I lost weight over 15 years ago and have kept all the habits to stay in shape

Back in 2006, I was looking at pictures of my holiday. One featured me in the pool and I did not like it one bit. Somehow I never noticed that my belly had grown substantially. It was time to change things up if I wanted to be able to share my pool pictures with other people.

Definitely not me in 2006. Image by Matan Ray Vizel from Pixabay.

This article may be a bit lengthy for you, but I can’t tell it properly without taking you along on my journey. Consider getting a snack before you start reading. Instead of providing a TL-DR, I have highlighted some of bits of my best motivation boosters in italic so that you don’t miss them in this wall of text.

At the time I was 30, weighing over 80 kg (175 lbs) with my 1.75m (5'9") height. I used to be very athletic. In my twenties, I used to go out and exercise daily, but that had been replaced by work and leisure time in bars with friends.

I did not want to go on a diet, I did not want to do anything too radical. I wanted to lose weight and sustain my goal over the years. I broke down my problem into a very simple equation: if I eat more than I burn, I’ll get fat. No research was involved. This made sense to me, so I analyzed my eating patterns and activities that burn calories.

My past ‘exercise’ patterns

I made a list of all my daily exercise:

Walk out of my house, walk to the car.
Get out of the car, walk into the office
Leave the office, walk to the car
Get out of the car and walk to my house
The weekends looked the same, but with the grocery store instead of the office. Oh, and a day of not going anywhere.

I know what you’re thinking: how can someone with so much daily exercise gain weight? As incredible as it seems, I decided there was room for improvement here.

My past eating patterns

My eating habits were not as shocking as my ‘exercise’.

Breakfast: crunchy oats (my body needs the fiber!)
Lunch: sandwiches at the cafeteria. Usually with something like ham and cheese. Or peanut butter and cheese. Obviously sometimes complemented with a greasy snack
Dinner: homemade stuff. Takeaway maybe twice a month
Snacks: none, not even fruit
Candy: none

Not a lot on my plate, but definitely room for improvement. Especially if you consider that I also need to drink. This list includes:

Coffee and loads of it
Beer, a few times a week
Soda and fruit juice: a couple of glasses a day
Milk: at breakfast

With these lists in mind, I made a couple of changes to my routine that were surprisingly easy to start with. It turned out they changed into a habit really fast.

From new routines to new habits

I am unclear on how much any of my new routines have contributed to my weight loss, but I am sure they have all helped somewhat. I was surprised that it was so easy for me. It took me little self-control. I did tell everyone around me about what I was doing. This served both as a reminder as well as a motivator for me.

My new eating habits

My breakfast was hard to get right:

I changed my crunchy oats to regular ones as they contain a lot less sugar
I weighed every portion I had. Then I would track time to see when I got hungry. Every day I made slight changes to the weight. My goal was to start feeling peckish about half an hour before lunch. This would prevent me to want to eat more during lunch.

There’s no such thing as a free lunch. This is the transformation it went through:

I make my sandwiches at home
My sandwiches no longer include two ingredients, except maybe cucumber or tomatoes (I bring sliced vegs in a plastic bag to prevent sandwiches from getting soggy).
I always eat the same number of sandwiches up until this day. No half-baked exceptions. After a couple of days, I was able to find out exactly how many I needed.
I always bring a piece of fruit. I don't always eat it at lunch. Only when I am particularly hungry. Sometimes, it becomes an afternoon snack, sometimes I bring it back home. Some claim that regular nutrition throughout the day is good for you. A bonus, I guess.

My dinner has stayed the same, mostly:

I love cooking and eating. I thought my dinner was healthy enough, so I didn't introduce too many changes to something I enjoy that much. By the way, I still avoid low-fat and low-sugar products. Good food should have good taste. I rather moderate my high-calorie items and supplement them with an additional potato or two. Variety is the spice of life after all.
For a couple of weeks, I made sure I had only one serving. Yeah, I did regret that in the evening sometimes. However, with different types of dishes (e.g. potatoes, pasta, rice, noodles) you learn surprisingly quickly how much you need for each type of food.
My main goal was not to over-eat because I love a dish. I enjoy quality instead of quantity.

Lunch is not just about food. There is more to enjoy. Photo by Tim Douglas from Pexels

My new ‘exercise’ habits

I wasn’t ready to start exercising again. I can’t remember what perfectly valid reasons I thought to have at the time, but I am happy that I didn’t go to the gym. I found out that my new habit is a lot easier to keep up with. Nowadays I rarely skip the walk, even when no one is able to join me.

A couple of co-workers went out for a walk during lunch. At the time I worked in a very boring industrial area. There was nothing to go to, nothing to see, and nothing to do. All we could do is walk and talk. If I spend more time talking to other people, I get to know them better, and I want to talk to them more. That’s a great little motivation to keep the walks up.
I had lunch during my walks as well. I prefer to keep my walks separated from my eating, but at the time it was another motivator to prep my sandwiches at home.

Breaking the habits of the hidden category

I separated food and drink earlier. There is a reason for that. I enjoy food and I enjoy drinks. Deciding what to do was a lot harder for me in this veiled category of calorie intake.

Coffee. I still drink it. Too much probably. I am not giving it up. For every cup I have, though, I make sure to have a cup of water as well. I don’t believe in the theory that cold water cools you down and you need to burn more calories to get warm again, but I definitely found that staying hydrated leaves you feeling better in general. Now I sometimes find myself getting water instead of coffee.
Fruit juice and soda contain a lot of calories. As I said above I found out that I enjoy water as much as any sugared drink. I stopped drinking them altogether. The sugar reduction is immense here.
Beer is my friend and my nemesis. I have not given up on beer. And as hard as it seems, I just limit myself to social gatherings and weekends. It’s sometimes too hard to stay away from this hidden fruit, though. Yeah, I am looking at you, you crafty-looking craft beer.

What it did for me

My approach to weight loss is not special. It just happened to work for me and anyone can do it. All it takes is some analysis, defining some steps and experimentation with what works for you. The key for me was to choose what unhealthy habits I should definitely lose and which I allowed myself to keep. After all, you don't want to bite off more than you can chew. Then it was a piece of cake.

These small changes to my routines helped me lose over 15 kg (~35 lb) in the first months. The weight loss soon stabilized, and I was able to achieve my target goal. I have kept up the habits for over 15 years and now I am more than happy to impress you with my holiday pictures.