7 Principles For How I Lost 2.2kg (4.9lb) in 30 days
1. Have a Strong "Carrot" or Reward
You all know about the idea of a "Carrot" and a "Stick." The Carrot is a positive reward to look forward to if you hit your goal, and the "Stick" is the negative consequence that happens if you fail. You need BOTH to be exciting and painful. For my "Carrot," I thought of one of my favorite hobbies: international travel. I decided that because Dubai is so hot in the summer, a weekend away to some place cooler would be a nice treat. Georgia is a short 3 hour flight from Dubai and the weather is supposed to be fantastic. Also Georgian food is incredible, especially the cheese, butter, dough and fried egg dish that is a heartache on a plate, but it's so delicious! The way they season meats is incredible and their salads are fresh and tasty. Their dumplings are good too, and very large with hot broth and meat in the center. I told my girlfriend, Mariam, that if I hit the goal, we would go on a 3-day trip to Georgia sometime in the future. We're going on a trip to Moscow and St Petersburg in mid-July so it would be a bit later in the summer. I WANT to visit Georgia, and this "Carrot" would also have Mariam inspired to help me hit the goal…and maybe swat my hand away when I reach for a cake at a restaurant. This carrot was appealling…but it turns out I'm more driven if I …2. Have a VERY strong "Stick" or "Consequence"
I'm sad to say that I am more driven by a "Stick" than by a "Carrot." But after doing some research, it turns out that most of humanity operates the same way! There was a study that looked at the brain patterns of participants. One group was given $5 in cash, and they noticed the spike in brain waves when they received the money. Another group was given $10, and then a bit later in the experiment, $5 was taken away from them. The brain fired up FAR HIGHER when the money was taken away than when it was given to them! This makes sense, because if you think about gambling, it hurts more to lose than to win. Also when you're down at the casinos playing Blackjack in Vegas, you want to "keep playing" to win back your money, no matter how far in the hole you are. Even in a relationship, it hurts way more to "lose your partner" (i.e. she breaks up with you) than to gain a new one. It's like there is a hole in your heart and your brain desperately wants to repair it and get back to neutral. At the end of the day: it hurts more to LOSE something than to gain it. And so my stick was clear to me: "I will donate $2,000 to the US political party I dislike the most." And because I dislike all politics and both parties, I would have to donate $1,000 to the Republicans and $1,000 to the Democrats. Now, whenever I looked at a piece of cake at one of my favorite restaurants in Dubai called "L'eto" in the Marina Mall (which is a Russian-themed international cafe with very tasty and fresh food and phenomenal service), I would ask myself, "Is this piece of cake worth $2,000?" My friend Will suggested that I think about donating the $2,000 to a charity of my choice. But I told him I couldn't, because that would be a GOOD use of my donation. I need to feel like that money is COMPLETELY wasted, almost like I had given my hard-earned cash to an enemy, rather than a friend. (You can even see how in writing this blog post, I'm writing 3x as much about my "stick" than my "carrot.") The lesson is to choose a stick that HURTS you personally, and make it an amount that will sting.3. I need good accountability from a lot of people
I told this challenge to my trainer, my girlfriend, my colleagues and my friends. Everyone knew about it in my day-to-day life. I tracked my weight 3-5x a week, on my scale at home, completely naked, first thing in the morning. I'd report that number to my trainer. If that number did not go down, I got annoyed. We would put that number into a google doc that we shared, that also tracked every workout. I knew how the weight would go down, even just a .1 or .2kg when I would stick to my diet of eating at home. However, when I went out for meals, it would stay the same or go up a bit. I knew I had to eat most of my meals at home because these meals had very little fat, and were mostly focused on lean proteins like chicken, 95% lean ground beef, eggs, egg whites, Parmigiano Reggiano (which is relatively low fat and has great protein and it's lactose-free). My meals were BORING and the same:- Breakfast: 3 eggs, some egg whites, fresh berries and avocado
- Lunch: 200g skinless, boneless chicken breast, 1 tortilla, a bit of low-fat cheese and salsa or guacamole. Sometimes with a small salad
- Dinner: 200g 95% lean ground beef, ½ cup rice, 1 cup boiled broccoli, ½ cup boiled carrots and a bit of sauce (lemon/Parmesan or soy sauce/honey).
- Snack: low-fat milk in an American or matcha latte.
4. For me, walking 12,000-15,000 steps a day actually started yielding results
I live near Bluewater Island, which is where the magnificent ferris wheel called the "Ain Dubai" stands surrounded by coastline and lots of restaurants. If I walk from my home to Bluewater Island, it's about a 45-minute round trip and has beautiful sunsets on the water to experience. On a walk one evening, I ran into Sunny, a friend and personal trainer I met while working out at a nearby gym. He loved to walk and we started talking about his routine. He's in his mid 40s, is ripped and very lean (but still with muscle). He used to model, and could still do it today. He told me how he walks 20,000 steps a day! He would typically go for an hour in the morning and 1-2 hours in the evening, when the sun had set. I immediately committed to 10,000 steps a day. Then I did some research and all of the fitness Youtubers I follow (Mike Thurston, Greg O'gallager, Brandon Carter) kept talking about the importance of walking. I did some more research and upped my step count. Soon it was 12,000 steps a day. Then it rose to 15,000 steps a day! By increasing my cardio, and doing it outside which is my favorite way, I could negate any extra calories I had accidentally consumed. Finally, I could be slightly more lenient with my eating. Now, it's at 15,000 steps a day 5-6x a week. It's simply a habit. I wake up at 6:00am most days and am walking at 6:15am for about 45-60 minutes. I love it, and my girlfriend joins me sometimes. We have an iced coffee halfway, enjoy the peace and quiet of the morning, and the sun isn't quite at full power. We even see a cat we like to pet that we nicknamed "Sandy," because she enjoys sitting on the sand. That walk knocks out 5,000 steps, every time. I also do things like- Play Padel 3-5x a week.
- Walk at the gym on a treadmill while listening to a podcast or playing a video game app on my ipad
- Walk on my home treadmill below my desk while taking long meetings
- Walk after dinner
5. I learned how to "indulge" without going overboard
On some weeks, I have a lot of dinners "out". These can be a disaster, because I love eating delicious foods. However, I developed a few key habits to help out such as:- I would focus on one protein as my main entree
- I would ask for "not much oil"
- I would ask for "sauce on the side"
- I would not order any appetizers that were deep fried or super fatty (like "burrata salad" which is just cheese and a few veggies and basil)
- I would skip dessert.
6. I learned how to travel AND still lose weight
2 weeks ago, I was in London, England for 5 days for "Strategic Coach" which is a workshop program with unique concepts, tools and conversations to help high-achieving entrepreneurs grow and scale their businesses. I was less than a week away from my goal and worried. I would be travelling and not have access to a scale to check my weight. I'd be eating the majority of my meals out and about. But I kept to the principles I had set:- I ate the same type of breakfast, lunch and dinner. Any place serves eggs. Any place can provide chicken breast with some type of wrap. Any place offers a steak.
- I walked every morning, and throughout the day.
- I reframed from snacking and indulgences (just coffee and tea with skim-milk)