Photo by i yunmai on Unsplash

6 months ago I started a new job after working from home for more than a year. During that year, I started packing some extra kilograms. Not that weird considering there were some days I didn't go outside at all. But when I started my new job I got confronted with some of the limitations that my old lifestyle left me: shortness of breath, pain in my back, sore muscles,... So I decided to start dieting. Arguably a good decision, though a 1.84 meter 28 year old man that weighs 81 kilograms is not really overweight. But the method of dieting I chose is one that should have been 'pimp slapped’ out of my head.

I decided that my diet would be a combination of cardio and fasting. I limited myself to only 1, maximum 2 meals a day. I omitted breakfast, switched a lot of the things I ate for so called 0 calorie (and 0 flavor) alternatives. I stopped touching bread and other sugars. So to wrap it up I wasn’t getting the ‘bad stuff in’... small problem though, I wasn’t getting the ‘good stuff’ in either.

In the beginning there wasn’t any problem. I felt better, was losing weight and looked healthier. I remember that after 2 - 3 weeks I stopped feeling tired at work. Somehow I always got tired in the afternoon and wanted to go for a nap. That change made a huge impact on my productivity, which translated to being happier with my work. I figure that at that time I was living from the nutrients that I ate and my stored reserves. But the longer I dieted the less those reserves became.

The longer I dieted the more “issues” I got. You see, when you burn that amount of weight, by omitting food and doing cardio you’re going to burn more than only fat. It started with my wrists, every 2 weeks I had to change my watches’ wristband cause it would be too big. Simply due to losing volume in my muscles. Not that big of a deal you’d say, sure, but the muscle volume I lost wasn’t limited to my wrists. I mentioned that I had sore muscles when I started working. This was most likely caused due to a bad posture while sitting because I was tired. Well the pain is back, not because my posture is as bad as it was in the beginning. But because I lost so much muscles in my core. The muscles in your core (abs and lower back) are some of the most important pillars of your body. They take a lot of stress you put on your joints. Something especially important to keep in account when you have a job that requires a lot of sitting. When you have a job that requires a lot of movement you’ll often train them while moving. Desk jobs need more attention cause without any training whatsoever they won't get much exercise. While they still need to support you all day.

The negative points where not limited to only muscle loss. I look so much paler, which is of course also due to the winter period but still. My hair breaks and falls out way more, cause yes, your hair needs a lot of nutrients as well. And everyone that has/had long hair knows that the biggest challenge of long hair is making sure it stays long. I’ve been under the weather more often than before and more.

The hardest part now is by far the feeling that I have to start all over again from 0. I need to start doing workouts, which are going to be harder than they were 6 months ago. I need to learn a new way of eating. One that starts slow and gradually increases to avoid the risk of a yo-yo effect. Which is going to be another change to me and my environment, after just getting used to the one I started 6 months ago. Cause let’s be honest we all love our routines. And everything together it’s difficult to accept that I’m further away from my goal than I was half a year ago, while I already worked so hard.

So if you ever feel like losing weight and starting a healthier lifestyle, great! Let me start by telling you that I know you can do it. But please listen to all the advice and warnings of food experts. A healthy balanced diet is, not in a million light years, the same as not eating.

Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://foreveraverage.com/2019/03/17/from-81-kg-to-69-kg-in-6-months-but-dont-do-what-i-did/