Monday, April 1, 2019

I just went on a mad dash to the grocery store before it closed because of a sugar craving ... and bought nothing

So this is a really weird situation for me, and certainly not something I’ve ever really done before, but I said no to sugar! Voluntarily!! I’m posting about it because I’m so proud of myself! I’m kind of in shock lol.

I’ve been having a rough last couple days with the end of school exams and assignments coming up, and whenever I’m stressed, I turn to food for comfort, mainly sugar. Tonight I decided I couldn’t handle it anymore and I needed some sugar, so I rushed out to the grocery store before they closed to get myself a fat rectangle of tuxedo cake. I had already reached my calorie goal for the day, but with all of my stress, I told myself it was ok to go a bit over in order to feel a bit better.

But when I got to the store, they didn’t have any cake left, so I started looking for something else to eat. Nothing else seemed as appetizing as cake to me, and the calorie counts of everything I was picking up were horrifying. I stayed for about 20 minutes in the bakery section picking things up and putting them back down, debating between individual serving snacks and full containers of cookies. At one point I even decided to just drink something sweet to save calories, and picked up an individual size bottle of chocolate milk. But I put that back too.

I just couldn’t justify eating anything I saw there. I kept going back and forth for ages on my decision to buy something. I pictured myself at home eating whatever sweet thing I had chosen. Then I pictured how I would feel after eating said sweet thing, what I would tell myself about eating it, how much of it I would truthfully eat (a lot).

And I just decided ... no. It wasn’t worth it. I would go home and have a nice tall glass of cold water, and that’s exactly what I did.

I can’t believe myself, in all honesty. I only started my weight loss journey about three weeks ago, but my mindset is already so drastically different from what it used to be! Before, I wouldn’t have given the situation a second thought, and I would’ve bought multiple sweet things, then binged on them the minute I got home. And I would’ve told myself that it was alright because I’m stressed. But after discovering this subreddit and finally deciding to take my weight loss seriously, I am so much more mindful of food, it’s incredible.

I’m really happy that I decided to stick up for myself tonight and treat my body with respect and love. It’s really inspiring to me, and it’s honestly all thanks to this community! Perhaps soon I’ll reach that magic point everyone talks about where sweets don’t even taste good anymore, haha!

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3 Months into my weight loss and here is my (very small) progress

This is my first post to the subreddit but thought as well post my achievements and thoughts somewhere. I've always been a pretty big guy, just naturally been built pretty big. I'm about 6'3 have quite a broad build which hasn't really helped me over my life but no point complaining about it. At New Year I was sick and tired of being what I thought was big and not really being happy with myself. I decided to finally do something which had bothered me my entire life.

I started off at around 106kg or about 235lbs. My entire life I've never really watched what I ate but over the years attempted to remove my bad habits such as lowering the amount of chocolate I ate, not drinking so much fizzy drinks and less snacking. Now these overall didn't have many visible improvements or at least any that I knew about. In terms of my knowledge on weight loss and such I had very little idea. From my very basic research the plan was to limit my calories in and exercise more and that should probably do me some good.

Firstly, I cut out all fizzy drinks completely and I could count on one hand the amount I have drunk this year. I opted for water and more often water diluted by lemon and lime juice which I know isn't so good for the teeth but it can't be as bad as fizzy drinks. Now I found fizzy drinks frankly disgusting, the amount of sugar they leave in my mouth is just terrible. Eating wise would be a big issue for me, I'm the type of person who can easily eat continuously all day and not really stop. I tried to just limit myself for 3 meals a day and use chewing gum as a substitute in between meals. This started off decent but quickly went to shit because my work schedule meant I couldn't actually have consistent meal times so I'd find myself starving at some points of the day. Now I try my best to stick to 3 meals but should work or something happen then I have a snack.

