Faith and Weight Loss

Justin here. Every year many Christians recognize the season of Lent that leads up to Easter. As most know it generally involves some sort of sacrifice on part of the practitioner (for more information on Lent click here).  Being Methodist I try to make an effort to sacrifice something every year (Mallory grew up Baptist so she's off the hook).  Last year I sacrificed all carbonated beverages, and even after Easter I rarely drank them, and beginning this year I gave up all carbonated soft drinks, with the exception of the lightly carbonated Monster energy drink.

This year for Lent I decided that I wanted to do something more difficult as a test of myself and my convictions.  I did something similar that actually brought me a lot of laughter in high school when I decided to give up socks, but I did have serious reasons for doing so believe it or not.  Anyway this year I decided to give up half of everything I eat.  Yes half.  I'll explain...

The picture above is from the weekend of my Birthday, November 15th.  I hadn't lost much weight ( if any) from then until Ash Wednesday.  Anyway So I decided to cut out half of my food.  I didn't want to be wasteful though, so instead of throwing out half of a meal I would save the other half and make it be my next lunch or dinner.  So if I ordered something at a restaurant I would begin by cutting the portion in half, giving myself a definite line where I would stop eating.  Often the server would ask me if everything was okay with my meal. They're so used to seeing people clean their plates, regardless of how large the portion is, that my  still-half-full plate confused them.

This has done two things.  It's spread my paycheck out further and required me to go to the grocery store about half the time.  Say I wanted a snack.  I'd often eat a granola bar mid morning or mid afternoon, but now I'd eat half of it in the morning and save the other half for that afternoon.  The incredible thing is that by doing all of this I haven't felt constantly hungry as some would think which I feel was helped by my faith as well as the actual nutritional science behind it.  I haven't turned into a devout anorexic, I'm still getting about 1200 calories a day.  When I eat out I'm most likely NOW getting the recommended daily portion for that meal.

As of this writing (Thursday April 21st, 3 days before Easter)  I've lost nearly twenty pounds.  People from my mother to my friends have asked me if I will continue this practice past Easter.  Probably so, I might modify it slightly to make sure I am eating healthier foods in general, but I over the past 43 days I've had actual desert items like Salted Caramel Ice Cream. The thing is I ate the recommended amount, not the giant bowls I'd normally want.  It's amazing how much better I feel in general, lighter even.  I've started exercising and it seems easier than it was before.  I hope to get down to 175lbs by the end of the summer, which is my doctors recommended weight for me.  I started the year at 235lbs.  Today I'm at 215.  If I was smart I'd start marketing my amazing diet plan.  The "Justin Nickels Hey, Just Eat Half of That" plan.

Pin It