Ready to Get Serious

Hi there. I am a former college swimmer, who is now staring down 40, and can barely go up a flight of stairs without getting winded. I have struggled with my weight for 20 years, wildly fluctuating. I am now at my heaviest ever at about 290. I got married in September, and my wife tells me I carry it well, but I feel miserable. I just switched jobs, and my precious job had high levels of stress, and I ate like an unsupervised 12 year old. I recently saw an old teammate, and was embarrassed at how I felt and looked. Something has got to change.

I'm ready to make the change. We are joining a local club, and hopefully my wife can be my accountability partner. We are going to really work on our diet as well. I hope to share my weight loss journey here.

My goal to start is 40 pounds, and anything after that is bonus. I really want to start running 5k and 10k again, however my weight, combined with scar tissue from an old knee surgery, currently limits that activity for me.

I look forward to sharing my journey and gaining inspiration from people that are going through the same things I am.

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The year in review: Also; if you're thinking of getting started Jan 1 here are so ideas of where to start, and proof that a year from now you can be a different person!

Merry Christmas all! We are almost at the end of the year and I've been so exited to make this post. I hope someone who sees a daunting task ahead, or a New Years resolution that is impossible to stick to reads this and can see where you very well may be in a year.

First and foremost, props to this sub as well as /r/mealprep /r/1200isplenty and /r/keto. Can't forget MyFitnessPal, Nutribullet, Samsung Galaxy S3 watch, this food scale from Amazon, and my Withings bathroom scale. This is not advertisement, just a plain English shout out to what worked for me.

Where I was: 34, 310 lbs, 3XL shirts, and 44" waist

Where I am now: 35, 220lbs, L shirts, and a 34 inch waist.

I work shift work at a desk, with limited physical activity. On nights off I loved drinking Whiskey and diet coke, watching Netflix, staying up late and ordering a pizza and wings or Chinese food. I love to cook but the allure of takeout was too much to handle, especially while half drunk. Damn you grubhub!

In December last year I was listening to a podcast about a "Sober October" challenge with some comedians I enjoy. I was intrigued and decided to do a Sober January for myself and see how it went. It was around this time I also decided to casually track my calories (without making any adjustments).

So... January begins. I am still eating like crap and tracking every bite but not drinking. The weight starts to drop instantly. Funny side effect of not being up late drinking all night... my takeout ordering habits are broken. Hm... Weight continues to drop. By the end of January I am absolutely hooked and decide to jump in full time.

I decide that since I can cook, and love seafood anyway to try and give up carbs and takeout in general. Pizza withdrawal is a real thing and it should have it's own rehab. But I carry on. How strict can I be? Lets go crazy.. 1200 calories a day (weighing food on my scale actually shows me what a portion should look like), low carb high protein. Also meal prepping for work to avoid the daily takeout temptation. See how long that lasts. It's around here that I realize something... There are a lot of really tasty foods that are good for me. So now I am eating Scallops, Lobster, Salmon, Crab every night.. and still..and still saving money?!

Alright, I've rambled enough so here is what I ate/how I portioned for a typical (and most) days.

Breakfast: Black coffee with sugar free creamer. Smoothie (Kale, Celery, Cucumber, and strawberry).

Lunch: Spring Mix salad, 4oz baked chicken breast, 2Tbsp of Bolthouse Yogurt salad dressing. A low sugar protein shake (I like Isoburn Weight loss protein).

Dinner: Salmon with either scallops or shrimp. 2 servings of broccoli, and asparagus. I found a lot of tasty sugar free sauces and condiments to change things up.

Snack: Pistachios, almonds, cashews, pork rinds, cheese, or popcorn.

Every bite is accounted for in MFP religiously. I am at 363 straight days logged as of today, and that includes days when I went over, don't just count the good days.

If you're wondering, after January ended I did allow myself to drink again but frequency went down A LOT. I also ditched the Whiskey and diet coke in exchange for Vodka and Seltzer. I also cheated a few times but nothing major (with the exception of my birthday, Thanksgiving, and Christmas).

