100 lbs down: how I did it and what I learned

SW: 300 lbs | CW: 200 lbs | GW: ??? F/5’2”/20y

The first thing I would like to mention is that losing 100 lbs took me a year and a half. Most of my weight came off in the first 6-8 months and then it slowed down and eventually came to a halt during quarantine. The most important thing I learned was that IT’S OKAY TO TAKE A BREAK FROM WEIGHT LOSS. I was in a calorie deficit for well over a year straight and for three months while I was out of work and locked down in my house, I maintained my weight and got a break that I never intended getting, but hindsight is 20/20 and I definitely needed it even though it sucked at the time to hit a plateau like that. Weight loss is a SLOW process, especially if you’re doing it without surgery. Sometime the scale will not budge for weeks on end and it can be discouraging and frustrating but DO NOT GIVE UP.

Also, it is possible to lose weight without counting calories, but the only way to do that is to learn how to count calories first. I strictly logged my calories for about a year and then decided that I had grown to understand what a healthy amount of food looks like in a day. I still occasionally weigh my food but I don’t pay anywhere near as much attention to calorie counting as I did when I began. Yes, I still pay attention to calories, but I’m not really “counting” them. I haven’t logged my food in at least 6 months.

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO STARVE YOURSELF OR COMPLETELY CUT OFF SWEETS AND TREATS TO LOSE WEIGHT. Learning moderation was one of the hardest things for me. When I would get a taste of something that released that sweet sweet dopamine into my brain, I couldn’t stop until it was all gone or until I was stuffed and nauseous. After months of trying to teach myself self control, something finally clicked in my brain and I started listening to my hunger signals. I don’t remember exactly how long it took but it was months and months before I was able to eat without wanting to stuff myself to more than full. Now I am not afraid of the occasional ice cream or chocolate because I know when to stop and what’s an appropriate amount to eat.

Finally, FIND SOMETHING ELSE TO OCCUPY YOUR MIND. Before I lost the weight, eating was all I did when I had nothing else to do. I still tend to eat when I’m bored, so I found that finding something to fill my time with is extremely beneficial in keeping my mind off of food. This was why I stopped losing in quarantine: the next meal was the only thing I had to look forward to. Now that I’m back to work and leaving the house more, I don’t find myself eating every hour of the day.

I truly never believed I could ever lose weight. I thought I was destined to be morbidly obese, that it just ran in my family, that I was a hopeless food addict that could never recover. But I did it. And I continue to do it. Losing 100 lbs has been the best thing that has ever happened to me; I can climb a flight of stairs without being out of breath, my legs and back don’t hurt after working a long day, I have more energy than I ever had before. If I can do it, anyone can do it.

submitted by /u/healthy-life-journey
[link] [comments]

from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/38oVggd