Breaking generations of bad relationships with food

I believe my biggest revelation of this entire journey for me has been the realization that weight issues do not run genetically in my family. As a woman, I do have PCOS. Hormonal imbalance and insulin resistance did aid in my weight gain and inability to lose it, that is true.. but I used to use that as a crutch. It was the sole reason I was overweight and nobody could tell me different.. that is, until I lost the weight.

Much of my mother’s side of the family is overweight or morbidly obese. I was one of my mothers two children that suffered the blow of this generational curse. My family LOVES food. We love to cook. We love the hospitality part of it. We love caring for others. We live for the compliments on our prepared foods or recipes. It’s a passion of many family members of mine, including myself.. but our speciality? Is down home, country cooking. Butter for days. Potatoes and pasta for days. Fried food galore. Massive portion sizes because this was a labor of love. And our dependence. Oh, man.

Several of my family members use food as a source of comfort. Two years into this and about half way through I had accepted I have a food addiction. Food is my happy place. It gives me comfort when I stuff myself full. My mom taught me these tendencies, even though she may not have known it. We both have had a weight loss journey. Each of us losing over 130 lbs. we understand what has happened here now.

Generations of poor eating habits. Generations of dependence on food and poor coping mechanisms. Mental health issues that were never dealt with properly. It all adds up now. I wasn’t fat because of my genetics, but because of my family’s eating habits that have persisted for decades and generations.. but this ends with me.

I will not suffer or limit my own life because I cannot find self control. I will not implement poor eating habits into my future children’s lives. They will understand the importance of nutrition and a balanced diet. I can’t continue this kind of generational suffering. I won’t have it and I’m so glad to have come to this realization. It’s a hard pill to swallow and it’s sometimes hard not to feel bitter about it, but my mom knows this suffering. She didn’t mean to continue the line of negligence and neglect, but it happened, and it has to stop somewhere.

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from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/2XwOLUj

Just your standard accountability post

So the past few months have sucked for everyone, for obvious reasons. I'm lucky and privileged enough that the area of my life most affected by the pandemic so far is weight loss. What with the stress and staying at home, I've undone all the progress I made pre-lockdown - not only physically, but mentally. Although from around January I developed some positive behaviours and habits, I feel like I have to relearn them all again now. I have no idea how to control my eating habits anymore. I've been making half-hearted attempts to keep up with CICO using MFP, but have developed a habit of tracking until the goal calories are met, and then just keep eating without acknowledging those extra cals. My skin is awful, I'm eating less fruit and veg than I ever have, self-esteem is maybe one or two levels away from rock bottom; overall, my outer appearance is just really starting to reflect my inner self, if that doesn't sound too pretentious and wafty.

I've started going for more walks recently, and that's been nice. But I've also started to overeat in compensation for the calories burnt, which I used to be pretty good at avoiding. Think this restart from ground zero will involve as much work on mental health as physical, and it'll be tough. I'm pretty much just feeling that odd fear that this is it now, I'm just going to keep gaining weight and hating myself forever, so there's no point trying. But intellectually I know it is worth the effort, I've managed it before, and it's just a case of starting. I want to feel proud of myself again.

So the plan is to start food tracking again, but focus on nutrition as well as just calories - and track every calorie, even if I feel ashamed by the result. Learn to confront this reality again in a positive way. Eat more high-volume fresh stuff, cut down sugar and oil, and try to be kinder to myself. There are more important things going on in the world at the moment than my health, but that doesn't mean I should just give up completely. And every day is a chance to improve on the day before; today walked so that tomorrow could run!

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from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/3kcFavJ

Day 1? Starting your weight loss journey on Wednesday, 05 August 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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from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/3gx7PJt

My first new years resolution I’ve actually stuck to

I started my weight loss journey on January 1st of this year at at around 180 lbs (I first weighed myself 3 weeks in so I’d imagine my starting weight was slightly higher). As a 5’4 female this put my just in the obese category. My self confidence was at an all time low and I was disgusted in myself about how much I was eating, especially over the holiday period, so I decided I needed to change. I bought a fitbit tracker and decided I would start to log my calories, which was something completely alien to me. Today, 217 days later, I reached my goal weight and weighed in at 146lbs, which puts my just in the healthy weight category. I have struggled with my weight all my life and whenever i’ve tried to lose in the past it’s been a short 2 day stint of restricting myself, then inevitably slipping back into my old ways. This is the first time in my life I’ve managed to set myself a goal and actually stick to it, which I’m super proud of. I kick myself sometimes as I wish I’d started sooner, but I never realised it could be as simple as put more out than you put in. One day it just clicked and I realised I can do this and still be happy and social and not have to miss out on things like beer and burgers, if i’m sensible about it. I have been following around 1200 calories each day and I was going to the gym until Covid hit, when I started walking instead, every day. On the days where I’m more active or just more hungry I will up my calories and listen to my body. Who knew that a gentle exercise like waking could make such a massive difference.
I thought that when I reached my goal weight, I’d be shouting it from the rooftops. But I feel bad for telling my friends and family as many of them are struggling with their weight and I don’t want to be that person who is rubbing it in and making them feel worse about themselves (I’ve definitely been there). So I decided to make a post on here instead, as this sub along with a few others have been a great source of inspiration along this journey and I hope that other people can do the same with this. I know my journey pales in comparison to some of the amazing people on this sub who have lost 100lbs+, but I felt like sharing this as it’s something I’m super proud of. My goal weight has now changed and I would ideally like to lose another 14-20 lbs, but that’s okay as I know I can get there eventually. Slow and steady wins the race.

