You will not permanently lose weight until you address the reasons you overeat.

There are so many ways to lose weight, quickly or slowly, healthily or unhealthily.

I’ve done them all. Currently, I’m at a great place for myself and am about 75 lbs down from my highest. Throughout my life, I have gained and lost weight more than dozens of times. I’m happy to say I’m in a very healthy place with maintenance and weight loss at this point.

No matter how effective your diet or weight loss strategy, it’s impossible to keep weight off long term if you haven’t addressed why you overeat.

Most of us here did not become increasingly overweight because we weren’t trying. For myself, I know it’s directly related to my overeating and binge cycling.

Sticking to a diet is doable. Sticking to a diet when you’re stressed and food feels like relief is eventually impossible.

Personally, I’m a stress eater. I used eat when I was stressed, when I was depressed or anxious, even when I was happy or celebrating.

When I realized that stress was my primary trigger, it changed the game for me. I wasn’t overeating or “failing” diets because I was uneducated about nutrition. It’s not some type of moral failure.

I gained weight, EVERY SINGLE TIME, because my response to stress is eating. It made me feel better very temporarily, but then I would feel terrible. Worse than this, my stress was still not relieved - just saved for later.

How I addressed this:

1) Noticing when I had an impulse to overeat.

2) Taking time to identify what I was actually feeling that made me want to overeat.

3) Finding another non-food related way to relieve the emotion.

(Note: I’m specifically talking about wanting to continue eating or having an impulse to binge when I was already full. For example, if I am hungry enough to eat an apple or something nutritious, I will always have it.)

(Another Note: Therapy is great for this.)

Stress Relief Ideas That I Like:

*Take a relaxing bath or shower *Journal *Go for a walk *Meditate *Read an interesting book *Stretch for a few minutes *Research your favorite historical period *Paint something (even if you’re bad at it) *Color a picture *Make a meaningless craft *Call a friend *Wash your face and massage in moisturizer for a few extra minutes *Find everything in your immediate area that is yellow (insert color of your choice) *Organize something you’ve been putting off *Cry. Let it all out. *Go to a dollar store or local art store and find some cool, fun things for less than $5 *Play a game *Ride a bike *Do a few minutes of yoga, maybe a few more *Play with a pet (If you don’t have pets, go to a local shelter and play with those pets) *Massage your hands or your feet for a few minutes *Do a face mask *Write yourself a letter *Send a card to your friend *Yell into a pillow *Drink some hot tea *Watch your favorite movie *Make a collage with all of your favorite things *Give yourself a hug

Feel free to add your own ideas in the comments. Also feel free to save/edit this list and keep it somewhere convenient for the next time you need it.

I’m still working on this, and I’m not always perfect. When I first started, I would notice that I was stressed and having a binge impulse, then I would binge anyway. As time went on, I was able to acknowledge my feelings and find better ways to relieve them most of the time.

Noticing that you’re stressed and having an impulse to binge is a huge freaking step! That’s progress. Instead of beating yourself up, try being gentle and understanding with yourself.

I hope this helps someone. Sending my best to you all!

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Gained 5lbs over the weekend

Hello y’all, I wanted to introduce myself before I start.

I’ve started CICO since July at 185lbs and was super excited to finally hit 159.6lbs this past Friday (Goal weight 135).

My calorie intake is 1400 a day but at most I hit 500-1000 because I have unidentifiable stomach issues for a year and a half that make me not hungry/nauseous. I work out 5 times a week, 10k steps a day and machine workouts depending on the day. I haven’t been consistent the past two weeks because again, stomach issues.

I’ve also stop taking Topomax (under doctor’s supervision) due to headache issues as well.

To continue, I ate relatively well this weekend too. I had sushi Friday, boiling shrimp in a bag Saturday and tacos Sunday, all under 1,400 because it’s the only meal I ate per day.

I weigh myself today and I’m shocked to see the scale at 163.8lbs.. that’s about a 5 pound gain in two days.

I’ve been very emotional and upset because this has never happened since my weight loss. Did I overeat? Is it water weight? I feel bloated and burping, but again I don’t know if it’s just my normal stomach issues or not. Just feel so lost and hopeless about my lost progress, any advice is appreciated.

Thank you for reading.

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Could somebody explain what's happening with my legs?

Before the pandemic my lowest weight was 170lbs (I'm 5'11 & 22yo male) and even then my legs seem to have a lot of excess fat on them, I've restarted my weight loss journey and I'm wondering if there's anything I can do to deal with my legs?

I've seen people that were at my highest size (320lbs) and even though they've lost weight, their legs are fine. I didn't do much muscle training and it was purely food changes that resulted in my weight loss before.

My legs are pretty wobbly when walking, however when I'm sitting down in my underwear, all the fat spreads out and it looks massive, I can grab the fatty part of it and it feels like there's so much of it. It wasn't as noticeable when I was 170lbs however it was still there and didn't look like a normal person's thigh.

What would be the best way of dealing with this? Weight loss did affect my legs but compared to my belly and my arms etc it barely made any difference. Very self -conscious about them!

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Finally, some progress! I lost 3 pounds the healthy way!

SW 201lbs, CW 198lbs, GW 180lbs, H 6’0, W 38

So it’s been 5 weeks since I started going to the gym and 1 week since I learned about the importance of protein. I’ve replaced any snack craving I have with one of my yummy chocolate protein shakes and do my best to have at least 60 grams a day (200 is what I was told I need to get up to).

I replaced all my unhealthy habits with healthy habits and finally, I noticed a difference on the scale.

I was so disappointed in how I let myself go, get the belly I did and reality kicked in when the scale started with a “2”. Now it’s back down to starting with a “1” and I feel great. My goal is to be able to fit into my size 34 jeans again. That’s probably a bit too wishful thinking though.

