Stopped counting calories, still losing weight. This really is a lifestyle change.

Over the last couple years I've gone from over 200lbs as a 5'6 woman to my current weight of 133.9lbs. Not all of it was healthy weight loss, I have struggled with disordered eating for a lot of my life. But the last year I dropped about 30 lbs just counting calories religiously, and it's been actually pretty easy, albeit inconvenient. I didn't deprive myself of any foods, I just found a way to keep them in my budget. I kept to about 12-1300 calories a day, with occasional cheat days where I'd let myself go up to maintenance if there was a special occasion.

My original goal weight was 135, but I've decided I'd like to lose 10 more pounds than that, however I've gotten kind of tired of counting calories. So, I decided to try eating without weighing my food and see how it goes. It's been about a week, and while I'm still aware of about how much I'm eating and I'm making healthy choices, I've also had ice cream almost everyday the last week, as well as steak dinners. And I've lost over a pound!

I guess this is what intuitive eating is, right? I have a solid grasp on nutrition and general calorie counts, but I'm not weighing out every single thing. It's very freeing, and apparently still effective at helping me reach my goals. I feel confident that I can continue to lose, and eventually maintain for the rest of my life.

https://imgur.com/a/91PrjeW

I'm not sure exactly what weight I'm at here, probably around 180, could be higher. I didn't take any progress photos as I was usually very insecure. The other picture is me 5 minutes ago.

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Losing weight without counting calories?

When I was in high school, I struggled with severe anorexia, to the point where doctors weren't sure I would ever fully recover. But I did! And then I went too far and was borderline obese.

It's been a few years since then, and I'm now at a healthy weight (21F/5'4/140lbs) but I'm not quite happy with it. Not in the same way I was with my anorexia, I just want to be fitter and take better care of my body. My goal is 115-125lbs. But the problem is, I can't count calories without sending myself into a relapse.

I was nearly 190 at my heaviest, and I lost those 50 pounds over the course of a year, maintaining around 140 for 2 years now. But I lost that weight mainly through unhealthy restriction and old disordered habits. I don't want to go down that road again.

I eat most likely around 1200-1500 calories a day if I had to estimate, and I play sports for 1-2 hours at least 4 days a week, burning an average of about 450 calories each time (estimate based on fitbit readings). I'm tired of being stuck at this weight no matter what I do, but I'm worried most traditional weight loss methods will trigger a relapse.

I've been doing 16/8 intermittent fasting for about 2 weeks now and haven't seen a significant change in my weight, though I feel like my stomach appears more bloated. I'm not quite sure if IF is the best fit for me. Any advice or recommendations?

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Getting fit by 40

39-year-old male here. This might be a lengthy post...

Growing up I was always SUPER skinny. I couldn't gain weight no matter how hard I tried. Through high school, college, etc. I was just always skinny. Fast forward several years and I got married and at the time was working at a mall where I would close around 9 pm, come home, eat an enormous dinner (mostly pasta) and go right to bed. As you can expect, the pounds started coming with a force.

When I got married I was around 145 lbs. That was almost 17 years ago. After one year of marriage, I was close to 180.

Fast forward 17 years. I'm still married and now have three kids, and I'm now 254 lbs, the heaviest I've ever been. Tying my shoes gets me winded. I'm an "audible breather." I try to be in as few photos as possible. I'm INCREDIBLY self-conscious about how I look. My lifestyle habits are a perfect storm of poor choices that I seem to be stuck in:

• I work a desk job. I'm currently working from home but even when I'm not I still mainly just sit all day.
• I have some form of alcohol almost every night while watching TV with my wife. It used to be beer but I recently cut that out and opted for whiskey just so I didn't feel so bloated.
• I have terrible cravings every time I drive by a fast-food establishment. Just last night I had two chicken sandwiches from Chick-fil-a at 9:30 pm.
• I don't enjoy drinking water. I think it's because I love carbonation, yet I hate pretty much all carbonated water.
• In my late 20s, I developed knee pain on the outside of my left knee which several doctors have essentially boiled down to me just being overweight. Because of this pain, working out sucks. I can't squat, I can't lunge, and any type of long walk or jog makes it awful. There are still things I can do at the gym but those things in particular suck.
• I get bored easily. I can start anything but keeping it up gets boring to me.
• I... freaking... love... food.

