Thursday, March 7, 2019

Advice Needed! Last 10lbs?

Hi! This is my first ever Reddit post so bare with me :)

I started my weight loss journey back in April - August 2017, where I successfully lost ~25 lbs using WW (WeightWatchers). I had kept about ~20lbs of that off just by eating semi-healthy and working out 3-5 times a week between Sept 2017-Oct 2018, when I joined a new gym where I do HIIT style and weighted workouts 5 days a week paired a pretty intense meal plan (very clean, carb cycling.) My first 10 weeks, I only lost ~2 lbs but saw a lot of toning and slimming down/muscle gain, but the meal plan is not sustainable/long term because of how restrictive it is.

I've jumped back on the WW bandwagon for eating, and am continuing the HIIT/Weight training classes, but I've hit a plateau. I know the scale isn't everything (and I'm fine with that) but I've stopped seeing changes in my body/clothing as well. Any advice on how to lose those last 10 lbs? I'm also getting married this year so I'm hoping to start seeing changes start again soon :)

Any advice is appreciated! Thanks!!

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Week 3 wouldn't have been possible without ADHD treatment

This is just a reminder that taking care of mental illness is important if you have goals for weight loss.

I had been seeing my therapist for over a year for PTSD before she brought up the diagnosis of moderate to severe ADHD from talking about other members in my family having it. And it all made sense -- never being able to meal plan because I'd forget to make a plan, forget to go to the grocery store, too distracted too cook so I order out, impatient with tracking, loss of interest without direct and extreme motivation, etc. Whatever it was, it was really, really hard on me, and it cost a lot of self doubt and self esteem issues, and constantly "giving up" on healthy changes and gaining weight back and more didn't help.

In January I started working with my therapist on very small goals related to this and managing my life. I started following the advice of the quick start guide posted here, with some adjustments that fit better with my ADHD. So I thought I'd do a mind dump here in case anyone else finds this useful. Sorry if it's just rambling.

For the first week I tracked what I was eating without judgement. This was SO hard. My ADHD me was ready to jump head first and buy all the groceries and sign up for a new gym and plan out how I was suddenly going to work out for an hour 5x a week (while being morbidly obese lol so you know that's gonna work). I can't tell you how excruciating it was to solely do that -- just tracking and nothing else. I was resisting urges to eat healthier. I was resisting urges to eat less. I just tracked what I ate, and I tried to eat as normally as possible. No exercise, either.

My husband now does all the grocery shopping. I'm more likely to impulse buy, forget to buy stuff, impulsively strike things off my list, not want to look at the meat section because it takes so much effort to think about the cut choice, the best by date, the price, the weight, and just on top of the super stimulating environment. I have on multiple occasions left full grocery carts and just left the store because being in there was too much to handle. Sorry grocery store people, I'm really trying not to be a pain in the bum. Or the people at Michaels, or at the register at Target telling the people never mind, I forgot I don't want this. Grocery delivery I guess works well if you don't have a Chris to grocery shop for them. He is my rock.

So he does the shopping, the hubs, and I don't plan meal plan. It uses too much of my executive functioning to meal plan which could be used for making good and difficult decisions to cook (because cooking just takes soooo long and I don't wanna when I don't wanna, it feels like pulling teeth just to get myself to do it). I just put on the list all the ingredients I like to make food with (black beans, chickpeas, spinach, mushrooms, hummus, chicken breasts, rice, pasta, pasta sauce, eggs, pretzels) and told him not to get any of my "trigger" foods, i.e. foods that I find I can't resist like family sized cans of ravioli or ice cream. So, when I cook, I just kinda throw stuff together. Hummus fried rice with mushrooms, cheesy black bean rice, spicy mushrooms and pasta with chicken, ketchup and rice with chicken. Random weird foods that sound good. I cook for one serving because mixing ingredients and then having "serving sizes" is super confusing, like making beef stew or casseroles. I also don't make more than one serving because I zone out when I eat and I forget that I'm eating until all of the servings are gone (not binge eating, just distracted, like that Spongebob episode where it's free balloon day but Spongebob and Patrick steal a balloon and then run away from the police, and all they have to eat is a chocolate bar and Patrick goes "I think I'll eat it now!" and he does and then five seconds later he says it again and bites his... hand? and then blames Spongebob because he doesn't remember eating the first one). I don't have the patience to figure it out. So I manage with eating this way and I'm so happy right now with it.

