I Blew it on Day 1 .... Or, How I Ended Up in the Drive-thru Again.

I blew it on day one.

I’m cutting strawberries for my son, listening to a podcast, when an idea lands: I want to chronicle my weight loss journey on Reddit. I'm really ready this time. Since my husband was already well on his way to his own weight loss goals, I ask him if he would let me chronicle him as well.

Sure! Great idea honey.

My son screams from his highchair, and I realize I’m starving. The two usually go hand-in-hand. I get my son squared away at a meal, but before I can start preparing my own, he’s already waving his hands to let me know he’s “all done.”

I shouldn’t have waited this long to eat lunch. It’s almost one o’clock already. I ask my son to wait as I scour the fridge and find nothing quick, easy, and satisfying. My husband is making some kind of beans and rice dish on the stove in a giant pot that will take at least an hour. As he removes my son from the highchair, he suggests I eat a salad.

Eat a…WHAT?

The look I give him lets him know that was the wrong thing to say.

A salad would only suffice if my hunger level was at a 2 or 3, not the full-blown, animalistic 10 I was feeling just then.

I clean up my son and strap him in the car, screaming a “Don’t judge me!” in my wake in case my husband has any additional advice, and I’m off. It shouldn’t be easier grabbing take-out than making a small meal at home, but it is. In the car, with my son safely strapped in his carseat, I have time to drive, order my meal, and eat it on the way home in total peace. Wolfing down a sandwich and fries while weaving in-and-out of traffic is far less cumbersome and stressful than eating in the vicinity of my one-year-old son, who grabs at my plate for the sheer joy of making Mommy repeatedly ask him to stop. At least in the car my food won’t end up on the floor.

Well, mostly.

And this is how I ended up in the Arby’s drive-thru on day one. Actually, this is how I end up in a drive-thru 2-3 times per week. It's embarrassing, and a cop-out, and the best I can do sometimes.

And this is something that will have to stop if I want (and I do, I really do) to lose the weight.

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Could losing too quickly have damaged muscle in my abdomen and chest? Or is my body just struggling to adjust?

I’m 23F, 5’3”, currently around 165lbs. I’ve lost 110lbs from January 2020 until May 2021 (and now been maintaining/losing very slowly for the past 2 months. I need and want to lose more, but have been taking somewhat of a break.)

I can tell from looking at and feeling my body that I’ve lost virtually all of my visceral fat. It seems like pretty much all of my remaining excess weight now is subcutaneous fat and skin. (I have way more loose skin than I expected, especially on my upper abdomen, even more so than my lower abdomen.) The first few months of weight loss, I was good about counting macros and getting plenty of protein, and I was able to do strength training at a gym in summer 2020 before relocating for school to a city when gyms were closed down and heavily restricted for most of the past year or so. So, I wasn’t doing any kind of strength training/resistance workouts (and I was barely walking even a few hundred steps per day), and I know that my protein intake was extremely low. My calories were also usually a good bit lower than general guidelines call for.

I’ve been feeling super weak in my abdomen/core for the last few months, and now also in my lower chest/upper abdomen. It just feels like those muscles are constantly strained/overworked to the point that it’s hard to use them for everyday functions (e.g. maintaining a decent posture, bending and lifting things, etc.). When I stand straight for awhile or walk around for exercise for awhile, I almost kind of feel like my whole core and torso are just lacking support for my body, or like some of my muscles/organs inside my body don’t feel very supported (like a feeling of heaviness/strain, not pain).

I’m going to be getting some tests that my doctor ordered, but I’m wondering if anybody has had or known of any similar experiences? My doctor said it might just be from having this heavy loose skin, but I feel like something is off with my muscles too, maybe from losing muscle mass while I was also losing fat. I’m much more active now, but I still feel the weakness and heaviness inside my whole torso while standing or being active, which doesn’t exactly make it easy to try and build muscle now.

Any and all advice is appreciated (except for telling me to go to a doctor, because I already have and am waiting to follow up with them).

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Discord server / text group

After posting about accountability buddies/group chats I had a good few people seem interested in a group chat for support and accountability. Due to this we decided to start a discord server! Please feel free to drop in and say hello, tell your story or explain what you need, open to anyone comfortable with joining! It’s only a couple people at the moment but we want to get people involved!

https://discord.gg/ranadr9h

If you don’t use discord I’m also open to gathering some numbers and starting a group text, if you’re interested feel free to drop a DM!

Let’s do this together!

Im gonna fill the rest of this with gibberish because it says the post doesn’t contain enough content. Wobbly wobbly timey wimey weight loss yeet.

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Eating back cals burned?

Hello hello!

So I’ve just got back on my weight loss journey. I’m doing so, I have been professionally weighed, had a diet plan made for me, etc the works.

