Sometimes “HOLD THE LINE!” is good enough

I don’t have a super “success story secrets” post to share. I’m struggling to lose this weight, just like many of you. It’s not easy. I started after Christmas getting serious, doing awesome for all of January. Strict tracking, exercising 5 days a week, limiting calories to 1200. Down 10 lbs of the 25 I want to lose. Yay! The same 10 lbs I’ve gained and lost two or three times over the last 2 years. Not so yay! But it’s a good start.

Then came the Super Bowl. And Valentine’s Day. And potato chips and chocolate became part of my life again. And I could feel myself giving up ... less exercise walks ... one or two late-night binges ... “mmm I haven’t had ice cream in soooo long” ... the scale is creeping up again a few pounds ... I feel completely un-motivated to track ... “oh gosh this is really happening I’m really going to give up again” ...

And then I realized it. My weight loss doesn’t have to be either “ON” or “OFF”. I can just put it on “PAUSE”. I’ve done this for past week ... still tracking, but allowing myself to eat at maintenance-ish ... eating plenty of chips and chocolate still at night, but now saving some of my earlier calories for those late night snacks. Giving myself some slack and some love. Still not really exercising (but I did get out there yesterday and walk!). Because honestly I want to give up on it all, so “no exercise and eating at maintenance” feels like the best I can do for another week or two (or more).

So my motto right now is “HOLD THE LINE”. Keep that weight steady. Relaxed but controlled eating. And that’s it. That’s all I can do. And that’s good enough until I’m ready to do more.

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Has anyone had experiences with taking medication for their ED?

To somewhat quickly summarize: I’ve had moderate/severe depression since around 10, and anxiety since 13. Speaking with my long-time therapist, he thinks I should be evaluated for ADHD as well, especially since it’s come to my attention that it runs in my family. Needless to say, on top of all that I also have a BED which I’ve struggled with since high school, where I was up to 230.

Trying to lose weight is a goal of mine that I’ve had for a while and it’s so difficult trying to juggle everything aforementioned, as well as the lovely qualities of being an adult. I shrunk down to 165 in my first year of college but I heavily restricted my caloric intake (around 600-750 calories a day) and did a lot of exercise, so it wasn’t a surprise when I shot back up again the year after. When I binge, it can be in excess of 4,000 cal and just destroys my motivation and self-worth. The next day I strive to be healthy and it works for a few days, and then I inevitably collapse again. It’s tiring and it’s not just binging on unhealthy food, I do it with healthy food as well. I weight-lift a few times a week and do implement some cardio as well, but I get much more enjoyment with weight-lifting and just going on walks with my dog.

It’s my understanding that some medication used for anxiety and ADHD can also be used to help BED. I haven’t done too much research on it, since I’m still in the process of finding a psychiatrist to discuss all this with, but has anyone had prior experiences they could share? I’m not seeking out medication as a way to target my weight loss, but if it is a pertinent side effect I’d just like to hear someone else’s thoughts.

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Weight Loss Help. SW: 290 CW:265 GW:190-200

So I started Keto on the first week of November 2020 at 290. As the months went on, I gradually started losing weight to the point that I am currently at 265 pounds. Yes, I did cheat for the holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, & New Years). Now my problem is that I feel like from November up until now, I should still be losing weight but I am stuck at 265 and been stuck at this weight for almost a month. 3 weeks ago, I started going to the gym 3 days a week doing the treadmill for 30 minutes and the elliptical for 30 minutes. After that, I would do weight machines (for the abs and chest). Still, I am stuck at 265. I am getting frustrated that I am not losing anymore weight. I also started intermittent fasting 2 weeks ago. Still no progress. Any tips to get out of this plateau? I’m trying to at least be to 200 by August but I am very stuck! Please help.

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Please evaluate my weight loss plan! (Advice Needed)

I'm a 17 year old guy who gained a lot of weight due to a year in quarantine (no exercise at all + junk food and takeout all day everyday isn't very healthy for me, funnily enough.)

