First day of counting calories!

Today was my first full day of counting calories. I used Cronometer, for no particular reason other than it doesn't hide micronutrients behind a paywall. The entire day went great, I didn't feel hungry and I was under my calorie limit! That is, until we had pizza for dinner because of an impromptu family movie night. But I still ended up with a 200 ish calorie deficit, so I'm happy out! Thankfully these pizza nights are pretty rare so tomorrow I'll be even better :) I'll be weighing myself every morning, I love data and am excited to see the trends in my weight loss! I'll also be going on runs, I'm not fond of running but at the very least I'll do some light jogging. Here's hoping my weight loss journey is a successful one!

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ONE YEAR PROGRESS REPORT: 364 to 319; 45 pound loss, not the 100 pounds I'd planned

This community is incredibly supportive. Anonymous communication is very helpful to me. I experience great shame at my self-created predicament.

GOOD NEWS-BAD NEWS

The good news is that I've dropped from 364 to 319. That's a drop of about 45 pounds. It's significant and I'm thrilled by it. I had to have some of my clothes re-tailored to fit me. Although, other clothes are only slightly loose. I find that surprising.

I went from 364 to about 305 by December. But then I gained from December to January about 15 pounds, bringing me back to 320.

The bad news? The objective data (collected via body fat calipers, tape measure, and scale with bodyfat impedance calculations -- show that my current body fat percentage is about what it was when I started. Even more incredibly, the Trendweight.com site I use (highly highly recommend) shows that my body fat percentage rose from 38% to 44% (impedence) and 36% to 39% (calipers). I find it incredibly confusing. My waist circumference went from 56" to 50" (when I went to 305) and back to 54" (back to 320).

FOOD / NUTRITION

My nutrition was not so great in Dec-2020 and Jan-2021 and Feb-2021. I admit it -- and my weight rose because of it. I have gargantuan amounts of nutrition data. I made it from something like March-December 2020 tracking all meals and snacks I consumed. For a period of a month or two -- I weighed everything I ate with a kitchen scale. That became so tedious and mind numbing--and I got better at estimates and tracking--that I modified things to an estimate base that was so close to what I was measuring that I stopped weighing EVERYTHING. (I still weigh some things).

My calories hover around 1900-2300 calories. I'm consistently a little short on protein (shooting for 1g/lb of lean mass, about 170-180 lean mass, depending on the body fat calculation).

EXERCISE

My exercise has been consistent and robust. Believe it or not -- I enjoy some run walks (new dog!) -- about 16-18 minute miles; I do a good mountain bike ride every week or two -- and a regular street ride 1-2 times per week. I regularly lift weights (more kettlebells these days, but have most of the other equipment) - I also use TRX and a rowing machine. I'm working out 30-60 minutes, 4-6 days per week. The family and I walk several miles a day as well. I hope to return to swimming shortly, too.

THE LAWS OF PHYSICS

Although you may hear it differently--let me be emphatically transparent. The laws of physics apply to everyone. The body is an energy management machine -- it takes fuel in and burns it through motion, activity and BMR. I don't think I'm any exception to that rule. (I do think I have so much fat on my body, however, that my bmr is nothing like a 10% body fat 320 pounder - that part I **DO** understand.

MY REVISED PLAN

So, truth be told, I thought a year ago, I'd be down 100 pounds today. I'm not, I'm down 45% -- about half way to that original goal. While I **feel** like I'm doing the right things, over the past month or so, I've not gotten the correct results. I'm either consuming too much fuel, or not burning enough fuel, or a combination thereof.

So, my logical and simplistic side takes over: Dude, just drop daily consumption by 500 calories; or drive up daily caloric expenditure by 500 calories, or do a combination of the two. If you do so, you'll drop 3500 calories a week, which is a pound a week - which is 52 pounds in the next 52 weeks. I'd drop to about 270.

I know if someone told me this story, I would like them in the eye and say: You're burning fewer calories today then yesterday -- and your consuming a few too many calories. You're basically at an energy equilibrium. You just showed yourself you could run an energy deficit. Go do that again, just at your 320 level.

I'd then add: It's time to get more serious about resistance training. It's time to make an effort at building muscle while dropping fat. Probably three very serious weight training sessions every week.