I’m looking at about 1200 cals per day and a lower carb diet, as I asked for my weight loss to be aggressive and because I have a lower BMR (1700) I weigh 219 pounds, 25 years old, female and I’m 5’4.

My question is, I workout (cardio & weights) and burn about 400-500 calories daily. (I track with my Fitbit)

Am I supposed to eat these calories back? I don’t want to harm my body by under eating, but I’m also not hungry bc of intermittent fasting. Would love to know anyone’s take on this. Thank you!

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[NSV] Told my boyfriend my weight today and didn't even feel scared!

My stats: 25F 5'3" SW:148 CW:139 LW:132 GW:110

I've been dating my boyfriend for about two years now. I'm currently a few pounds down from the weight I was when I first met him, but a few pounds up from the lowest weight I've been since then. Throughout that whole time, I've never felt comfortable talking to him about my weight (not that he pushed or seemingly cared, but it would occasionally come up). I absolutely would have never given him a number. The few times he did ask, I felt anxious and panicky and wouldn't say it.

Even at my lowest weight, 5+ pounds down from where I am now, I didn't feel comfortable telling him, even though I was so proud of myself then! I guess I worried that it would make him see me differently, or I hoped that maybe he had a lower estimate in his mind that I didn't want to override.

But today it came up in conversation. We were talking about weightlifting, and I asked him if he could estimate how much I might hypothetically be able to lift (I've never seriously tried it before), so he asked me what my weight was (so he could estimate, I guess), and I told him! Just like that! I literally didn't even hesitate. I figured that, hey, he knows what I look like, I feel proud of how far I've come, and that he cares about more than just my weight (he honestly probably doesn't care at all).

This would have even just recently felt like an impossibility. In order to get here, I think the big step was realizing that my current journey says more about me than the number on the scale does and that I should base my self-image more on my actions rather than on my immediate outcomes. Which is something I NEVER thought I'd say! I used to see people write stuff like that on here and think it was BS because for me, the scale absolutely mattered and I wanted to see specific numbers.

I would encourage anyone reading this to consider what hangups they might potentially have surrounding their own numbers, and consider whether or not those mental models are accurate and beneficial towards achieving their ultimate end goals. For example, as a kid who loved K-pop, I grew up with hangups about someday wanting to be 110 lbs because 50kg was supposedly the ideal weight for female idols. But as I grew more interested in running and other athletic endeavors, I realized that this fixation on reaching that number made me shy away from activities that would build muscle. How messed up is that? Lately, I've been seeking more inspiration in the other women I see on my regular running trails. This feels much healthier, more sustainable, and less tied up in a bunch of childhood baggage.

Which numbers matter to you? Where do those numbers come from? How much influence do you want those numbers and/or their associations to have on you? For example, if you have hangups about X because your sister always weighed X, or about Y because Y was your college weight, I would urge you consider if you want to let your envy of your sister have that much of a role in your psyche, or if you're avoiding discovering new potential happy weights as you age because you're struggling with come to terms with no longer being young.

And again, don't get me wrong--I think the number on the scale is a really valuable metric and that paying attention to it can be and often is a hugely powerful tool in maintaining our psyche during the weight loss process. But it's limited in that it can backfire on you. It can lead to shame and embarrassment, which while in the moment can sometimes feel like just the slap in the face we need, and thus can inspire immediate action, their initial power fades fast. Weight loss takes a long time and requires you to maintain a disciplined mindset pretty consistently--how far do you think painful emotions like those can carry you?

Focusing on the positive (or perhaps more realistically: neutral) associations we can have with the scale is going to be more effective than hoping the negative emotions it can cause us will make us finally behave. The negative emotions fail us because of the fact that humans generally seek to act in ways that reinforce our own self-perception (i.e. we like to have a consistent self). In other words, if you feel bad about yourself every day, then you're going to act on behaviors that make you feel like it is appropriate to feel bad about yourself. It's not just that going over your calorie limit can you make you feel like a failure, but also that thinking of yourself as a failure can cause you to act in ways that will reinforce that self-perception--i.e. going over your calorie limit yet again because subconsciously you think "fuck it, I'm that kind of person anyway" or "that's just who I am."

TL;DR In summary, I felt more comfortable telling my boyfriend my weight because I (a) had accumulated enough wins to feel pride at my accomplishments and (b) started working through some of the baggage I had regarding certain numbers. It might be helpful to learn more about the hangups you might have and try to heal from them because otherwise those hangups can influence our actions in unhelpful ways. Would love to know what kind of hangups everyone else might have or hear any thoughts anyone has on the above.

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5 Warm Weather Walking Tips

You already know that walking is good for you. A brisk daily walk can be less taxing on your joints than running and other cardio exercises—but it still gets your heart rate up if you keep a quick pace. Research, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, has also found that averaging 4,400 daily steps per day reduces mortality by 41 percent. And that rate progressively improves up to about 7,500 steps (demonstrating that you don’t necessarily need to hit 10,000 steps to see benefits).¹

We know that many of our Nutrisystem Success Stories have used walking to help support their weight loss goals. We’ve included many articles about walking on The Leaf to give you new ideas and tips to freshen up your routine.

