I recently decided to stop being fat. Over the last few years, I've gained 40 lbs of unwelcome body fat. It's no mystery how this happened. I worked at a job that was largely sedentary, and I ate a lot of high-carb foods (mostly pizza and sandwiches) and regularly drank sodas. I'm technically obese at this point, though I'm not quite what I would normally think of as obese.
Today, I decided to change all of this. I want to ultimately become as generally athletic as possible. My goal for 2019 is to lose the weight and improve my long-distance running times. In 2020, I want to run a marathon. I don't want to just be a runner, though. I'm currently focused on cardio, but I will be doing some strength training as well. I'm not sure where I'm going with this after the marathon yet.
To lose body fat, I'm going with a basic low-carb, high-protein diet plan, coupled with a progressive cardio routine. There are lots of diet plans to follow, but the ones that actually work are all based on the same basic concept of avoiding carbohydrates and eating as much fat and protein as you want, so that's what I'm doing.
It's worth mentioning that I know this works for me as I've done it before. I love carbs, but it's much easier to avoid them than it is to try to cut calories long-term while eating as many carbs and I would like.
According to the American Council on Exercise, male athletes should have body fat of 6-13%, and obese for men is defined as 25%+.
Body Fat Percentage Norms | ||
| Description | Women | Men |
| Essential Fat | 10-13% | 2-5% |
| Athletes | 14-20% | 6-13% |
| Fitness | 21-24% | 14-17% |
| Acceptable | 25-31% | 18-24% |
| Obesity | >32% | >25% |
I'm starting at 241.6 lbs and 28.7% body fat. My initial goal is to get down to 13% body fat this year without losing muscle mass, which should put me at 198 lbs.
Current vs. Goal Body Composition | ||||
| Weight | BF% | Fat Mass | Lean Mass | |
| Starting | 241.6 | 28.7 | 69.3 | 172.3 |
| Goal | 198.0 | 13.0 | 25.7 | 172.3 |
I'm using a body composition scale to track my fat percentage to make sure I'm not losing muscle with the fat. The one I'm using is by Weight Gurus. I think I bought it at Target. I got the cheaper one that uses your phone's camera and a companion app rather than Bluetooth. It mostly works fine, and the app stores and tracks my weight and fat percentage. If I were buying one now, I would probably spend the extra $20 for the Bluetooth model.
That's it for now. I'll be posting semi-regular updates and pointers for the foreseeable future. Stay tuned.
