Two Years In ...

Two years ago today a new digital bathroom scale arrived at my front door from Amazon - purchased in large part because my previous scale had been giving an Error message since the previous November, meaning that I'd crossed the line into numbers beginning with "3**."

Finally, the anxiety of having no idea how much more than 299.5 I weighed conquered the fear of seeing some horrific number, and I ordered a better scale with a higher limit - because how can you monitor or motivate yourself when you can't even know if you're losing or gaining?! Given that it had been nearly 6 straight months of error messages, I was imagining that my weight was still climbing upwards - 325, 350, who knew how far I'd gone?!

And on May 20th, 2017, the scale arrived. I unpacked it, put the batteries in, and fired it up. It said 303. Not as bad as I'd feared, but still - 303. \Gulp** I'm a guy who never quite made it to 5'8", so I am large at 303. Still able to fit into plane seats without a seat belt extender and buy clothes without going to a big/tall store, but large. I needed to work harder at controlling my weight - or work more effectively at it.

And here I am on May 20th, 2019, two years to the day after seeing that "303." By a fluke the same scale says I'm down exactly 50 pounds today, which counts as real weight loss. At the same time, though, it's still 90 pounds north of the top end of the normal BMI range for my height. I am still morbidly obese, even if noticeably less fat than before. And I still have discouraging intervals when I lose my self-discipline and I gain weight back; at the end of last summer, I was actually 20 pounds lighter than I am right now, but last fall and winter I fell off the wagon and the wagon wheels rolled back and forth over me a few times. Nevertheless, 50 pounds gone is 50 pounds gone. I'd rather weigh 253 than 303 any day. I've lifted 50-pound bags of dog food; they're heavy. And I'm convinced that within a year or two (more likely two), I will see a number on the scale beginning with "1**."

Over the last two years, I've learned some things and made some changes. I've read enough about some diet myths I used to accept to finally get them out of my mind, where they used to sit making me feel doomed to long-term failure. I get daily encouragement from reading this group and a few other subs, where there's a lot of common sense and where so many successful people demonstrate that losing large amounts of weight is possible. Thanks to my employer, I've also joined The Organization Formerly Known As Weight Watchers, as much for the motivation I get from the meetings (and the weigh-ins at the meetings!) as for the actual points system and eating plan. This has all helped.

Now I just have to push on. I'm not even halfway through 2019 yet, and I want to finish this year lighter than I finished 2018.

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130 lbs in 9 months! Ok 128.6, I'm rounding up!

9 months and 130 lbs later!

Anyone can lose weight

I didnt even start exercising until I lost almost 100 pounds and now I just do 10 minutes a day of high intensity resistance bands until muscle failure. Lots of different paths to weight loss. As long as calories arecat a deficit you will lose weight and win at life.

I do keto, but anything that works for you is fine. I also do intermittent fasting, currently that is now one meal a day but that too is not near as important as calories.

I still have a long way to go but I will get there. And, SPOILER ALERT: So will you!!!

https://imgur.com/a/H5kxxzJ

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I’m at a standstill

I’ve posted here before about hitting a plateau in weight loss and after trying the suggestions that were posted, I lost a few more pounds but I’m stuck again.

Back in February I started a very low carb diet. I went from 181 to 169. Hit the plateau, refined a little, and made it down to 163ish. I’ve been at 165 now for about 6 weeks and I’m starting to think that my diet just isn’t working anymore. I eat around 1300 calories everyday and don’t go above 25g of carbs. My protein intake varies day to day, but is never below 100g. Fats stay at about 80g. I don’t eat any sugar during the week but allow myself a treat on the weekend.

I’m 5’5” female and would like to get to 150lbs. So, how do I proceed? Admittedly, my efforts in the gym are not where I’d like them to be. But with my busy schedule, I can really only make it twice a week. I do plan on pushing myself harder those 2 days that I go.

My questions are, how do I maximize my 2 days in the gym to get the most benefit out of my limited time? And how should I refine my diet? Should I be eating more? I don’t think I could possibly eat any less without causing some kind of deficiency and serious fatigue. It’s getting frustrating not seeing the scale budge despite how tight I keep my diet.

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Weight loss and your period

I did post something similar in the menstruation subreddit if that's okay. I just wanted some more input.

So my period has significantly gotten shorter and lighter once I began my weight loss journey. FYI, I'm 25 years old, 5'1, and went from 230lbs to 173lbs very slowly over the course of 2 years with a lot of plateaus. I've been obese my entire life pretty much, but I have made a major change in my diet and I'm significantly more active. I'm concern because it feels too light and too short. From 4-5 days to 3 days to 2.5 days. I've track my cycle for over a year now and my cycle is 24-27 days and my symptoms are consistent.

Just wondering if anyone has experienced this as well? Did your period go back to its usual flow once you're in maintenance? Could this be some sort of medical issue such as PCOS?

And yes I will see a medical professional once I'm covered :(

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Update: I finally told my wife about my weight loss. It went okay.

For ref: https://www.reddit.com/r/loseit/comments/bdf351/need_to_brag_a_little_bit_because_i_cant_tell_my/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app

Month two of our new eating habits/ healthier life. I'm down 17 lbs (total of 27 from my all time high two years ago of 217 lbs) and my wife (much smaller to begin with) is down 9.

I congratulated her and said, "I am pretty happy about my weight loss too," and I gave her the full report. I said "I know it's easier for men to lose weight, and I think you're doing great. And you're way smaller than I am to begin with."

She rolled her eyes at my big weight loss numbers and congratulated me. She said, "you weighed 217?"

I said "Yeah. I was kinda fat there for a while."

She said, "I literally hadn't noticed."

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Day 1? Starting your weight loss journey on Monday, 20 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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Friend lost 100lb - negative personality changes

(Using throwaway because he's on reddit, although not sure if he's on this sub)

I'm hoping some people here can give me some insight.

One of the guys in our friend group (let's call him J) has lost 100lbs, and he's rightfully proud of himself, and now has a lot of confidence he didn't have before. The problem is, maybe too much. He's become an entirely different person, and I'm not sure it's a good thing. Some examples:

• Our friend group (5 people) are all late 30s/early 40s. Since J (42M) has lost the weight, he's dressing like he's a 20something model (he's not). He thinks he's a 10, when he's probably a 6 since the weight loss.
• We used to banter a lot, but J was always the quietest one. Another guy in the group (we'll call him M) started needling J about something. Usually J took it quietly, but not any more. J started saying shit back to M, and M said something to the effect of "you need to remember your place". J lunged at M, and it took two of us to pull him away. J started yelling back "I decide where my fucking place is".
• He's been a lot more judgmental about other people, especially those who are overweight. Where he used to be quiet and nonconfrontational, he now looks to push the situation.
• Probably the most concerning one. I'm worried that he might be cheating on his wife (he's married 4 years) or looking to do so. Even when he was single, he was too shy and timid to talk to women. Now, he's flirting with half the women he sees. He doesn't always wear his wedding ring out either. I remember one time when he was still heavy, the he told me how happy he was that she was in his life. He said that he had resigned himself to the fact that nobody else would want him.

I had a talk with him about his personality changes, and he was a bit odd about it. He said things like "the old me is dead. I killed him.", and going on about how he "missed out on so many things in life because I was a fat fuck and now I'm gonna make up for all that lost time" (his words verbatim).

I really don't know what to do to get him to come back to normal.

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