Dieting for those too busy minding their own business

Maroon Toyota Corolla

In a maroon Toyota Corolla 2012, which the 12 p.m. sun had made glistening, they sat quietly awaiting the arrival of their friend on this journey. They navigated between Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube, seeking fleeting dopamine hits. Naturally, their ritual involved dedicating 5-10 minutes to educational videos, ostensibly justifying their doomscrolling session.

Unbeknownst to them, a malevolent force was approaching, silently hovering over the Earth and advecting southeastward. It made occasional stops, billowed upward as if aiming to touch the Moon, and descended rapidly, swallowing anything in its path. This devouring process increased its size proportionally to the consumed object, leaving behind minuscule puffs that continued its journey.

A deafening BAMMM shattered the biosphere, followed by a less intense crash, accompanied by shattering and tinkling sounds. For a fleeting moment, these sounds harmonized. With their hearts pounding against the roof of the Corolla, a gripping fear compelled them to turn towards the source of the sound behind them. They witnessed minuscule puffs sprinting towards the bonnet, headlights, fenders, and the shattered windscreen. Additionally, a colossal, dark, translucent cloud devoid of limbs appeared, its belly filled with the remnants of its victims, presumably swallowed without chewing.

With no time to spare, as everything including their friend’s house had been obliterated, they were forced to confront the impending doom.

With the clutch firmly gripping the car floor and the gear stick positioned in neutral, they simultaneously commenced the engine while simultaneously applying the brakes. Remaining on the brakes, they shifted the stick to the first gear and subsequently released the handbrakes. For a brief moment, their foot was off the brakes, allowing the car to descend the slope at its maximum speed, reaching 57.5 kilometers per hour. This speed persisted until they reapplied the brakes, albeit gently.

Now at the base, the steam the hill freely gave while the Corolla was going down the slope had cooled off. Mini puffs had been relegated behind the Dark, and Dark was a foot away. Dark could hear their heart racing, so could they hear Dark gulping the trees they once knew. They panicked, panicked, switched to a gear 4, pressing the accelerator as hard as their feet could muster. Their left foot left the clutch and heavily rested on the brakes. Screaming, yelling, complaining, complaining until the Dark swallowed them in their Corolla.

Cheese, fried eggs, ham, Nutella, 4 slices of bread, spinach

Breakfast is served.

Ya, that was my brunch in 2018 and 2019.

In the second year of my master's, I used to work in a restaurant, especially on weekends. We close between 1-2 a.m., after which we clean up the kitchen like we'd be getting a visit from the Lebensmittelüberwachungsamt (food inspection agency) the next day. While cleaning, we make any food you want to take home, and grab a drink while at it. I always make pizza or a double-decker burger with all the goodness stacked nicely, and some fries on the side. This was my dinner/breakfast at 3-4 a.m. And I usually hit the sack after downing those. Reaching approximately 94 kg, I was surprised why I gained weight. Do you have a clue?

In 2019, I started working out in a gym close by, with a huge focus on strength training because I wanted to lose weight and gain muscle too. Talking about using two birds to kill one stone. Don't you dare, don't you even try to correct my last sentence. Instead, read it again, but this time slowly, rhythmically paced, while you use your index finger and thumb to gently stroke your chin. And now end the sentence with a long hmm hmmm, “ You're indeed a wise person.” I'm currently nodding my head in agreement, as I mirror your hmm hmmm, now I'm exclaiming "Word! Word!!”, followed by "don't leave me, don't leave me”. Get it?

After a year of consistent gym workouts, I got stronger and muscular. The increase in strength was obvious, but no one else saw the muscles, not even my mirror. I knew they were there even though they were buried deep in my fatty fats. Did I mention in addition to the workouts, I changed (the word before this bracket is very loose) my diet, added more protein, more vegetables, and fruits in this sweet, sweet, smoothie I used to make myself. I also walked outside more. So many I's, I promise I will make sure I reduce them in the next section. I swear.

