Weight loss and overcoming mental hurdles... the road is paved with nothing else

Hi,
I guess I need some advice, failing that, a reaction at least. I have a lot of baggage when it comes to weight loss. I think my understanding of the physical mechanics is excellent, but what's the use if I can't actually, you know, do the stuff.
I'm not even sure there is help to be had besides the "forget about that s***, stop whining and just do it", which does not work, believe me, I tried.

I grew up chubby, despite the conditions. To put it bluntly, I was abused by my schizophrenic mother while being required to be her sole caretaker (she couldn't get out of bed - unless there was nobody around). There was rarely food in the house. My grandparents knew. They supported me - by bringing me these huge bags of sweets to "coat the nerves" as grandma said. Otherwise they didn't move a finger. Still, better some love than none, right? I frequently went hungry and was stressed beyond what a child of that age should ever be.

As I entered my twenties and finally started gaining independence, my self-esteem was in shambles. The most obvious target was my soft body - I wasn't even that overweight, BMI of 26-28 I think. So I decided to eat less. And exercise. Well, eating less soon turned into not eating at all and exercise filled every free minute of my spare time. Enter.... my survival instinct. It brought me these glorious binges. They were wonderful, for as long as they lasted. Then I of course had to make up for it... I didn't lose weight as such, but it fluctuated wildly up and down and became the sole focus of my life. I was obsessed with the scale and calorie counting. I think it's safe to say I entered into eating disorder teritory. Thankfully, I had help getting out again after I started getting hypoglycemia attacks, even fainting on occasion. I haven't starved myself in 5 years, though I sometimes have the "bad" thoughts and very occasionally fly into a binge if some of my anxieties get triggered in the right way.

As of now, I am mostly fine (if I'm not trying to lose weight). I am occasionally battling the remnants of my PTSD but worked through the majority of the trauma already, and I also got a late diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, which quite frankly explains a lot and helped me to be more at peace with some of what I previously thought of as personal failings. My BMI is currently 35.

The hurdles to weight loss I face now consist mostly of:

Numbers. Numbers are my love and enemy. If I can quantify something, I will. And put it in a graph. And I will grow obsessed over it. In the past, I tried losing weight by counting calories (responsibly, this time!). I felt dragged back into to the obsession. It was scary, I felt myself sliding back, the old thoughts came back. Obsessing over daily weight-ins, calories, minutes of exercise... The numbers took over my life and I had to struggle to snap out of it again, because this time I knew where it leads and that isn't pretty.

Anxiety. Anxiety around food, deprivation and exercise. I am very anxious if I'm limited in the amount of food I can eat, I am anxious if I know I can't eat some foods, I am anxious if I have to eat some foods right now. I am anxious if I'm trying to get myself to exercise for a goal (but I'm OK with exercising for fun). This kind of anxiety, if it overwhelms my coping mechanisms, leads to binging. No other source of anxiety does. This happens only a few times a year, but it's mostly me avoiding the triggers - which are an integral part of any reasonable weight loss program...

Executive function. Or lack of thereof. Thanks to my ASD diagnosis I have a nice term to describe the state of utter chaos my daily life consists of. Some people attempt to cope by setting rigid routines, but I find them worse than the chaos. I have an alert system that helps me keep up with most chores and feed myself on time and I generally just accept that sometimes things don't get done in time and set up ways to make it less of a big deal. I am as far from a creature of habit as a human being possibly can be. The weight loss advice that has me set up routines and habits just... falls flat. I form short term habits, but every minor disruption sends them flying.

My therapist says that all of what I wrote is perfectly normal, especially in someone with my history, and that I shouldn't stress over it. And if I start stressing about my weight too much, she asks me about my last hike or something. While this way of thinking is very valuable to me, I quite honestly do need to lose weight. But to do it in a realistic timeframe, I'd have to sidestep these issues and I have no idea how to do that.

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7 of the Healthiest Fish to Eat for Weight Loss

Fish is versatile, delicious and has many health benefits. If you’re trying to lose weight, we have seven healthy fish you need to add to your dinner lineup!

