As someone whos been on this sub for 2yrs and a bit I feel so grateful for what it has given me. I started doing IF and religiously weighing my food and counting my calories about two years ago. I did it for a few months and dropped a few dozen lb but ultimately it ended up with me bouncing around 230lbs for a year and a bit and every time I'd try to get back on track I'd give up within a month or two of trying. During this rough patch I stuck to IF but just didn't care at all what I ate. I feel like IF is what helped me not gain everything back when I wasn't watching what I ate.
This summer something changed though I decided instead of counting my calories I would just try to monitor what I ate mentally. I'd struggled with this in the past, but this time it seemed to work. Id just each two meals, no snacking if I could avoid it, and just being conscious of what I ate for my meals. e.g. not eating a fried chicken burger with fries and mayo, or at least if I was planning on eating out I'd have a smaller lunch to try and account for what I'd eat later. If I though I went over I didn't beat myself up, I didn't feel bad, I just enjoyed it and knew it wasn't something I did every night, so I tried not to let it affect my progress the next day. I think this is called Intuitive eating however when looking at that I think its slightly different. I don't just each when I'm hungry, If I'm a little hungry between meals I just try to occupy myself with stuff to do to distract me from the hunger.
The other thing is that I've started actually cooking and planning nice meals in advance. I'll look up recipes that I think I'd really enjoy and make 3-4 portions to keep in the fridge. This really helped me plan and know what to eat so I don't rely on takeout, or easy to prepare frozen foods. This also gets me excited about cooking the food and looking forward to my next meal instead of just eating whatever while watching YT.
Now that I have started losing again I'm at the point where my gut is disappearing slowly, my face is slimming, just in general I look healthier. I still look a little over weight but its way way better then I used to look. One thing I didn't notice would be a problem is my clothes, I have several shirts and just items that look drab now because of how loose they are. I have a custom tailored suit that I had made when I was significantly heavier and I had to wear it the other day. The pants looked like they were for a completely different person, my belt which I used to struggle to get onto the largest loop now fits much better several notches smaller.
I used to be self conscious about going to the gym because of my weight. I decided to go this week because of how much better I looked and it was just so much more enjoyable then I'm sure it would have been if I was obese and self conscious the whole time. Now I'm not saying don't start the gym if you are currently overweight/obese because it defiantly could have helped me along the way, I'm just saying I personally feel a lot better with myself then I otherwise would have.
About a month ago I visited my grandparents who I haven't seen in two years (don't worry I got tested for covid before I went and basically self isolated between the test and seeing them). The first thing my usually very critical about weight and health grandma said to me was: "OMG you're skinny now! I never though I'd see a skinny you". This is coming from someone who regularly complains about too much fat, too much salt, too many carbs, not enough protein, way too much sugar, calories, weight and the list just goes on. It just made me feel so accomplished and inspired to keep going.
Now this advice might not work for everyone and ultimately everyone's success story is going to be different. I have also had my fair share of ups and downs, weight loss isn't a linear line from your SW to GW and there are defiantly challenges along the way. I ultimately just want to thank this sub and everyone on it for giving me my life back! Without it I'd probably be close to 300 lb by now and even more unhappy with myself.
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