Success story and ultimate SV: 45 pounds lost in 5 months, 62 pounds lost overall. I did it and you can too!

Sort of an outline of my weight loss journey, feel free to ask questions!

STATS & PICS:

• M/29/5’7” (170 cm)
• Starting Weight --- 212 pounds (96 kg)
• Current Weight --- 150 pounds (68 kg)
• Progress Pic! – shirtless so maybe NSFW?

TIMELINE:

• September 30, 2016 --- highest ever weigh-in at 212 pounds (right around when the before pic was taken)
• July 22, 2018 --- began full commitment to CICO at 195 pounds with an initial GW of 170 pounds
• October 3, 2018 --- reached original GW of 170 pounds in 10 weeks (rate of 2.5 pounds/week) and adjusted ultimate GW to 150 pounds
• Today --- reached ultimate GW of 150 pounds in 22 weeks (rate of 2.1 pounds/week)

METHODS & TOOLS:

• Primary method --- basic CICO (went over my daily goal of 1,750 calories probably twice a week but didn’t stress about it, just rebounded the next day and tried to stay as consistent as possible)
• Monthly average calories consumed --- 1,808 (JUL) --- 1,876 (AUG) --- 1,899 (SEPT) --- 1,816 (OCT) --- 2,077 (NOV) --- 1,831 (DEC)
• Food log/tracker --- Calorie Counter by Fatsecret
• Activity tracker --- Fitbit Flex 2 (actually seemed to pretty closely mirror my TDEE according to the TDEE v3.0 spreadsheet but I basically only used it as a step counter to make sure I was moving enough)
• Exercise – occasional trips to the gym and light jogs around my neighborhood from July through September, picked up swimming in October and now do that once a week as my only exercise outside of walking a fair amount each day

HIGHLIGHTS:

• Compliments (family, friends, clients, pretty much everyone)
• I look much better in pictures, especially in my face
• I feel lighter and I move better, less stress on my joints, sleep is more comfortable, etc.
• I don’t get winded playing with my kids or climbing stairs
• I don’t sweat excessively every time the temperature exceeds 70 degrees
• I don’t drink as much alcohol as before so less hangovers
• Little to no loose skin

LOWLIGHTS:

• Cravings were BAD during the first month of CICO, required lots of mental strength to defeat
• I had to explain to people (mostly family) who worked hard making food for me why I wasn’t eating as much as I used to, I didn’t want to upset anyone
• None of my old clothes fit anymore, buying new clothes is expensive and I hate shopping
• My wedding ring doesn’t fit anymore and needs to be resized, it falls off constantly during normal tasks like taking a shower or doing the dishes
• I’m cold all the time, I didn’t realize how much I would miss my built-in insulation
• I still don’t have my ideal body composition but am getting there slowly, I just wanted to lose the fat first before I focused on that

PLAN FOR MAINTENANCE:

• I’m going to continue tracking like normal with my app, it’s become such a routine for me that I don’t think I can just quit altogether (I don’t really want to quit either, I enjoy tracking)
• I’m switching from daily calorie goal to a weekly goal of 18,200 calories (2,600 average per day), for reference my current TDEE is about 2,700 on average so while I might still be at a deficit it’ll be too small to make a significant difference on the scale
• I’m going to start doing weekly weigh-ins every Friday morning instead of daily weigh-ins
• I’m setting an upper weight limit of 157 pounds for myself, meaning that if I ever see that number I’ll know it’s more than just water weight and that I need to switch back over to deficit mode until I reach my ideal weight range of 148-152 pounds again. Likewise, if I see 145 pounds or under, I’ll up my intake temporarily to get back to my ideal weight range

FINAL THOUGHTS:

• It was definitely hard but it was by far one of the best decisions I’ve ever made for myself
• You CAN defeat cravings, it just takes time for your body to cooperate with your lifestyle changes
• Practicing dietary discipline transitioned well to other areas of my life, like reading more, spending more time with my family, getting plenty of sleep, etc
• My wife lost a ton of weight along with me (purely through intuitive eating and exercise) and it was extremely beneficial to have her support at home, we really propped each other up and helped each other when things became difficult
• I’m a little worried about maintenance, many people say it’s equally as tough as losing but I’m confident that the discipline I’ve learned throughout the last 5 months will help me transition and stay the course

Thanks for reading and thank you to this community for being an outstanding support system for me during all of this. Many of you inspired me to keep pushing no matter what to reach my ultimate goal and I couldn’t be more thankful.

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