Halfway There
Today marks the halfway point of my second BodySlims journey… It’s not a sequel, it’s a remake.
Not halfway to some imaginary finish line. Halfway through the 70 days.
The Numbers
This times… Starting Weight: 287.1 lbs (130.2 kg / 20 st 7.1 lbs) Current Weight: 250.8 lbs (113.8 kg / 17 st 12.8 lbs)
Total Loss:
- 36.3 lbs
- 16.5 kg
- 2 st 8.3 lbs
That’s 12.6% of my starting body weight gone in 36 days. Not bad for a guy who spends most of his day sitting at a computer.
The Difference This Time
Back in 2023, I completed BodySlims for the first time.
I lost 4 st 8 lbs and learned something important:
Weight loss isn’t complicated. Consistency is.
The problem wasn’t that I didn’t know how to lose weight. The problem was that I treated weight loss as something temporary.
Something to endure. To survive through.
This time around, I wanted to build reusable systems instead.
Building Systems
- The daily walk became a daily ruck.
- The pool became part of the routine.
- The calories became predictable.
- The meals became predictable.
- The protein became predictable.
I stopped trying to win every day with motivation and started removing all of the decisions.
The less thinking required, the easier compliance became.
Protein Changes Everything
One of the biggest lessons from this cycle has been protein. For years I could easily eat 2,500 to 3,000 calories and still be hungry.
Now I’m eating significantly fewer calories while consuming far more protein than I used to.
The result is that hunger isn’t really the problem anymore. I don’t spend my day thinking about food.
I spend my day getting on with whatever I’m working on until it’s time to eat. That alone has made this cycle easier than I expected.
The Unexpected Benefit
The goal was weight loss. The surprise was strength.
Around Week 6 I added lifting back into the mix.
Nothing fancy…
- Overhead presses
- Rows
- Shrugs
- Lateral raises
The idea wasn’t to become a bodybuilder. The idea was simple:
Give my body a reason to keep the muscle.
The scale doesn’t know why weight is disappearing. It just reports the result.
But when I compare photos, I can already see changes that go beyond the number.
My posture is better. My shoulders look broader. My face is leaner.
My back is starting to look like it belongs to someone who actually lifts things occasionally.
Rucking
This has probably been the biggest addition compared to my first BodySlims.
Week 1 started with 9 kg. Week 2 moved to 10 kg. Week 3 moved to 12 kg. Week 4 reached 13 kg.
Weeks 5, 6 and 7 are all at 14 kg.
The final stretch will be completed with 18 kg.
The goal isn’t speed. The goal is carrying weight comfortably.
The challenge has helped my ankle recovery far more than I expected and has become one of my favourite parts of the day.
What The Scale Doesn’t Show
The scale is useful. But it only measures gravity.
It doesn’t measure:
- Better fitness
- Better posture
- Better habits
- Better mobility
- Better energy
- Better discipline
It definitely doesn’t measure the confidence that comes from knowing you’re doing what you said you’d do. Every day… For well over a month.
The Next 35 Days
The job is simple now:
- Keep going
- Keep walking
- Keep rucking
- Keep lifting
- Keep eating protein
- Keep showing up
No special tricks. No dramatic changes.
Just another 35 days of doing the work. And then we’ll see what the photos look like.
Because while losing 36.3 lbs is nice… But losing another 28lbs would make a world of a difference before going on my holidays.
The most interesting comparison is still waiting for me at the finish line.