Male, 28, 5’10” | SW: 330 lbs | CW: 250 lbs | GW: (short-term) 230 lbs, (long-term): 199 lbs
Progress picture. March 2020 and August 2021.
Hello! First, thank you to everyone who has shared their stories and tips on /r/loseit - I have spent countless hours roaming this subreddit looking for (and finding) inspiration and help in my weight loss journey. I wanted to share this post in case it helps others, but also to document my progress and to motivate myself moving forward.
Everyone’s journey is different, but here are a few tips from my weight loss journey so far:
1) Focus on the cause, not just the symptom
This was the hardest step for me and to reiterate, everyone’s journey is different. Weighing above a healthy weight can be a symptom of a larger problem. For me the problem was depression, which I ignored most of my adult life. I convinced myself that I was depressed because of my weight and so I thought it was impossible to be happier without losing weight. That chicken/egg thinking was self-defeating because it made me try to do too much, too quickly, all while ignoring other problems in my life. At a certain point early in the lockdown, I realized I needed to focus on my mental health or I may spiral, so I retooled my approach to try and live healthier mentally before working to improve physically. This is much easier said than done, and often requires outside support, so this remains a focus of mine in my ongoing journey.
2) Fixing my sleep
This may be somewhat unconventional, but I honestly didn’t realize how poorly I was sleeping until I got a medical marijuana card. Having only smoked a few times in college, I got a medical marijuana card in the early days of the pandemic and found that it helped me sleep a lot better. It also replaced alcohol as my vice of choice, since there’s no hangover and it makes everything funny (though I don’t stock my pantry with many snacks because of this change). This is not a solution that will work / is accessible for everyone, so the larger point here is to think about your sleep and how you can improve it. Once I got a taste of Good Sleep, I pulled the trigger on my first new mattress purchase ever. I got a Purple mattress and absolutely love it - now I can usually sleep through the night even without “medication.” (Note: People on the internet seem to have very strong opinions on mattresses. I’m not sponsored, I just like the mattress. You should consider all your options before making any purchase).
3) If you haven’t heard, flavored seltzers taste pretty good nowadays!
Drinking calories (alcohol & soda) is hard for me to keep track of and easy for me to overindulge in, so I have largely stopped drinking both. I mentioned my alcohol replacement above, and I replaced soda with seltzer. I honestly HATED seltzer a few years ago but started a new job that stocked their fridge with it, and well, because it was free, I forced myself into liking it. My thought process was pretty simple: when I first tried coffee and beer, I hated them both, but now I enjoy them both. This worked - I now love seltzer and go through what feels like a pallets-worth every week. Give it a try. And another. And another. And then you'll like it. Try different seltzer brands, too! They're all a bit different, some more flavorful than others.
4) Routines are real & it does get easier
Looking at the 80 lbs I’ve lost, my success so far has been almost entirely by focusing on CICO (calories in, calories out). To this point, the only piece I’ve really monitored is calories in. I approached this using prepared foods for breakfast/lunch that allow me to have a bigger dinner. I’ve never been a big breakfast person, so in the mornings I have nothing, a banana/apple, or a 270 calorie breakfast shake, depending on how I'm feeling. For lunch, I have a ~300 calorie pre-made salad (shoutout to southwest style salads which I really like), something simple like a hot dog or chicken patty, or a sub-400 calorie frozen dinner. Often times I only have lunch, leaving me with a lot of room for dinner. For dinner, I usually eat whatever I want, but keep a close eye on portions and calories, often saving leftovers for lunch the next day. This is an approach that worked for me. The routine of having go-to meals made it easier for me to succeed. After a month-ish of following through with this routine, it became much easier for me to wait between meals. Now that I've established this routine, I also find myself feeling full much quicker while eating. When I do mess up and binge eat, because my routine has been established, I no longer view it as a failure, but instead try to use it as a reminder that this is a multi-year journey and one day will not wreck my progress.
Some additional tips from my journey:
5) I weigh myself almost every day, but only log my weight once or twice a week at most. I like to have an idea of where my weight is every day, but when I look at a chart, I very much like to see the progress I’ve made without the random jumps that daily weight logging can give you. But my advice here is simple: follow whatever weigh-in routine that works for you!
6) With the pandemic, I basically stopped driving and have since moved into a city & got rid of my car. I realize now that having a car enabled me to indulge in a lot of eating that I have since stopped simply because my mode of transportation is no longer super convenient. No more fast food on my way home from work. To that point…
7) Prepackaged food has been a great tool for me. I realized how much I was spending on Uber Eats and how much I’d save if I stocked up on prepackaged food that I could turn to before defaulting to delivery. Paying $5-$10 for prepackaged dinners is more expensive than making the same meal from scratch, but much easier & cheaper than ordering delivery! Also…
8) Air fryers are pretty great! Yes, I'm in the air fryer cult. This again goes to the point of having food I can prepare quickly that isn’t delivery/fast food. I like cooking but I also like convenience - and the air fryer delivers on both fronts! Portion control is important here though, don’t let the air fryer become a weapon against you instead of a tool on your side.
Next steps: I’m now starting to focus more on the “calories out” part of CICO, with a loose goal to hit 230 lbs by October 2021. My friend is getting married in mid-October and I’m in the wedding party - and this will be the first time I'm seeing a lot of my college friends since the pandemic began. I’d love to show up and be able to say I’ve lost 100 lbs during the pandemic. I’ve lost some focus in the last week or so, which is why I wanted to write this post. My plan is to go on regular walks but I've had some trouble committing to this in the past -- I recently bought new workout clothes and walking shoes to encourage myself. If you have any tips, let me know!
Bonus progress picture with my dad, May 2016 and August 2021. My dad started his weight loss journey in 2019 at 72-years old and was a big inspiration for me to get serious about weight loss as well.
For now, I’m back to browsing /r/loseit for more tips & stories as I begin this part of my journey! Thank you for reading and more importantly YOU GOT THIS!
