Getting My Health Sorted So I have More Energy For My Goals

[gabeb1920]

I'm starting this thread as a bit of accountability as I try to improve my health. I've decided to do this as I posted about feeling stuck and depressed and several people responded that one way to improve energy is to improve health and I think that's a large part of it for me. (Here's that thread: MINDSET - Feeling Stuck and Depressed)

I've been overweight/obese most of my life, especially since starting high school. Not an excuse, just some background. I did lose a bunch of weight and got quite fit in my late 20s but then I met my now wife and I let a lot of it go, got back into unhealthy habits, ate to sooth my emotions and stopped exercising as the weight piled on. As with a lot of people I've also tried on and off to lose the weight, to change my habits, tried different diets or calorie counting or gym memberships. I can't say this time will be different but I'm going to do my darnedest!

The plan is to post here with my progress on 3 fronts: diet, exercise and sleep. I'm thinking I'll try posting every day I can, probably most week days. I'm hoping this helps keep me accountable, documents my journey and progress, will allow me to get suggestions, advice and encouragement from others and will help me sound out my plans to continue progressing.

There's so many reasons for me to work on my health and a lot of these reasons have been around for a while: setting an example for my sons, improving my health for my own comfort, making me feel more attractive, improving my relationship with my wife, living longer to spend time with my family, being able to play with my sons and be involved in their activities, and the most recent one is to have more energy so I can work more and harder on a business.

I've always been driven by money or the idea of having money so the idea that improving my health could help me with starting a business and breaking free of the rat race is really motivating for me.

I don't have too much of a firm plan at this stage, I'm sure it will develop through my posts here but here are some initial thoughts:

Diet:
Focus mostly on whole foods including lots of fruit and vegetables. Aiming for a pretty balanced diet with high protein, moderate carbs and fats. Drastically cutting back on my junk food! Only at times when I really want to and then only in moderation. I want to start tracking calories as I've enjoyed doing that in the past so I'll start that shortly once I get a few things in order. Going to stick to 3 main meals plus a night time snack, no day time snacking. Also focusing on high fibre foods to make me feel fuller and less likely to over eat.

Exercise:
For now I'm aiming to walk/run every week day and be active with my kids on the weekends. I've always enjoyed walking and being outdoors and when I lost the weight in my 20s it was through running. Walking/running is easy, doesn't require any special equipment, I can do it straight out of my front door and can start slowly and ease into it. Plan is to go early in the morning before the family wakes up. I'm starting with around 30 minutes with a few 30 seconds jogs throughout. Plan is to gradually increase the amount of time running until I'm running the full 30 minutes each day which would be around 5kms.

Sleep:
The plan here is to be in bed at least 8 hours a night going to bed before 10PM. Previously I had found I'd delay going to sleep by scrolling Instagram so I've removed that from my phone and I'm finding it does make a difference to me going to sleep more quickly once I'm in bed. Eventually I'd love to be able to wake up without an alarm so that way I know my body is getting the sleep it needs but I think that's a long way off. I'm aiming to go to sleep at 9:30PM and wake up at 5:30AM so I can get that walk/run in before everyone else wakes up. My sleep can be disrupted as we let the kids come into our bed during the night and they do this every night. Some nights we hardly even notice they're there but other nights they toss and turn and make it tough to get deep sleep. For now I'm just going to focus on getting to bed early and at a consistent time.

So that's the plan for now and like I said I'm sure it'll evolve over time.

Now for my first check in

 

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[gabeb1920]

Day 0 - Wednesday 31/5/2023
Weight: 131.5kgs - No change

Diet review for yesterday:
I kinda started eating better yesterday which was good. Porridge with raspberries and a protein shake for breakfast, leftover shepherds pie with veges for lunch, chicken with rice and veges for dinner and then protein powder with blueberries, no sugar jelly, Greek yoghurt and a slice of cake for dessert.
I did get a bit of a headache in the evening which I think could be because I drastically lowered my calories. See how I go today. I didn't feel too hungry throughout the day so that's good.

Diet goals for today:
Same kinda eating pattern for today. Porridge with raspberries and a protein shake for breakfast, leftover lasagna with veges for lunch, tonight is football night so I'll have pizza because I think it's worth it but I'll go with a thin margerhitta and won't have any sides, with pizza for dinner dessert will be small, just the berries, yoghurt and protein powder.

Exercise review for yesterday:
Went for a short, 10 minute walk at lunchtime but that was it yesterday.

Exercise goals for today:
Started the day with a 30 minute walk/jog around the neighborhood. It was dark and windy but overall not too bad. I did 4 intervals of 30 seconds jogging and they felt pretty good. But I'm not gonna push myself and will just stick to the 30 seconds, at least for this week.
No other exercise planned for the day.

Sleep review for yesterday:
Got to sleep pretty close to my target of 9:30. The kids went to bed a bit earlier than usual so that was an advantage. Just means I had a bit more relaxing time in the evening, 1 hour instead of my planned 45 minutes.
Woke up at 5:20, just before my alarm of 5:30. The boys came into our bed and 1 of them has a cough so that woke me up several times throughout the night and also is what woke me up before my alarm.
Overall I don't feel too tired but certainly not 100% rested either.

Sleep goals for today:
I'll probably be going to bed a bit later than I'd like tonight as there is a football game on. It finishes around 10PM I think and I'll be going straight to bed after that. I'm thinking I'll still try to wake up for 5:30AM and got for my morning walk/run so it'll be around 7 hours sleep instead of my ideal 8.

