Wednesday, October 16, 2019

One Year of Weight Loss

43M, 5'10"/178cm , SW 210lb/95kg, GW 185lb/84kg, CW 178lb/80.7kg

I wanted to share my experience with weight loss over this past year. You may notice that my CW is lower than my GW. I've been successful! In my past, I've failed at losing weight so many times that I didn't think it was going to happen, but it did!

My history

I feel like I've been struggling with my weight all my life. I've always been a bit pudgy. Growing up I was always a little heavier than my peers, not by a lot, but enough to be noticeable. You know how little kids can be scrawny? That wasn't me. Also, I wouldn't say I had the best examples of eating growing up. We were a Midwest family eating a Midwest diet: hamburger helper; pork chops with scalloped potatoes; spaghetti with 1lb of ground beef in the sauce; kielbasa with mashed potatoes; BBQ chicken and baked potatoes, and my personal favorite Upside-Down Hamburger Casserole (don't go looking for it, it is not good for you). There was always a two gallon bucket of ice cream in the freezer. My go-to snack was chips and cheese liberally sprinkled with Franks Red Hot. It wasn't my intention to trigger personal cravings, yet here we are.

Looking back, I'm surprised I wasn't bigger than what I was, but I did like to ride my bike everywhere and I played golf and tennis and a job kept me busy. It was in college that I put on weight fast. My first semester, I went from a size 32 waist to a size 36 waist. Many of the meals served at the fraternity were very high in calories, e.g. tater tot casserole. Besides walking to class I was not getting much exercise, but I did join the karate club and swam a bit at the pool. I was grateful that my brother got bigger and was able to hand me down some jeans.

80.7My dad was diagnosed ALS the summer after my freshman year. He deteriorated quickly and I found myself driving home (2hrs one way) every weekend to help out the family which was not good for my grades. I had to drop out of university second semester to help nurse him full time. All we could really do was hang out and eat and smoke. Smoking was a bad idea and it made me exercise less. On the bright side, I started dating my future wife in my only free time on Sunday morning. During this time, I was first introduced to the Atkins Diet. I swallowed the information hook line and sinker after reading the book. And holy cow, I had no problems eating a high protein and high fat diet. I did the entire ketosis tracking and lost some weight. I was very happy with that. It was short lived loss, but a loss nonetheless.

After college I would like to say that I was active, but this is probably a little self delusion. I lived in Chicago and walked a lot, but I ate a lot too. I did go to the gym before work every morning, but had a cigarette and stopped by for a big muffin or doughnut on the walk to the office. Dinner and lunch were always out to eat. Living by yourself and not really having a proper kitchen does not lead to healthy eating. 43M, 5'10"/178cm , SW 210lb/95kg, GW 185lb/84kg, CW 178lb/80.7kg

I wanted to share my experience with weight loss over this past year. You may notice that my CW is lower than my GW. I've been successful! In my past, I've failed at losing weight so many times that I didn't think it was going to happen, but it did!

My history

I feel like I've been struggling with my weight all my life. I've always been a bit pudgy. Growing up I was always a little heavier than my peers, not by a lot, but enough to be noticeable. You know how little kids can be scrawny? That wasn't me. Also, I wouldn't say I had the best examples of eating growing up. We were a Midwest family eating a Midwest diet: hamburger helper; pork chops with scalloped potatoes; spaghetti with 1lb of ground beef in the sauce; kielbasa with mashed potatoes; BBQ chicken and baked potatoes, and my personal favorite Upside-Down Hamburger Casserole (don't go looking for it, it is not good for you). There was always a two gallon bucket of ice cream in the freezer. My go-to snack was chips and cheese liberally sprinkled with Franks Red Hot. It wasn't my intention to trigger personal cravings, yet here we are.

Looking back, I'm surprised I wasn't bigger than what I was, but I did like to ride my bike everywhere and I played golf and tennis and a job kept me busy. It was in college that I put on weight fast. My first semester, I went from a size 32 waist to a size 36 waist. Many of the meals served at the fraternity were very high in calories, e.g. tater tot casserole. Besides walking to class I was not getting much exercise, but I did join the karate club and swam a bit at the pool. I was grateful that my brother got bigger and was able to hand me down some jeans.

80.7My dad was diagnosed ALS the summer after my freshman year. He deteriorated quickly and I found myself driving home (2hrs one way) every weekend to help out the family which was not good for my grades. I had to drop out of university second semester to help nurse him full time. All we could really do was hang out and eat and smoke. Smoking was a bad idea and it made me exercise less. On the bright side, I started dating my future wife in my only free time on Sunday morning. During this time, I was first introduced to the Atkins Diet. I swallowed the information hook line and sinker after reading the book. And holy cow, I had no problems eating a high protein and high fat diet. I did the entire ketosis tracking and lost some weight. I was very happy with that. It was short lived loss, but a loss nonetheless.

