I started working to reduce my calorie intake in August of 2020. I didn’t weather the early months of the pandemic well, and had gotten pretty heavy. I’m not sure exactly how heavy, because I was scared to step on the scale and find out. I finally got the courage up a couple months later and was down to 235 lbs. I estimate that I started somewhere between 250-260 lbs.
I had been thinking about intermittent fasting for a while because I rarely ate breakfast, and lunch always made me sluggish. I thought it might be doable, and it was. I increased my fluid intake (coffee in the morning, water or tea later in the day), and tried to limit my calorie consumption to the hours between 4PM and Midnight. This gives me the opportunity to have an afternoon snack (typically trail mix or fruit), and also to have dinner with my family, which I value. It also means that If I want to have beer or a cocktail (or a few), I can.
I still do intermittent fasting today and it’s become a very comfortable part of my life. Prior to starting to develop SplooshDaPool, I was down to between 205 and 210 lbs depending on the day, but no further. I was stuck like Chuck. Calorie reduction alone helped me lose somewhere around 50 lbs, but I HAD to exercise if I wanted to get further.
I started going to the pool, and as I did so, I sort of accidentally developed SplooshDaPool along the way. As I was spending time in the pool coming up with and practicing the movements, I was also losing weight again. And burning fat. And building muscle. Wait, are those abs I see? Adding SplooshDaPool to what I was already doing helped me lose an additional 35-40 pounds. Today, I walk around between 170 and 175 lbs.
It was a cool opportunity to see the powers of calorie reduction and exercise as separate entities and how they each affected my weight loss. But the truth is – if you’re serious about losing weight, it REALLY helps to do both together. They work well together, and they support each other and make things easier and more flexible. The more you move, the more calories you can consume without gaining weight. When you eat less, the less exercise you need to lose or maintain weight. It’s about finding the balance between calorie reduction and exercise that works for you – and being consistent!
Be well!
