"Loving yourself is not antithetical to health, it is intrinsic to health. You can't take good care of a thing you hate." - Lindy West

Loving yourself is not antithetical to health, it is intrinsic to health. You can't take good care of a thing you hate.

This quote has really summed up my weight loss journey this time around.

In the past, I raged against my body and my flesh.

I tried to abuse myself into submission - slapping my mental flesh, screaming at my body through workouts, groveling with my willpower, sobbing at my little mistakes, and eventually shaming myself into a corner.

It's taken literal years to change that.

It's taken therapy, yoga, coffee with friends, late-night conversations with partners, self-help books, journal entries, art, strawberry-spinach-matcha-protein smoothies, music, dance, a knee surgery, a bike ride through my beloved city with its orange lights and couches-on-porches.

It's taken golden mountains, gales of redemptive winds, clear and forgiving currents, and soaring winged birds for me to change my thoughts.

For me to arrive at my body differently.

For me to revere myself instead of repulse.

-

I'm here - an entire work in progress.

I've loved reading through your posts. Your journeys have become part of my daily ritual. I come here every day to read, to comment, to look, to support. Because we're struggling together. Struggling for something just beyond ourselves - but still within reach.

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I lost my footing a little bit

I’m super happy that I met my weight loss goal in April (167 to 122) and I’ve maintained really well since then! I used an app that really helped with my success, but now that the program is “over”, I’m struggling a little to keep eating healthy. I never cut out foods or considered anything “bad”, I just managed my portions and aimed for balance. But now I see some old habits coming back and I feel like it is, in part, related to having less structure. I guess I’m just wondering if anyone else conquered bad habits that later returned, but you were able to maintain your weight loss while struggling with those habits again. Or maybe just some general encouragement. It’s always helpful to feel like you’re not the only one dealing with something.

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NSV I cleaned out my closet yesterday…

And as usual had to get rid of clothes that didn’t fit but for the first time it was because everything was too big! I’m 5’3” and my starting weight was 282 currently 237. I’ve been exercising and doing CICO for about 5 months. I’ve lost about 45lbs but hadn’t tried on much clothes since I wear scrubs for work and spend my off time in workout clothes.

My first 2 months I was on a strict 1200 calorie limit under a physicians supervision and was taking an appetite suppressant. I did well on this but wanted to prove to myself that I could succeed without medications also I wanted to make sure the changes I had made for weight loss would be sustainable without medication support; so after 2 months I spoke to my Dr and had him wean me off with plans to return if I started gaining. I increased my calorie limit to 1550 and have been going steady since. The rate I lost dropped but stayed between 1.5-2lbs/ week.

Exercise wise I waited a month before starting so that I could focus solely on my diet. Then I started Grow with Jo workouts on YouTube. About 2 months ago I discovered Jump Rope Dudes and started jump roping. It’s been so much fun to try and learn a new trick which has allowed me to gamify my fitness routine since I compete with my previous best. My other NSV was yesterday when I was able to jump rope for a full minute without stopping.

I still have a long way to go but this was a huge confidence boost for me and I’m so excited I thought I should share! This subreddit has been a huge help in keeping me on track so thank you all!

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18 month update. A few Milestones reached.

Wow, what a crazy year and a half already.

I have now pushed way past 100 pounds lost. In hindsight, it is very clear I weighed far more than just a "little" over 300 at the worst. There are things in life that are better left unknown, I think that actual number is one I never want to know.

On a personal level though, seeing the number drop below 212 was an amazing moment. It was the start of 5th grade the first time I saw than number on the scale. Back in the 1980s, the Presidential Physical Fitness Exam was very important, at least where I grew up, in the Midwest. Near the beginning of each school year all children would line up in the gym for a timed, ranked, competitive fitness exam. Push ups, jumping jacks, pull ups, jump roping, running a mile, and... a height and weight check for everyone in front of everyone else.

So, yeah, that was me, 212 in 5th grade, for all the world to see. It was not good enough to just put these ranks on us, we had to "arrange" ourselves from first to last as scores where given for every test. For height we would lay dawn and form a cascade of heads from top to bottom, seemed fun, but probably not for the really short kids, I was pushing over 6 feet at the time. Then for weight they did a "bell curve." I was so far off the curve, the teacher made me walk out the gym into the hall, so the curve was still "accurate."

I hope I can say this without it being misunderstood, fitness for children is an absolute disaster right now, and we need to do SO MUCH BETTER. But, what they did to us kids long ago, did not make us faster, stronger, better. It simply ensured many of us never got a chance to start life with a positive body image.

It may have taken 3 decades, but if I can break what I saw in the old mirrors, and start seeing something I do not hate in the new mirrors, you can do it too.

You are all doing great. Have a great summer, and remember - Firework mishaps do not count as a responsible weight loss strategy.

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Diary of A Weight Loss Physician # 5

Imagine two frustrated individuals trying to solve a french fry addiction.

‘What do you like about them?' I probed.

‘I love the spiciness. I love the sourness.' they remarked passionately.

‘But fries don’t taste like that. The sauce does...’

'So, is it the fries or the sauce?’ I asked, baffled.

Silence.

The patient started to talk, but then stopped to think more.

More silence.

‘It’s not the fries, it’s the sauce’ - they concluded.

Even more silence.

We looked at each other as our eyes slowly started to sparkle.

'So if I gave you a bucket full of hot sauce, would you be happy?' I asked slowly.

‘I think so’ they replied.

’Okay. Just to clarify. If I gave you cardboard but dipped it in your favorite hot sauce would you be a happy duck?'

‘Quack quack!’ they burst out laughing.

We both have never been the same.

Next time you indulge in your guilty pleasure, ask yourself:

What exactly do I like about this?

Is it the taste? The texture? The emotion it creates?

If you can pin point what the experience provides you, you may find that you have much healthier alternatives!

The patient has been coating green beans and cauliflower in hot sauce and quacking ever since!

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Gym experience overwhelming: How much exercising is enough?

Hi all,

To provide more information, the machines and non-equipment exercises are what I want to focus on for now, but I have no idea what type of routine/exercises I should be doing. Right now weight loss is my primary concern and I'm not trying to become muscular, just slightly defined I suppose.

Although I don't know what exercise machines to use there's a second problem that's more concerning to me; I don't know how much exercise is enough. I've watched/read a lot of testimonials from people who lost a lot of weight, and they discuss how going to the gym and having active days is important to the process of building muscle to make weight loss easier and to get toned. But rarely does anyone go into the length of time their gym sessions are, or how much of the time there is active vs. downtime between exercises. As someone completely new to the gym, I don't know the first thing about how long or intense my exercises should be. Any guidance on this would be greatly appreciated!

Also: I don't know if this information would be necessary or helpful to anyone reading this post, but I'm a 5'10 male, 28 y/o and 215 pounds.

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I feel rejected

In January, I was diagnosed as type 2 diabetic and took it as a warning to get my weight under control.

Since then, I have gone from 280lb to 196lb mostly through calorie deficit, cutting out carbs (which would be bad for my diabetes anyway) and cycling the 26 mile round trip to work on my ebike.

I'm still about 20lb over having a healthy bmi though, so I'm not exactly skinny

On the plus side, my blood pressure has returned to normal without medication

I was cuddled up with my partner and she commented that I was too bony and turned her back on me to go to sleep and I have to confess, I was hurt by this.

I'm quite proud of my weight loss, I've worked very hard and I feel rejected cos of it and feel like I have to stop on my journey and put some weight back on to make her happy.

I'm not sure what to do - we've been together for a very long time (and live together) and she's seen me through some really rough times and I love her deeply...

Rant over

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