After college I would like to say that I was active, but this is probably a little self delusion. I lived in Chicago and walked a lot, but I ate a lot too. I did go to the gym before work every morning, but had a cigarette and stopped by for a big muffin or doughnut on the walk to the office. Dinner and lunch were always out to eat. Living by yourself and not really having a proper kitchen does not lead to healthy eating.

For my wedding, I went back on Atkins and dropped weight again, but my bride-to-be hated eating that way, so after we were married there was no more Atkins dieting for me. On the bright side my fiance said she wouldn't marry a smoker, so I quit cold turkey two months before the big day. Not smoking allowed me to keep being active even though I was heavy. I feel like I dodged a bullet with the short lived Atkins diet.43M, 5'10"/178cm , SW 210lb/95kg, GW 185lb/84kg, CW 178lb/80.7kg

I wanted to share my experience with weight loss over this past year. You may notice that my CW is lower than my GW. I've been successful! In my past, I've failed at losing weight so many times that I didn't think it was going to happen, but it did!

My history

I feel like I've been struggling with my weight all my life. I've always been a bit pudgy. Growing up I was always a little heavier than my peers, not by a lot, but enough to be noticeable. You know how little kids can be scrawny? That wasn't me. Also, I wouldn't say I had the best examples of eating growing up. We were a Midwest family eating a Midwest diet: hamburger helper; pork chops with scalloped potatoes; spaghetti with 1lb of ground beef in the sauce; kielbasa with mashed potatoes; BBQ chicken and baked potatoes, and my personal favorite Upside-Down Hamburger Casserole (don't go looking for it, it is not good for you). There was always a two gallon bucket of ice cream in the freezer. My go-to snack was chips and cheese liberally sprinkled with Franks Red Hot. It wasn't my intention to trigger personal cravings, yet here we are.

Looking back, I'm surprised I wasn't bigger than what I was, but I did like to ride my bike everywhere and I played golf and tennis and a job kept me busy. It was in college that I put on weight fast. My first semester, I went from a size 32 waist to a size 36 waist. Many of the meals served at the fraternity were very high in calories, e.g. tater tot casserole. Besides walking to class I was not getting much exercise, but I did join the karate club and swam a bit at the pool. I was grateful that my brother got bigger and was able to hand me down some jeans.

80.7My dad was diagnosed ALS the summer after my freshman year. He deteriorated quickly and I found myself driving home (2hrs one way) every weekend to help out the family which was not good for my grades. I had to drop out of university second semester to help nurse him full time. All we could really do was hang out and eat and smoke. Smoking was a bad idea and it made me exercise less. On the bright side, I started dating my future wife in my only free time on Sunday morning. During this time, I was first introduced to the Atkins Diet. I swallowed the information hook line and sinker after reading the book. And holy cow, I had no problems eating a high protein and high fat diet. I did the entire ketosis tracking and lost some weight. I was very happy with that. It was short lived loss, but a loss nonetheless.

After college I would like to say that I was active, but this is probably a little self delusion. I lived in Chicago and walked a lot, but I ate a lot too. I did go to the gym before work every morning, but had a cigarette and stopped by for a big muffin or doughnut on the walk to the office. Dinner and lunch were always out to eat. Living by yourself and not really having a proper kitchen does not lead to healthy eating.

For my wedding, I went back on Atkins and dropped weight again, but my bride-to-be hated eating that way, so after we were married there was no more Atkins dieting for me. On the bright side my fiance said she wouldn't marry a smoker, so I quit cold turkey two months before the big day. Not smoking allowed me to keep being active even though I was heavy. I feel like I dodged a bullet with the short lived Atkins diet. I had a manager that lost a ton of weight by living on chicken wings and then had to have a triple bypass surgery. I think a lot of Atkins dieters forget to eat from the diabetic friendly sources (lots of greens) and focus on meat.

We moved to Colorado and started our family. There were periods where I would get interested in something seriously like karate, running, or road biking for a year or so and then something comes up and I would get busy and I'm back to being sedentary. I had one good period where we joined Weight Watchers and I started running at lunch time at work. This was inspired by a work weight loss competition and I took it seriously. I made it down to 185lb from 210lb. This was huge for me and that is why my initial goal was 185lb. It was the biggest drop I ever had and it made me feel so good. Weight Watchers was good because we learned how to cook vegetables and season food instead of just adding salt, bacon, and cheese. Weight watchers was also bad because I always felt hungry. There was no relief. Good morning hungry! Before and after lunch hungry. Before and after dinner hungry. Good night hungry! It worked but it didn't work well for me and I relapsed.