I've tried weight loss in the past, but none of those plans made it further than a week. Now, I'm convinced I can do it. I'm currently focusing more on my habits rather than goals (i.e lose x kgs in y weeks) since I believe that was a part of my downfall last time. I do have a goal though, but I still focus more on my habits rather than goals. My goals are:

1. build a healthy and sustainable lifestyle, and to maintain that lifestyle up for the rest of my life
2. become fit, lean, and "normal weight" in the BMI index by the time I get to college, which is in around a year or so. This would mean losing tens of kgs of weight in about a year.

I'm ever so slowly making changes to my lifestyle. These are not drastic changes by any means. I'm trying to change my habits bit by bit, to make it consistent and sustainable. Here are some of the changes I've made on my diet:

1. I've committed myself to no junk food and no takeout. I'm only going to eat homemade meals from now. Also, no eating snacks such as chips or chocolate. If I'm hungry, I'm just going to eat nuts or fruits. (Mostly almonds, apples, and bananas.)
2. Refrain from drinking non-water beverages.
3. I'm gonna try to do 16:8 intermittent fasting. This isn't really a drastic change, because some days I do this anyway. I usually wake up for school at 7, eat at around 7, have my lunch at 12, and have my dinner at 2:30 directly after school ends. I just have to be consistent in not snacking after this time, and in making sure I follow this routine during weekends/on the holidays.
4. I have one cheat day, on friday, in which I let myself eat my favorite ramen noodle for dinner.

Those are the only changes I've made on my diet. My homemade meals mainly consist of rice and meat. I've heard that rice isn't very good for weight loss, but I don't think I can give up on rice. Not eating it would be a really drastic change to my diet. (I'm Asian, if you can't tell.) I also want to add more veggies to my diet. Probably somewhere in the future when I get used to this lifestyle.

Aside from my eating habits, I'm also trying to develop healthy exercise habits. I've started brisk walking/light jogging on the treadmill; a few weeks ago I started at 5 minutes a day and added around 5 minutes the next week. Currently, I'm brisk walking on my treadmill for 20 minutes a day. My goal is to hit 30 minutes a day, and go from brisk walking, to jogging, and finally to running, though I don't have the endurance for that yet. I also want to add more variety to my workouts and do more high intensity stuff, though that is for the future when I become more fit.

I've heard from this subreddit that exercise isn't that important for weight loss, but I feel that it helps with my mindset since whenever I think about eating ice cream or whatnot, I think to myself "well that would make all that hard work exercising today go to waste, wouldn't it?" I've heard it also increases my metabolism and improves cognitive development, so I think it's pretty important.

Do you think these habits are enough to achieve my aforementioned goals?

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When old progress photos come up..

Hey everyone! Been a lurker for a while, first time poster.

I (29F/5’3”) started my weight loss journey in November 2017 (SW was 240lbs). My motivation was my first trip with friends to Mexico planned for April 2018. It worked really well for me, I used MFP for CICO and went to the gym 3-4 times a week. By February 2019 I had lost 60lbs. In that same month, I started dating my current bf. Welp as everyone can guess, I definitly gained some “love weight” and gained back 30lbs (back up to 210lbs). In January 2021 I decided I had enough and kicked my butt into high gear and make it my goal to lose 75lbs and finally get to my goal weight (aiming for 135lbs) by the end of the year. I’ve lost 10lbs so far in the last 8 weeks using CICO once again, as well as working out 3-4 times a week or trying to get some form of exercise in.

Today a picture of myself popped up in my memories when I was at my lowest weight (178lbs) and I’m not gonna lie.. it stings seeing that. I came so far and seeing that reminds me that I completly dropped the ball and I’ve been stumbling to get on track every since. I’m trying to tell myself to use it as motivation, that if I stay on track and work hard I know I can get back to that, I’ve done it before so I should be able to do it again, right? But right now I just feel upset & so disappointed in myself.

Anyone else been through the same?