That's the first check in. Let's see how we are looking tomorrow.

 

[DW85014]

Day 0 - Wednesday 31/5/2023
Weight: 131.5kgs - No change

Diet review for yesterday:
I kinda started eating better yesterday which was good. Porridge with raspberries and a protein shake for breakfast, leftover shepherds pie with veges for lunch, chicken with rice and veges for dinner and then protein powder with blueberries, no sugar jelly, Greek yoghurt and a slice of cake for dessert.
I did get a bit of a headache in the evening which I think could be because I drastically lowered my calories. See how I go today. I didn't feel too hungry throughout the day so that's good.

Diet goals for today:
Same kinda eating pattern for today. Porridge with raspberries and a protein shake for breakfast, leftover lasagna with veges for lunch, tonight is football night so I'll have pizza because I think it's worth it but I'll go with a thin margerhitta and won't have any sides, with pizza for dinner dessert will be small, just the berries, yoghurt and protein powder.

Exercise review for yesterday:
Went for a short, 10 minute walk at lunchtime but that was it yesterday.

Exercise goals for today:
Started the day with a 30 minute walk/jog around the neighborhood. It was dark and windy but overall not too bad. I did 4 intervals of 30 seconds jogging and they felt pretty good. But I'm not gonna push myself and will just stick to the 30 seconds, at least for this week.
No other exercise planned for the day.

Sleep review for yesterday:
Got to sleep pretty close to my target of 9:30. The kids went to bed a bit earlier than usual so that was an advantage. Just means I had a bit more relaxing time in the evening, 1 hour instead of my planned 45 minutes.
Woke up at 5:20, just before my alarm of 5:30. The boys came into our bed and 1 of them has a cough so that woke me up several times throughout the night and also is what woke me up before my alarm.
Overall I don't feel too tired but certainly not 100% rested either.

Sleep goals for today:
I'll probably be going to bed a bit later than I'd like tonight as there is a football game on. It finishes around 10PM I think and I'll be going straight to bed after that. I'm thinking I'll still try to wake up for 5:30AM and got for my morning walk/run so it'll be around 7 hours sleep instead of my ideal 8.

That's the first check in. Let's see how we are looking tomorrow.

Good job keep it up - my suggestion would be watch this guy:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NpbOTOMZpg


This guy:

https://www.youtube.com/@GogginsNation

or this guy:

https://www.youtube.com/@yoelliott

 

[socaldude]

Congrats on making the choice of bettering yourself.

Have you looked into intermittent fasting? Why the 3 meals, dessert and margarita?

The pain of throwing your potential in the trash is way more painful than denying yourself any sugar or alcohol or food.

I truly believe diet and exercise are one of the keys to success.

 

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[AmazingLarry]

Good job with the progress thread and taking the first step.

Don't hesitate to post your failures in here.

Figure out what works best for you and don't get caught up comparing the nuances of certain diets or workout routines. The best diet is the one you will stick with long term.

 

[gabeb1920]

Congrats on making the choice of bettering yourself.

Have you looked into intermittent fasting? Why the 3 meals, dessert and margarita?

The pain of throwing your potential in the trash is way more painful than denying yourself any sugar or alcohol or food.

I truly believe diet and exercise are one of the keys to success.

Thanks for the reply

I've tried intermittent fasting before and may use it again. I guess I'm going for small changes to start with so I don't burn out. 3 meals feels right and means I can eat with the family. Dessert is a habit I'm in that I enjoy and if I can fit it in and make it healthier with fruit and protein powder then I'm ok with it for now. Might end up giving it up over time if needed.

And to clarify the 'margarita' was supposed to be 'margherita' which is a type of pizza and it's the lowest calorie one on the menu. Pizza won;t be an every night thing but just for special occasions like the football on tonight
Kinda trying to still fit in some foods I enjoy from time to time

I don't really drink any alcohol so that shouldn't be a problem. It'll be the sugar and the serving sizes I'll need to keep under control.

Thanks for the encouragement and feedback

 

[gabeb1920]

Good job with the progress thread and taking the first step.

Don't hesitate to post your failures in here.

Figure out what works best for you and don't get caught up comparing the nuances of certain diets or workout routines. The best diet is the one you will stick with long term.

Thanks for the encouragement

Agree 100%, I'm aiming for something that is sustainable for me and enjoyable so I can stick to it long term

 

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[mamamargaux]

Good job on taking steps to improve your health and well-being. I am similar to you in that I am overweight and have depression. I started exercising more and taking my mental health seriously (taking medication) in my 40s. A bit late but I think I am in a better place, but not financially. Still working on improving my finances after reading MJ's books this year (I am 44). and currently slightly overweight but in good shape. Will monitor your progress on this thread. Good luck!

 

[Shono]

Love to see it! Getting physically healthy is one of those habits that will improve every other aspect of your life. Healthy body = healthy mind and vice versa. If you ever feel the path before you is daunting or you slip up just remember 1% everyday over a the long term is infinitely better than 100% in one go. So stay consistent above all, even just 10 minutes or choosing one healthy option a day instead, and build momentum from there. I look forward to seeing your results!

 

[PureA]

I wrote a thread you might find useful...