This has included ways to burn more calories as well as ways to get more steps into your day.

But with the warm weather months upon us, we also want to share some important warm weather walking tips. We know it can be challenging to maintain your walking routine as the days heat up, but we hope that these tips will help keep you on track and safe.

Walking vs. Running: Which is Better for Weight Loss?

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1. Become an Early Bird (or a Night Owl)

Walking in the heat of the day can be challenging. But during the summer months, it can start to heat up fairly early. For that reason, you might consider setting your alarm and hitting the pavement before the temperature has had the chance to rise too much. Oftentimes, summer mornings are still cool. Plus, you’ll feel good about getting your workout done early.

Of course, if you aren’t a morning person—or you already get up early for work—this might not be your best option. Instead, you might consider walking at night.

On either end, if you’re working out while it’s still dark, it’s important to take safety precautions including wearing reflective gear, using extra caution when crossing streets and sticking to the sidewalk.

2. Stay Hydrated

No matter when you walk, it’s always important to stay hydrated if the weather is warm. Drinking water will help prevent your muscles from cramping and will also assist in body temperature regulation—both of which are particularly important during hot summer days.

One of the pitfalls to walking upon first waking up is that people begin their walks dehydrated. Make sure you drink water before leaving for your walk.

We know that it can be a pain to carry a water bottle with you but it’s pretty important—particularly if you’re going to be gone for a while. You might want to look into some of the various fitness water bottles that come with straps or cases for carrying.

3. Keep Cool

Staying cool when you’re working out in the sun is also important. Look for hot weather walking gear such as light-colored and lightweight clothing. You’ll also want to make sure that you have some sort of hat or visor to shade your neck and face. This is also important as a level of sun protection! And of course, you do not want to forget your sunscreen and sunglasses to protect yourself from potentially dangerous sun rays.

Many warm weather walkers also swear by a gaiter or bandana dunked in water and worn around their face or neck to stay cool as the water evaporates.

The fact is that walking is a good low-impact exercise, but keeping a brisk pace could still heat you up. It is a good idea to prepare for your daily walk by getting ahead of temperatures, so that you can maintain the intensity of your exercise.

10 Must-Follow Safety Rules for Walkers

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4. Choose a Shaded Route

You might also want to think about the route that you’re taking and opt for something shaded. If you’re walking in the heat of the day, why not choose a trail where you’ll gain the benefit of shade from the trees? This will likely be a lot more bearable than walking on an open walking trail or in an area where there is no shade, and you have to endure the sun beating down the entire time.

If you know there is a particular part of your walk where you tend to be the most tired, or if you are worried about maintaining a brisk pace to your walk, time the shaded parts accordingly. This will help you keep your energy level up so you can get the most from your daily walk.

5. Know the Signs of Heat-Related Illness

While it’s best to avoid walking at the hottest times of the day because of the increased potential for heat-related issues, knowing the signs of heat-related illnesses can save a life.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), heat stroke, heat exhaustion, heat cramps, sunburn and heat rash are the heat-related issues to have on your radar.² While you can do a quick online search to understand each of these, know that medical attention should be sought if someone is throwing up, has worsening symptoms, is confused or losing consciousness, has cramps lasting for more than one hour or if a medical emergency is suspected. Speak to your doctor if you have any questions about heat-related illness.

Symptoms can come on suddenly—and because confusion is a symptom of heat stroke, it can be problem that is difficult to self-identify.  This is why walking with a buddy is important. Better yet, to stay safe on the hottest days, move your walking time to the early morning or evening hours, switch to an indoor track or find a different way to raise your heartrate for that day!

6 Easy, Breezy Summer Weight Loss Tips

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Sources: 

1. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2734709
2. https://www.cdc.gov/disasters/extremeheat/warning.html

The post 5 Warm Weather Walking Tips appeared first on The Leaf.

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Finally in Onderland

Hi Loseit crew

It is finally my turn to declare that I am in Onderland. I am comfortably in Onderland.

I have logged my food each day in MyFitnessPal for 142 days. I have lost 32 pounds. I never thought I would make it this far because I have Hashimotos.

I am eating at a 500 calorie deficit. Some days I eat a bit more, some days I eat a bit less. I have taken a 2 week diet break (ate at maintenance) over my birthday and holiday at the end of May.

My clothes fit lots better, I have even brought some smaller sizes (UK16) I have more energy and I am a lot less sweaty when walking, doing housework, gardening work etc...

I just wanted to brag and also say thank you to this amazing Reddit community. You are part of my weight loss journey and I have enjoyed reading and commenting on all your amazing posts.

We can do this!!!

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