Day 21 — Do You Still Think Diet is Painful?
In 2021, I finally turned 30 years old. 30 is a big turning point (socially, physically, mentally) for a lot of people. I am no exception. But the topic I want to talk about is diet so let’s focus on the physical perspective.
I had a medical check at the end of April and the result made me feel that I was no longer a young guy anymore. Except for being a little bit overweight, there was no big health issue until this time. Some parts of the report showed red. But to be honest, it’s not a shocking result for me when I reflect on what kind of lifestyle I had lived these years.
Yes, I did try to make some changes. Trying vegan food, jogging, cycling, trying secret diet recipes found on the internet, etc… but all of it didn’t work well for me. Or more precisely, I always gave up before something changed. But after learning the right knowledge and taking action for a few months, this time I figured out the right way to do it and I think this experience can help some people who also want to start their diet.
In the following content, I want to share the basic knowledge about diet and also some tips to help those who also want to be successful in their diet.
You are made of what you eat.
Actually, changing what I eat was the first action I took to start my diet. You ask me why? Of course, since it’s the easiest way to get started. You don’t have to spend money to buy a fitness club membership or spend too much time preparing anything. This turns out to be the most important part of controlling your weight.
If you want to control your weight, you must calculate the CALORIES you consume every day. That means you have to track what and how you eat.
At first, if you want to lose weight, you need to make the calories you eat less than the calories you burn. Our body is born to keep us alive so basically, your body will try to use the energy efficiently. So in the case where you consume more than you need, your body will transfer those surplus energies into body fat. That’s the reason why people who eat too much will get fat.
So let’s assume your body is using 1600Kcal every day. So if you want to lose weight you need to eat lower than 1600Kcal. But how about I only eat 800 Kcal a day? Can I lose weight faster? Hmm, maybe yes but it’s not a good idea. If you started cutting off the energy you consume your body will be forced to turn into something like an “ECO mode”. Your metabolism will drop and every function to keep you alive will slow down since your body will think that there is no energy to use. To translate it in an easier way to understand, you will feel sluggish and sick. That’s why the salad diet won’t work. Just for reference if you can control your calories consumption to about 90% of the usage, you might lose about 1~ 4Kg / month, depending on your daily routine and your body condition.
Now that we have the basic idea of calorie control, let’s talk more about the content of our food. So “EVERYTHING is OK to eat” unless the total calories are low enough. Let’s learn a term called “PFC balance”. P -> Protein, F -> Fat, C -> Carbon, so PFC balance is the balance of these three kinds of nutrition which are the energy source of our body. Obviously, it’s not good to have energy only from one or two of them. If you only have too much carbon, you will have a high risk of becoming diabetic. If you have too much fat, it will not only pump your belly but also cause hormone imbalance. And too much protein will damage your kidney. Now you know nutrition unbalance is quite an issue.
By the way, the nutrition balance I’m having now is about P:F:C -> 4: 2: 4 (count by calories) but DON’T GET ME WRONG!!! This is not the best balance for everyone. The balance you should have depends on a lot of parameters, such as how many physical activities you have, your purpose “lose weight” or “gain weight” etc… Especially if you have any sickness or disease (such as diabetes), a normal diet might also affect your health, please find some professional advice to plan on how to eat.
SUMMARY
① You have to control your calories to lose weight.
② Do not try cut off too many calories. It will make you sick.
③ Think about what PFC balance you should have.
When my muscle say NO, I say YES!
The title is a famous quote from Arnold Schwarzenegger, who’s well known as a Hollywood star but also a legend and pioneer of bodybuilding. If you want to keep in shape, START TO ABUSE YOUR MUSCLE.
Even the phrase sounds a little out of date, but for me, this phrase gives us a lot of hints about the scientific explanation about growing muscle. The condition of how to get bigger muscle is you have to damage it at first. When you are trying to stimulate your muscle in an unusual way, also known as “overload”, your muscle fiber can’t tolerate and it will slightly break. Your body will detect the damage to your muscle and it will try to fix it and reinforce it (make it thicker). So next time your body can tolerate more load and it will look bigger (it’s mostly a side effect).
Yes, the whole process sounds like weight training for me. So say YES to lifting weight.🏋️ But why is it important to lift weight if you want to lose weight?