Blood Pressure

One of the things that started getting me focused on my health was my blood pressure. I am a frequent blood donor and year after year, I was seeing my blood pressure creep up at the donation center. I was 'high-normal' (135/90) before they changed the guidelines. I followed the common advice of trying to reduce stress, reduce salt, and get exercise. I tried to get get my blood pressure to come down for a couple of years, but it didn't budge. However, I read "The China Study" and followed that up with "How to Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease". These books provided the evidence that I needed that a whole foods plant based diet is what I should be doing. After eating this way for six months, I had my blood work done as part of my yearly physical and my blood pressure was down 125/85 and my cholesterol was under 150 combined. I was shocked at how quickly it came down by changing my diet after trying to bring it down for years. At my last checkup my blood pressure was 102/70 and a combined cholesterol of under 150. I am very happy with those numbers and I attribute it to a plant-based diet. That being said, the transition was two-steps forward one-step back. It is hard to learn to eat, buy, and cook differently, but totally worth it. I really don't miss eating meat anymore as long as I get some vegan junk food periodically, e.g. french fries. We also save a ton of money on food because we buy in bulk from azurestandard.com like we are awaiting the apocalypse, but we're just frugal planners.also

Getting Active

The thing that helped me be active consistently is that I got a dog. He was acquired third hand and was a high energy animal. Hero was a mutt but looked like a Belgian Shepard. He chewed holes in his limbs and haunches and we were told it was allergies. We tried hot spot spays and medicines but nothing worked and he spent a lot of time in the 'cone of shame'. I was watching 'The Dog Whisperer' and I thought Cesar Milan knew his business so I read a couple of his books and found out that hot spots and chewing can be a physical manifestation of a dogs anxiety. Hero started getting three mile walks every morning. He stopped chewing and I made an exercise habit with my wife. This didn't make me lose weight, but I stabilized around 220lb for years. We had to say goodbye to Hero this year after seven years, but I still walk 3mi each morning with my wife and our new dog Pearl. I lift weights three times a week with a focus on the big six: squat; deadlift; bench press; row; pull ups; overhead press. I get some cardio with some P90X3 videos and I stretch and do yoga on Sundays. My friend became my workout partner on Saturday mornings and keeps me accountable during the week. I highly recommend a partner who is not your spouse and already has a fitness habit. My goals for exercise are that I want to enjoy retirement and be able to care for myself. The exercises are geared toward health and not body shaping. Bring able to travel and have life experiences are very important to me.

The Present

I have a good desk job, happily married, a couple of kids, and set a personal record of 223lbs a couple of years back. I tried intermittent fasting and that helped shave off the first 13lbs over a year, but I found that I could eat enough during the feeding time to offset the fasting time. I still try and keep IF going as I find that if I skip breakfast that I am just as hungry at lunch as if I ate breakfast. Having two large meals instead of three medium sized meals works better for my mental health and feels sustainable after a couple of years.

I started following /r/loseit about a year ago. I started with CICO and MyFitnessPal. Now everything has changed and I shed the weight very consistently. There are days when hitting the 500 calorie deficit is too difficult and I shoot for maintenance, but most days are easy if there is no beer or snacks in the house. I like knowing that I'm not leaving any calories on the table if I am hungry. I can eat a bit more if I still have some budget. It doesn't help that I currently have a cold and tore something in my shoulder and ribs trying some golf exercises. That really put a damper on my lifting.

My biggest challenge right now is alcohol. Having two teenagers in the house really makes me feel like I could use a drink to help me relax. My friend also runs a brewery and make great beer. The wife and I also like to socialize and have people over which usually involves snacks and drinks. The end of September and October have been rough with Oktoberfest and The Great American Beer Festival and having visitors stay with us. I'm also buying a new house and have a new project at work that is keeping me really busy. Now we are headed into the holidays. I'm going to have to focus.

The Future

I've changed my goal. I'm going to try and lose my 'standing fat' around my belly. I've always had a bit of a saggy belly and love handles from childhood. I want to see if I can make it go away for once in my life. I'm confident that I can get there as I have more muscle in my back, flanks, and abs than at any other point in my life.

I'm worried about transitioning into maintenance as I think that I may relapse. I'm going to have to keep doing CICO, because it is just so easy to get out of control and binge eat. Right now, I think this is sustainable and I'm going to run with it. I've been experimenting with maintenance days and so far so good.

