Game Day is quickly approaching – it’s a day filled with friends, excitement, funny commercials, and of course, food! Which means we’re all digging around trying to find the perfect appetizer or snack to bring with us for the big event.
I recently lost a lot of weight by eating healthy and exercising. Seems pretty simple. I stopped eating junk food, started walking, and got down to my goal weight. Then I added some calories back in to my diet and maintained that weight for about a year. Then, this past Christmas came and I put 8 pounds back on. Not a big deal. I know carbs and sodium add water weight, so I figured I would just cut back on the calories and the weight would work its way off. It hasn't been that easy.
I am at a calorie deficit almost every day, and am certainly at a deficit each week. I count the calories and make sure. But I allow myself a cheat day each weekend. Nothing crazy. Pizza for dinner, maybe a scoop of ice cream. Chips at lunch. Enough to make the day over calorie, but nothing that would push the week over.
But, as everyone seems to know, as soon as I have my cheat day, I put two or three pounds back on. Boom. No debate. The pounds hit, and they never, ever seem to come back off. One step forward, three steps back. I keep being told it is just water weight from the carbs. But when does it end?
If every time I have a cheat day I gain three pounds in water weight, but only lose a half a pound or so that week in calorie deficit, my weight will just continue to balloon back up. I feel like the only solution is to never, ever have a cheat day. One cheat day undoes weeks of weight loss. How am I supposed to go on like this? Is there a point where the weight gain from fluid stops? Or can I just count on seeing my weight go up two pounds each week with each cheat day I have? I am so absolutely frustrated I just want to give up. I thought for sure that if I was good most days I would see all that carb weight from the holidays melt off. But it isn't. It just keeps getting worse and worse each time I have a single day of enjoyment. What can I do before I just give up completely and resign myself to being overweight?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Now you’re ready to do this. Here are more details, that may help you refine your plan.
First, I wanna say thank you so much to this sub, I lurked a long time and finally started my long weight loss journey last December with CICO (1500 kcal/day).
I am 34F, 5’6 (172 cm), SW: 249 lbs (113 kg), CW: 238 lbs (108 kg).
I just wanted to say I'm currently hitting a plateau since last week, like many of you must have gone through, but even though it is really hard mentally, I keep in mind that's it's been only a month and that I feel already so much better! As I eat better and healthier, I am less sleepy, less tired, more focused through the day, all of this through smarter food choices (more veggies mainly and a more balanced breakfast to kick start the day off). I don't even exercise (yet) so I know I'll feel better and better as the journey goes on.
That was just a little motivation to help you (and me) don't give up through that damn plateau!
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I’m not sure if this is an okay topic to post, but I really needed to get it off my chest.
My weight loss partner and very good friend was at a weight loss support group and a fellow member broke her heart with a very disrespectful and rude comment. The women who commented has lost upwards of 90 lbs in the last half a year after VSG surgery, so you would think she would be more respectful around this topic. She confronted my friend and told her that maybe if she would lose weight some men would finally look her way. This was done in front of numerous people and it just killed her spirit, and was so humiliating. She already struggles a great deal with self-esteem, and I’m afraid this has set her back once again.
How have you dealt with rude comments about your weight?
TL;DR - Someone ridiculed my weight loss partner in a public place and I’m not sure how to help her deal with it.
I am worried that I'm no longer pursuing weight loss for my health but instead pursuing it because my brain is equating a number on the scale with beauty. Like, I'll suddenly be beautiful when I hit 135 and I'm not right now at 142. At the very least I have to good sense to realize that this is a super unhealthy way to think about myself, my body, and my physical health goals. Does anyone have any reading recommendations about loving yourself at any size?
I'd like to still pursue my goal weight but I'd like that pursuit to be because I'd like my health to be a priority and I'd like my old clothes to fit, not because of some weird beauty ideal in my mind. Any recommendations would be welcome!
