Afraid to step on a scale after I started my weight loss journey.

So, basically I'm scared I haven't been losing weight like I thought. Now, I KNOW I have because clothes fit better and I can physically see it. I'm a big guy. At my highest I was close to 500 pounds...yeah. I actually managed to lose all the way into the 300s. I plateaud around 320 for the longest time then ended up gaining some weight up into around the 350s.

That is the last time I weighed myself, when I was 350. That is also when I decided I needed to restart my journey. What I did is basically exercise and calorie deficit.

I figured my best way forward isn't to go on a full diet where I completely changed what I eat BUT to focus on what I'm already eating and how I can lower the calories or even simply eat the same things, just less of them. For example, I still can eat McDonald's (not every day obviously but I'm using it as an example). However, I don't go and eat a Big Mac with everything on it, a large fry and a soda. I go and get pretty much a Quarter Pounder by itself and a water. A quarter pounder alone isn't much calories so I know I can easily fit it in. I also do not eat breakfast. I do very rarely, it's just something I've done forever and it helps me in the long run as far as calorie deficit.

So, in short, I HAVE been tracking my calories even when I eat "badly". According to all the calculators I've tried and stuff, my maintenance calories fall somewhere in the 2800-3000 range (I'm about to be 29, 6'0, male). Right now, I have about 2600 calories as my budget where I can eat up to that and still lose weight, even if its a half a pound a week.

I am finding it difficult to eat anywhere close to that! My calorie intake generally falls somewhere within 1800-2200ish calories. It can depend on the day and how I felt I was doing the previous few days/week so I decide to eat a little more one day or something.

So, by literal nature I should be losing weight. However I just find myself scared I'm not. Because I'm still fat. I still see it every day. I'm a big dude naturally so I don't necessarily look like I weight 300+ pounds but I know I might still be in the 300s. How do I fit off the mental stuff of "its not working!"? Because I KNOW for a fact it is. I feel myself losing weight and again, I have been tracking my calorie intake. I am being truthful. I am holding myself accountable. It's actually physically so hard to even think about eating upwards of 3500 calories (which is whereabouts I would be to GAIN weight).

Hopefully some people can offer advice on how to go forward without stressing that what I'm doing isn't working even though I KNOW it is. I can say I have a problem with overthinking things and I have come to realize that recently and I am trying to work on that. And I am probably doing the same thing here and overthinking this completely. I'm absolutely kicking ass with my goals right now and I KNOW it but...idk.

submitted by /u/away9292
[link] [comments]

from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/3CKeoDi

Is weight loss really this simple?

Hello everyone, thank you for taking the time to read this.

I am 5'10" and last November, I nearly cried when I saw I weighed in at 204lbs. I substantially cut back on my drinking and did random cardio on a highly irregular basis. I didn't really pay attention to what I was eating or how much. Yesterday, I weighed in at 184lbs which is much better, but I'd like to get serious about losing another 20lbs. I decided to fully quit drinking last week.

I tried a bunch of different calorie calculators to get a sense of how many calories I need as someone that has a fairly sedentary lifestyle. All the calculators were in the 2100-2200 range.

My plan is to start consuming about 1800 calories/day and walking to burn another 300 calories/day (roughly 45 minutes a day). That should produce a deficit of at least 4200 calories a week or just over 1lb of weight loss a week, and shouldn't be too painful if the 1800 calories are nutritionally dense mostly whole foods like peanut butter, avocados, wheat bread etc. I'd love to start off 2022 20lbs lighter and possibly get into running :)

Am I looking at this the right way? Does anyone have any other suggestions, tips, or even criticism? Thanks :)

submitted by /u/WitheredBallSack
[link] [comments]

from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/3CPwt2K

8 Tips to Burn More Calories by Walking

Walking is seriously underrated in terms of its benefits as an exercise. Oftentimes we feel as though we must get drenched in sweat to burn calories. In reality, walking really can do wonders to help boost your burn! Don’t get us wrong; cycling, running and all of those intense cardio activities are wonderful. But maybe you don’t always have time to hit the gym or go for a full-blown run.

Sometimes, fitting in a couple of walks can feel a lot more doable.

Fortunately, research supports the benefits of walking. A study, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, found that those who stuck with a walking program had significant improvements in blood pressure, reduction of body fat and body weight and overall better quality of life.

To help you burn more calories, we’ve rounded up eight easy tips for your walking workout.

Why Stress Keeps You From Losing Weight (and How to Beat It!)

Read More

1. Walk on an incline, a hill or stairs.

Going up? Walking on a treadmill that is tilted at an incline, walking up a hill outside or even walking on stairs can all increase the intensity of your workout. This means you’ll burn more calories than walking on level ground. It may also be better for your health. One study, published in the Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, has shown that uphill walking can help your body metabolize both glucose and lipids, which means it might be beneficial for “the prevention of type 2 diabetes and disorders in lipid metabolism.”