In summary, a bit of intermittent fasting, eating a plant based diet, counting calories, cardio and weight lifting has transformed my body. Low blood pressure, low cholesterol, more strength, more endurance, more muscle tone, less fat, and I look good in clothes. I hope you experience as much success as I have and I hope that my experiences have been helpful to you. Good luck! I had a manager that lost a ton of weight by living on chicken wings and then had to have a triple bypass surgery. I think a lot of Atkins dieters forget to eat from the diabetic friendly sources (lots of greens) and focus on meat.

We moved to Colorado and started our family. There were periods where I would get interested in something seriously like karate, running, or road biking for a year or so and then something comes up and I would get busy and I'm back to being sedentary. I had one good period where we joined Weight Watchers and I started running at lunch time at work. This was inspired by a work weight loss competition and I took it seriously. I made it down to 185lb from 210lb. This was huge for me and that is why my initial goal was 185lb. It was the biggest drop I ever had and it made me feel so good. Weight Watchers was good because we learned how to cook vegetables and season food instead of just adding salt, bacon, and cheese. Weight watchers was also bad because I always felt hungry. There was no relief. Good morning hungry! Before and after lunch hungry. Before and after dinner hungry. Good night hungry! It worked but it didn't work well for me and I relapsed.

Blood Pressure

One of the things that started getting me focused on my health was my blood pressure. I am a frequent blood donor and year after year, I was seeing my blood pressure creep up at the donation center. I was 'high-normal' (135/90) before they changed the guidelines. I followed the common advice of trying to reduce stress, reduce salt, and get exercise. I tried to get get my blood pressure to come down for a couple of years, but it didn't budge. However, I read "The China Study" and followed that up with "How to Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease". These books provided the evidence that I needed that a whole foods plant based diet is what I should be doing. After eating this way for six months, I had my blood work done as part of my yearly physical and my blood pressure was down 125/85 and my cholesterol was under 150 combined. I was shocked at how quickly it came down by changing my diet after trying to bring it down for years. At my last checkup my blood pressure was 102/70 and a combined cholesterol of under 150. I am very happy with those numbers and I attribute it to a plant-based diet. That being said, the transition was two-steps forward one-step back. It is hard to learn to eat, buy, and cook differently, but totally worth it. I really don't miss eating meat anymore as long as I get some vegan junk food periodically, e.g. french fries. We also save a ton of money on food because we buy in bulk from azurestandard.com like we are awaiting the apocalypse, but we're just frugal planners.also

Getting Active

The thing that helped me be active consistently is that I got a dog. He was acquired third hand and was a high energy animal. Hero was a mutt but looked like a Belgian Shepard. He chewed holes in his limbs and haunches and we were told it was allergies. We tried hot spot spays and medicines but nothing worked and he spent a lot of time in the 'cone of shame'. I was watching 'The Dog Whisperer' and I thought Cesar Milan knew his business so I read a couple of his books and found out that hot spots and chewing can be a physical manifestation of a dogs anxiety. Hero started getting three mile walks every morning. He stopped chewing and I made an exercise habit with my wife. This didn't make me lose weight, but I stabilized around 220lb for years. We had to say goodbye to Hero this year after seven years, but I still walk 3mi each morning with my wife and our new dog Pearl. I lift weights three times a week with a focus on the big six: squat; deadlift; bench press; row; pull ups; overhead press. I get some cardio with some P90X3 videos and I stretch and do yoga on Sundays. My friend became my workout partner on Saturday mornings and keeps me accountable during the week. I highly recommend a partner who is not your spouse and already has a fitness habit. My goals for exercise are that I want to enjoy retirement and be able to care for myself. The exercises are geared toward health and not body shaping. Bring able to travel and have life experiences are very important to me.

The Present

I have a good desk job, happily married, a couple of kids, and set a personal record of 223lbs a couple of years back. I tried intermittent fasting and that helped shave off the first 13lbs over a year, but I found that I could eat enough during the feeding time to offset the fasting time. I still try and keep IF going as I find that if I skip breakfast that I am just as hungry at lunch as if I ate breakfast. Having two large meals instead of three medium sized meals works better for my mental health and feels sustainable after a couple of years.

I started following /r/loseit about a year ago. I started with CICO and MyFitnessPal. Now everything has changed and I shed the weight very consistently. There are days when hitting the 500 calorie deficit is too difficult and I shoot for maintenance, but most days are easy if there is no beer or snacks in the house. I like knowing that I'm not leaving any calories on the table if I am hungry. I can eat a bit more if I still have some budget. It doesn't help that I currently have a cold and tore something in my shoulder and ribs trying some golf exercises. That really put a damper on my lifting.

My biggest challenge right now is alcohol. Having two teenagers in the house really makes me feel like I could use a drink to help me relax. My friend also runs a brewery and make great beer. The wife and I also like to socialize and have people over which usually involves snacks and drinks. The end of September and October have been rough with Oktoberfest and The Great American Beer Festival and having visitors stay with us. I'm also buying a new house and have a new project at work that is keeping me really busy. Now we are headed into the holidays. I'm going to have to focus.