As long as I feel better I’m okay with a slow weight loss. I just tell myself part of it is my body building muscle.

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Day 1 (Again): Reflecting on weight loss strategies from 6 years ago vs. now

I'm back 6 years after my last weight loss journey. This time I'm starting at 280 lbs, with a goal of 180 lbs. I'm using MyFitnessPal and Calm apps to help me track my physical and mental health progress.

Background:

Last time, I started at 250 lbs and ended at 175 after about a year of calorie tracking. I maintained successfully for a while before having a kid. I ended up at about 220 lbs before a wave of misfortune caused me to return to my stress eating habits:

• Lost my partner/baby daddy (grief) shortly after my son was born
• COVID-19 hit, pushing my mental health over the edge
• Lost my best college friend and cat within the same week
• Terribly stressful job that gave me severe burnout

The last 3 years or so have been a struggle with lots of false starts to try and get my health back in check. I decided to go easy on myself because things were so stressful (per therapist recommendation). Unfortunately, that means that I've gained another 50 lbs during the pandemic.

Now I'm the heaviest I've ever been at 280 lbs.

Reflection on Last Time

For me, stress is a huge factor in my weight loss journey.

When I originally started here in 2015, I was the happiest I'd ever been. Everything was great in my life - loving partner, great job, friends, plenty of time to exercise. Losing weight was as simple as realizing how much I was overeating and cutting down the portions (using Lose It and MyFitnessPal apps).

The most difficult part was breaking my habit of getting fast food on the way home from work. For 30 minutes, I'd drive past so much deliciously unhealthy food. After a long day of work, I'd be hungry, tired. Most of the time, I'd give in and get something.

I fixed this by bringing my dinner with me to work and eating it before I left. Later, when I felt more fit, I'd go to the gym and do Zumba instead of going straight home. This simple change made it easy to lose the weight, since I loved dancing with my friends.

My other weak spot was (still is) midnight snacks. I'd combat this by replacing dense, junky snacks (like chips, candy, trail mix, etc) with healthier, light snacks (plain popcorn, popped chips, edamame, etc.).

Also, I'd do Zumba so I could build up extra calories, then "cash" them in for my snacks. Basically, I'd earn my midnight snacks with exercise, and not have any if I didn't exercise.

It's also important to give youself some reasonable cheat days. Don't torture yourself. If it's a special holiday, let yourself have a cookie or scoop of ice cream (that you've earned!). Having little treats every now and then will help you to avoid breaking down and binging later.

Strategy This Time Around

This time, my situation has changed a lot, so it'll require more work. But at least I have my previous success to show that I can do it, if I stick with it.

I'm a single working mom, so I have very little free time and am almost always tired. I live with family, so I can no longer control the type of food that's in the house (hoping to move soon). While I've processed my grief and quit my stressful job, I've built up unhealthy habits that I need to break, like eating everything in the house at night and not getting enough sleep.

Here are some strategies I'm hoping to try:

• Making my family keep any junk food in their room, so that I don't have access to it
• Instead of cooking family dinners, which I rarely have energy for, I'm going to buy more low-calorie frozen meals and keep meals simple - or try to meal prep healthier things on the weekend
• Swapping the snacks I eat at night to healthier options, like plain popcorn and edamame
• Exercising to earn my snacks and not eating snacks I haven't earned
• Meditating and going to bed earlier, so that I have more resilience to stress

While I'm starting at a pretty low point in my life this time around, there's one thing I have successfully kept up with, and that's exercise.

Since 2015, I've consistently done Zumba, swimming, or walking. The result is that, even though I am 30 lbs heavier than my last starting weight, I have a lot more muscle and energy this time around. I'm not struggling to sit and breathe like before.

Just goes to show that, while food is the most important thing for weight loss, exercise DOES help you feel better.

I recommend finding exercise you like doing, that you think is fun - that way you'll stick with it, even in your most difficult times. If you're not up to intense exercise, start with a walk. As time goes on, you'll start to feel better, then you can slowly build up your exercise routine as well. Small wins = long-term success.

So that's me. Day 1 (again).

Let's do this.

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I see sooooo much disinformation about weight and weight loss. Is there anything that can be done?

I went from underweight to overweight but have now maintained a healthy weight range for many years after I actually learned how weight loss and weight gain worked. I really just had no idea how it worked when I was younger because I was being told so many factors for my weight were out of my control through genetics, set point theory, starvation mode, hormone imbalance, etc...

But when I realized that what I consumed and how much I moved directly correlated to my weight, it was like a light bulb went off and it was easier to understand and make goals for myself. The mental aspect of reducing intake and exercising regularly is what is the most challenging but the formula is simple.

However I see so many people fall victim to what I had to go through. It makes me mad because it seems that people and companies deliberately confusing because it's profitable that way.

I try to attempt to dispel weight lose/gain misinformation in friendly and positive ways but lately I have been met with replies that I am just fat phobic.

So my question is there a way to talk about the science of weight loss & weight gain without coming off as attacking or fat phobic?

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It’s pretty amazing

It’s all there, up in my head. All this technical knowledge about weight loss. I know that no matter what strategy I use, being in a caloric deficit is necessary. I know how beneficial exercise can be, I know all about intermittent fasting, and keto, and low carb. I know the health risks that come with being obese. Hell, I was once a lot thinner than I am now and I know how that felt. It’s like I’ve gathered all this amazing information.. but it’s all locked in my head. I can’t make the switch from having all this knowledge to applying it to real life. I’ve lost and (and then gained) weight a couple times, and I honestly don’t know what it was about those times that made it possible, or what I’d need to do differently to make it stick. It’s just really frustrating “knowing what works”, and not being able to make it work for yourself.

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