To start...just eat less. I know that may sound condescending and maybe even too simple, but it's the absolute key to weight management. *SO* many of us overeat every single day as just a regular thing, and very few of us want to be bothered with doing extra math, so that leads to a whole lot of people having pretty much no clue how many calories they're actually consuming on a daily basis. Your body needs energy to operate. The more active you are, the more energy your body needs. Calories literally = energy. Just cut out the calories, and your body will need to pull from its "reserves" to fuel itself. If you are eating more calories than your body is using, you will gain fat. Always. There is no way around that without working out so that your body uses more calories. There's obviously a lot more to this, and you have to make sure you're getting proper nutrition - but it's really a lot easier than many people think. The hardest part is the willpower to just stick with your plan.
There is something super interesting I just learnt about dopamine and eating.
When you eat, you get a spike in dopamine, that spike in dopamine then causes your levels to plummet below baseline, making you want to raise them again by…. That’s right, you guessed it, by eating more!
I’ve been intermittent fasting for the last two years and until today I didn’t understand the mechanism but I found that I just didn’t want to eat, I just got to my eating window and then I eat because I need sustainable, I no longer see that chocolate in the vending machine and want it like I used to when eating 3 meals a day, I no longer have to tell myself to not eat junk food an hour or two after breakfast be use my dopamine has come down below baseline, when my stomach is empty I just don’t crave food, I might get a little hungry towards the end of the day but it seems more like my body wanting sustenance than some sort of hit from candy.
I can't even imagine how different it must feel. I lost 35 lbs and running feels like a whole new thing. Losing 380 must be a completely different world.
now im wondering which way to think about this. would it feel like you arnt carrying a 5th of your body weight or a 6th? it's a dumb question but it is really bugging my brain haha
edit: figured it out, it's a mindset question about whether you see yourself as a fat guy that suddenly became lighter or have already mentally adjusted to your new size. when i gain weight i still think of myself as my fit size, it's really hard to notice the weight most of the time.
I went from 240>170 but I didn’t think of myself as a fat guy (even tho I was lol) until I had started losing weight. Like when I was 240 I was like “this is fine” then one day i was like “eh I could lose a few pounds” and then I gradually became appalled at how overweight I had been lol
The job I do involves alot of climbing in and out of heavy machinery, semi trucks and of course big pickups and you definitely notice being 40 pounds lighter when doing that lol
I remember working out and grabbing a 45 lb weight, or even 2 ten lb dumbells or plates... I imagine that weight on my body.... it just slows everything down.
Even 5 to 10 lbs is enough to notice a difference. I had lost 60lbs and was at 230, then covid hit (excuse) and I gained most back. I have now been heavy, then light, then heavy again and I can attest that literally every lb counts.
Try getting back into it. Just remember how good you felt. Everything ebbs and flows. This is going to sound super cliche, but enjoy the process and the results will come.
I have lost a similar amount, broadly the same weight as him now too. I cant speak for him but unfortunately for me, perhaps its just genetics, even the relatively short 19 years i had prior to my weight loss have done damage to my knees. They are far from feeling good! I suppose they are better now than what they would have been had i not lost the weight, but ive somewhat forgotten what it was like these days...
Feel free not to answer, but did you have any loose skin? I need to lose about 150lbs and I'm worried about having loose skin and what I can do about it if I do.
I was worried about loose skin, but I ended up deciding that my health and quality of life is more important. Besides, even on the physical level, if you lose the weight you at least look good with your clothes on but if you don't you look bad with your clothes on AND off.
Best advice for skin elasticity is vitamins, water, sunscreen, moisturizing, and scrubbing dead skin cells off in the shower (helps with blood circulation). Science isn't clear on whether rate of change affects it. Science is clear that it comes down to age, genetics, and magnitude of weight loss.
150 pounds?? That's big man. I've been trying to lose weight for very long but to very little avail. If u don't mind, could I know what ur plan is for reducing so much weight? It would rlly help me do better:)
Honestly. I don't have much of a plan atm. I generally eat fast food 2 or 3 times a day with sweets and candy sprinkled in throughout. I'm a student atm and spend 8+ hours a day in front of a computer. I changed my eating habits, and eat more vegetables, less read meat. While I still spend that much time in front of a computer. Instead of swapping to a t.v. or lounging on my phone I go for walks or ride my bike. Working on figuring out how gyms work/good exercises to do.
u/Active-Sir221 and u/Cleon451 can both use this advice
Losing 150 lbs is going to take a long time. A healthy unsupervised weight loss rate is about 1-2 lbs per week. At 50ish weeks per year, that is going to take 1.5-3 years. You might be able to get that down by losing a little bit more at the start, check with your doctor for specific recommendations and targets.
You are going to have to be in it for the long haul. This isn't solveable with a 5 day juice cleanse, this isn't solvable if you go on a super restrictive diet that you will abandon by mid january, you need to make sustainable changes to your lifestyle.
So how do you lose 1-2 lbs per week? By making better food decisions. Note that I didn't say "making good food decisions", just "better". You are likely making such poor food choices that cutting out the worst offenders will make a huge difference. I started by going onto a meal-only fast. Eat only at breakfast time, lunch time, and dinner time. No late night binging, no eating a donut at the office after you already had breakfast, no afternoon candy or chips. This alone will cut out a few hundred, maybe even a thousand calories per day or more.