The Future

I've changed my goal. I'm going to try and lose my 'standing fat' around my belly. I've always had a bit of a saggy belly and love handles from childhood. I want to see if I can make it go away for once in my life. I'm confident that I can get there as I have more muscle in my back, flanks, and abs than at any other point in my life.

I'm worried about transitioning into maintenance as I think that I may relapse. I'm going to have to keep doing CICO, because it is just so easy to get out of control and binge eat. Right now, I think this is sustainable and I'm going to run with it. I've been experimenting with maintenance days and so far so good.

In summary, a bit of intermittent fasting, eating a plant based diet, counting calories, cardio and weight lifting has transformed my body. Low blood pressure, low cholesterol, more strength, more endurance, more muscle tone, less fat, and I look good in clothes. I hope you experience as much success as I have and I hope that my experiences have been helpful to you. Good luck! For my wedding, I went back on Atkins and dropped weight again, but my bride-to-be hated eating that way, so after we were married there was no more Atkins dieting for me. On the bright side my fiance said she wouldn't marry a smoker, so I quit cold turkey two months before the big day. Not smoking allowed me to keep being active even though I was heavy. I feel like I dodged a bullet with the short lived Atkins diet. I had a manager that lost a ton of weight by living on chicken wings and then had to have a triple bypass surgery. I think a lot of Atkins dieters forget to eat from the diabetic friendly sources (lots of greens) and focus on meat.

We moved to Colorado and started our family. There were periods where I would get interested in something seriously like karate, running, or road biking for a year or so and then something comes up and I would get busy and I'm back to being sedentary. I had one good period where we joined Weight Watchers and I started running at lunch time at work. This was inspired by a work weight loss competition and I took it seriously. I made it down to 185lb from 210lb. This was huge for me and that is why my initial goal was 185lb. It was the biggest drop I ever had and it made me feel so good. Weight Watchers was good because we learned how to cook vegetables and season food instead of just adding salt, bacon, and cheese. Weight watchers was also bad because I always felt hungry. There was no relief. Good morning hungry! Before and after lunch hungry. Before and after dinner hungry. Good night hungry! It worked but it didn't work well for me and I relapsed.

Blood Pressure

One of the things that started getting me focused on my health was my blood pressure. I am a frequent blood donor and year after year, I was seeing my blood pressure creep up at the donation center. I was 'high-normal' (135/90) before they changed the guidelines. I followed the common advice of trying to reduce stress, reduce salt, and get exercise. I tried to get get my blood pressure to come down for a couple of years, but it didn't budge. However, I read "The China Study" and followed that up with "How to Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease". These books provided the evidence that I needed that a whole foods plant based diet is what I should be doing. After eating this way for six months, I had my blood work done as part of my yearly physical and my blood pressure was down 125/85 and my cholesterol was under 150 combined. I was shocked at how quickly it came down by changing my diet after trying to bring it down for years. At my last checkup my blood pressure was 102/70 and a combined cholesterol of under 150. I am very happy with those numbers and I attribute it to a plant-based diet. That being said, the transition was two-steps forward one-step back. It is hard to learn to eat, buy, and cook differently, but totally worth it. I really don't miss eating meat anymore as long as I get some vegan junk food periodically, e.g. french fries. We also save a ton of money on food because we buy in bulk from azurestandard.com like we are awaiting the apocalypse, but we're just frugal planners.also

Getting Active

The thing that helped me be active consistently is that I got a dog. He was acquired third hand and was a high energy animal. Hero was a mutt but looked like a Belgian Shepard. He chewed holes in his limbs and haunches and we were told it was allergies. We tried hot spot spays and medicines but nothing worked and he spent a lot of time in the 'cone of shame'. I was watching 'The Dog Whisperer' and I thought Cesar Milan knew his business so I read a couple of his books and found out that hot spots and chewing can be a physical manifestation of a dogs anxiety. Hero started getting three mile walks every morning. He stopped chewing and I made an exercise habit with my wife. This didn't make me lose weight, but I stabilized around 220lb for years. We had to say goodbye to Hero this year after seven years, but I still walk 3mi each morning with my wife and our new dog Pearl. I lift weights three times a week with a focus on the big six: squat; deadlift; bench press; row; pull ups; overhead press. I get some cardio with some P90X3 videos and I stretch and do yoga on Sundays. My friend became my workout partner on Saturday mornings and keeps me accountable during the week. I highly recommend a partner who is not your spouse and already has a fitness habit. My goals for exercise are that I want to enjoy retirement and be able to care for myself. The exercises are geared toward health and not body shaping. Bring able to travel and have life experiences are very important to me.

