I finally reached my 40lbs milestone. 24M, 6'0, SW: 293 CR: 252 GW: 170. Warning: Long read

Please excuse the long read for those not interested, I got carried away.

I feel so proud for pushing myself everyday and staying consistent and I want to share my progress so far to try and help others. There is still a lot of work left to do, but right now I feel like I'm on autopilot, I've made my lifestyle change, now it's just my body that needs to catch up. This is actually my second time losing weight, but this time I will learn from my mistakes and keep the weight off.

Back in 2011, I lost around 50lbs over the course of 3 months down to 165. I used the treadmill almost everyday that summer, walking 4-5 mph for 30-60 minutes (if I miss one day, I would double the amount the next day), and eating three consistent meals a day, Fiber One Cereal in the morning, Sandwich with Ham and Cheese no mayo, and a blend of oranges and carrots for diner, with the occasional home cooked meal. I remained that way until I went to college the following year then everything went down the crapper. I lost complete self control with my schools buffet style cafeteria, then when I transferred back home for a college closer to home, I never managed to get back on track. I was failing school and eventually dropped out (with the intention of taking a breather and set my mind right), I was working dreadful retail jobs, and felt hopeless. And to top it off, I suffer from anxiety and I'm very shy, which is further compounded by my speech issues. I can talk fine a lot of the time, but my speech gets blocked randomly. Needless to say, I was stress eating like crazy and not only went back to my original weight, but far exceeded it. I tried so many times to get back on track, but I was failing every time.

My wake up call came last December when I noticed that my XL shirts were becoming very tight. When I sat down, I felt like the buttons on my shirt were going to pop out. I decided to go to a clothing store and buy some shirts. I felt a little ashamed for having to pick some 2XL shirts, but once I went to the fitting room and saw myself in the 3 sided mirrors, I knew that I could not go on like this. I looked huge and my clothes looked terrible. At 293, I was too big for XL shirts but too small for 2XL. I eventually left empty handed and promised myself that I will do something about this weight.

The new year came, and I had a plan laid out. I knew from my past experiences that dialing everything to 11 was a surefire way to fail again. I used January as my mental strengthening kick off month, changing the way I psychologically look at food. One of my favorite things to eat was a whole pack of oreos with milk, I used to that multiple times a month. And when I looked back on those day, I told myself that the first 5 minutes always feels great, but the next couple of days afterwards, I felt regret and awful. Another favorite of mines was 7/11 taquitos. Same thing, I even used to eat them in the morning at work, yuck. January was largely a success, but it was hard. However, I did buy a pack of oreos and ate it with milk just to reaffirm my belief, that the first 5 minutes were great, but the next 24 hours were awful. Suffice to say, it worked because I have spent months not buying a single pack of cookies and I feel great, same with taquitos.

From mid-February until now, I slowly reintroduced exercise back to my routine. All I do is cardio, I have a bicycle that I ride around Central Park, two laps around, 6 miles each, and 5 miles to commute there round trip, and I bought an exercise bike for days that have bad weather so I never have an excuse not to work out. I don't exercise everyday, maybe like 4-5 times a week. And for food, all I eat is a mix between: raisin bran cereal, a sandwich of 2 slices of loaf bread w/ Ham and Cheese and a little mayo, or the occasional home cooked meal (varies from Rice Beans Chicken, to ribs, depends, but portions are moderate). Once or twice a month I may order Mexican food, like Sopes or quesadilla, and for snacks I have grapes and peanuts. I try to keep calories consumed at roughly 1200-2000 not counting exercise. Like for example, today I only ate Raisin Bran, Sandwich, grapes, and peanuts, same thing yesterday.

The most important thing for me is to not see this as a diet because a diet is temporary. I am not devoting time and energy counting calories and keeping a log, doing these special diets like keto, exercising in the gym with weights and everything else because I know that I will not keep this up long term, I at least know myself that well. I am doing something that works FOR ME and I try to keep things simple and sustainable. I know that I can keep this up long term because I am eating foods that I really enjoy that I don't consider necessarily unhealthy, I mean, I LOVE cereal, and raisin bran is pretty healthy and high in fiber, so I feel full with smaller portions. I can eat this 2-3 times a day as meals, and I can still feel good and satisfied. I also LOVE biking. I enjoy riding really fast when I do, and have a blast listening to music. I see this more as an activity that is more of a hobby, but has the health benefits of full blown boring old exercise. I don't know if my current lifestyle is one of a 180 pound person or not, but if I hit a plateau at like 220, then I will readjust and maybe exercise a little more or eat less, since there a lot of room for adjustment. I hope I am making sense here, lol. I'm trying to wrap this up now.

I hope this story can be useful to at least one person out there. I know that people tend to be obsessed with the time frame of weight loss, but the most important thing is to not burn yourself out. In an ideal world, I would have loved to be 180lbs by now, and I could have if I lost 20 pounds a month since January, however, if I would have tried to do so, I would have probably failed due to overexertion. I know that if I continue this route, I should reach my goal weight by the time my birthday hits on December, losing an average of 8 pounds a month. Which is better than 0.

