Here I am relishing my newfound figure, but it was not always like this. It’s not that I had an overly high BMI before I embarked on my weight loss routine; I was just one fitness freak who wants to stay within the normal BMI range (18.5 – 24.9). if some folks I hang out with could achieve it, why wouldn’t I? You don’t have to be like me; just lose weight at your own pace and don’t pressure by the circumstances around you – it’s your body and your battle to win.

Back to the objective of this write-up: So, back then with a body weight of 165 pounds and BMI of 26.6 Kg/m2, I was in my late 20s then. I eventually set out to run with a 2-months weight loss plan, intending to lose 2 pounds every week. By this, I projected that at least 16 pounds of my body weight will be shed off at the end of the routine, bringing my weight to approximately 149 pounds – with the BMI being 24 Kg/m2. It is on this note, I went about the routine, and some of the key observances and activities are the things I am here to share.

First Month

Getting started was a bit of a challenge. I struggled through the first week but still went ahead to achieve the goal. My plan had both dietary intervention and exercise. As per the dietary intervention; I had to create a daily caloric deficit of 500 (calories). Since I had to burn an average of 583 calories through exercises – which I did for six days as Sunday was my rest day.

How I really did it

Oh! I forgot; I did take some time to check my average daily caloric intake. I didn’t know what this was all about until I started giving weight loss consideration. I found out that I consume meals culminating in 2,482 calories on average. So, I proceeded to get rid of some fatty foods in the pantry, substituting them with healthier choices

I’ve never been a fan of processed foods so those were never an issue. But my craving for drinks with added sugar with pastry treats was my undoing. I somewhat managed to let this go – painfully, though – and made do with some pistachio nuts for snacks. I also had whole-grain crackers, a combo of Greek yogurt with strawberries, and some fruits to snack on a couple of times.

Talking about meal servings; I had foods that are rich in fiber and proteins. Specifically, I love the delicious taste of some homemade beans and brown rice – these were my top choices. I also had some other whole-grain foodstuff in the store. Chicken breast, salmon, and eggs were readily the sources of protein I subscribed to. My meals, with portion size reduced, usually contain a substantial quantity of veggies – you would have found broccoli, cauliflower, or cabbage on my plate most of the time. These veggies supplied me with fiber that left me satiated for much longer so, hunger pang was kept at bay.

With my meal plan – which I won’t be able to share here for want of space and time – I was able to cut the calories from my diet to 1,982 with a difference of under 35 (calories) – more or less whenever I miss the exact mark. That little margin of error shouldn’t cause any significant shift for anyone, I think.

Now, letting out the sweat…

My exercise begins in the morning – right before I set out for work. I went on running at 10 min/mile – not so big on the intensity – for 30 minutes to burn around 390 calories.

Getting back at about 17:00 hours, I take my shower and cool off for about one hour. Thereafter, I take a dive into the pool for 20 minutes of moderate freestyle swimming. This sees me burning 210 calories – and 603 calories from exercising. I did this exercise routine for the first three days of the week – Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. On Thursdays; I do some fast stair climbing for 20 minutes, burning 230 calories in the process, and then walk to the office at a moderate pace for 15 mins. So, on the whole, I do burn around 280 calories. Back home; I do moderate rope jumping for 15 minutes, and wrap my exercise routine up with 15 minutes of backstroke swimming to burn 138 calories.

My routine was a little relaxed on Fridays. It begins with light running at the pace of 12 min/mile for 15 minutes and then walking at a moderate pace to the office in 15 mins, losing a combined total of 208 calories in the process. In the evening, I do some moderate swimming for 15 minutes to get rid of 114 calories and go to bed with the gym on my mind. Something about my weekday exercise routine was that the number of calories expended while I went up and down the stairs at the office was unaccounted for. There were also days I switched the routine to make it more fun.

At the end of the working week, I would have burned at least 2,779 calories, meaning I still got 721 calories to burn to make up the weekly target. So, I maximize the time I got on Saturdays by hitting the gym – and it’s always a swell time. My favorite exercise combo at the gym includes 30 minutes of impact aerobics, weight lifting (mixing things up between vigorous and moderate) for 30 minutes, and then getting on the elliptical trainer for another 15 mins. At the end of the 75 minutes – or thereabout – at the gym, I would have burned 603 calories. I will then take a swim for 15 minutes, giving off 114 calories in the process. There are no exercises for Sundays as I ensure that I have some good rest while being mindful of my diet.

Second Month

At the start of the second, I realized that my body weight had dropped to 156.55 pounds which meant I must have shed 8.45 pounds in the first month. So, I was encouraged to continue with the routine as per usual. However, I had to increase the tempo of my exercises since it takes more effort to burn calories as one’s weight drops. I run moderately at 9 min/mile for 30 minutes, and also do some vigorous weight lifting for 25 mins on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. This saw me burn 591 calories on each of these days. By the way; I had invested in some weightlifting apparatus to set up a mini-gym somewhere around the corner of my home. On Tuesdays, I do 30 minutes of swimming – 20 minutes of moderate swimming, and 10 minutes of vigorous swimming – which had me burn 344 calories. I do the swimming along with moderate running for 15 minutes – 204 calories burned. And, on Thursdays; it’s usually a mix of moderate running (15 minutes), high/low impact aerobics (30 minutes), and rope jumping (15 minutes); all these had me burning 616 calories. Lastly, on Saturday, I go to the gym to do exercises that see me burning around 565 calories.

There was a time during the second month that I noticed I wasn’t losing weight as expected – the value on the scale wasn’t just tallying with my expectations. I kept to my routine and did the calorie counting religiously but the result appeared to have reached a plateau at this point – this was sometimes around the seventh week or so. Nevertheless, I surged on, and in the end, I was only able to shed about 7.83 pounds of weight. Adding this to what I lost in the first month meant 16.28 pounds off, and my weight? – 148.72 pounds and my body now feels good about it.

Bonus Tip

Some of the other things I did that were not captured above include:

- Eating dinner early and having good sleep at night

- Turn off the TV, and keep my smartphone and devices away from the bedroom

- Moving around a water bottle – filled with water, of course

- Maintain focus

- Rarely eating out. I think I did for only did so four or five times for the whole of the two months