“It's a lifestyle…”

Although the title of this note contains the word "diet" and even begins with it, all advice shared here should be treated as a lifestyle rather than a diet. Like the main character in the first chapter, I was excited about this weight loss journey I embarked on. Trying to leave the previous version of myself and the habits (Dark and mini puffs) behind. Of course, like everyone else, it'd be nice to go on this journey with someone else; sadly, it doesn't always work like we hoped.

Like the maroon Toyota Corolla going down the slope, as long as motivation is good enough and I've already made the first move by being consistent in the gym, it's easy, almost effortless, to keep going on this weight loss journey. Until I got to the base of the hill, and it was time to go up a hill.

At this juncture, where what got me in motion wasn't yielding the desired outcome, and Dark and mini puffs were fast approaching. Instead of giving up or letting fear of the unknown cloud my judgement, I went into the rabbit hole of fitness and nutrition. By reading scientific papers and blogs, and watching countless YouTube videos about weight loss.

So the reason why I wasn't losing weight despite being consistent in the gym was…surprise, surprise, my nutrition. It does not matter whether you want to gain or lose weight, a good nutrition is way more important than exercise. There will be another blog about fitness, right now let's talk about nutrition because nutrition is crucial.

Nutrition

Food is necessary for health and growth. The type of health or growth you'll have are determined by how, what, when, and why you eat. All these and more constitute nutrition. With respect to body fat (which should never be seen as a bad thing), there are three nutrition goals: cutting, bulking and maintaining. Body fat is important because it plays several critical roles in maintaining overall health and bodily function such as; energy storage and supply, hormone production and regulation, absorption of vitamins, protection and insulation, not to forget its role in our reproductive health, structural and cellular functions, body immunity.

Cutting

cutting = time (calories in < calories out)

When cutting, you want the calories you injest to be less than the calories you burn. If you are reading this, I'm assuming you're like me: you either don't want to count your calories or are too busy minding your own business. I'm not judging, I gotchu. You don't have to count your calories, but there's no but. You do have to do this, though.

Drink a lot of water

Drinking a lot of water is the process by which…

Start fasting every day

To do this, create an eating window or a no-eating window. An eating window is simply a period of time in the day when you can eat what you want, and you mustn't eat anything outside of this window, not even a snack. At this point, you don't have to change what you eat, only when you eat. Drink a lot of water, especially in your no-eating window. In your no-eating window, you can also take coffee or tea, with very little or no sugar, no juice, no smoothie. When you eat sugary food or drink, your body digests these carbohydrates into glucose, which enters your bloodstream and raises your blood sugar levels. In response, your pancreas quickly releases the hormone insulin. Insulin acts as a key, signaling your cells to absorb glucose from the blood for immediate energy or to store it for later use, which helps lower your blood sugar back to normal. During this no-eating window, we want your pancreas to be resting and we don't want any external sugar to be introduced into the body. This will force your body to use those fats already stored in your body as fuel to energize and fuel your entire body. This will reteach your body to use stored fats as fuel instead of waiting for and using external fuel, I mean food. Remember the formula for cutting has time in it, yes, this takes time. That’s why you have to create a specific time of the day for the no-eating window, to make it habitual, and subsequently a lifestyle. Did you see what I did there?

My no-eating window in 2019 when I started, was 6 a.m. - 12 p.m., and gradually increased it by an hour. Now it's at 6 a.m. - 5 p.m., sometimes 8 p.m. Let your no-eating period be very small in the beginning and increase it over time. This way it can be sustainable. Start with 3 or even 4 hours a day.

If you are consistent with the daily fasting, your meal portion will begin to reduce automatically because your body will seek more efficient ways to use already stored energy(body fat) and the new energy(daily meal). However, if this doesn't happen after 3-5 months, you should start to reduce your portion. You can start by replacing carbs with protein.

