Day 1? Starting your weight loss journey on Thursday, 07 January 2021? Start here!

Today is your Day 1?

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Welcome to r/Loseit!

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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.

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Why you’re overweight

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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.

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Before You Start

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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.

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Tracking

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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.

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Creating Your Deficit

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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.

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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.

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Exercise

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Is NOT mandatory. You can lose fat and create a deficit through diet alone. There is no requirement of exercise to lose weight.

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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.

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Crawl, Walk, Run

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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.

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Acceptance

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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.

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Do not let the pursuit of perfect get in the way of progress. We don’t need perfect. We just want better.

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Additional resources

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Now you’re ready to do this. Here are more details, that may help you refine your plan.

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• Quick Start Guide - Build your foundation!

* Lose It Compendium - Frame it out!

* FAQ - Answers to our most Frequently Asked Questions!

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Starting over from scratch after six years

At the end of 2014, when I was 21 years old, I decided that I needed to lose weight. I had recently lost my grandfather to cancer and I was very depressed as a result of his death. I had also begun to worry that I would suffer the same illness if I didn't make serious changes in my life. Quitting smoking was the first thing I did. The second thing was getting a gym membership.

I wasn't serious about the gym at all, at least in the beginning. I had a bit of money from my student loan and I purchased a few personal training sessions, like 3. Those first 3 were very hard as I struggle with anxiety and low-self esteem, but my trainer was very intuitive and knew how to push me past my limits. Being a 230lb, overweight, exceedingly anxious young woman, I couldn't even walk the perimeter of the gym without worrying that people were looking at me. My trainer pushed me to work out in the busiest parts of the gym in those three sessions. I was embarrassed and it was scary, but I did it. Then when those 3 sessions were up, she convinced me to buy six months of training. Of course, I was hesitant but I put the down payment on it and figured since I had 10 days to cancel, I could easily just cancel the next week... well, I never cancelled.

I worked with my trainer for six months. It was nothing short of a miracle that she was able to help me cut through my near-debilitating anxiety and poor self-esteem. In no time, I felt like I could work out around hundreds of people without feeling like anyone was looking at me, and even if they were, f**k 'em.

Working with my trainer, I lost almost 100lbs. Weightlifting became my passion. I was eating clean and drinking 3.5 litres of water per day. I was building muscle and I felt amazing. The year after I lost the weight, I became a certified personal trainer. Unfortunately, the gym I worked at decided to remove PT services and we all lost our jobs. I opted to go back to university at that point.

I kept the weight off for about 3.5 years, but eventually my anxiety came back (this time it was health anxiety/hypochondria) and I started gaining weight back like crazy. I would become focused on a health issue that I didn't even have and to relieve my anxiety about it, I would eat copious amounts of food every day. I'm now roughly 200lbs and I've finally started to exercise again after 4 months of being sedentary. I haven't lifted weights since summer and at my current weight, age and activity level, I decided that it's probably best to start off slow. So I have been doing 45 minutes of yoga in the mornings, followed by a 30 minute full body circuit workout at night (no equipment, just body weight for now) and 10 minutes of light bedtime yoga followed by meditation before going to sleep. I'll probably integrate weights into my routine once again when I have built up some stability or when the body weight exercises become easier. I truly feel like I'm starting over from scratch.

Eating is where I have the most difficulty. I am trying to cut back and not eat as much fast food, and I seem to be doing ok with it so far, but sometimes I binge when my anxiety gets bad. This is what caused me to regain the weight in the first place. In addition, while I drink a lot of water, I also drink way too much Diet Coke (2 cans per day) and I know I need to stop but when I try to cut it out I get headaches. Eventually I'll cut the Diet Coke out, but the first step was increasing my water intake. I'd like to do this slowly so as not to cause myself a massive failure.

Having to start over after having achieved the body I desired SUCKS, but I have accepted it and I know that being angry at myself isn't going to change my current weight. Only I can do that.

Has anyone else gained it all back and lost it again? What was your experience like? What steps should I take to ensure that I don't lapse on my weight loss again?