In terms of what I changed diet wise in my meals I altered my breakfast and lunch heavily. Breakfast I swapped chocolate poptarts every morning to instead weetabix, milk and a banana for energy. To start with I starved a lot in the mornings but over time my body has adjusted quite nicely to it. Also instead of semi-skimmed milk I use skimmed milk, I don't know how much of a different this is but I prefer the carton so I'm sticking with it. Lunches I swapped heavily so instead of tortilla wraps, grated cheese, butter, biscuits and basically shit I have swapped to rice cakes, peanut butter, light yogurts and fruit. I love this change most I think because my lunches are less bland and I enjoy the variety that comes with all the different stuff I have. Also I think they are more filling despite being much less than what I used to have. My dinners I was a bit less harsh with, I figured if I just cut out a lot of frozen foods and shit then it would work out fine. I eat a lot more cooked meat and have less portions. I tried to stick to around 1600 calories a day and I think I am hitting that and probably going over some nights.

Now that's enough boring stuff about food, onto my exercise. Now I have a crippling phobia of working out in public. I make that sound like it is serious but really I'm a sweaty bastard and unattractive enough as it is without people seeing that. I was restricted to my room then so I had to try several different things to see which worked. I tried jogging on the spot but that was shit and damaged my legs too much for work. I tried workout DVDs but the only one I could find that was suited for me was a Triple H one and that was more muscle building stuff so that didn't work. My next try was a game for the Switch called Fitness Boxing. I didn't expect much when I tried but holy shit I had never had a workout like it in my life. Every session ends with me dripping with sweat and my muscles feeling worked. I try to do that every day I don't have work. At work I walk around 15,000 steps and while I feel that doesn't do much for me it might somehow. I also do weights at home with the most basic of workouts possible but generally I feel as if I've gotten a lot stronger over 3 months and on top of that I can now do 50 push ups without stopping and am constantly working on my planks.

So finally, what has actually changed? Well as of now I'm around 97kg or 214lbs. I've not really had a target over the past 3 months since I've just wanted to look good. In terms of effects this weight loss has had I've had the best cardio in my entire life, I work an entire shift with ease now. My clothes are all getting too big for me but right now I'm between a medium and large which has created issues but I'm happy with that despite the amount of holes I have to put into my belt. Finally, has my appearance changed? Ehhh, depends who you ask really. I don't think so but everyone I asked does and that has been tough. I'm doing this for myself mainly and hoping it makes me happy and so far I think it has but overall I'm still waiting for the real results to show for me.

Well if you've read all of this then I thank you for not making me feel like I've wasted time writing all of this. I'm going to keep going with this in hopes of it improving me because 3 months isn't really enough time yet. I'll probably make a post in another 3 months to see if much else has changed. Cheers for reading.

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My dog got an awesome compliment today.

So my dog recently has been a driving force in me keeping on my weight loss journey. My depression got the best of me and I didn't take her for walks or do much with her beyond cuddling on the couch binging Netflix. When I realized she was starting to resemble a barrel I knew I had to do something. (she is part corgi so the barrel shape isn't to far off from what she is supposed to look like but she was getting unhealthy) then I realized I can't just take care of her I need to take care of me. So I've been watching better how much we both eat and we go for walks as soon as I get home. Today she wore her old harness instead of the usual back pack I put on her because it is easier. A little boy who usually comes says hi to her as I'm walking her was shocked and asked if it was her (we haven't seen him in a while) I said "Yes, this is Alice" he said "she is so much smaller than she used to be" made me so happy. Idk how much she has lost but I'm down about 15 pounds and fitting in clothes I haven't in ages.

Feels good

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Fat kid’s complicated relationship with food and weight loss [350 > 175 > 230 > 175]

Pics: https://imgur.com/gallery/L1F1kUw

This is gonna be a summary of my weight loss journey to highlight some of the lessons I have learnt, including some recent events and struggles. Hopefully some of you can relate to my experiences and take comfort in knowing that you’re not alone. And wow, Reddit! Looking through my previous posts on /r/loseit as well as /r/progresspics, it has been more than 6 years already, and what a ride it has been!

Some context:

I had always been a big kid since 5 years of age. My appetite was insatiable (still is), and sports has never been my forte. It does not help that I was born into a family of bakers. My grandparents, my parents, and 5 of my 8 uncles/aunts run confectioneries. Don’t get me wrong, I am extremely proud of their achievements and hard work, and the food we make is absolutely amazing. It is however the cherry on top of our very own tried-and-tested recipe for obesity, which has unfortunately plagued much of my family.

