I am currently at about 13-14 percent body fat. I'd like to get that down to 10-12. We'll see. Remember, that's down from 35 percent body fat. This morning I weighed 201 pounds. My weight continues to drop ever so gradually, even though I'm not trying to lose a lot of weight. My goals are to eat healthy, exercise regularly, and get plenty of sleep at night. If the Lord blesses me with more fat loss, that's great. If not, I'm not going to stress out over it.
Here are 2 things that have helped me make consistent progress during my fat loss journey. Maybe they can help you as well.
1. I eat basically the same thing every day.
2. I eat at more or less the same time every day.
My daily breakfast consists of a plain Bojangles sausage biscuit (no mayo or jelly) and two cups of their delicious coffee. Good source of carbs and protein to get my day started. I have this around 7:00 each morning.
Around 2:00 pm (after exercising and farm chores) I have my big meal of the day. Every day my meals are tasty and nutritious. Here's a sampling of home cooked meals I've enjoyed the past couple of days:
Roast beef.
Chicken tikka masala.
Southern style baked shrimp.
I hardly ever stray from this routine, usually only when I'm eating out with family (which I love to do!) or when I'm traveling and having to eat on airplanes (which I do not love to do). I eat for purpose as much as for pleasure. Two meals a day works for me, but it's definitely not for everybody. I rarely snack, but when I do it's almost always on nuts or on fruits such as melon, watermelon, strawberries, blueberries, grapes, or pineapple. The main thing is to maintain about a daily 500-calorie deficit. I also drink about a gallon of water every day.
I realize that this way of eating doesn't seem very "normal." But getting lean requires an understanding of eating behavior and especially how to manage certain foods that are designed to make us overeat. In fact, I'd say that what is considered "normal" in today's eating environment is what has led us to have more than 70 percent of Americans be overweight or obese. This is a solvable problem, not because your cravings go away completely, but because you understand them, accept them for what they are, and have a strategy for dealing with them. To get results you have to eat consciously and deliberately. That's how you get lean and stay lean without starving yourself.
At the end of the day, weight management is all about structure and consistency. If you want to be lean and healthy, then you have no choice but to be picky about what you eat, and perhaps even when.
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| Today's progress pic. |