It sucks to be fat. My weight loss story.
If a fat person says he doesn’t eat a lot, punch him in the face. — Vitaly Barilo
Hi, I’m Vitaly and I love eating. Main meal, snacks. Meat, candies, potatoes, ice-cream, oh, I love ice-cream. Can’t get through the hot summer day without one. I guess you can say I don’t eat the most healthy food, but I sure don’t eat a lot. And that’s how I look.
I’ve never been uncomfortable because of my weight (unfortunately). I loved playing football and volley. And it was so nice and warm during winter. I could wear T-shirt and a coat even when it was -20C outside.
That was 4–5 years ago, during my first year of college. My weight was 120kg (265 pounds) and I started to suspect something wasn’t right. I’ve decided to change my habits.
Vitaly vs Fat: Part One
I’ve heard about this “diet”. Before each meal you have to drink two glasses of water and after the meal you can’t drink anything for two hours. This added some structure to my meals. I would eat about 3 times a day. Servings were huge, but I managed to cut down on snacks. I’ve lost something like 15kg (33 pounds) that way in about a year.
It felt good, I was still fat, but less so. I was somewhat proud of myself and it felt like enough for a couple of years. Until January 7th 2014.
Vitaly vs Fat: Part Two
On that day I’ve read blog post by Sergey Petrenko, then the book by Dukan and decided to start tomorrow! (Nobody starts something new right at this moment and I had to say goodbye to my previous eating habits. I’ve made myself a cup of hot chocolate and ate some candy that last evening).
Next morning I’ve logged my weight — 103kg and took “before” photos, because I was certain I would change!
In short this diet consists of 4 phases.
1st — Attack — consists of just pure protein and lasts 4–10 days.
2nd — Cruise — you alternate Pure protein days and Protein + Vegetables days until you get to your desirable weight.
3rd — Consolidation — you gradually return forbidden foods and make sure you don’t gain weight. Also there is one Pure Protein day a week.
4th — Stabilization — for the rest of your life, you have one Pure Protein day a week.
What about my progress?
I’ve tracked my weight every single morning before breakfast. I’ve religiously followed the diet. There were couple of parties where I had to say “No” to cake. (Fuck, that was hard). The only thing I didn’t cut from my diet was alcohol.
There were no goals at first, but then I’ve decided to try to get from obese BMI zone to overweight.
My weight changed from 103kg (227 pounds) to 85 (187.4 pounds). It’s not ideal, but it’s great progress and I’ve reached my goal. Here is the “after” photo.
Before and after:
New Vitaly
I’m in the 4th phase already and there are a lot of changes. I can eat whatever I want now, but I’ve developed a habit of eating healthy during those couple of months. I’ve started jogging and love doing it. I can run 10k now, which I couldn’t even think of 2–3 years ago (I’ve tried a couple of times and was out of breathe long before even reaching 1k). I have much better mood overall and am much more energetic. I love all those compliments I get (yeah, I’m a bit too narcissistic).
I still weigh myself every morning, because I’m afraid to gain all the weight back and I’m cautious about eating too much. And this is how I look.
