After Paula and I presented at Cannes, we were sent some photographs by WARC.
Of course I wanted to look at them, but the thing that shocked me the most was the difference between the photo from our session, and the one – almost 2 years to the day – from our Strategy Is Constipated, Imagination Is The Laxative presentation.
Of course I knew there would be a difference – I’m now literally half the man I used to be – but I guess I hadn’t realized just how different the overall impact would be.
Which highlights one important thing: Strategists are fucking idiots. [Or at least I am]
Anyway, this is what I’m talking about …
While I recognize the ‘before’ sight of me, I can’t quite believe I let myself get into such a state.
Now some of it was not entirely my fault.
When I was younger I was very fit but an issue with my eye [Not the issue I’m going through now, another one and another eye] meant I was not allowed to do much exercise as there was a real chance of losing my sight, which obviously I didn’t want.
But then, over the years, the sedentary life because my day-to-day life.
And while I – if I’m being honest – didn’t like how I looked, I couldn’t see a way out of it.
Part of it was because I couldn’t imagine a life where I had to stop eating the food I loved.
Part of it was because I didn’t let myself accept how I looked – a kind-of body dysmorphia.
Part of it was I didn’t know how to change it, which caused me real turmoil.
That last point is the biggest one … because I went through real lows at different points in my life, recognizing the position I was in, even if I didn’t allow myself to recognize just how bad the position I was in.
Now it is important to note I am not saying I was lazy. If anything, I was ill … so while it’s dead easy for people to look at overweight individuals and think it’s all their own fault, it’s far more complex than that. Sure, they have to take responsibility for their situation, but there’s a lot going on in many of their lives which means they just don’t feel they can. Add to that, the fact it costs a lot of money to eat healthily and it just makes everything much, much more difficult.
Anyway, I posted that photo on Linkedin and – bizarrely – it got the most engagement of any post I’ve ever written on that platform. And all the comments were not just supportive, but very human. For a platform that seemingly revels in replicating American Psycho, that blew my mind and gave me more hope for business than I’d had in years.
But one question many asked was ‘how did I do it’ … so to round out the week, I thought I’d tell you what worked for me. Can’t guarantee it will work for everyone, but it has – and continues to [because it’s never going to change, even though I can be less strict on the range of food I eat] – be the foundation of how I live.
So here I go:
+ 1675 calories a day [total or net]
+ 25 grams of sugar a day
+ 65 grams of carbs a day.
And then I walk 15kms a day. Didn’t start that way, so it doesn’t really matter how far you go, as long as you do a couple of kms and you do it consistently.
I also write EVERYTHING I consume on an app called Lose It and that’s it.
To be honest I found it easier than I thought it would be but acknowledge I’ve had a lot of help from family, clients and colleagues.
My total loss – so far – is 47kg and while I still crave bread, I manage to only have it on special occasions. There’s a lot of good alts out there – from coffee to chocolate to rice to sauces – and while it takes a bit of getting used to, once you have, you will hardly know any difference at all.
Last thing … we all will have bad days. Accept it. Try not to have more than one a fortnight and if you’re going to do it, make sure it’s with good quality food that you love. If you’re going to fail, fail gloriously … but occasionally … and then get back on the horse the next day.
Bizarrely, while I can now eat a few more things now than I let myself originally … I actually LOVE getting back to my diet. Not only do I appreciate taste more than I ever have, I also accept some food is for fueling my body not just satisfying my gluttony.
That’s it … so if anyone wants to chat about specifics, just reach out to me. As I said, I can’t guarantee it is what you need, but I’ll happily answer anything you want to know, including some of the recipes/foods that have filled me up without necessarily clogging me up – haha.
So if you fancy giving it a go, ‘go big’ on Saturday … eat to your hearts content … but use Sunday to start planning for the rest of the week. I get how big a deal it is. I get how daunting it is. But apart from the health benefits – of which they are innumerable – if you’re anything like me, you might find the biggest change is you start to like and respect yourself a little bit. And as benefits go, that’s incredible.
Good luck, I’m here for anyone who needs to chat.