Lost 36 pounds in a year, there's hope for slower and older losers.

I have lost 36 pounds in a year, and wanted to share some hope with other people who are also slow losers. And a big thank you to everyone who posts and comments here. This community is so motivating and supportive.

Since June 2019, I have lost 36 pounds, from 229 to 193 after decades of yo-yo dieting. In June, I realized I needed to figure it out for good or I could easily weigh 400 pounds.

What is working:

· CICO, CICO, CICO and the Quick Start approach on this subreddit. In June 2019, I started making little changes week by week: drinking more water, not counting exercise calories, dropping my calorie budget by 100 calories a day, reviewing patterns daily and adjusting. A year later, it’s now a pretty natural way of eating.

· Started tracking calorie accurately in August using a food scale (after seven years of using the Lose it app). Eyeballing calories was incredibly misleading: my “one” ounce of cheese was actually three, it wasn’t two ounces of cream in my coffee but six! A “small” handful of nuts was actually two ounces and a huge calorie count.

· Prior to June 2019, I could easily eat 3000 calories a day (and still feel hungry!!). Now I am averaging 1550 calories a day and NOT feeling hungry!! Not feeling hungry because of: IF (16:8 but not strict); two meals a day; 50% of calories from fat; drinking 8 to 10 glasses of water a day; and a Goldilocks approach to carbs (50 to 100 grams a day) as too many carbs trigger cravings but too few carbs trigger depression.

· I still have treats: dark chocolate, raspberries, an occasional IPA, Halo Top, my favourite burger). However some foods are not worth the calories: store bought baking, fast food French fries, chips, iced-tea, soda, etc.

· Broke a month long plateau in April 2020 (was actually gaining slightly while meeting calorie targets!) by eating at maintenance for a week. Am now incorporating a 2/5 approach while averaging 1550 calories a day.

· Motivation: this subreddit and the Progress pics subreddit; also my before pics, progress pics and keep going pics; taking measurements; looking at the Lose-it app graphs and that steady trend downwards. Any time my clothes get loose (especially slacks) I donate them and get clothes that fit; wearing loose clothes can easily fool me into thinking I have lost enough weight. Holding the weight lost (bags of cat food, flour) has also been very tangibly motivating, especially when I couldn’t really see or feel the initial weight loss until the first 30 pounds was lost. (It was very helpful to know about the paper towel effect!).

· 36 pounds lost is a good start but still a ways to go to reach 60 pounds lost by my 60th birthday in Feb 2021 and then another 20 or 30 pounds to go after that, and be really $%#$% careful about maintenance.

A progress pic https://www.reddit.com/r/progresspics/comments/gxuttu/f5957_229lbs_193lbs_36lbs_one_year_theres_hope/

Wishing everyone good luck and success on their weight loss journeys, at whatever age you are!

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Time for a new goal (finally reached my goal weight I set 5 years ago!!)

F/25/162cm (5'4) SW: 89.3 (197) CW: 59.8 (132) GW: 60(132)

NEW goal weight: 50-55 but focusing on how my body looks and feels compared to a number.

Guys I did it!! In 2015 I was absolutely sick of my size and tried out My Fitness Pal to keep a log of my weight loss. It was an incredibly slow battle and I don't think my heart was fully in it. Made some attempts but ultimately ended up not going on the app until January 2017 when I tracked progress until July. This year in March I decided to get my life and health together and really stick to it. I joined this sub and started reading for suggestions and motivations. I joined r/running and took that up a few times a week and I also made it a goal to finally be able to do the splits (I can do a right leg front split and almost the left!). Running isn't really my thing so I've swapped to yoga and I'm so much happier. I count calories and although I've been veggie for years, a more vegan diet has really been great in keeping me both full and low in calories. My relationship with food has completely changed in which instead of being a comfort it now provides my body with sustenance. I think this has been the most important change as I was most definitely over-eating quite regularly, and nothing healthy either.

I suppose over over those years I lost some naturally and through tons of walking in customer service jobs. In March of this year I started at 70kg (154) and today I finally saw a number on the scale below that of the number I have idolised over the last 5 years. I still have A LOT of work to do but I got to that number and there was a long time where I thought it wouldn't be possible. It is amazing what our bodies are capable of and I am so thankful of this lovely community for sharing this journey with me.

Keep on keepin' on!

Edit:messed up the order of kg/lbs and wanted to keep it constant.

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Losing weight releases toxins...some truth to this?

Since I began losing weight again in quarantine after being stuck at one weight for over a year, I'm starting to feel crappy again. I felt good when I stopped losing, now I feel crappy again and I do wonder if there's truth to the idea that built up fat releases toxins when it's burned.

I worry because now I'm down to 170, 7 pounds more than I was when I began gaining in 2013. I'm digging into the fat that built up long ago. I plan to go down to at least 154, the weight at which I'll no longer be overweight. I really hope that I don't feel even worse then.

I just want this weight gone and to feel good again. I feel like I have weight loss flu.

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Day 1? Starting your weight loss journey on Saturday, 06 June 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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I can't imagine myself at my goal? I've never been "slim" and even progress can't convince me.

Has anyone else felt this way? It's almost self-sabotaging.