How much fish do you eat every week? If you’re like half of all Americans, you most likely fall short of expert recommendations. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the American Heart Association (AHA) suggest two servings of fish per week for better health. According to the AHA, fish is a low-calorie source of high-quality protein that’s the perfect addition to a dieters menu. Lower calories mean larger portions! Some fish is also unique in that it contains important omega-3 fatty acids, which are said to prevent heart disease and boost memory.

Fish oil supplements: Do you need them?

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The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics states that the omega-3 fatty Acid, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), is necessary for a healthy brain and that deficiencies are linked to an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Consistent intake of DHA has been shown to decrease the risk of cognitive decline, while enhancing memory and learning capabilities.

While they’re protecting your brain, they’re also protecting your heart. According to the Mayo Clinic, omega-3’s have been shown to reduce inflammation, cholesterol, blood pressure and the risk of stroke and heart failure. In fact, a Harvard review of more than 20 studies on the heart effects of eating one or two three ounce servings of fatty fish a week found that it reduces your risk of dying from heart disease by 36 percent.

According to the National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements, other conditions where omega-3’s may show some benefit include macular degeneration (an eye disease that can lead to blindness) and rheumatoid arthritis.

3 Reasons (Healthy!) Fat is Not the Enemy

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So with so many benefits, why do so many people avoid fish? This is often due to to the perception that it has a “fishy” taste. However, there are so many choices, such as trout or halibut, that are very mild tasting! Fresh fish can also be expensive, but frozen fish is usually just as good and less costly. Many people are also worried about contaminants in seafood, such as mercury, but according to the FDA, you can put your mind at rest. In most adults, the benefits of eating fish outweigh any potential risks posed by contaminants. The AHA says that eating a variety of fish can also help to minimize any potential problems caused by environmental pollution. You can also check local advisories about the safety of fish caught in local lakes, rivers and coastal areas.

Please note: Children and pregnant women have to be more careful and should avoid eating fish with the most mercury contamination (e.g., shark, swordfish, king mackerel and tilefish).

If you want to add fish to your weekly menu but aren’t sure where to start, don’t worry! We have many healthy fish and seafood recipes on The Leaf that are perfect for your Nutrisystem program.

12 Fantastic Seafood Recipes That Have Caught Our Hearts Big Time

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Here are seven healthy fish to add to your weight loss menu ASAP:

1. Salmon (wild and farmed)

If you want to get more omega-3s in your diet, salmon’s your fish. Wild salmon has a whopping 1,774 mg per six ounce serving. Farmed salmon has even more, with 4,504 milligrams of these healthy fats. With it’s rich flavor, it’s high in protein and relatively low in calories. According to the United States Deperatment of Agriculture (USDA), three ounces of salmon contains around 145 calories. Cut this down to around two ounces in order to count it as one PowerFuel on the Nutrisystem program.

Enjoy this Salmon Tahini Power Bowl >

2. Tuna (albacore and light)

Another omega-3-rich fish is albacore tuna. It contains 733 milligrams of omega-3s per three ounce serving, coming in behind salmon and swordfish. Swordfish is one of the highest in mercury and other pollutants. It’s also over-fished, so tuna is a much better choice. Light tuna has only 228 milligrams of omega-3s, but it’s lower in mercury than albacore. If you’re a tuna lover, you might want to alternate between the two in order reduce your intake of this toxin. According to the USDA,  Albacore contains 108 calories per three ounce serving, while light tuna has only 89 calories. Either would be a perfect PowerFuel on your Nutrisystem plan!

Do you love Nutrisystem’s Tuna Salad lunch entree?  Try this Healthy Mediterranean Tuna Pita recipe>

3. Halibut

Heart-healthy halibut is another great healthy fish! It delivers 740 milligrams of omega-3 fatty acids in each 5.6 ounce serving. A three ounce filet has only 77 calories and 15 grams of protein, says the USDA. Try adding it to tacos, or serve it with brown rice and fresh veggies for a tasty Flex Meal.

