Hey guys!
Before photo: https://imgur.com/Av7itEZ
After photo (with my awesome mom): https://imgur.com/hxOeJwl
TLDR; Went from 273 pounds in January 2019 to 172 by January 2020. Have been maintaining for 2020. Main strategies I have used:
CICO (calories in-calories out)
16:8 intermittent fasting
Finding foods I can "binge" on without great consequence. (example: whole tray of roasted zuchinni)
Exercising (when I can)
lurking through and commenting on r/loseit (thank you so much guys)
Identifying trigger foods and keeping them out of the house. For me, an example is potato chips
Keeping my thoughts positive and attempting to be kinder to myself.
PS Happy Labor Day!
*Main Post
I want to say first that lurking on this subreddit and occasionally commenting has really helped me along the way and I appreciate you all and am very grateful for this community. No matter where you are on your journey, remember to be kind to yourself. I wanted to share my weight loss journey I have been on over the past year and a half. I lost about 100 pounds over the course of 2019 and have successfully maintained my weight in 2020! My (6' 2" male) peak weight was 273 and now I have been maintaining in the low 170s, high 160s. What made me get really serious about weight loss was reaching my peak weight in December 2019 and also getting diagnosed with high blood sugar/pre-diabetes. At the time, I was about to turn 21 and the thought of my health already being at risk at this young age freaked me out. I'm going to break down my weight-loss journey into two periods and talk about the strategies I utilized to lose weight. I hope this can be helpful to you all!
Period 1 (pre-injury)
When I first started losing weight I did not calorie count or track my food. I did a 16:8 intermittent fast and ate two fairly large, but healthy meals a day. Cutting out a meal and lessening my window for eating was a really simple way for me to reduce my caloric intake and control overeating. I tried to eat a lot of fruits (at this point I still wasn't quite into veggies) and foods that were high in protein and filling. I also started exercising more and doing HIIT cardio. Man, I got into cardio and it became a great outlet for my stress and of course helped with weight loss. However, like most people talk about in this sub, weight loss is more about diet than exercise. Using these methods, I was able to lose around 50 pounds from January 2019 through June 2019. Then I tore my groin which leads to part 2!
Period 2
After tearing my groin really badly in a basketball game, I had to severely restrict my exercise. I also now have a labrum tear in my opposite hip from compensating which I need surgery for, so I have been dealing with a lack of being able to exercise heavily for the past year and a half. The summer of 2019 I decided to start counting calories because I was worried about gaining weight when recovering from my injury. Later that summer I also got on reddit and found r/loseit, which further motivated me to track calories! I am a believer in CICO (calories in, calories out) and believe that is 95% of what causes weight loss. I did 1800 calories a day while being mostly sedentary besides very basic restrengthening exercises. This helped me to lose the last 50 pounds from June 2019- January 2020 and has been the key to my success during maintenance.
A big problem for me before losing weight was binge-eating as a lot of you can probably relate to. Tracking my food has helped me to avoid binge eating. Even when I do go over some days, tracking it helps me not to go over too much. Also, I am not as strict with the 16:8 fast anymore. Sometimes I am in the mood for a light breakfast. Most days though I do like to put off most of my calorie consumption until further in the day as a strategy to avoid overeating. Another way I avoid overeating is finding food that I can overeat without having a huge calorie hit. For example, I can eat a whole tray of sliced, roasted zucchini and only be at around 180 calories. Also, to me, oatmeal is crazy filling, and don't underestimate potatoes for a nice fill-up! (regular and sweet). Find those low-calorie foods you love and can binge out on (but always track!).
During maintenance I have utilized the same strategies as I did in part two of my journey. I am pretty blessed with a fast metabolism and have found that I can maintain at 2700 calories a day with very minimal exercise as I am still injured. I have a theory also that my body may be working extra hard to recover from these muscle tears too which maybe allowing extra calorie consumption. I am actually on a 16:8 fast right now because I have been having extra trouble with overeating lately and fasting really helps me avoid that. One aspect of maintenance that I am having to adjust to is the fact that I don't get that reward of seeing the scale go down and seeing my body change. The compliments are starting to fade too, so I am trying to be mindful of my habits going forward. I would love some advice from anyone who has been maintaining for multiple years! All in all, maintenance is hard but tracking my calories has been the biggest key to my success.
We all know Reddit can be pretty negative, especially in these times. However, r/loseit is an example of the best of what social media can do for people. This is a place where people can connect and genuinely try to encourage each other to be a healthier version of ourselves. Sometimes people don't have those influences around them, and the internet and social media can be so great when it positively connects people together like what is happening here. Thanks again everyone for making this a dope place on the internet!!
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