I tried to lose weight for years, and finally managed by ditching all diets and increasing calorie intake

I’ve finally reached my goal weight of 60kg after years of trying and failing, and I thought I’d share the progress and what finally made a difference.

I started at around 73 kilos, so I didn’t have that much extra weight but still enough to make me want to get rid of it. I’ve always been very impatient, so I wanted to lose it fast. I’d reduce my calories to 1200 or 1300, try super low cal diets or fasting. None of it worked, because I realised that I couldn’t keep eating like that for more than a few days, I always ended up binging and going back to my old habits.

That went on for years, starting and then quitting again, I thought that it’s just impossible for me to lose weight because I haven’t got the self discipline for it.

This time, I wanted to give it one last try, but I knew I had to do something differently. I started by increasing my calorie intake, 1200 was way too low for me to keep up so I adjusted it to something between 1450-1600. I kept exercising as before, all that I really changed was the calorie amount and ditching all specific diets. First couple of months were slow, I’d lose maybe half a kilo and then gain it back in a week. But after two months, my weight began going down, slow and steady.

That’s when I realised that slow weight loss was the key to success. As my weight went down, I learned the proper amounts I should eat and got used to eating healthy and not binging. I didn’t cut out anything completely, because I realised that I don’t want to. I still want to be able to eat chocolate every once in a while even after I’d lost the extra kilos. So, I built a normal diet, only with smaller (but not too small) portions, and it didn’t even feel like I was losing weight in the end.

So in the end, the slow process (took me around 8 months in all) was the best option, because now maintaining my goal weight feels easy and effortless. I know I had never got here if I would’ve stuck with trying to eat 1200 calories or trying all special diets. I’m sure they will work for some, but my suggestion is to start the weight loss by thinking how you’re going to maintain your goal weight. A lifelong, easy-to-maintain change for healthier habits is always better than short span diets.

submitted by /u/smbaimr
[link] [comments]

from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/3eBb2cL