Before and after.
I am 20M, but I have been obese for just about as long as I can remember. It lead to a lot of self-esteem issues, as I'm sure many of you struggled with, which ultimately lead me to withdraw myself from social interaction and eat more. About 4 years ago (a couple months after the before picture was taken), I was diagnosed with NAFLD and the doctor told me that, while that wasn't necessarily an issue for now, it would ultimately take a toll on my life if I chose not to address it and lose weight. Well, unfortunately, that was probably the worst thing that the doctor could have told me, because all I listened to was the beginning part where he said it wasn't an issue for now (of course, that was an issue with myself not the doctor). At the time, I was 5'9" (~175 cm) and 252 lb (~114 kg). I chose not to even attempt to lose weight for about a year until my senior prom came and went without me. I realized that I was, simply, fat and unattractive, and I didn't feel comfortable asking anyone out. I went through a really, really hard breakup early in high school, so I just never really cared about my appearance and future relationships until I realized that I had just missed out on a memory like that.
At that time, I started a Mediterranean diet in an attempt to lose weight. What shocked me the most about the diet was just how good it all tasted. I was afraid that I would miss all my favorite foods, but ultimately I didn't. After 1 year on the diet, I dropped from 252 lb to 242 lb. I was extremely disappointed that that's all I had lost and I kind of just gave up again. I went back to eating whatever I wanted and went back up to just under 250 lb.
At the beginning of this year, everyone in my nuclear family caught COVID-19. My brothers and my mom all did pretty well with it, but my Dad and I really struggled. My Dad went to bed several nights saying that he was afraid that he would stop breathing overnight because of how hard it was. I spent three weeks straight on the couch, struggling with all sorts of symptoms ranging from GI issues to breathing issues to brain fog. This was the wake-up call for me because I realized that the reason COVID hit me so hard was likely correlated to my weight. It was the only risk factor I had, after all.
February 1st, I officially started my diet. Instead of doing a Mediterranean diet this time, though, I chose to just measure my calories. I didn't choose to limit my carbs, limit my fats, limit my red meat, etc. The only dietary change was that I chose to weigh every food I eat and keep track of my daily caloric intake. Now, this did ultimately lead to me cutting out certain foods, such as french fries, but that was merely a response to the fact that they are so high calorie and I struggle to reliably hold myself accountable for the amount I eat of those foods. The other change I made was to start walking for an hour every morning and working out three times a week. I have not been perfect, I'm not going to lie, but I am proud to say I've made a decent amount of progress.
This morning, 239 days later, I weighed in at 199.5 lb. This officially drops me from the obese range to the overweight range. People can have issues with BMI, and I'm not here to argue about that, but it felt great to finally hit that milestone. I can feel just how much healthier I am now than I was a year ago.
I'm not going to lie and say I don't struggle with self-esteem issues anymore. I still think I'm unattractive. I think I'm ugly. Honestly, I don't feel like I look that different even 50 lb later. But I am very happy that my health has improved and I'm excited to see myself next year when I am confident that I'll finally be in the healthy BMI range.
TL;DR: I dropped from 252 lb (~114 kg) at 5'9" (~175 cm), to 199.5 lb (~90.5 kg) over the course of about 10 months. These are the tips I think helped me along the way that might help others:
1.) Write down your reason for wanting to lose weight. Have a motivation. Have a reason to keep fighting, one that's personal to you. Look back on this if you start to doubt yourself.
2.) Take charge of your weight loss. Recognize that there is an internal locus of control. You do have the power to make the changes that will better your life, and it will be a lot easier if you take responsibility for those changes and don't shift the blame to other people.
3.) Weigh and measure your food. Keep track of everything you eat and make sure that you stay under a hard caloric limit. There were several days when I chose not to write stuff down and just rely on my instincts to know when I hit my limit. I can say without a doubt that every single day when I didn't measure my calories I went way over my limit and set myself back.
4.) Get moving and exercise somehow. You don't need to do some crazy workout or anything, just do something to burn more energy than your basal metabolic rate. Make sure you get plenty of rest (and sleep!) afterward.
5.) Don't eat your workout calories. It's really hard to measure how many calories you burn in a workout, and it seemed to me that every attempt to quantify it would just wind up overestimating. You'll lose weight more consistently if you don't eat back any of those calories.
6.) Don't have cheat days. It's better for you to eat foods you might enjoy in appropriate portions rather than gorging yourself once a month. If you do wind up going over one day, forget about it and get right back on track the next day. Don't let yourself fall into an extended rut.
7.) Don't be too hard on yourself. Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone hits plateaus every once in a while. I hit two different plateaus throughout my journey so far, at about 220 lb (~100 kg) and 205 lb (~93 kg). I got really depressed seeing so little change in numbers over the course of those several weeks, and it really demotivated me and led me to cheat more. Know that others go through the struggles that you go through when losing weight and that they do not make you a failure in any way.
I'll be back when I'm a normal weight. Hopefully I'll have a little more self-esteem by that point and maybe I'll even find myself attractive. Good luck, everyone! I promise you can do it. Never give up.
