What I Learned Losing 50+ lbs

I was waiting to pick up my daughter from her small group last Wednesday night and was reflecting on the gratitude I had for all those who supported and encouraged me. That morning I had hit 199 lbs for the first time in 20+ years. So I fired off a quick tweet, shut my laptop, and headed home with my daughter.

To my surprise when I checked X later that evening, I had an outpouring of congrats and questions. I tried replying back to people but quickly realized it might be best to just write something that I could share.

Here's what I wrote. Hope something in here is helpful.

Had quite a few people reach out and ask me what I’ve learned going from a peak weight of 252 lbs to a current weight of 199 lbs. Here’s a short summary in hopes that it helps someone out there.

Note: I’m a sample size of 1, have no fancy degree in exercise physiology, am not trying to sell you anything, not sure everything below is completely correct, and didn’t even stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

1. It’s Slow — Unless you’re the first human to break the laws of thermodynamics (which I thought I was for a long time), to lose a pound of fat, you have to under-eat by 3500 calories. And, your body has to preferentially burn all of that as fat, as opposed to muscle, which is rare. A 500 calorie/day deficit is a pound/week. Everything else is water-weight. I’ve found that a 500 calories/day deficit is about limit of what can feel sustainably normal. More deficit than that is going to feel hard. I can only do 1000+ calories/day deficit for 4-6 days, then I need a break.
2. Lift Heavy, Eat Protein — Assuming you’re in a calorie deficit, to get your body to preferentially burn a higher ratio of fat to muscle requires you to lift heavy things (whatever heavy is for you) and eat plenty of protein. It’s a signal to your body that the most metabolically expensive tissue (muscle) is worth keeping. My experience is that 3 days/week of lifting is ideal, but 2 days/week is fine. Progressive overload with compound movements has the biggest effect. I aimed to average 180 grams/day of protein (1 gram/day x target body weight), but didn’t always hit it.
3. Count Calories, Until You Know — I’m allergic to structure and systems, so the idea of counting calories for the rest of my life was a non-starter. But, I did count calories 3 separate times each for about 3 weeks, and it was revelatory. It’s one thing to know in theory that there are 400 calories in 3 ounces of pistachios. It’s another to grab a small handful of pistachios and realize you just ate 400 calories. Within a short period of time I was able to eyeball calories in a way that made me conscious of what I was eating and made me realize how frequently I overate.
4. Measure Glucose, Until You Know — A big part of keeping hunger in check is making sure I don’t spike/crash my insulin. I used Levels once for two-weeks to eat normally and see how different foods/exercise affected me. Biggest takeaway was how food order seemed to matter (protein first helped a ton) and how much standing or walking affected post-food glucose spikes compared with sitting. Started eating protein first, incorporating standing desk at work, and walking whenever I can as a result.?
5. Sweat Every Day — My friend Shane Parrish convinced me that it’s easier to do something 100% of the time than 80% of the time. 20 months ago I decided that I was going to do something active every single day, no exceptions. A 20 minute walk counts. Just be active. Prior to that, I worked out at most once a week, and hated every minute of it. Now my body craves movement.
6. Quit Negative Self-Talk — I used to joke that I was a “fat kid.” I remember where I was as a 9 year old when someone called me that. It stuck ever since. Identity drives behavior. That identity made/allowed me to do stupid stuff like binge eat, because that’s what fat kids do. My friend Patrick O'Shaughnessy, CFA lovingly told me to knock it off. He said that’s not who I am and asked me why I kept saying it. I didn’t have a good answer. Huge wake-up call.?
7. Cardio Matters, With Caveats — I keep hearing that cardio is a poor way to lose fat, but good for longevity. Also, cardio can burn a lot of calories, but it’s hard outside a lab to measure exactly how many and my anecdotal evidence is that fitness trackers over-count by a lot. There’s a gap in expected calories burned and what is practically observed called exercise energy compensation. Bottom line…it’s confusing. Having done a LOT of cardio, here’s where I have landed — 30-60 mins of hard cardio is an excellent appetite suppressant and helps my body feel much better. Beyond that, it’s still “healthy” but I’ve noticed a compensatory response with hunger that diminishes the fat-loss benefits. I’d build in intense cardio (running, biking, swimming, etc.) a couple times a week and see what you notice.
8. Supplements, Toxins, Heat/Cold, Red Light Therapy — Over the last 20 months, I’ve had well-meaning friends recommend all kinds of supplements and techniques that they say helped them, and I’m sure they did. From what I’ve read and observed myself, heat/cold exposure, supplements, and reducing exposure to toxins can and do matter, but they’re the final 5-10%. If you’re focused on these, make sure you’ve already nailed diet, exercise, and sleep.
9. Sleep Matters — There’s tons of evidence on this. Seems almost like common knowledge at this point. Anecdotally, everything gets easier with good sleep. It’s worth prioritizing. Go dark, cool, and quiet. I use an Eight Sleep and love it.?
10. Fasting Works, But Not How I Expected — You know the quickest way to drop weight? Stop eating. I did quite a few 36-hour fasts, four 3-day fasts, two 5-day fasts, and one 7-day fast. All of them resulted in me feeling food-focused, depleted, and irritable. I lost a little weight, but not as much as expected. My body would get lathargic. The more research I’ve done, the less I think fasting is beneficial long-term for fat loss, or more precisely, that the benefits outweigh the costs because of associated muscle loss. But, what fasting did was adjust how I viewed hunger. I realized that not being full isn’t hunger and normal hunger, like skipping a meal, isn’t a big deal or dangerous, and shouldn’t create anxiety.
11. Seek Support — 20 months of trying to “get fit” felt like an eternity. My hope is that I sustain this for the rest of my life. There’s no way I could have done it for long without friendships, community, and help. But to get help, you have to be vulnerable and honest. Some days I screwed up and gorged myself. Other days I felt terrible and didn’t want to work out. Feeling discouraged is going to come up often. My trainer Alex Maples, who is incredible, has been there every step of the way and deserves a lot of credit.
12. Grace Not Shame — It took me a long time to gain weight and I had 40 years of entrenched habits. When I started trying to get fit, I wanted it quick. That lead to frustration when my old habits weren’t gone and I couldn’t tell a difference in the mirror. It took a solid year to completely reset my habits, and it has only been recently that people have even noticed that I’ve lost some weight. My advice is to go slow, set low expectations, and just try to get a little fitter every day.

I’m sure I’m wrong on half of this stuff. But, I’d encourage you to eat the fish and spit out the bones. Cheers and hope it's helpful!

Brent