Since April 2017, I gained 5.5 centimeters (~2 inches) around my waist.  It’s my own fault, going out to eat for lunch, almost every day of the week.

Visitors to my town notice that there isn’t a big eating-out culture, but they’re looking at dinner time. You’re not going to find anything at dinner unless you like pizzas or burgers. Most people make food at home, even if it’s just hotdogs or sausages and rice.

Little do they know that it’s at lunch time when the magic happens! Restaurants depend on the lunch rush. Buffet style, or order by the plate, from 11am until 2pm, you can eat “husmanskost” which is The Every Day food: creamy pastas, sauces, casseroles, salad, meat dishes, fish-fish-fish cooked every different way, and the occasional meatball. It’s all fresh and tastes like heaven.

If you’re in Sweden, go to this website, pick your city, and find out where to eat during lunch. The food is usually really good. In my town, Lebanese food is pretty popular. I love it, and my waist expansion is proof.

Prior to my current office job, I made every meal at home, weighing all my ingredients, keeping a watch on my total intake and getting cardio and bodyweight exercises in. Now? I stand at my desk all day and consider it a success if I get in my 10,000 steps, intake be damned.

Alas, the fun cannot go on. It’s time to get rid of this waist fat. According to Scott Herman in this video, he explains how to figure out where your macros should be coming from. I’ve never got my fat professionally measured, but I have a scale that is supposed to read fat percentage. Is it accurate?

According to that scale, I’m at 25% body fat. That’s a quarter of my weight!

Goodbye, beloved shawarma.