I've described what I've done in a few different ways, however as I think back there are two easy steps to my weight loss. While the steps to weight loss are easy, it still involves some good old fashioned hard work.
Step 1: Watch what you eat. Regardless of your beliefs, background, education etc... we can all probably agree that as delicious as they are, In-N-Out Burger, Popeye's Fried Chicken and my personal favorite Taco Bell aren't the healthiest options. But it's not just what you eat, it's also how much you eat.
Even if you're on a strict chicken breast and brown rice diet (which I don't advise), it's not going to help you very much if you consume a mountain of it every time you sit down to eat. That's right folks, counting calories actually works.
I know the Keto Diet and Intermittent Fasting are much more popular but both seemed somewhat extreme so I went with counting calories. To help I downloaded the MyFitnessPal app. Basically you enter in your current stats, your weight goal and it gives you a total amount of calories you can consume in a day.
Each time you eat enter what you are eating into the app and it counts the calories for you. You would be amazed how many calories are in things that seem healthy, like Pita Jungle's Chicken & Hummus (1,290) for a full plate. Once I knew how many calories were in the things I was eating it made it much easier to start cutting back on my caloric intake.
From there I did some research online to figure out what kind of diet Jiu Jitsu competitors and MMA Fighters have. Then I combined a bunch of their meals and eating schedules together to create my personal food plan. It now includes things like chicken thighs (boneless/skinless), brown rice, broccoli, mushrooms, chicken sausage, cauliflower pasta, tuna poke bowls, hard boiled eggs and beef jerky. Even the occasional beer on the weekends.
One last thing about diet, drink lots of water, lots. Cut out cokes and beer for a while, or at least save them for special occasions.
Step 2: Workout. If it's been a while since you last worked out take it slow at first. Go for a hike, jog as far as you can or just jump in and start training Jiu Jitsu like I did. For a while it will feel like you're going to die or your heart is going to blow out of your chest but that's okay as long as you do a little bit more each time you work out. Don't worry about how long you work out for or how far you run, just do something.
There's a now famous ultra runner and former Navy Seal named David Goggins that was 300lbs before becoming a Seal. In his book and on various podcasts he said that his first day of getting into shape he ran less than a 1/4 mile. If he can go from running less than a 1/4 mile to Seal training in a few months you can definitely push yourself enough to get into regular person shape.
Working out absolutely has positive effects on your body whether it's cardio, weightlifting, Crossfit or a HIIT workout. But it also has the effect of burning calories which will speed up your weight loss journey. Another positive from working out is that you get to eat more because you are burning more calories. Use the MyFitnessPal help to help you figure out how many more you can consume.
Well, there you go. How to lose weight in 2 steps.
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