How I Lost 25 Pounds

My Journey into CICO and Intermittent Fasting

8 min readApr 9, 2019

My Relationship with Weight

For half of my life, my weight didn’t bother me. I had remained quite lean, hovering between 120 and 125 lbs, until I moved out and started dating. That lead to easy carb-heavy meals and eating out a lot.

Before I knew it, I was in my 40s and married with children. I packed about 40 lbs in a span of 20 years. I couldn’t remember the last time I could wear a dress shirt with the top button fastened.

I’ve never had aversions to physical activity when the opportunity presented itself. But I started to feel like I was entering the Fat Elvis years of my life.

Off to a Rough Start

I first attempted weight loss when I read Tim Ferris’ 4-Hour Body. It promoted a strategy that amounted to avoiding carbs and it seemed to work. I shed about 10 pounds in a few months.

Then my first child was born. It was a time of chaos and I fell off the horse. Two years later, I became a father of two.

Low-Hanging Gains

In mid 2017, my friend Gary Haran read Dr. Doug McGuff’s Body by Science. It promoted a fitness program optimized for improving strength with minimal workout durations. We could squeeze in an effective workout during the workday, which sounded like pretty good ROI to me.

We started working out together in late 2017. For the first time in my life, I got a gym membership.

Back in the Saddle

One day in late July 2018, I stumbled upon this video. This muscle head made some sense so I decided to give it a go down the rabbit hole.

I used an online TDEE calculator to establish an daily allowance of 1,500 calories. That’s how many calories I’d have to consume for aggressive weight loss. I installed the MyFitnessPal mobile app and I dusted off the old kitchen scale.

I was back on the saddle, this time on a horse named CICO. The amount of calories I burned would have to exceed the calories I consumed. I wasn’t going to worry about my macros for now. I weighed 160 lbs and set a goal to lose 25. There was no real timeline, the long game was more important.

MyFitnessPal and the Power of Gamification

Despite its mediocre UI , I’d argue that MyFitnessPal is the weapon of choice for sustaining a CICO diet. The app calculates the number of calories consumed and calories burned. It lets you know how many calories you can afford to eat for the rest of the day.

Its best-in-class food nutrition database allowed me to track 99% of what I ate. And its connection to the mobile device’s step counter allowed me to track my exercise.

Possibly the most shocking — okay, not that shocking — is how much everything costs. An egg is about 70 calories. A Big Mac is about 500.

MyFitnessPal allowed me to make meaningful choices around my diet and exercise. I knew what food I could afford. I also knew how much I’d have to run to afford the occasional indulgence.

Making Progress

July 2018

I got my breakfasts under control. No more Sausage Egg McMuffins, which cost a whopping 430 cals! I dramatically cut back on my fast food consumption.

I also bought a bike phone mount and took up more cycling. I used Runkeeper to track my running and biking.

My reaction when receiving unplanned food

August 2018

I retired the old analog kitchen scale in favour of a fancy digital one. Another critical tool for CICO.

Breakfast now consisted of a 135 cal protein shake.

September 2018

I continued to bike and got serious about food prepping. The Verywell Fit Recipe Nutrition Calculator is now also part of my arsenal of CICO tools. Mark the calories on each meal container with a grease pencil.

October 2018

I came across this video. Okay, so I should know better than to take advice from some dude streaming from a parking lot.

But the takeaway made sense to me. Bloating occurs because food inside you has overstayed its welcome. I took more care to mind my fibre and to hydrate.

I replaced my protein shake breakfast with a Bulletproof coffee. My version of this fatty coffee consisted of black coffee with coconut oil, MCT oil, and lecithin. It cost less than 100 cals.

November 2018

I picked up some base layer leggings and shirts to continue running as winter approached. I bought the Fitbit Charge 3 to track my exercises more accurately. Its app also replaced Runkeeper.

As a geeky note, my fitness tracker also caught the time I processed some awful news I received one day.

December 2018

The food prepping continues. I’m steadily going down belt notches and my pants no longer fit as well as they should. I’m getting compliments at work.

