Deciding to Go on a Diet: A Journey to Loving Myself

At the end of 2021, I took a moment to re-examine myself.

At that time, I arrived at the question, Do I like myself? as a person.

I have decided to make losing weight my goal for 2022 and will carry it out! I will lose 2kg every month!

I would like to write about the reasons for my decision and my diet method.

1. Three reasons why I decided to go on a diet

To gain self-confidence

I believe there is a correlation between self-esteem and body shape.

Being thin does not necessarily mean being good, but while I am
binge eating without a care, a sense of guilt is born within my heart.

I might be hurting myself without even realizing it.

After all, when I do things that are good for my own body, my body rejoices, and my heart rejoices too.

I have decided to take a step forward for the sake of my mental and physical health.

To watch my children grow

Currently, I am struggling every day as a father of three children. (As of January 2022: eldest son 5, eldest daughter 4, second son 2)

The growth of my children, who get bigger every day, is the source of my motivation to live.

In order to continue watching over my children's growth, health is absolutely essential.

For the sake of my children, I will definitely obtain a healthy body.

The truth is, I was shocked when my daughter called me "chubby lol".

Financial reasons

There is another major reason why I decided to go on a diet.

That reason is financial.

Being overweight costs a lot of money in various ways.

What costs the most are the three types of 'ryo' expenses.

The first is food expenses.

I eat a lot of delicious food, so my food expenses are high.

Also, without any dietary restrictions, whenever I get a little hungry, I stop by a convenience store and buy snacks from the hot food counter as part of my daily life.

Each individual expense might be small, but they add up to a large amount.

The second is clothing expenses.

I'm not picky about clothes, but the sizes that fit me are limited.

Even when I go to Uniqlo, it's a struggle to find my size.

Until a little while ago, I was an XL, but recently I've sized up to 2XL.

Larger sized clothes require an additional fee.

The clothes I used to wear no longer fit, so I have to buy new ones, which adds to my expenses.

The third is medical expenses.

An unhealthy diet increases the likelihood of developing various diseases.

I get a medical checkup every year, but my cholesterol, uric acid, and triglyceride levels are poor.

I haven't developed any diseases yet, but the risk of developing them in the future is high.

At that point, it will cost money for medical care, and I will be robbed of the time I could spend earning money.

Or rather, my knees just plain hurt. lol

2. How to succeed at dieting

Switching from white rice to oatmeal

I've read various diet books and learned that controlling blood sugar levels is important. (Getting a bit serious here lol)

I intend to change my lifestyle of eating large amounts of high-carb white rice.

I have switched from white rice to oatmeal.

By the way, I heard that a senior from university who weighed over 140kg successfully lost weight down to the 80kg range using oatmeal.

It's not that I don't eat white rice at all. I try to eat a little bit of white rice for lunch.

I eat white rice for lunch, and I eat oatmeal for everything else!

My recommended oatmeal is...

It's very easy to eat and inexpensive.

Eating in order and not snacking

What's important is controlling blood sugar levels.

In the past, my life was all about white rice and meat.

I used to love foods like rice bowls.

Looking back now, it was the worst diet.

Regarding blood sugar levels, there are many sites more detailed than what I could explain, so please try Googling it.

For now, I am mindful of the order in which I eat to avoid rapid spikes in blood sugar.

What I do is simple. I am focusing only on repeating this: "eat vegetables first".

Also, my current workplace has a snack corner, so I am in an environment where I can always eat sweets.

I feel like reaching for them during work breaks, but I am holding back a little.

I was never much of a snacker to begin with, so it is not that difficult.

It is a small effort, but I intend to build it up steadily.

Morning Training

I have started training every morning.

Every morning, I do stretches to loosen up my body.

I do a hard workout every other day.

I mainly focus on training my pectoralis major, rectus abdominis, and quadriceps.

The goal is to increase my basal metabolism by training large muscles and to achieve a beautiful physique.

It is a bit tough, but I intend to do my best.

3. Summary

I have never seriously committed to a diet before.

I believe that if I succeed in my diet, I will like myself more than I do now.

The rewards of succeeding in a diet are significant.

To gain these rewards, there is a cost, but I will definitely make it a success.

If there is anyone else thinking about dieting, let's do our best together!