Week 2 I added in to have a 1 lb weight loss, which put me at about 2,000 calories. Same in week 3, doing above. I didn't lose weight the first week obviously, but these next 2 weeks I lost 12 lbs with staying within 100 calories on either end of the 2000 calories allotted. I even went out to eat followed by junk food at a Bruins game. Still winning.

With me, who knows how long this will last, and by now I'm used to sudden changes in what my goals are. OH, also, I watched a youtube video about how you should plan out everything that would need to change in order to make a change in your life (like waking up at a certain time) and then waiting 24 hours AT LEAST before making any decisions. Which is what I did here. But I'm hopeful that this sticks. Or, if it doesn't, I'll find something that does. So far, so good.

TL;DR: I have no idea what I just wrote, but I hope it's helpful anyway! And get treated for your mental illness first. Yes.

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Changes in sleep patterns with weight loss?

Hey y'all.

So I'm trying to focus on all aspects of health, including water intake and sleep, which I track via Fitbit. I had a few days off from school because of Mardi Gras, and didn't need to set an alarm for two days. I usually wake up a 5AM to get to the gym before class, but for the last two days I just let my body sleep for as long as it needed and hit the gym in the afternoon.

I ended up sleeping for over 10 hours both nights! Which is just unheard of for me. I've read about how getting enough sleep can aid with weight loss, but I'm wondering about things the other way around- does weight loss make your body require more sleep? I've been getting ~7 hours a night thinking that was plenty, but maybe it's not?

TLDR: Without an alarm, I'm sleeping 10+ hours a night now. Should I allot for more sleep in my schedule when I'm losing weight?

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ANNOUNCEMENT: I’ve Decided to Freeze My Eggs

I’ve decided to freeze my eggs. (It’s also called fertility preservation or oocyte cryopreservation or elective egg freezing.) After really struggling with whether or not I should do it – I had this light-bulb moment the other day and realized I should go for it. (I’ll share what made me decide to do it soon!)

freezing my eggs day 1 of the process

I want to document the process as I’m going through it in an egg freezing diary of sorts. I know this topic isn’t for everybody. But I know it can really help a lot of girls thinking about whether or not to freeze their eggs and those that have decided to go for it but want to know what it’s really like. If you’re not the target audience for this – please be kind and just scroll through.

I started Run Eat Repeat to document training for my first marathon. I used to document my running, training and eating step by step – basically a running and food diary of the good and bad. On some level I’m doing that life-casting style with this process.

But since this is real life – my real life and body and emotions… it’s not going to be carefully curated or pre-written & edited 26 times before I post. This is me. And I’m… imperfect, loud, scared, not a doctor, random, learning and just trying my best. So if you want to follow along… great! And if you don’t… that’s okay too (but I’m going to tell Diego you hate dogs).

freezing my eggs step 1

I first started to consider freezing my eggs over a year ago. I went to two different fertility doctors for a consultation. I had a good experience with both of them. At both appointments I had a vaginal ultra sound and my follicles looked good – it looked like I had a good number of follicles which indicate if you might have a good amount of eggs. So I used that info to take some time to think about everything.

I’m Freezing My Eggs – Day 1 of the Process

Today is Day 1 of Operation: Red Eggs on Ice. I can’t decide if it should just be Operation: Red Eggs with or without the ice… TBD.

I recorded a short check in after my appointment. I’ll be back soon with more info on the steps of the process.

egg freezing procedure experience

Step 1 – Doctor appointment with vaginal ultrasound. You start the process the week of your period. So when I started my period I called the doctor’s office and said I wanted to move forward. That was on a Friday so we made the appointment for Monday to start the cycle that would lead to freezing my eggs.

Here’s a short video from right after my appointment…

Let me know if you have any questions. Or if you’ve went through this process- share any tips. Thanks!

Follow along here at RunEatRepeat.com and on Instagram @RunEatRepeat

The post ANNOUNCEMENT: I’ve Decided to Freeze My Eggs appeared first on Run Eat Repeat.



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Musings on a 140lb weightloss

Obligatory before and after photo of course ;)

In the last 2 years I've lost 141lbs - or if you're a Brit like me then 10 stone 1lb.

