Why am I stumbling now after a year of success?

I started my lifestyle change in July 2017. It was slow and steady, an average change of 1-2lbs per week. I focused on getting 10000 steps daily and began tracking in MFP. I adhered to strict CICO but didn’t give up any specific foods, I dropped from obese to overweight in less than a month. When summer ended I had a harder time staying active, but I was able to recognize that if my CO dropped my CI needed to be lower too. It seemed manageable. In January, after a slight holiday plateau, I finally crossed into healthy BMI. The whole time up until then I knew my TDEE was changing and that my weight loss would slow down eventually so I started stepping up my exercise game. I changed the Fitbit goal, joined 52 hike challenge, and hit a BMI of 22 in April. And then it stopped. I didn’t consciously decide to switch to maintenance, it just happened. I’ve been fluctuating between BMI of 22 and 24 all summer and fall. I added trail running to hiking. I dropped to 21 for a week and then was right back at 22.

And now I’m hitting a wall. It’s winter. My job has gotten super stressful. I haven’t hit my step goal on a weekday in over a month. My BMI hasn’t been at 22 in weeks. It hasn’t crossed back above 25 yet, but the lows aren’t as low and the highs are creeping higher.

I know that if my CO is low my CI needs to be low too. But at my current sedentary TDEE the calories I need to consume to keep from gaining don’t feel fulfilling. I am hungry all the time and I’m not even getting exercise. I have also been experiencing more cravings and have been succumbing to them more often. I’m super nervous that I’m going to screw everything up.

Last winter I was still overweight and my TDEE when sedentary was 1720 a day. When I added just a smidge of exercise I could really eat exactly what was comfortable for me. But now, at my current TDEE of about 1550, I struggle to get even 200 extra calories on most weekdays and I go to bed hungry, or end up making snack choices I regret. I don’t know how to shift my thinking or my behavior.

I know I’m still at a healthy BMI and this kind of panic is probably not necessary or healthy. I know part of the plateau is that I am reaching maintenance and it’s probably a good thing that I’m not getting too thin. But I also want to make sure that I never go back. And part of my change has been about consistent self improvement. I was hoping at this point to be starting to work on strength training and athleticism. Instead I feel like I’m fighting not to backslide. But I wonder if this is part of the healthy person’s experience. Do people who were always thin get sluggish in the winter? Is this because my lifestyle change isn’t sustainable, or is a small amount of ebb and flow a part of healthy weight maintenance? Should I try to do something to kick myself into gear and shed those last 6-8 lbs or is that likely to backfire or be temporary?

I’m not sure what advice I’m even asking for, this is honestly mostly a desperation rant. Anyway

TLDR; should I be worried about this plateau/slight regain, or is this just a part of reaching maintenance?

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

from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/2OouyZF

Here we go again

A few years ago, I lost 130 lbs in just over a year with healthy eating, calorie counting, and exercise. I was at my lowest adult weight in April of 2016. I felt amazing, my confidence level was through the roof and I finally felt that my goal weight was in sight. My next big goal was 199... my weight hadn't started with a 1 since I was 15 and I was excited for this next big milestone.

I hit 200.0 on 4/23/16-- 130.5 lbs lighter than my highest adult weight... and I started to self-sabotage. I went on vacation and my eating was out of control, and I was never able to reign it in. Disappointment in myself and my inability to hit my goals turned into depression and I self-medicated with food.

I was gaining as fast as I had been losing. In August of this year, I had gained back 100 lbs of what I had lost. Still a way from my highest weight, but at 299.4 I REFUSED to hit 300 pounds again. So I'm back at it. This is the 3rd or 4th major attempt at weight loss as an adult, and I'd love to say that I'm going to hit a healthy weight this time, but who knows. I can say that right now I'm motivated and I plan to keep it up. I want the confidence that I had before.

I'm currently at 268. Down 31 pounds since August. Religiously tracking my intake, eating whole foods (95% paleo-ish diet), stepping on the scale every morning for accountability, and sticking to a ~1300 calorie daily goal. The weight is coming off and I'm feeling confident in my ability, but I think I need to add some tools to my belt to help me deal with emotional eating that may come in the future.

I think that weight loss in this age is kind of amazing. I've had Fitbit and a wifi scale since 2012, so the past six years of my weight is conveniently graphed, with its ups and downs and all. I know that my eating and my weight is intrinsically linked to my mental well-being. I can mark all of the major events of my life over the past 6 years and see how they've affected my eating habits.