And then I'd say: Have you considered hiring a professional trainer that has a track record for helping obese people drop fat and weight while developing muscle? Cause dude, you have cash and resource -- use it to save yourself if that's what it takes.

WEIGHT LOSS SURGERY (WLS)

I've been on the weight loss surgery roster for several years. About two years I got down to 285, but then I lost it when work got out of control, and my diet went out of control and my exercise levels dropped significantly. It scares the hell out of me.

HISTORY -

I've been tracking my progress (or lack thereof!) here for a few years. Here's one of the archives:

https://www.reddit.com/r/loseit/comments/grdlx0/52yo_male_346_pounds_down_15_trying_to_find/

Also, got some great insight from u/funchords and u/koopzegels. I hope they'll assist me here, as I'm feeling a bit down and depressed.

QUESTIONS

Suggestions for me?

Anyone else get readings of losing muscle rather than fat? What did you do?

Anyone have good experience working with a trainer to develop a weight loss plan? (Ive worked with a nutritionist - maybe it was just her - but it just wasn't to my taste. I felt shame all the time in there -- and it produced negative results -- I gained weight during the time I went to her).

Any secret to newfound motivation as one enters into year two of the struggle?

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When a family member's comment ruins your whole day

I don't mean to complain on here but this is a supportive community. And I just had a serious breakdown today. I just want to know how you guys get over comments and breakdowns like this.

I've been on a real, sustainable weight loss journey for the past 1.5 months and have lost around 5 lbs after struggling to lose weight for the past 3 years. And I'm pretty sure my body has recomped a bit, slimmed down waist & my legs look way more defined than they used to. I'm a 5'6'' female, 191 lbs.

Today was a hot day and I decided to wear a sleeveless t-shirt. My dad for some reason decided to ask me if I gained weight since I started living with him (started Oct 2020) and I said I was pretty much the same (didn't mention the -5lb loss) and he commented that my arms looked pretty big. That comment just made me break down and I cried in the shower for a solid 30 min. I worked out TWICE today and ate 100 cal under my limit and I was actually feeling good about myself and then people feel the need to say things that are hurtful. The only reason I'm living with him is so he isn't lonely during the pandemic and because he can't drive and have NEVER said anything hurtful to him even though there's a lot of flaws. I'm just so angry and over it.

Not to mention, I'm an extremely busy person (9-5 tech job, grad school & a side business). So staying on track with a weight loss journey and not giving in to comfort food is really f*cking hard.

Anyone have any tips on how to make yourself feel better?

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The Power of Posing: How it affects progress pictures

Progress photos. We hear a lot about them on this subreddit, because for many it may be the best way for them to track their weight loss journey. I do want to express a word of caution to those using them though. Below is my progress photo.

https://imgur.com/a/dSUfKVw

The photo on the left was taken on January 9th, at 310ish pounds. The photo on the right was taken yesterday, April 3rd, at 295lbs. Now, it actually looks like a fair bit more than a 15lb loss. As you can see, my neck is a bit slimmer, the double chin is nearly gone, and my shirt is hanging a lot looser.

So, what changed? How I was posed (hence the title). Using my background in photography, I was able to manipulate how I was standing to exaggerate my weight loss. For the neck/chin, it was a matter of pushing my head forward a bit. This stretches out the skin on the neck, reducing the visibility of a double chin and makes it appear narrower. For the torso, it was a matter of pulling my shoulders back, pushing my chest out, and sucking in the ol' gut.

So what does this have to do with weight loss progress pictures? It's to show the importance of consistent posing. Maintaining a consistent pose will give you a better overall perspective as to how your body composition has really changed.

In addition to that, it's to help people that struggle with seeing candid photos of themselves. I've seen a number of posts on here since I joined from people upset that a candid photo of them looks just like how they looked before they started losing weight. And that's really how powerful posing can be. You can take a really slim person, and pose them in such a way that makes them look much heavier. Or you can take a heavy person, pose them really well, and make them look much slimmer.

We all remember the 'Myspace' pose right? High angle shot looking down? That was done specifically to make the person look slimmer. The same trick applies to any picture.

