So if your resolution is get to a certain weight then this post is for you! Follow this and you’ll be on your way to your 2019 dream body. I’m a 6’3 18y/o M that’s struggled with weight my whole life. I’ve lost over 100 pounds and I’ve been maintaining my weight for one year now, and it’s now time for me to cut the last 15lbs, so let’s do this together! I thought that I might pass along some knowledge that learned to some of you newcomers that may be a little intimidated with weight loss. I’ll cover a few things about dieting and tricks Ive learned along with exercise.
Congrats! You made the first step. You realized that something needs to change. Whether you’re doing this to lose 5lbs, 20lbs or 100lbs all of us need support along the way and you have just hit the jackpot. This subreddit is the most welcoming and supportive subreddit on the INTERNET in my opinion. When I went through motivation struggles with my journey this subreddit is what kept me going, and I hope you use it to your advantage to reach your goals like I did.
Before you go any further I want you to know that dieting doesn’t mean you need to cut out your favorite foods, that’s not sustainable. It’s better to incorporate your favorite foods into what you eat but still have it fit your calorie needs, I’ll cover this more later.
Here is one of the most common misconceptions with weight loss, strict dieting. And some of you will know that this isn’t correct, a lot of people might not. News flash: you need to eat to lose weight. A lot of people will try to just eat salads for every meal and like 1 egg for breakfast. That isn’t sustainable, you’re not a hamster. You need to eat ~500 - 800 calories under your maintenance (amount of calories you need to eat a day to keep the same weight). How do I find this? You’ll need to use a tdee calculator. This is the one I used: https://tdeecalculator.net Input your age, weight, height etc. and you’ll get your result.
You can now take that calorie goal and eat whatever you want as long as by the end of the day you’re at or under your calorie goal. Yeah, I said whatever you want! A lot of people will try to cut out sugar completely because they think it’ll make them gain weight, this is not really true, what is making you gain weight is eating over your maintenance calories. You’ll lose weight no matter what you eat as long as it’s under your maintenance calories. I ate a pint of halo top ice cream almost every night and I still lost 100lbs, but I made sure it fit within my cal goal. Many studies have been done to prove this, for example
Eating only Twinkies to lose weight: http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/11/08/twinkie.diet.professor/index.html
Eating only ice cream to lose weight: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0NwVEiZAHXY
BUT: here’s the catch. This will indeed have effects on your body, specifically energy level and body composition. When it comes to bodybuilding, that’s when the quality of food DOES matter. You can’t eat only fats and expect the retain all of your muscle, because muscle requires protein. So you find a middle ground, if you’re craving chips, eat some freakin chips. But instead of going overboard and eating straight out of the bag, look at the serving size/calories and make it fit your calorie needs! This can be tricky though, because foods like chips might not fill you up and take up large amounts of calories.
“So I’m going to have to look at nutrition facts all day and try to remember them?” Nope! MyFitnessPal... you’ve probably heard of it, and guess what, it’s a literal gift from the gods. It has by far the biggest database of foods, which makes it that much easier to use. I’ve been using it for so long I barley even notice it nowadays and it takes seconds to log a food.
This is where tracking your calories comes in! Guess what, I eat what I’m in the mood for and I still lose weight. Using MyFitnessPal (you can use whatever app you desire this is my just choice) I can type in the brand of the food I’m eating, select how many servings I’m going to eat, weigh it and I’m good to go. It has changed my life for the better and if you use it correctly it’ll change yours as well. I believe that this is the best way to “diet” because you’re not eating the same thing everyday. You can pick and choose what you want as long as you meet your calories needs. This also allows you to have a social life while dieting. I still go out to eat with my friends all the time, but I plan my meals for the day around it
For example, tomorrow I’m going to Outback Steakhouse with my buddies. So I open myfitnesspal, type in what I’m gonna eat, and adjust my meals around that. Say my meal for going out to eat is ~1500cal, I think I’ll eat a large amount of protein/meat when I wake up because meat and protein is VERY satiating and filling This is how I curve any craving I have. Meat is so incredibly satisfying and it’s been a life saver on multiple occasions. And then have a light snack later on. (This will be different for you, because we have different calorie needs). Just like that I’ve already hit my calorie goals for tomorrow and I’m that much closer to my goal weight.
This is very important to practice logging your food, because the alternative is eating the same thing everyday. Which leads me into another misconception about dieting, “I’m going to eat only eggs toast and peanut butter for breakfast for the next 5 months with no substitutions.” NOT SUSTAINABLE. You can’t eat the same thing everyday and not get sick of it, and if you say you can you’re lying to yourself. This is where a lot of dieters fail in my opinion. They start to get tired of their meal plan and slowly wean off... MYFITNESSPAL! USE IT! IM SERIOUS! ITS A LIFESTYLE BRO!
Macronutrients and it’s importance: this may be confusing for newcomers and it’s more aimed towards people that are focusing on muscle growth and preserving it. The 3 main macronutrients (macros) there are is 1. Carbs 2. Fats 3. Protein. In myfitnesspal on the diary page, at the very bottom there’s a “nutrition” button. There you can tap macros and you will be able to see all of macros for the day. It is controversial about the amounts of macros you need because everyone is different, but for me I aim to eat 1gram of protein per body lb. and 0.4gram of fat per lb and fill the rest with carbs. (CARBS ARE ESSENTIAL TO MUSCLE GROWTH!) if you’re serious about bodybuilding you should head over to bodybuilding forum, it’s a great resource and has helped me a lot..
Exercise: I want you to know that 70% of weight loss is what you eat. 20% is your physical activity. 10% thermic effect Of food. People in comas can lose weight, because it’s what you put in your body that matters, don’t get me wrong though, exercise is also extremely important and it’ll be a key factor in getting your dream body.
Now for the most common exercising misconception. “Cardio cardio cardio cardio and then maybe a little bit more cardio” STOP! Cardio is great for you and you should definitely use it as a tool in your weight loss journey, but if you want to look lean and normal once you get the weight off you should focus on weight lifting, weight lifting burns calories in the moment as well as after your workout. For me, I lift 3-5x a week and do a cardio/hiit exercise either after lifting or on off days. What’s hiit? High intensity interval training. It’s the better version of cardio. For example, I run as hard as I can on a treadmill for 45 seconds then a swift walk for 15. There is tons and tons of hiit exercises online, but if you’re serious about exercise stick with lifting, it’ll do you weight loss wonders.
As of now this is all I can think of, but I’ll update later on if I think of more tips. Thanks for reading and get on that grind!
Edit: spelling/thermic effect of food
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