Die Its

The bane of my existence.

The pain of my greedy little goblin soul.

The diet.

I’ve been the survivor of so many Die Its over the course of my life. It’s like every single decade I live brings it’s own form of nutritional masochism.

Seriously, check it out…

• 1970’s
  • The Scarsdale Diet
  • The Grapefruit Diet
  • Diet pill diets
• 1980’s
  • The Beverly Hills Diet
  • The “Don’t Even Think About It” Diets (Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, etc)
  • Lots of meal replacement and appetite suppressant diets
• 1990’s
  • The Low-Fat/No-Fat Diet
• 2000’s
  • The Atkin’s Diet
• 2010’s
  • Keto
  • Paleo
  • Gluten Free

We’re still early into the 20’s, and kind of preoccupied with a pandemic, but it’s pretty reasonable to assume that this newest decade will bring it’s share of different dietary fads for one big reason…

…they make money.

And so many of them are trash, at the very least, and outright harmful at the worst of it.

So, at 51, with a lifetime of fitness successes and failures behind me, what is the most successful dietary plan I’ve ever followed?

To be honest, the one I got the most results from was the off season bodybuilding diet that I followed pretty religiously for several years in the 90’s.

It was sensible. It was based on closely monitoring macro nutrients (carbs, protein, and fats). It was high protein, lower carbs, low fat.

During the off season, I would eat about 2000 calories a day. I would aim for 40% protein, 40% good carbohydrates, and 20% fats. This kept me pretty strong and lean, at about 170 lbs, I would allow myself a blow out day every week, where I could eat anything and as much of it as I wanted.

Here’s the thing, though…when you’re eating well and feeling good as a result, if you suddenly introduce garbage into your system, it becomes very noticeable. You feel sluggish, bloated, and regretful. Eventually the desire to overdo it on those cheat days really diminishes a lot.

So, this brings me to today. I sure did pack on some pandemic pudge. It was the direct result of 6 months of gym shut downs, depression, boredom, and a rotator cuff injury that plagued me for a couple of months.

I gained about 40 pounds and man, could I feel it in my knees, my ankles, my ego….lol

I’ve dumped about 13 since my gym opened back up. When the pandemic hit, I was actually in the midst of a big weight loss cycle. I had about 20 lbs left to lose, and then along came Covid-19.

So, at this time, I have about 50 lbs left to dump. A big part of this is getting my diet cleaned back up. This little part of my blog is going to help with that. As I experiment and find out new things, I’ll pitch them in here, as well as giving some status updates along the way.

I’m absolutely on board with folks following along and sharing their own experiences via commentary. The only requirement I have is that everyone keeps it positive and supportive. This includes positivity when talking about yourself.

Cool?

Cool.

Let’s do this!