HEALTH - Release Your Brakes! - A Fastlaner's Guide to Optimal Energy, Focus and Health for Maximum $$$

You’re a Ferrari. But the handbrake is on.. Health and fitness is a relatively easy and simple thing to achieve, yet 90% of us don’t have it. Why? It gets overcomplicated, we try adding stuff instead of removing, we listen to everyone's advice… This is applicable to many things in life… but...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

 

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[gabeb1920]

Day 1 - Thursday 1/6/2023
Weight: 131.2kgs - Down 0.3kgs

Diet review for yesterday:
Stuck to the plan pretty well and managed not to overeat pizza beyond what I'd planned. I started tracking my calories and yesterday tracked as 2419 calories with 159g protein which are the 2 figures I'm most focused on. Calories were within range, protein was a bit low so want to try to increase that.

Diet goals for today: Calories: 2180, Protein: 194g
Usual breakfast of porridge with raspberries and a protein shake, leftover lasagne with veges again for lunch, dinner will be with the family and dessert will be my usual of protein powder, no sugar jelly, Greek yoghurt and blueberries. I don't know for sure what we're having for dinner but it's usually a meat with potatoes or pasta and some veges. I'll weight and track everything and make sure it fits within my calorie targets.
The app I'm using to track calories has suggested a range based on my activity and then it also let's you adjust throughout the week so I had a bit more calories yesterday to fit in the pizza and a bit lower today. I think I should still be able to stick to it well enough.

Exercise review for yesterday:
Just the morning walk/run yesterday. Ended the day with 9,968 steps including the walk/run so pretty happy with that.

Exercise goals for today:
I've already done my planned morning walk/run which was the same as usual, 30 minutes total, 4 30 second jogging intervals spread throughout. Found it fairly straight forward. Easing into it and I'll increase the amount of running next week.

Sleep review for yesterday:
Again pretty much exactly as planned. I stayed up a bit later than ideal til around 10:20PM as I watched a football match. Woke up a bit later than usual at 5:40AM so around 7 hours 20 minutes in bed which is less than I'd like. I might have to tweak these times a bit going forward as I'm struggling to wake up quite so early.
The kids also came into our bed again last night. They were a bit disruptive but not as bad as the night before.
I'm feeling the usual amount of tiredness, not exhausted but not full of energy either.

Sleep goals for today:
Nothing on tonight so I'll aim for getting into bed around 10PM and waking up at 6AM so aiming for 8 hours sleep. Need to make sure I get things sorted before 10 so I'm in bed and ready for sleep at that time.

Day 1 check in complete. Sticking to the plan pretty well so far, lost a little bit of weight, started tracking my calories, went for another walk/run, overall pretty happy with progress but obviously still early days and a long way to go.

 

[gabeb1920]

Good job on taking steps to improve your health and well-being. I am similar to you in that I am overweight and have depression. I started exercising more and taking my mental health seriously (taking medication) in my 40s. A bit late but I think I am in a better place, but not financially. Still working on improving my finances after reading MJ's books this year (I am 44). and currently slightly overweight but in good shape. Will monitor your progress on this thread. Good luck!

Thanks for the reply and encouragement

 

[gabeb1920]

Love to see it! Getting physically healthy is one of those habits that will improve every other aspect of your life. Healthy body = healthy mind and vice versa. If you ever feel the path before you is daunting or you slip up just remember 1% everyday over a the long term is infinitely better than 100% in one go. So stay consistent above all, even just 10 minutes or choosing one healthy option a day instead, and build momentum from there. I look forward to seeing your results!

Thanks mate, appreciate the tips and encouragement

I'm definitely focusing on consistency and making sure the plans I make are something I can stick with in the long term. Little bits of improvement everyday will add up I'm sure

 

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[gabeb1920]

I wrote a thread you might find useful...

HEALTH - Release Your Brakes! - A Fastlaner's Guide to Optimal Energy, Focus and Health for Maximum $$$

You’re a Ferrari. But the handbrake is on.. Health and fitness is a relatively easy and simple thing to achieve, yet 90% of us don’t have it. Why? It gets overcomplicated, we try adding stuff instead of removing, we listen to everyone's advice… This is applicable to many things in life… but...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

Really good info there, thanks mate!

A lot I've kinda heard and like you said it's mostly the simple stuff done consistently that makes the difference.

Definitely some things I'll take from there and start implementing.

Thanks again, really great work!

 

[gabeb1920]

Day 2 - Friday 2/6/2023
Weight: 130.2kgs - Down 1.3kgs (Started at 131.5kgs on 31/5/2023)

Diet review for yesterday: 2046 calories, 128g protein
Stuck to the plan pretty much exactly as I had it laid out. Dinner didn't end up being great, we had sausages and mashed potato. But I kept my serving size fairly small and didn't go over my calories for the day. I felt a little hungry but not too bad. I had the yoghurt, protein powder, berries and no sugar jelly for dessert and it was actually really good. Mixing the protein powder with yoghurt is really nice so I'm happy with that.

Diet goals for today:
Got a few more calories to play around with today but nothing crazy. Usual breakfast of porridge with raspberries and a protein shake, usual lunch of leftover lasange with vegetables, dinner with the family and again I'm not sure what we'll have but I'll make it fit my calories and then usual dessert of berries, protein powder, Greek yoghurt and no sugar jelly.

Exercise review for yesterday:
Just did the morning walk/run for 30 minutes with 4 x 30 second running intervals mixed in. Finished the day with 10,211 steps so happy with that.

