I know this is a weight loss thread, but I'm up to 98kg (from 94-95kg) but have shed 1.3% BF (proper calliper measurements - I'm now around 14.7%) over the past 6 months. My most recent blood test have come back with really good lipid profile, my cholesterol ratio has increased, my HDL levels have also increased. I have spent a lot of time improving my diet. I went through a bit of a hard time last year, I was comfort eating a lot, and not really pushing myself to do much exercise or activity.
I've improved my sleep quality and sleep hygiene significantly, leave my phone downstairs and read a book before bed - that's helped enormously. I also treat myself to a cold shower every day. I mean cold, i.e. just cold water. It's ******* horrible, but I can't stop doing it!
My training intensity has increased significantly over the last 6 months. I do strength training 3x a week and BJJ 2-3x a week but also have been walking a lot more as well as swimming 2x a week. My diet although calorific has been devoid of chocolates, crisps, sugar and basically "treats", and don't miss it at all. That said it has taken a lot of effort to wean myself off my poor dietary choices. I've been bulk buying nuts and oats and sesame seeds and other seeds and making nutty flapjacks with also some locally sources honey. Yes probably not super healthy, but I now stuff my face on those instead. I make a good 3-4 batches at a time which lasts a few weeks and actually relatively cheap to do.
Oily fish, chicken, beef and egg intake has been my main source of protein, and lentils and chickpeas as well for fibre. The advantage is you can add herbs and spices quite easily to vary it. I seem to easily get through several kg of peas, sweet corn, broccoli and carrots a week!
I have added some protein shakes to my diet too to plug the gaps when I need them. I also spent a bit of money with sports and nutrition expert, they basically told me what I already knew to a certain degree, but helped understand really what my body needs and cut through a lot of the suppositions I had made - they've given a far more in depth analysis such as the non exercise activity thermogenesis, and a lot of the other thermogenic effects of food and dietary choices, and exercise activities / intensity, as well as a plethora of other things from my blood tests etc... I won't share the report as it's a) personal to me b) I spent some money on it
c) It won't apply to others and don't want people to take on bad advice. However it turns out I need more calories than I had anticipated - but also it does vary with activity, i.e. if I have done 1.5hrs of BJJ, I need a different amount of calories to 60 mins of strength training, vs, a day of not intense exercise but lots of walking / standing etc.... The options / variables were presented in a bit of a dynamic matrix which is really helpful. On a "low" calorie day I need around 3.5kcals, on my most intense days I need 4.3kcals - so quite a difference. Also depending on how much coffee and other neurotransmitter and CNS stimulating supplements or activities I have a bit of a ratio to multiply that to my daily intake.
Now I haven't been given a diet plan or anything like that, the calorie requirements are just guidelines - as usual, it's better to average them out over a week. Now I'm not trying to lose weight really, more avoid dad bod and middle age spread!
They've left me to make up my own mind, but actually it was really insightful and as usual completely underestimated my calorie intake. This sort of intensity isn't really sustainable as a nearing mid 40 year old, but I'm determined and driven to be healthy predominantly for my kids. At my dojo the guys and girls don't believe I'm in my mid 40s, which is good, but I tell you what, my joints do remind me that I am!
Not sure what this post was about really, I guess it's more to highlight that even if you know what you're doing, sometimes getting 3rd person perspective or advice is worthwhile as it's sometimes easy to get lost in the noise of life, and sometimes it can be that helpful guiding hand to make sure you're not veering off track.
Also learning to be kind to yourself and not beating yourself up if you're not perfect week in week out, That's helped me a lot, because although I had a rough year last year, I've proven that with a little kindness to myself and a tiny bit of effort I can bring myself back around.
