1. Newton’s second law tells us that the acceleration of an object is dependent upon two variables – the net force acting upon the object and the mass of the object.
2. Dynamic shooting involves positive and negative acceleration as we move out of and into shooting positions.
3. To accelerate or stop faster we can increase the force (get stronger) and / or decrease the mass (loose weight), this post is all about the second of these options.
I became interested in weight loss one day when I looked down at the scales and noted with some alarm that my BMI was 35 and the scales were only partly in view due to an unwelcome obstruction!
This revelation came the day after returning from IWA in Nuremberg, the land of beer and sausages. My mind was made up and all I needed to do was find a method which suited my lifestyle. I travel a lot for both work and competitive shooting so this needed to be something practical and not too complex to follow. Some friends had told me about the keto diet in which you can eat high protein foods while avoiding anything with high carbohydrate content, I thought I love steak, what can possibly go wrong!
The first step is to have a look at the carbohydrate content of things you lie to eat, at first some calculation will be required but after a week or two you will know the principles well enough to eat the right things without resorting to using a calculator. The fact that many food products have carbs/100g printed on the packaging is very helpful for this. My plan was simple, to stay under 20 grams of carbohydrates per day.
To do this I mainly ate and drank:
Meat – all types
Fish – all types including shellfish
Cheese
Eggs
Mushrooms, avocados, onions and green salad
Lower carb nuts – Brazil nuts and walnuts
Water, tea and coffee without milk, straight spirits without mixers; brandy, whiskey and vodka
While avoiding:
Potatoes
Pasta
Rice
Bread
High carb veg and fruit
Beer, wine, fruit juice and fizzy drinks
I have been doing this for 9 weeks at the date of writing and have so far lost 15kg and reduced my BMI to 30, in this period I have not been hungry and have made trips away from home in 5 different countries.
It is important to point out 2 key facts to anyone who wants to give this a try:
> You need to drink a lot of water if you plan to use this diet, I aim to drink 4 litres per day, never less than 3 and more than 4 if possible.
> The first week is an adjustment period, you may feel some side effects from cutting down dramatically on carbohydrate content, this passed quickly for me but some people don’t suit this diet and don’t adjust well.
I plan to continue for a while longer, maybe 10kg more of reduction and BMI below 27, but the things which have appealed to me about this diet plan are:
> Easy to do in practical terms during a life on the move
> I have not felt hungry
> Many of my favourite foods work well in this plan
> Some social drinking of alcohol is ok
> I feel confident that I can pretty easily reach or even exceed my personal weight reduction goal despite previously believing that weight loss becomes more difficult as one gets older
Note – I am not a dietitian or a physician, this article is a summary of my personal experience and nothing else. If you want to try this for yourself you should seek out your own information on dieting and health.
