Starting my journey...

I'm a 35 year old man, stay at home father of 2 very young children. For most of my life, I've been very self-destructive, depression, trauma, etc. I've been struggling with weight loss for a long time, but I am now determined to turn things around. I used to be an athelete, but man did I let myself go. I'm 5'9'' and 350 lbs, I started about a month ago at a starting weight of 375, so I'm proud of the small progress I have made, but about 2 weeks ago, I pushed myself pretty hard while exercising and the next day, had some major stomache issues. Felt like constipation, but I wasn't constipated. I went to the doctor and they think I just pushed myself too hard + drastic change in diet caused my stomache to be angry with me. I've been taking it easy on the exercise, and am maintaining my new diet, understanding that its a completely new life style change, which I gladly accept.

I guess...I'm just looking for advice? Someone to talk to? I realize it isn't a race, and that everyone is different, and am not rushing things. Anyways, thanks.

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My experience losing 65lbs + Tips!

F, 22, 5'3, SW: 185lbs, GW: maintain 115lbs - 120lbs, CW: 119lbs, WL: ~ 65lbs down

this page has helped me so much throughout my journey starting in Jan 2020. since losing 65lbs and reaching my goal "range", i thought it may help others to share some of the tips & tricks i've learned since posts like these have helped me immensely. i went with the CICO route mainly because i did not want to cut out any food groups (especially carbs!). to be clear, i am in no way formally educated in nutrition or exercise & these are solely based on MY experience. this leads me to my tips...

1. what works best for someone else may not be what works best for you - there are so many "diets" out there that may help you to lose weight, but most are incredibly hard to maintain. be honest about your lifestyle and the foods you enjoy most (i.e. i LOVE sweets so cutting carbs long-term would never work for me).

2. have the mindset of bettering yourself, not just your appearance - "health" means so many different things to different people. i went into this with the mindset that health encompasses physical, mental, and emotional health. each aspect ties together whether you want to accept that or not. if one area is failing, the others are probably taking a hit too. i needed (and still continue) to work on all 3 areas daily. here is real-life example of this: i wake up most mornings with anxiety (mental health). instead of focusing on it and letting it ruin the rest of my day, i get up, get ready, and exercise (physical health) because it raises endorphins and makes me feel better. i'm then able to start my day with a clearer headspace and an overall better mood (emotional health).

3. the most effective workouts are the ones you enjoy and are most convenient. for example, maybe weightlifting may be more "effective" to reach your goals if done consistently, but realistically, you may not enjoy it or may not have easy access to equipment. as a result, you're going to be less likely to do it often or even at all. instead, experiment with different ways to MOVE your body. you may LOVE yoga, have a yoga matt, and have access to yoga workouts/videos - then focus on that! ultimately, moving your body is what is most important.

4. start slow & set realistic goals. this sorta plays off #3 in that being honest with yourself about your lifestyle. if you work full-time, you're not likely to be able to do 7 two-hour workouts per week in addition to spending time or taking care of yourself, family, or friends. also, unlike what society says, you do not HAVE to work out for at least 1 hour each time you work out. getting in a 10, 20, 30, etc. minute workout is better than doing none at all. don't think that just because you only have "x" time it isnt worth it, because it IS worth it. set realistic goals. for example, if you rarely workout or maybe never have before, start with taking a 20min walk twice a week and progress from there. having a physical calendar on my wall and marking off the days i workout has been extremely beneficial for this because i can see exactly when i did what and where i can improve/slow down.

5. prioritize it - this may be the most important tip of all. your health needs to be one of if not your #1 priority. again, your HEALTH, not just your physical health or what you look like, your mental/emotional/physical health all coincide. if you do not take care of yourself, how do you expect to take care of others? make time for it. this can be easier said than done, but it needs to be done (again, small goals first). working on bettering your overall health can help in ensuring your future health will be stronger than it would be if you didn't take steps right now (this, of course, is a VERY general statement as genetics and other health issues can of course impact your future in ways you could have never prevented or expected). do you know how amazing it was to go on a family vacation with my boyfriend's active family and actually be able to keep up (even sometimes pass) with them on hikes or while kayaking? i felt so strong and proud that i worked to be able to get my body strong enough to not only physically be able to do more but to also have the confidence in myself to do it. prioritizing my health hasn't always been easy. i work a full-time job, so i need to go to sleep early in order to workout before work. this means sometimes leaving functions or gatherings early (not all the time because relationships are important, too!) to prioritize sleep. sometimes i have to set aside more time to cook to ensure im filling my body with good but also nutritious meals that will energize me. this is crucial and an area where most people (including me in the past) have missed the mark.

