Day 1? Starting your weight loss journey on Sunday, 22 December 2019? Start here!

Today is your Day 1?

Welcome to r/Loseit!

So you aren’t sure of how to start? Don’t worry! “How do I get started?” is our most asked question. r/Loseit has helped our users lose over 1,000,000 recorded pounds and these are the steps that we’ve found most useful for getting started.

Why you’re overweight

Our bodies are amazing (yes, yours too!). In order to survive before supermarkets, we had to be able to store energy to get us through lean times, we store this energy as adipose fat tissue. If you put more energy into your body than it needs, it stores it, for (potential) later use. When you put in less than it needs, it uses the stored energy. The more energy you have stored, the more overweight you are. The trick is to get your body to use the stored energy, which can only be done if you give it less energy than it needs, consistently.

Before You Start

The very first step is calculating your calorie needs. You can do that HERE. This will give you an approximation of your calorie needs for the day. The next step is to figure how quickly you want to lose the fat. One pound of fat is equal to 3500 calories. So to lose 1 pound of fat per week you will need to consume 500 calories less than your TDEE (daily calorie needs from the link above). 750 calories less will result in 1.5 pounds and 1000 calories is an aggressive 2 pounds per week.

Tracking

Here is where it begins to resemble work. The most efficient way to lose the weight you desire is to track your calorie intake. This has gotten much simpler over the years and today it can be done right from your smartphone or computer. r/loseit recommends an app like MyFitnessPal, Loseit! (unaffiliated), or Cronometer. Create an account and be honest with it about your current stats, activities, and goals. This is your tracker and no one else needs to see it so don’t cheat the numbers. You’ll find large user created databases that make logging and tracking your food and drinks easy with just the tap of the screen or the push of a button. We also highly recommend the use of a digital kitchen scale for accuracy. Knowing how much of what you're eating is more important than what you're eating. Why? This may explain it.

Creating Your Deficit

How do you create a deficit? This is up to you. r/loseit has a few recommendations but ultimately that decision is yours. There is no perfect diet for everyone. There is a perfect diet for you and you can create it. You can eat less of exactly what you eat now. If you like pizza you can have pizza. Have 2 slices instead of 4. You can try lower calorie replacements for calorie dense foods. Some of the communities favorites are cauliflower rice, zucchini noodles, spaghetti squash in place of their more calorie rich cousins. If it appeals to you an entire dietary change like Keto, Paleo, Vegetarian.

The most important thing to remember is that this selection of foods works for you. Sustainability is the key to long term weight management success. If you hate what you’re eating you won’t stick to it.

Exercise

Is NOT mandatory. You can lose fat and create a deficit through diet alone. There is no requirement of exercise to lose weight.

It has it’s own benefits though. You will burn extra calories. Exercise is shown to be beneficial to mental health and creates an endorphin rush as well. It makes people feel awesome and has been linked to higher rates of long term success when physical activity is included in lifestyle changes.

Crawl, Walk, Run

It can seem like one needs to make a 180 degree course correction to find success. That isn’t necessarily true. Many of our users find that creating small initial changes that build a foundation allows them to progress forward in even, sustained, increments.

Acceptance

You will struggle. We have all struggled. This is natural. There is no tip or trick to get through this though. We encourage you to recognize why you are struggling and forgive yourself for whatever reason that may be. If you overindulged at your last meal that is ok. You can resolve to make the next meal better.

Do not let the pursuit of perfect get in the way of progress. We don’t need perfect. We just want better.

Additional resources

Now you’re ready to do this. Here are more details, that may help you refine your plan.

• Quick Start Guide - Build your foundation!
• Loseit Compendium - Frame it out!
• FAQ - Answers to our most Frequently Asked Questions!

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I am finally in the normal BMI range!

I started to lose weight when I was at 86kg/~190lbs. I'm 1.72m and that weight put in the overweight range, leaning almost in to the obese range.

Today I am 72.5kg/~160lbs and in the normal BMI! I couldn't be happier!

I stayed in a calorie deficit that was sane for my body, changed sugar to a 0 kcal sweetener, took walks more often in summer and autumn and tried to have a good atittude on the weight loss. You can't just see it as a diet that once it'll end and you'll be able to do whatever like before. Let's learn how to take of our bodies!

I'm not good with words but I hope you got the point lol

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Please help me help my dad lose weight!