Exercise goals for today:
Similar this morning I went for a 30 minute walk/run with 4 x 30 second running intervals mixed in. No more exercise planned. Felt a bit tired on the walk/run this morning and knees were a bit sore but not too bad. Just walks over the weekend so we'll see how I'm feeling on Monday

Sleep review for yesterday:
One of the boys woke up right as I was going to bed and then my wife and I had a disagreement so I didn't get to sleep until 10PM which is after my goal of 9:30PM. With the kids in the bed again my sleep was a bit disrupted and I woke up with a sore back and neck. Not a great night sleep last night.

Sleep goals for today:
Being the weekend I won't wake up quite so early tomorrow morning but I also don't want to sleep in too much. I''m thinking instead of my usual 9:30PM-5:30AM I'll go with 9:30PM to 6AM so I can get a little more sleep.

Day 2 check in done. Coming into my first weekend but I'm feeling pretty good about it. We don't have any big plans so I should be ok to stick fairly close to my usual eating pattern. Plus I do have a few calories saved up so will be ok if something unexpected comes up with the family. Feeling good about it all

 

[gabeb1920]

Day 3 - Saturday 3/6/2023

Weight: 130.1kgs - Down 1.4kgs (Started at 131.5kgs on 31/5/2023)

Diet review for yesterday: 2350 calories, 183g protein
Pretty happy with sticking to the plan yesterday. Breakfast, lunch and dessert were all according to the plan. Dinner we had pasta in cream sauce but I used high fibre pasta and added veges and chicken breast to it. It was actually really filling and tasty. I had enough calories in the plan so I also had a small piece of garlic bread as well as a handle of potato chips in the afternoon. Overall happy with sticking to the calorie goal.

Diet goals for today:
It's Saturday so I had given myself some additional calories today but I may not use them all. Had the usual porridge with berries and a protein shake for breakfast and I'll have the usual dessert of protein powder, blue berries, Greek yoghurt and no sugar jelly for dessert. Lunch I've already eaten and I had sandwiches with a large bowl of salad. Not sure what we're going to have for dinner but again I'll make sure it's within my calorie limit for the day. Feeling pretty confident I can manage it.

Exercise review for yesterday:
Just the morning walk/run yesterday. Finished the day with 8,518 steps and my goal is 7,500 so happy enough with that.

Exercise goals for today:
I'm not planning on any specific exercise on the weekends but instead want to get out and about with the kids. It's now early afternoon and I took the boys to the park this morning which was good fun. We walk to one just a way from our house to help get some more steps in and the boys love it. So far I've done 7,318 steps so going to be over 7,500 easily.

Sleep review for yesterday:
I kinda stuck to the plan though it was a bit later than I would've liked at around 10:15PM. One of the boys woke up right as I was gonna hop in bed so I had to spend a few minutes settling him. I didn't set an alarm in the morning and woke up naturally around 6:20AM so got around 8 hours in bed. Kinda sore from sleeping a funny way but not feeling tired which is good.

Sleep goals for today:
My wife is going out for dinner with some girlfriends so I've got the kids at home. Hopefully they go to sleep easily and I can relax for a bit before going to bed early myself. Probably aiming for around 10PM.

Day 3 check in done. Feeling pretty good though it is a weekend with nothing much on so we'll see how I adjust when we have plans. Feeling good so far

 

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[fridge]

Are you able to fit a boxing/kickboxing class into your schedule a few times a week? Could be great exercise and gets you out of the house learning a new skills in a new environment with new people.

Good on you for counting calories too and not just "eating healthy foods" like many people do.

 

[gabeb1920]

Are you able to fit a boxing/kickboxing class into your schedule a few times a week? Could be great exercise and gets you out of the house learning a new skills in a new environment with new people.

Good on you for counting calories too and not just "eating healthy foods" like many people do.

Thanks for the reply and encouragement

Probably not just now partly due to energy, partly due to cost and partly due to time. I'd like to get into jujitsu but for the same reasons I'm going to start with walking/running. I can do it straight out my front door with minimal cost and I can adjust the intensity to match my energy levels so it works for now.

Thanks again for the encouragement

 

[gabeb1920]

Day 5 - Monday 5/6/2023

Weight: 130.3kgs - Down 1.2kgs (Started at 131.5kgs on 31/5/2023)

Diet review for weekend: 2815 average calories, 155 average protein
Didn't have the best weekend eating but it wasn't the worst either, hence why I didn't lose or gain any weight. Saturday during the day went well but then at dinner a couple of things went wrong and I overate a bit. We'd left it late to organise dinner and I was pretty tired so hungry and tired combination wasn't a good start. Still we decided to get some quick takeaway and I ordered a grilled chicken burger and made sure it'd fit into my calories. When I got home they'd forgotten my burger Now this is where I could've made a better decision. I got some leftover pizza out of the freezer and instead of checking how much I could eat for my alotted calories I just reheated and ate the whole bunch which put me over by around 800 calories In hindsight I should've been more organisaed and had dinner earlier so I wasn't quite so hungry, I should've had a backup ready in case I didn't want or couldn't fit in what the family was having and then when I actually went with the pizza I could've checked first how much I could have. Lessons learnt.
Sunday was better. I had reduced calories due to overeating on Saturday so that was a bit tougher. I did alright especially with dinner where we had family over and I calculated my meal and made a grilled chicken instead of fried so that was good. Dessert things weren't quite as good. My wife had made cheesecake bites and I decided to have one which I did and they were delicious. But I underestimated how many calories they had! I thought maybe 250-300 but nope, 500! So that put me a little over but not too bad.
Overall it wasn't perfect but not too bad.

