For most of my life I have been unhappy with my body. It probably all went downhill once I focused more on school at age 9. I spent most my afternoons studying with my father. With 11 years of age I entered high school. I was sedentary for most of the day; school until 4pm and studying 3-4 hours afterwards.
I was somewhat active, playing all kinds of sports (basketball, volleyball, golf). In my free time or on vacation I enjoyed swimming, snowboarding, hiking, mountain biking. I even tried stuff like surfing, kyte surfing, kayaking, skateboarding. The point I want to make is this: I am not untalented when it comes to playing sports. I can pick up the basics of most and even be somewhat good at them. The problem is/was the following. I never stayed commited. School was always a priority. It's like I entered a room and left immediatly after seeing what was going on inside.
Combining my lack of an active lifestyle, sitting in school/at my desk all day and the horrible eating habits in school as well as at home I quickly became chubby. The only resson I am not literally rolling around is my enormous hight; just a bit over two meters.
I once made a pact with myself, that I would only have sex once I got lean. So let's go ahead and finally carve a body that I am proud of.
In order to eat healthy you have to be able to cook. That's the only way to control what goes into your body. It allows you to unlock all the goodness in your food. So what is food? In german there are several terms: "Essen", "Speisen", "Lebensmittel". We should think about our food as a "Lebensmittel" - means to life.
That means freash produce; lots of vegetables and fruits. Nuts, honey, spices (cinammon is supposed to be healthy) and fresh/quality meats/fish seem like a good start to healthy eating. I think the low carb crowd makes a pretty good case - so limiting bread, potatoes and other grains(rice, corn etc.) seems to be the way to go. Oh, and don't eat sugars and all the obvious stuff (chips, fries etc.) of course.
I have tried IF with some success in the past. My longest interval was 4-20 (4 hours eating window, 20h fasting). I obviously ate rather healthy; salads, fruits/vegetables etc. To make this rather short: IF works (for me) and you can start by going 16-8, then 12-12, 8-16 and finally maintain 4-20. I would recommend (out of a gut feeling and personal experience) to leave IF by going reverse and working your way up to 16-8 again.
Recenlty I discovered the snake diet. I got some stuff(salts, minerals, suppliments) and will try out this fasting method. Will report back. Maybe even with a before after shot:)
I am not very active. This is due to my habits and my current lifestyle. I hope to change that. The most important apect for this change is independence. I don't want to rely on a gym etc.
So calisthenatics seem the way to go for me. These excersises are not bound by time and location.
A standing desk is something essential to me because I spend a lot of time sitting down. SHIT! So I will build a setup at my house