Protein, Protein, Protein

Remember it's a lifestyle, not a diet, so here too we want something that's sustainable. I strongly recommend you don't change what you eat or the portion size. What you should do is increase the protein content and reduce the carbohydrates; it's that simple. I still eat burgers (the ones I make myself) and sometimes pizza. I use more meat and eggs for the burger. And whenever I eat pizza at home, I add 1 or 2 cans of tuna and drink a lot of water. For my sandwich, my lordt, I took out the Nutella, fried 6 eggs with 2 cans of sardines, 2 cans of tuna, ginger, garlic, lots of pepper 🥵, spinach, etc. Furthermore, I replaced the bread with tortilla wraps to further reduce the carbs. I still eat bread if I want to, but it is protein bread.

This is how to do it: divide your plate into two. Half of the plate should be protein-rich sources like meat, fish, beans, eggs, etc., which you are used to. The other half should be further divided into two; one of them should be carbs (carbohydrates are not bad), and the remaining portion should be fats, fibres, minerals, and vitamins-rich sources like vegetables…whatever you like. This is how you should eat during the eating period. For those in the back, divide your plate into two; one side protein ultra plus max, and the other side, anything you want to eat. Additionally, you should take vitamins and mineral supplements like vitamin D, B, A, and K, zinc, calcium, magnesium, etc.

Your body digests and assimilates carbs faster than proteins and fats. Which means you'll get hungry again faster when you consume a meal that is mostly carbs than when the meal is mostly protein. Hence, besides the benefit of muscle protein synthesis, you get from consuming protein when you work out regularly, you stay full longer.

Carbs and Sugar

Gradually, substitute without replacing the carbs you eat with complex carbs. Still take sugar but reduce your sugar consumption, especially processed sugars. Your body needs sugar, and it can produce it from the carbs and proteins you consume. No need to give it more than the pancreas can handle.

Exercise

Finally, exercise.

Up till this point, the focus has been on calories in, now we switch to calories out or burning calories.

Exercise here refers to physical body movement and not gym or home workouts. You need to move your body regularly and as often as your body permits. Go for a 10+ mins walk regularly, take the stairs instead of the escalator, move around your apartment or office, sometimes skip the bus/taxi and walk, stretch before or after sleeping, etc. By doing all these, you'll be burning calories.

You should also know that your body burns calories when it's digesting (absorbing, transporting, and metabolizing nutrients from) your meal and gives off heat in the process. The table below shows the amount of calories burned during digestion.

If you do gym work out once a week, you cannot be fit as someone that does it 3 times a week, ceteris paribus. Another reason why you should eat more protein than carbs. And I'm rightfully calling digestion an internal body exercise. Nutrition is crucial.

Bulking

cutting = time (calories in > calories out)

If you are bulking, you should be drinking a lot of water, eating more protein, cutting carbs and sugar, and exercising regularly. If you are doing a muscular bulking, you should do more strength training than cardio. The perfect time to do cardio is after your strength training, or you can do it on a different day. Needless to say, you should be eating more than you burn. The strength training will increase your muscular mass and/or tone muscles depending on how often and how intense it is. I'll write a note on this soon. Nutrition is crucial.

Sleep

The importance of sleep for the entire human well-being cannot be overemphasized. During bulking, especially if you are trying to build more muscles, you should sleep and rest more. Properly space your gym workout session to give your body enough time to recover.

Maintaining

cutting = time (calories in ≃ calories out)

During maintenance, you want to do all that is mentioned in cutting and bulking. Increase or decrease strength training and cardio, based on your fitness goals. Your fasting shouldn't be too long. Nutrition is crucial.

Outro

If like the main character in the story, Dark caught up with me, what would've happened?

I would've regained my previous weight plus some more, especially if the diet plan was not sustainable and the food did not reflect what I enjoy eating. Back to the chorus "Nutrition is crucial”. For a diet to work, you must see it as a lifestyle, and not a once-off event. The food or most of it should be what you already enjoy eating. It will feel so right and natural when you introduce more protein to what you already consume, and because you already enjoy the meal, it'll be easier to sustain it for a longer time, until it eventually becomes a habit that can metamorphose into part of your lifestyle. It is the same with fasting, cutting carbs and sugar; you do it gradually.

Oh! I weighed 80 kg during cutting, now that I’m currently maintaining 84 kg. The new weight is mostly muscles and water. Don’t look too much at the scale, it doesn’t know your body composition.