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when dieting, i feel like i’m forcing myself to eat. advice ?

a little bit of background info. i have been dieting my entire life, yes i am only 20 - but i started being forced into diets such as slimming world / weight watchers when i was under 10 (had a step-parent with a very unhealthy view on weight / food). i know how much i can be eating on a diet. know how many calories i should be consuming - this is not my first rodeo.

in the past years i have taken on weight-loss myself being overweight for a majority of my teen years, i have tried everything. a couple of years back i gained some unhealthy dieting habits and lost a lot of weight in a very short amount of time - but at the point where i started passing out, i got help for my issues, gained a lot (not all) of the weight back, and i feel as though i’m now in a healthy place to take weight loss back up.

here lies my problem. when i am not dieting, i don’t believe i eat a lot but i am a very fussy eater and my go to foods are those that are calorie dense. but i am just not a hungry person. i’m the bigger person that confuses everyone because i just “don’t eat that much”. most days i would skip at least breakfast, sometimes breakfast and lunch and just snack until having dinner. a lot of my calorie intake came from drinks - i am a coke, coffee, redbull fiend.

so now that i am trying to lose weight by cutting out these calorie dense foods, and swapping to sugar free drinks - i find i’m not eating enough, my intake every day is averaging around 700-900kcal and i feel as though i’m forcing myself past the point of fullness to at least get over 1000 calories. i’ve supplemented shakes in my diet, not to restrict, but to ensure that if i don’t want to eat - i know i’m getting at least 200 calories in for either breakfast or lunch. today for example, i had eggs and toast for breakfast, a prawn salad for lunch, and a ready meal for dinner with added veggies, then a couple of cups of tea, cereal bar, and fruit for snacks. this feels like a substantial amount of food. i am full. but my brain is telling me that this day of eating, that has come out around 950kcals is not enough, that i need to eat something else to ensure i’m staying healthy - but surely eating past the point of fullness is not ideal ?

to summarise (because i realised i rambled a bit) - i find myself full on 700-900 calories but know this isnt a healthy amount and i force myself to surpass 1000 (at least), but it feels as though i’m pushing past the feeling of being full.

any advice on what i could be doing different ? or anyone who feels the same ?

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Here I go again, but this time differently

I did a great job losing 25 pounds the first half of 2018. Then my sister died of colon cancer, and it threw me for a loop in many ways. A visible one being that I spent the second half of the year gaining that back. Then COVID hit, and the eating and drinking stress relievers added on another 15. I have taken a deep breath, and am this time starting a weight loss journey with my husband. This is a first! I was always supported by him, but now I have the added benefit of him eating the same as me. No snacks for me to eye, acting as though I didn’t mind in the slightest. To top it off we agreed to be dry this month. No beer. No wine. No alcohol. I feel like I’m hitting the ground running. I hope the feeling lasts!

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Weight Loss Journey Blogs?

Hey Everyone!

Super long story short, I used to weigh 420lbs and dropped down to 180lbs. I injured my back and ended up gaining the weight back slowly over the course of a couple of years. I was depressed and sad which drove me to further spin out of control. I've tried countless times to get back on track and it all resulted the same (in case you want to look at my reddit history - you creeps lol).

Anyway, NOW I am back on the grind for good and started back in September. I am down 20lbs and still highly motivated. I am writing my journey in a blog and wanted to look at other blogs for inspiration and motivation.

Does anyone know of any blogs where the stories are very personal that speak their true emotions? A lot of the ones I have come across are really outdated, spam, and just full of recipes and not so much personal stories related to their weight loss.

Much appreciated!

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When a small victory feels huge!

(28F, 5'10", SW: 280, GW: 180, CW: 276)

I have been lurking in this subreddit since the beginning of December, and have been using the different stories of this community to implement small life changes. During quarantine I went from 230lbs to my record highest of 280lbs. I felt defeated as a person. Things that used to be easy for me (like going on long walks) became incredibly difficult and painful. It was easier to be angry and feel bad for myself than it was to forgive myself, practice self-love, and find a way to create real change.

I realized if I was going to create permanent change, I needed to start small. No more unpractical life changes all at once that would inevitably lead to defeat. I started writing in a daily journal and outlined my goals. I broke those goals into tiny bite-sized pieces that would be easy to chew and build upon. For example, one of my goals is to be able to walk 10,000 steps a day by the end of 2021. Going from couch potato to 10,000 steps a day was going to be difficult for me and I did not want to set myself up for failure. It started with committing to one walk a day. Even if I only walked down to the end of the street and back, it counted. I had to build the habit.

Once I felt good about going on walks, I added a daily step goal of 3,500 steps a day. I was currently banking less than 1,000 a day so it was something that I could accomplish with a little effort. I track my walks and steps every day in my journal to keep myself on track. There are occasional days when my body tells me it needs to rest, and on those days- I listen. But most days I commit to the walk. When I noticed I was getting bored of my neighborhood walks, I started exploring my local trails for a change of scenery.