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Hit my goal! It was a small goal, but so worth it. A few tips for the 10-15 lbs crew.

This is small potatoes compared with what some of you amazing people have pulled off or are in the process of doing, but after 3 moths of CICO at the lowest possible restriction, I have hit my goal. I am a 30 year old woman and this is the leanest I have been in 7 years or so: 5'11' SW 159 => CW 145. Frankly I am not sure how or when it happened. Once I got into the habit of using loseit, it kind of melted into the background along with the pounds.

What I learned in the process, which may be useful to someone else who is at an average weight but would like to lose 10-15 lbs:

1. Sometimes after a successful weight loss streak of a ten days or so, I got unreasonably hungry. If that happens to you too, rather than let that sabotage your weight loss, switch to maintenance and ride it out for a few days. If the scale starts to tip upwards significantly again, that is okay, just try to get back on track. I find that riding it out at maintenance helps tremendously with recalibrating whatever hormone makes me ravenously hungry and I can resume my efforts after a few days. Just be mindful.

2. Some days will be in the red, and that is absolutely fine. My only advice would be to avoid binging above maintenance for more than 1 day. In my case it stretches both my stomach and my appetite and that makes it harder to get back into deficit mode.

3. People don't get calorie counting unless they have tried to lose weight with it themselves. Most of the reactions I got when asked about my "secret" and said that it's just math and a little app were akin to an exorcism. Better not say anything.

4. Entering a rough guess / approximation of your meal is just fine, especially after a month of being strict/measuring most of your food and getting the hang of things. No need to get obsessive. I tend to err on the side of caution so I always enter the slightly higher entry.

5. I got a steamer for my "lame" meals, usually lunch, and it turned out not to be lame at all. Veggies come out lovely with a drizzle of lemon, tbs of oil and a herb mix. If you want to eat more filling veggies and have not learned to fully incorporate them in your meals, just get a steamer and have them as a side to almost everything.

6. I am Mediterranean. The amount of olive oil we use can be obscene because we have always been told it is healthy. It is healthy compared to other fats, sure, but keep an eye on it because your deficit may lie in those 3 tbs of olive oil that your dish could do without.

7. If you don't exercise regularly, the scale will always go up the day after a workout. Just water.

Finally, no matter how much or how little weight you are in the process of losing, it is important to keep in mind it is your choice. You are doing it for yourself. If you are completely miserable doing it, take a moment to feel out what it is that is making it so. It shouldn't feel like punishment, even if you love food, which - let's be honest - most of us do. There are gentle, slow ways of doing it. There is practical and mental support available.

You can do it!

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Can't stay on the horse...

To preface about four years ago I got basically to my goal weight. Then injury, pain and anxiety/depression/stress set in and I gained it all back. Now with covid Im a full 30lb above where I started four years go.

I've been TRYING to get back on the proverbial weight loss horse but I haven't been able to find the tenacity that I had four years ago. Every bump feels like a hurdle and I'm giving up too easily. I try logging and do well for about a week and then miss a meal/day. I'll go "oh it's ok I'll get back to it" and never do.

Four years ago I could drop off my kids at the gym daycare and work out with people and get that adrenaline rush of lifting weights and getting fit. I would get a boost from someone seeing the weights I would curl/press and get a motivation boost. And the instructor would push me with those sneaky "and ten more".

When I workout on my own I allow myself to cheat because no one is keeping me accountable. There's nothing to prove to anyone but me. I'm a social person and the pandemic definitely hasn't helped at all with all this.

And I knooooow so much of this is food based. Sadly I live with a perpetually 130lb husband who could eat donuts and skittles all day every day and not gain an ounce. Also two young boys who are constantly wanting/needing snacks which means I'm just CONSTANTLY surrounded by food (and a good 50% of which is definitely bad caloric options).

I came here four years ago to get inspiration and I'm hoping maybe you can help me again. Because I don't want to be this unhealthy anymore. I want to be that strong woman I used to be but can't seem to channel again...

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