Wednesday, May 4, 2022

Not feeling hungry? But I think I need to?

Hey all

I have been back on my weight loss horse. I let myself gain a lot more than I should. Starting weight this time was almost 5 weeks ago. I was 242 lbs, I am 6'3.

I have lost 17 lbs over the last 4 weeks and I am happy with my progress.

My problem now is, I don't feel very hungry anymore. I am logging calories religiously on MFP. For the last few weeks I felt hungry a lot and that to me seems like I know I am doing it right. Now I don't seem to feel hungry, and I am worried I am hitting a plateau. When I have dropped weight before I have hit plateaus and they have stalled my progress. Do you think I am still logging the same way I did in the beginning? I try to be honest, but finding straight forward calorie counts in a hurry is hard. Is there a better source for calorie counts? Does Loseit have some tricks for getting past a plateau?

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Tuesday, May 3, 2022

A Weight Loss Physician - Just Sharing Some Thoughts :)

‘It’s Okay To Lie’.

Reverse Psychology To Build Trust.

A strange dynamic often develops with my weight loss patients.

Regardless of where you stand on the ‘calorie in < calorie out’ debate, documenting what you eat is critical to weight loss.

Surprisingly often, patients lie about what they eat.

There are several reasons, but here are a few common themes.

“I don’t want to disappoint you”.
“I don’t want to be judged.”

Despite advances in the patient-doctor relationship, patients feel deeply accountable to their physician.

Especially in journeys as collaborative as weight loss.

Often, the lying/hiding/fudging of the truth is uncovered when a patient hits a plateau.

We review their diet and exercise…and the numbers don’t seem to add up.

At this time I have to ask probing questions to diagnose the cause of the plateau.

Eventually, more often than not, it’s withholding the truth re: how much they eat or how much they exercise.

‘You know, it’s okay to lie’.

“It is?”

“Of course, I get it. It must be stressful trying to be perfect. I know, I’ve been there”

“You have?”

“Of course! Eating right? Staying away from your favorites? Exercising everyday? It’s tough! Sometimes, the only thing that motivates me is you guys!”

Hopefully we share a wonderful laugh.

“I just want you to know, that I’m not a corrections officer. I’m your guide through this journey. Only problem is my guidance is limited by the accuracy of the information you give me.”

“Regardless, until you trust me to help, you can keep lying” - making it clear I’m joking!

More often than not, the pressure to be perfect is diffused.

They know that I know.

They know that I am their guide, not an authority figure.

And what do you know, the missing calories magically appear 😀😀

#weightloss #behaviorchange #trust #psychology

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personal accountability

5’10 24F, CW: 185 lbs, GW: ?? lbs. I am making this post to help hold myself accountable! I have a weird history with food and exercise (lost 120 lbs four years ago, then lost 15 more lbs very dangerously, then gained back 50 lbs) so I am approaching this weight loss journey with caution and a lot of trial and error knowledge. I want to focus on building healthier habits - running, yoga, eating enough but not too much. I have noticed the urge to binge sugary foods while bored, so I will also be working on cutting that addiction down.

I am more interested in the lifestyle of working out and eating well (i.e strength, focus, mental health benefits) than I am in the weight loss, although I am looking forward to leaning out. My plan is to eat ~2000 calories/daily with one hour of exercise. Thoughts, encouragement, advice appreciated!

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3 months. 30lbs lost. Lessons learned enclosed.

Hey everyone. Thanks for reading this celebratory post. Wherever you're at in pursuing your goals or deciding to set a goal, I wish you the best.

So far I've lost 30 lbs since the beginning of February. I started at 186lbs and am now at 156 lbs. My goal weight is 130 lbs. progress pics & graph

Starting measurements: 35.5" chest, 41.5" on navel, 47" hips.

Measurements now: 30.5" chest, 34" on navel, 42" hips.