Fast forward some 13 years, I enlisted into the army (mandatory 2-year service for all able-bodied males in Singapore). While the obese and overweight recruits had to undergo a modified version of the military training aimed specifically at weight loss and physical fitness, my BMI of nearly 50 was prohibitively high. I was deemed medically unfit for physical training solely because of my weight. The literal sense of the term ‘morbid obesity’ hit me, hard. That was my first wake-up call. Unfortunately, it was a wake-up call I chose to ignore. Most people get fitter over the course of their military service. For me, as the bad eating habits and lack of exercise persisted, the weight continued to pile on. My commanders now joke, ‘you have made a mockery of our training, how is* it possible you gained weight in the army, then lost it after leaving the force!*’

Retrospectively, I realised what my biggest problem was: amotivation. There wasn’t any impetus for change. I guess inertia is directly proportional to mass. After my time in the army, I had somewhat of a plan. I was heading off to study engineering at UCL. However, I had no real interest in engineering. I was just gonna do what most of my friends from high school were going to do. In actuality, nothing really motivated me. I felt like a cog in a machine - functioning yet uninspired.

Then came 2012, the year when things changed. Drastically.

By then, I had hit my peak weight of 348lb/158kg. I was in the final phase of preparing for university - renting my apartment in London, getting winter wear (Singapore is really hot), et cetera. I had also just completed a 6-month internship in the field of engineering and ergonomics, which I absolutely hated. Fluke or not, undertaking that engineering project is possibly the single most pivotal decision of my life thus far, for two reasons.

  1. It made me think really hard about my future, and realise that it did not involve a career in engineering.
  2. It gave me the opportunity to discuss other options with the professionals and academics at the institution.

I gave up my place in engineering school, and applied for medical school. I still can’t quite explain it, but there was a complete one-eighty in my attitude towards health and physical wellbeing that came about almost instantaneously after submitting my application. It was as though someone had found a physical switch in my mind and flipped it. I knew I had to do something. I couldn’t be that hypocritically fat doctor who tells his patients to eat well and exercise more. Having lived 21 years with close to no regard for my health, I did not necessarily know how to, but I knew I wanted to change. And I knew it was going to take time and effort. Possibly for the first time in my life, I felt empowered. I was empowered by my new goal and motivation to reach it.

Initially, I was lost. I did not have any specific goals or methodology. I did not even have a weighing scale to start. All I did for the first 10 weeks was to keep in mind the principle of calories in, calories and, and cut down on soda, sugar and supper. To my elation, I managed to lose 13lb/6kg in that period! I felt good and encouraged.

Incrementally, I pushed myself to do more, day by day, week by week. Exercise was hard. Physically, my body had been chronically deconditioned from the lack of any form of activity. Mentally, it’s daunting to be the largest guy on the running track, panting madly away before even finishing a quarter of a mile while every one else passes you on the side. The look from others, imaginary or not, were hard to ignore and weighed on me. However, with scale victories in mind, I pressed on.

Relevant link (1): https://old.reddit.com/r/loseit/comments/16g5vt/lost_40lbs_in_3_months_long_ways_to_go/

I got an exercise buddy to help with the monotony of cardio, and together we would explore new jogging routes, exchange dietary tips. Workouts became more enjoyable and having company definitely helped with my insecurities and confidence issues. My weight was steadily dropping at a rate of 3-4.5lb/1.5-2kg per week, and that definitely further motivated me.

Not long after, I was accepted into medical school, and in February 2013, I left for Melbourne.

Melbourne had been an amazing experience for me. I learned to care for myself. I had new-found autonomy. I chose what to buy, what to cook, what to eat. I chose when to exercise. I moved in with like-minded housemates. However, I was also conscious of the fact that the numbers on the scale became increasingly important to me, eventually to the point of obsession. For a while, numbers were all I cared about. I was weighing my food to the exact gram, calculating calories, tracking exercise hours.

