Feels Bad. (20M)

Over the past year or 2, I lost a ton of weight, not sure how much as I only started weighing myself in the past few months but tbh I wouldn’t be surprised if I lost up to 100lbs, I’d say 50 at least.

Anyway I felt pretty good at first I guess, not happy but satisfied at least, and glad with how I look in slim clothes now. But like many people I did no strength training so am stuck in a skinny fat physique, meaning I still don’t look very good naked, just really thin but fat at the same time.

About 2 months ago, I started going to the gym and am now trying to build muscle. I think I notice a little change on my arms but my stomach is still just flabby looking. I feel quite discouraged, especially since I am a person who gives up with stuff like this very easily due to severe depression and self-hate.

My main goal is to become somewhat attractive, as growing up I was often ‘cute’ or a ‘nice guy’ but never ‘hot’ or romantically wanted by anyone. I just feel a pain inside when I see attractive women, like I’ll never be in their league, and even seeing other people’s progress pics makes me feel like after this weight loss I still am ugly af. I know a lot of this is probably mental illness, and not to do with weight loss and such. I guess I’m scared that all the pain and hard work at the gym will end up being for nothing, and that I’ll just be screwed over by shitty genetics, which is terrifying because I’ve always hated exercise but I’ve really been putting in the effort so far.

I guess I just need advice. Sorry for the whining and mini rant.

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Frustrated with family reaction to my weight loss-- just a vent

Since Christmas Eve of 2020, I've quietly lost 49.6 pounds... just shy of that 50 pound mark. My sister-in-law just started a weight loss journey 3 weeks ago. She is about 80 or 100 pounds heavier than my start weight, and she's lost 3 pounds. My mom just said to me, "Oh-- your SIL is doing SO GREAT with her weight loss." Meanwhile, she hasn't noticed mine AT ALL. I just gave away 2 bags full of clothing to goodwill because I was practically swimming in my wardrobe. I had to buy 2 sizes smaller, and I'm still shrinking.

Now, my family of origin has some serious issues, but COME ON, PEOPLE! I'm having a hard enough time seeing it myself, though my husband assures me that anyone with eyeballs can see that I've lost weight. He's super encouraging, but dern-- it's so discouraging when your own mother doesn't see it. Erg.

EDIT TO ADD: This is not to belittle my sister-in-law's weight loss. I'm proud of her for her loss. I don't begrudge her the small beginning. The weight loss journey is one pound at a time, and I'm glad she's tending to her health better. This is just about the fact that my mom praised her weight loss to me while completely ignoring mine.

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Under 200 for the first time since college!

This isn't exactly breaking news, but I finally feel confident that my new weight has stuck. After hopping back and forth for a while, I finally recorded a 7-day average weight under 200lbs!

It's amazing how much this has improved my outlook on my journey. I actually teared up a bit when I realized that this wasn't like the dozens of other times I've tried to lose weight and given up. This time is different!

For anyone curious, my diet is pretty simple. I do CICO during the week with a highly regimented vegetarian meal plan, then OMAD on the weekend. The latter I modify a bit by snacking on a couple pieces of dried fruit during the day if my tummy is rumbling, but then I can have basically whatever I want for dinner. And yes, this is where the burgers come in lol

As for exercise, it's just straight up walking! I have hit 10,000 steps/day minimum (with one exception due to an emergency) for the last two months straight. I have walked in the rain, I have walked in the blazing heat. I pace at work when I take my smoke breaks. I have been sunburned, eaten up by bugs, and had a couple dogs lunge at me. But I walk every single day because I'm not done yet.

I have been derailed plenty of times since I got serious about weight loss in January. Friends and family visit from out of town and suddenly we're eating tons of food and having a bunch of drinks together. But I finally realized that I can't just give up because I slipped. Monday always comes, and then it's back to the system. And the best part is how easy it has become! I feel the life change becoming more permanent, and I'm super stoked to see how far I can take this!

I feel a little embarrassed because I feel like I'm bragging... but I also want everyone here to know that if I can do it, so can you! I didn't have the highest SW or any exceptionally difficult physical health problems preventing me from losing the weight, but this is the culmination of a decade of me trying and failing different systems. Seeing my activity return actual results has done wonders for my mental health and made me more determined than ever.

tl;dr - I'm in the best shape I've been in since college. After 10 years of stressing and failing, I finally found something that works for me. Keep going and don't give up! I'm certainly not stopping yet. We'll get to our goals together :)

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Summertime & Sunshine: The Perfect Time to Get More Vitamin D

It’s been long known that vitamin D plays a valuable role in health. From supporting our immune systems to promoting brain, bone and lung health, it’s very important to get enough of the “sunshine vitamin.”¹

Our bodies require vitamin D for many functions. For example, we need it in order to absorb calcium, iron and other essential nutrients. Vitamin D deficiency is a serious concern and unfortunately more common than many may realize. Vitamin D deficiency symptoms include fatigue, regular sickness or infection, bone or muscle pain, mood disorders or hair loss. If you are a deficient for a long time, it can lead to serious problems, such as autoimmune, cardiovascular and neurological conditions.¹

Since vitamin D is as fat soluble vitamin, it’s also possible to get too much of it. While this is rare, vitamin D toxicity is serious and can lead to high amounts of calcium in the blood. This is generally caused by large doses of vitamin D supplements.² If you have any questions or concerns about vitamin D supplements, speak with your doctor to assess your needs and determine what is right for you.