Possibly the worst part of all of this is that I feel like I know almost too much about weight loss. I've been lurking on this subreddit for years. I've read the compendium several times. I've logged food. I've done keto (lost about 25 but gained it all back). I've done CICO (same story). In 2013 I was 199.8 which was my first time under 200 in 10 years, but it was short-lived. I know the science behind it. I know how to lose weight. I know what I need to do. I feel like I know enough that I've been able to counter every bit of knowledge with my own excuse.

But there's one lingering piece of motivation for me. In 19 days I'll be 39 years old. In one year and 19 days, I will cross over into my 40s. There's nothing magical or physically significant about that but to me, it's a big deal. I don't want to go into my 40s like I am now. I just don't. For the sake of myself, my wife, and my kids.

I struggle to realize that I am even the same person I was in high school. The kid who so desperately wanted to gain weight can't possible be the adult who so desperately wants to lose it, right? But here we are. And I really do want to get fit by the time I'm 40.

So here are a few things I'm going to at least attempt to do:

• CICO. I'm going to get back on logging foods and trying to stick with my caloric intake goal based on my sedentary lifestyle/work.
• If that works and I'm able to drop some lbs, I'm hoping that proves the doctors right and I can start some more intentional physical activity.
• I'm going to cut back on alcohol. I know this is necessary.

My ultimate goal: I want to be below 190 lbs by my 40th birthday. July 19, 2021. It's very possible that I will fall off this. Heck, it's even possible that I won't make it 2 or 3 days. But right now, as I sit at my desk, this is what's on my mind. I would love nothing more than to be one of these countless success stories I've been reading here for years, I'm just hoping I have what it takes to do it.

I'd certainly welcome any advice or thoughts. Thank you all in advance for your support.

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Uplifting thought: Weight loss is not the point of weight loss.

I think sometimes we forget that losing weight is not a goal in itself. The goal is to be the best version of ourselves, mentally and physically. Sometimes I used to get wrapped up in the idea that first I'd lose weight, which would require a lot of suffering, and then some day, that would enable me to be happy and healthy. Thinking like that made losing weight seem like an interminable struggle - who can put off happiness that long? But the truth is, I think weight loss is easier when you *are* happy. You don't have to be thin to have a joyous spirit, and your health gets better every day that you eat well. So, you can have both of those things right now, as you are - and every day you continue on your journey will just bring you more of both. Big hugs.

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Done with “later”. The time is now.

I recently have decided to start my weight loss journey. I am a 5’6 male, 24 years old, and weigh almost 220 pounds. I have been overweight since I was a kid and I’ve always been self conscious about my body. I once lost a lot of weight after riding my bike every day, but gained it all back when I gave in to my habits of eating junk food and being lazy. I am currently at the worst point of my life. I have health issues, I’ve been unemployed for an entire year, I don’t have a place of my own, and I have little direction with what I wanna do with future goals (maybe the Army). I feel like losing weight would be what kickstarts my life back up again, and I’m all for it. Not just talk and cheap words this time. So my questions are: where should I start? How should I start? I don’t take the time to exercise at all and I don’t want to over exert myself or do it wrong and not get any results. And regarding nutrition: what diet should I follow? What are some tips and tricks to keep myself disciplined with not eating garbage/binge eating? I want to change my life for the better and be healthy for once and feel confident in my own skin. Im looking to lose about 50 pounds within this year and gain muscle. Any advice or encouraging words would help. Thank you :)

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Oh no, the dreaded plateau

I (28F) have struggled with my weight since I was about 10 years old. Always the largest person in my friendship groups, classes etc.