For a while now, I tried to structure my life using a philosophy of 4 pillars:

Health (weight)

Education (graduating from college, learning new skills, etc)

Work (building my resume, improving income)

Happiness (what makes me happy? biking, gaming, etc)

I believe that these four pillars are vital for me to live what I consider a satisfying life. Therefore, it is important for me to make sure that each pillar is making progress. For example, I mention the struggles with my health, which I believe hurt my other pillars. By being depressed about my weight, it bacame on reason why I lost the drive and motivation to succeed in school, which negatively impacts my job outlook, and my overall sense of happiness. Thankfully since last year, i was able to bounce back from school, I re-enrolled, switched my major to accounting which ended up being my calling, rose my GPA from 1.5 to 3.0, I got a great part time office job that I really enjoy which made me feel stable enough start improving my health, and as of right now, I feel really good. Maybe this can be useful to some of you out there.

Ok, this is enough, lol. I wrote a little too much than I expected. If you read this far, thank you, and I hope this long ass post at least helped one person out.

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Frustrated with weight fluctuations

Hey all,

I'm several months into my weight loss journey, and so far I've made pretty good progress! I've lost about 15 pounds so far, with about 60 pounds to go before hitting my target weight.

One thing that I've noticed is that my weight fluctuates from day to day, usually within the range of 1-3 pounds. However, sometimes I'll fluctuate within a range of about 5 pounds within a one week period.

Sometimes this is a little bit confusing or demoralizing. While I'd normally chalk this up to changes in water weight / muscle mass / food in my digestive system, it is a bit puzzling at times to see a dramatic delta come up now and again. Recently, I got all the way down to 236, and within several days shot back up to 240.

I was curious as to whether other people are having similar experiences, and whether there's anything I can do to slow the uptick. I'm trying my best to stay active and maintain my calorie counts, but admittedly sometimes I take advantage of cheat days. Often I feel disheartened to see my body weight climb up again days after.

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PSA: If you feel like you’re often tired and have low energy, and you feel like you are always hungry, do yourself a favor and get tested for sleep apnea.

From 2015 to 2018, I gained over 100 pounds. I was in law school. I was often tired and unmotivated. I almost flunked out because I had no energy to study. I went from an ambitious, intelligent person who had managed to get into one of the best law schools in the US, to being completely unmotivated and sleeping 12 hours a day. Despite my excessive sleep, I was still constantly tired.

I thought I was just depressed, but I didn’t want to see a doctor about it because I was too ashamed (my mom managed to ingrain in me a sense of shame and fear related to all mental health issues because her own mother was put in an insane asylum for schizophrenia when she was young, and my mom and her siblings had to go into foster care).

When I graduated law school, I immediately had to start studying for the bar. It was extremely difficult because I was so tired. Being tired had become such a way of life that I didn’t even realize how tired and groggy I was. I couldn’t make it through a single Barbri lecture without falling asleep. I couldn’t make my eyes focus on the page when I was reading. I failed the bar the first time, then buckled down and (somehow) passed it the second time. I was still exhausted. But I thought that once I passed the bar, my “depression” would suddenly disappear. It didn’t. In fact, it seemed worse.

My dad has severe sleep apnea, so you would think that I muhht have guessed what was going on. But his symptoms are so much worse than mine. He falls asleep in the middle of a conversation with you. One time he fell asleep in the middle of a conversation while holding a cup of coffee, and spilled it everywhere. He had to get a semi self driving car so that it keeps him in the lane, regulated his speed for him, and vibrates his seat when it feels him fall asleep. My symptoms were nowhere near as bad, so I never thought that I might have it too.

At work, I would have trouble remembering what my boss had just told me. When I went to speak to my boss about something I was working on, I had to write it down verbatim and then read it to him so I wouldn’t forget what I wanted to say. My memory had gotten so bad. On numerous occasions, I seriously contemplated taking a nap on the floor of my office. I often would put my head down to rest my eyes for a few minutes. I wasn’t productive. And I was constantly craving food. It was like the hunger would never go away. I could stuff myself full of food, but my brain was just like, “Nope, you’re still tired! Clearly you need to eat some more to get more energy!” I also was having some hormonal issues. Cystic acne, missed periods, a few whiskers growing on my chin that I hadn’t had before. But again, I thought I was just depressed and that the hormonal changes were due to weight gain, stress, and getting older.

I would have never found out about the sleep apnea if I hadn’t decided to seek out weight loss surgery. My insurance made me get a sleep apnea test before it would consider me for surgery, and I did that a few weeks ago. It turns out I have “mild” sleep apnea, which means I stop breathing in my sleep about once every 6 minutes, which I guess prevents me from having REM sleep because my body keeps waking itself up (unbeknownst to me) to kick start my breathing again.

I started trying to use a CPAP machine last week. It was very difficult and uncomfortable at first, and I have only slept with it for about 3 nights total. But on the nights that I have used it, the difference is remarkable. I feel alert for the first time in years. I don’t feel starving every second of every day. I can easily skip meals and not even think about food. My dieting efforts have become a million times easier. I’m not even sure if I’ll need to go through with the surgery, because my self control is so much better.

