Lose weight stupid.

That’s what I used to tell myself fairly often, “lose weight stupid." I’d look at my fat stomach and tell the tire around my waist that I would soon destroy it with eating properly and exercise, but it was always tomorrow, I’ll start tomorrow. Waiting until tomorrow would inevitability lead to many more months of inaction. And being a person who has begun a diet multiple times I can honestly say that the start is always the most difficult part. But, you need only look down to your shoes for inspiration because Nike isn’t kidding around; you have to quit being a dumb asshole and Just Do It! On that note, I’m waiting for Nike to change their slogan to “quit being a dumb asshole… just do it”, but I pitched them the idea and I later came to the conclusion on my own that it’s too advanced for them, too revolutionary of an advertising slogan.

Well, sometimes it’s difficult to ‘just do it’; sometimes you’ll make any excuse in the book to put off a diet. “Oh, but I don’t go grocery shopping until next week, I’ll do it then. I have plenty of time, that wedding isn’t for six months.” Stop the excuses and start your diet now.

The word diet usually has distressing connotations when people think about it, mostly due to the fact that no one really wants to be on a diet. The word ‘diet’ by itself is suggestive that your daily meals will be structured to lose weight or eat more healthily for an extended and given period of time. A diet suggest eat right for six months, lose weight and then you’re done. Well, that’s right, but you’re not about to go on a diet.

Losing weight and feeling better extends beyond simply eating foods that are more balanced and better for you, it extends into your daily routine itself. So, we want to get away from the word ‘diet’ and use a word that is interchangeable but also implies a healthier lifestyle altogether – that word is habit. To lose weight and feel better you must establish more than simply a better diet; you must also establish better eating habits. The time of day and how often you eat is nearly as important as what to eat. You need to keep your metabolism active throughout the day by never letting your metabolic rate slowdown and definitely don’t let it stop. Never go more than four hours without a meal. Hopefully telling you what I did will help you maintain a healthier body and lifestyle.

I’m not some health expert, nor do I have an education in fitness or nutrition, I’m not trying to sell anything or ask for any type of compensation. Hopefully this will imply that I’m at least not trying to take advantage of anyone with some stupid fake pills that miraculously make you lose weight or some crazy seaweed wrap drink to help you shed pounds. I’m simply a guy who did something to lose weight and it worked, easy as that. I’m just trying to help out my fellow people by letting them help themselves. I always wanted to figure something out but I just felt like I didn’t know how to start. I always felt like if someone would just show me how, then I could do it. So here it is for those of you who have ever felt the same way, this is how I lost 70 lbs (31.75 kg).

Daily Routine

Wake up and make something for breakfast that is very fast to prepare and make it immediately after you wake. You’ll want this meal to be high in carbohydrates because you’re going to need the energy. This is your first meal of the day and this early meal will provide you with the most energy. Also, the early-day carbs will be given the balk of your waking hours to be burned throughout the rest of the day. Breakfast should be a high-carb, low-fat, whole grain meal. After this, stay away from carbs (NO carb diets are bad, Low carb is a different story).

Oh yeah, I hope you like water, that’s all you’re going to be drinking.

Breakfast

This should be a high-carb, low-fat, whole grain meal.

Oatmeal

1 cup of plain oatmeal in a bowl, pour milk until flush with oats, heat in microwave on high for 2-3 ½ minutes (microwave strength will vary the length of time needed, watch closely the first few times to make sure the oats don’t flow over and so you can gauge how long your micro needs). Stir after removing from microwave. I like to slice a banana into mine and put about a teaspoon of honey over the top.

Cereal

Pour milk in bowl with cereal, shovel into face, and then punch self in face if you don’t know how to do this. A zero sugar, whole grain, no preservative and glucose-free cereal is fine with low-fat milk if microwave oatmeal is too time-consuming one particular morning.

Now that you’ve eaten immediately after waking you should note the time – you’re going to want to eat approximately every four hours. And I don’t mean starting to cook at four hour intervals; I mean you should be sitting down to begin eating by the fourth hour. So, say you’re up at 8 am; you should be done eating by 8:15. Then you’re at work by 9 and your lunch break should be at 12 pm, and hopefully you’re able to be eating dinner by 4-5 pm. You must form this healthy habit of eating on a regular schedule and it needs to be spaced similarly EVERY DAY. Eating on timed intervals, on a daily basis is very healthy… trust me, I’m not a doctor. Seriously though, it’s true.

Lunch & Dinner

Lunch and dinner are basically the same concept meal-wise, a meat portion with vegetables. So, I’m going to simply rattle-off a bunch of recipes for the meat portion of the meal below. Know that every one of these meat portions should be sided with a large (or so desired) helping of vegetables. When I first started I might make an entire can of green beans or half a bag of frozen vegetables with each meat portion. On that note, canned foods are by default higher in sodium which should be avoided, obviously canned vegies are not bad for you, but frozen or fresh is preferable. Frozen or fresh vegies is your best bet, learn to stay away from canned preservatives and their very high sodium content and you’ll be good on vegies. Your most healthy choice is to steam broccoli, but you can have any of the following: green beans, sweet potato, cauliflower, and or carrots. I usually boil the vegies, but you lose nutrients by boiling.

