How I lost 50,5 kgs in 5 month and 5 days. A history of 1061 days of failures and a path to success

This book is my story. It's about success, the road to it; there's a bit of theory. But mostly, it's about practice - how, in 158 days (the title 5 months and five days), I changed my life and lost 50.5 kg.

A hilarious picture of Pawel Jaronski is circulating the web - a doctor diagnosing a patient, saying, "You are fat. Please don't be fat." The patient thanks him, and the consultation is over. Much weight-loss advice looks similar. Seemingly simple advice that only looks good on paper. Or in a world of superheroes endowed with superpowers.

This is not a book for superheroes. Nor is it a book written by a superhero. It is a story about how to win, despite stumbles and failures. How to learn lessons. How to pick yourself up after successive falls. You will only find advice that works in everyday life. You will get practical advice tailored to the busy lifestyles of today's world. Based on factual foundations and the knowledge of experts in many fields but is complemented by the true story of a man who has faced himself. Or that's what superheroism is.

This book is a record of my story. I won't describe my life, but I will discuss almost four years. It will be about success but also the road to it. The first part concerns the period from 23 August 2019 to 18 July 2022. That is 1,061 days, which can be seen as a period of failure. Or (to paraphrase Thomas Edison), it was a period in which I discovered 1061 ways to lose weight that didn't work. The second part was the 158 days (actually the eponymous five months and five days), during which, using the experiences I had gathered, I changed my life and lost 50.5 kg.

To lose weight, I had to suffer from depression and stage III obesity. Sometimes people with depression say they woke up driving a car in a head-on collision. Me, I feel like I woke up in the vicinity of a coffin with a box of pizza in my hand.

The fact that I have lost and continue to lose weight is the result of the sum of my experiences, not a magical transformation. This is only a book for some. I am not a doctor, although doctors do appear in it. This is not a book to diagnose endocrine disorders or other illnesses (see a doctor about those!). I will not help you all. But if at least a few people benefit from my story, I will still be happy. The fact that I have a circle of people supporting me is lucky. Some people are not so fortunate. But it's worthwhile then to seek help from professionals (psychotherapists, psychologists) who can help in such a situation.

But if my experiences are to help at least one person - it is worth sharing such knowledge. That is why this book was written.

Table of contents

Introduction 5

The story of my dietary failures 6

A little theory about weight loss 7

Caloric deficit 7

Calorie counting 8

Physical activity 8

Drinking water 9

What to want - motivation 10

Caloric deficit - my approach 10

Hunger mode 11

How many kcal do you need to survive? 12

Rate of weight loss 13

Food shopping in practice 14

Achieving a caloric deficit in practice is difficult. 14

Portion sizes and food prices for a 1-person and 4-person family 14

Eating disorders and substantial portions of food 15

XL portions in shops 16

Dr Kwasniewski's diet (optimal diet) 16

Pharmacological support - Meridia 17

Boxed diet 17

Introduction to boxes - convenient and healthy food solutions 17

Types of boxed diets 18

Calories and portions in diet boxes 18

Taste of food in diet boxes 19

Variety in diet boxes 20

How they take care of deliveries 21

How they take care of the after-sales service 21

Only some things are always perfect. 21

How about a stomach resection? About gastrectomy 23

Gastrectomy to lose extreme weight. 23

Benefits of gastrectomy 23

Risks of bariatric surgery 24

Types of gastrectomy 24

Pre-operative preparations 25

Recovery 25

Long-term results after treatment 26

Changing eating habits after sleeve gastrectomy 26

Prices for bariatric surgery 27

Surgery under the National Health Fund 27

The vision of losing 50 kg through surgery and a slow process resulting from life changes 27

Fear of surgery and fear of lack of results from a regular diet 28

Positive examples of bariatric surgery - Tomasz Sekielski and Mateusz Borkowski (a.k.a. Big Boy) 28

Concerns of patients and potential patients 29

Why do people give up before treatment? 29

My first systemic approach to losing weight - #10000steps. 31

The book "One Thing" by Gary Keller 31

Rule of 66 days 31

Regular walking 10,000 steps 31

But why? 32

Regularity and consistency 32

Lifestyle change with support from family and friends. 33

Boredom during a walk 33

Gamification is an element that brings it all together. 34

Endomondo and Facebook 34

What is the result of this approach? 35

A second approach to losing weight – is diet and weight loss assistance. 36

Victor 36

Grzesiek - weight loss assistant 36

Healthy Diet and Cheat's Days 37

Water 38

Take-off time 38

The end and the yo-yo effect 39

Depression and negative changes in daily life 40

How depression can lead to extremely overweight 40

What about clothes? 40

Stress scale 41

An important change in personal life 42

A psychiatrist is no shame. 42

Support from family and friends 43

Change order 44

Weight 44

Potential health problems 45

Tom's comment 45

Sex 46

Self-esteem 46

Work and business 46

Swine comments by fatphobes 47

Daily life 47

Enough of that! 47

Wrapping up in July 2022 48

Inspirations 48

Support from relatives 48

Farewell to depression and the start of the transformation. 48

Approach 3 and last 49

Excuses - why not eat properly or go for a walk? 49

Weight loss assistance vs habits 50

Weight loss assistant vs being alone. 50

Why a weight loss assistant should be a stranger. 51

Price of the assistant's service 51

Action plan 52

Objective 52

Calorie counting and dieting. 52

Suvibox boxed diet 53

Ease of diet selection and ordering 53

Taste 53

Boredom 54

Evaluations 54

Moneybox 54

Prices 54

How was it with my calories? 54

Hunger attacks 56

Cheat's Day 56

Cheat Day - scenario 1 57

Cheat Day - scenario 2 (my approach) 57

Alcohol 58

Traffic 58

Walking 58

Water 63

Application 63

Drinking water 63

Fake isotonic drinks and flavoured water 64

Own internal gamification and regularity 65

Book One 65

Taking measurements 65

Taking pictures 66

Steps 66

Stepler 67

Dietly and Suvibox 67

Samsung's challenges 68

Applications on your phone 68

Some hardware 69

Shoes 69

Costume 69

Weight 70

Smart band 71

What to do while walking 71

Music 71

Audiobooks, Audible and the English language 71

Health 72

Internist 73

Nutritionist 73

Cardiologist 73

Diabetologist 74

Mental health 74

What's next for high school graduates? 76

What has been achieved? 76

What else is left? 76

Your action plan. 78

Action plan 78

Checklist 78

Summary