NSV & SV: 70 days Without Sweets or Snacks

So quick background: I struggle with overeating. I love my sweets. Most of the time I'm good during the work week, but the weekend kills me. As a result, I do little challenges to not eat sweets for X weeks as a way to lose weight. I'm a very competitive person, so pushing myself in that way works.... but leading up to that I hit the "last supper syndrome", either never make it the entire way, etc.

I'm 5'10, currently 170ish pounds and around ~22% BF (mirror estimate)

So I decided to give up sweets for lent and take it one step further by DOUBLING Lent. 80 days instead of 40. I felt myself getting a bit fluffy and wasn't happy with how I felt, so I drastically cut back. No sweets (cakes, cookies, ice cream), no "diet" sweets (Halo Top, sugar-free subs), no pretzels or chips or anything (I developed a big salt tooth last time I did this). And I'd go the full 80 days. No excuses. Last time I only made it like 60-65 days.

I'm 70 days in. Over the 70 days I went from ~177-178 to 169.8 today. Am I ecstatic with the weight loss? NO. I could have lost even more if this quarantine thing didn't happen... I was waking up at 5am 4x week and doing cardio, and lifting 4-5 days a week. I was busting my rear end. Now I'm burning, on estimate, 500 less calories a day. I scaled my calories back, but it's not perfect.

The first 10 or so days were tough. I kept going to occasions and thinking "I'm only x days in... this is a nice occasion...I should just indulge then start back up." I noticed at 21 or so days I wasn't craving sugar-filled treats anymore. I was quashing cravings with fruit, like grapes or pineapple, and satisfying my love of ice cream with Fage 5% greek yogurt (which I think I may like more than ice cream now...)

I have moments where i still crave a really good sweets, then other moments — and I've never felt this way before — where I actually feel a bit repulsed by the idea of overly indulgent sweets.

I almost gave up when I canceled my Mexico trip. Why work toward a beach body when I'm not gonna be on the beach...? But I'm doing this for my HEALTH and wellness....and only partly for the thrill of having a nice body.

Where to go from here: My cut ends on Easter. I plan on enjoying myself. I'm timid to re-introduce sweets because with my lowered level of activity, I'm worried of falling into the trap and gaining the weight back. I'd like to try and work toward, for the first time in my life, establishing a really healthy relationship with food and sweets. I wanna try and reward myself once a week with a good cheat - and keep it at that! Not say "hey I ate ice cream...this day is a waste, now I'll eat cookies and brownies..." or "oh, I'm gonna go 40 days without sweets, so let me eat myself into a diabetic comatose before I start." If I can give myself one day a week where I enjoy ONE indulgent treat and ONE higher-calorie meal where I don't worry about macros, I'll be good.

Added Motivation: On one hand, this quarantine has bought me more time for summer. I don't realistically see myself on a beach until mid summer. I also don't have the pressure of events or eating out... Everything I make, I make. I control what goes into my dishes and mouth. I have no excuses now. On the other hand, it'd feel really empowering to succeed given the restrictions. I love the idea of seeing people for the first time in X months and seeing their jaw drop if I'm able to hit my goal.

So, yeah... I know a lot of people struggle with sweets. It's so damn addicting! Feel free to AMA or chat. I was 247 pounds about 12 years ago and steadily lost it. Had those awkward chubby years, skinny fat, now I'm kinda in between dad bod/loose skin/little extra padding at 170. Lowest was 155. I was a bit too small, as I wasn't lifting properly (my fear during this quarantine). At 165ish after lifting like a beast, I was in the best shape of my life. Trying to go down to 155-160, then lift and get up to a healthy 175 over the next year or two.

