There and Fat Again: A Hobbit's Guide to Diet and Exercise

I’m good at gaining weight – I can do it just by thinking.  It’s amazing.  So good that in 2004 I got up to 217 lbs.  I decided enough was enough and through work I signed up for a weight loss program.  It was like forced starvation, but for the next 120 days I managed to get down to 183 lbs.  Aside from always feeling like I could clean out a McDonalds, I felt great, healthy, and confident.  Life was good.

Not my finest moment - near 225 lbs.

But staying disciplined wore me down and I climbed to 225 lbs. in 2011; it was a low point regarding my health.  I needed a reboot - but something had to change for good this time – systematic starvation was not sustainable.

Fast forward to today, and I’m back down in the low 180s.  I bounce up and down a bit in this range, but I have kept the weight off and established a consistent regimen of diet and exercise.  Why have I kept the weight off this time around?

Below are tried and true tips and tricks gleaned in my journey to “there and fat again” (keeping with my Lord of the Rings theme from a previous post).  And no, it does not involve doing a fireman’s carry with your buddy up an active volcano while dragons circle above.  I’ll share my number one tip that (if followed) has brought me more success than all the other tips combined.  Really.  It’s an incredible motivation manufacturer I turn to when I feel myself starting to slip.  And let’s be honest – that’s pretty often.  😊

WARNING: I’m sharing what works for me, so take it with a pinch of salt – I’m no certified nutritionist or exercise expert so use this advice at your own risk.  This information is not revolutionary and I’m not citing any sources for my claims, although much of what you read below is based on summaries of respectable fitness research I’ve read over the years.  Best of all, this guide is 100% free.  All I ask is that if you find a scintilla of value, then DONATE now to help refugees.  It’s for a good cause, supporting refugee families that desperately need our help to take control of their lives as they resettle in the US. 

If you already knew all the stuff in this guide then you’re ready to climb Mount Doom.

On with the show.

GENERAL TIPS

Tip 1 – It’s hard work.  Sorry, this had to be the first tip.  But it is.  It’s hard work to lose weight and keep it off.  There is no magic formula, there are only things that blunt the trauma of dieting and exercise.  But don’t close this entry just yet, there is hope!  😉  Read on…

Tip 2 – There is no magic formula.  Yeah, I know I said that, and you’re probably wondering when we get to the hopeful stuff.  It’s coming, trust me…but first I need to tell you why magic is for wizards and not workouts.  The formula to lose weight is deceptively simple: you must burn more calories than you consume.  So, all those Atkins people who lost weight eating bacon all day and drinking lard milkshakes consumed less calories than they burned?  Correct!  There’s only so much bacon your body can eat before it can’t take any more – and in the case of Atkins disciples it was very often less calories than their body burned each day.  The result was weight loss.  But I’m not advocating Atkins here – there’s a better way.

Tip 3 – It’s a marathon not a sprint.  Weight loss and consistent fitness is a journey.  The goal isn’t the 90-day rush where you end up burning all your fat clothes in a ceremonial bonfire just to buy them all over again 3 months later.  There’s no rush.  Look at my weight loss tracking over the last year – it's like an eco-cardiogram or the stock market on Trump’s election night.

Take a deep breath.  Settle in as it takes a while to carve your personal David or Danielle out of the current version of you.

Tip 4 – It’s what you do most of the time that matters.  Really.  Went on a Cinnamon Toast Crunch five-bowl-bender?  Don’t sweat it if you ate well the rest of the week.  Skipped a few workouts because you were fatigued.  It happens, everyone gets fatigued and dreads the monotony of exercise that sets in.  What will set you apart, however, is getting back on the horse when bucked off.  Unlike being an air traffic controller or a brain surgeon, you’ve got some margin of error to work with.  And success is getting it right most of the time.

This stuff is poison.  I love it.

Tip 5 – Exercise doesn’t take time, it creates time.  Forever I used the excuse of not having enough time– but it’s simply false.  We ALL make time for what we love (binge-watching Lost, People Magazine, Tele-tubbies).  The reality is I’ve got 6 kids, the work thing, volunteering at church thing, and the most important – staying married and in love with my wife thing.  All that takes work and focus -- every minute of my day is spoken for.  But for me, exercise defies the Theory of Relativity by actually creating time.  It does this by giving me 2x the energy, vigor and urgency to destroy tasks ahead of me; and second, helping me feel more rested on less sleep.  Not sure why this happens for me, but it does.  When I don’t exercise, the opposite occurs – I approach my day with the energy of a sloth swimming in molasses and I struggle to escape the loving enfolds of my comfy bed.