Your tacos have never been this healthy. This flaky white fleshed fish is perfect for this spicy, savory Nutrisystem fish taco recipe. Get the recipe here >

4. Mackerel (Atlantic and Spanish)

Mackerel has been described as “a handsome and underrated fish” by SeafoodSource.  The USDA shares that a three ounce serving of Atlantic mackerel contains about 174 calories per three ounce serving, while Spanish mackerel is a bit lower with only 118 calories per serving.  According to Cleveland Clinic, three ounces of mackerel has about 2,500 milligrams of omega-3s. No wonder it is often used in fish-oil supplements!

5. Cod

One eight ounce filet of this mildly flavored, white, flaky fish is only 189 calories according to the USDA! Atlantic cod has been overfished so look for Pacific cod caught in Alaska, the West Coast, or British Columbia, Canada, as recommended by SeafoodWatch.org. Cod contains 284 milligrams of omega-3 fatty acids in each 6.3 ounce serving.

Try using cod in our 2-Step Ceviche recipe >

6. Trout

Trout comes in many different varieties, including fresh water, salt water, wild-caught and farmed. They’re a great “starter” option if you think you don’t like fish because they have a very mild and nutty flavor, says FishChoice.  One 2.2 ounce serving of trout provides 581 mg of omega-3s and only about 117 calories, according to the USDA.

7. Mahi Mahi

If you enjoy healthy fish, you’ll love mahi mahi. Unlike the other fish featured here, it’s not found in cold water. According to SeafoodSource, it’s found in tropical waters, such as those around Hawaii. The term Mahi Mahi is Hawaiian for what’s long been known as dolphinfish. It was renamed because too many people mistook dolphinfish for the beloved marine mammal, dolphins. Its texture, mild taste and “grill-ability” resembles swordfish, but is a better choice due to the high mercury levels found in swordfish as warned by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. The USDA states that a four ounce serving is only 99 calories. Though not a cold water fish, it still has 221 milligrams of omega-3s in each 5.6 ounce serving.

Explore the taste of Mahi Mahi’s tropical origin. Check out this Mahi Mahi with Pinapple Mango Salsa > 

*All the Omega-3 figures provided are from The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

The post 7 of the Healthiest Fish to Eat for Weight Loss appeared first on The Leaf.

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[SV/NSV] Thank you r/loseit for helping me get started nearly 11 months ago and being there to this day where I have now hit 100lbs down.

I have been somewhat active here on r/loseit from the beginning of this weight loss journey that started on October 7 of last year. Thank you to all of the redditors and the mods of r/loseiit for having such a great and supportive community! I am not done with the weight loss yet, but here are some general thoughts/encouragement for those getting started and also a progress photo thing at the bottom.

1. It doesn't matter that you've failed before; you can be successful this time.

It's hard to convince yourself at the beginning that the work you'll put will actually pay off. But if you stick with it and maybe try different techniques than what you did before, it can absolutely work. Many of the people on here weren't successful on the first try and that includes myself.

1. Consider notifying the people close to you that you're doing this.

This can be helpful for a few reasons. Firstly, it can be a good accountability mechanism. If only you know you're doing this then it's up to only you, even in your weakest moments, to stay strong. And that can be hard. Having someone else who knows you're working on losing weight can really help keep you on track. I know it was one of the biggest changes I made this time around. Now, you should be careful with how you present it. In my opinion, saying something like "this is my journey and I will ask you for advice if I need it, but otherwise I'm only telling you this to keep you informed if you see me eating differently" can really help keep them at bay when they want to step in and tell you what you should be doing. It's human nature to give others your two cents, but when someone is telling you their suggestions for weight loss it can often come off as condescending.

1. Allocate your cheat days based on goals, not time.

This is simply a suggestion, but there other ways are certainly valid too. For me, it was more helpful for me to reward myself with a cheat day based on weight goal rather than weekly or bi-weekly. It made sure that if there were time periods I wasn't losing weight, I wouldn't then still go and have a cheat day just because I had originally scheduled it. For me, I generally stuck to every 5 lbs, which worked out to around biweekly but not always.