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feeling uncomfortable after boyfriend and co workers are complimenting me and are jealous

Hi /loseit/,

I am a cocktail waitress at a major casino. I have lost about 15 pounds of fat during quarantine and I went down a full dress size. Now I look more in shape with and look better in my dress at work. I am getting way more compliments than what I am used to from female co workers, and even some dudes who work in security almost every single day. My boyfriend has also been staring at my booty way more often and is asking me where I have been much more frequently because I wore shorts. All of these compliments are starting to make me want to cry out of anxiety. I haven't even tried hard at the end, I am just eating healthier by decreasing my carb intake and eating more meat. I feel better by following the ketogenic diet. I am losing weight now without realizing it because i am simply eliminating certain food groups.

It is 8:17 pm and I am feeling a high amount of anxiety at my home. People stare at me ALL THE TIME. I don't like it. People complimenting me, but underneath those compliments is just shear jealousy and anger. This hurts me quite a lot.

How do you guys deal with jealousy after a fantastic and healthy weight loss?

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First binge in months... put some things in perspective.

I have struggled with binge eating my entire life (I just never realized what it was until recently) I started my weight loss in March, and I’m down 30 lbs !! Only 10 more to my goal. However, I just fell into my first binge since I started this whole thing. And I wasted it on half a bag of chocolate chips and half a bag of some marshmallows. To anyone curious, yes I allow myself to eat things I love and I don’t restrict myself from “bad” foods. My bingeing is more like a sense of lack of control, where it gets in my head and won’t stop unless I give in. I understand relapses happen, and I have to view my binge eating like an addict. It’s going to be hard, and I’m going to struggle, but i need to pick myself back up again and keep moving forward. This will NOT set me back. And I forgot how gross I feel after a binge, and I already know I’ll now be up all night with acid reflux. Using this as a lesson to remind myself that I made it the last 5 months without bingeing, I can make it even longer this next time. To anyone else who struggles with binges, do not hate yourself if you fall into a binge. Pick up, keep moving forward, and remember tomorrow is a new day! It happens to the best of us, and this is going to be a lifelong struggle to overcome and you won’t magically get better overnight. You got this!

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from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/31ozk1w

8 weeks in & 17.2lbs/7.8kg lost (or 9.2% of my SW!) & here are my learnings & feelings so far!

I'm officially 8 weeks into my weight loss "journey" (kinda hate that term for it, but it is what it is).

Me–

30/F, 5'2"/157cm, SW: 187lbs/84.8kg, CW: 169.9lbs/77kg, GW: 125lbs/56.7kg

Gained the weight slowly but steadily over 10 years or so (Weight gaining math that shows how slow and easy it was to gain 54lbs/24.5kg), didn't realize I was fat until I randomly started to decide to lose weight (6 weeks in and realizing how fat I am for the first time) as kind of a quarantine project.

Exercise –

I've always been pretty active, so I just kept doing that and pushed myself a little harder. Was walking most days before just as a COVID activity. Added 35 minutes of lap swimming 4x a week, a weekly hike with a friend, and continued some of the evening walks with my partner. Added some more weekend hikes, but no pressure.

Do you need to exercise to lose weight? –

This question gets asked on here all the time and you definitely don't. But I do find that it helps me mentally, helps me through quarantine/COVID feelings, helps me feel good and strong and happy. Plus, I'm generally burning, who knows maybe 200-700 calories in a day depending on activities. I don't modify my eating for my light exercise so it's just extra calories burned, which only helps. Seriously. It helps a lot. So, if you can and you're game, I recommend!

Diet–

When I started the diet, I had a few things I was just NOT willing to give up, namely half and half in my coffee, and sourdough toast covered in butter for breakfast (I got into that sourdough bread making thing and it's delicious). Also, ice cream in the evenings.

Obviously you can't have everything, but I kinda needed to ease into it, so here's what I did:

I made an excel doc that mapped out calories (and macros) of my foods and meals and make a plan. I started by eating 1300 calories a day. Now I am at 1250 a day (I am short, remember). I love vegetables and whole foods, so I filled the rest of my diet with those things: Lean ground turkey, lots of veggies and fresh fruit. Salad with fixin's for lunch, smoothie with spinach and a banana for breakfast, etc. I generally eat like this anyways, so that part I'll confess wasn't hard. It was the ice cream and butter and toast and half and half that we're killing me. (a la this post, remember? https://www.reddit.com/r/loseit/comments/hmn1vo/crazy_gaining_weight_math_and_a_formula_so_that/)

I put those things I wasn't willing to compromise on in and then worked around them. After the first day, where I was hungry, I said to myself, "Okay, fine, that won't work." I moved a few calories away from the half and half in my coffee and added it to dinner. I cut the toast down. I swapped out the ice cream for Halo Top.