Growing muscle is the short path to lose weight
Did you ever hear about the term Basal metabolic rate? There is quite a big portion of energy that will be used by your body to keep you alive. For example, some body activities such as breathing, blood circulation, and digestion, etc… All of these activities need to consume energy and a total number of this energy is basal metabolism. According to some scientific reports, this value is highly correlated with the amount of your muscle. For most people, their basal metabolic rate is about 60 ~ 75%, which means if your body is using 1600 Kcal per day, 1120 Kcal will be used by doing nothing. That gives us the conclusion. The most efficient way to burn calories is to raise your basal metabolism which equals growing muscle. 💪💪💪💪💪
Yes, I know. If I tell you to go to the gym now and lift those 100 Kg dumbbells, it might be an impossible mission. So let me show you some easy ways and you don’t need to spend money to get started.
For those who really don’t want to spend any money. Self-weight training might be your best choice. Pushup and sit-ups are classic and maybe plank and squat are also great options. Try to pick at least 3~ 4 exercises and start splitting it into 3 ~ 4 days as a cycle. It’s a good start for everyone who wants to gain some muscle. If you have no idea what you should do, just find it on youtube. There are a bunch of tutorials for beginners on it.
Another personal recommendation is tube training. Actually, this is how I started to train my muscle. If you feel self-weight training is not hard enough just by self-weight training, this is a good way to lift heavier. Or just go find a gym to start lifting something like 20 Kg dumbbell.
SUMMARY
① Lift weight if you want to gain muscle
② Gaining muscle is the efficient way to lose weight.
③ Don’t rush. Start your training from an easy way.
Some tips for those who just started
I hope after reading the above. You already have a basic idea of how to lose weight. It might seem like there is a lot of work to do and this might make you want to give up after reading this. But hold on, please finish the tips I want to share and make a decision after that. And here you go…
- Set reasonable milestones/goal
Sometimes people just like to rush but don’t rush if you want to lose weight in a healthy way. Like what I mentioned above. A salad diet is not a good thing for your body. So please don’t forget your purpose is to make yourself healthier. If your goal is to drop 10 Kg, give yourself 6 months to reach the goal. If you are trying to reach the goal of pushing 100 Kg on bench press and you can only do 40 Kg now, give yourself at least a year to improve and don’t rush or you’ll get injured. - Record your condition
This is a good technic to generate a positive feedback loop. If you’re doing things right, then your body condition must become better. (If not, please go see a doctor) You will feel achievement when you see your weight and body fat dropping. - Do everything gradually
We are born naturally to take the easy path, so don’t be ashamed if you want to escape from pain. Try to find an easy way to start and make changes gradually.
Replacing your food to only salad is not only bad for your physical health but also your mental health. Most people can’t live on boring food for more than 1 month. Maybe just start by dropping the frequency of having junk food or try to do 10 push-ups before you go to the shower. You will see a positive change in you and you’ll try to work harder to gain more confidence. - Learn how to cook
Even if you learned how to eat, but you will find out it’s very hard to find the right food which has the nutrition profile you need and is ready to eat. If you want to control what you eat, just go buy some natural ingredients and cook. That’s the economic way to succeed in your diet. If you are a total beginner in cooking, I will recommend you to watch this youtube channel to learn some recipes for dummies. These recipes are recommended by a committed bodybuilder and the process is super simple. Give it a try if you have no idea where to start. - It’s a lifestyle
If you want to stay in a good condition for a long time, you can’t do it under a lot of pressure. So the whole idea is about lifestyle transformation. All three tips above are the path is to help you build a goal of having a good lifestyle. But it doesn’t mean you have to shut yourself out from all the fun things. For me, I still like ice cream, potato chips, and fried chicken. But I’ll have it on my cheat day. If you can have a solid base of lifestyle to maintain your health, a cheat day is a good thing to maintain your mental health.
I just noticed I forgot to share what I achieved in these few months by living a healthy lifestyle. Please let me show off a bit.
About the physical status, I drop 16Kg (104 ->88 Kg) of my body weight and 9% (36 -> 27%) of body fat. About the physical performance, I can bench-press 95 Kg now and my personal record was 70 Kg 3 months ago. I believe everyone who wants to change themselves is able to achieve it. It just depends on having the right mindset and taking the right actions.
For now, I go to the gym 6 times a week and I’m kind of getting addicted to it. Having chicken breast every day is not a pain
So, Let’s eat and work out. 🍖 🏋️♀️
This article is part of the 2021 HENNGE Advent Calendar. An Advent calendar is a special calendar used for counting down the days till Christmas. 2021 HENNGE Advent Calendar presents one article by one HENNGE member per day for 25 days until Christmas, 2021
