The books that helped your weight loss journey

I want to hear about the books that supported your journey! I have three that made a real difference ...

• The End of Overeating by David A. Kessler (2009) is the book that ripped the blinders off my eyes about restaurants and the food industry. I had a vague idea that restaurants used lots of butter and salt to make things tasty, but I didn't realize the extent. When 'an industry source' explained to him that the foods are processed to 'minimize chewing ... so customers don't have to work so hard ... it's like adult baby food", a switch was thrown in my brain. I mostly eat at home now. :)
• The Secret Life of Fat by Sylvia Tara (2016) is the story of a PhD biochemist who decides to tackle her own fat. Intespersed with personal stories, this book explored all aspects of fat, including the rare genetic disorder that prevents the body from storing fat: "her blood had the consistency of cream" is the phrase that stuck with me, and after reading this book I felt a real shift in my attitude towards my body & fat, I totally stopped using words like 'fight' and 'battle', even internally. I appreciated that I COULD store fat, having contemplated the alternative. My body was acting exactly how it was supposed to, based on the inputs I was giving it, and if I wanted it to respond differently, I needed to change the input.
• Books by Joel Fuhrman. Even though I do not attempt to follow his diet 100% (I eat more animal protein than he recommends, mostly because I have a long list of food sensitivities that mean I can't eat some of his most recommended foods), his books reset my barometer for what a 'healthy' food was. At the time I'd been spending way too much time & money following fancy new health foods (maca powder! goji berries! pomegranate juice!). They are healthy (ish) ... but so is cabbage. And carrots. And all the other delicious foods that were right under my nose and readily available at my supermarket. He busted some of my concerns about modern fruits & veg not being grown in nutritious soils and that you're still better off buying the vegetable even if it's not organic ... some issues that watching too many documentaries about food had me spinning in circles.

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from loseit - Lose the Fat http://bit.ly/2VeZALK

Strategies for better sleep

Among all the responsibilities we have in a given day, sleep tends to be the first thing we put on the chopping block. The ironic part is that while it’s the first thing we opt to give up, it’s one of the most nourishing things we can do for our bodies. Getting enough quality sleep may not be possible every single night, but if gone unchecked for too long, inadequate sleep can compound into a variety of immediate and long-term health problems. 

from Life Time Weight Loss Blog http://bit.ly/2PH5AGW

I (30F) am overweight (192lbs, 5’1”). This is the heaviest I’ve ever been. Recently went through a breakup and am struggling with eating / exercising / overall wounded ego and self esteem

I realize there so much going on here besides being overweight— but one of the things I want to work on is to be healthy. I know my current weight isn’t healthy because my body feels this. I love myself and know that I won’t allow myself to continue gaining weight due to a lack of self care.

When I was with my ex we’d order fast food a lot because he doesn’t know how to cook, didn’t express interest in cooking despite my many offers to help him learn. I love to cook, but I went down a depressive spiral because of work and strained relationship

Recent breakup left me feeling undesirable. No sex since December, before that it was scarce. No matter the times I asked if it was bc of my weight, his answer was always no...that it was his lack of confidence and self esteem.

I went to the doc this week and she is encouraging me get back on my feet and exercise bc 1) it helps reduce pain (I have fibromyalgia), 2) endorphins, workouts can help me feel better, 3) healthy for weight loss

I feel so lost. I know what I have to do but it feels insurmountable. Knowing what to do is one thing. How to do it is the challenge.

Nutrition: I waver between going vegan, gluten free, or just eat anything but follow CICO

Workout: any little activity tires me! My body isn’t as strong and resilient as it was 3 yrs ago [i used to run half marathon! Dance 5-6 days a week. Yoga everyday]. I struggle so much to just get myself OUTSIDE. :(

If you’ve been in a similar circumstance (breakup, depression, overweight), what helped you get into the habit of working out and making healthy food choices?

Thanks for the read. 🙏🏽

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from loseit - Lose the Fat http://bit.ly/2ZUa9T1

Getting called out

I seen the recent post calling out lurkers and i figured I might as well post something because I actually have hit a bit of a wall recently and maybe engaging with a community with similar goals might help me break through.

I'm a Male, 24, 5'8", and started my weight loss January of last year at my heaviest weight of 250. I was a powerlifter in highschool, and at my healthiest I sat at 190. You can imagine my disappointment when I seen 250 on the scale after taking a break from powerlifting.