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Food tips: Maintaining my weight during quarantine

I just wanted to share some of my tips on how I'm maintaining my own weight. This may not work for everyone, but I would still like to share how I'm doing it during the quarantine. For reference, I'm 5'1 and weight 120. I lost quite a bit of weight during the holiday time (surprisingly) and wanted to maintain that weight. My relationship with food has been up and down for years. I was a very chunky girl majority of my life. A lot of my weight loss is through me finding the right balance and to be discipline. I have purposely not bought any bread so I would not feel obligated to use it and eat it. Instead whenever I'm making something that would typically use bread I would have to be creative or just not have it. This forces me to not crave for the carbs. I did buy corn tortillas for several reasons. It is low in carbs and I can use it for different cuisines. Whenever I'm craving something with cheese and I want something simple, usually I would make a grilled cheese sandwich. A cheese quesadilla is a good alternative to that. I've also used corn tortillas as wraps for my gyros and shawarmas. I've also used it as an alternative to chapatis. As for snacking, I'm guilty to say I have been munching away at some chips and salsa. The salsa is always low in calories, it's usually for that reason my dip of choice. Sometimes I would make a simple cheese quesadilla with the corn tortillas and eat it with salsa. For a snack I would just eat one of these and I am satisfied. I have also bought the flavored popcorn snacks that comes in the big bag. I have gotten the herbs and spices from Trader Joe's, salt and pepper popcorn from Aldi, and my all-time favorite boom chicky pop sweet and salty. Usually two cups of popcorn would be 140 calories. Whenever I'm sitting in front of my television and I just want to snack I would reach for the popcorn. I've been making a lot of soups as it is easy to make, and store to eat for later. Soups are usually good and filling up as it's mainly liquid. I do crave for bread to be dipped into my soups, this is where the discipline comes in. I did find cauliflower crackers at Aldi and I would sometimes put them in my soup like oyster crackers. I think I just like the crunch of it among the liquid texture of the soup. I also have been putting a little bit of rice and vegetables and any leftover meats in my soups just for it to feel hearty. This is a good way to get a lot of other nutrients in your meals. I have purposely not bought any sweet treats. No ice cream, no cookies, no candy. I am a person who has a terrible sweet tooth. If I buy a whole container of ice cream, I would eat it in one sitting. I did stock up on a lot of fresh fruits. When I buy it, I chop it up and a lot of the times I would freeze it. I'm also a big tea drinker and I would make tea whenever I'm craving for something sweet. The liquid does fill me up quicker and I don't crave something sweet as much. Now I'm not saying I don't have any sugar in the house, I only have raw sugar. I have switched to only having raw sugar in my house a few years ago after a trip to India. The raw sugar satisfies my sweet craving and it doesn't overpower the flavor whatever I'm eating. I have also mixed different ground spices with my sugar to give it a little bit more flavor and so I don't use as much of it. I have ground up fresh cardamom and mixed it with my raw sugar. I would dip my fruit in this mixture. A lot of these tips are quite typical. I just thought I could share what I am doing. I would like to hear from other people what they're doing to maintain their weight during these trying times.

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Day 1? Starting your weight loss journey on Thursday, 02 April 2020? 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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Skinnyfat People: Did you have to push down your goal weight to finally get lean?

Hey Reddit,

[M26/SW199/CW166] Have any of you skinnyfat guys have come across this? I have been cutting for the past 7 months and it feels like forever. My goal is to reach 10% BF and get properly lean before bulking.

What I initially thought was going to be a few months cut, turned out to be twice as long. I've pushed my GW twice already, thinking I would have reached my goal BF percentage at that weight (172 -> 163 -> 159?), but this couldn't be further from the truth.

I think I felt into the trap of severely underestimating my BF percentage. I'm fairly tall (6.2") so I could conceive my fat levels to the point I fooled myself too. Given my weight loss I was around 30% BF, but saw myself more like 20%. Now I should be 6 lbs from seeing abs and reaching 10%, but this last month is just feeling so long.

What are your thoughts?

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Help with weight loss concerns/motivation!!

