How I lost 5 kilos in 6 weeks... and you can too

The following article is about a personal experience. I am not a nutritionist, a fitness trainer, or an expert on health. I simply want to share a few things that have worked for me in shedding some extra kilos. They may work for you too, or they may not; in any case, an expert could probably help you more than I can.

OK. First, a little context about me. I was thin throughout my childhood and teenage years. At around 25 I started gaining weight: from weighing about 70 kg, I went all the way up to 85 kg. According to some formulas, my ideal weight is somewhere between 70 and 75 kg, which meant I was at least 10 kg overweight. Do you have any idea how much 10 kg is? What does it look like? Imagine five 2-liter bottles of Coca-Cola (1 liter equals 1 kg). OK, imagine putting those five 2-liter bottles in a backpack and walking around with it on all day. I was still in my twenties and felt tired all the time. I felt uncomfortable, I was in poor physical condition, I got out of breath easily, and I was embarrassed for my girlfriend to see my belly. I even bought a compression garment to help hide it a little. Can you imagine? Putting on that stupid, uncomfortable thing every day. I reached a point when I decided I had to lose weight, so I joined the spinning class my girlfriend attended and, within a few months, got down to 74 kg. I lost 11 kg, returned to an ideal weight, and that led to a healthier life. I started running until I became a marathon runner, and in general I was doing well. The problem was that I fell for the great myth that as long as you exercise, you can eat whatever you want, so I never changed my eating habits. Little by little I went up to 75 kg and then 77 kg. I stayed there for a while; I was training and felt good, but then I began gaining more weight again, and about a year ago I reached 79/80 kg. It was not only because I had let myself go. Over the previous year I had also started training harder at the gym in addition to running, so my back and shoulders got broader and I gained some size in my arms, which is only logical. Overall I felt good and did not feel overweight, but I noticed that my running times had worsened because I was carrying a few extra kilos. For several months I was “struggling” between my running training and my gym training, trying to gain muscle while losing weight. This post is about how I managed to lose weight again in a short time while continuing my training.

I thought of writing this because obesity is one of the most dangerous epidemics of our time. Being overweight is not an aesthetic problem but a health problem. Many illnesses and problems arise from living with excess weight, and although not all of us can have a Men's Health or Woman's Health magazine body, we can live healthier lives without extreme diets or spending all day at the gym. It comes down to small, smart decisions that anyone can make every day to get started and achieve results.

Over the last 6 weeks I lost 5 kilos, largely because I changed some of my eating habits. No, I did not go on a diet. I could not go on a diet because I love food and I am 1000% carnivorous, so I could not start eating little plants like a cow. As for my training, although I increased it to some extent, I do not feel it was the main reason for the result. Every month I run approximately 150 or 160 kilometers. Last month I ran 200 km. It was more, but it was not a major change for someone like me who is used to running and going to the gym 5 days a week. The small changes in the way I eat produced the result, and I am sure they can produce results for anyone.

The real key—and most scientists and doctors agree on this—is combining exercise with an appropriate diet. I will talk a little about exercise later; first I will talk about what I did with the way I eat. And no, I did not go on a diet or start eating little plants. I simply began eating more intelligently. I did not get this from any book or article. These are small things I implemented intuitively and, as I have already said, I am neither a nutritionist nor a fitness trainer, just someone who had an experience and is sharing it. Here is what I did:

Eat in moderation

It sounds obvious, but it is not. Surely we have all thought about eating in moderation without actually putting it into practice. I realized that the portions I was eating were larger than necessary, and it occurred to me that perhaps I could make them smaller without going hungry. For example, whenever I went out for a hamburger, I used to order a double. Do I really need the double? No. Now I order a single, and it turns out it satisfies my hunger just as well as the double. Another example is soft drinks at fast-food restaurants—you know how you can refill your drink as much as you want? Ask yourself whether you really need that much soda. The cup is already large, and on top of that you are going to refill it? No. I used to finish eating and refill the cup before leaving. What for? I do not know, because it is “free,” I suppose, but we do not need that second helping of soda (sugar). Do you need to order the largest pizza? Do you need to buy two doughnuts instead of one? The large frapuccino or ice cream? You can treat yourself sometimes, but in moderation. What if you buy the small frapuccino, and what if you do not have one every day but once a week instead?

Notice that so far I am not trying to convince you to eat little plants or drink juices or stop eating. I am simply saying you should eat in moderation. I do eat the foods I mentioned—hamburgers, pizza, soda, desserts, and so on—but in moderation and... NOT EVERY DAY.