Hi all!

I live in a city 4 hours away from my parents, who live in a small town. Every time I see my dad [M58], he’s gained more weight, and it’s always one of the first things he mentions to me. He weighs about 320 lbs as of now. I know he wants to lose weight, but he refuses to do anything anyone suggests he does to try to lose weight. Anytime you mention any weight loss strategy, he says he’s “given up in losing weight” when he obviously cares deeply about it.

A little on his routines. He used to exercise on an exercise bike, but he now says his stomach is too big for him to ride it anymore. (He gets around fine, btw.) He jogs in place a lot. Unless someone cooks for him, all he eats is chips or peanuts because you don’t have to prepare them. They’re “quick food.” My mom occasionally cooks dinner, but she owns a restaurant and is on a different schedule than him most of the time running that.

We’ve talked about dieting plans, but he doesn’t like them because he has to cook. I’m into nutrition and weightlifting, so I’ve tried to make easy to follow meal plans for him multiple times.

What can I do or suggest to my dad to help him out? I’m out of ideas at this point (it’s been years), and it’s hard for me to see him defeated like this.

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Advice for losing weight when I can't count calories or weigh myself?

I'm 24F, 5-6", and I weigh 195lbs. I gained 60 pounds during pregnancy. I've lost 30 by doing relatively nothing. My goal weight is 160. I'm stagnant right now because I've let my diet go to shit and haven't been working out. I have some ankle weights, a jump rope, and a nordictrack ski machine. I plan to do bodyweight exercises and make sure my portions are the size of my fist (no kitchen scale) as well as clean up my diet (things like no coffee creamer, more water/milk). How else can I go about my weight loss journey that doesn't involve weighing myself and counting calories? I have a history of bulimia, so I cannot do either of those two things or it will lead to disordered eating. I also have body dysmorphia. I've been a size 4-6 in jeans before and see myself as a size 9-10 instead. Does anyone else have a history of ED that can share their experiences with having a better relationship with food? Thank you all.

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Easy Peppermint Bark Yogurt Dip Recipe

Peppermint Bark is a classic holiday treat and this affordable recipe gives you all those flavors mixed into a delicious yogurt dip.  The base of this recipe is vanilla yogurt, so it’s packed with protein, essential vitamins and minerals, and probiotics. (Anyone else love a treat that’ll keep your belly happy and full?!) You can […]

The post Easy Peppermint Bark Yogurt Dip Recipe appeared first on Run Eat Repeat.

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Post-100lb Weight Loss Tummy Tuck Questions

After relentless work in the gym and time to see if there will be a change...alas it seems my skin won't return to form after my 100 pound weight loss.

That being said, two questions regarding tummy tucks!

1. Has anyone ever successfully gotten insurance to kick in for this? Wonder if there is a way. Any bit helps.
2. Anyone who has had it done, have you found it to be worth it? Were you able to see definition in the stomach area?

My reasoning...I've found myself getting frustrated lately. I put in a lot of work to lose the weight and a lot of work in the gym. Sadly, I'm just not seeing the progress in the area that matters most to me. I feel like I owe myself for all the work I put in, and I shouldn't just accept and own the loose skin for the rest of my life.

Any tips would be helpful!

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For the short, older ladies out there -- don't give up!

I'd been overweight for over 30 years when I finally decided I had to try, once again, to lose weight. (63F, 5'1.5" tall) I had been on every fad diet you could imagine: high-fat, low-fat, no-carb, SlimFast, Jenny Craig, etc. Each time, I had lost about 20 lbs or so when I started eating my "normal" way again, and gained back everything plus more.

My weight crept up year after year, no matter how much I tried to measure what I ate by comparing it to everyone else around me. I always ate less. I didn't snack (much), didn't drink alcohol much at all, and never drank my calories. I don't have a sweet tooth, so candy and desserts never mattered much to me. And yet, despite daily walks or enrolling in another exercise class, I continued to gain.

I had my thyroid checked several times -- it was always "low" but in the "normal" range. I tried every exercise routine, too: free weights, several different aerobic videos, just walking more, climbing stairs at work several times a day, etc. The weight didn't budge.

Then, in my early 60s, my knees gave out, and I became even more sedentary than I already was. I could barely walk from my home office to the bedroom -- forget about shopping, cleaning, picking up the mail, etc. Every step was agony. Carrying almost 90 lbs over my recommended weight for decades permanently damaged them.