2. Use an activity tracker or step counter to stay motivated.

Wearing a watch or a device that provides activity tracking capabilities and/or step counting can help motivate you to walk longer or faster. Without any sense of how far you’ve walked or how many calories you’ve burned, it can be easy to “quit early.” But if you see that you’re just a few tenths away from the next mile—or that you’re incredibly close to meeting your daily step goal—it can push you to go a little bit longer. That kind of motivation can pay off in terms of your results.

3. Listen to tunes.

Did you know that music can have an impact on your weight loss goals? A study, published in the journal Psychology of Sport and Exercise, found that listening to music led to a 28 percent increase in activity enjoyment. That can equate to walking for longer—and burning more calories. People also commonly report that music helps them increase the speed and intensity of their work. It puts a little zip in your step!

6 Easy Habits That Can Increase Your Metabolism

Read More

4. Walk with a pal.

While music can motivate the solo walker, having a friend to talk to can also be motivating. Research carried out by Virgin Active Health Clubs found that exercising with a friend can burn more calories than working out alone. The reason may be that chatting with a good pal is distracting and helps you go further. When friends walk together, they also pace one another. You might be motivated to walk faster than you would alone.

5. Make sure you have the right shoes.

A good pair of walking shoes really can make all the difference in the world when it comes to inspiration to go further. If you’ve ever walked a long distance in unsupportive shoes, then you know how much your feet started to hurt. But when you have footwear that is comfortable and provides good shock absorption, you can walk longer and faster—and torch more calories as a result.

6. Move your arms as you walk—and pick up the pace.

Adding arm movement during your walk can help you to go faster. It can turn a regular walk into a power walk—and that can help increase your burn. Research, published in Nature Medicine, found that the intensity of an activity can be more important than its duration. In other words, a shorter power walk can be more calorie-smashing than a long and leisurely stroll.

Hike Your Way to Weight Loss: 10 Reasons to Go for a Hike Today

Read More

7. Take a hike!

Instead of walking around your neighborhood or town, why not drive to a local trail and take a hike? Hiking on uneven ground and different terrains can activate different muscles than you’re used to using on flat surfaces. You’ll be strengthening muscles in the knees, hips and ankles—areas that don’t usually get much use. The changes in terrain typically mean more calories burned, too.

8. Incorporate interval training into your walking program.

If you’ve ever participated in an interval run, then you know it incorporates short bursts of sprinting into your jog. You can do the same thing walking by increasing the intensity to a power walk at each interval. The idea is to keep the interval short enough that you won’t get completely exhausted and can keep going. This can help you burn more calories while walking.

Pair your walking workout with a convenient meal delivery service! Get started with Nutrisystem today >

30-20-10 Interval Training: It’s for Everyone

Read More

The post 8 Tips to Burn More Calories by Walking appeared first on The Leaf.

from The Leaf https://ift.tt/3e5IuWT

I have less than 10 pounds left to lose

The scale has been 145 for the last few days. It's kind of wild to think about, but that means I have less than 10 pounds to lose to get to a normal BMI.

When I started out (199 pounds), I didn't know if weight loss would be achievable or how long it would take. The "no longer obese" number (163) felt so far away, let alone a healthy BMI. I didn't even let myself think too much about a normal BMI goal for a long time.

Part of it is the pandemic. I'm really thankful that I was able to have a lot of free time, which opened up the opportunity for me to start cooking more and exercising without feeling endlessly busy and stressed. (I used to commute around 2 hours per day.) Part of it is also a new job, which is a lot less stressful and has better hours than my last job. So of course if my life ever changes back to working longer hours or commuting more, I'll need to figure out how to maintain the weight. (I've since moved to a new city so should have a shorter commute regardless of working from home or not, which will help.) But I have established relatively easy, enjoyable habits that I honestly think I'd keep up even if my life got a lot busier.

I look at myself sometimes and think, who am I? Not the physical looks part - I was never that unhappy with how I looked when I was fat - but the rest. I'm lifting weights a bit most nights, I go to yoga classes (what?), I go hiking now and then. I never ever ever ever envisioned myself doing regular exercise, let alone enjoying it. Who knew working out didn't have to be miserable? Start slow, guys.

And while I eat less, it's nothing too crazy. I eat the foods I enjoy, but I cook more often, and I try to eat more fruits and vegetables and stuff. This doesn't mean salads nonstop - I am really really not a salad person - but I just eat my personal favorite "whole foods" more often, which means a lot of potatoes and tomatoes and peaches and beef and chicken and peppers and roasted vegetables, and yes some green vegetables too but rarely a salad. And also a lot of my personal comfort foods like mac & cheese and meat loaf, and honestly as long as the portions are reasonable it's usually a lot better than the takeout I was eating before.

It's been a long "journey," about a year and a half now, but thought I'd make a post to share the milestone of only being 10 pounds away from "healthy."

submitted by /u/Wqo84
[link] [comments]

from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/3COoyTC

Is a consistent eating schedule important/helpful for weight loss?

