Time to Start Cutting

A few weeks ago I decided to start reverse dieting. It wasn't done with the intention to gain weight, but I did need to work on getting more protein into my body. This is not an easy task when you've had bariatric surgery, even if it's been nearly three years later. I've been eating an insane amount of protein shakes and cottage cheese to get it done.

But after a week of that, I decided that after gaining weight for months, it's time to lose some body fat. I had my wife take a set of calipers to my chest, stomach, and thigh, and found that my body fat percentage is currently a little over 28%.

I want to get that down to less than 18%, and if my knowledge of basic math is sound, that means I need to lose about 30 pounds of body fat. Losing fat is easy. Doing it without losing muscle is hard.

Last week I created a calorie reduction meal plan with an emphasis on keeping my protein levels high, but I had to quit that because there's still some foods that my body can't tolerate. So now I'm just cutting out carbs.

Or rather, I planned on just cutting out carbs, but Halloween.

After raiding my kid's stash from a trunk or treat outing we had on Friday, that plan got shot to shit. So I'm restarting that plan today.

I was diagnosed with Type II diabetes back in 2008, and was only functionally cured of it after the surgery, so I've been pretty averse to eating sugary and starchy stuff for years. Low carb diets tend to be easier for me to follow (when we're not around holidays that are excuses to give free candy to children) as a result.

I'm also going to have to make damn well sure I get some cardio into my workout routines. I need to do that anyway. While I may be the stronger now than I've ever been in my life, I sacrificed a lot of endurance and speed to get that way.

So...thirty pounds to go.