To cook vegies you can usually follow the instructions right on the bag. More often than not though, you can simply place frozen vegies into boiling water for 5-6 minutes, drain water and they’re done. Put them in for less time and they’re too tough and if they’re in for any longer than 5-6 minutes they’ll be a soggy mess. Now, moving along to the meat portion, I’ll go from easiest to prepare to most difficult.

Lunch and Dinner should be a high-protein, low-fat meal.

Seasoned Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast

Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast

Seasoning Salt

Garlic Powder

Basil or Parsley Flakes

Place frozen chicken breast in (toaster) oven on a cookie sheet and set to broil for 9 minutes. After 9 minutes, flip chicken breast and apply light coat of seasoning salt (Lawery’s), garlic powder, and sprinkle with your choice of basil or parsley flakes. After spicing, place spiced-side up and put the chicken in for an additional 9 minutes. After the 9 minutes, flip once more and season the plain side the exact same way and place back in the oven for an additional 4-7 minutes. I usually do it for 5, but every chicken breast is different. Cut the chicken at its thickest point and make sure that the chicken is white all of the way through. If fully cooked, enjoy.

Honey Mustard Pork Chops

4 Fresh Boneless Pork Loins

½ cup of Dijon Mustard

½ cup of Honey

1 teaspoon of Black Pepper

2 Zip-Lock bags

First prepare the pork chop marinate by filling a cup half-way with Dijon mustard and the other half with honey. Add the teaspoon of black pepper and stir the contents until there is a unified consistency. Now that you can’t tell where the honey starts and the mustard begins you’ll want to pour half of the mixture in each of the two zip-lock bags. Before placing the pork chops in the bags rinse the chops under cool water on each side for a few seconds. Massage the meat until you feel the light layer of greasy fat wash away. Place two chops in each bag and seal them tight as to let all of the air out. Mark the hour of the day and place them in the fridge, you’ll be eating them sometime 24 hours from then.

To cook the honey mustard chops place them in the oven on a cookie sheet and set to broil. Cook on each side for 7-10 minutes depending on thickness.

Dressed-up Seared Salmon

2-4 Salmon Fillets

Light Balsamic Vinaigrette Salad Dressing

Lemon Juice

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Lastly, you’ll need one of those little Tupperware containers that lunchmeats are packaged in occasionally (or something that is generally the same size Tupperware) for each pair of salmon fillets. Click to see the general size of the container I'm talking about.

Before you start this, make sure your salmon is fully thawed, 3-4 hours at room temperature should be enough.

The salmon is the most challenging meat recipe of the bunch, but it is the best-tasting one. First, you prepare the marinate by covering the interior-bottom of the Tupperware container with a mixture of ¾ Light Balsamic Vinaigrette and ¼ lemon juice. Stir the mixture and then place the fillets side-by-side in the marinate. Pack the fillets in tight so you don’t let the top layer of marinate (top layer is the next step) seep under. Next, pour a layer of Light Balsamic Vinaigrette and lemon juice to the same mixture proportions on top of the salmon fillets. In other words, put dressing and juice in the bottom, place fish on top, then cover fish with more dressing and lemon juice. Let the salmon soak for 30 minutes. Use this time to go soak your hand and face in ice if you didn’t know how to make cereal.

Five minutes before your 30 minute marinate time is up, prepare the pan and olive oil for searing the salmon. Also, turn your oven on to bake at 325 degrees. Place the pan on a stovetop at medium heat for several minutes and pour a zigzag of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (roughly 2 tablespoons) across the pan, let heat for several minutes. You’ll know the pan and oil is hot enough when the oil wants to form together and not stay in the zigzag pattern.

Before placing the salmon fillets on the pan, dust (extra light) each of the fillets with a light coat of seasoning salt and garlic powder and then sprinkle an even coat of basil. Use long tongs to place the fillets in the pan, on the oil, seasoned-side down. Sear for 2 minutes. Use this time to season the side that is up in the same way you seasoned the side that is currently being seared. After 2 minutes, flip to the newly seasoned side for an additional 1-2 minutes.

After searing for 2 minutes on each side, take the fillets from the pan and place them on a cookie sheet. Immediately after, place the cookie sheet with fillets in the oven that you have had heated to 325 degrees. Bake at 325 for 6-10 minutes (usually around 8 minutes for 2-4 fillets). The bake time differs depending on how many fillets, oven size, fillet thickness, and spacing of the fish. Keep a close eye on them after 5 minutes; this is the most important part of making certain they turn out delicious. As soon as the centers of the thickest portions are no longer red-pink, and have turned to a very light-pink, pull the fillets out. Next, enjoy your mouthwatering, melts-in-your-mouth morsels of Dressed Seared Salmon.

AFTER DINNER

You’re going to get very hungry by the time you go to sleep; this is part of what makes it so easy in wanting to eat immediately when you wake in the morning. You must fight the urge to eat after dinner; the very beginning will be the most difficult because your appetite will be as big as your stomach. You must give your stomach time to shrink. Not eating at night will get easier with a few weeks of this practice. You can have an apple or a banana 2-3 hours after dinner, but you absolutely must stop eating four hours before you lay down to fall asleep. In time, learn to cut this ‘snack’ meal out of your schedule as well.

If you form these healthy eating habits you will lose weight. It’s as simple as that, that and a bit of exercise, but that's a conversation for a different time. That that that that.