weightloss — Blog 1 — The Lukeion

Advanced Warning: There are several shirtless progress photographs shown below.

There I was, staring at the scale in my doctor’s office in October of 2022 with three imposing digits leaping out at me from the scale on the office floor: 255 lbs. I was being confronted with something I knew to be true, I was overweight, but I did not understand exactly how overweight. At 5'10" my BMI classification was alarming, I was well on my way to becoming morbidly obese. I needed positive and long-term change or else I would likely have a life of decreased mobility and, if the relevant scientific data is to be believed, an early grave.

My visit to the doctor was the wake-up call I needed to begin a journey toward personal discipline and physical well-being that only recently concluded. “But surely I can't lose weight” I’d tell myself, “I’ve been overweight for so long, how would I even start to lose all this heft?” I imagine these questions are common among those of us who have struggled with weight, but relax, I’m here to tell you that there is a path forward. It is going to take time, but if I can do it, I know you can too. So, how’d I do it?

Simple! I followed the advice of a 2,000-year-old Stoic, Zeno of Citium, who said that “well-being is attained small step by small step, and yet is no small thing in itself.” Translation: I took things day by day.

It is understandable that when presented with monumental challenges, we want to overcorrect, to be proactive and responsible. The problem with this is that, when it comes to a long-term project like weight loss, it incentivizes so-called yo-yo dieting wherein any gains made are rapidly lost when old habits rear their ugly heads. No, change needed to be incremental and permanent, so I began doing research into weight loss.

Understanding the mechanism behind weight loss is simple, but until I understood it for myself, progress was unattainable. Here is how it works.

The body requires energy to maintain its core functions. Your blood needs energy to pump throughout your cardiovascular system, your muscles require energy to actuate your limbs, and your brain requires energy to read this article!

This energy is measured in a unit you may be familiar with: calories. Well, to be specific kilo-calories, but we will continue calling them calories for ease of understanding. For males, the body will burn 1,800–2,100 calories per day naturally, and for females, the average is somewhere between 1,600–2,000. These figures are general and do not represent everyone perfectly, but as a general rule of thumb, they are accurate.

So, if you do not exercise regularly, you’ll need to meet these calorie targets in energy-consumed to maintain your weight. But what happens if you eat more than the amount of calories you burn? You probably guessed it, weight gain happens. 3,500 calories in surplus or deficit represents one pound of weight gain or loss respectively, so in order to lose 1 pound per week, you would need to burn 500 more calories than you consume per day over the course of a week.

Active exercise also burns calories. You can add how many calories you burn via exercise to the rough estimate of how many you burn at rest to get some idea of how many calories you burn per day.

This is how I lost the weight. I would eat no more than 1,500 calories per day and exercise for 300–600 active calories per day via walking, jogging, hiking, etc. This meant that I was in a deficit of roughly 1,000 calories per day, or about 7,000 per week: a loss rate of 2 pounds per week.

If this rate seems steep to you that's because it is! I do not recommend this rate of loss lightly. I suffered from occasional hunger and fatigue but I managed to stick with it and I never failed to stay below 1,500 calories consumed from the day I began until the day I hit my meta-goal. For most, a more gradual loss rate is preferable. What truly matters is that you institute a regimen that works for you. Even a slim margin like a 100-calorie-per-day deficit will make worlds of difference over years of diligent discipline. Remember, this is a marathon and not a sprint.

The first months were slow. The scale told me I was losing weight at an appropriate rate, but I did not look or feel any different. I’ll show progress pictures below for reference. Just remember, especially in the early days, trust. the. process. You’ve got this, you just need to have faith and stick to your healthy habits and you will attain the results you are looking for!

By March I started to notice physical changes, particularly in my face and hands, but progress was still slow. I was 4 months of hard work into this journey and I still felt extremely overweight. With that being said, I was actually seeing progress, and that fact lifted my spirits and gave me the energy I needed to keep moving (or the lack of energy, as it were).

Then, finally, it started to happen. I started to feel like I was approaching the end of my journey. I began to feel comfortable and even excited to shop for clothes. People started treating me differently. Comments were regularly made about my progress. In short, I had achieved what I set out to accomplish using simple but effective methods.

What has this journey meant for my life?

Weight loss has meant many things. I put more thought into my food than I ever did before, and so in an odd twist, I’ve come to enjoy food more than ever before. I am also much more physically able than before. About halfway through this journey, I took up running. I used to get winded walking from my car to class and now I regularly run 5ks and recently ran my first 10k, a feat I would have thought unachievable only a few months ago.

Most importantly though, I learned that if I put in the work and time into anything, I will achieve my goals. I still have loose skin and a lot of muscle to gain back, but internalizing that message is what I am most proud of. Who I was externally changed greatly, but who I am at my core changed more. So, if you made it this far into the article I will assume you’re interested in making the change. Do it! You only have one life so I implore you; start now! Forget about your past failures and look only towards the future with hope and optimism. If I did it, so can you.

“Do not think that what is hard for you to master is humanly impossible; but if a thing is humanly possible, consider it to be within your reach.” — Marcus Aurelius

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