I promise to…..

For the coming 6 months I promise to:
– Not drink any alcohol
– Not drink any other drinks then water, milk, cola light and occasionally lemonade
– Not eat any ice-cream
– Not eat any candy
– Not eat any cookies
– Not eat any chips
– Not eat any cake
– Not eat any pastries
– Not eat any chocolate
– Not eat any appetizers
– Not eat any deserts
– Work out as often as possible

Most of you will either say I’m crazy, since 6 months is a long time while others will say I’ve mentioned to lose weight before, so why fool yourself again? However I’ve worked towards this for the last 2 months and I’ve done it before. I’ve talked about my previous “big diet” a couple of times before so I’ll keep it short. In 2007 I’ve followed my self-made diet for 41 weeks, lost 41 kilo’s and went from being overweight to almost light weight.

Back then when I started I was 133kg and after I was done at 92kg, I promised myself to never go above 100kg again. Since May/June I’m above that 100kg and I’m now at 103/104kg. If you really want something you should do it immediately is something most people say but I think timing is essential as well. Coming Wednesday is my birthday, coming Sunday is my last cycle tour of the year and 6 months after that I will have to cycle 150km during the Amstel Gold Race. I’ll enjoy myself at my b-day, drink one last beer after the tour on Sunday and then the fun will be over.

I need to do this for a couple of reasons. The most important reason is that I can’t be arsed to buy any new cloths and I don’t fit most any longer already. I want to feel fit again, especially considering I’m turning 29 now. I’m not worried about turning 29 but I do know that every human being is bound to get more injures in his thirties. If I don’t put a stop to gaining a kg a month now, it will be a lot worse again in 2/3 years time. Probably the best motivation is that when I lose some weight it will be much easier to scratch off a couple of items on my cycling bucket list.

I think the most important part to losing weight is to create a plan upfront, make it clear what you are trying to achieve and keep track of it on a daily/weekly bases. Based on my personality I can’t just take it easy with things like alcohol and food. It’s just like somebody who tries to stop smoking, once that person takes his first cigarette again telling people it’s just 1, you already know that person failed again. You don’t however have to punish yourself by having no joy at all any longer. I’m also not a person who can suddenly only take shakes and eating fruits and salads while I’m normally not. I believe any diet which is almost opposite to your lifestyle is bound to fail as soon as you quit. I try to keep as close to my normal habits as possible, cutting out some unnecessary “fat” products.

Drinks
The reason for cutting on alcohol is simple. Alcohol makes you fat, alcohol also makes you not want to go to the gym next day. It makes you want to eat bad stuff before you go to bed and even worse food when you wake up. Juices contain vitamins but also plenty of calories. If you like you can drink some but better take a vitamin pill. Water all the way will reduce 300/400 calories a day into to 0 and that’s an easy win. I do drink some Cola light (0 calories) and Lemonade (just for the taste), but it will be mainly water. Except milk during diner, I just can’t life without it 😉

Morning (Breakfast)
Two slices of bread. Roast beef, roasted chicken, fricandeau, salmon or just whatever you prefer as long as it’s low in calories. Best to eat something at during breakfast and then 2,5/3 hours later again. Take some yoghurt or fruit for example.

Afternoon (Lunch)
Basically the same thing as during breakfast. You could eat an extra slice in case you don’t take those “in-betweens”. Having one of those in-betweens again 2,5/3 hours later is the best way to make sure you don’t buy a candy-bar on your way home.

Evening (Diner)
No appetizers, no deserts but I do eat a normal diner. With normal I mean, I eat just about everything I would normally eat. I’ll try to eat a little less, maybe replace the fattest products with the light variants but if we eat pancakes, I eat pancakes, if we want to go out for diner I just do. Just the main course, nothing else, no excuses. If I would have to eat all kind of things I rather not eat there is no way I will last for 6 months. I need to look forward to eat at least 1 meal a day, else there is no way I will be able to pass on all those tasty things out there.

Exceptions
It’s okay to make some exceptions but you should plan them beforehand. It shouldn’t be an impulse decision at the spot, since that’s the beginning of the end. I’ve planned 3 exceptions up front:
1) The last weekend of October, boys weekend where I probably drink just alcohol and nothing else.
2) Christmas, not that I really care about Christmas but there is always more food around then on an average day.
3) New year’s eve, champagne and hopefully champagne only!

These are probably the only exceptions I’m going to make but in case on of my buddies get married I’ll just have to enjoy myself at his bachelors as well of course 😉

I’ll work out as often as possible, I don’t have to tell anybody why. As long as I take less calories then I burn my body will do the rest. I’ll keep track of it in an excel sheet on a day to day basis, the more you are aware of what you are doing, the better it is. The hardest part will probably be the first couple of weeks when I go out for a drink with my buddies. Normally people don’t even ask what I’m drinking but as soon as people around me are used to it as well, it will be a lot easier.

My goal is to get below 93kg again, anything extra is just a bonus. It’s just 10/11kg and 6 months is a pretty long time so it should be pretty simple. The fact that it looks pretty easy upfront is probably the biggest threat. On the 14th of April my 6 months are up, that day I will be cycling the 150km Amstel Gold Race and hopefully feel like I’m flying. That first beer after will probably be devastating, I can’t wait!