I've been overweight all my life and been trying to lose weight since my early teens. (I'm now 24). I've seen friends go through dramatic fitness transformations and of course many of the success stories here on Reddit! But somehow, I simply can't imagine that I will one day have my goal body.

I just started my weight loss journey again in earnest and have already made some progress. I'm happy I'm sticking to my nutrition plan and overcoming my cravings, but simply imagining me with my ideal (or even, not overweight body) seems unfathomable!

Does anyone else feel this way?

It's as if I feel like I'll never be the owner of a slim, fit body. And I'll never not hate my body in some way. I know this is dumb because weight loss is not IMPOSSIBLE. It's just such a discouraging thing to tell myself even whilst I'm working so hard every day.

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Need advice on getting past hurt emotions and finding motivation

Hi! So I’m 22f and pretty much over the past year I’ve gained about 30 pounds going from around 170 lbs to 200, which is the heaviest I’ve ever been. Before that I had gained about 20 lbs from my thinnest weight, around 150 which didn’t last long and was only because I got pretty sick at one point. Otherwise, my lowest weight with working out and conscious eating was 160-165. That was about 2.5 years ago. Even then and at my lowest weight I still wanted to lose more weight, but was still proud of my body, felt really healthy, and was happy. I’m very curvy and have an athletic build, so I think that a goal weight around 150 would be reasonable and what I’d like to strive for. A number of life and mental health things have led me to this current weight.

I want to lose weight not only to gain back my confidence, but also to feel comfortable and healthy, you know, wearing clothes you like and not having your thighs and butt chafe so badly that you can’t move.

I want to lose weight, but I’m having a terrible time getting back the intrinsic motivation to do so. Specifically, I just went through a break-up that really didn’t help my self-esteem. We weren’t physical for the last probably four months of the relationship, and while I know this does not define me, it still really got to me. This person was also very vocal about women he found attractive to me. He would go out of his way, ask me if I thought anyone was cute, specifically so he could feel okay about pointing out a girl he found “absolutely stunning.” He also had mostly girl friends, and his closest friend was a girl who does nude modeling and is stick thin. Again, I know none of these things are actually about me. However, I can’t stop thinking about them. I can’t stop thinking about his best friend and how I don’t look like that and maybe that’s why he didn’t want anything to do with my body. There were a lot of other things going on and he said it was emotional, but I can’t help but doubt him.

When I think about logging calories, working out, drinking more water, starting small, etc etc I want to but I get so frustrated. I know that if I actually want to lose 50 pounds, it’s going to take real time and dedication. I wish I had the motivation to do that. And sometimes I do. I think about how unhappy I was at one point, how I took the necessary steps to get healthier (when I was around 160 I had lost about 25 lbs) and how great it felt.

But right now I am so stuck on where I am not. I keep thinking about his model friend. I keep thinking about how he didn’t want me. I keep thinking about how things might have been different if I were thinner. Sometimes the sadness and anger fuels me, like I could get healthier to spite him. But that doesn’t last long, because I just get sad about how long it will take and how long until I could actually be happy with my body again.

Logically I know that I have to start here, that I can go forwards or backwards and that’s my choice. I want to go forwards. But I’m really struggling about these what-if thoughts, letting them depress me and letting that feeling overwhelm my desire to change. What if I can never look like his friend? Is it even worth it then? This is my constant spiral.

I know a lot of this is not just about weight loss and has an emotional aspect, but I thought this would be a good sub for it.

Has anyone been here before? Does anyone have advice on getting past this?

I really want to get healthy. I want to get my confidence back and stop letting this hold me back. I really want something different, but how do I push through these thoughts?

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I'm taking a break for a week

Not sure if this deserves its own post but I'm really frustrated with food recently.

I've lost nearly 18lbs so far since I started in April and its been going really well in quarantine, but this week is going to be difficult and I already know I don't want to spend every second of it worrying about food.

This is the first week I've been reunited with my family in three months! I've been so freaking happy and grateful that I get to see everyone, and we're all cooking old family favorites nearly every day. It feels like a holiday, and jumping right into these festivities after nearly 2 months of controlling my diet to 1200 calories was hard at first.

Eventually, I've kind of given myself some slack. We've got my sister's graduation this week and then in 5 days we get on a plane out of the country for the summer. I don't want my memories of this time to be about me worrying about food, especially if it'll just cause arguments with my family. I've decided to take a break from calorie counting for exactly one week: During this time I will eat whatever I want BUT the catch is that I will not binge, I have to eat normal portions (similar to TDEE), I'll still eat loads of fruits/veggies with every meal, and I have to drink my usual 96oz of water.

I'm not sure how this week will play out. I'm a little scared of losing control but I was starting to get really really focused on calories in an unhealthy way (my last 'meal' was literally 0 cal miso soup with a 100cal block of tofu, YIKES). Eating was starting to become a source of anxiety even though it shouldn't ever be that way. I'm also reminded of how much I love food; I love cooking with my family and I hope maybe I can even introduce them to some of my new healthy favorites.

Anyways... I'm so worried about gaining weight but I'm trying to stay positive! I know this probably isn't the best for my overall weight loss, but I'm willing to sacrifice a week because realistically, my goal is to lose another 20lbs by the end of October, and at 1lb a week, this shouldn't be too hard to achieve :)

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