I also joined a cheap gym and decided that something was better than nothing. So I didn't make any stringent goals or set high expectations.. I simply walk. That's it. While I am at work I line up several podcasts for the upcoming week and on days I want to go to the gym I have something to entertain me for 60-90 minutes for my walk.

So anyway, if you're thinking of starting a new lifestyle this year and don't know how to even get started, I hope this gives you some avenues to at least look into it. After all this my only regret is not doing this 5 or even 10 years ago. It is possible, and you CAN have a productive new year.

Good luck, and I hope 2020 is as good for you as it will be for me

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Wanting to Lose but Worried [16FTM]

Hi all, I’m sure you see a lot of titles similar to this (or about starting in general) so thank you for bearing with me. TL;DR at the bottom.

As the title says, I’m 16, FtM, and worried about losing weight. I want to, by all means! I am 190 lbs (86.183 kg) and 5’4 (162.56 cm) and want to get down to at least 140 lbs (63.503 kg) — a healthy weight for my height.

However, I come from an overweight family with a history of diabetes and every experience I’ve had with losing weight caused my mental health to tank (mainly because it then became about self esteem, self image, and how much I should be “obsessing” about it).

I want to diet, because I know the foods I’m eating are a part of the problem, but a lot of the diets I’ve been seeing either remove/exclude meat or are rather extreme ... definitely fit for an adult who lives under their own roof. I wish I could find a diet that includes or even encourages certain meats; does anyone have any suggestions?

And with me still living with my family, how do I politely decline certain drinks, foods, etc. without causing suspicion or concern? My mom thinks that anytime I read the calories on labels or start to exclude certain foods I’m becoming self conscious about my body and have decided to pick up harmful eating habits.

Is it really worth trying to diet now, or do I need to wait? I’m not sure if this information is necessary, but I plan to enlist in the USCG (or a similar service) after HS, which is actually one of the key factors to wanting to lose weight.

Any other advice, tips, etc. are welcome!

TL;DR

1. I’m 16, FtM, 195 lbs and 5’4. I want to lose roughly 55 pounds so I become a healthier weight

2. I’m a little worried my mental health will take a dive or dieting and losing weight will become negative for me (mentally & emotionally)

3. I’m looking for a diet that includes or even encourages meat consumption

4. I’m worried about politely declining certain foods my family offers and how they’ll take my diet / weight loss

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Couple looking to do the most obvious resolution and in need of tips

My BF and I, like many others, will begin a weight loss journey in 2020. We are going to commit to keto and intermittent fasting but our biggest issue is working out. We HATE gyms. They never work for us, so we would rather classes or self directed. Classes around us are actually super expensive so we are going off some Groupons until we find what we like. We can do long walks and hikes but NJ is gonna get pretty cold in the next few months and I don't want it to deter us from our commitment. End of the day we have bad impulse control and will talk ourselves out of working out. We work crazy hours, both on our feet a lot and get home tired. We need an entire lifestyle change. Anyone like to give us some tips so we can do this together? Please and thanks in advance.

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My Psyche was heavier than the 80 pounds I lost ever was.

I am new to posting to this subreddit and for my first post I wanted to get super personal. I apologize that this is so long, I have found that no one in my life likes my answers to, "how did you do it?" I've stopped being able to share my answers, because people aren't interested in what I really did. How I lost 80 pounds is an incredibly life changing thing for me, so I was hoping you all would appreciate these answers more.

So....how DID I do it?

In May, 2018, I started my weight loss journey. At the time, I weighed a little under 260 pounds. I was always told I carried my weight well, people often told me I looked like I weighed 50 pounds less than I actually weighed at any given time. My body image and self esteem fueled my perspective of myself and I struggled with a lot of body dysmorphia. A couple years before I gained so much weight, I was recovering from Anorexia. My mental image of myself was skewed and I blamed other people for it.

For reference, here is a comparison photo of my weight loss:

http://imgur.com/gallery/vI69TDJ

(I am not sure if the link will hyper link, as I am on mobile.)

I've dieted a million times in the past, so I wasn't completely new to the process. I had tried every diet you could think of, I exercised in so many different ways, and the weight wasn't really coming off. Leading up to May 2018, I had come to the conclusion that I would eat whatever I wanted, because frankly, I deserved it.