Diet goals for today:
Today is Monday and back to the regular though I've got less calories for the next few days until resetting on Wednesday. So it'll be porridge with berries and a protein shake for breakfast, I meal prepped some stirfry chicken and rice with veges which will be my lunches this week, dinner with the family and not sure what we're having but I'll make it fit in my calories. And then my usual dessert of berries, Greek yoghurt, protein powder and no sugar jelly.

Exercise review for weekend:
Pretty happy with exercise. I didn't have any specific exercise planned but took my kids out to the park both Saturday and Sunday and just had generally active days. Averaged 11,344 steps per day so yeah happy with that.

Exercise goals for today:
I've already been for my morning walk/run. I had planned to up the length of the running intervals by timing myself to see how long I could go and using that. I only managed the same 30 seconds that I'd been doing. I think the weekend of taking lots of steps and being on my feet all day plus a lousy night sleep meant my energy was low. All good, I'm in no rush, so I'm going to stick with 30 seconds for running this week and try again next week.
So this morning it was 30 minutes walk/run with 4 x 30 second jogging intervals. Knees a bit sore and I'm tired but overall it was nice.

Sleep review for weekend:
Saturday was ok, Sunday not good. Both nights I went to bed pretty early, around my usual of 10PM. Saturday night into Sunday morning I slept in so got around 8.5 hours sleep and felt pretty good. Sunday the kids were up and down all night with a cough and one of them vomited twice :/ So even though my schedule was ok and I was in bed around 10PM and woke up at 6AM the night itself wasn't good at all and I'm feeling very tired this morning :/

Sleep goals for today:
Usual today, 10PM to 6AM, hopefully the kids sleep ok and are feeling better and I can get some more actual sleep vs just time in bed.

Day 5 check in complete. Few lessons learnt over the weekend but also think I did ok. Looking forward to another week

 

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[twram]

Hey Gabeb, 5 months ago I was in a bad mental energy place, couldn't concentrate for long periods, constant brain fog and unable to work on anything for long periods of time. I was unfit and obese. Since making the decision to exercise and diet my life has improved 10 fold, more energy and I'm able to focus a lot better and work much more than I previously could.
Good luck on your journey it's only going to be positives, btw I started with walking also then added 30 second jogs after a couple of weeks.

 

[gabeb1920]

Day 6 - Tuesday 6/6/2023

Weight: 129.5kgs - Down 2.0kgs (Started at 131.5kgs on 31/5/2023)

Diet review for yesterday: 2134 calories, 172g protein
Pretty happy with my efforts yesterday. I stuck to the plan, we had tacos for dinner so I made it fit my calories, used low fat beef mince and only had enough to fit my calories. I was still a little hungry and normally would've had a massive desert but I held back and stuck to my planned dessert and it was good. I could've eaten more but I wasn't too hungry afterwards. Overall pretty happy for surviving a lowish calorie day

Diet goals for today:
Just the usual today. Still quite low calorie so gonna have to be careful with dinner with the family. Porridge with berries and protein shake for breakfast, leftover chicken with potatos for lunch, dinner with the family, berries, Greek yoghurt, protein powder and no sugar jelly for dessert. See how we go, I know I'm going to have to limit myself at dinner time.

Exercise review for yesterday:
No additional exercise other than my usual 30 minute walk/run with 4 x 30 second jogging intervals. Total steps for the day were 8,276. I did notice I didn't move nearly as much as usual during the day, much more inclined to just stay sitting. I think that's a result of some low calorie days plus tired plus the walk/run in the morning. Overall feeling ok about it all.

Exercise goals for today:
I had planned to get up and go for a walk/run this morning. I had to wake up a bit earlier due to work commitments and this will be the case every Tuesday. But I slept through my alarm so didn't have time I'll go for a walk at lunchtime while I'm at the office but it'll be a slowish walk as I'm dressed in work clothes so no running intervals. That'll be ok though.

Sleep review for yesterday:
Sleep wasn't great last night with the boys coming into our bed and rolling around a whole bunch. I did go to bed a bit later too than I would've liked at around 10:20PM and as I said above I had hoped to wake up at 5:40AM but slept through my alarm until around 6:20AM. So got 8 hours in bed but don't feel particularly rested

Sleep goals for today:
Usual sleep plan for tonight. Bed at 10PM and wake up at 6AM. Might have to look at a solution to the kids coming into our bed and keep waking us up but not sure what we'll do. I'll chat to the wife and see what we can come up with.

Day 6 check in done. Almost a week through and 2kgs down. Been a few ups and downs but overall doing ok. Calorie reset tomorrow and suspect I've lost too much weight so I'll have a few more calories next week. Plus I won't be having pizza midweek so will have a lot more flexibility.
Have a good day everyone!

 

[gabeb1920]

Hey Gabeb, 5 months ago I was in a bad mental energy place, couldn't concentrate for long periods, constant brain fog and unable to work on anything for long periods of time. I was unfit and obese. Since making the decision to exercise and diet my life has improved 10 fold, more energy and I'm able to focus a lot better and work much more than I previously could.
Good luck on your journey it's only going to be positives, btw I started with walking also then added 30 second jogs after a couple of weeks.

Thanks for the reply and encouragement

Hey congrats on your progress and so good to hear you're getting positive benefits from it! Awesome work!

I agree, only positives can come from taking steps to improve your health!

