Success 6 Years In the Making

So, about the time I decided to slim down, I read a study following up on folks who had lost a ton of weight on a reality show and how they fared afterwards. In 6 years all but one had regained all the weight they lost and had slower metabolisms than expected, leading to the conclusion that significant long-term weight loss wasn’t a reasonable thing to achieve. I set my goal to not only slim down, but keep it off.

Now I’m finally ready to call it. 6 years after I (5’10”) went from 216 lbs. to 147 lbs. in about a year by focusing on trying to cut out processed foods and get more nutrients into my diet, I stepped on the scales this morning at 138 lbs.

For all of you still aiming for your goal weight, I’m super excited that you’re picking up healthy habits that will hopefully stick with you long term. I can’t wait to welcome you as another person to prove the study I read wrong. 😊

As for me, I just wanted to share my success with someone. I just reached my goal!!

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After 2 years I'm finally half way to my goal weight.

For context in December 2013 I started gaining weight rapidly. I had just had a baby so I thought it was just me packing on the weight from overeating due to PPD. I gained 80lbs in 4 months taking me from 230lbs to 310lbs. I was miserable and so I tried to make a change.

Despite counting calories, exercising, and trying to do better I gained an additional 30lbs on top of that in 2 months. At this point I asked my OBGYN nurse practitioner at one of my follow up appointments, and she was concerned. During the check up she found that the lump on my thyroid, which I had since 2005, had grown, a lot. Less than a month later I was having surgery to remove my thyroid because I had Stage 1A Papillary thyroid carcinoma. My thyroid had basically stopped functioning, hence the weight gain.

From 2015-2018 I yo-yoed but just couldn't get down past the 300lb mark. I tried everything, I got discouraged and depressed. It was a nightmare.

Two years ago though, my thyroid has finally stabilized, I'm on the right meds, I felt good so I decided to give it another go. I was 342 lbs. I started small, not buying a ton of snacks, getting on my feet more, I didn't watch the scale because I just knew i wouldn't like it and I would get discouraged again. After a year of just eating smaller meals and getting moving more, I had lost 35 lbs. I noticed when my pants started to fall off of my hips so I finally weighed myself.

Last December we hooked up the PlayStation VR and bought Beat Saber and Synth Rider. I started playing every day for about and hour and it made me move and sweat so much. I didn't realize how good the cardio would be just playing a video game.

In March I weighed myself again and much to my surprise I was 299lbs. I had done it! I broke out of 300. I cried that day, I had been trying to get below 300 for years and I had finally done it!

Two days ago I was walking through the mall to the library and I saw a pair of jeans in the window of a store. They looked just like my favorite jeans I had when I was in highschool in the 1990's. I wanted them. So I stopped in, looking for my usual size 26 pants, they didn't have them. They didn't have the size 24 either. I was defeated for a moment when I convinced myself to just try on the size 22. If they didn't fit then that would be that, I'd order the next size up online.

They fit! Slid right on, and it was like they were made for me.

Excited after my purchase I went home and weighed myself. I'm 274lbs. The combination of eating less and playing beat saber since March and I dropped another 25 lbs without even thinking about it.

I just wanted to post my progress and encourage anyone else that is struggling that it is possible. You will get there. Small changes can lead to good habits and weight loss just as much as going to the gym every day and counting calories. Everyone's path is different, don't compare your progress to someone else's.

Keep up the good work everyone!

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Advice I was never told and wish I figured out sooner.

Ok, so I wrote up a long history of how I got here, but that became wayyy too long. Re-writing to get to the moral of the story and if y'all want a longer background, I'd be happy to share it. Quick disclaimer, I'm phrasing this in a way that I wish it was told to me. This may not work for you - and that's ok, we're all different and we each have different things that work for us.