In my mind, I was never going to truly lose the weight I wanted and this misconstrued conception developed a very unhealthy attitude towards food. I fostered this mindset that I was "fighting" my body to get healthier and that it was self destructive to try and change it. I developed this "treat yo self" mindset in which every minor set back would be rewarded with food to compensate for the inconvenience. I was eating my feelings and validating it with the thought process that, "I will love myself regardless of what I look like."

This mentality caused me to gain over 100 pounds in less than a year.

Around May of last year, I decided to try diet and exercise again. This time around I did something different.

I had to cycle through dozens of highs and lows to realize that I was loving myself wrong. I had to stop rewarding my negative emotions with food. I had to stop seeing it as punishing myself when I exercised. Instead of seeing diet and exercise as a fight, I had to embrace it as a form of healing. In a lot of ways, I had to reprogram my brain to accept that loving myself meant wanting to do better for myself. I had to address the fact that I was misleading myself in believing that "I'm sexy all the time" did not excuse making unhealthy choices. I was neglecting the part of losing weight that entails accepting I'm not always going to lose it immediately. I had to consistantly remind myself that I could "treat myself" without it being an unhealthy decision. Most of all, I had to stop seeing food as good and bad and see it as healthy and unhealthy.

The biggest weight loss hurdle no one told me about was that I had to reroute my brain to a completely different outlook on life. I had to stop thinking, "punishment is key" and start thinking, "moderation is key ". It took several months to realize that the one unhealthy good item I had was okay, but that I could not keep having more of it. I trained my body to be satisfied with smaller portions by reminding myself that it's not a sprint, it's a marathon.

I realized that I didn't have anyone or anything to blame for my lack of motivation or progress. I didn't gain weight because of the weather. I wasn't able to lose weight because I was big boned. I didn't love myself right because I didn't love myself, not because someone else didn't love me right. No one made me eat that entire plate of pasta. It wasn't my coworkers fault that I ate 3 slices of the pizza she bought me. I didn't gain weight this week because I drank so much water, it was because I had Taco Bell 3 days in a row. I stopped blaming other people and things and took responsibility for my own actions.

At the same time, I stopped judging myself for those actions, too. I stopped beating myself up for eating too much spaghetti at lunch. I stopped calling myself a fatty for enjoying the chips and cheese I snacked on. I gained the knowledge that the more I insulted myself, the more I was fueling the superfluous, gnawing need to eat my feelings.

Once I stopped judging my actions, the real journey began. I only cut out small things, so that I wasn't completely restricting myself. First, it was just soda. Then sweet tea. Then chips. After I cut back on the overindulging, I started craving the good things. When I did eat oreos, they made me feel physically sick. I stopped weighing myself every day and took measurements once a month. I thought longer about my side options when I ate out, rather than giving into the instant gratification of unhealthy foods. Eventually, making healthy decisions became a habit, because I wasn't making the unhealthy ones anymore.

I didn't take any weight loss supplements. I didn't try any crazy diet fads (except for a 10 day keto stint which ended in my body having severe hormonal imbalances). Alot of people stop asking for my advice when I tell them this: What I REALLY did was remind myself after every meal that, "Progress is NOT linear" and that loving myself is not always as difficult as I think it is.

TLDR; My weight loss secret is learning to love myself the RIGHT way.

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Nutrition website that may give some helpful tips for folks working to lose weight! LINK INCLUDED

Hey everyone! I was perusing the Internet and found this presentation that Dr. Greger made on his website Nutritionfacts.org (his site is completely non profit and evidence-based, he’s creating this content to help inform and educate people) on weight loss. I’ve only read half of it so far and I’ve learned SO much about healthy food choices and tricks to advance my weight loss journey. I thought and hope it may be helpful to at least some of you! Best of luck to each of you and happy holidays! 😊

Also this presentation is handy because it is in a video format but you can also read the transcript (which is easier for me to retain) happy losing!

Evidence Based Weight Loss

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Day 1? Starting your weight loss journey on Saturday, 28 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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