So, if you’re overweight, feel tired a lot, feel like you have no self control, and feel like your hormones are out of whack, GET A SLEEP APNEA TEST!

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Cutting off family due to weight comments. Extreme? Has anyone else done it?

It’s July 4th and I’m inside the house, in my bathing suit, crying. My boyfriend and I went to a big family pool side BBQ and yet again, aunts, uncles and cousins make mean comments about my weight in the name of “humor”. I loaded my plate with veggies, chicken and a little mac and cheese and was told to load up more on “the good stuff” followed by “come on we all know that tummy didn’t come for eating al the veggies don’t be shy”. Others laughed of course and more comments were made to add on to the “joke”.

I’m sick of crying at every holiday and family event. And sure, I shouldn’t have gained so much weight but people shouldn’t be so fucking mean and if they are I don’t want them in my life. The only family who doesn’t make me feel bad about my weight are my parents (they make comments but out of concern not to make fun of me). I’m over it. Has anyone gone no contact with family over stuff like this? Did you explain yourself when you skipped out on holidays or provide a generic “other plans” reason? Has your self esteem improved?

Side note: is this the right sub for posts like this? Or is there a more appropriate sub for all the emotional / social factors of weight and weight loss? Happy to remove if it doesn’t belong .

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F/5'8"/125lbs - I lost 30lbs since last October and feel better than I ever have

Last October I was around 155 and accepted this as the new normal for myself. On Thanksgiving, some family members and I decided to do a weight loss challenge so I figured why not? I didn't have a lot of confidence that I'd be successful but I gave it a try. Until a couple months ago, I limited myself to 1200 calories a day. Around June, I hit my goal weight and switched to exercise. I had never exercised before in my life until then. I now do kickboxing 3x a week, walk to a further bus stop each day, and feel great. I have little muscles now! And I can do a chin-up! For the first time in my life, I'm proud of how I look and feel. The first few weeks were a challenge, but after that my body adjusted and it just worked. Slow and steady really made it happen. Also, motivation to look good in a wedding dress. Only downside is that my alterations are going to cost more and none of my clothes fit. But that's a small price to pay for health and happiness.

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At the fat burning stage rather than weight loss, and stumped.

I've spent the past ~4 months just keeping my weight neutral at 140 while trying my best to lose my skinny-fat I hit 100g of protein every single day and run a 3 day a week dumbell routine with cardio twice. I also practice Intermittent fasting to really target that fat.

Progress is interesting on general weight lifting stuff. Some exercises I've had to increase weights on. Others like the Arnold Press feel just as hard as day 1.

My pull-ups went from barely being able to do 2 to doing 20. Planks went from 40 seconds of pain to 3 minutes of boredom.

Despite all of this, I am still surrounded by a tire of flabby stomach. The "skinny fat" as it is called. If I'm losing weight and getting stronger, where the hell is the fat being burned off? I'm so confused. I took progress pics from 2 months ago vs now and see 0 difference in fat and barely any added definition in arms. It doesn't make sense that I'd be getting stronger, losing some weight, and still have the same flabby belly.

Anyway, just a general question. I'm trying to solve this one.

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125 lbs down. The final 20 to follow.

I've largely been a lurker on this sub but a bit about myself. I'm M(31) - 6'3" and a pretty reserved person. I started this journey when I randomly stepped on the scale roughly 2 years ago to find I weighed 322 lbs. This hit me hard and only added to what I consider the lowest point of my life (mentally and physically). To be blunt I wasn't happy and I was one mental break away from seeking an extreme option. Thankfully, I was so horrified that the thought had even crossed my mind let alone seriously contemplated it that I decided I needed a change.

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I started by setting 2 goals to lose the weight and turn my job into a career.

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I started my weight loss journey by changing my diet. I first worked with a low glycemic diet and the pounds began to shed. In a months time, I went from 322 to ~300 (I don't remember the exact weight). This continued for another month into the winter holiday season and I was worried that I wouldn't be able to resist the time of infinite cakes and pies. Thanks to willpower that I didn't know I had I made it into the next year down another 20 lbs. At this time coworkers began to notice and a few had asked if it was intentional or if I was sick. I informed them it was intentional and received my first confidence boost in the form of compliments from people who weren't my mother.

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Then by mid-February, I transitioned into a keto diet and incorporated DDP yoga. The pounds then began to shed even faster through the spring and into the summer. I hit my goal of 180 lbs. and was able to maintain for almost a year and then I slipped. I put on 15 lbs. and told myself it was okay. I had grown complacent.

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Then last September I had another reality check by realizing I crept back up to 250 lbs, because I had fallen back into old habits. I realized that as long as I was at my current job (regardless of position) I wasn't going to be happy, so I enrolled at the local college in the IT program (wish I would have done this sooner) and focused on diet and exercise again. I went back into keto, DDP yoga, and introduce kettlebells. At first, it was slow, but progress is progress.

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This brings me to now, closing in on my weight loss goal for a second time, and the ultimate goal of just being happy. My confidence is higher than ever to the point of trying to get back into dating after a decade of being single.

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