It's all about developing/changing habits for the long term. Your current habits are what got you to where you are now, and you're going to have to change them to get to where you want to be. Pick a single habit you want to change and focus only on overcoming that for the next month. Keep it simple. It may be eating too many chips at home. For the first month, just focus on not eating chips. That's it. If you want to snack, buy some apples/bananas and munch on those. Don't count calories - just stop eating chips. Do that until it no longer becomes a chore and chips are no longer on your mind. Then focus on the next habit. If it's eating out too much, focus on eating more meals at home. If it's eating too many sweets, then buy some frozen fruit and start making smoothies. A packet of splenda takes them to dessert/milkshake level. Don't count calories. My guess is you have a good idea of which foods you're eating are unhealthy. Just focus one at a time on replacing those with something found on the perimeter of the supermarket. (fresh fruit/veggies, fresh chicken, etc). Replace the processed foods with fresh foods like rice, sweet potatoes, veggies, etc. (Frozen versions of the same foods are ok).

Exercise. My bike+trainer sat with dust on it for months. After a few months focusing only on recalibrating my diet, I decided to start incorporating cardio into my daily life. For my first week, I just hopped on my bike for 20 minutes at minimal effort. Even if it was just to go for one mile, it was more important to get into the habit of getting on my bike and making that a routine. Then I slowly started ramping up my rides. I also threw my laptop up near me and watched Netflix as I spun. After 2 months of that, I started going outside.

Very recently I decided to start adding weight lifting to my weekly routine. I downloaded the "Workout" app and paid the $50. My first two weeks have basically been just focusing on showing up. I'm lifting 20 pounds. I'm using elastic bands for pullups. I purposefully making it physically easy so I can get over the mental barrier of working out in the first place. I know if it becomes too challenging, I'm going to quit.

Not only am I down XX pounds over YY months, I feel like this is a sustainable path. I've tried so many times to do this, but I previously tried changing too much at one time and I got frustrated and I quit. I actually look forward to eating the foods I eat now and going to the gym. I've previously tried crossfit classes, but they pushed me harder than I want to go, and I just hated going to the classes. But doing the same workouts at my pace is great. Regarding counting calories, counting every damn calorie is just not sustainable - you'll go crazy, but it's good to have a ball park of what you're eating. Eat the steak if you want it, but realize that it's about 2x the calories of a similarly sized piece of chicken. I don't want to share my weight loss numbers because I don't want you to think you're failing because you're not losing it as fast as I might be. What's more important is that your trajectory is sloping downward and it doesn't feel like you're struggling to maintain a "diet." Just try to be better than you were yesterday - in general - and not to anyone else.

Weigh yourself every day. Or don't. It doesn't matter. Your weight fluctuates by like 5lbs throughout the day, so don't get frustrated if it's not consistently going down. Take the running average over two weeks. If the scale isn't moving quickly, that's ok. I gained 20lbs over covid - that was over two years. Expecting that to just fall off over two months is asking a lot. Again, it's all about the trajectory.

Good luck!

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I need help with my TDEE.

I'm 5'2", 22F, SW 181, CW 171, and GW 130. I have lost 10 pounds over the past couple of months, but I am starting to question my current routine and wondering if I should up my calories. I use MyFitnessPal to track calories, and eat 1300 a day (which is mainly just breakfast and dinner with a small snack). I work out 5 days a week for 30-45 minutes doing strength and cardio exercises but I don't lift weights. I'm a nurse, so I am up and moving all day for 3 days a week. However, when I'm not working, I'm basically a couch potato until I decide to get up and work out.

So, when going on the TDEE calculator website, I choose my activity level as sedentary or light because I basically just sit around most of the time when I'm not at work or working out. 1300 cals has been feeling pretty tough lately, and I've heard many times that muscle raises your metabolism, and in order to build muscle you have to fuel your muscles with calories and protein. I want to be able to fuel my muscles, but I'm also a short woman and don't want to overeat. I seem to gain weight easily and lose it very slowly. At this rate I'm losing at about 1-1.5 pound a week, but I want to make sure I don't get skinny-fat when I get down to my goal weight.

Other 5'2" girls--what worked for you? What would you consider my activity level? I want to make weight loss sustainable with enough calories, but I also want to actually lose weight in a reasonable amount of time.

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How do you deal with the snide comments?

I’ve been finally loosing weight over the last 4 years. My heaviest, I was 400+ pounds. Last time I was weighed, I was at 300lbs. I have gained about 30lbs. I want to get to 190, just to say I’m under 200lbs. Every time I try and start loosing weight again, everyone around me says “I’m starving myself.” My spouse, my family, everyone. It’s actually annoying at times.