Relevant link (2): https://old.reddit.com/r/loseit/comments/1fskpb/sv_update_4_months_since_last_post_im_into_the/

The efforts delivered results. Eating 700kcal/day for 2 years will make you lose the weight. But in all honesty, I was miserable. I wasn’t able to head out with my friends without being that annoying ‘let’s go to the salad bar’ person. And come on, eating 700kcal/day for 2 years will make you miserable. That’s eating 4 slices of bread for breakfast, and 4 pieces of steamed chicken tenderloin for the entire day. Every single day. For 2 years.

Still, I persisted with my diet and cardio. The numbers game was too addictive. By the second year of medical school I had lost 170lb/77kg. With such numbers I couldn’t possibly veer off course and risk not hitting my weekly targets, could I? My tunnel vision meant I couldn’t see, at that time, that I had lost more than just excess weight. I had sacrificed my social life. And eating 700kcal/day for 2 years cannot be all that healthy.

In fact, I got so depleted I suffered from postural giddiness and passed out a couple of times in my dormitory. I got so skinny my friends started to worry if I was sick. I lost so much weight so quickly my mum couldn’t recognise me the first time I came back to Singapore (we still get a chuckle whenever I recount having to tap on her shoulder at Changi airport and say ‘Ma, it’s me!’, haha!).

Realising that my new ‘healthier’ habits were not sustainable, I had to reassess my goals. I started eating more sensibly, reincorporating more food types and gradually increasing my caloric intake. Even then, always at the back of my mind was the fear of relapse, especially since my metabolism was probably beyond messed up, rendering me more susceptible to rebound weight gain. I started weight training and attended fitness classes. And while the numbers on the scale stagnated, I felt significantly better. I felt healthier. I felt stronger. I looked better in clothes. I was more confident. I was going out more. I hanged out with my friends more often. I started dating as well. I was happier.

Relevant link (3): https://old.reddit.com/r/progresspics/comments/5yy5mp/m25510_350lbs_175lbs_175lbs_update_4_years/

And confidence really is key. Things I wanted to do but was scared of trying, I did. Places I wanted to visit but felt out of place in, I went. People I wanted to profess my love for but never had the courage to, I spoke to. Alas, why didn’t I do this 10 years ago?

2017, I was in my final year of medical school. It was easily the best year of my life - a year jam-packed with amazing experiences, encounters and romance, many of which were new and exciting. I was on an exhilarating roller-coaster ride and I didn’t want it to stop. Not trying to be overdramatic here, but I honestly felt I lived my life to the fullest for the first time. In fact, I felt like I lived through my teens and early twenties within the span of these 12 months, albeit fast-forwarded some 20 times.

Back to the main purpose of this post. Actually, I have been wanting to post this for quite some time, as there were many instances last year when I felt lost and defeated. I had moved back to Singapore and started working as a house officer (or intern). Nothing could have prepared me for the relentless nature of the work that junior doctors do. Yes, I’ve heard stories from seniors, but the vicarious experience does not compare to the real deal even in the slightest. We worked north of 80 hours each week, but that wasn’t uncommon in Singapore. It was the calls. Oh gosh, the calls. In short, calls are rostered duty stints of 15-22 hours that begin immediately after we have completed our day work, during which manpower is dramatically reduced such that the patient-to-doctor ratio swells from 5-10:1 to easily >150:1. It is an intensely stressful period when the autonomy of the junior doctor is amplified multifold (senior manpower is also reduced, and many decisions are made by juniors independently) and he/she is constantly kept on his/her toes. I felt being pushed near the brink of breaking many a times during calls, especially the first few - the pressure is immense, the environment can be extremely chaotic, sleep is scarce (it’s not uncommon for house officers to go without sleep from 6am to 2pm the next day during calls - that’s 32 hours) and eating times are irregular.

Eventually, I reverted to my old ways - comfort bingeing. The momentary indulgence of a sugary rush was all that kept me from exploding/imploding during calls. Call after call, my waistline expanded, my belly grew and my face became rounder. My body image issues came right back to haunt me. I felt ashamed. I promised myself never to rebound - why was I so weak? My self-esteem plummeted. I became more socially withdrawn. Except with my closest friends, family and significant other, I avoided social interaction as much as I could, fearing (irrationally) the judgement and ridicule of others. I hated shopping for clothes as it reminded me of how I looked. My favourite tank top became the only top I would wear, as I thought everything else accentuated my weight gain. The brutality of my work had stretched my body, mind and relationships to the limit. I had serious doubts whether I could get back up from this.

