Achieve Targets in Weight Loss - What I did in 2015

I've set this post up nicely to show how to achieve targets  in weight loss by defining my SMART goals and targets, showing the key statistics in reaching my goal. Now it is time to detail the gritty details of what I did to lose 15kg in 20 weeks.

You might be thinking that this figure is hardly dramatic. It is not, that's true. As I stated earlier, I wanted to lose weight in a maintainable way. This is not a quick fix solution. I hope that this can make a difference to my weight for the rest of my life.

I don't want to be writing this blog in December saying that I am dieting again. In my mind this isn't really a diet anyway. It is a change in lifestyle - fundamentally changing habits.

Eating - Super foods to Achieve Targets

I ate a whole lot less in general but a whole lot more fruit, vegetables ... and soups. I've increased my consumption of super foods. That's not to say I didn't eat them before - now I just eat more. In many cases as a replacement for junk snacks.

Top 5 Super Food Fruit Intake

1. Avocados
2. Apples
3. Bananas
4. Grapes
5. Nuts

Top 5 Vegetable Intake

1. Root vegetables
2. Asparagus
3. Kale
4. Broccoli
5. Cabbage

Top 5 General Foods Intake

1. Olive oil
2. Dark chocolate (even home-made)
3. Seeds
4. Eggs
5. Salmon

Daily Schedule

My daily meals during the week would normally omit breakfast - I know this is bad but Finnish lunchtime is so early that it hardly seemed worthwhile having breakfast. If I did have breakfast it would be a couple of boiled eggs or bran with yogurt and berries if available.

Lunchtime meal would be stir-fry vegetables with a portion of fish or a salad selection. During the weekends I would normally eat soup.

Evening meals would be soup for at least 5 nights a week. On the nights away from liquid it would be steak and vegetables or similar.

At this point in time I have almost completely cut the following from my diet

5 Things Not In My Diet Anymore

1. Pasta/noodles
2. Rice
3. Bread
4. Cheese
5. Beer

At this period I was definitely eating less but I did fill up every so often. I guess the stomach gets smaller as you get used to less food. Of course, I was taking advantage of drinking water like a boss too. Alcoholic intake was slightly restricted also, but I will write about that in the coming months.

Moving - to Achieve Targets

This can be broken down into moving and not moving. My general activity levels were around the scale expected of someone who does a desk job: around 13 000 steps which equates approximately to just over two hours of walking. When you are a desk jockey though it is quite a hard level to maintain. I basically did this by

3 Ways I Would Move More

1. Walk the dog for at least one long walk each day
2. Take an extra trip to the local shop or recycling
3. Make a conscious effort to take stairs instead of elevators

For not moving of course stretching at your desk helps a little. Whenever my activity band tells me to get up I go for a stretch then. But sleeping is vital in the process.

Sleep and metabolism are controlled by the same sectors of the brain.
When you are sleepy, certain hormones go up in your blood, and those same hormones drive appetite.

Source:  - University of Chicago on health.com.

So during these period I was pretty strict with myself. Forgoing candies, ice-cream and a multitude of food goodness that I'd been accustomed to. I don't think that I missed out too much though. I just had to think about what I ate a bit first. I made some pretty nice food, besides some delicious soups. I will be sharing some of these recipes very soon.

Do you think this would work for you?