I replaced my swimming trunks with the smallest ones I could find only to later discover that they’re also too big. I also picked up these terrific wireless earbuds for my workouts. I upgraded my gym membership so I could workout near work and home.

But my weight loss seemed to have plateaued.

January 2019

5:2 is kinda crazy

I started 16:8 intermittent fasting to break the plateau. At 7:30pm I’d eat my last meal or snack and wouldn’t eat until lunch the next day. I’d do this 5–6 times a week. But I also introduced a cheat day to keep me sane.

In the meantime, I’m still running. In fact, I run whenever the opportunity presents itself, no matter how short the distance. Exercise can occur outside of workouts and it doesn’t take much to reap benefits.

Jogging in the winter is tricky, but doable

February 2019

I’m getting a lot of mileage out of variations of this simple sausages and cabbage recipe for the Instant Pot.

When you think of meat as a seasoning, it’s kind of a game changer. And adjusting the ratio of carbs and vegetables can yield very low-calorie meals. Hot sauce can brighten every meal.

But at this point, I’ve reached my goal! I decided to upgrade my scale in favour for one that also measures fat percentage. I’m going to focus less on weight loss and more on fat loss.

March 2019

It’s time to replace the running shoes I’ve been using for the last 10 years. Also, the recipe nutrition calculator continues to be indispensable. I know I found a good substitute for potatoes when I’ve dipped below the 1-carb-to-1-gram ratio.

April 2019

You can thank MyFitnessPal for the potato quality

Here’s the money shot you’ve been waiting for. This marks the end of the weight loss part of my fitness journey. I’m not sure where I’m headed next, but I don’t feel any pressure to change things.

And last week, I buttoned a shirt up to the neck for first time in what feels like 20 years. I’m definitely in the best shape I’ve ever been.

Odds and Ends

I covered a lot of ground, but here are couple of stray notes.

On Social Mores

Yes, measuring everything in a social setting is a little awkward. But you’ll figure out how to do it somewhat surreptitiously and you’ll thank yourself later.

On Meaningful Choices

One morning I ran for 500 cals to enjoy a 1,000 cals burger for lunch leaving me with 1,000 cals to spare that day. It was totally worth it.

On CICO

Yes, it should be taken with a grain of salt. And the accuracy of food labeling is dubious at best. But often I cooked my own food whilst measuring everything. I figure even inaccuracies can become new baselines I could work with.

On Hunger

Hunger happens, especially when fasting. I find a solid routine and coffee helps. What also helps is evenly distributing the time of your meals and modest snacks.

On Sleep

I’ll put it this way: The longer you’re awake, the more likely you’ll snack. I’m admittedly terrible at sleep. Late night is the only time I can relax without being assailed by the din of parenthood.

On Exercise

I go to the gym once or twice a week. I run about once a week for a few kilometers, nothing crazy. And I walk the mall for about 25 minutes on most weekdays before going to work.

On Weigh-Ins

I measured myself every day, although it’s usually not recommended. Daily weight fluctuates but I was in it for the long haul.

Daily weigh-ins are usually not recommended

On motivation

I spent a lot of time lurking in:

On Buffets

CICO kind ruined the appeal of buffets for me. But if I must go, I do one plate veggies, half a plate of protein, a quarter plate of carbs, and one dessert.

On Sushi

A generic piece of sushi is about 40 calories. I only enjoy sushi once every few weeks so I don’t get get too hung up on accuracy.

On Alcohol

I cut my daily beers in favour of weekend libations of the harder variety. However, I still count the calories for such indulgences.

Tools Recap

In case you missed them, here are the tools that contributed to my journey.

Food-Related

Exercise-Related

Tracking-Related

Conclusion

This worked for me. This may not work for you, we’re all different. But don’t be discouraged! I’m sure you’ll find something that works. This is working for me because it’s something I managed to stick to, even if it took a while.

I think it’s a matter to committing to a lifestyle change, not unlike the changes you have to make after having kids.