waist. 

This leads me back to my age, gravity and sagging.  I have always been over my max body weight for my height, but I was not concerned because I always passed the body fat tape test.  This changed a few years ago as my body fat measurements kept increasing and I was on the verge of measurements that exceeding my allowed body fat percent. 

I started to take drastic measures and began to cut water weight the day and night before weigh in so I did not weight more than my max body weight for my height.  This worked, but it was dangerous and I would gain the weight back in a matter of days and I would have to do it all over again in six months.

I didn’t want to cut water weight anymore so I started researching different diet plans.  I already knew that I sucked at overall calorie restriction every meal.  So, when I came across intermittent fasting I became super excited.  Mentally, I can’t calorie restrict, but I sure can make myself not eat for a while. 

For a period I did the every other day fasting model.  Which is exactly what it sounds like.  I ate one day and fasted the following day and so on.  I saw success, but quickly plateaued after losing 10 to 15 pounds. I soon moved on to a time restricted diet which is where I have found the most success.  On this time restricted diet I fasted for 22 hours and ate during a 2 hour window.  Generally, I ate from 5pm to 7pm.  I did not restrict what I ate during those two hours either.  I would eat a large plate of diner which would mostly fill me up and I would have a snack, drink, ice cream, or whatever.  I just made sure that I did not eat for 2 hours straight and when the 2 hours were up I stopped consuming calories until the next day at 5pm.

On this 2 hour restricted eating window I lost even more weight and didn’t feel like I was restricting myself or missing out.  I lost weight and kept it off.  Intermittent fasting has been very helpful and I have not had to cut water weight, worry about weigh-ins, or what I have eating

But, I wanted to experiment more and see how I can improve my health and physical fitness.  So, I heard about the carnivore diet.  I researched it, read about it, and watched videos about it.  Those who have tried, for the most part (a small number of people didn’t report the same results) have expressed a positive outcome from the diet.  For example, people with auto-immune diseases experience fewer, or no symptoms from their disease.  So, I decided to give it a try and I have been on the carnivore diet for seven days and have lost four pounds so far. 

All in all, my dieting journey has taken me from 215 pounds to 187.

I just wanted to share what has given me success in the weight loss arena and wish you luck in your journey for fitness.

If a thought comes into your mind and it won’t hurt you or anyone else, JUST DO IT!