Hello! I’m a 24 y/o female.. 5’7, 15 stone 3 lbs. This time last year I was 16 stone 5 lbs (lost the weight with some effort, but mainly reduced binge eating). I want to loose the weight, I’ve got a current goal weight of 13 stone in mind (to start with). But my main issues are:

1) I start off well, then loose motivation/get lazy 2) I’m very worried about loose skin. I know my health should come first, but I struggle with body image as it is 3) I am trying to do this by weight training as well as monitoring diet, when working out, how do you actually push yourself out of your comfort zone? I really struggle with self motivation and when it gets tough I give up. I want to get out of this mindset but I’m struggling. 4) I found some photos of me at my biggest weight last year and decided to take some from my current weight - with just over a stone difference between them I expected some change to be apparent or thought I would at least look better... but it looks as though I have more cellulite and my body composition has barely changed!!!

I understand that changing your lifestyle etc is no quick fix and results will come with hard work and determination - but just need advice etc to keep me going and tell me that it’ll all be worth it!

Any help is appreciated! X

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onederland babyyyy

I know there are a lot more important things going on in the world and even this subreddit than a number on a scale, but I'm thankful I do have a more private outlet like this one to celebrate my victory. I'm a 29-year-old woman and weighed 239 lbs in early January and am down to 198 today! Really proud of my progress and figured I'd share what's been working for me.

• Running. Even at my heaviest (and I'm still obese ATM) I am lucky to have strong legs to carry me through! I downloaded the Nike Run Club app in January and began training for a half marathon, which has been a goal of mine for the last few years. Of course the race got canceled but prepping for the race, plus strength training 2 times a week has given me great results. Training helped me drink less, because I knew I wouldn't be able to run 3 miles or whatever lay ahead if I was hungover. Drinking less led to weight loss not only because of the calories I wasn't consuming via alcohol (I'm a vodka soda chick by choice anyways) but I am a really bad drunk munchies gal and once my inhibitions are out the window I want every fried food in sight. Then it becomes even worse the next day, when I'm too hungover to work out and craving something terribly greasy for the hangover. Another way running has helped ya girl: I do general calorie counting but I would often get flustered if I realized I had forgotten to log something, or tried a small bite of something and couldn't figure out how to properly log it. For the first month, I pretty obsessively logged, but once I was more mindful of approximate calories I didn't feel the need to log anymore. Running gives me the wiggle room I need so that I won't flip out and get frustrated with myself if I'm not exact with calorie counting, and it gives me a sense of control. For me, it feels like a more active way to participate in your weight loss.
• Not buying snacks. I have never been officially diagnosed with a binge-eating disorder but I know some of my habits closely align with many of the symptoms. Unfortunately it's really hard for me to have self-control when it comes to eating in moderation, particularly with handy snack foods like pita chips, string cheese, chocolate, etc. so I've just eliminated the source. I stock up on fruits, veggies, cans of soup, tuna fish, eggs, oatmeal... it's a good way to tell if I am truly hungry vs. being bored and tempted by a quick moment of hedonism.

I'm super bummed that I can't complete the half marathon as planned this weekend but I am still running and can't ever regret shedding 40 pounds and getting on my way to a healthier me. Thanks for listening!

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Rant about weight loss and mental health

This is just a rant, but if anyone has some helpful advice I'll take it. I've been struggling with weight loss for a while now and it's been extra difficult because of some chronic health issues. My rant though is that all of the motivation that I find online always seems so PUNITIVE! All I want is to find some support and motivation that isn't along the lines of "what do you like more, food, or being able to see your hip bones in a bathing suit"? There is a tone of stuff online about body positivity but none of it has the message that I can love my body while still wanting to get healthier. It's like it has to be one or the other. Either my body is perfect and it doesn't need to change, or it's a "motivation" designed to get me to exercise by feeling ashamed of myself. And every time I google healthy weight loss at this point I just get ads for noom 😒. Maybe I'm looking in the wrong spots, and I'm not saying I've seen this attitude on this sub, but it's definitely out there. And I would go so far as to say it's the dominant result when looking online for motivation.

Rant over, thanks friends.

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