Boxing Day

The 2nd day of Christmas

Today I weighed myself and after the (2023) Christmas meal I was 1.7 kg heavier than yesterday. Yesterday I was at my lowest weight in the past 7 days, which was 90.7 kg.

Since 2013 I have set myself the rule that no matter what happens during the year, I am not to exceed 88.8 kg (at a height of 1.85m) before Christmas

This year (2023) I weighed 90.5 kg in July and since then I have not been able to lose those excess kilos. It is the first year in the last 10 when I have not passed the scale test.

The reason is simple: just as some people drink a glass of wine or eat something sweet when stressed, I eat apples, protein puddings or protein bars.

✅ APPLES LIKE A PRO

In the 13 years since I have been maintaining my figure, I have learned how to get pleasure from food in the largest possible volume and the fewest amount of calories possible.

After many years of eating nuts, cashews, pistachios, nachos, chocolates, cookies or peanut butter when stressed, I learned not to buy them and not to have them at home.

When I have a stressful day, I go buy apples and stuff myself with those.

See? I don't even keep "natural" sweets in the house.

Of course, I like bananas, grapes or mangoes better (they contain more sugar and more calories) but I'm happy enough with some apples.

✅ BARS – THE PROTEIN ONES

If I still feel hungry, after eating 4 apples (600g) I have some protein bars.

But I don't eat protein bars because they "have protein" but because they are low-calorie sweets.

A respectable protein bar has about 50% protein in its composition and 370 calories per hundred grams.

A top/premium/gourmet/selected dark chocolate bar has between 600 and 750 calories, so double the amount: CLICK.

Raffaelo and Ferrero Rocher also have between 600 and 650 calories. Eating them makes your brain rock with pleasure, just like a slot machine gone full tilt.

Whereas after eating some apples and 2 protein bars you’ll get a bit of meh-level pleasure, just enough to get the job done - but without making you orgasm.

I don't recommend protein bars, but in case of force majeure I think it's a better solution than eating classic chocolate.

I wrote about protein bars here: CLICK.

✅ PUDDINGS

There are many people who after a hard day’s work drink 2 glasses of wine - after the kids have gone to bed. That’s 2x150ml = 300 calories.

It is the exact the same way that I find refuge in 2 protein puddings in the evening. That’s 300 calories as well.

There is absolutely no difference in behavioral or caloric terms.

The only difference is that alcohol is carcinogenic, addictive, and you can be a functional alcoholic without realizing it.

Moreover, on January 4th 2023, the WHO stated that there is NO safe amount of alcohol that can be consumed without affecting health.

"We cannot talk about a so-called safe level of alcohol consumption. It does not matter how much you drink, the risk to the drinker's health begins from the first drop of any alcoholic beverage."

I wrote about alcohol in detail here: CLICK.

✅ A CONSTANT PREOCCUPATION

As you can see from what I write daily, maintaining weight is a constant preoccupation for me.

• I don't think you can say you've lost weight and then "that's it."

• I don't think you can say you've read 1,000 books and that's it.

• I don't think you can say you have a successful business that you worked on for a decade and then "you’re done".

• I don't think you can say you finished high school, college, got your PhD and then "you’re done" and you stop learning.

I don't think anyone can ever say: „I'm too well-read, I'm too smart, I'm too fit, too healthy, that's it, I'm done”.

Ladies & gents: health, prevention, reading, learning - they never stop.

✅ FORTUNATELY

With each year that passes that I maintain my figure, I have better control.

With each passing year, I eat fewer sweets and less bread on special occasions.

With each passing year, the level of sophistication of my diet, even (especially) on special occasions, increases.

My goal is to offer you examples from my daily experience so that you can gather information so that you can ACT in order to achieve a higher level of control.

✅ BACK TO BUSINESS AS USUAL

Yesterday I exercised for a bit, did 45 minutes of spinning, ate normal food but also about 300g of babka.

Light pork trotters in aspic, liver pate with extremely little fat, boeuf salad with light mayonnaise without the potatoes, pork scratchings, cheese from Obor market.

I ate 2 slices of bread, drank 3 glasses of sugar-free Fanta Lemon and everything was absolutely perfect. No bloating.

In case you're wondering, Coca Cola Zero is not ok. I never drink Cola Zero, I don't recommend Cola Zero. It's not about aspartame, it’s about the caffeine.

✅ TODAY

I slept well and I'll continue to do some exercise from my life insurance routine and go out for a 1-2 hour walk.

Two hours of brisk walking consumes about 400-450 calories for a 65-kg woman.

Two hours of walking for me at a weight of 90 kg means a consumption of 500-600 calories.

Two hours of walking will help me empty my reserves, drain excess water and burn at least 150 grams of yesterday's babka.

There will be another big meal today. There will be some bread and some Panettone but from tomorrow on, absolutely everything returns to normal.

I want to do everything I can in order to return to my "baseline" weight as soon as possible.

Any extra weight on the scale bothers me mentally (it annoys me to the max, it drives me crazy), it makes me irritable, it changes my behavior.

✅ ROUTINE IS GOLDEN

For me, today is Thursday, not Boxing Day.

I set out to return to my classic routine: coffee, writing, exercising a bit, standing and walking.

Writing this article also represents another step towards going back to normal.

✅ WHAT I RECOMMEND

Yesterday was a more abundant meal. If you go visit friends and relatives today, make sure you have a moderate consumption of sweets, alcohol or very fatty foods.

You probably won't be able to practice the "moderation" recommended by specialists and, most likely, it is not even smart to do so (you will just get frustrated).

Make small adjustments without getting frustrated, you will thank yourself on January 1st.

I think that if you manage to walk 1-2 hours a day, it is very likely that you will not have one single extra kilo in a week’s time.

You can really do that. It's not cold, it's not snowing. In Bucharest, the maximum will be 10 degrees in the next few days. Get your rain coat on and start walking.

You will feel wonderful afterwards and you will thank yourself for the decision you made.

Weigh yourself now, drink a cup of coffee, go out for a walk for 2-3 hours before lunch, move your first meal as late as possible.

Before the first meal, weigh yourself again. You will easily see -2 kg.

Walking makes for good legs, it will remove any bloating, it will make you feel good!

Take advantage! It's free!

✅ GO TO THE SAUNA

Go see if the gym is open so you can go to the sauna. While you’re at it, see if you can do a few laps in the pool.

Maybe you'll find the excuse that the gym is closed. I am in this situation as well, but I looked for solutions.

I don't skip on my exercising routine. I don’t go to bed late. Not even on Christmas or January 1st.

For example, Crowne Plaza Bucharest or Ramada (Vitality) on Bd. Poligrafiei have a sauna, pool and gym, it's open today and the entrance fee is 15 Euro or something. You can also take a book with you so you can do some reading.

If you read our articles carefully, you’ve already found some nice spots in Bucharest which you can check out as a tourist as well.

When you're looking for solutions, you can't find excuses.

Get back to your routine from today. 🫡

If you want to receive everything I write, click the Start trial button below and you will have full access to the entire archive of articles (that is ever expanding).

After 7 days of FREE TRIAL, it will cost you 0.2 Euros per day.