During this time I was only counting calories casually, to get a general idea of what my daily intake was. After I felt good about my daily walking habit, I calculated what my daily intake should be to lose about a pound a week. The problem was I completely miscalculated and didn't realize it until a few weeks in when I noticed the scale wasn't budging. I fixed my error and since then have been consuming about 1800kcals a day. Before this, the scale would fluctuate between 277 and 280 pounds and it was starting to drive me crazy. I know that you cannot rely on the scale as a sole indicator of weight loss and it doesn't take into account how much stronger and happier I feel since my daily walks (I also took measurements on January 1st, and will take more on February 1st). But, instead of feeling defeated I pressed on.

This morning the scale read 276.8. It is only .2lbs under where I felt stuck at 277, but it filled me with joy. My tiny habit changes are slowly adding up and it feels good.

If you were like me a month ago and are lurking this sub trying to figure out where to start, my advice is to start small and to start now. Break down your goals into tiny-bite sized habits. Be kind to yourself and forgive yourself when you stumble. You can do this.

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Ladies' weight loss talk: what I've realized

Hello, so for context I'm a F23, 172cm tall and have lost 17.1kg so far (SW 100kg, CW 82.9kg, GW 70kg) within roughly 11 weeks thanks to a very strict no sugar, low carb, IF and recently OMAD diet, plus regular moderate exercise (walking). I've realized quite many things along the way and I hope my realizations can help someone. So my girls, let's talk.

1. Ladies, your weight WILL fluctuate when you're PMS-ing and on your period, even a few days after. One day you will just wake up to see the number on the scale goes up for no reason, when you've been following your diet strictly. Don't fret, it happens and it will stabilize again after your period is gone for a few days.

2. Let's talk craving. Please, do not think of your period as a massive cheat-on-your-diet opportunity. I know people always preach about how your emotional (and physical comfort, if even possible at all lol) is the ultimate priority when you're on period so "go for that entire box of 6 donuts!!!", "have that whole dozen of chocolate chip cookies!!!!!!!", but please remember that being on a diet = discipline.

Yes I guarantee you'll be pissed as fuck on period without your sugar craving sated, but would you rather be pissed for a few days or later regret indefinitely as you see you've gained some permanent, totally-no-just-water-weight pounds. You make your choice.

Yes eat that donut, yes go for that cookie, if you have enough mind power to stop yourself after that ONE single donut or cookie and not stray straight into binging right after that. Remember, (in most cases) your period will come EVERY MONTH, you will feel like swallowing everything within your sight once EVERY MONTH, and just binging for few days EVERY MONTH can literally lead to you yourself undoing all your hard work and effort you've put in losing weight so far.

Satisfy your cravings moderately!!!

1. To all my fellow big girls with irregular period out there: Weight loss will help. Healthy weight loss is not just about that glorious long-overdue glow up in your outer appearance, it's a lifestyle change. I was struggling with irregular period for YEARS, there'd be times where I didn't have my period for half a year straight. And whenever I had one, it'd be super painful and the flow would be super heavy I basically had to wear diapers. However, since I've lost weight and got in much better shape by adjusting my living habits (drinking more water, eating healthily, sleeping on time AND enough, exercising), I've been having regular period.

2. Sometimes you will see your weight go down, but your jeans still fit tightly as ever or you're not going down 2 holes in your belt buckles like you thought you would. It's fine, everyone loses weight in different areas/body parts. My thighs are still massive as ever so except for the waist part getting loose, all my pants/jeans still fit like they used to. Instead, I realized my arms are not that flabby any more, and the huge pile of fat on my back is gone. I can even see my neck and collar bones for the first time in my life. I guess I lost weight there, but my thighs still need a little bit more time.

3. I know the thought of only dieting to lose weight without having to exercise AT ALL is very tempting, but please try to exercise. Or move around, at least. When my weight loss was at the point where I could see the difference with bare eyes, I started seeing signs of me being "skinny fat": I looked like a smaller fat girl. So I started working out moderately, by walking everyday. Some days I do 10000 steps, some days I so 6-7000. Main point is I tried to walk everyday, consistently. I can see my thighs and calves getting toned and my curves are more defined, so that's nice!

4. If no one notices the difference before and after you lost weight, that's fine. Keep going until you reach your goal, because you're doing this for yourself and not for anyone else. And tbh people who don't notice the difference probably never cared about how you look in the first place, at all. It's not that the difference is not showing! My advice is to take progress pics, it's much easier to observe and keep track that way, than basing your entire judgement on someone else's comment!

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