I was almost going to write "progress photos" but I'm pretty much at a good weight so I changed it to "before and after" photos :)
https://i.imgur.com/ARjlYhn.jpg
So I recently remembered something about the day I started. I was so uninformed and the only thing I knew was that I wanted to make a change. The first thing I did was google “diet pills” and read about them. The ads for them of course praise them but then I saw articles that you still need to maintain a strict diet for them to work. I thought to myself "ok great so whats the point?" So I decided to go to my goto source for good advice on anything, reddit. I think I googled “reddit weight loss”. That landed me on r/loseit which was fortunate!
What got me going is the “Quick Start” info in the sidebar (a.k.a the About section).
It tells you to start by (1) downloading MyFitnessPal and (2) logging for a week without making any diet changes yet. Then you go from there.
That was really good advice, because the first thing I needed to learn was how to log. And it’s really insightful once you find out how many calories your regular diet is.
It doesn’t tell you this but I think (3) should say “(3) stay active daily in r/loseit or some other community for motivation”.
I actually was impatient and tried to change my diet after 2-3 days but it was a mistake. It didn’t really stick. But when a week was approaching I realized i was already making better choices when deciding what to eat, and I slowly introduced things that are better for weight loss into my diet.
The two other key things a month or two in were the book Conquering Fat Logic that someone here recommended and discovering r/volumeeating and how many amazingly yummy things I can still eat while limiting calories. It should actually be called /r/volume_and_yummy_low_calorie_feasting
Body fat % I started measuring half way through using the Navy Method with a tape measure. I was at roughly 30% body fat % when I was around 235lbs. Now I’m at 20%. I estimate that I was at 40% before.
I think what’s helped me stay motivated for the weight loss is:
- Learning how to keep myself sated / not hungry
- Staying active in a community. r/loseit at first primarily, making a point of logging in daily and responding & offering support & feedback to others is motivating for myself. Then later r/CICO and r/volumeeating
Keeping myself not hungry has been fairly straight forward surprisingly. I did this by keeping my body full (physically) and keeping my body full (nutritionally).
- “Physically” with low calorie high-ish volume and fiber. Fiber supplement capsules with every meal and fiber from lots of veggies which I’ve finally learned to enjoy after a lifetime of avoiding. (Roasted, raw, with sweetener, whatever!). And r/volumeeating helps with low calorie highish volume yummy ideas.
- “Nutritionally” by getting ample protein and healthy fats.
Thats really all there is to it - those two things are the killer combo resulting in your body sending your brain the signal "ok we're all good as far as food input, go focus on other stuff"
I started with 1000 calorie deficit which was fun to see the weight come off fast at 2-3lbs a week but after about 20-30 pounds I intentionally slowed it down to 1lb a week via a 500 calorie deficit. I’m planning on gradually slowly it down even more for the last 5-10lbs to ease my way back into a healthy maintenance!
Some people ask if it’s harder to lose weight when you’re my age...I haven’t found that to be the case at all. In fact if anything it’s easier because I’m more informed.
The book Conquering Fat Logic has been super informative and motivating early on. The author was overweight her entire life until she got informed by the studies (science!) highly recommended read. Its setup based on chapters related to Fat Loss Myths and she busts a lot of misconceptions.
It’s not available on Audible but if you get the Kindle version the Alexa phone app will read it to you and it sounds quite natural. I listened to it 2 or 3 times, it helps motivate too.
I would be happy staying at this weight, but I still would like to get more toned. I’m starting with r/bodyweightfitness Recommended Routine to build more muscle mass from home, it’s a bit slow going to stay motivated for that, but getting there. And slowly getting rid of a few % more of body fat would be good, so I'm continuing at deficit for now.
I've had to throw away all my clothes, which took a while to accept because it seems so wasteful, but even t-shirts that still "fit" I had to accept the fact that they did not look good anymore. You can tell by the shoulder seam, its supposed to be exactly in the diagonal top corner of the shoulders, all my shirts (Which used to XXL/Tall) had the seam start to sag down my arm. Now I'm XL in shirts and the seam is back to where its supposed to be! With Jeans I went down from 42 to 36 or 38 depending on which brand. I believe I've discarded all of my old Jeans and probably every single old t-shirt.
Also - I've "tidied up" my entire house over the last 2-3 months, including lots of discarding and organizing. (Mary Kondo style). I don't know if the weight loss inspired this, or the Quarantine inspired both, but all of a sudden I just could not stand all the clutter everywhere. So I've been getting rid of fat and of clutter. Also almost done with that, there is probably one or two shelves left to go through but the entire house looks minimal, clean and fresh.
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from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/38TQnxQ
