39M 174cm (5 foot 8 inches-ish) started in April 2019 at 84kg (185 lbs), my current weight is 66kg (145.5 lbs) in April 2020. My (and my SO's) motivation for losing weight was rock climbing. I've done some kind of sport most of my life, but later in life mostly enjoyed running. About 3 years ago, my patellar tendon snapped a couple of fibers from it. This, combined with knee joint issues meant I couldn't run anymore. That's when I found rock climbing and found it does not put any significant strain on my knee. Was so happy that I found a new sport I enjoy, but my weight prevented me from improving my rock climbing skills, so i started losing weight.
I used calorie counting with the Lose It! app, with a small calorie deficit of 250 calories a day, but tried doing more than that, whenever I could. Besides rock climbing I also did some cardio at home. In August last year I switched to a fitbit charge 3 and I use that for both calorie counting and estimating how many calories I burned.
I've done calorie counting before, like 12 years ago, but only did cardio (running) so I plateaued at 72kg (158 lbs), then stopped and put the weight back on very quickly. Rock climbing goes way better with calorie counting because it has a strength gain component which puts some muscle mass back on your body that you inevitably lose during weight loss. For every 5 lbs of fat you lose you also lose 1 lbs of muscle mass, which brings your BMR down which makes weight loss harder.
My SO and I really enjoy going rock climbing both in our local (small) rock climbing gym and on real rock and she has also lost the same amount of weight. Women have less muscle mass to begin with, which means less calorie needs and estrogen means they put on fat easier. Do not compare your weight loss with men's, there are physiological differences that makes the comparison not very useful. I've told my SO the same thing, but the main thing is do not compare your results with anyone's. Your results are your own be proud of them and try to improve every day, each journey is unique and different.
This is my result so far. A couple of days ago I've also made a youtube video comparing footage (and scores) from my favorite cardio exercise from the last year and different weights. I'm not going to link it here since reddit has not reacted well to that in the past and are quick to point to some "No self promotion" rule that most communities, but you can easily find it by searching on youtube for "How does weight loss affect agility", if you're interested. Just to be clear for those that do not know, tiny youtube channels cannot be monetized, I do that because I enjoy it and also because it's free storage of my videos.
Why I created this post? I wanted to share my results and my experience, maybe it can provide some tips and/or motivation for someone reading and also because I'm proud of my results. Part of keeping your motivation up is comparing and enjoying the improvements you've done to your body so don't be afraid of doing that, it helps.
If I were to give advice to someone trying to calorie count it would be the following:
- go slow. It gives time for your body to adjust to the new lifestyle and does not put unneeded strain on your liver;
- do not do only cardio. Loss of muscle mass is part of losing weight, so combine your exercising with some strength training to put back some of the muscle mass you lose. You cannot make any major muscle mass gains while on a low calorie diet so don't worry about not getting buff, that's not the point.
- protein deficiencies in your diet is also a source of muscle loss. Your body will absorb some muscle mass, in order to use the protein that it's lacking. Consider using some protein supplement to help with that. I use whey based protein, because it has higher absorption rate than other sources. I did 30 grams of whey protein per day for the last 3 or 4 months. I've noticed I've put back some muscle mass, when doing the comparison video.
- this is a lifestyle change, not something you do for some time, until you achieve your goal, then just go back to your old ways. So, after getting to your goal, just switch your calorie budget to "maintain" and keep counting. An alternative goal is to go 500 calories above what you need and to do strength training if you want to put on muscle mass.
- cheat days can be a morale boost, so if you want to have a cheat day once in a while, go for it. One day in a month or so will not set back your weight loss too much. Also, the mental comfort of knowing that you can have a cheat day at some point, does help as well.
tl;dr: Results of 18 kg (40 lbs) weight loss in one year from 84kg (185 lbs) to 66kg (145.5 lbs).
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