Rules of Engagement

So roughly nine months ago I had decided that enough was enough. This weight thing had to come under control- at the point I was close to 190lbs and didnt fit into any of my clothes. So I began by creating some simple "rules of engagement" in order to begin to counter the war that weight gain was waging on me. It was simple- I didnt want to be a negative statistic- obese, diabetic, heart attack magnet etc.- instead I wanted to be pleasing to myself but most of all every pleasing to my significant other so that it would be pleasing to me ;)

Rules of Engagement

1. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) once said - "One third of the stomach for food, one third for drink, one third for breath (or in another narration "for remembrance (of God)"). Eating in small moderated quantitites.
2. No eating after 8:30pm (or an hour an half before going to sleep).
3. No black soda.
4. Kick back the carbs- breads, rice, pasta and all sorts of other stuff like that.
5. Cut back on eating out.
6. Find a plan of action that is more targeted.

These were GREAT rules, and thank God I had "rule 6" because these rules only allowed me to maintain a weight level rather then continue to increase in weight and hit 200lbs. I was able to bring under control my weight at below 185lbs for a good three or four months. I began working out more aggresively after Ramadan and that helped to bring the weight down further, but no significant changes over the course of 5 months. "Rule 6" was a Godsend because it helped me to figure out what the next step was along with Men's Health.

On facebook.com I put up my new years resolution and a friend gave me this great website called fitday.com. With Men's Health Muscle Book I began to better understand how nutrition was critical to not only weight loss and health but also a overhaul of lifestyle.

I began the calorie tracking. I developed some more detailed rules, which I call the "Battle Plan Fat-b-gone". This really helped give me the "slim mindset" feeling. It was really now about feeling better, less stressed and less hungry- definatly less hungry. With limited work outs as well, it definatly feels good.

Battle Plan Fat-b-gone

1. Calorie intake limited to 1285 calories maximum each day.
2. 95 grams of protein per day.
3. Daily vitamin intake.

With these rules, in the past two weeks I feel quite hungry actually. 1200 calories is really nothing when before, on a daily basis I was taking in close to 2500 calories. I feel quite hungry. I haven't found a way to increase my protien intake either, foods which I thought were "high protien" have turned out to be very low in protien compared to what I still needed to take in.

The thing is I am close to going under 180 pounds for the first time in over a year. I am 180.8 lbs right now! I am hoping that by the end of February I will be close to 175lbs.