It is still completely mind blowing to me that I have accomplished this, I'm assuming somewhere down the road I will get used to my new body and way of living but right now I still have a whole lot of "what the hell!" moments about it all. So I thought I'd share some of my recent musings about it all!

People will say really weird and inappropriate things to you about your weight loss. The most common ones I've found are "tell me about your loose skin" and "Does your husband find you sexually more attractive now?" and these are from people are hardly know at all so it's not something I'm going to discuss with them!

It cost me a friendship. A very close friend of mine just didn't seem to be able to cope with my changing shape and maybe more importantly my changing mindset. This journey has changed me for sure but I hope not in a bad way. I regret that the friendship ended badly but I don't regret that the negative influence of it is gone from my life.

Things that seem "everyday" to many people are super exciting for me. The other day I sat down on the train and noticed I had excess seat either side of my thighs - woah! When did that happen? When did I not only start taking up just the one seat but not even needing all of it? That's so cool. Also - people sit down next to me on public transport way more frequently now!

The mind takes a looooong time to catch up with the body. I still have trouble remembering I am no longer morbidly obese. Sometimes I catch my reflection in a mirror or a window and do a double take. A few months ago I had an argument with a friend that I couldn't sit in her camping seat because I'd break it. It took her pointing out she weighs the same as me and was sitting in it just fine for me to finally take a seat! It's exciting every time I realise this is what I look like now!

Deciding to take control of my choices, my emotions, my binge eating and my baggage was the best decision I ever made!

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I'm seeing real results for the first time in my life. But I've plateaued. Pls help!

Hi guys,

I've never really posted here before and I haven't really lurked either. I came across this subreddit a little while back while doing some research into weight loss and wanted to ask for some help. There is a TL/DR and I'm sorry for the wall of text below.

So I've been struggling with my weight for more most of my life. I've never really lost substantial amounts of weight usually for lack of trying. I'm a huge lover of junk food and hater of exercise, usually having two dinners a day with a (un)healthy amount of junk food.

Recently, I decided to turn things around and lose as much as possible and live healthier. I was initially 118kg (260lbs) and have successfully brought down my weight to 112kg (246lbs) through a combination of walking and dieting. The only problem is my "dieting" is rather extreme. I basically started out with protein shakes and non starchy vegetables for almost every meal (once in awhile, maybe once a week, I'd cheat on one meal with a pizza or burger). But I was consistent and I lost the 6kg (13lbs) within about 3 - 4 weeks. I was eating around 1100 calories a day and exercising at least 400 - 500 calories off during the day.

The only real problem is I've kinda plateaued at the moment. I've been stuck on 112kg for about a week now and just today morning hit 111.7kg. I assume the weight loss I had was due to the system being shocked at the sudden change of diet and exercise, and is now probably compensating for this. Now I'm down to eating around 800 calories per day (primarily with non starchy, green vegetables and I cut back on the protein shakes for some meals) with the same 400 - 500 calories worked off (mainly by walking).

I was reading online and apparently the body can go into "starvation" mode where it would stop burning fat and start burning muscle and also slow my metabolism down drastically to compensate for the lack of nutrients. I'm taking in. I started doing some weights at a nearby gym to try to cut back on the loss of muscle and I assume that I should be having at least protein to go with the veggies in my diet now.

I was just wondering if anyone could help me with how I could keep going to lose this weight as fast as possible. I know it might not be sustainable in the long run, but I have a really great support group and for the first time in my life I've readily given up my dependence on junk food. I know I can keep it going as long as I can see results every week, but not sure if the human body can really push through it. Is there any way to maintain progress or reduce the impact of the starvation mode? I'm not really expecting this to last forever, but the more I can lose earlier when I've got the motivation and drive to push through would be super helpful.

TL/DR:

I'm eating around 600 - 800 calories a day (mainly in non starchy green vegetables and occasional protein shakes). I'm also burning around 400 - 500 calories during the day by walking and light weight lifting. I lost weight fairly quickly (around 6kg in 3 - 4 weeks) and I wanted to know if there was anyway to keep up the rate of progress as I seem to have plateaued. Googling seems to indicate my body might be switching to starvation mode where it slows down my metabolism and burns muscle rather than fat. Is there anyway to keep my metabolism high, while still eating around 600 to 800 calories a day, and also still ensuring to burn fat rather than muscle?

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Day 1? Starting your weight loss journey on Thursday, 07 March 2019? 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.

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