Had a really gross and degrading experience with a trainer today.

I currently am in a transitional period in my career and have four months before I start my next endeavor. I decided to move in with my folks in Florida and away from my indulgent and exciting life in New Orleans as a way to solidify my fitness and weight loss journey. I've already made huge strides as of late but decided that I would like to start seeing a trainer to really help me get over the hump of going from overweight to a healthy BMI. I was referred to the resident trainer at my gym and was excited to get going on this. I walked in feeling excited and motivated and left feeling lost and discouraged. However, I decided I wouldn't give some random old man power over my journey and take away from this sacred process so I wrote him an email and sent it to his boss and corporate. Thought I'd share! Time to take it to a new gym!!

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Hey L,

I wanted to reach out and give you some feedback on today’s session as I left with an uneasy and unsure feeling about my time with you today. While I can tell that you are accomplished and knowledgeable, I felt there was no interest in to what my goals were and what I was wanting to achieve. As I mentioned, without even being asked or inquired about, I’ve been on a fitness journey for quite some time now which has resulted in a significant weight loss of ~70 pounds and most recently 15lbs in the past couple of months. I felt like there was no consideration for what I may already know or what place my fitness level may already be at. The only way to know would be to ask a client these questions but you were too busy talking about yourself and any knowledge of me and my experience was known because I went out of my way to tell you. While yes, as you assumed within the first five minutes of meeting me, that I want to "lose weight and get rid of water retention” my main focus is strengthening my core and over all body as my aforementioned spinal fusion is something that I will have to take care of for the rest of my life. Its imperative that this journey be about more than just losing weight. The social, personal, and societal benefits surrounding my weight loss have been amazing but first and foremost, my focus is to strengthen my body to support my spine and range of motion for my future. Your comment about you wanting me to keep my femininity felt unnecessary and irrelevant as that’s ultimately not your decision and I don’t like being reduced to simply a feminine woman.

I also want to mention, you may want to ask your clients before you put their hands on them. If we had already had some kind of rapport beforehand that would not have been a problem. However, I had known you for 3 minutes before you decided to put your hands on my hips to gratuitously explain to me about the female body. Again, It felt unnecessary. I’m not simply offering up my body for you to touch or restructure but rather, I was there to gain valuable knowledge and insight from someone who has the experience as you do. For a first impression, it was not a good one. If what I went through was anything like what I should expect, I would rather have someone who cares a little more about what their client needs rather than what you want for your client. I understand it was a first session and was free at that, but there was little left to be desired when I left the gym. I left feeling like my journey had now become yours without any consideration or insight into where I was and where I wanted to be.

I understand that the optics of me being overweight may signal the idea of me lacking any kind of knowledge about fitness or nutrition but that is not always the case. I’m at a turning point in my journey where I go from overweight to a healthy and normal BMI. I’m excited about it and still am but I feel like I wasn’t given any agency in regards to my body and my journey.

I appreciate your time but I would like to respectfully decline any further sessions with you including the one we scheduled on Wednesday.

All in all, It is clear that we share different philosophies surrounding fitness and weight loss. I believe it goes deeper and reaches far beyond the surface levels that I experienced with you today. Your focus and discussion should be on or about your client not about your personal fitness successes. I think it’s best that I take my money elsewhere.

Best,

Wildlikechildren

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Ok, fine, FINE.

I'll count the damned calories.

I have this wishful thought that someday I can be one of those people who just naturally, EFFORTLESSLY eats in such a way as to become and remain eternally thin. So I shirked calorie counting because I'd never reach my goal of automatic, self-sustaining weight loss if I put so much thought and focus into it right? How can I become an intuitive eater if everything has to be planned and obsessed over?

Well, that's never going to happen. At least not without a few years of training wheels where I track my calories and limit my intake. Cause natural, intuitive eating for me right now apparenyly means overeating every single day and gaining back hard lost weight.

Yes, that means I can't drink a big glass of whole milk with every meal without cutting back elsewhere, no matter how nourishing and satisfying it is.

Dear body: I love you, but you don't know what you need and trusting you to tell me is like trusting a little kid that says ice cream for supper is the best option.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go log my breakfast.

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7 Healthy Casseroles to Bookmark

Am I losing weight too quickly? Is there something wrong with the scale?

Good morning everyone! This might be an odd question and i apologize, but, here goes. I have A LOT of weight to lose. I'm a 5'4 female and my starting weight was 322.4 lbs when I weighed myself on October 30th, 2018 (It's sobering to even write that out.) But, I decided I was tired of being fat and have spent the last two weeks following Weight Watchers and also taking a medicine similar to Contrave to help curb my cravings, as per my doctor's suggestion. I've been eating much healthier and have been a bit more active than previously. I didn't weigh myself after the first week, but this morning I jumped on the scale at the health center at work and it read 314.6 lbs!

Weight Watchers says that a "healthy" weight loss is around 2lbs/week. According to the scale this morning, I've lost about 4lbs/week. Is this unhealthy? I figured it might be coming off quicker in the beginning since I have more to lose and I changed my eating habits drastically, but I'm confused that I might be losing it "too quickly?" Anyone have any advice? Thank you!

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Day 1? Starting your weight loss journey on Tuesday, 13 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!

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Day 1 - Today (11/12/18) was the first time I stepped inside of a gym in two years. (Current pics inside)

Hiya, r/LoseIt! I'm here to introduce myself and shed a little light on the title of my post. As the title states, yes, it has been over two years since I stepped into a gym. While I did start my weight loss journey three years ago (2015), I stopped in 2016. It began when my dad was attempting to lose weight on his own. It motivated me to join him and support him as we were both obese (he was 390 and I was 345). As time passed towards 2016, we managed to lose 169 pounds together (he lost 104 lbs and I lost 65 lbs). However, nearing the middle of spring, my father passed away as he went into cardiac arrest. At the time, he was 47 years old and was at 280 lbs.

While I did try my best to focus on my own weight loss, it was incredibly difficult for me as I had lost the person that had been motivating me and I was motivating him. I managed to maintain my weight of 285 lbs for a year or so, despite not working out. I started to eat, as a way to cope with the loss of my dad. On his death bed, I promised to him (mostly for me) that I would continue and presevere. However, the guilt of not living up to that promise made me break down. I couldn't bear the thought of having my family relive that moment where my father passed away, except it would be me.

Which is why I decided that I was over it, and I wanted to do something about it. Today, I stepped back into the gym, ready to live up that promise for myself and actually get back on the right path. Currently, I am at 317 pounds. However, I don't plan on staying like this. Not anymore. I hope to make small changed here and there, mostly meeting feasible goals to keep up with the pace.

Thank you for hearing me out, and I hope you folks have a great evening!

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My weight has plateud for months because I have no self control with food.

My starting weight in March when I made the decision to lose weight was 150lbs my goal weight is 125lbs. I'm currently on a plateau and fluxuating between 138 and 142lbs. I just can't stop eating junk food. I'm good for a few days and then I think 'treat yo self' or 'I'm not even fat' or 'life is short to restrict myself' 'live yo life'

I'm happy for like a day until I look at myself in the mirror at hate what I see. My flabby legs, no ass...but it has been this way for months now, this neverending cycle of not caring, and then caring. I don't eat anywhere near as bad as I used to, but it's still bad enough to stop any progress with weight loss.

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