By the time I was 24 years old I weighed 132kg (~291 lbs). I made the decision to start making positive changes as weight loss wasn’t going to happen miraculously, I don’t have the metabolism for it. In the space of 6 months, purely through calorie counting and exercising at home, I managed to get down to 95kg (~209 lbs). Which was incredible and I was so proud of myself.

But due to changes in circumstances, moving house, moving city etc. the weight, once again, slowly crept back on as I stopped calorie counting, exercising and caring.

Which brings us to 2020. At the beginning of the year I had enough. I was fed up of feeling unfit, getting out of breath when walking up stairs or hills, hearing my office chair groan when I sat down, my clothes feeling too tight etc. I was once again 131kg (~288 lbs) and miserable.

I started regularly exercising again, between 5-6 times a week, mostly kickboxing and dancing videos on YouTube. I started counting my calories again. I started off at 1,100 calories to get into the habit and slowly increased it to 1,300-1,500 calories per day. The weight started to come off. Weekly I was losing 1.5kg (3 lbs). By week 20 I had lost almost 30kg (~66 lbs) and my old clothes were starting to fit and my confidence was growing.

But everything has now stopped. I’ve hit a wall. I’m exercising as much as before, I’m calorie counting, tracking my macros, drinking at least 4 litres of water per day, sleeping a minimum of 7 hours a night, tracking weight and food intake on MFP. I just can’t get below 100kg.

I thought it may be hormonal but I’ve never had a stalling like this.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

TL;DR - lost almost 30kg (~66 lbs) in 20 weeks now have hit a wall and the scales aren’t changing. Any suggestions are welcome.

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What I Can and Can’t Do

This is a long and potentially boring post. While I felt compelled to write it, I certainly recognize that it may not be interesting to a good number of you. I just wanted to share something important to me in the hope that it would be of value to some. TLDR at the end. 5’10 Male, SW 275, CW 205, GW 180.

Recently I’ve had a number of friends and acquaintances ask me about my weight loss. Today I’d like to explore two variants of a question that I’ve received;

Often I get asked how I’ve been doing it, which is a question I love to answer. Other times I get asked how they should be doing it, which is a question I don’t like. I don’t believe I’m capable of giving meaningful advice on weight loss beyond sharing what works for me. Simply put I don’t see weight loss as a “one size fits all” concept.

“There is no one-size-fits-all narrative; everyone’s path winds in different ways” - McBride

My current process, which evolved and continues to evolve, is relatively simplistic by design. I’ve estimated how many calories my body burns at rest, subtracted a reasonable level attributed to my weight loss goal, and ignore the impact of exercise burn. From this calculation, I have my daily caloric target; which I recalculate on a regular basis to address fluctuations in the input variables. I plan out my consumption in advance and monitor nutrition levels and macro objectives. I weigh myself daily and watch the intermediate trajectory; not day to day fluctuations. Twice a day (wake up and before bed) I do a written happiness self assessment in a journal, areas of concern are considered throughout the day and mitigation concepts are developed and implemented.

Easy to describe; but I can’t imagine suggesting that someone else try this approach. It’s highly personal and customized to how my mind works. It’s disciplined and harsh at times, and I imagine many would consider it a form of torture.

In response to requests for weight loss guidance I suggest that they let two basic principles guide their journey;

“The purpose of our lives is to be happy” - Dalai Lama

As I work through the many challenges in life, a positive mental outlook fostered by happiness is a key success factor.

"It seems that perfection is reached not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away" - de Saint-Exupéry

This is a variant or perhaps harbinger of the KISS (keep it simple stupid) philosophy that resonates with me. The more complicated a process, the harder it is for me to be successful performing it.

TLDR: my advice to others seeking weight loss advice is to focus on simplicity and happiness.

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