6. don't expect to be happy once you reach X weight/goal - as someone who was 130lbs, went up to 185lbs, and is now down to 119lbs, i can attest to this. my body so different than what i expected it to be. you need to love yourself so much that you want to better yourself - this mindset needs to start right at the beginning. this can be extremely hard to do, but it will be something you will fall back on to push you to continue to better yourself even in your lowest points (weight loss is a rollercoaster of ups and downs, not just straight down).

i hope this has helped some of you. these tips have helped to guide me throughout the last 12 months, and i hope to continue to fall back on these tips as i continue on my life-long journey of focusing on my health.

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roughly a year in the rear view mirror - no calorie counting, now heading into maintenance

B&A at the bottom! :-)

Not to be cheesy but I really didn’t think I’d ever make this post. Not because I didn’t think I could do it but the more I’ve been sliding smoothely into maintenance, the less of an accomplishment it seems. But today I accidentally came across my original before picture and didn’t recognize myself.

Since roughly February, I lost a ‘meager’ 8 ish kgs/roughly 18 lbs, which is just a blip on the radar for so many other users on here. To be fair, I am only 4’11, but still. It just stopped seeming like a big deal in the past month that I’ve been hovering around my now lowest weight. Which by the way, I am not today, I was at my lowest weight of 43.1kgs/95lbs on the 7th November, after deep diving into a bottle of red lol

I never counted calories because I have a history of disordered eating and calories used to make me obsessive, keeping that in mind though, that also meant that I still had pretty good muscle memory in terms of roughly knowing what’s in my food and knowing what my TDEE and BMR is. This also meant though that I was bouncing around some weights once or twice, had ups and downs (especially in April) but I think those also come with calorie counting.

My main tools to track my progress were daily weighing + Happy Scale (270 days logged!) and sort of accidental IF/OMAD. During quarantine I mostly only ate dinner or I ate the same dish for lunch and dinner and forgot about breakfast. I made up for this on other days when I was just a bottom less pit though lmao I started a new job in August and have been making salads or dinner leftovers my usual lunch. I never liked salads and never believed they made you full but here we are, those micro nutrients get you!

In the end however, my main goal besides weight loss was mostly just getting back in touch with my gut and my intuition. I was a lanky kid up until middle school to the point that my mom was constantly worrying about me slipping into the underweight category because I was too twitchy to sit through a meal, then puberty made me a bit softer, then I slipped into disordered eating and after school I just packed on the pounds until I was at my highest weight. I shed the chunk that put me into the overweight category through just cooking more at home a couple years ago, but after all I kept sticking around 52-53kgs/114-116kgs (as seen in my before) and I was just uncomfortable. That was always my ‘chubby’ weight, even in my teens and I didn’t like it. Never did, never will. It made me feel stuffy, I hated how clothes looked and my self worth is hanging by a thread as it is. So, I really didn’t like it.

But most of all I didn’t like the way I shoveled food into myself. My partner still jokes to this day that one of his favorite memories of me is the one time I was sitting in bed with fries in both hands, unable to decide which ones I wanted to eat first because I wanted them ALL. I can laugh about it now because I totally zone out when I eat something I’m excited about (because food excites me) and I get why he found it kinda cute, but that’s not healthy. And that’s not how I want to eat every meal.

So what did I do?

Most of all I got my portions under control. I still eat whatever I like but I make substitutions at times, watch how much of something I eat, I track my menstrual cycle and know that when I’m ovulating I’m unstoppable around snacks and I just try to get in more vegetables. Besides that, I went vegetarian 3 months ago, then vegan 1 month ago. (Not for weight loss)

So, long story short: remember that your stomach is or should be the size of two of your fists or something. (That’s the rule I went by when looking at my portions.) Check in with your fullness while you eat, drink water and make smart choices. Whether that means eating those cookies right now so you don’t go nuts or opting for the leafy greens so you stay full is totally up to you, your day and your goals.

One last thing because that scared me whenever I tried to break my over excitement around food: you don’t have to be afraid of food staying an emotional matter. That’s valid and food is a love language to me, just as long as it’s not your only source of comfort and expressing love.

I’m 23F, 4’11/150cm “tall” and started the year at 52kgs/114lbs. Today I am 44.2kgs/97.4lbs (a little bloated too lol)

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Should I start weighing myself before or after I used the bathroom?

( 16 year old male, 6’0, 144 lbs -> 135.4 lbs )

Ive been doing pretty well lately on my calorie tracking, however when I weigh myself each morning, my weight has stayed basically the same each time. I think this is because I don’t really go number two in the morning until a bit later, so I’m wondering from you guys, do you weigh your morning weight no matter what, or do you wait until you use the toilet? If I decided to wait until the bathroom, is that gonna create a fake perception of weight loss? But I am a bit frustrated, as this is the fourth day in a row without any change in weight.

What do you guys recommend?

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NSFW: Down 40 pounds but no visual change yet?

