How did I gain weight in the first place
Growing up, I was a very skinny kid. I stayed the same throughout my high school time. I would look up to others who were bigger in size and wished I was like them. Gaining weight and becoming stronger were my dreams. The problem was I wouldn’t like eating much. My appetite was at the very bottom.
Did I know that just by eating more food that I liked I could add more weight? No, I thought that just happens naturally. Also, the home cooked food was not appealing to me and there wasn’t a culture of fast food back then in Nepal.
I moved here in Australia in 2007 to pursue my university degree. I discovered the new world of junk food. Of course, there were healthy, nutritious foods as well, but did I know the difference? Again, no. I didn’t significantly change until 2009 and then my appetite that was sleeping for my whole entire life woke right up.
I loved eating, thanks to the high-fat foods that I liked the most. I was very happy to see my weight going up every month and so was my mom. For her it was evident that I was living a pretty good life over here.
In 2 years of time, I gained 20 kg (44 pounds). At that time around, I had recently started working in an office as a software engineer. It was my first ‘sit all day’ kindda job. I weighed 75 kg and looking at my size I thought I was very strong but there was no way to measure that as I didn’t take part in any kind of sports or physical activity.
I figured out I was very weak when I went back to visit my family in Nepal. I couldn’t even walk 10 minutes slightly uphill. I had to take a rest 3 times along the way. When I came back, I simply carried out my usual life. I did nothing to improve my strength. Actually, I didn’t even know it was possible to do so.
What got me started to lose weight
Three years ago, in 2020, I came across an office worker in the kitchen of my coworking place. We ate lunch together. He was having salad and I had two chicken schnitzel sandwiches. He said he was trying to lose some weight.
From this small conversation I learned that you could eat less food than what your body requires and be just fine. Doing some further research on this topic I learned that your body could draw the energy from your fat stores and use it when it falls short on the food that you consume.
I decided to give it a try on myself. I was the type of person who would instantly get a severe headache if I didn’t eat right on time. It was a huge stopper, but I didn’t let it break off my plan. After a few days, I found that it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.
It was my mindset that got me to believe that if I didn’t eat enough or on time, I would get a headache. The more I believed in it, the more I was pushed into it. Changing my mindset and committing to the plan was enough to conquer this initial phase.
Staying hungry is a skill. Hunger is inevitable if you are trying to lose weight, but as with any other skills, you can get better by doing it more often. Also, you can minimize your hunger by drinking tea/coffee, going for a walk or engaging yourself in something that you love.
It’s very important to keep yourself hydrated all the time as eating less expels the stored water from your body and makes you dehydrated. You should also take some electrolytes to make sure your body gets enough of them.
I got very hungry after a few days so I started searching for some motivation online so I could stick to my plan. I discovered some structured diet plans that seemed promising. I picked the Ketogenic diet as it allowed me to have ghee, butter, and cheese that I really liked. It felt magical.
I had to do a ton of research on it first though as eating more fat to lose fat obviously seemed counterproductive to me. I also looked like an idiot to my family and friends during mealtimes. I would just awkwardly smile and carry on with my fat loaded food. I carefully monitored my protein intake as well to make sure I don’t get protein deficiency and lose muscle instead of fat.
At the end this weird science worked. I didn’t get as hungry and managed to lose 9 kg (19 pounds) in 5 weeks. At this point I stopped the Keto diet and started eating normal but at maintenance calories.
From here, I took the weight loss slow and focused more on strength training. I also incorporated ‘lean bulking’ which is eating slightly more than your maintenance calories. I changed my diet to be more protein focused. I consumed at least 60g of protein. My further journey looked like this-
4 months – lean bulk (eating 10% more than the maintenance calories)
2 months – low calories (eating 30% less than the maintenance calories)
4 months – lean bulk
2 months – low calories
Following this process, in one year of time, I brought my weight down from 75 kg to 60 kg. I managed to lose 15 kg and gain some muscles and a lot of strength and stamina.
I fell into a trap on my first lean bulk and ended up eating a bit too much as I couldn’t control my appetite that came back as bigger and stronger. I gained back 4 kg in one month. I let that happen because at the beginning I thought it was all muscle. There’s no way that you can gain that kind of muscle in a month. Realistically you should aim to increase 0.5 kg of body weight during your lean bulk and of course followed by proper strength training.
What pushed me to keep going
It’s easy to lose weight but it’s harder to maintain it. I managed to maintain my weight by changing how I ate. I included more high protein foods in my diet and lowered the amount of carbs and fat.
Eating protein rich meals is not a seasonal diet for me anymore, it’s my lifestyle now. Even when I go on a holiday, I automatically order meals that have higher protein. It has become my habit. Eating more protein gives you the feeling of fullness on fewer calories. It also keeps you full for longer so you don’t run into a risk of overeating.
Motivating💪🏼💪🏼