I tend to turn to food for comfort-- in fact, I can pinpoint the exact moment that my weight-loss journey did a 180 after my mom died. I had been doing awesome-- I had lost around 40 lbs. I got pregnant with my first child, so my weight loss had slowed, but I was still staying on track with my diet. The second I got the call that she was gone, that all went away. Completely lost in despair, someone brought me a latte and a snowman cookie from Starbucks. For the tiniest second, the enjoyment of the cookie outweighed my grief, so I kept chasing that feeling. Over and over again until I ballooned to 330 lbs and couldn't walk down the hall without getting winded. That was my rock bottom and when I lost my first huge amount of weight.

Every day I kick myself for not sticking to it. But, I try to bury those thoughts with the knowledge that I've lost this weight before so I know that I can do it again. I have around 120 pounds to hit my ultimate goal weight-- and I've done that before! I've lost more than that before!

I'm not sure what the point of this post is, tbh. I check in and read /r/loseit every day, just as I did the last time I was losing, so I thought I'd finally post this time around to make my efforts 'official'. Maybe there are some of you who have dealt with emotional eating as well, and can give me pointers in avoiding it in the future? Have any of you gone to therapy for your eating habits? I've been considering it-- I really want to set myself up for success in all ways that I can. I owe it to myself and to my family to be healthy and to be a good role model. What do you do to actively keep yourselves from falling back into old habits?

tl;dr: I lost a lot of weight. Then I gained most back. Losing again; want advice on sticking with it this time.

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

from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/2F4fu3X

Weekends and hormones are rough. [30F 5'2" SW:240 GW:130 CW:200]

I am long time lurker and I have never really dreamed of posting. I'm a very private person when it comes to my weight loss, but I'm having a very rough day. I've been eating 1400 calories a day and logging on MFP for 134 days and yesterday for the first time I went WELL (1000+cal) over my limit. And I'm on track to go over again today if I'm not careful. Idk if it's the time change, or the change in my period from losing weight, but this morning I felt so hungry and I wanted to cry. Then I weighed myself and I was out of onderland and back up to 200lbs. I had previously been fluctuating between 197-198. So that was a huge bummer. Then I decided to take a progress pic so I could actually, hopefully, SEE how far I've come because I was feeling very down, like somehow I'd gained back everything I'd lost. I really did help to see that even though I had a slip up, I didn't derail the whole train. Just needed to share with some people in my same situation because I don't really have anyone who can relate irl. (I hope my formatting was correct because I'm on mobile and please excuse my messy bathroom)

submitted by /u/cgoodrich87
[link] [comments]

from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/2qskV2r

Back at running after 10 months break

https://imgur.com/a/tYvVxnh

After 10 month of not running, and weight going up and down (but mostly down) with as today an overal weight loss of 4.7 km, I started running again ! And I am so proud !

I am kind of big and tall (190 cm so 6'2 and 108.8 kg so 240 lbs) so running is not were I am best, but I know that after enduring it 3 times a week, this burger or ice cream won't be worth it, so I am happy that I ran again and will try to keep it 3 days a week. Not just for the weight loss though but also for the health and preventing ICD, which are a risk for people who were overweight and in the process of fat loss.

I hope I stay focused and driven, thanks for all the testimonies that keep me hoping to see this belly disappear.

P.S : I also stopped alcohol since this week !

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

from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/2zqGYuA

Tracking weight loss

So Ive been keto/intermittent fasting for a while. I lose weight, but then they next two days I step on the scale Im back up a lb or two. Three days go by and maybe Im back and the weight I was. Is this normal to bounce around? It makes me sad to enter my weight and then put it back up! Which numbers should I use to accurately track my loss? Only the ones that show drops or all the bouncing around?

As a side note, my loss has slowed down substantially. I lost 15 lbs right off the bat, and now its like a half a lb a week, little more if I manage to exercise. Anyone else notice that slowing down?

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

from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/2QiMNkK

How Hunger Can Be Good

One of my biggest hurdles when I first started cutting back on what I ate was the experience of hunger. I basically had a phobia of it; I had to fight the urge to eat purely out of fear that if I didn't I would soon encounter it. It took me a while to accept that hunger wasn't something I needed to be afraid of and that, even if I felt it, it didn't mean I had to eat something immediately!