In March 2018 I had a total knee replacement. At this point I hadn't weighed myself for over 9 months. As long as my largest pants fit, I figured I was fine. In the hospital, before surgery, they weighed me and I was at my next-to-highest peak of 200 lbs. (I had hit 211 in the spring of 2014, went on a low-carb diet, and lost about 30 lbs before I put most of it back on).

Once I started my physical rehab after surgery, I re-discovered how good I felt when I was a bit more physically active, especially if I could work up a sweat. So, I started working out at home again. I bought myself a recumbent bike to work my knee, picked up additional free weights, and started walking around the house. I lost about 10 lbs, then stopped completely.

In the summer of 2018 I discovered this subreddit and the My Fitness Pal app. For the first time in my life, I could easily count calories. What a shock it was to discover that I routinely ate about 1800 - 2000 calories a day! (Three meals plus an afternoon snack). Once I calculated my TDEE and daily calorie requirements, I started watching what I ate, and my god! it seemed like I was starving myself compared to what I used to eat. But the weight started coming off.

I finally broke down and bought a Fit-bit, which also showed me how entirely sedentary I was most of the time, sitting at home, working on a computer. So I started moving when my Fit-bit reminded me. I discovered there were electronic scales that would show you your weight plus body composition, so I bought one. To keep my calories to my self-chosen limit of 1300 per day, I started eating more vegetables. I started looking at calorie counts when eating out. I found out that My Fitness Pal could track even the calories at virtually all chain restaurants in the US.

And I lost weight -- albeit very, very slowly. So I decreased my calories to 1200 per day, cut back to only two meals a day, and discovered intermittent fasting. Adding in 3 - 4 hours of aerobic exercise plus some basic upper arm weight lifting each week helped curb my appetite.

I never, never believed that CICO (calories in - calories out) would work. It turns out that each of the fad diets I followed also controlled my calorie intake, not just the composition of my food.

Three weeks ago I finally came off a four month plateau, where I continually lost and gained the same 4 - 5 pounds. I started getting very serious again about detailing every single thing I was eating and upped the intensity of two of my 3-times-a-week workouts. And I've lost 4 lbs in the past 3 weeks after months of not losing any weight.

I am within 25 lbs of my goal weight, which would put me well within the "normal" range for my age and height. I resent the fact that I'll never be able to eat the same serving sizes of everyone around me -- I need what might be considered a "child-sized" portion. But I'm getting older, my metabolism has always been slow, and I have a sedentary job. I can't change those things.

My other knee, which was scheduled for surgery but I cancelled while trying to lose weight, is much improved. My blood pressure, which had been high for over 20 years and treated for 15 is now normal. My resting heart rate is in the upper 50s, when it had been routinely in the high 70s to low 80s. I can climb several flights of stairs without becoming breathless. My blood glucose levels, which had been creeping upwards for 3 decades, reduced a bit and leveled out to a "high normal" level.

So, it is possible to lose that stubborn, decades-old weight, even when you're small and old and like to sit and read, like me. The two sayings that helped me the most to stay on track were:

*Fitness happens in the gym; weight loss happens in the kitchen.

And

*You can't outrun your fork.

So, please don't be discouraged when you plateau, when you have a cheat day that turns into a cheat week, when the scales just won't budge no matter how dedicated you are. Eventually, if you eat less and move more, you'll lose the weight as long as you're eating less than what you burn.

I went from a size 20-22 (US) to a size 12, a bra size of 40D to 36C, and lost a half a shoe size, too! The exercise and slow weight loss has also helped me reduce the amount of loose skin I have, too. Pilates once a week (along with an aerobic workout) has given me abs of steel -- at 63 years old!!

I still get a bit resentful when I read posts where someone gave up sugared drinks and sweets, starting walking 5 min a day, and they drop 10 - 20 lbs in a month. It's taken me an entire year to lose 21 lbs. (I've lost about 58 lbs in 22 months.) Just like I can't compare my portion size to a "normal" adult, I can't compare my weight loss journey. It's hard, some days it frustrates me when I see the scale say the same thing it's said for weeks upon weeks, but the feeling I have seeing myself in a mirror is worth it. My health is worth it. My knees and my heart are worth it! Everyone is different, but if you can stick with eating less than you burn, you should lose it, however long it takes.

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