*What’s wrong with me? *I studied psychiatry in medical school. I went through cases of body dysmorphia and anorexia. I examined different models of change. I should know better than most people how to get out of this rut. Yet, I felt powerless. I spiralled. Over the last year, I put on some 55lb/25kg.

Clichéd as it may be, such is life. It does not fully comprise endless fun rides on roller-coasters, and there will be obstacles along the way. I want to thank those closest to me for not giving up on me, and for encouraging me. Whether you told me ‘it’s okay, I don’t care how you look, I still love you no matter what’ or straightforwardly called me out ’you’ve put on so much weight, do something about it!’, I appreciate it all the same. I am so fortunate to be surrounded by people who care about me, and supported me during these hard times. These people, without question, are the most crucial part to my revelation. They have enabled me to emerge from self-pity and take a step back to look at things from a different perspective.

I’ve set my focus on the future. I have just completed my stint as a house officer, and have a sea of options to look forward to (and I do!). Also I am really eager to get back in shape for my brother’s wedding and upcoming beach holidays, only this time I am doing it in a more structured manner.

I have engaged a physical trainer, who has helped prescribe a training regimen and diet modifications to achieve my goals. My goals are more specific and holistic, rather than just the number on the scale. My workouts are more structured, and I try to fit them into free time slots throughout the day, however scarce they may be (whatever it is, hit the gym before you reach home, otherwise it becomes exponentially harder). I am also systematically desensitising myself to social stimuli to work on my phobia.

While there is still some work to be done before I can fully reconcile my relationship with food, body image issues and my weight, I am feeling positive about it.

Thank you for your love ^

TLDR;

  1. Fat kid who one day decided to become a doctor and lose weight
  2. Lost weight, struggled with anorexia
  3. Revised diet, found gym
  4. Started new life, met new challenges with weight loss
  5. Rebounded and felt defeated
  6. Trying to break out of it now

No prizes for guessing which is my favourite tank top!

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I had a nice little cry session this weekend

I use an app on my phone that's linked to my scale to track my weight and other metrics. I don't put too much stock in the accuracy of a $20 bio-impedance scale, but the trends are nice to look at. It's hard to put into perspective, "I've lost 7% body fat". The numbers seem a bit detached from my mind.

The thing is, these stats just auto-upload each time I weigh, and the scale of the graphs is a little annoying for me. This weekend I decided to import about 11 weeks of data onto a weight grapher on my computer. This meant going back to my heaviest weights and typing them in manually.

A funny thing happened during this process. I started at 385, and I remember my enthusiasm as I dropped the first 15-20 lbs. After that, everything has just been a bit of a grind routine. I haven't ever been discouraged in a big picture sense, but each time my weight bounced up a little bit from water weight, eating late at night due to circumstance or whatever, I would get a little frustrated. Going back and seeing all of these weight fluctuations, reliving the mental state of each little notch up or woosh down...it completely changed my perspective on what I've accomplished so far. 50-55 lbs of weight loss sounded incredible when it's someone else, but for me it was just some numbers on a scale. Remembering how happy I was when I got to 369, 359, 349, 339, did more to frame the journey than anything else I've seen so far. It had the impact of a dramatic before/after picture for me.

I thought I'd share in case anyone has experienced something similar. I broke down in tears (of joy).

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9 month CICO face progress pictures (18M 273 -> 166) How I did it and how you can too.

http://imgur.com/bgIhvvy

Hey guys. I have been doing CICO and low-carb since July now and I figured I should post some progress and how my face has changed over this period.

I've made a lot of threads in this sub and I've found a lot of people are curious onto what I did so here's basically a summary.

I try to stay under 1500-1750 calories a day. I am 6'1 and 166 lbs at 12% body fat, down from 273 lbs at my highest. BMI dropped from 40.3 to 22. I do 2 miles on the treadmill every day and anything from 3-7 miles on an elliptical, typically burning about 350 calories a day through cardio.