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DIET TIPS

Now that we've finished philosophy, let's cover off on diet.

Tip 6 – Eat all day long.  Sounds controversial, but it isn’t--this is old news, so if you aren’t doing it – give it a try.  Eat 6 meals per day instead of the standard system of 3 invented in the Middle Ages.  Assuming you don’t increase your calorie intake, this has several advantages:  first, your blood sugar doesn’t get too low causing you to binge; second, your body can more efficiently burn six smaller meals than it can three larger meals, resulting in more calories being stored as ready energy to be burned in the short-term rather than stored as fat for the long term.  For some people a change to six meals results in weight-loss - even if the calories consumed are exactly the same as what was eaten in three meals.  

Last, your body will recover and rebuild better after exercise when it has a consistent supply of calories coming in throughout the day rather than the less predictable calorie highs and lows you normally feed it.  For those a little nerdier, you keep your body in an anabolic (growth state) rather than catabolic (non-growth state).

Tip 7 – Eat the right food.  So obvious, but true.  The people I’ve met over my lifetime that can eat whatever they want and still look good I can count on one hand…and with that hand I would like to punch them in the nose  😉.  So for the rest of us mere mortals, we’re left with healthier stuff.  I’ve heard it said that diet is 80% of the battle and exercise is the other 20% -- it’s always been easier for me to be active than it is for me to eat right.  I love Doritos and maple bars washed down with an ice-cold Dr. Pepper as much as the next person – what can I say?  For this reason, I’ve always liked Bill Phillips Body for Life eating system.  The basics are: eat lean protein and high quality carbohydrates at each of your six meals.  He provides a list of what qualifies as “acceptable” within those categories and if you hate counting calories, you eat a portion of each that is the size of your fist.  Pure genius. 

I also like how Bill builds in a “cheat day” (now common place in the fitness lexicon) where you can eat Doritos and maple bars all day long with ½ the self-loathing you normally reserve for such occasions.

Mmmm...Doritos.

Tip 8 –  Establish a tracking system.  I hate counting calories, but it’s a surefire way to make sure I will lose weight.  Smart phone apps like LoseIt and MyFitnessPal have taken much of the pain out of tracking.  When I really find myself off base, I just start tracking – and the pounds come off.  It’s hard to cheat when you track—and I find that (counter-intuitively) my laziness rewards me as I think “if I put this in my mouth, I’ll have to track it” causes me to put that chocolate dipped bacon back. 

If you absolutely can’t stand the thought of tracking everything that goes into your mouth, then a portion control option is your bet (refer back to Body for Life system in Tip 7).  As a side note, I never let myself get “hangry” – even if that might mean eating a few more calories than I’m allotted.  “Hangry” is my body’s way of telling me it it’s going “catabolic” and needs to be nourished no matter what my program says – so I give it a small portion of high quality protein or carbs and call it good.  No one likes a “hangry” Spence!

Tip 9 – Exercise is the starvation killer.   This one takes some explaining, so hang in there.  As an example, when I have a target to drop 1.5 lbs. per week, my calories per day are ~1770.  If I go about my day with no exercise, I will inevitably feel like I’m starving trying to live off so few calories.  But, if hit the gym and burn 500 calories, I get to add them onto the ~1770 base for a total of ~2270. 

My hunger levels in both scenarios are roughly the same – or a little more hunger in the exercise scenario.  Since my hunger does not go up in proportion to the number of exercise calories burned, it makes those 500 calories feel like they are “free”.  I don’t know if it’s psychological or if there is some study to support this, but for me it works.   When I’m shedding weight I always try to get exercise in to bank those “free” calories.  I avoid feeling like I’m starving all the time and the weight comes off.

EXERCISE TIPS

Let's shift gears and talk exercise.

Tip 10 – Carrots are crucial.  No, this is not the diet section again although carrots are great.  These are the carrots you hang out in front of you that give your exercise its raison d’etre.  Yes, some of these carrots people create often come in the shape of "fitness events” that can be annoying.  For US folks, you may feel like our country has become obsessed with zombie runs, color runs, mud runs, etc. but signing up for something like this is an instant motivator, so you may need to pocket your cynicism.  It gives meaning to the monotony that exercise can be. 

