I just ended a 3 month weight loss challenge at work. I started at 174.5 pounds and ended at 149 pounds even. Additionally I own a body fat scale that was telling me 22% when this thing started and it’s telling me 13% now. So in addition to losing all that weight I lost a far more impressive amount of body fat. Doing a little dirty math that means I was carrying around 38 pounds of body fat when this thing started and now I’m carrying around about 20 pounds of body fat which means I lost 6 pounds of fat alone every month not to mention gaining muscle. I lost inches as well. I was about to have to start wearing size 36 waist pants and now I’ve purchased size 32 waist pants and they’re lose.
I thought I’d share what I’m calling my “Baton Rouge Weight Loss Plan” because of course my structure was around Baton Rouge being that I live here and it involves my gym, restaurants and shopping locally. So here is how I got it done.
Exercise
I like most people had an exercise routine that wasn’t really showing results. I ran 4-5 days a week, worked out with weights in my garage and punched a heavy bag but I was stuck at 185 or so pounds which is way to heavy at my height of 5’9″. So I got online and started looking around. A little research will show you why when you compare your work out with what I turned to for this challenge it’s a real eye opener that you’re not burning many calories compared to what you could do in the same amount of time. I saw signs for LA Boxing around town and researching their 1000 calorie burn in an hour advertisement I realized I wasn’t burning much of anything running. I tried their free demo class, could barely walk out of there and got pretty humbled about the kind of condition I was in. I signed up that day.
I started with LA Boxing about 3 months before the weight loss challenge started and was doing it 2-3 times a week. I got in much better physical shape and lost down to 175 pounds and the 22% body fat I initially talked about. When the opportunity to do the team weight loss challenge came up I decided to get really motivated, set a goal and hit it hard for 3 months. I stepped up to going to LA Boxing classes 4-5 times a week minimum when the challenge started. They have a Tuesday/Thursday morning class and a large number of classes in the evenings so no excuses and no more screwing around. It’s important to point out that I ramped up to the 3 month loss plan physically. If you’re out of shape like I was you might want to do a period of ramp up exercise in a place like LA Boxing. It hit me so hard for the first month of membership I’d have to rest for 20-30 minutes before driving home because I was so shaky. I couldn’t have done it 4-5 times a week at first.
Daily Diet Plan
If you want to burn fat and get lean you have to diet. I don’t have time to always cook special meals every day so I put together a list of restaurants I could reasonably eat at and eat healthy. I put together the simple recipes you’ll find on this website in the recipes category. I also have a list of common foods I purchased to use as snacks, breakfast. The biggest part of the diet is you have to plan it ahead of time so you have options to run to when you’re starving . Also as a suggestion that really helps to burn fat you should stay away from bad carbohydrates such as white rice, white bread, white flour. For me this meant avoiding biscuits, eating gumbo or sauce without rice and just a little less beer. Don’t totally deny yourself the good stuff but avoid it most of the time.
For daily breakfast I had either plain Quaker oatmeal with a little honey on it or grape nuts. Additionally later in the competition at the recommendation of Calvin at LA Boxing I had a scoop of Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard 100% Natural Whey protein in water. It worked out great and I never had a hunger issues before lunch. If I did get hungry before lunch I had V8 low sodium in a 12 oz can. I hate V8 so I would leave it room temperature so I could chug it really quick without freezing my throat and then wash it down with water. Anything to wipe away hunger while on a diet!
Lunch for me was always eating out at restaurants. I don’t bring my lunch to work and realized from previous experience that I’m just not going to do it. Luckily I know a lot about local restaurants from building and was able to put together a list of places I could find good things to eat. It’s surprising to most that you can find good stuff that isn’t that bad for your diet.
- Serop’s Express – A Lebanese restaurant with a couple of locations in town they offer a selection of around 30 different sides many of which are steamed, baked or smothered vegetables. I would get a selection of 2 vegetables with chicken shawarma.
- Voodoo BBQ or Cou-Yons- Believe it or not you can eat good at a BBQ place. Order the chicken and get green beans and cole slaw.
- Ichiban Sushi or other favorite sushi joint – Get just sashimi fish and you’re eating good. No rice or rolls! Miso soup is ok and it’s a very comforting food.
Supplements
After discussion with one of the trainers at LA Boxing and a co-worker who’s big in to fitness it was pretty clear that thermogenic fat burners are a good way to go when you want to lose weight and lose fat. So for starters I purchased OxyElite Pro Super Thermogenic off of Amazon. I took it in the morning 30 minutes before breakfast and right at noon. On the bottle it says you can take a third daily but for my situation this didn’t work. It makes you feel a little edgy but it certainly showed results.
In the last three weeks of the competition I was looking at purchasing protein powder for when the competition was over. It was about this time Calvin at LA Boxing recommended it as part of the diet because it helps them with weight cutting. It would have been better to talk to Calvin earlier in the competition I guess. He has had lots of great ideas in regards to weight management as a professional fighter. So for breakfast I had a protein shake and I felt less tired after workouts and not as hungry. My weight loss increased with the addition of the morning protein shake.
Know Your Burn Rate and Intake on Calories
For me this was pretty simple but for others it might be difficult. I looked around on Google for “How many calories do I burn” calculators. After playing with a few of them and sort of averaging them I figured out that I burned 2500 calories a day when I didn’t work out and around 3200 calories when I did. I also used the Self Nutrition Data website daily to estimate what I was eating. I set a realistic goal of 2 pounds per week and adjusted my calorie intake and work out rate to fit this. I feel like it’s important that people don’t try to average out and say flat out “I’m going to eat 2000 calories a day period” because this doesn’t work. With a flat suffering calorie intake you get weak and quit your diet. Setting a target weight loss over a period time and allowing yourself days to eat based on the math of the calorie intake vs burn will make it easier and help you not quit on your diet.
Conclusion
It’s a pretty basic formula of diet + exercise + suppliments + research. I think that you have to be honest with yourself as well. Many of my friends have asked “Why do LA Boxing when you can do P90X or Insantiy at home?” and the answer is honestly I wouldn’t commit to those things at home. With a gym you have people all around you working out and getting fit so it’s motivational. When you’re in a class and a woman 15 years older than you is pushing through it you can’t stop and keep your man card. Additionally you have to be honest about your calorie intake with yourself. Once you realize just what you’re eating versus what you’re burning you realize you have to change. Now that I understand all these things working out and staying in shape is not a chore anymore. It’s just part of my routine.
Further you have to understand your surroundings. Everything I need to eat healthy and lose weight in the Baton Rouge community I know about now. It took some research but now that I’ve got it I always know where to turn to to get back to 155 pounds and 13% bodyfat. Just in case I forget it’s right here in this blog post for me and hopefully anyone else in Baton Rouge who’s lost and wants to get back in shape.
Hope this helps.