In the 8 weeks from when I first started, I've continued to do this. I count calories in that I measure and weigh my food, but when I wake up in the morning I generally know exactly what I am eating for the day. I make sure to eat all of my calories, I move things around during the day if I want to eat something different. I basically eat the same smoothie and salad for breakfast and lunch every day (plus I still have half and half in my coffee, just in a muuuuch smaller amount, haha), so there's a lot of flexibility for dinner and snacks depending on what we're in the mood for. Breakfast is 225 calories, lunch is 181 calories, snacks throughout the day (generally between lunch and dinner and dinner and bed) are almost 450 calories give or take, and dinner usually sits in the 300-400 calorie range (if it's higher, I eat less snacks).

I drink a lot of water naturally (I love it) and not much soda, although I started getting some of those rootbeer Zevia drinks (zero cals) to crush my sweet tooth when I need to. I don't want to get hooked, but I also figure it's not a big deal. I generally have some ice cream every night.

I aim for 30% of my diet from protein and am okay with anywhere from 20-30% protein on a regular basis.

I work treat meals into my calorie plan. Since I started there has been only one day where I messed up and had too many calories when we did some social distance hangs with friends and got pizza and I couldn't help gobbling it down, hahaha.

Hunger–

I was soooooo hungry the first three or four days, kinda hungry the first two weeks, and now am only really hungry when it's almost dinner time. After dinner, I'm generally stuffed. We really go in for the volume eating, with lots of vegetables and lean ground turkey or chicken done up in various styles each night. (Thai, Italian, Indian, random flavor combos... mmmm. I love to cook and have had fun experimenting with different tasty dinner flavors to make similar calorie items work out).

When we started out, I literally felt like, "OMG, there is ZERO chance I can do this for 9 months. Zero! It's sooo hard!" But I committed to making changes that made it feel easier and easier and I acclimated and now it feels totally fine and very sustainable.

Results–

I've had pretty consistent results: 3-4 lbs the first week and then after that anywhere between 1.8-2.2lbs a week on average. I've had a few stalls where my weight didn't change for a week or two but then I caught up to my general trend.

I weigh daily in the morning, once a day not more, record it on Happy Scale and My Fitness Pal (I have Happy Scale because the trends and predictors are awesome, MFP because I've had an account for years and I like comparing past weights from random times that I logged it and want this log for the future in that site, so double). I don't let the weight on the scale get to me: It's just a number. I don't get particularly attached to it going up or down (exception was the two weeks where it didn't move up or down even a tenth of a lb...): It's just a means to an end. It's just a number. It's just a data point that lets me know I'm doing things right.

An interesting result of not caring too much about the scale has been that in the same way that I don't really care about daily fluctuations, I've found little excitement in scale results. I saw 169 today and I was like, "Well, I guess that's that. Eventually we'll get to GW." It's been an interesting change from first seeing 179 when I think my body went cold and tingly for a moment after realizing that this was really working... hah! It really is just a number though: A data point to help you assess your results! :)

I didn't feel much change until recently as I've started to approach 10% lost. I'm finally seeing changes in clothes, (pants & shorts fitting better, underwear falling off). That has been wonderful.

​

Motivation–

I didn't really have a moment, just kinda decided I had better give it a try. We'd been eating lots of baked goods during isolation and it felt like... maybe this was the time to "get skinny." haha. After I hit my stride, I put possible future weights on my calendar for me to look forward to. It's not strict and I may not hit them, but it helps me to visualize that as long as I keep walking the walk, so the speak, I'll get there. It's just a matter of time, really.

That's been the other thing: I plan out my meals, I have lots of snacks I love and look forward to (mostly healthy). I feel good about what I am eating and the movement I'm having fun with. It's a weird time to be alive these days, but I'll turn 31 next year no matter what and it feels like... might as well get there. When it's "this easy" there's no reason to not, ya know?

The other thing for me has been: Now that I have the weight loss thing going smoothly, what OTHER things do I want to have done by the time I hit my GW? I've tried to focus my energy into accomplishing other goals in the same way that I'm working on my weight: A little bit at a time every day. A little bit of practice, a little bit of effort. It hasn't always been perfect, but I've worked on some goals and it's been fun and interesting and powerful.

And so that's it, for now! As with anything, you have to do the bit you have to do that day and nothing else. Nothing more, nothing less.

With weight loss or with any goal, the brick you lay each day is not impressive except in the repetition of what you said you would do, but rather in the house you've built when you look back at the end of the year. The daily effort may feel small, but the accumulation of all that effort over time is amazing.

Sorry this got so long! And I don't even know if I deserve to post this since I'm only 25% of my way to my goal, buuut this community has been super supportive and a great read to help keep me on track and I wanted to share! Thank you thank you!!

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