If you don’t like fitness events, manufacture your own event that has meaning for you and most importantly will be fun.  Maybe that’s a big hike, or your first 5k, or entering into a frog jumping contest as the only non-amphibian contestant?  It can be anything – just put that carrot out there and go. 

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Tip 11 - Gotta change it up.  Your fitness routines are like your sheets – they need to be changed regularly…something I didn’t learn until I was married.  I will rarely do the same routine for more than 6 weeks.  My mind resists – nay, it rebels!  The routine becomes pure drudgery, a big fat bowl of insipid exercise mush.  What’s worse, the body adapts to the routine and performance improvements slow or stop. 

I LOVE a new routine.  I buy books chock full of new exercises and routines with CarmenSan Diego’s workout buddies: Romanian dead-lifts, Swiss ball crunches, Bulgarian split squat, and Russian twists.  I thrill when someone invents a weird new exercise implement: a stretchy band, cool straps, a slidey thing for your feet, a shoe that allows you to squat more, or chains!  Who doesn’t want to mess around with chains!  The reason I love the above is summed up in one word: variety.  It stimulates the mind and the muscles.  For this same reason I drive a crummy car, and spend my cash on exercise tech, implements, equipment, and shoes – it keeps it fresh and gives me an array of options to elevate my heart rate.

Even if you don’t lift, find the variety that suits you, whether it’s doing intervals for cardio or loving the challenge of varied terrain on a mountain bike.  Maybe it’s just changing where you take your morning walk.

Tip 12 - Get social.  No, this is not sharing selfies of yourself mid work out...you know who you are.  I’m talking about the social aspect of exercise.  While I’m not a cross fitter, the social phenomenon of cross fit is something to behold.  People love the communal aspect of suffering – something about it binds us together, makes us work harder, and motivates us to keep coming back for pain.  The Curves chain is founded on a similar concept as well as the traditional fitness class, or running group. 

I’ve run three RAGNARS with my wife Heather, and I HATE running with a capital “H”.  I would rather get a double root canal sans Novocain than run.  Even runners secretly hate running, but they’ve invested so much in all those short shorts and weird body tape they can’t stop now.  But while I loathe running, I love the social aspect of RAGNAR – it’s fun piling into a van with other people, running around the clock for 24 hours, going without sleeping or bathing, all while listening to another passenger’s manifesto on the evils of non-organic food.  Seriously, it’s fun!  😊

So, find a group, or find a buddy.  Find someone to share in the misery which ironically begets joy.

Tip 13 - Create a BHAG – and tell the world.  This is the final tip.  The uber-tip to rule them all.  The one I use time and time again.  Create a BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) that you set out there.  Be bold.  Dream about something crazy and declare it to your family, friends, and your social media contacts.  Go outside and yell something outrageous like:  I’m going to run a half marathon.  I’m going to go on a 50-mile back pack trip.  I’m going to beat my sister in a foot race.  I’m going to start flossing and voting.  I’m going to dunk a basketball on my 44thbirthday to raise 44k for refugees.  You get the idea.  😊  When you declare that crazy BHAG in public, your life comes into focus, cheesecake no longer calls your name, the gym becomes a workshop to build your dreams, and suddenly you’re one of “those” crazy fitness people that used to annoy you.  The advantage is you won’t be annoying because you’ve read this guide.

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Tip 14 – Little goals work too. OK, I lied.  This is the post-script on the final tip.  But it's important.  If BHAG is too hairy and audacious, consider bite-sized, public commitments that involve a small penalty or reward system.  This can be remarkably powerful at motivating consistent improvements.  My sister runs a Facebook group called Healthy Habits where members of the group commit to each other in month increments to exercise and eat better.  There are small financial penalties and rewards tied to healthy commitments which drive accountability and have resulted in members making huge lifestyle changes.  Best of all, the group provides positive reinforcement along the way.  It’s a fun community that has helped me immensely in my journey to “there and fat again.”

Phew, that’s it!  All my tips and tricks distilled into one guide. 

Now that you've graduated, go and get 'em.

Mad Hops 4 Humanity was born out of the crazy notion that an under 6-foot guy could dunk a basketball on his 44th birthday to raise 44k for refugees.  

If you're a little crazy about the current refugee crisis, take a moment to contribute. Funding benefits the Seattle office of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) for use in purchasing and maintaining a passenger van to provide critical transportation services for refugees resettling in the US. 

The IRC is a 501c(3)organization and contributions in the US are tax deductible.