I found an article which addresses the notion that hunger is not always a bad thing and can sometimes even be a good one:

Have you made a New Year’s resolution? One of the most common resolutions, of course, is weight loss. If you’re thinking about cutting back on unhealthy foods, adding more fresh fruits, veggies, and whole plant-based dishes, kicking up your fitness routine, we’re in support of all those positive actions! If, however, you’re feeling intimidated by that edginess of hunger that inevitably accompanies weight loss (or maybe feeling just a little edgy even now, reading this), I completely hear you.

The truth is, no matter how sustainable and healthy your weight loss plans are, in the process of trimming down, you will absolutely feel hunger more than usual. Although I haven’t actively tried to lose weight in years, any time my weight goes down due to being more active and not having the time or the mental space to eat a lot, I do feel hunger more sharply; conversely, when I don’t feel hungry throughout the day, for a week or more, my weight goes up. And years ago, when I was actually trying to lose substantial amounts of weight, I used to go to bed feeling really hungry and almost weak. This resulted in slimming down, but even to this day I have an aversion against going to bed famished. (This is what juice fasts feel like, you guys!)

But the prospect of hunger doesn’t have to be so daunting and discouraging. While I still don’t recommend going to bed hungry, there are studies that show feeling hunger throughout the day has unexpected benefits. Here is what you should know about the upside of hunger for health and wellness.

1. Being hungry before eating keeps you healthier: According to a recent Cornell study, being actually hungry before a meal keeps your blood sugar levels lower even after the meal, than otherwise. When the researchers measured the subjects’ blood glucose levels after eating, the subjects who were “moderately hungry” before the meal had lower glucose levels than those who were “not particularly hungry.” (If you ever get super hungry and eat a rich meal, and feel satisfied yet relatively light rather than bloated and uncomfortable, this is why). Raised glucose levels is detrimental to your cellular health and has long-term health risks.

2. Hunger helps you make better decisions: It’s often assumed that being hungry (or in another physically triggered “hot state”) is detrimental to making smart choices. But it turns out that the opposite is true: in a recent study by the University of Utretcht researchers, moderately hungry people performed better at complex tasks designed to test their ability to choose long-term benefits over short-term gratification, including tests of how they choose among decks of cards with rewards. The theory is that, instead of making you impulsive, hunger actually sharpens your gut instincts to the point where it helps you make good choices even when the outcomes are not immediately clear. Personally, I find that having an empty stomach helps me think and behave a little more sharply, which is why I like to do important work before meals or without mindless snacking.

So what does this mean in reality? I don’t mean to glorify hunger or suggest that it’s the right condition for everyone–or for anyone to experience for prolonged periods of time. If you are young and still growing, pregnant or nursing, or otherwise have high nutritional needs, you should by all means avoid hunger. And if you have a history of struggling with body image issues and eating disorders, you shouldn’t take this to mean starving yourself is actually beneficial. But there are ways that accepting hunger as a part of your life can actually promote healthy and balanced eating style.

Use hunger as a signal to know when to eat: This means that you not only hold off on eating until you actually feel hungry, but that when you do feel hungry, you eat properly. So much of our disordered eating styles and food anxieties come from reversing this natural rhythm: eating for reasons that have nothing to do with hunger, and then trying to make up for it by skipping meals to the point of being famished. These other, incorrect cues include eating because it’s a certain time of day; boredom; stress and anxieties; social reasons; and even simply because it’s fun. Instead, try to make hunger your first cue for food.

Lose the fear of hunger and know that you can control/respond to it: there is a certain phobia of hunger in our culture, leading us to think that if you’re on a healthy weight loss/maintenance regimen, you shouldn’t ever feel hungry, or that if you’re hungry all the time, you’re about to gain a lot of weight. But neither of those things are true–hunger is just another message that your body is sending you, and giving it what it needs lets you be in control of your health.

Know what kind of eating pattern works for you: I’m a staunch believer in not going to bed with an empty stomach because it causes me to wake up in the middle of the night–and studies indeed confirm that hunger hormone ghrelin can disrupt your sleep. On the other hand, I like to start off my morning very light, usually with just a coffee–for the same reason hunger wakes me up at night, it makes me feel more awake in the morning! But what feels good for my body and mind might not work for you. Listen to your body to find a routine that makes you feel light and satiated throughout the day.

