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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