It’s important that you’re finding ways to get this important vitamin in healthful doses. With summer just around the corner, now is the perfect time to soak up some sunshine and get vitamin D! Incorporate healthy vitamin D-rich foods and outdoor exercise into your Nutrisystem weight loss plan. Here are some tips that may help:

7 Signs You Need More Vitamin D

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Get your vitamin D naturally from foods.

As with any vitamins and nutrients, whenever possible, it’s ideal to get your intake naturally. According to The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, “Nutritional needs should be met primarily from foods and beverages — specifically nutrient-dense foods and beverages.”³

There aren’t too many food sources that contain naturally occurring vitamin D. However, there are some healthy options that can easily be incorporated into your Nutrisystem weight loss plan. Salmon and other fatty fish are one of the best choices! You can also get it from certain types of cheeses, egg yolks and mushrooms that are grown under UV lights.⁴

Many of the foods in America are fortified and can give a dose of this important vitamin. Fortified foods have the potential to provide most of your vitamin D intake. Common fortified foods include cereal, milk, plant-based drinks, orange juice, yogurt and cheese. Check the label to make sure you are buying a fortified version.⁴

Seek the sunshine.

Vitamin D is the only nutrient the human body produces when exposed to sunlight. And now that summertime is rolling around, it’s a great time to start getting those daily doses of vitamin D by getting outside!

According to Medical News Today, “The skin produces more vitamin D when in the sun during the middle of the day, the time it is at its highest point in the sky. When spending prolonged time in the hot sun, wear sunscreen, and stay hydrated.” They also explain that your skin color and the amount of skin that you expose to the sunshine will influence how much and how quickly you make vitamin D.

Make sure that you’re using proper sun protection. Sunscreen is important to help reduce your risk of skin cancer, which is the most common cancer in the United States. Overexposure to sunshine can be problematic, so as with most things in life, balance is key.

According to experts at Yale Medicine, “Because skin cancer, particularly melanoma, can be such a devastating disease, it’s best to use sunblock when outdoors in strong sunlight for any prolonged length of time. Because this may limit the amount of vitamin D you get from sun exposure, make sure your diet includes sources of vitamin D from foods or supplements.”⁶ Again, always speak to your doctor before taking a new supplement.

Are You Getting Enough Vitamin D?

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Get out and get moving.

With the weather continuing to warm up, you can make getting outside a win/win by not only boosting your intake of vitamin D but also being on the move and torching calories. The key is to get outside and get moving.

Whether you want to go for a walk, hit the trails to hike, ride a bike or maybe go for a swim, people tend to really enjoy being outdoors—and may end up burning more calories as a result. There may be mental health benefits, as well. A study, published in Mental Health & Prevention, found that exercising outdoors reduces stress and improves overall wellbeing.⁷

For so many reasons, green space is good for us! We spend so much time in front of screens and breathing in filtered air that simply being outside really does our bodies good. And it gives us lots of ways that we can keep our bodies active and moving!

One of the best ways to stay active all summer is by switching up your routine so that you don’t get bored. There are many different summertime exercises and activities that can keep those pounds coming off all season long. Check out some of our favorites here! >

Smart choices for your body.

At the end of the day, it boils down to making the best choices for your body. Spending some more time outside during the summer will give you just the vitamin D boost you need along with more opportunities to stay active. In the end, that’s a win for your health.

*Speak to your doctor if you have any questions about vitamin or vitamin D supplements, as well as before making any dietary changes. 

10 Foods High in Vitamin C

Read More

Sources:

1. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/161618
2. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/expert-answers/vitamin-d-toxicity/faq-20058108
3. https://www.eatright.org/food/vitamins-and-supplements/dietary-supplements/vitamins-minerals-and-supplements-do-you-need-to-take-them
4. https://www.eatright.org/food/vitamins-and-supplements/types-of-vitamins-and-nutrients/what-is-vitamin-d
5. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/326167
6. https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/vitamin-d-myths-debunked
7. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2212657018301041

The post Summertime & Sunshine: The Perfect Time to Get More Vitamin D appeared first on The Leaf.

