Obese exit strategy [Day 1 post w/questions]

Hello reddit, obese lurker here. I write this in the hopes that it my “escape plan” prove useful to someone else.

About me

I am a mid-20s guy whose always been fat, but the problem exacerbated itself in college. I gained just almost 100 pounds while going for my degree. 18-20-hour days and half your daily calories in caffeine absolutely wrecks you. 2 years ago, I tried to lose weight, and succeeded for a while, but didn’t retain the good habits that caused me to lose the weight in the first place.

Mindset

The secret to weight loss is these 4 words: Incremental permanent lifestyle changes. The lifestyle changes are what everyone talks about: counting calories, eating better, more exercise, etc. Permanent means that you cannot drop them or revert back to previous behaviors, or your original weight will follow. Incremental means to move a few steps at a time, and over a period of time; Trying to go hard at the start leads to burning out within a few days. Layering it on helps it “stick”.

Fat man’s get skinny plan

With the mindset above, these starting steps to gradually get myself back on track, layering in something new 1 week at a time.

• Begin light exercise (walking on warmer days) 2x a week
• Cut out soda / cut out all caffeine sources (withdrawal happens here, but it gets better after the first 3 days)
• Begin logging calories, but make no calorie cuts yet.
• Increase exercising to 3-4x times a week.
• Begin restricting to -500 calories a day
• Start C25k program
• Begin restricting to -1000 calories a day
• After 10-20 lbs is lost, buy some strength training equipment or a purple-gym membership.

Misc pieces of wisdom from my first attempt

• Don’t weigh daily: there are too many fluctuations / uncontrollable factors to worry about that. Even weekly stressed me out on the first attempt, so I’m going to try monthly.
• It’s ok to have cheat meals, the long-term vision is what’s important.
• A gym membership is useless until you build the exercise habit first.
• (Personal note) A single soda at a party caused my first downward spiral. Always avoid!

Questions for veterans

• Is there a better app then MFP for tracking calories? Some of the numbers aren’t always right / accurate.
• Is there a subreddit for 1500-2000 calorie meal prep?
• Is there a good list of indoor cardio exercises? I cannot walk outside when it gets cold.

Thanks for reading, hope this helps someone!

Edit(s) - Formatting is hard.

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