Three major things I learned from my two-and-a-half-year weight loss journey

I've never posted here before, but I've lurked for tips and encouragement, and seeing as I've now been around my goal weight for a month, I wanted to make this post to say thanks and possibly help someone else out there :)

I started my weight loss journey in early 2018 at 116 kg (256 lb). I was just starting university, and since uni gives you a chance to somewhat re-invent yourself I thought it'd be a good time to try losing some weight. I didn't have a goal at first, but somewhere along the way I settled on losing 40 kg (88 lb), with a goal weight of 76 kg (168 lb).

2018 was great, but after uni ended for the year I reverted to old habits and stayed that way through 2019. At the start of this year I got back on track and finished it this time. You can see the where each years starts and ends pretty clearly on my weight graph.

After trying a bunch of different tools and techniques, here are the main points that I'd tell my younger self:

Collect relevant data

Consistent data makes it easier to track your progress and make informed decisions. It doesn't have to be detailed, but I've found that just having some sort of data makes things a lot easier. Initially (pre-2018) I just focused on cutting down how much junk food I ate, so I made a note and recorded each time I ate any. Whether you're tracking your weight, the food you eat (what kinds of food, how much, the number of kilojoules - whatever metric you choose) or your activity (workouts per week, step goal, kilojoule burn etc), I can highly recommend keeping track of something, even if you're not trying to actively change it yet. Being able to look back and point out trends and changes in your behaviour is great.

Try to form habits

Routines and rules are great, but habits are king. Whenever I tried to change what I was doing/eating/measuring, it worked fine at first, but I could never keep it up for more than a week or two unless it became second nature. I didn't start keeping track of my weight consistently until it became part of my mindless morning routine - I don't have to remember to do it any more, I just do it between brushing my teeth and having my morning coffee. Personally I used daily nagging notifications until I didn't need them any more.

Don't forget to have fun!

Doing what you enjoy really helps with long-term motivation. Working out or eating better can really suck at first, and I found it hard to stay motivated until I discovered something that hooked me, in my case working out in VR by playing Beat Saber (play some custom maps by Majorpickle or Stumi with Faster Song turned on, they get intense!). Find something that you really look forward to, maybe it's running on a treadmill while watching TV, or listening to podcasts while going for long walks/jogs/hikes, or playing Ring Fit Adventure. If even just some small part of your routine makes you happy, it can really boost your motivation for your entire weight loss journey.

I really love this community, thank you for the unending support and optimism, and I hope this post was of use to someone! <3

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