Don’t take it too far: The studies that have shown hunger to be beneficial for health or mental clarity have had subjects report “moderate,” rather than “severe,” hunger. Feeling a manageable amount of hunger before meals is good for tuning into an intuitive eating pattern; but don’t take it to the point of having hunger pangs, dizziness, irritation, weakness, etc.

https://www.peacefuldumpling.com/why-being-hungry-can-be-good-for-health-and-wellness

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

from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/2qtPdC2

Day 1? Starting your weight loss journey on Sunday, 04 November 2018? Start here!

Today is your Day 1?

Welcome to r/Loseit!

So you aren’t sure of how to start? Don’t worry! “How do I get started?” is our most asked question. r/Loseit has helped our users lose over 1,000,000 recorded pounds and these are the steps that we’ve found most useful for getting started.

Why you’re overweight

Our bodies are amazing (yes, yours too!). In order to survive before supermarkets, we had to be able to store energy to get us through lean times, we store this energy as adipose fat tissue. If you put more energy into your body than it needs, it stores it, for (potential) later use. When you put in less than it needs, it uses the stored energy. The more energy you have stored, the more overweight you are. The trick is to get your body to use the stored energy, which can only be done if you give it less energy than it needs, consistently.

Before You Start

The very first step is calculating your calorie needs. You can do that HERE. This will give you an approximation of your calorie needs for the day. The next step is to figure how quickly you want to lose the fat. One pound of fat is equal to 3500 calories. So to lose 1 pound of fat per week you will need to consume 500 calories less than your TDEE (daily calorie needs from the link above). 750 calories less will result in 1.5 pounds and 1000 calories is an aggressive 2 pounds per week.

Tracking

Here is where it begins to resemble work. The most efficient way to lose the weight you desire is to track your calorie intake. This has gotten much simpler over the years and today it can be done right from your smartphone or computer. r/loseit recommends an app like MyFitnessPal, Loseit! (unaffiliated), or Cronometer. Create an account and be honest with it about your current stats, activities, and goals. This is your tracker and no one else needs to see it so don’t cheat the numbers. You’ll find large user created databases that make logging and tracking your food and drinks easy with just the tap of the screen or the push of a button. We also highly recommend the use of a digital kitchen scale for accuracy. Knowing how much of what you're eating is more important than what you're eating. Why? This may explain it.

Creating Your Deficit

How do you create a deficit? This is up to you. r/loseit has a few recommendations but ultimately that decision is yours. There is no perfect diet for everyone. There is a perfect diet for you and you can create it. You can eat less of exactly what you eat now. If you like pizza you can have pizza. Have 2 slices instead of 4. You can try lower calorie replacements for calorie dense foods. Some of the communities favorites are cauliflower rice, zucchini noodles, spaghetti squash in place of their more calorie rich cousins. If it appeals to you an entire dietary change like Keto, Paleo, Vegetarian.

The most important thing to remember is that this selection of foods works for you. Sustainability is the key to long term weight management success. If you hate what you’re eating you won’t stick to it.

Exercise

Is NOT mandatory. You can lose fat and create a deficit through diet alone. There is no requirement of exercise to lose weight.

It has it’s own benefits though. You will burn extra calories. Exercise is shown to be beneficial to mental health and creates an endorphin rush as well. It makes people feel awesome and has been linked to higher rates of long term success when physical activity is included in lifestyle changes.

Crawl, Walk, Run

It can seem like one needs to make a 180 degree course correction to find success. That isn’t necessarily true. Many of our users find that creating small initial changes that build a foundation allows them to progress forward in even, sustained, increments.

Acceptance

You will struggle. We have all struggled. This is natural. There is no tip or trick to get through this though. We encourage you to recognize why you are struggling and forgive yourself for whatever reason that may be. If you overindulged at your last meal that is ok. You can resolve to make the next meal better.

Do not let the pursuit of perfect get in the way of progress. We don’t need perfect. We just want better.

Additional resources

Now you’re ready to do this. Here are more details, that may help you refine your plan.

• Quick Start Guide - Build your foundation!
• Loseit Compendium - Frame it out!
• FAQ - Answers to our most Frequently Asked Questions!

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

from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/2SLsy0F