Eating schedule/exercise: I work out about every morning before classes, go through my day, and eat one huge meal a day at 7pm. I then do cardio right after. Usually this meal is about 1500-1750 calories. I've never lifted any weights during this process (though I used to be an offensive lineman/defensive end in HS football so I lifted heavily prior)

Typical meals: 1. Romaine lettuce salad with carrots, chicken, avacado, hard boiled egg, and balsamic dressing. (healthy fats, some carbohydrate and lots of protein)

  1. Chicken burrito bowl without rice, with guacamole, pico de gallo, and cheese. Fills you up and tastes great.

  2. If I eat breakfast I'll do a bowl of grapes, blackberries and strawberries.

  3. Usually one pack of Keebler cheese & peanut butter crackers a day as a snack. Peanut butter while fattening is my guilty pleasure but one of these packages only has like 190 cals and can actually suppress appetite pretty well.

Weekends: I'm in college so I drink a lot of beer. Can't really avoid this. Usually a free for all on the weekends, I'm a guilty drunk food guy so Sundays and Mondays are big gym days for me.

Weed: Heavily cut down on marijuana consumption. Only about 2-3 times a week now when I know I don't have any work to worry about, I get brutal munchies so this definitely does not mesh well with weight loss. People get really defensive when I say weed has played a hugely negative role in my journey but everyone's experience with it is different. Just doesn't really work well with me.

Depression: Suffered from severe depression last year as a college freshman because I hated my school. Couldn't get out of bed for a few months. Exercise changed my life and gave me a new purpose.

Dating scene: The one thing I'll say that if you really put the work in you will get results. Girls really notice. The biggest thing has been increased confidence as prior to my weight loss I couldn't talk to a girl without getting nervous and being awkward.

Body dysmorphia: Struggled with this heavily and it's getting a lot better. I made a thread here about it and I got a lot of help from you guys, and I can't thank y'all enough. When the scale goes up after some guilty eating I've started to realize that it's not the biggest deal in the world and I've found some degree of control in my life.

Hope this helps guys. Love to the community here, honestly after all this I can relate to everyone making an active effort to lose weight and keep it off. You guys are awesome.

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62.3 lbs down in 115 days

I'm a 45-year-old, 5' 11" man and started out weighing 258.6 lbs on December 7, 2018. As of today, I weigh 196.3 lbs and have a goal weight of ~170 lbs. What has worked for me is a combination of calorie counting (to reduce caloric intake) and exercise (to increase caloric usage). I haven't focused on any particular macronutrient balance but try to pick from foods similar to what the Mayo Clinic lists on this page:

https://diet.mayoclinic.org/diet/eat/follow-the-mayo-clinic-healthy-weight-pyramid

Because of my rapid weight loss, my doctor has been monitoring my EKG, labs, and food logs. In general, I think it's recommended to have medical supervision if you are losing more than 2 lbs per week. During the more rapid period of weight loss (first 40 days or so), my doctor also prescribed me a medication to lower the risk of gallstones.

Here is a progress pic (same shirt in both pics):

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7824/47515712121_05da74dfeb_b.jpg

The table below shows the summary stats for my weight loss journey to date. I hope this helps someone. Happy to answer any questions.

Average calories per day (Lose It!) 1446 kcal
Average weight change per day -0.55 lbs
Average weight change per week -3.8 lbs
Average net calories per day (calculated based on cals in and weight change with assumption of 3500 kcal/lb, ie pure fat mass loss) -1913 kcal
Average calories out per day (calculated based on cals in and weight change with assumption of 3500 kcal/lb, ie pure fat mass loss) 3359 kcal
Average calories out per day reported by Fitbit 3662 kcal
Average calories out overestimation by Fitbit 9.0%
Average steps per day (Fitbit) 18.7k
Average gym visits per week (weights) 3.2
Starting BMI 36.0
Current BMI 27.4
Starting % fat, average of 7 days of measurements using Fitbit Aria 35.3
Current % fat, average of 7 days of measurements using Tanita RD-545IM 26.9

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