My chart, starting Sept 5 2017
Currently 25M 5' 7''
In 2015 I went to the gym and weighed in at 149lbs. I remember when I first got the loseit app and put my weight in as 198, I felt like a massive failure but was hopeful for the future. I knew the science of CICO and was confident I just needed a few months to get back to my trim self.
As you can see, that's not what happened. During my senior year in college I was going through all kinds of stress- I had transferred in January 2016 (middle of the year) and had literally 0 friends or contacts at school. I was about to graduate but had no internships/extracurriculars/experience in my field and no prospects. Uncertainty, a stupid course load where I was basically taking a second major in an unrelated subject but without the possibility of getting any degree in it, and having nobody to speak with for weeks on end lead me to keep overeating and gaining weight. Then, I graduated and moved to a completely new city. No friends, no contacts, no job and no reason to eat healthy. I finally got a great job in 2019 and started showing progress, but 2020 and the pandemic reverse all the progress I had made. As of today I'm at 254, a few pounds shy of the heaviest I've ever been.
HOW DID I MAKE PROGRESS IN THE PAST?
Did I ever tell you what the definition of insanity is? Insanity is doing the exact same fucking thing over and over again, expecting shit to change. That. Is. Crazy
-some video game character
I did, in fact, make progress throughout all of 2019, until I was at 205, sooo close to the weight I decided to lose weight at. How? I was doing something different. I got an office job. I was seeing people every day. I wasn't just sitting at home alone trying not to think about food.
Also, I had solid motivation. I was going to a friends wedding that December, and it was going to be like a mini high school reunion. I was determined to look good and not show up as a fat blob. I kinda succeeded, and in the pictures I look remarkably like "my old self".
I put on a bit of weight that holiday season, but was starting to get back in the saddle. Then the pandemic hit and I was forced to be home, again, with nothing to do but work on my computer and think of food. I tried and tried, but couldn't seem to keep a streak of 'good behavior' going for more than a few days. Those streaks, incidentally, seemed to coincide with the weeks leading up to taking trips, where I was afraid of being uncomfortable on a plane and noticeably heavier than when the people with whom I was meeting saw me last.
So, for me, the ingredients for weight loss seem to be:
-
CICO
-
Personal Connections
-
Strong motivation based on some sort of 'event'
-
Doing things out of the house
I'm very comfortable with CICO. Recently, our work is opening back up and I'm seeing more people in person and working from the office more and more. I'm going to the gym at least once per day, and trying to spend as much time out of the house as humanly possible. I'm contemplating taking Martial Arts classes, less out of interest in MA but more for the workout and experience of being in a club. I'm also utilizing a strategy I posted here before that helped a bit- keeping the daily deficit front and center in my mind, instead of overeating one day and playing catch-up the rest of the week.
Also, I'm throwing in something totally new- skipping breakfast. I'm a few weeks into trying this out and I'm finding eating 2 big meals later in the day vs 3 smaller meals really helps me stay on track, especially because I start feeling 'snacky' later in the day. Unfortunately though I do get a little lightheaded and shaky right before lunch, so we'll see if it can continue.
So far, I'm making slow progress, having gone down about 4lbs in a month. I'm at a plateau now, only losing 1 lb this past week, but I'm being super diligent with my calorie counting so hopefully it passes as my body continues to adjust.
MY 'SECRET WEAPON'
A spreadsheet! For some reason, having a weekly weigh in really helps with my motivation. It gives me a solid goal/deadline, or an artificial "event" for me to prepare for. Also, having a scheduled ammount of weight I want to lose per week lets me extrapolate and see my goal. I only thought of this last week so don't have a lot of data, but here is a screenshot of the spreadsheet with hypothetical numbers for the next 2 weeks. The sheet is telling me I'll hit my goal on June 10 of next year, and being able to see that date visuall shows me it isn't too far away!
Sorry for the super long, meandering post. Hopefully it helps out others in a similar situation.
[link] [comments]
from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/3kkLyU0
No comments:
Post a Comment