Good luck on your continued journey too

 

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[RicardoGrande]

Hey man, more power to you for taking charge of all this!
Used to be in a similar spot with the weight/poor sleep as well, but the good news is that with simple, structural changes you can basically automate yourself into the health you want.

Main points:
- You've done IF before, pick it up again, if you're morbidly obese, just start with skipping breakfast and take it up to OMAD if you feel like it. I lost 25 pounds effortlessly by skipping breakfast starting out and then OMAD helped with another 40 along the way (switch out of omad and back to 16:8 after awhile when you're maybe 20lbs above goal weight so your BMR doesn't tank)
- For sleep: start setting bed time alarms. I did a "warning" alarm around 7:30 to start wrapping up, to do my language lessons and meditate, then had a "final" alarm around 8:15 to turn everything off, read for a bit, and get into bed. If you have trouble falling asleep at first try a small dose of melatonin (1.5mg-3) for maybe just a few days, then a bit of melatonin at the start of the week to reinforce it
- On the note of sleep, cutting out blue light helps GREATLY, if you use windows on your computer, use the nightlight functionality which will cut out blue light after a certain point in the evening. In addition, buy a red-colored light bulb and replace the main light in your room or at your desk with it and use that when it starts to get dark.
-For Exercise: just pick days and pick a program. Calisthenics are the easiest to bust out and easiest to tie to a system. Brian Fogg in Tiny Habits had weak tiny little pecs, so he made a habit that every single time he flushed his toilet he would walk out of his bathroom and do at least 2-5 pushups. Within a year he could 78 in a row

You're on a good track, once you build these systems and follow them- everything else will fall into place, good luck man.

 

[biophase]

Was thinking you could pick up a heart rate monitor so you track your heart rate is at during these 30 minute walks. It would be good data for you to know when your walk is getting too easy.

 

[twram]

Thanks for the reply and encouragement

Hey congrats on your progress and so good to hear you're getting positive benefits from it! Awesome work!

I agree, only positives can come from taking steps to improve your health!

Good luck on your continued journey too

Thanks a lot. Any questions please ask, it looks like we started at a similar level of fitness

 

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[gabeb1920]

Day 7 - Wednesday 7/6/2023

Weight: 129.9kgs - Down 1.6kgs (Started at 131.5kgs on 31/5/2023)

Diet review for yesterday: 2409 calories, 135g protein
Did ok but did go a little over the planned calories. We got take away for dinner again and I ate a bit more than I'd planned. Wife didn't want any of the healthier meals I had planned so we got take away. I didn't want to spend the extra time making another meal so I went with it. Maybe lesson is I need more meals prepped I can just pull out of the freezer and use? I think that might be a good strategy to try so this weekend I'll try making double of recipes. I usually meal prep my lunches for the week so I'll double it and have a few spare dinners as well for when I want something different to what the family is having.
I also ate a bit of late evening snacks after my regular dessert. I had a couple of handfuls of corn chips which weren't in the budget, not ideal.

Diet goals for today:
Calories reset for the week on Wednesday and last week I'd eaten a bit more on Wednesday so I've got a little bit more leeway this week but TBH nothing much will change as I'm enjoying the plan. Porridge with raspberries and a protein shake for breakfast, stir fry chicken with a soy based sauce, rice and veges for lunch, dinner with the family and then my usual dessert of blue berries, protein powder, Greek yoghurt and no sugar jelly.
I am adding in a bit more of a sweet treat to my desserts, a small portion of my wife's cheesecake from the weekend that we've frozen. It won't be much, an extra 250 calories. Thinking about it now I'm not sure about it. I enjoy it but I don't need it, it doesn't add any nutrients to my day, if it wasn't there I wouldn't miss it. The only reason I'm eating it is because it's there and I don't like throwing things like that out.
Hmm any thoughts? Is it ok to eat a little bit each night over the course of a week or so? Or because I don't really want it do I make a decision and just throw it out, or save it in the deep freezer for sometime in the future? I could instead use the calories for something more nutritious, more buffer in my week for unexpected circumstances, more protein or fibre rich foods to help keep me full. Hmm yeah, thinking about it I will not have the cheesecake, I'll deep freeze it and use the calories elsewhere.

Exercise review for yesterday:
Not ideal exercise yesterday. As I noted in my check in I slept in so didn't go for my morning walk/run. I'd planned to go for a walk at lunchtime at the office and I did but it was only 10 minutes due to extra meetings. I ended the day with 7,112 steps which is ok but below my goal of 7,500. Another arguement for doing the most important things first cause if you leave them til later in the day then life happens and your goals can get pushed aside.

Exercise goals for today:
I did wake up in time and went for my early morning walk/run this morning. Did my planned 30 minutes with 4 x 30 second jogging intervals. I think my pace was a little faster today though haven't actually checked. It's only 7:15AM and I'm already up to 4,146 steps so going to smash my 7,500 goal today

Sleep review for yesterday:
Not great on the sleep front yesterday either. Had everything sorted to go to bed at 10PM but then I decided to watch one more short, 10 minute YouTube video that pushed my schedule back, then my wife wanted to show me some comedy on Tictoc so another 10 minutes. I ended up getting to bed at 10:35PM so I want to improve and get closer to 10PM tonight. The boys came into our bed last night but they are getting over their coughs so it wasn't as distrupted as previous nights but still not ideal. I woke up at 5:30AM before my planned wake up of 6AM so less than 7 hours in bed total. Not ideal but after my morning walk/run I don't feel too bad. See how I go this afternoon, I suspect I'll fade early.