I don’t see my family much, except for holidays. My grandmother tends to tell me “you lost too much weight” or something along those lines. My dad usually ends up yelling at me to eat. My sister complains about her weight (I’m smaller than her, again), being rude about it.

My spouse keeps telling me, “You just need your extra skin removed” and “There is no way you weigh that much.” He is really supportive of my efforts, offers support, but he tends to say I’m starving myself.

I’m eating less calories, because that’s partially what works for me, along with lower carbs. I eat when I feel hunger instead of boredom. I am eating less, because I’m not binge eating. I tend to start my old binge eating habits because of the comments. I understand that’s something I need to work on internally, but it still bothers me.

How do you deal with those comments from others? It’s really discouraging at times. Society judges you for being overweight, those close to you judge you for losing weight. At what point does the judgement stop?

Sorry for the wall of text and rant, it’s frustrating for me to be pulled in so many different directions. I’ve got to work on my mental health, along with physical health, I’m going to continue with both, I just want to know the best way to deal with the comments.

TL;DR - Family and SO make snide comments about my weight loss, how do I respond?

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Please seek Help. Dieting does not change your brain. ♥

There have been a series of strikingly similar posts that center around the concept of :

• Suddenly people are noticing my body and (I don't like it) (They are weird) (stop!)
• My family / friends / coworkers are being aggressively different with me
• I'm in a relationship and my partner is sabotaging me
• I'm in a relationship and my partner no longer finds my weight acceptable

​

Dieting more, less, changing it up, adding weights, etc. That's not going to solve your issues entirely. It might plug the hole in the wall for a bit - but ultimately what you're worried about is still on the other side.

Therapy is not just for 'big things'. Therapy can help you manage your feelings of helplessness, worthlessness and anxiety around your weight loss concerns. Turning in circles, asking for advice can be helpful for a while but ultimately you need the right mentality to tackle your life and keep moving forward.

I know financially many people are in difficult positions. Some countries offer free therapy under medicare / medicaid. For people who have a small amount of money, there are sites like Betterhelp. For those with no money there are sites like 7 Cups that offer 100% free counselling.

By no means am I saying 'shaddup we don't need these posts!'.I'm saying, please, take care of your brain as well as your body and find a comfortable way of hitting back at negativity and a personal narrative that keeps you strong and safe.

Ok, sorry to anyone who didn't want to hear it. Hopefully people who needed to can use some of the sites I mentioned to explore options.

​

Um. Thanks!

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You don’t need to be at your goal to be happy. I promise you will feel infinitely better with any amount of progress. Start today.

If you are like a lot of people on this sub you have a lot of weight to lose. And if you have like a lot of people on this sub, it’s your first time trying to lose weight and it’s terrifying. I’m going to use myself as an example.

A few years ago I had over 100 pounds to lose. I didn’t know how to do it I didn’t know how long it was gonna take but I knew it was gonna take a long time and it was going to suck. That was all I was telling myself. This is going to take forever and it’s going to be terrible. But when I hit that 100 pound mark I’ll feel amazing and be healthy.

What I didn’t realize was that as soon as I started eating better (and my damn sugar cravings went away) I felt better. I lost 5 pounds and I felt better. I lost 10 pounds and I went down a size in my pants, I could run easier. I could work out more and I can use my body in a way I never had before. I went down 20 pounds and I felt like I had conquered the world. I went down 25 pounds and I started wearing crop tops. I wasn’t even halfway to my goal and I felt like a whole new person. The only thing that I was kicking myself for was not starting sooner and convincing myself that this was an impossible journey.

And once you lose a little bit of weight and you see the scale go down and not come back up you realize that you can do it. If you do a little you can do a lot. The amount of time doesn’t matter anymore, because OH MY GOD it’s working.

Don’t use that big number as an excuse to not do it, because you’re going to feel so great even 10% of the way there. Go easy on yourself. You can do it.

I’m on my next weight loss journey and I have 60 pounds to lose, I’m already down 8 and I am feeling unstoppable.

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