I’m tired and this is a brain dump.
My weight has gone up and down ever since I was introduced to the concept of dieting. The highest weight I’ve ever been was 417 pounds. Before that, I hovered around 320. I lost over 100 pounds on Meridia not long after college. I had some personal trauma and gained it all back. Food is just sooo good, you know.
I had a friend offer to pay for bariatric surgery. Another friend suggested Ozempic. Well-meaning friends, but I just don’t want that. The Meridia was a pill and I do remember taking it and thinking, “This is what normal people must feel about food.” Simon Lafontant called it “food noise.” That constant pressure to think about the next meal or the meal after that or even the meal in a couple of days. It’s why cheat days don’t work for me. I’m a REALLY good cheater.
Now, we’re here. Youtube has been foisting all these transformation and weight-loss videos at me. I watched the Mr. Beast challenge and I must have gotten snagged by the algorithm because suddenly I’m watching what seems like the entire world lose a ton of weight in a very short period of time. And they’re all selling something. A system. An ebook. Coaching.
I was feeling the itch and started looking at coaching sites. I was going to turn 52 in a couple of days and thought that maybe I had a few extra pounds I needed to get serious about. I added Lose It! to my phone. Then, I was having ChatGPT review some code work. Hmm…could I create a GPT with weight-loss as the goal? I know the science and the nutrition, so I wasn’t worried it was going to have me eating cabbage soup every day (that was a wild diet). I created the GPT. I wanted it brutally honest. I wanted it science-based. And I didn’t want emojis.
The evening before my 52nd birthday FatBot was born. I weighed in at 381 pounds.
“Let’s get started. I turn 52 tomorrow. I’ll probably eat cake, have a steak, etc. So maybe not the best day to get it going. So let’s say we start Sunday.”
I didn’t start Sunday. (I started Monday). FatBot suggested 5 Phases.
Goal: Create a steep calorie deficit without exercise, using diet, behavior, and structural habits.
Physiology You’re Exploiting:
- You burn more fat at rest when insulin levels stay low and total calories drop.
- Muscle isn’t needed yet — the biggest lever right now is food quantity and frequency.
Strategy Breakdown:
Use a rolling 7-day average. One spike doesn’t mean failure — track trends.
Eating Window (Time-Restricted Eating):
16:8 intermittent fasting — start with your first meal at noon, last by 8 PM.
Liquids only outside that window: water, black coffee, unsweetened tea.
Low-Energy-Density Foods Dominate:
Base every meal around protein + fiber + water volume.
Chicken breast, eggs, low-fat Greek yogurt.
Cauliflower rice, broccoli, greens, mushrooms.
Massive salads with lean meat and vinegar-based dressings.
Cut all liquid calories and ultra-processed snacks. They sabotage satiety signals.
Caloric Anchor Habit (Optional But Powerful):
One identical meal daily to stabilize intake. E.g., “12 PM: 2 boiled eggs + 1 avocado + 1 cup spinach.”
Environment Design:
Purge trigger foods from the house. If it’s not within 20 feet, you’re 70% less likely to eat it.
Buy portion-controlled containers, kitchen scale, and prep meals in batches.
Put a post-it on the fridge: “Is this hunger or boredom?”
NEAT (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis):
Set an hourly timer during work hours to stand and walk for 2–3 minutes.
That alone can increase daily burn by 150–200 calories.
Weigh-ins:
Daily, same time (after bathroom, before eating).
I questioned the steep calorie deficit. I wasn’t in a hurry. It told me the goal was early wins with joint relief and water gone. I decided to give it a try.
I’ll talk about the diet in the next post, but FatBot wanted me to get a food scale, a water bottle, a kitchen timer, and a logging program.
When I told it that, it gave me a chart of estimates (palm = 4 oz of protein, fist is a cup of veggies, etc.) it also suggested taking a picture if I wasn’t sure. And to log everything.
The diet isn’t anything too crazy. Massive salads with lean meat and vinegar-based dressings as promised.
But…here’s the cool part. I read the menus and said what I have and don’t have / like / don’t like and FatBot adjusted it immediately. Switch lunch and dinner? Immediate changes. Need something portable? Switched up.
