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Tell us something about yourself & your background:
I am a 40 year old male. I work as a Specialty Doctor in General Surgery (Registrar). I was born and educated in Romania. I have a mixed ethnic background. My mother is romanian and my father is jordanian. I am 173 cm and weighed 92 kg at the beginning of January this year when I decided to start loosing weight. At the moment I weigh 65 kg. I have reached this weight, which was my target weight, on the 26th of May of this year.
Tell us what exercises you do:
My main exercise is the elliptical cross trainer. At the start I was burning 300 kcal daily in 30 minutes which was my sheduled time for workout on the cross trainer. As I progressed and increased resistance I was burning, by the end of month two, 450 kcal in 30 minutes but my focus now had turned to number of calories burned, therefore I was stopping when I was reaching 500 kcal minumum which was on average 35-37 minutes. At the same time with the cross trainer routine I was using weights targeting different muscle groups, mainly chest, biceps and abdominal wall muscles. I purchased a bench and some dumbblles anb barbells. The idea was to maintain muscle mass. The whole routine lasted about one hour. I have never skipped exercise, regardless of how late it was. If I was working long shifts, which meant I was getting home at around 21:00 (even later) for 4 days in a row, I was usually exercised between 22:00 and 23:00. When I was on nights I was exercising before my shift.
Tell us a bit about your diet:
At the start (which I will call Phase 1 of my diet, although when I started I did not know there will be a Phase 2) I focused on a low calorie diet. I was weighing and calculating the calories of each meal. I limited my daily intake to around 1500 kcal. I usually had a high protein low carb diet. Half of the content of my main meal consisted of animal protein, usually grilled chicken breast. Once per week salmon or beef steak. The side dish was either a salad or cooked vegetables. Breakfast consisted of either two boiled eggs with some vegetables or some low fat cheese like mozarella and vegetables. In the evening I had a salad and some low calorie fruits like berries. Everything apart from the salad was weighed. No added sugar to any drink. I have replaced all sugar with sweeteners. I have also stopped drinking soft drinks, juices and alcohol altogether. I stopped all chocolate, cakes, snacks like chips etc. Fruits were the only dessert and popcorn made from kernels (not the microwave ones) with a drop of oil would be my snack. I was also adding 30 g of whey protein shakes to my diet. The aim was not to have a protein deficit. On average my daily intake of proteing was 70-80 g. With the above diet and exercise I had managed to lose 8 kg in the first month and a half but I realised I had reached a plateau. Which is when Phase 2 of my weight loss began, when I saw the most drastic results. I decided to skip breakfast and stop having fruits in the evening. This turned out into prolonged hours of intermittent fasting. Usually 16 hours but sometimes more, up to 24 hours, especially when I was working long shifts. During these days I regularly had one meal a day in the evening. If I had anything in the afternoon, at work (after 16:00), I would only eat half of the meal (which was the usual chicken breast and a side dish). I have also stopped adding whey protein shakes to my diet. I usually a snack in the evening (in the days I wasn’t working long shifts) and this would only consist of plain cut vegetables like tomatoes, cucumbers, sometimes pickles, nothing extra. The results started to show fast. I was lossing on average 2 kg per week, sometimes more.
What advice do you have for readers:
The above routine can be very difficult and can lead to low sugar levels especially in the morning which can make one feel dizzy and lightheaded, but usually this sensation lasts for a few seconds, until the body reacts and starts compensating by dispensing sugar from own reserves. After the first month of intense low calorie, low carb, intermittent fasting and exercise routine, the body adapts and everything start feeling easy, as part of a habit. After significant weight loss, when the target weight is achieved, which for me was 65 kg, the resistance to prolonged intermittent fasting start to decrease again. I weighed myself every morning at the exact time and never weighed again during the day. I took photos of the weight and photos of the calories burned during exercise in the evening. I kept a strict record. This diet is not for everyone. You need to be in good health before starting and progress slowly towards what is safe within ones limits. You may want to consult with a professional before starting any weight loss regimen.
Any other information:
I have reached my target weight on 26/05/2025. I set this date because I was going on holiday. The day before I weighed 65.3 kg and on the day of the trip I weighed 64.8 Kg. I am not sure how it all worked out but luckily it did.
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