Hi all,
Yesterday was my 365th day of tracking my food in the LoseIt app. I figured I'd make a little celebratory post and share what I've learned along the way.
Weight Loss
First off, I've spent a year tracking my food, and for about 8 months, I lost about 0.25-0.5 lbs per week. I started December 28th, 2017 at 243.5 and I am currently at 233.5. I am up a few lbs because of travel and Christmas, but before this week, I was hovering around 230, so I'm sure I'll be back there in a week or so. My BMI fell from 39.4 to 37.1. My low weight was about 227, but I've gained during my surgery recovery.
Persistence
I tracked my food despite: several 12+ hr car trips, 5+ days without internet, major surgery, and any/every possible excuse I could muster. I can't guarantee it was all accurate. But I did it. And I plan to keep going. Food tracking is/was my base habit. Didn't matter if I was over-eating or depressed -- my base habit was not restricting food. It was merely tracking the food. And that saved my butt more times than I can count.
Next Steps
After spending some time the last few weeks contemplating it, I'm going to keep my food where it is (between 1800-2200 cal per day) and add strength training. I've lost weight but my overall figure hasn't really changed the way I thought it would.*
* I'm a nonbinary, transmasculine person on a low dose of testosterone. I was hoping that chest reduction + some weight loss would adjust my curves, but I've lost pretty symmetrically, and so, I'm hoping that strength training will help where food restriction did not.
Other Lessons
Like most folks, I've tried to -- and successfully -- lost weight before, but it's always come back. This past year has been one step in a three year journey of self-discovery. For me, it was realizing my gender identity that enabled me to deal with my unrealistic expectations (my subconscious believed that working out furiously would turn me into a dude), as well as my chronic depression, which has lessened substantially since adjusting my hormones to where my brain wants them. I couldn't have made a successful habit this year without working on my depression.
The other major change I made in 2018 was eliminating caffeinated soda. I don't drink coffee, so Coke was my only source of caffeine. I was fully caffeine free for 4 months or so, and now I use caffeinated soda occasionally, like when I'm traveling, or I'm really tired in the morning. I keep it under 16 oz most days, and probably use it only 0-3 times per week. My household has flirted with the idea of eliminating soda completely, but we do still drink it when we're out, and occasionally we bring it into the house. I've been using orange juice w/ soda water to fend off cravings.
Finally: I started tracking my food because about 6 months before, I started having chronic, bad heartburn. My doctor and I both thought it was because I had crossed some magic weight threshold. We were wrong. Turns out, I was using too much Aleve and it was degrading my stomach lining. I had to stop Aleve before my surgery, and the heartburn disappeared nearly instantly. Go figure.
Conclusions
I'm still fat. But I didn't balloon from 160 in high school to nearly 250 overnight, and it's okay if it takes me a while to get it off. I'd rather keep tracking my food, lose when I can, maintain when I can't, and keep trudging on. My sugar and other blood work are just fine, my heartburn is gone, and the weight I gained from testosterone (about 30 lbs) is halfway gone. I'm excited for what the future holds.
Me in November, post surgery: https://imgur.com/BYPixxH
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from loseit - Lose the Fat http://bit.ly/2QXVtBC
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