Hi winning losers!
My stats: 34 yo, 5'1F, 135lbs to 105lbs.
I've been lurking on this sub without an account since last year...I'm not usually a "joiner." However, this sub still helped me immensely in losing the final 10lbs last summer. Reading all of your stories, tips, rants, and successes kept me motivated to log those calories erryday. I've been maintaining my 105lbs since August, so I thought I'd share some things that have and haven't worked for me to keep it off for five months.
Some background...The first 20 lbs were lost by cutting out soda around 2010. That sounds crazy, but it's the truth. I got down to 115 just by drinking water instead of Coke or Sprite. It was surprisingly easy after I banned it from my house. I don't know how long that took exactly, probably six or nine months. Then came the struggle for those last 10 lbs.
I did everything. Keto. Zero sugar. Low carb. No carb. Vegetarian. Flat belly MUFA. Paleo. New Rules of Lifting. Starting Strength. Pilates. Yoga. For years I tried all kinds of diets and exercises, eventually going back to eating whatever and doing nothing.
Last year, I made it my ultimate resolution to lose the last 10. I tried all those diets again...to zero progress. I was at my wit's end! Then I discovered this sub, and just started logging what I ate...and nearly fainted at how much I was eating on my low carb diet. Lol. So I just straight up did calorie counting with no regard for low carb or low fat. Naturally, I gravitated toward that because it fit my calorie budget, but I didn't agonize about not being able to eat rice or bread. Low carb really messed with my head. Who has dreams about bread?!
So from May to July, I lost 10 lbs!
Keeping it off...
Around late July, I stopped logging. Sacrilege, I know. After four months of logging, spreadsheeting, weighing, and calculating, I have a pretty good idea of how much a serving size for me is in all my staple foods such as rice, bread, mayonnaise, etc. Instead of accounting everything, I follow the method highlighted in this BBC series: https://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-truth-about-slim-people
Basically, I eat the same thing every day. But the days I indulge (like the banzai burger last weekend), I cut back naturally during the week. What's better, I'm not all that hungry for another huge fatty, cheesy meal. This is may not be achievable for many, but it was eye-opening for me as someone who is super lazy and practically eats the same thing every day. There's relief in predictability. I thought I'd have to make different meals every day like in all those diet book "menus." I think those authors must imagine their readers are all restaurant level chefs who can just whip somethin' up.
Substitutions were a godsend for me. I love creamy, gloopy food like casseroles....and also rice. I make dressings and toppings with greek yogurt instead of mayo and butter, and substitute nutritional yeast for cheese on many recipes. For rice, I alternate between cauliflower rice and regular rice. I also had to give up milk for health reasons; that cut out a lot of calories for breakfast.
I also did and still do intermittent fasting because I don''t trust myself to not snack while bingeing Netflix. My eating hours are between 9am - 5pm. It helped really curb my cravings for munchies. Fasting made me realize how much of a snackaholic I am! When my doc told me I needed to eat more salt, I took that prescription and ran for the biggest bag of Fritos I could find. I got that devil behind me at last.
My goals for this year are to upgrade my culinary skills by doing my own version of the COOK90 Challenge from Epicurious: https://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/cook90-90-meals-recipes-tips-articles-package. Instead of cooking three meals a day, I'll do two because I can't possibly eat that much food a day.
The saddest part of my weight loss is losing my buttocks. They're like deflated balloons...uneven deflated balloons. I'd like to have them back by the summer. I've put together a home gym to do bodyweight fitness stuff and plan on starting swimming next month for cardio that's easy on my arthritic joints. By June, I'll be reinflated, I hope.
On that note...
Thank you all for your inspiring stories, tough love, and encouragement! It helped me figure out the best path for me to healthy eating and weight loss!
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from loseit - Lose the Fat http://bit.ly/2VTPjBo