I remember when I sat down to watch the Super Bowl this year with pizza and wings on the way; I felt like I was clinging to my renewed goal of losing weight with the last millimeter of my restraint. I'd been thinking about how heavy I'd gotten during the pandemic in a very judgmental way for about 4-5 months. I was dealing with stress, anxiety, and depression. Perhaps I only had the breakthrough that I did when I first decided to meditate, for at least 10 minutes for 5 days each week.

From August to October of 2021 I lost 15 lbs, but I gained it back and then some. I was stressed and ashamed of myself throughout the winter holidays. I don't know exactly what clicked, but I know it was related to journaling my feelings out and that now-daily meditation practice I started.

A huge part of all my weight loss attempts has been to be sure to cement a habit before moving on to the next thing to change. I broke down bad habits into chunks before completely irradicating them. For example, I used to treat myself to a 600 calorie breakfast during the heighth of work-from-home. Cheesy sausage-and-egg sandwich or huge breakfast burrito. Delicious. I've modified that down to a smaller version:

- Chef Aidell's Chicken or Turkey sausage (160)

- Sourdough bread slice (50)

- 3-6 tbsp of liquid egg whites (25-50)

- Small dribble of oil (25)

Another habit I had to break was hitting the snooze button and just doom scrolling in the AM. I guess I could have put my phone on the other side of the room, but I made a promise to myself to get out of bed at the first ring of the alarm. I then started nudging my wake-up time earlier so that I could fold back in a morning walk.

This brings me to my main reason for weight loss this time around. I want to trail run again. Of course we all have goals like "get healthy," "stop feeling bad," and "get sexy," but for some reason, this time around I needed to picture a future me doing an activity that I knew I'd enjoy more if I lost the weight.

Here's a list of strategies and things that have helped me get this far (a lot of which are cribbed from near-daily review of this sub):

  1. Log your intake. I don't use a food scale, but I track average weight loss per week and cross-check it with my TDEE and logged intake. I'm OK trucking along with MyFitnessPal.

2) I keep both a calendar and a spreadsheet to remind me of how far I've come and where I'm at week to week. That's right, folks. We're talking thinking in terms of WEEKS and MONTHS. And, now, after failed attempts, I want to keep asking myself, "If my daily activity changes, if my job changes, if the world changes, how am I going to change my routine in order to meet or maintain my goals?"

3) I set mini-goals based on the SMART framework: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant & time-bound. For example, I can set a weight goal, but I need to break down in terms of average weekly intake needed to achieve the goal. I also need to double check my TDEE to make sure it hasn't shifted in such a way to make my goal unattainable. I track when I want to achieve the goal, and when I actually reached it. I am usually hitting my goal about a week before my deadline - because I like making things easy.

4) Plan my treats. I was absolutely destroying french fries, pretzel bites, pizza. I still have it, but I check the serving size.

5) Using my work break to take a walk and walking in the morning. Increasing activity will support your weight loss, but it's kind of like those little fins on cars. Weight loss is the overall shape of the car. You add on little bits to give a little extra zoom, but they're not the main reason the car is fuel efficient.

6) Adding in exercise when it's fun/refreshing to me. I do planks while listening to new music. I love the short movement exercises from the Calm and Headspace apps.

7) Not going public too hard with friends/acquaintances. I definitely know that I'll accept the "good work, pal" compliments and go straight back to stuffing my face. I reward myself based on measureable change. Trying to stay away from social/society focused rewards.

8) Stick to the edges of the grocery store while shopping and don't shop hungry.

I may add more to this later, but I want to say that working on your self is never done, and you'll be surprised how much problems are interconnected. I knew my anxiety was exacerbated by my weight, and my weight had a lot to do with my decreased productivity. Reducing my weight doesn't solve my problems, it's just made it easier for me to work on solutions.

TLDR: Lost 30lbs in 3 months, log your food, CICO works.

