I've been on this subreddit for a few years through various accounts and had made significant progress with my weight loss in days past. However, with quarantine happening along with school stress and a breakup, I have managed to backtrack almost 3 years of progress within the span of 4 months. And looking back at the way that I achieved my previous results I realized that I MAY have achieved those results in a way that did not ensure long-term success.
I started my journey during the spring semester of my freshman year in college. I would go to the gym 3-4 days out of the week and do only cardio, oftentimes running 3-4 miles on an elliptical each time. this trend continued for about 2 months until I somehow thought that I could lose weight by eating whatever I wanted as long as I did not go over my calorie limit. This lead to me eating the usual college student diet but on a "budget" which I feel was my first mistake.
Then I started doing intermittent fasting along with this diet, which helped me lose weight by helping me create a caloric deficit SO great that I would lose 3-4 lbs within a week. Often times after my eating period was done, I would go on long walks around campus to achieve a 500-750 calorie extra deficit on top of my 1000 calorie deficit, which is too much of a deficit per day.
This way of living along with insufficient nutrition and no physical stimulus is what I believe attributed most to my eventual downward spiral. I spent 3 years of my life worried the most about how little I should be eating that I didn't realize that there were more aspects to manageable and sustained weight loss and weight management such as:
- resistance training to build muscle mass for an increased metabolism
- optimal nutrition for said muscle growth and overall health
- creating a better relationship with food (my problem is that I like the taste and I eat when I'm bored)
- daily exercise (even if it's just walking)
- building willpower and determination to overcome social influences of food
- listening to my body to know when to stop/start eating
- Eating enough and not going to extremes
My plan for the upcoming new year is nothing so intense that I will fall off the boat like many who will try to lose weight this year. I will attempt to add on habits that will eventually lead to my long-term success such as eating more whole foods, cutting out processed goods, doing beginner workouts, and not eating impulsively. I feel like if I can create good habits while tracking my calories and making good decisions I could be at my goal weight by the end of 2021!
If you have any other advice or insights please feel free to leave a comment!
thanks for taking the time to read this post! I will continue to update this subreddit and my social media on my progress.
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from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/3pE1kbU
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