I didn't make much of a change right away, but between an active job and just slight adjustments to my diet and never checking my weight, I made it down to 220 when I finally hopped on a scale again in July. I was so excited i decided to take it seriously by quitting all sugar drinks and counting my calories a bit closer.

By November I hit my lowest weight since highschool of 185. However after that I moved, had a change in occupation, and my diet has been slipping a bit, but luckily I've been just holding steady at 195.

I think I lost since motivation since I thought a good goal weight was 190, but found out a better goal weight is probably in the 170's. Still working on it, but the progress has definitely slowed down since November.

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from loseit - Lose the Fat http://bit.ly/2WjXdDK

Has anyone tried psychological counseling along to help with weight loss goals?

Edit: Wish I had proof read title.

I’m 34 F and I’ve never been diagnosed with an eating disorder or anything like that, but I’ve definitely noticed the strong correlation between my mental health and my willingness to work out and eat right. In my adult life, I’ve noticed that sometimes in high stress times I will do something akin to binge eating.

I’ve been training for a race and trying to eat better and losing weight slowly. I’ve had a hard time cutting out alcohol because I live in Colorado and we have such a culture of “hike then go to a brewery” here.

I was slowly chipping away at my goal until this week happened.

I teach high school AP courses and as students prepare for their exams and finals there is a lot of grading and a lot of emotional conversations and everyone is stressed. I’ve been at work until 7pm most nights this week. I didn’t prepare well food prep wise and I’ve been eating a lot of fast food because it’s easy and I’m hungry. But now I don’t feel like I can turn it off. I ate Chik Fil A last night and thought “well if I’m going to cheat I might as well cheat hard” so I ordered the large meal. Then I ate a sugary cookie when I got home. Then I drank some wine. Then I ate a popsicle. Then I hated myself for all of it. I tried not to shame myself but it’s hard.

I woke up this morning with that terrible full stomach feeling like taking a nap after thanksgiving and still waking up full. I’m mad but I’m more worried that in my mind I’ve developed this “all or nothing” connection to healthy and unhealthy eating. I’m going to try to reset this weekend.

I wonder if talking to a counselor or someone would be helpful. Do many people do that? I don’t think I have an eating disorder but I’m pretty sure I use food as a coping mechanism and that seems bad.

Thanks for reading and for all the encouragement in this community.

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from loseit - Lose the Fat http://bit.ly/2Vb0JUt

Day 1? Starting your weight loss journey on Friday, 03 May 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.

• Quick Start Guide - Build your foundation!
• Loseit Compendium - Frame it out!
• FAQ - Answers to our most Frequently Asked Questions!

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from loseit - Lose the Fat http://bit.ly/2H04sKS

About a month ago I started losing weight with a starting weight of ~156Kg/~343.92Lb (1.87M/6.13Ft)

Hi, this is my first post here so if the font is weird then i'm sorry in advance :").

Well I'll start of with telling who I am, I'm an 24 year old guy living in the Netherlands being quite content with the weight I have/had until one month ago instead of a weight value my scale quite literally said no or to much weight.

​

This in combination of having to wear 4XL clothes and size 64 pants made me snap it made me realize how much I weigh and it was my first motivation on losing weight.

Besides that my whole father's side of the family has Diabetes type 1/2 and a number of Heart and Vein diseases, considering all these things I've decided to do something about it.

​

Currently It's may 3rd and starting off from last month I lost 15Kg / 33.0693Lbs my goal will eventually be 90Kg/198.41Lb.

The journey will be hard and I will definitely have some setbacks but because of the support of my friends and family I'll manage.

​

Currently I'm doing a combination of the old fashioned Less food and exercise more combined with a low carbs diet.

I eat yogurt with fresh fruit for breakfast another batch for lunch with maybe one sandwich tops, I eat a lot of chicken and salads for diner and I force myself not to give in to the feeling of hunger when I definitely don't need it.

My friends and family support me so much and it's super motivating to hear about people being proud it almost brought me to tears at some point because I was so done with being this fat.

​

I'll keep you guys posted on updates on my weight loss and will be happy to answer any questions.

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from loseit - Lose the Fat http://bit.ly/2IZgZSe