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Moving to Uni soon

I'm moving to uni soon and I'm a bit stuck in terms of food. The food in the dorms is not the healthiest and there is only one meal that is prepared per bfast/lunch/snacks/dinner. I'm allowed to get my own food but i can't cook, the only thing we have access to is a fridge. I've been preparing meals which has helped me with weight loss but all my recipes require proper cooking. I've been thinking for a long time and I'm stuck on what to do. Any advice is appreciated.

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My weight loss journey so far - May 3rd, 2022

The following is a summary of the progress I’ve made in the past 3-4 months in terms of weight loss. For context, I am 21 years old currently 339 pounds and I have been fat my entire life. I don’t get into too many specifics of what I’ve done for my dieting or exercising, but I’d be happy to do so for anyone interested. This is mostly a quick spill of my thoughts on where I’m at currently. I tend to jump around in my thoughts but I hope you all can understand it and find something to take away or relate to.

I started what I consider to be my true weight loss journey about two months ago. I never actually weighed myself out of fear and embarrassment of the number I would have to keep in my head, but I’ve concluded that before I got serious about losing weight I likely was between 350 and 360 pounds. For the last couple of years, I had already begun trying to change my diet through various means. I mainly tried intermittent fasting as well as simply cutting out all drinks that were not water. Snacking and Binging were something I was attempting to get under control as well. Ultimately I would only be able to keep up with these changes for a couple of months at a time before I would eventually slip up and let myself have that one soda or bag of chips that would turn into a seemingly unstoppable binge. Finally, after the holidays(2021), I decided to start taking my health more seriously than I had been before.
When I was in high school I remember thinking that I would eventually get my weight under control when I got older. I was essentially leaving all the work up to my future self for reasons I'm still not sure of. So there I was 21 years old, some 360ish pounds feeling real sorry for myself. I started realizing that I had no one else to blame but myself and I began to take action once again by cutting as much unhealthy food from my diet as I could while also trying my best to avoid binge eating. It was going ok at best, I started to notice myself fitting in my clothes better but I started to feel the need to go harder. The progress was somewhat noticeable but I was unsatisfied nonetheless, until one day I got together with a family member to acquire a gym membership. I’d always enjoyed lifting weights and being active in general even as big as I was, but I believe a part of me was afraid of the ridicule that I thought would come from my family. Thankfully they were supportive, though I still felt a sense of doubt in their voices when I talked to them about it. At first, it hurt me to hear the tone in my family's voices when I would talk to them about my goals regarding my health, but I soon realized that they had no reason to believe I would stick to it. Instead of letting their doubt get me down, I decided to view it as motivation to prove them wrong.

I am someone that decides to go 100% into whatever it is that I want to do. In the past, this has hurt me, particularly with dieting. Going to the gym was a little different, I told myself that I would go 2-3 days a week to get started and gradually work my way up to avoid burning myself out. Not even two weeks later I found myself going 4-5 times a week. After about three weeks I did start to feel some signs of burnout but they subsided and I kept at it. I started to develop the mindset of going to the gym because I had to rather than because I wanted to. I decided to do this to avoid having issues with motivation, and also to help overcome issues with anxiety.

Fast Forward about two months later and here I am. I am physically the strongest I have ever been while also being the most disciplined I have been in some time. My weight at the moment is 339 pounds so I still have a long way to go. I am not set on any particular number as I don't know what my “natural” weight would be, but I can’t wait to see the day I break 300 and 250. My ultimate goal is to simply look and feel good for the first time in my life. I am excited to continue this journey at full speed and for once I believe in my ability to see it through.

I want to also add that while I feel I am headed in the right direction, it is not without bumps in the road. I still occasionally eat more than I should and I don’t eat as healthily as I should either. I believe it will be a constant struggle for me in that regard for the foreseeable future, but as I said I have more hope than I have ever had and I don’t plan on letting that go to waste.