Hopefully those tips help, and feel free to ask any other questions in the comments. Lastly, here's a link to my r/progresspics post I made to show my progress thus far :): https://www.reddit.com/r/progresspics/comments/cvkue5/m2263_375lbs_318lbs_280lbs_10_months_face_gains/

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I’m a chocoholic who can’t control my eating

Let’s start seven years ago: I weighed 110kg/17st. At 170cm/5’7”, I was obese. BMI was 38. I started tracking my calories and was horrified to realise I was eating over 2500kcals a day. MFP was an eyeopener in revealing calories in food I’d normally eat. I worked hard on my diet, did 5:2 (eventually bringing my non-fasting daily calories to 1200-1500 a day), and I did 20 mins treadmill running followed by weightlifting (4-day split). Over two years, I dropped down to 80kg/12.5st. BMI now 27.6 “overweight”. Fantastic.

Got married. Slacked off diet. Slacked off gym. Spent more time doing tasks around the house, or spending time with the wife, and less time on my health. My weight went up to 90kg/14st.

Every year since then I’ve tried to make the effort to lose weight. Since the start of this year, it’s been more slower weight loss. I had lost 5kg and then hovered between 85-87kg but I can’t seem to drop any further. I’m following the AthleanX AX1 plan but my biggest issue is diet.

I love my sweet stuff, especially chocolate. I tried going for two squares of dark chocolate a day (100kcalories total) but it’s sometimes not enough. I will struggle for a couple of days without chocolate and then go and buy some chocolate (typically buy one get one free) so I will have consumed 200-400kcalories in chocolate alone. If I can’t get my hands on chocolate, I will seek out biscuits/cookies and eat them. If I’m at the gas station filling up, I will pick up some chocolate.

Even if I’m satiated by my meals, I still crave something sweet afterwards. If I’m bored at home, I will find things to eat. If I’m busy at work, I can do OMAD. If I’m busy at home with projects, I might skip lunch and not feel hungry.

I need to break this psychological barrier. Please help.

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Trying to find a healthy, sustainable method for weight loss.

Basically, I don't know how to lose weight in a healthy way.

I was skinny in high school because I restricted myself to 1200 calories a day most days, and ran a minimum of 5 miles a day. I went crazy on the weekends, and then would eat even less to make up for it. Some days I would even fast for 24 hours or more if I had really f-ed up. Basically, I was in an unhealthy place of thinness obsession, and it wasn't cool.

Eventually I snapped and gained all that weight back.

Then college came, and I went back on the same thing, and lost weight again. I remained like that for a year, until the weight slowly crept back up.

This time, I decided that I was going to try to lose weight in a "healthy" way. Unfortunately, although I started to follow a healthier lifestyle, the weight just didn't come off at all, and I became extremely frustrated. I tried not to restrict myself too much, but at the end of the day, I don't know how to eat healthy without feeling deprived and completely going off the rails. Most days, I'd eat well, others I'd eat 500 calories extra and mess up my deficit. Even on weeks where I ate healthily with no mess-ups and exercised 5x a week, my weight stayed the same! And because I wasn't making up for things with extremely low calorie/low carb days with lots of running, my weight wouldn't budge.

The very last time I lost weight, I did it by going on a no-sugar, low carb diet. Lost 11 pounds in one month, and gained 14 back!

Now I'm at a loss. I don't think the fight is over, but I'm so confused about the conflicting advice that's coming my way. Cheat meals or no cheat meals? Cold turkey, or no cold turkey because "dieting doesn't work"? Low carb/macro tracking, or calories in/calories out? Should I try to cut out sugar again and eat low carb again, and hope it works this time, or am I guaranteed to fall off the wagon once I get tired of my diet? Most of the time, when I hear about healthy weight loss, people just talk about developing a "lifestyle you enjoy and can continue forever", but if I just did a lifestyle I enjoyed, I'd probably just eat sweets and bread every day and never work out. In my mind salad = restriction, and pizza/dessert = freedom, relaxation, etc. I know I could just go back to the way I was in high school, but that always resulted in weight regain and general unhappiness lol.

I'm currently thinking that maybe I could start off losing weight this time by eating no sugar for 2 weeks, and then having a cheat meal once a week until I get to my goal. Maybe my week could be eat healthy until Saturday, then back on the horse starting Sunday? My biggest fears are that I'll

A) not lose weight

B) lose weight, but get tired of not eating the things I like/only getting to eat the things I like once a week.