The Present

I have a good desk job, happily married, a couple of kids, and set a personal record of 223lbs a couple of years back. I tried intermittent fasting and that helped shave off the first 13lbs over a year, but I found that I could eat enough during the feeding time to offset the fasting time. I still try and keep IF going as I find that if I skip breakfast that I am just as hungry at lunch as if I ate breakfast. Having two large meals instead of three medium sized meals works better for my mental health and feels sustainable after a couple of years.

I started following /r/loseit about a year ago. I started with CICO and MyFitnessPal. Now everything has changed and I shed the weight very consistently. There are days when hitting the 500 calorie deficit is too difficult and I shoot for maintenance, but most days are easy if there is no beer or snacks in the house. I like knowing that I'm not leaving any calories on the table if I am hungry. I can eat a bit more if I still have some budget. It doesn't help that I currently have a cold and tore something in my shoulder and ribs trying some golf exercises. That really put a damper on my lifting.

My biggest challenge right now is alcohol. Having two teenagers in the house really makes me feel like I could use a drink to help me relax. My friend also runs a brewery and make great beer. The wife and I also like to socialize and have people over which usually involves snacks and drinks. The end of September and October have been rough with Oktoberfest and The Great American Beer Festival and having visitors stay with us. I'm also buying a new house and have a new project at work that is keeping me really busy. Now we are headed into the holidays. I'm going to have to focus.

The Future

I've changed my goal. I'm going to try and lose my 'standing fat' around my belly. I've always had a bit of a saggy belly and love handles from childhood. I want to see if I can make it go away for once in my life. I'm confident that I can get there as I have more muscle in my back, flanks, and abs than at any other point in my life.

I'm worried about transitioning into maintenance as I think that I may relapse. I'm going to have to keep doing CICO, because it is just so easy to get out of control and binge eat. Right now, I think this is sustainable and I'm going to run with it. I've been experimenting with maintenance days and so far so good.

In summary, a bit of intermittent fasting, eating a plant based diet, counting calories, cardio and weight lifting has transformed my body. Low blood pressure, low cholesterol, more strength, more endurance, more muscle tone, less fat, and I look good in clothes. I hope you experience as much success as I have and I hope that my experiences have been helpful to you. Good luck!

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from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/2MKp24L

Day 1? Starting your weight loss journey on Wednesday, 16 October 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.

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from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/35D2yev

Unhealthy obsession with weight loss, fighting myself 24/7 mentally - encouragement appreciated :)

Hi everyone! I've been lurking here for a while now, and finally feel brave enough to post. Firstly, I want to thank this community as a whole for being so helpful, informative and motivating! I've taken a lot of advice to heart, even if it was posted for someone else.

My stats (just in case it matters): 26F / 159cm / SW 64,5kgs / CW 58kgs / GW 53kgs

I was in great shape and really happy with my body in my teen years (didn't ever binge, very active). At the age of 19, I weighed 50kgs and had visible abs. Then my dad died in a freak accident which basically turned my entire life upside down. I was completely alone in life after losing my only involved parent (who was also my best friend). I dropped out of university and basically turned to food and alcohol for comfort. Without realising it, I gained 24kgs. I didn't care much for the next 2 years. At 21, I lost most of this weight by essentially starving myself and exercising excessively. The weight stayed off for about two years, then started to creep back.

Last year, I reached an all-time low regarding body image / self-esteem. I met my amazing partner who is in the best shape of his life, and instead of inspiring me, this initially made me feel even more down and demotivated. I constantly felt like I needed to be in better shape in order to be with someone like him. Anyway, I finally asked him for help this year, and I did a very clean keto for the first time in April/May for 4 weeks. I should mention we were long distance and I was flying across the world every 4-6 weeks for 18 months, always staying with people as a guest, which made it a bit hard to eat whatever I wanted (for example, I felt it rude to turn down the dinner that was prepared because I personally thought it was unhealthy, so I always ate whatever was in front of me). In July of this year, I finally moved to his country and we got a house together. Being in control of my food in my own home is the best feeling, especially after a year and a half of travelling! This has contributed hugely to my current success, because I can prepare healthy meals and use my food scale for everything.

That brings us to the present. After the initial joy and celebration of me moving, I decided to buckle down at the beginning of September when I weighed 64,5kgs. We did keto again, but with little success. I dropped to 60,5kgs and then got stuck. This is when I discovered the magic of CICO through this subreddit (I honestly have no clue how I hadn't heard about it before). I'm now down to 58kgs, but struggling with obsessive behaviour, under-eating and extremely negative thoughts. I decided to stop keto today, and keep doing CICO with healthy carbs included.