Sleep goals for today:
As mentioned I want to get to bed around 10PM and wake up around 6AM so 8 hours in bed. This means I want to be starting my night time routine (brush teeth, put on dishwasher, put on clothes washer, etc) around 9:40PM Mean I'm kinda cutting it close but I don't find it stops me getting to sleep too much, once I'm in bed I fall asleep pretty quickly. See if I can get in bed by 10PM tonight.

Day 7 check in complete. First week done and ending it 1.6kgs down so pretty happy with that. I was hoping my calorie counting app would allocate more calories to me cause I lost more than my goal but it didn't. All good, I'll stick to the calories it assigns and see if it adjusts going forward. I'm not finding it too bad if I can plan ahead and have dinner options ready. I'm enjoying the meals I have planned for and will stick with those. I'm certainly a little bit hungry but nothing too bad. Exercise I'm enjoying and I think it's giving me a bit more energy and focus. Again no adjustments after the first week. Sleep I want to work on consistency and get to bed by 10PM by making sure I start my nighttime routine with enough time to get in bed by 10PM.

Overall feeling good about it all and I do think posting here is helping me stay focused and accountable so I'm going to keep it up. Here goes week 2!

 

[gabeb1920]

Hey man, more power to you for taking charge of all this!
Used to be in a similar spot with the weight/poor sleep as well, but the good news is that with simple, structural changes you can basically automate yourself into the health you want.

Main points:
- You've done IF before, pick it up again, if you're morbidly obese, just start with skipping breakfast and take it up to OMAD if you feel like it. I lost 25 pounds effortlessly by skipping breakfast starting out and then OMAD helped with another 40 along the way (switch out of omad and back to 16:8 after awhile when you're maybe 20lbs above goal weight so your BMR doesn't tank)
- For sleep: start setting bed time alarms. I did a "warning" alarm around 7:30 to start wrapping up, to do my language lessons and meditate, then had a "final" alarm around 8:15 to turn everything off, read for a bit, and get into bed. If you have trouble falling asleep at first try a small dose of melatonin (1.5mg-3) for maybe just a few days, then a bit of melatonin at the start of the week to reinforce it
- On the note of sleep, cutting out blue light helps GREATLY, if you use windows on your computer, use the nightlight functionality which will cut out blue light after a certain point in the evening. In addition, buy a red-colored light bulb and replace the main light in your room or at your desk with it and use that when it starts to get dark.
-For Exercise: just pick days and pick a program. Calisthenics are the easiest to bust out and easiest to tie to a system. Brian Fogg in Tiny Habits had weak tiny little pecs, so he made a habit that every single time he flushed his toilet he would walk out of his bathroom and do at least 2-5 pushups. Within a year he could 78 in a row

You're on a good track, once you build these systems and follow them- everything else will fall into place, good luck man.

Thanks for the reply

I found with IF that I got quite hungry and ended up overeating at my later meals. For now I'll start with 3 meals a day plus dessert as I think I can make that work. Might go back to IF if I start to struggle.

I like the idea of sleep alarms and have set some up now. Thanks for the suggestion
I'm pretty lucky maybe that I don't usually have trouble falling asleep so happy with that for now.

Screens can be a bit of an issue for me cause that's where I spend a lot of my time. I usually relax watching YouTube for 30 minutes of an evening which would finish around 30 minutes before I go to bed. I do have F.lux which makes the screen more yellow and I also reduce the brightness.
My wife likes to watch TV as she goes to sleep so it's always on when I got to sleep so that's not ideal. I've mentioned it before but she likes it on, not sure I'm going to be able to change that. Maybe a sleeping mask? I've tried them before with mixed results. Might give it another go.

I agree to go with easy and simple exercise plans. I'm happy with the running for now but will certainly add in some sort of resistance training, maybe calisthenics or gym sessions as I progress.

Thanks again for the reply and the tips

 

[gabeb1920]

Was thinking you could pick up a heart rate monitor so you track your heart rate is at during these 30 minute walks. It would be good data for you to know when your walk is getting too easy.

Thanks for the reply

I do have a heart rate monitor and also have my Apple Watch which tracks heart but isn't too accurate for me when I'm moving around. I should start wearing the chest strap monitor for my walks/runs and need to see where in the app I can see the figures.

I have tried using heart rate to adjust when I walk or run but for now it's a bit too much for me. I'll stick with just the time for now but will start tracking heart rate so I can see it over months to see if it improves and may bring it into my program if needed.

Thanks again for the reply and tips

 

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[gabeb1920]

Day 8 - Thursday 8/6/2023

Weight: 130.7kgs - Down 0.8kgs (Started at 131.5kgs on 31/5/2023)

Diet review for yesterday: 4,468 calories, 198g protein
I stuffed up I made a stupid decision, I added a bunch of cheesecake to my health dessert. I don't even know really why I did it. It tasted ok but I didn't really want it. Then I ate it all even though I was feeling sick by the end. Left me overnight with a dry mouth and bloated stomach. Stupid decision
Result is I was over my planned calories by about 2,000 calories worth of cheesecake!
Rest of the day was pretty good. Dinner wasn't especially healthy but I'd managed to stick to the planned calories allotted for dinner, but then dessert I just threw the plan away. Not a great day diet wise

Diet goals for today:
Ok so first thing this morning I took the cheesecake and put it in the very back of our garage freezer so it's completely out of sight. I had mentioned in a previous check in that I was going to do this but then I didn't actually. I've gotta take action as soon as I know what I want to do.
I've reduced my calories for the rest of the week a little bit to try to compensate for going over yesterday. I've also tried to balance this between not cutting back too much which might lead to another binge so the cut backs I've made won't compensate entirely for yesterday over the course of the week but hopefully will limit the damage and allow me to keep working to the plan.
Porridge with raspberries and protein shake for breakfast, stir fry chicken with rice and veges and for lunch, dinner with the family but a smaller portion than usual and finishing with berries, protein powder, Greek yoghurt and no sugar jelly for dessert.