To all of you reading this that may struggle in the same ways that I do, I want to encourage you to keep pushing forward even if only a little. Our time on this planet is finite, and I believe that we should strive to spend this time doing whatever makes us feel fulfilled. If you have concluded that your weight is a part of what is keeping you from reaching this fulfillment, I highly encourage you to make the change. I am rooting for you and I believe that you can do it. I hope that we can all succeed together in time so that we can enjoy our lives to the fullest.

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Metabolic Research Center - 8 weeks in

SW: 220
CW: 198 (22lbs down)
GW: 165

8 weeks in, so an average weight loss of 2.75 lbs/week.

Total spend so far: $1,518 ($238 is on optional meal replacement bars & shakes, the rest is on the plan itself, plus required supplements & protein drinks)

I'm roughly halfway through the planned 17-week weight loss phase (which will be followed by 1-year of maintenance); realistically, I'm not likely to hit the 165 goal weight in 17 weeks, but sustaining a 3.25 lb/week loss for nearly four months was honestly a bit crazy to begin with. In hindsight, the unrealistic starting goal is probably a negative for me with this program, but we'll see what happens when the 17 weeks is up. I'm not yet clear on what the transition from weight loss to maintenance looks like. So far, what I've gathered from the coaches is that I'd get an altered food plan to add back in reasonable amounts of carbs, different portions, etc. and decrease or eliminate some or all of the supplements.

Now that I'm below the 200 lb. mark, my meal plan has changed. I went from 6oz protein/meal to 4 oz, but this has been fine by me. Prior to the switch, I was often unable to finish the full portion and felt like it was too much food, so now meals feel more my size.

The good:

  • Even though I'm off pace from the goal my coach set at the beginning, I'm happy with the rate at which I'm losing weight.
  • The plan is easy to follow - I really like the meal bars and they keep me full throughout the day, so I have a meal replacement bar in the morning and at lunch, add a veggie shake during lunchtime, and really only prepare one meal a day (generally some combo of chicken + veggies -- there's a lot of options, but I don't really need variety to be happy, so I am happy enough meal prepping a week's worth of dinners and eating the same simple meal over and over)
  • The big thing: I'm rarely hungry. As in -- as long as I actually remember to eat my breakfast bar (I was never a big breakfast eater, so occasionally I forget and then do feel hungry most of the day...), I don't really obsess over food or feel like I'm missing out. The plan also requires a number of pre-packaged protein drinks, which quickly knock out any hunger that does pop up between meals and leaves me satisfied until it's mealtime again.
  • The meal bars and protein shakes are actually really good. I legitimately enjoy the taste and joked the other day that I feel like I'm losing weight by eating candy bars.

The bad:

  • It's expensive.
  • It's pretty hard to travel or eat out. Since the plan is based on pretty precise measurements of food, it's hard to gauge if the portion at the restaurant is 4oz of protein, etc. It's also not easy to get protein drinks on the road - I travel regularly for work, and it's pretty awkward to try to mix in a packet of lemonade-flavored protein drink at the table during a work dinner.
  • On that note, while the coaches are super supportive (and honestly, full of great advice for eating better while travelling), there's a lot of "doom and gloom" preaching when it comes to going off-plan. You had a single alcoholic beverage at a work dinner? Well, if you're okay setting yourself back a full 3 days while that off-plan treat works it's way out of your system.... It's not exactly that they're judgy, it's just some bad math that they swear that literally any off-plan meal, snack, beverage has these huge ramifications (but don't worry -- there's a supplement to counteract any bad decision you make! lol).
  • I visit the center twice weekly for weigh-ins and even though I'm losing weight consistently, not yet hitting plateaus, not having any cravings or issues to solve, I am regularly shown even more products/supplements that I'm encouraged to add on.
  • I had assumed when I started that the supplements were only during the weight loss phase, but it sounds like many are still encouraged (or required?) during the maintenance side, so in reality, I don't really know what my total spend is going to be in the end.
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