Lost 35 lbs this year (without exercise), wanted to share what worked for me

Hey everyone,

I've had my share of ups and downs with calorie counting. I'll list my stats and previous efforts first, then I'll mention what worked for me. Thanks to everyone in this community for sharing their triumphs, struggles, and journeys - it motivated me to post my own.

• Stats: Female (age 29), 5'4, SW: 195 CW: 162, GW: 130.
• Past Hurdles:
  • Cheat days - these really don't work for me and I feel so awful going back to a 'normal' day afterwards.
  • 'Stressful' days - During the pandemic, days when I was moving from one apt to another, or just hellish days in general were an excuse for me to get a dessert or something as a 'treat'. (This doesn't include actual body stress like days when I'm sick, of course).
  • Doordash and other delivery services - While I love these services and I think they can be great if used well, the fact that delivery minimums exist meant I was ordering more than I needed and putting the excess food in my fridge which was a huge temptation.
  • Not eating enough protein - Volume eating is a huge thing for me. I always told myself I could eat carbs and pasta while counting calories and then I would be miserable in the evenings.
  • Falling off the wagon after binging - Pretty self explanatory, but if I had a stressful day or cheat day, I would use that to justify eating even more calories the next day since I had already went over.
  • Keeping my efforts to myself - I was always afraid to share with my friends or in subreddits about my efforts/struggles because of how many times I had started this journey. I didn't want to fatigue people with attempt number ten or twelve.
    

So... what changed?

I hit rock bottom when visiting a friend in Colorado. I was at my highest weight and I just felt so ashamed when I went to go out and get boba with him and his wife. They didn't say anything to shame me, but when I drove back to where I was staying, all I could think about was how uncomfortable and upset I was. On the long drive home, I decided to make a change, and I've been keeping at that ever since.

I knew that I didn't want to exercise - I tend to panic a bit when I introduce too many life changes at once, so I wanted to stick to just calorie counting and then introduce exercise when I felt comfortable. I'm still not there yet, but I hope to start some low-impact stuff soon.

What Helped Me Succeed Compared to Prior Attempts (in order of importance):

• Having an accountability buddy - I know this gets mentioned a lot, but I can't emphasize the importance of this enough. I have someone who is very close to me that I felt comfortable sending my weight to each day. If I was struggling or wanting to binge on half a cheesecake, they reminded me of my goals. If I tried to justify the stresses of a certain situation, they reminded me that there is always going to be a justification. The more times I justify it going above my calorie count for the day, the easier it is, and the more at risk I am for falling off the wagon. They also helped me see the trends in my weight loss over time. If I got hyper fixated on the fact that I was stalling out, they reminded me of my progress. While this method isn't for everyone, it was absolutely invaluable to me. I wouldn't be here without my accountability buddy.
• Focusing on protein - I found protein bars I like (since I hateee protein shakes) and focused on having easy sources of protein that I can cook (Costco Bare Naked Chicken Breast Chunks are great for this). When building out my day, protein was my first goal, everything else came after.
• Focused on always having easy to access foods of various calorie counts - I know a lot of people cook for themselves throughout this journey, but I'm way more susceptible to ordering DoorDash or snacking if I have to cook a big meal after work and do a ton of dishes. I still cook, but if I'm not feeling it that night, I have frozen meals or pre-marinated meats from Trader Joes that I can quickly cook. If dinner is always 15 - 20 minutes away (or less), it's hard to justify binging.
• Forcing myself to not order delivery - If I wanted Chipotle or some other restaurant food, I had to order it for pick-up or go and sit down at the restaurant to eat it. I cancelled my Doordash account so I wouldn't be tempted. Just having that extra hurdle really helped me prioritize all the food I had at home.

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