Exercise review for yesterday:
Did my morning 30 minutes walk/run with 4 x 30 second intervals. Didn't do any additional exercise during the day. Finished with 8,083 steps which is a little less than I'd expected. I am noticing that my overall steps for the day are higher when i do my morning walk/run but steps throughout the day drop off as I'm less inclined to be active and want to rest more. I'll want to keep an eye on that and maybe incorporate times when I get up and walk around the house during the day or something. Overall ok with exercise yesterday.

Exercise goals for today:
I went for a 30 minute walk but didn't do any jogging intervals this morning. Nothing else planned for the day with the goal of getting at least 7,500 steps for the day just through incidental movement.

Sleep review for yesterday:
I'm starting to come down with a cold which isn't great But it did mean I slept pretty soundly. Plus the kids are getting better so even though they did come into our bed during the night I hardly noticed as they didn't move around as move as previous nights.
I did go to bed a bit later than I would've liked at around 10:26PM. That's cause I chose to watch some extra YouTube videos while eating my big dessert of cheesecake Not too bad for sleep timing but not ideal.
Woke up with my alarm at 6AM so 7.5 hours total in bed

Sleep goals for today:
I've got the day off work tomorrow so might have a bit of a sleep in. I want to keep the bed time consistent though and stick to around 10PM and then let my body wake up naturally and I'll see what time I wake up. We do have family coming round for dinner but hopefully it won't be too late a night, it usually isn't and I should still be able to make the 10PM bedtime.

 

[Kevin88660]

Day 8 - Thursday 8/6/2023

Weight: 130.7kgs - Down 0.8kgs (Started at 131.5kgs on 31/5/2023)

Diet review for yesterday: 4,468 calories, 198g protein
I stuffed up I made a stupid decision, I added a bunch of cheesecake to my health dessert. I don't even know really why I did it. It tasted ok but I didn't really want it. Then I ate it all even though I was feeling sick by the end. Left me overnight with a dry mouth and bloated stomach. Stupid decision
Result is I was over my planned calories by about 2,000 calories worth of cheesecake!
Rest of the day was pretty good. Dinner wasn't especially healthy but I'd managed to stick to the planned calories allotted for dinner, but then dessert I just threw the plan away. Not a great day diet wise

Diet goals for today:
Ok so first thing this morning I took the cheesecake and put it in the very back of our garage freezer so it's completely out of sight. I had mentioned in a previous check in that I was going to do this but then I didn't actually. I've gotta take action as soon as I know what I want to do.
I've reduced my calories for the rest of the week a little bit to try to compensate for going over yesterday. I've also tried to balance this between not cutting back too much which might lead to another binge so the cut backs I've made won't compensate entirely for yesterday over the course of the week but hopefully will limit the damage and allow me to keep working to the plan.
Porridge with raspberries and protein shake for breakfast, stir fry chicken with rice and veges and for lunch, dinner with the family but a smaller portion than usual and finishing with berries, protein powder, Greek yoghurt and no sugar jelly for dessert.

Exercise review for yesterday:
Did my morning 30 minutes walk/run with 4 x 30 second intervals. Didn't do any additional exercise during the day. Finished with 8,083 steps which is a little less than I'd expected. I am noticing that my overall steps for the day are higher when i do my morning walk/run but steps throughout the day drop off as I'm less inclined to be active and want to rest more. I'll want to keep an eye on that and maybe incorporate times when I get up and walk around the house during the day or something. Overall ok with exercise yesterday.

Exercise goals for today:
I went for a 30 minute walk but didn't do any jogging intervals this morning. Nothing else planned for the day with the goal of getting at least 7,500 steps for the day just through incidental movement.

Sleep review for yesterday:
I'm starting to come down with a cold which isn't great But it did mean I slept pretty soundly. Plus the kids are getting better so even though they did come into our bed during the night I hardly noticed as they didn't move around as move as previous nights.
I did go to bed a bit later than I would've liked at around 10:26PM. That's cause I chose to watch some extra YouTube videos while eating my big dessert of cheesecake Not too bad for sleep timing but not ideal.
Woke up with my alarm at 6AM so 7.5 hours total in bed

Sleep goals for today:
I've got the day off work tomorrow so might have a bit of a sleep in. I want to keep the bed time consistent though and stick to around 10PM and then let my body wake up naturally and I'll see what time I wake up. We do have family coming round for dinner but hopefully it won't be too late a night, it usually isn't and I should still be able to make the 10PM bedtime.

Good job to keep this going. Not easy when you have to cope with the stress of getting kids to sleep.

I tried to minimize dinner nights out with friends where a heavy meal is expected these days. One enjoyment needs to be offset by two days of significant deficit. The joy is not worth the pain later on an energy balance basis.