So when you take your progress pictures, it's paramount that you maintain a consistent pose. That will give you the best idea of how you look along your weight loss journey.

Hope this helps some of you that may be suffering from some photo discouragement. Your weight loss may be hidden under an inconsistent pose.

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262lbs to 190lbs, officially a healthy BMI for the firs time

Front View

Side View

Today I hit my goal of 190lbs and a healthy BMI, although I'm not finished losing yet I still want to share my progress. Cause believe me, if I could lose this much then anyone can.

I started my weight loss journey in October 2019, back then I was at my heaviest being 262lbs and around 33% bodyfat. I started with a keto diet for the first couple months since my friend suggested it and it worked for him, after a couple months I switched to just a normal calorie deficit diet. after about a year of only dieting I got a gym membership and started taking things more seriously. I now go 5-6 days a week focusing on a different muscle group each day, while also trying to get at least 10k steps each day on my Fitbit.

The biggest challenge I've faced with my weight loss has just been the mental side of it. It gets exhausting at times. When I look in the mirror I still only see the fat. If not for making these comparison photos I don't think I would have seen much of a difference. But thanks to therapy for other issues I've started to love stepping on the scale everyday, seeing the number slowly go down gives me motivation every day, even on days when the scale doesn't move it just makes me want to push harder.

I just wanted to say thank you to this subreddit, I've browsed it everyday for the past few months and although I don't really post or comment on anything just seeing your journeys helped me see mine, so thank you!

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Today is my 'cheat meal' day and I have almost no cravings or, urge to eat any takeout

I used to be very active pre-covid and lost over 20 Kg. However, after covid started, my city Montréal went on almost a year long lockdown (was only open for a while in the summer), and as a result gyms were closed for almost a year. I am not a big fan of walking outside because I can't push myself too hard outside like I can do on an ellipticial. Plus, it's Canada and winter's cold and icy. Not the best scenario to run.

And with academic pressure, no social life, no exercise, I went back to the only thing that made me happy back when I was obese. "FOOD". I spent 60% of my savings on takeout for months, I rarely felt like cooking, (I can also cook very well) and and had so much greasy, salty and unhealthy food that I ended up with an 8 Kg gain.

However, in between those months I did try to diet but I don't feel good when I eat too less. I tried reducing caloric intake to 1500 Kcal (M/171 cm/20) and with no exercise, the rate of weight loss was so slow and I felt so bad physically and mentally that I ended up binge eating (this exact phenomenon repeated on and on).

Fortunately, the gym reopened almost 10 days ago and I have been there almost everyday, worked out well, ate almost 1800-1900 Kcal per day and I am already down 1.6 Kg (10 days).

So today is supposed to be my cheat meal day (I planned on eating one takeout meal every 10 days for sanity purposes) and I have almost no interest in eating takeout. No cravings or urge to binge.

Calorie counting is crucial but for some people like me, it's easier to workout and drop some sweat and eat close to the BMR equivalent of Sedentary in order to lose weight than just eating at a massive deficit. Guess, we all have different strategies that work. My biggest fear right now is if the government shuts down the gyms again. Fingers crossed

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Struggling after moving in with bf, looking for encouragement and any help.

So my weight loss journey started in January, i went from 70 kilos to about 63/64, my goal weight is 56. Recently me and my bf moved in together and it has been really wonderful but really hard sticking to my plan. I lost all the way with restricting calories to 1200-1500 and walking 7000-10000 steps a day. Now i can’t get myself together to count calories anymore so i’m trying to eat healthier but im struggling and feel like i’m packing the kilos back on. My bf is really supportive but he also loves sweets and snacks and i can’t tell him not to eat them. And when he eats them i obviously also want it and will eat loads. We also share the same portion sizes etc. I haven’t been counting since three weeks and honestly don’t want to get back on it since i am really busy at the moment. I started to write down everything i eat in a day but this just doesn’t keep me from snacking and overeating. I would love to be able to go back to the gym or motivate myself to exercise regularly and make a deficit in that way. My problem isn’t my main meals but what i eat in between, i’ll easily eat a bar of chocolate and cake in the evening.

How do you deal living with your bf/gf and not caving in to their way of eating / sticking to healthy eating patterns?

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