Backseat Dieters

Hi everyone,

M25, SW: 320, CW: 248, GW: under 200

First off, I wanted to thank everyone for the support they showed on my last post (a progress picture of my old belt and new belt). Everyone was very kind and helpful. It was good to feel validated by you all, so thank you.

I’ve commented on this and other subreddits before about how friends/family react to weight loss and how challenging it can be to make a huge life change while also navigating how it changes your relationships with people you love. It’s gotten a bit odd with my Dad and his wife in this regard.

About 15 years ago, my dad got on a health kick: he quit smoking, he started eating better, and he got the Gastric Lap-Band surgery to help him lose weight. He ate a lot of salad and plain oatmeal, which he didn’t enjoy doing, but he did it all anyway. He lost about 30-40 pounds, and he was feeling great.

Fast forward a decade, and he’s gained a lot of the weight back. Him and his wife have been trying every weird diet under the sun over the last few years to try and lose weight together. They’ve gone low-carb a few times, they’ve cut out red meat, then they tried eating more meat instead for a high-protein diet, then a completely sugar-free diet, etc. etc. it’s mostly been harmless - they do their own thing. For every new diet they try, they go up and down the same 5 or 10 pounds.

Well, over the last 4-5 months, I’ve lost over 70 pounds without any of the weird diet gimmicks. They’ve noticed the weight loss and asked what I was doing, so I told them. I keep my calories at about 1200 (give or take), and I spend about 2.5-3 hours in the gym 6 days a week (give or take). I explained that I still get to eat whatever I want, so long as it comes in under the calorie limit for the day. They seemed to disagree at this point and tried to tell me that eating the same foods wouldn’t work (even if the portion was smaller). They singled out white rice (of all things??) as the worst food to eat because it’s nothing but empty calories and it will make me bloated and stay overweight. They said that, if I actually wanted to lose weight, I’d eat Quinoa or Farro seeds or something. In the past, they’ve had similar comments about how I should stop drinking caffeinated coffee if I want to lose weight or how I should buy egg-beaters instead of using regular eggs. Etc etc etc. It all makes very little sense to me: what I’m doing is clearly working, whatever they’re doing isn’t. Later in the day, my dad brought up the conversation again and asked about my goal weight. I told him under 200, and he blatantly said that it would never happen and that, if I did get under 200, I would just look sick and emaciated. Altogether, it was a strange interaction.

Any experiences you could share about how to handle people who love giving out free bad advice?

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I don't recognize myself anymore - I'm sick of it

Hey all.

A little backstory on me - I was a dancer when I was a teenager, it was basically my life. Because I was so active with dancing, swimming, and running, I was in pretty great shape. I'm just under 5'10 and have been since I was 14, and when I was at the peak of my physical fitness at around 17 I weighed ~135 lbs. Shortly after graduating high school, I dropped dance and moved for college, and similarly to a lot of people that was when I started packing on pounds. It wasn't a freshman 40 it was more like a freshman 40. I became depressed because I was always a shy kid and moving to a new state where I knew no one made me completely withdraw into my shell. I turned to food for comfort and with no scheduled exercise anymore I became a couch potato. I ended up dropping out of college and have worked retail for the past few years, my depression and anxiety exacerbated by an abusive relationship I was stuck in for nearly 5 years.

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Fast forward to now, I have recently turned 25, back in college getting my accounting degree, and am the fattest I have ever been at 260 pounds. Nearly twice the weight that I was when I was 17. I am sick of it, I'm sick of looking in the mirror and not recognizing myself, I'm sick of still feeling like that active fit girl I was on the inside but not having my outside match, I'm sick of struggling to do things I used to do with such ease, simple things like walking up stairs or getting off the couch. It's not a massive struggle, but I used to just be so damn bouncy and full of energy. I'm sick of not being able to wear what I would want to wear if I were thinner, and just being stuck wearing dark basics because I don't want to draw attention to my body. I'm sick of looking ten years older than I am when I am supposed to be in the prime of my life. I'm sick of feeling self conscious about how much space I take up. I AM SICK OF BEING FAT. I don't know how to describe how I feel about being fat other than it's not me, I'm not supposed to be a fat girl, I don't feel like a fat girl on the inside.

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I just want to be able to look in the mirror and feel good about what I see.

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So I'm starting my weight loss journey today. I've tried so many times this year to figure out something I can stick to and being as lazy as I am (and someone who HATES cooking) I've decided to just stick to CICO at ~1200 with mainly high protein vegetarian convenient foods like Soylent, Sweet Earth burritos, and ezekiel bread w/various things like peanut butter or avocado and egg. In the past I've tried meal prepping, cooking every day, cooking every other day etc. but I've never been able to do those things consistently so for the first time I feel like I can actually do this. There are no more excuses to be had, I literally will always have a (mostly) healthy meal ready to go in the fridge. I'm ready to fucking do this and to start feeling better about myself!

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Does anyone else get frustrated with the process?

Male, 5’8”, 25, 202 lbs.

I’ve done this weight loss thing a couple different times. The first time, I lost a lot of weight unhealthily, and put it all back on. The second time, I did it correctly with IF, and got down to 186.