Hey everyone, I’ve realised I haven’t had a consistent eating schedule for a long time and my meal times/eating habits can vary DRASTICALLY from day to day. I just eat whenever and make sure I’m sticking to my calories. CICO is all that matters at the end of the day in terms of weight loss.

However lately I’m quite often tired and hungry, and struggle to stick under my daily calories.

Maybe a more consistent eating schedule could be beneficial in terms of feeling more energised and stable throughout the day, instead of everything being so all over the place. Just want to add that I have a consistent sleeping schedule, I get all my macros in and I am healthy (just recently had some tests done at the doctors) so I don’t think anything like that is the issue!

What is everyone’s take on this? Do you feel eating at consistent times helps with hunger/energy/cravings and and ultimately helps you stick to your weight loss goals?

submitted by /u/jzXCX
[link] [comments]

from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/3EVlFly

There is something of a civil war going on within all of our lives. There is a recalcitrant South of our soul revolting against the North of our soul. And there is this continual struggle within the very structure of every individual life. —Martin Luther King, Jr.

This is part of a larger sermon of loving ones enemy, of which I quote in relevant part:

A second thing that an individual must do in seeking to love his enemy is to discover the element of good in his enemy, and every time you begin to hate that person and think of hating that person, realize that there is some good there and look at those good points which will over-balance the bad points. I’ve said to you on many occasions that each of us is something of a schizophrenic personality. We’re split up and divided against ourselves. And there is something of a civil war going on within all of our lives. There is a recalcitrant South of our soul revolting against the North of our soul. And there is this continual struggle within the very structure of every individual life. There is something within all of us that causes us to cry out with Ovid, the Latin poet, “I see and approve the better things of life, but the evil things I do.”⁴ There is something within all of us that causes us to cry out with Plato that the human personality is like a charioteer with two headstrong horses, each wanting to go in different directions.⁵ There is something within each of us that causes us to cry out with Goethe, “There is enough stuff in me to make both a gentleman and a rogue.” There is something within each of us that causes us to cry out with Apostle Paul: “I see and approve the better things of life, but the evil things I do.” ⁶

So somehow the “isness” of our present nature is out of harmony with the eternal "oughtness" that forever confronts us. And this simply means this: That within the best of us, there is some evil, and within the worst of us, there is some good. When we come to see this, we take a different attitude toward individuals.

While MLK was using our struggle within as an example of our outward struggle as people and communities, I think it's good for /r/loseit to appreciate the struggle within.

We often have observed our behavior being misaligned with our intentions. We find ourselves back in the habit of eating ice cream nightly despite still intending to eat better to lose weight. We are confronted with the “isness” of our present nature is out of harmony with the eternal "oughtness" as MLK put it. The two horses -- steady reason and flashes of emotion -- pulling our chariot in two directions.

Even in procrastinating the start of our weight loss effort, we get confused and wonder how we can ever succeed because we have -- for years -- watched our own counterproductive behavior like we are a powerless spectator of it.

I'll stay with the inner and outer metaphor but now reverse it a bit. As MLK was using the inner to describe the outer, I want to use the outer struggle to talk about the inner struggle.

One thing that has helped me was to embrace my inner child instead of hating him. I see him as a child is; emotional, impulsive and rash, loving and lovable, and sometimes effusive and stormy. He puts the joy in holidays. He's the part of me that likes to sing and wants everyone to have a fun time. I am raising this child but I don't want him to lose those wonderful parts of him. The goal isn't to kill what he is, but to give him more mastery over his reactions to his emotions -- to learn how to deal with frustration, to manage strong desires, to not react when his feelings are injured, to not use food to buffer harsh impressions or to stimulate himself when he's bored.

It's been 7 years so far and I'm still not done. My maintenance is going fine, but it's work. Parents don't stop raising children when they reach 7; and my inner child is similarly doing better than he was but still has a lot of promise ahead. I've succeeded not by hating him, but by loving him.

If hate tears apart communities and nations, think about what it does within the two parts of ourselves.

Love is the way.

submitted by /u/funchords
[link] [comments]

from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/2WcBVNx

6 month weight loss progress pics. Over half way to my goal :) Counting calories and trying to move more. NSFW.

A bit nervous but here goes! I have covered my tattoos in the photos, hence the black marks.

Female. 30. 170cm/5’7”. SW: 77kg/170lbs. CW: 67kg/148lbs. GW: 61kg/135lbs.

I have been counting calories and eating in a deficit of roughly 500 calories a day, but having the occasional cheat day and trying to not be too hard on myself! I still eat bread, cake, chocolate, etc. I just try to eat more protein and vegetables.

I do a resistance band/body weight exercise session maybe twice a week, but mostly I’m just going on little walks and trying to hit 10k steps a day.

I’ve lost just under a pound a week on average. Slow and steady :)

https://imgur.com/a/w7i3jJs

submitted by /u/Clementine_Fandango
[link] [comments]

from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/3CQOL3A