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Need help with a plateau, nothing I do seems to be working and I'm starting to lose hope

25/M 5'8 SW: 296lbs CW: 230 GW: 175

Hi all,

Been lurking here for a while but finally need to make a post. I've encountered a plateau and it's been the absolute hardest challenge I've faced so far in my weight loss journey. For some background I started about 3 years ago at 296. Over a long journey of losing weight by using intermittent fasting
(typically OMAD, and if I'm being honest some days I ate severely under my calories at sometimes 1,200 or fewer), I made it down to 190 lbs. I stayed between 190-200lbs and was able to maintain that window for quite some time (a little over a year) before deciding that I wanted to bulk up a bit with the gym. I had been lifting on and off since I started losing weight but I wanted to get into it seriously. This was around August 2019. over the course of the next year and a half, between irresponsible decisions and laziness, I slowly creeped up back to around 230lbs (about October 2020). Since then I have been intently trying to lose weight and absolutely nothing I try is helping me. It's getting to a point where I am unfortunately losing hope and I'm not sure what else I can do. I'll list what I've done below.

So I'm 25, M, 230lbs currently. Most places I look (online calculators, MFP, etc.) put my maintenance calories at about 2,900 as I go to the gym 4-5 times a week.

When I initially tried to be responsible with my eating again, I tried to keep my calories under 2,500. This didn't work after over a month, I had been still gaining weight, so I decided to lower my calories to around 2,000. After several weeks of doing this as well, I was still seeing no progress. It seems like I would lose 2-3lbs and then immediately put it back on with the slightest break from the diet (one night out, one cheat meal). I obviously understand how rapidly your weight can change from day to day, but when I say I would put it back on I mean the trend of my weight was creeping up. I reigned in the discipline and still saw no change.

Currently, I am eating around 1,600 calories and am **still** seeing no changes. I've been eating under 2,000 calories on a consistent basis for a few weeks, with little to no cheat meals, and I'm seeing absolutely no progress. Throughout all of this I am counting my macros as well and making sure I get enough protein, I've tried low/no carb, a 40/40/20 carb/pro/fat split, very low sodium, etc. I lift pretty intensely when I go to the gym and I've even added minimum 15 mins of cardio at the beginning or end of each lifting session. I've been doing this last paragraph for about 6 weeks and my weight is not moving at all. I fluctuate between 232 and 228 with no movement at all.

I'm not sure what else I can be doing wrong. I know on a base level losing weight is burning more calories than you consume, and there is absolutely no way I am not burning 1600 calories daily between an average workday plus going to the gym. I have no idea what else to do. I eat chicken and rice most days, very little added to it (as in no dressing, not a lot of oil, weighed portioned servings) and my weight won't move at all, and then I will mentally take a break and have a cheat meal (by no means a large extravagant meal, I might literally get like a bowl from chipotle or 2 items from taco bell) and my weight simply goes and stays up. I keep progressively downing my calories but if I go any lower than 1,600 I simply won't have the energy to workout and get through the day.

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance

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I just got my bloodwork done as part of my yearly physical and it has completely jumpstarted my motivation!

I've put on a lot of weight over the past year and only just recently (like 2 weeks ago) started keeping track of calories and exercising. I had been dreading this physical for months after a very stressful and unhealthy winter/spring packing on about 20 extra pounds when I was already overweight. I was assuming all my cholesterol levels would have climbed and I was even panicking about the potential of prediabetes. I was super close to rescheduling just so I could put off facing the realities of my health for a few more months. But I'm so glad I didn't!

I was SHOCKED to see that most of my levels had either stayed the same or dropped very slightly. I feel extremely lucky for that but more importantly I feel like a fire has been lit under my feet to really get my health in order. Actually staring my blood pressure, cholesterol, a1c, etc. in the face and reading about what they mean felt extremely helpful.

Rather than panicking and stressing out about how bad my health is, now I actually know where I'm at and have something to measure up against in a year to see myself improve. And researching how important all these numbers are has given me a completely fresh motivation! Before, I just wanted to lose weight to look better, feel stronger, and because I knew I should "be healthier". But now I feel laser focused on my health because I want my heart to function properly! I want to live a long time and not worry about heart attacks or my body's ability to produce insulin! Somehow that clicked in my brain in a way manufacturing weight loss motivation never has for me in the past. Sure I knew that a better diet and exercise would help those things, but seeing concrete evidence of where I'm at versus where I should be has made all the difference in my mind.

tl;dr: After stressing about seeing my cholesterol, glucose, a1c, etc. levels at my annual physical, it actually gave me fresh motivation to lose weight, beyond just looking better. I thought I would share in case anyone else struggled with motivation or had fears of getting bad news at a physical, to encourage you to go ahead and schedule one. It might just make all the difference, and will at least give you another way to track long term progress that isn't just the scale!

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I finally fit into a size 14

For the last year or two I have been wearing a UK size 16/18 in trousers. For Christmas my mum bought me a pair of joggers sized 16 and when I tried them on they fit but they were snug. They weren’t baggy and there wasn’t much leg room. But I kept them with the intention that they’d get loser when I started my weight loss journey. A days ago I wore them and my grandmother kept commenting on how they were way too big for me, there was so much leg room in them. So yesterday we went shopping and I got the exact same pair of joggers but in a size 14 and I tried them on this morning and they fit! And they even had leg room! I’m so happy :)

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