I started dieting in early November again, when I ballooned up to 211. My heaviest was 217, but I think that was water weight.

I’m almost getting frustrated I’m not losing weight fast enough, because I don’t really like counting calories. My goal is 180, and I’m at 202. (I was 201, but somehow gained a pound back overnight).

Last time I did this, I went from 200 to 186 a bit faster.

Anyone else get frustrated with this?

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Here I go again.

Hi everyone. (F38, cw 244). I’ve been lurking here for a while. I’ve been on many weight loss journeys. MFP, weight watchers and ages ago - Atkins. My husband and I are both overweight and recently he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Doc is hopeful, says he can likely still reverse it as the case is mild but it was a huge wake up call for both of us. We have a young son.

So we’ve joined a great gym in our neighbourhood. It offers everything you could imagine. Yoga, swimming, classes of all kinds, weights, cardio. Everything. He’s using MFP and has lost 20lbs (6’. Starting weight 300).

I’ve downloaded the lose it app but I’ve only been tracking for 2 days.

We’re super pumped but how do I keep the motivation? How do I keep from failing again?

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I've decided to approach this like I approach saving money

Hi all! I'm a newbie, 25M, SW/CW 230, GW (for now) 200, long term anywhere around 140/160, and I have decided to approach losing weight like saving money.

I used to be shit at saving, literally couldn't save a fiver if it was placed in front of me and told it would become worth a million pounds in ten years. I also am still shit with food, approaching it historically in a 'but I want it now' type manner rather than thinking long term.

However, in June I started using a saving app called Chip (not an ad haha) which automatically takes chunks of money out of my bank account and into a savings account. After nearly six months of saving without having to think, I am now sitting on £500, about £500 more than I ever would have had if I hadn't started using the app.

I am going to approach weight loss the same way; I can either eat the thing I really want to now or take the hit and 'save' for later. It is not a choice, I won't give myself that choice by buying snacks and saying I will only eat a good portion, I know it's a lie. I won't have a choice but to eat well. My current food savings account is at zero. I hope to be at 30 pounds in six months, and keep going till it becomes a habit.

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Maintenance Monday: Don't Look Back in Anger/Thanksgiving

We've all probably seen the r/loseit posts from people who are frustrated that they waited so long to lose weight, annoyed that it took several tries, or upset to have regained some or all of their weight. There are also plenty of people who had to try lots of different eating styles or experiment with different active hobbies before finding what worked for them. Rather than focus on the negatives, now that you made it and you're in maintenance, what are you thankful for in your weight loss or maintenance journey? It could be setting yourself back into a deficit after a period of gain, finding the style of eating that worked for you, not quitting the search and finding a sport that invigorates you instead of feeling like a chore, anything that takes your fancy and makes you grateful to have ended up where you are now!

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Anything else on your mind pertaining to maintenance? Is your diet going effortlessly, or have the last few weeks been more of a struggle? All questions, remarks and worries are welcome topics of conversation!

Previous Maintenance Monday threads can be found here.

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The Fool-Proof Way to Cook a Delicious Turkey

Few things instill as much anxiety in the hearts of home cooks as does cooking the traditional Thanksgiving bird. And in recent years, there’s been a lot of talk about different, supposedly better, ways of cooking Tom. Deep-frying, brine, smoking, barbecuing. Whatever. When it comes to Thanksgiving, we don’t mess with tradition, and that means roasting.

Here’s a super-simple way to roast a turkey. It will leave everyone satisfied. Especially you.

• Preheat the oven to 450°F Position an oven rack in the bottom third of the oven and preheat to 450°F. Remove your turkey from the fridge and remove all the packaging, being sure to check the chest cavity for giblets and the neck. Rub the turkey with some salt and pepper, and pour two cups of broth or water into the roasting pan. Place it breast-side up on a roasting rack in a large pan.
• Place the turkey in the oven and turn down the heat to 350°F.
• Roast the turkey Plan on 13 minutes per pound, but start checking the temperature about halfway through the scheduled cooking time to see how it’s cooking.
• Baste the turkey every 45 minutes Remove the turkey from the oven, close the door and completely baste the turkey. Tilt the pan and use a turkey baster or spoon to scoop up the pan liquids and drizzle them on top of the turkey. You can also baste the turkey with melted butter or oil in the last 45 minutes or so of cooking to brown and crisp the skin.
• Take Tom’s temperature Begin checking the turkey’s temperature about halfway through your estimated cooking time. Put the thermometer in three places: the breast, outer thigh, and inside thigh; the meat should be at least 165°F in all locations when the turkey has finished cooking. If not, put the turkey back in the oven for 20 minutes. Shield the breast meat with foil to keep it from drying out.
• Rest before carving Grab one side of the roasting rack with an oven mitt and tilt the whole pan so the liquids inside the turkey cavity run out into the pan. Lift the whole turkey (still on the rack) and move it to a cutting board. Cover the turkey with aluminum foil and let stand for at least half an hour. This allows the meat to firm up and the juices to be re-absorbed into the muscle tissue, making the turkey easier to carve and juicier to eat.

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