Eliminate the extras

OK, this is something very important that I discovered: extras are those little things you may eat during the day that you truly do not need. You do not need them. You do not need them. You do not need them. The chips, the pastry, the little Coke, and all those things you buy at the convenience store. Those tiny things make you gain weight because they add up, and if you do the math, by the end of the week you have eaten 10 bags of chips, 7 pastries, and 20 little Cokes. On their own those things seem harmless, but when they accumulate, they are dangerous. I eliminated extras from my life, and you know what? I am not suffering. I love drinking Coca-Cola, and whenever I walked into a convenience store or supermarket it was a good excuse to buy one. No more. I still drink Coca-Cola, but only when I go to a restaurant on the weekend. That is my rule: if I am not at a restaurant on a weekend, I do not drink Coke. A doughnut, an empanada, oh! a chocolate. No—if I am not hungry, I do not eat. Have you ever noticed that many times we eat not because we are hungry, but because we are anxious or bored? When you are bored at home and open the fridge looking for something to eat, have a large glass of water to fill your stomach instead and go do something productive. Extras are the silent killer. In winter I loved having a coffee while walking my dogs in the park, and in summer, an ice cream. No more afternoon coffee and no more afternoon ice cream. Again, I am not talking about eating little herbs. I am talking about continuing to eat what you like in moderation and eliminating the extras. How many tortillas do you stuff yourself with at a meal—five, six? They are extras. I no longer eat tortillas unless I am at a restaurant on the weekend, and I do not eat six; I eat two, or three at most. That weekend-restaurant rule helps me stay disciplined.

I rationalized it this way: that little dessert, that little Coke, that little tortilla can give me pleasure for a few seconds or perhaps a few minutes. Once it is over, the pleasure is gone and I am left with nothing, only a few extra kilos accumulating on my body. The pleasure of feeling good, agile, and proud of my body, however... that lasts all day, every day.

Substitute foods

This is simple: there are foods we can substitute in our daily diet. As an example, I will tell you about the sandwich I eat every day when I return from the gym. It was a simple sandwich: white bread, a few slices of ham, American cheese, queso asadero, and a touch of Parmesan. One day I came across an article discussing cheeses with more or less fat, and it recommended some of the least fattening ones. It turned out that American cheese and Parmesan were among the “worst,” so it occurred to me to replace all three cheeses in my sandwich with queso Oaxaca, which happens to be one of the lower-fat choices. And while I was at it, I thought, why stop there? So I replaced the white bread with whole-wheat bread and switched from pork ham to turkey breast. As in this small example, there may be many things in your diet that you can substitute to make your food healthier.

Water, water, water

Speaking of substitutions, I have never liked plain water—never—but ask me what I drink all the time now: water. I used to drink flavored water and soda all the time; now I drink only water. Contrary to what advertising tries to make us believe, WATER DOES NOT MAKE YOU LOSE WEIGHT, but it does not make you gain weight either. Replace everything you drink with water. Perhaps on the weekend, when you are at a restaurant, you can have that small glass of Coke or that little beer, but during the week, only water.

Avoid sugar at night

I read in some article that consuming sugar after six in the evening was not advisable. It said something about digestion not working properly during the night while you sleep; honestly, I do not remember, but it occurred to me not to eat sugary things for dinner. In fact, not to eat dinner if I am not hungry. I used to enjoy a doughnut or a pastry at night. Not anymore—not even a small glass of orange juice, which I like so much (we will talk about that later). No sugar at night. And when you are wondering what to have for dinner, be honest and assess whether you are hungry. If you are not hungry, you do not need dinner. Are you bored? Drink that large glass of water and do something productive.

Scale and calories

I read a study about the habits of people who stay slim, and do you know what one of their most important habits is? They weigh themselves at least once a week. It is impossible to fight an enemy you do not know. If you want to lose weight or maintain your weight, you need to weigh yourself every day. The first thing I do when I arrive at the gym is weigh myself, and here is an important tip: record your weight in an app. I use the Health app that comes with the iPhone to track several things, including my weight. Seeing your progress—or lack of progress—on a graph over days or weeks will help you know what you are doing right or wrong. Are you losing weight? Keep doing what you are doing. Are you not losing any? You are doing something wrong.