Here's where I get to my point as stated in the title: the logical part of my brain knows it's stupid to eat 600-800 calories a day, and yet that's what I've been doing. Logically, my aim should be 1200, a little more when I run 5km+. For what it's worth, I eat nutrient-rich foods 95% of the time. Think eggs, nuts, leafy green veggies, fruit, chicken, fish. My BMI, body fat %, weight etc. tell me I'm in the normal range, but I look in the mirror and still see myself as disgustingly fat. I exercise to the point of almost throwing up / passing out, all the while telling myself that I'm a lazy piece of shit - but I'm literally busy running 5km for the 5th time this week, so that doesn't even make sense?!? I'm clearly not lazy, and I would never speak to someone else like that, so why do I do it to myself? I feel like I need to be punished for every piece of chocolate or slice of pizza, even when I'm still well under 1000 calories for the day and it's only one slice of pizza in 4 weeks. I'm losing weight, but it's just not fast enough according to the mean thoughts in my head. I literally don't think or talk about anything besides weight loss.

I'm just frustrated and I want to love myself and my body more. My partner is incredibly supportive but also voicing a lot of concern, and I get the feeling he's tired of constantly reassuring me so I'm scared to keep going on about it all the time. The only other thing that helps my negative thoughts is reading encouragement on this sub. (Again, thank you.)

I want to lose weight sustainably and be happy and healthy in the long term. Logically, I know I need to be patient and go easy on myself. Life isn't magically going to begin at my goal weight, life is already happening right now. I want to enjoy it. I want to be present with my partner and friends, and talk about anything besides calories, exercising and losing weight.

Does anyone have any tips on how to change this thought pattern? How can I help the logical side triumph? It's exhausting being at war with myself. :(

I'm really sorry this post is so long and sounds like I'm just rambling. If even one person made it to the end - thank you so, so much! I really appreciate you taking the time to read my story.

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from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/2IPTqJN

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Over 250lbs lost with diet, exercise, and cutting out the negative self talk in my head. Here’s some tips and advice to help you on your weight loss journey!

Here are my progress pics if anyone is interested

Hey guys! I use to be severely morbidly obese. Back then I was depressed, socially anxious, and I thought about suicide all the time. That is until I started to learn more about the power of healthier eating, and most of all about the power of the human mind. Within a short time I went from 480lbs to 210lbs and my life has never been better. No matter how much weight you have to lose, you can do it too! Here are a few tips that have helped me in my journey.

▪️This is a lifestyle change and not a diet. If you want to live long and healthy than you want to eat foods that will promote your health and not decline your health. This means that the majority of what you eat should be unprocessed foods. Yes that means cooking and prep time but it’s so worth it! Processed foods undermine your ability to lose weight because a lot of them contain additives that actually make you crave more of the food. Processed foods are a vicious cycle. Stick with mostly foods Whole Foods to break the craving loop.

🔳 Processed foods also undermine your ability to lose weight because rather than nourishing and giving you energy, they deplete you of your energy. Who wants to cook or meal prep when they feel exhausted? No one! Eat the foods that put some pep in your step and not foods that drain you and you’ll not only have time to make the right types of food but you’ll even have time to exercise and enjoy life.

🔳 Get moving! Honestly exercise was a small part of my weight loss journey. It’s very easy to lose weight with food alone if you’re eating the right types of foods that are low in fat (if your not keto. Keto is pretty good for weight loss) low in sugar, sodium, additives, etc. But when you do get moving make it be something that you absolutely love! Don’t do something that you dread or else you won’t stick to it. I like to bike. I like to do qigong. Maybe you like to walk or run or swim. Just do whatever will keep you motivated in the long run.

🔳 sustainable weight loss mainly comes from eating healthier Whole Foods. But the other most important aspect is the mental. If you don’t have the right mindset than you won’t be successful at losing weight or at keeping it off. I use to be so hard on myself. The voice inside of my head was so harsh. I would tell myself that I couldn’t do such and such and that I would never lose weight. That it was too hard. You must change this negative self talk in your head! You really do create your own reality with your beliefs and your negative beliefs can turn into a bad self fulfilling prophecy. Realize that you can change the way you see yourself. Realize that your thoughts do not define you. Realize that you can be and do whatever you want as long as you believe in yourself and you have the will to change.

🔳 Mirror-work is powerful and it’s one of the greatest tools for personal transformation. Instead of looking at yourself in the mirror and being disgusted look at yourself in the mirror and envision the you that you want to be. See that beautiful body that you want. Know that it’s within you under the layer of fat that you’ve been hiding under. Tell yourself good things instead of bringing yourself down. Soon your positive mental state will begin to manifest a positive outer physical state. Yes our thoughts and beliefs about ourselves can change our physical appearance! It’s possible! Physical change really does start in the mind.