Hi guys,

I'll start with my stats. 33 / M / 6 foot / 262 pounds.

I'm down about 40 pounds but I can barely see a difference. I've gone from 300 to 262. Maybe a slight change in a smaller waist and gut doesn't extend as far forwards, but visually very similar. Noone has noticed or said anything either.

Curious when it will start to become more noticeable from others who lost similar from similar weights.

Really want the side fat to go down (I know you can't spot reduce). I'm a bit flatter from the front, but not much else has changed. Is there any science behind where the body likes to reduce from in males and what common patterns of weight loss are? How much more would I need to lose to hopefully see more of a difference in my torso? I carry weight on my legs too but I don't really care about that.

Linked an image to show the difference in weights. I'll edit this and put up a side shot too as that is more noticeable.

Front View (NSFW) https://ibb.co/rQVy7rn

Side View (NSFW) https://ibb.co/YtgFxRp

As I mentioned. I can see a slight difference in the side view as it looks like I don't stick out the front as much, but no real change from front view.

Curious to hear your thoughts. Trying to slam down through the next 20 pounds and see some visual changes hopefully.

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Need to get serious again

Hi all,

I've lurked for a while, reading about people's success stories and what worked for them, and it's finally made me want to do something about re-starting my own weight loss. So a bit of background, F28, 5'6 SW(CW): 187lbs, GW: 145lbs

I started dieting/trying to control my weight when I was about 17 and my weight was worrying, so where I am now is a huge improvement. My ex was also concerned about his weight, and I took this to be a good thing for most of the time we were together - he did all the cooking, cooked everything from scratch, and controlled portion sizes of mine. At one point, I was doing something like the 5:2, but having 500kcal on 4 or 5 days of the week. Obviously, I was hungry all the time and took to snacking in secret - I knew it wasn't healthy to do what I was doing, but I couldn't seem to stop myself. I was miserable, I hated how I looked, I wanted to be slim and attractive (I know you don't need to be slim to be attractive, it's where my head was at the time). I kept extreme dieting like that, and it did work in a way - I got down to 149lbs at one point, which was close to my goal weight, but I still wasn't happy. That was 1.5 - 2 years ago.

Long story short, I broke with my ex and then lockdown hit. I emotional eat anyway, so the weight started creeping on. I figured I should try and eat 'normally', and tried having 3 meals a day, which only made it shoot up. My mental health is in a much better place than I was previously - while I want to lose weight, I want to do it to be healthier, to be able to do 10k fun runs and enjoy walking holidays, rather than doing it to be 'slim and attractive'. I'm happy that I'm in a better headspace...but I'm also finding it harder to motivate myself to actually stick to a plan. So I'm starting to count calories, I bulk-cook and portion my meals, and I'm trying very hard to cut out my usual snacks (and replace them with healthier things if I can). I've also got myself a fitness tracker so I can keep an eye on my activity levels.

I'm hoping by actually writing this out helps me stick to it this time! Thanks for reading :)

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A workout for the busy, the antisocial and the quarantined

Disclaimer: I am not promoting this, I get nothing from recommending this to anyone. It is a program I like and I wish to share with people who feel it could work for them too.

I've been on my own journey of weight loss, albeit with its ups and downs but the one place I've felt confident is my workouts. At first, it was a chore but the more I forced myself to get up and go to the gym, the more I enjoyed it and began to appreciate everything else it could offer me. Lately, because of the dreaded Covid, I have been without method to work out as the gym are shut. But I had a solution.

Throughout the initial lockdown of the Pandemic here in the UK, I started working with kettlebells and I fell in love. It's more or less a full home gym in a compact format. When the new restrictions were announced, I asked my mum to send me my kettlebell and a book I bought called Simple and Sinister (S&S).

S&S is a kettlebell program developed by Pavel Tsatsouline, the man renowned for bringing kettlebells back to the west. It's a simple program but as its name suggests, it's pretty sinister. It is just 10 sets of 10 kettlebell swings, and 10 Turkish get ups (5 each side). I've been doing S&S religiously every day since these restrictions were put in place and I feel better moving and being able to get about my day, knowing I've done my training for today is an excellent feeling and great for my mental health!

Here's a link to someone who's completed the simple standard of the workout so you can see what kind of program it is: https://youtu.be/Lz3UAJqRCf0

Overall, I love kettlebells as a training method, and if I wasn't training for a powerlifting meet (which will probably be cancelled because of the virus), I probably wouldn't go to the gym at all. S&S is a great foundational program for nearly everyone and is an awesome accompaniment to a diet facilitating weight loss. I make it a goal to complete this every day, and if I have extra energy, I'll even add on some extra work like press ups, squats, etc - however it really isn't necessary. I do recommend getting the book, because I find myself finding new nuggets of valuable information every time I do.

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