I have never really known how to count calories. The information on food packaging is deliberately confusing because it misleadingly talks about servings, not specifically how many calories that food contains. A serving is so many grams and the product weighs so many grams, so you have to use a rule of three to calculate it, and honestly, I do not always have the desire or patience to calculate every food item at the supermarket. But you know what? Checking calories gives you a clear perspective on which foods you might need to eliminate or replace. Start paying attention to the calories in food. And if you exercise, you have a good point of reference. For example, you might see that you burn 100 calories in half an hour on the elliptical, while that little cake you are about to eat has 200 calories. In other words, it is equivalent to an hour on the elliptical. That damn little cake is going to cost you an hour on the elliptical tomorrow—do you still want to eat it?

Be smart

Well, this point may be the hardest because not everyone can be smart, but let us say that more than being smart, you need to be informed. There is a great deal of misinformation and many myths about food that truly harm people. Some things have to be researched, but others are simply logical, and if you stop to think about them for a moment, you will figure them out. Example: “Today during my lunch break I had a little salad. I am so healthy.” OK, but all that dressing you soaked the salad in is pure fat. You swallowed 200 milliliters of dressing and think you ate healthily? And what about that super-sweet agua fresca that was pure sugar and was like drinking a liter of Coke? You did not eat that healthily, did you? The guy who just ate a hamburger and a Coke consumed exactly the same number of calories as you, but perhaps he knows how much he ate, while you fool yourself into believing that you eat healthily and wonder why you keep gaining weight. “Oh, I am so healthy. I was hungry at night and had a little plate of fruit for dinner.” Slap Fruit is pure sugar. What did we say about not consuming sugar at night? Did it never occur to you that fruit is sweet because it contains sugar? “But my little juice...” Slap I am telling you: sugar. Fruit is sugar, and it would be perfectly fine to eat it in the morning when you need sugar for the rest of the day, but not at night. And this is what I mentioned earlier about orange juice. Lately I really enjoy drinking orange juice, but did you know that a glass of orange juice has as much sugar as a glass of Coca-Cola? So when do I drink orange juice? In the morning before going out for a 10-kilometer run, because my body is going to need sugar. Never during the day, never at night. “But juice is very healthy because my grandma told me...” Slap Many foods are very healthy, but you need to be smart and know when to consume them. Are you going to run a marathon? Eat a shitload of pasta and drink juice; you are going to need carbohydrates and sugar. Are you going out for dinner? Perhaps you should not eat that huge plate of pasta, which is all carbohydrates you are not going to use. “OK, but during the day I drink Gatorade, which is what athletes drink because on TV you can see that... I know, a slap, right?” Yes, Slap. Gatorade is a training drink. It has carbohydrates; it is not a diet drink. It is perfectly fine if you are training intensely, but not for drinking like water throughout the day. What did we say about being informed?

Exercise

OK, we have already talked about food; now let us talk about exercise. I do not know how to say this gently, so I will just say it: you have to exercise. Not to lose weight, but to be healthy. In fact, according to some studies, exercise is less effective for losing weight than controlling what you eat. It turns out that when you engage in intense physical activity, the body tends to conserve energy, and so you do not lose as much weight. Every day at the gym I see overweight people who go every day and work hard without losing a single kilo. What happens is that they think they will lose weight by exercising, but the truth is that without changing their diet, it will take them a long time to see results.

I love exercising. I run an average of 10 kilometers a day and walk another 3 or 4 during the day, in addition to doing an hour of machines and weights at the gym. That is my daily exercise. I want to convince everyone to exercise to be healthy and strong, but the reality is that if you want to lose weight, you will have to follow my advice above—or better yet, consult a professional, find a nutritionist who can help you, and be very disciplined.

If you do not like exercising, it is probably because you have not found the right kind for you. There are many things you can do: you can run, ride a bicycle—even walking is exercise. There are many kinds of gyms and very different aerobic exercise classes, involving dance, et cetera. And do you know what you can start doing? Walk everywhere. Try to walk as much as you can during the day. Do not use escalators; use the regular stairs. Try to be more active.

Exercise is very important, and it has been proven that the ideal formula for losing weight is a good diet combined with exercise. But food is the most important part.

Something that happens very often is overcompensation. Over-com-pen-sa-tion. You exercised, and now you think you can have an extra or eat a lot because you already burned calories, right? Double slap. The moment you eat that extra slice of pizza, you are consuming more calories than you burned at the gym that morning. Do not overcompensate. Eat in moderation.

So those are some of the things I did with the way I eat. I still eat delicious food, I still eat what I like, but in moderation and without the extras. It is not difficult; anyone can do it, and you truly will feel better and get very excited as you lose those extra kilos.