So long story short, what is the best method for losing weight and keeping it off without feeling deprived or crash dieting? I just want to not be overweight and fit back into my clothes.

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Tantrum Tuesday - The Day to Rant!

I Rant, Therefore I Am

Well bla-de-da-da! What's making your blood boil? What's under your skin? What's making you see red? What's up in your craw? Let's hear your weight loss related rants!
The rant post is a /u/bladedada production.

Please consider saving your next rant for this weekly thread every Tuesday.

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22yr 5'10 M 336lb > 216lb! (some progress pics) Extremely happy though still feeling quite overweight and unsure about my weight goal

Hello everyone, first post ever on this sub (apologies in advance for the probably crappy post, not the best writer, ill try to make it short, though any questions are more than welcome), i've been a lurker for quite some time and it's always been a great place to get motivation and get to know other peoples successes and struggles, very common during weight loss hehe.

Like the title says, ive made a huge change in my life and to my body by losing over 130 pounds and counting.

I've been overweight since I was a child, probably obese after 12 years old or so, been on many diets and trained with different people and what not but my first real weight loss success came in 2015, when I was 18 years old and started seeing a nutricionist and going to the gym with a personal trainer, by that time I weighed around 320lb. The nutricionist recommended me a meal plan that I liked, which basically consisted of eating toasts for breakfast, red meat for lunch with a salad and chicken with also a salad for dinner. This was a very basic menu which worked for me, since i hardly ever get tired of eating the same thing every day, I think that made everything way easier, since i wouldnt have to be thinking what I should it the next day and whether it was okay for me to be eating that, etc.

Fastforward a year and I had lost 90 pounds. Was feeling pretty happy about myself, sadly was still leading a very sedentary life style and listen to this: from mid 2016 to feb 2018 I managed to somehow re-gain ALL of the weight and put on an extra 23 lbs, yeah... How did it happen? I stopped doing the meal plan and I just didn't know how to eat properly. So started binge eating again. You get so confident that you won't regain that weight and that's really untrue, especially if you have an eating disorder like I did and still do, at some extent.

So, feb 2018 weighed 343 pounds 49. something BMI, I knew that if i kept on that track I'd have an early death probably and that thought really scared the shit out of me, but whenever i had it, i just tried to think of something else and kept doing other things, mostly playing video games. Thankfully I somehow called my bullshit and began my weight loss journey, again... Started with the same meal plan and began losing weight, though this time around, after losing 30 pounds or so, I began acquiring more knowledge about how weight loss works and of course what helped me the most was this subreddits amazing FAQ and understanding a bit more about CiCo and what not.

I went from 320lb in feb 2018 to 264lb around december of that year and from there to my current weight which is 216lb.

​

So, going to todays problems:

(Yes, even after losing 130 pounds, I still have weight problems and have bad days where I feel bad about my body, thankfully its a sensation that goes away quickly for me after reminding myself where I started and looking at older pictures, which is a GREAT confidence booster :P)

​

I see my body being a lot skinnier of course but I always thought that around this weight I'd have a different body composition (more loose skin but smaller belly), this brings up the question about what my goal weight should be. My nutricionist insists that I'm at a good weight and should try to mantain it and just keep building muscle at the gym. She talks about my possible weight being around 205/212lb and that there's fat that you can't lose (visceral fat was it called?), which kinda brings me down to be honest, as you can see in the pictures there's still quite some fat visible.

I feel more in control than ever with my current eating (1750 calories per day/150g protein) and really enjoy going to the gym (doing a 3day routine they gave me).

My question is, is it true that there's fat you just cant lose due to all the years of being obese? If so, would it be possible for me to achieve a normal body look? To be honest, i don't mind the loose skin, as you can see in the pictures, there's already some in my waist.

​

Anyways, here are some progress pics, (still looking for some full body pics of me at 340lb but i dont know if i have any, didn't go out much and my self esteem was too low, so you'll only see the face gains for now hehe)

https://imgur.com/a/7KDJfy7

​

Thank you for reading and sorry for the long post, I feel like i left some things out, so again, feel free to ask me anything! <3

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