🔳 Most importantly don’t keep junk foods in the house. Know yourself. Know what triggers you. To this day I only keep Whole Foods in the house. Actual ingredients and not packaged foods. If there were Oreos and Doritos in my house I’d eat it. Period. I know myself. And once I start it’s hard for me to stop. So know yourself. If it’s not around then you can’t eat it. This doesn’t mean deprive yourself either. Healthy foods can be absolutely delicious and these days you can pretty much healthify any of your favorite junk foods with a bit of work. And that’s the key. Make yourself work for that treat. If you want something sweet than pull out the ingredients for it and make it yourself. Put some love and time into making it just as you’re putting love and time into caring for your body. If you want that healthier treat then ride your bike or walk to the store to get it. Build up your will power everyday. Show yourself that YOU CAN and you will gain the confidence to overcome anything and lose the weight.

I’d never thought I’d be where I am today. I’d never thought I’d be eating like how I am today. This is coming from someone who binge ate ridiculous amounts of food on a daily basis. I never thought I’d be able to give up the junk but I did. Once I realized how much better I felt inside and outside for letting it go, it was a no brainer and now this a permanent way of life for me. If I can do it you can do it too. I believe in you whole heartedly but you must believe in yourself.

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from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/2IU0yoe

I got “skinny shamed” and I’m shocked

I feel like this sub is full of stories from people being judged for being overweight in one domain or another, but a family member recently made me so fucking angry.

I’ve been on the weight loss journey on and off for years, and I’ve dealt with severe and debilitating EDs during this time. I’m so proud of my progress though, I’m so much stronger mentally and physically.

This family member gained 12 kilos over the summer, on top of not being very fit to begin with. They were complaining allllll through dinner about how much it sucks and how at their age it’s impossible to lose the weight, all the whole eating whatever the fuck they wanted.

My plate was healthy and I tracked what was on it, only to be literally laughed at and mocked because “you’re so skinny wtf are you doing”. They then went on to say how I have it so easy, it’s so lucky to be me bla bla. They “have a sweet tooth” and thus cannot physically control their cravings. They’re a “foodie” who just loves food more than I’ll ever know.

I admit I don’t have A LOT of weight to lose by any measure, but it took me a while to get there. I’m allowed to continue until I’m happy with my progress, it’s no ones fucking business.

I hate when people compare their progress to someone else’s. No one finds it easy to lose weight. Everyone likes to eat yummy food and everyone likes to eat dessert. We all get cravings, I’m not an alien, I struggle too but I consciously make the decision to eat healthier because evolution has given me the mental capacity to be able to make these decisions.

Sorry about my rant! I just needed to get this out there. If someone is on a fitness journey, it doesn’t matter if they have 1kilo to lose or 100, their journey is valid, just like yours is.

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from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/2oP12p5

Does it matter what I eat?

Sooo I've restarted my weight loss journey in September and I just can't handle keto anymore. For some reason I don't get enough energy and to tired to stay awake for the day also finding a tasty recipe is a mission in itself. So I've switched to mainly carbs I guess which is really a plate of shwarma every 3 days which is around 1800 calories. And I can thrive on that, much more energy and it tastes really good. Also I'm at 271 lbs rn started at 333 lbs and my goal is 173 lbs. So my question is if it really matters what you eat when losing large amount of weight like I am. Like ik it would matter in cut and bulk cycles but rn I don't think keto or high protein would help me retain any more muscle than with my carb food lol. Also I my intermittent fasts happen for 72 hrs so I eat like 2 shwarma plates a week. And my workouts is a 6 day push pull leg split with 14000 steps every day or around 10km of walking.

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from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/2OSJNOa

Plateau or failing?

So i started all over again on 9-9-19 after i went to the dr for my yearly checkup weigh in at 376 although i had on my work uniform(w/workboots) i figured i probably clocked in at 370 or so. while im relatively healthy, my blood pressure was a little high so my doc wanted to put me on medication for it. So i decided i was tired of it and made some changes. Cut out bread, sugar and starches completely and eating more lean protein. It was kinda like a lazy keto trying to keep it under 50 grams a day and it worked well. Ive gone from 376ish down to 344 since then. I feel a lot better but ive done this before and ill lose 30lbs of mostly water weight i assume and when the weight loss slows down i get discouraged and quit. Its happening again. The weight loss feels like its slowing down so i wonder if it just a plateau my body goes through and i need to just keep going or do i need a new approach.

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from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/2MKfvdP