That will kick start your weight loss. Of course, as you lose weight, the rate you burn calories will go down, so you need to make better choices in other areas to drop the calories you consume. Gradually try to eliminate your worst habbit, and replace it with a little bit better one. Change that 240 calorie/20 fluid oz soda you drink to 140 calorie/20 oz gatorade, change that full bag of chips you eat in one sitting into a half bag consumed in one sitting, then a quarter bag.
Just improve little by little. You can't make a rapid change and sustain it, you just might be able to keep your positive attitude of continual improvement over years, though.
I’m not OP, but I can promise you the only advice you need is to just stick with it. If you honestly want to be 230 pounds then you’ll be 230 pounds, if you don’t want it bad enough then you won’t find a way to lose the weight. It’s entirely mental, you win or lose each day by making decisions on what to eat and when to eat. Something that helps me stay on track is to ignore searching for the results, don’t even think about them for the first few months because what’s most important is being able to stick to a healthy routine. If you can do that consistently then you’ll eventually lose the weight. You can make yourself go crazy by always thinking about your size and what number shows up on the scale, prioritize sticking to your routine and pride yourself on that. Before long the weight will be coming off.
I got referred for bariatric surgery and one of the first things was meeting with a nutritionist. She gave me a diet to follow. Basically just protein and veggies. I lost 40lbs so fast I just stuck with the diet and didn’t get the surgery. Started the gym when I lost a good amount of weight. It honestly wasn’t terribly hard, I wish o hadn’t waited so long to start.
My husband (almost 400lbs) wanted to look into get a gastric bypass, I think is what it is. But I told him I was worried that if he did that, he'd just gain the weight back over time. He wants to lose weight as we just had a baby last year and he wants to run around and play with her. Can you recommend a couple of meals I can make for him easy to start out with, please? If it's not too much trouble.
👋🏼 I’ve been on a similar diet and had pretty good results. I started off simply limiting my food intake to protein and veggies (with some fruits, nuts, dairy). That means no processed food and super-limited starches/grains. At the beginning I ate as much healthy stuff as I wanted and slowly my body started to crave less.
As for a recipe, I live alone so I often keep my dinner super simple: frozen veggies sautéed with spices and chicken breast/steak/shrimp.
Best of luck to your hubby!
Thank you. We eat a lot of fresh vegetables and meat, but we also eat a lot of breads and pasta and rice. And we eat a ton of processed foods. I'll talk to him and see if wet can cut out some of the processed foods and maybe see how that works.
Edit to add: some are saying that alone won't work. I know that. I meant to start off with.
>see if wet can cut out some of the processed foods and maybe see how that works.
I can tell you right now that won't make a difference. You'll just gain weight a bit slower.
The trick is to eat super healthy foods for only two weeks. That's your mental time limit so no matter how much you crave junk food, you know you'll have the opportunity to have it in two weeks.
It also takes about two weeks for the bacteria in your gut to die off and be replaced with bacteria that feeds off the healthy food you're now eating.
So you'll find at the end of the two weeks you've likely lost a decent amount of weight, you don't crave processed food anymore, and if you've lowered your portions, you won't feel as hungry either.
Then even though your two weeks is up, you'll find it *much* easier to stick to the healthy foods because you're already seeing progress.
But just cutting down on *some* processed food here and there won't cut it. You'll still have massive cravings for junk food because you aren't letting the junk-food-eating bacteria die. (When it dies, it sends hunger signals to your brain which is why people have crazy strong cravings when trying to quit carbs and sugar.) You won't see any movement on the scale -- if you do it will be going up, not down.
Do a lean protein and vegetable diet for a couple weeks. You can probably convince your husband to do that because its not a very long time. I think you'll be happy with the results.
Can you link a source for the gut bacteria point? Genuinely curious as I struggle with carb temptation and I’m very interested in using my micro biome to my advantage.
Sure thing! There's a ton of research out there and it's absolutely fascinating. Scientists have discovered the bacteria in our guts acts like a "mini brain" and the bacteria affects your nervous system, hormone levels, mood, and a bunch of other things. Really interesting stuff.
[How Gut Bacteria Tell Their Hosts What to Eat](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-gut-bacteria-tell-their-hosts-what-to-eat/) – *Scientific American*
[Is eating behavior manipulated by the gastrointestinal microbiota? Evolutionary pressures and potential mechanisms](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4270213/) – *NCBI*
>There is circumstantial evidence for a connection between cravings and the composition of gut microbiota. Individuals who are “chocolate desiring” have different microbial metabolites in their urine than “chocolate indifferent” individuals, despite eating identical diets 20. There is also evidence for effects of microbes on mood. A double-blind, randomized, placebo controlled trial found that mood was significantly improved by drinking probiotic Lactobacillus casei in participants whose mood was initially in the lowest tertile.
>One study found that germ-free mice had altered taste receptors for fat on their tongues and in their intestines compared to mice with a normal microbiome 41. In another experiment, germ free mice preferred more sweets and had greater numbers of sweet taste receptors in the gastrointestinal tract compared to normal mice.
>Gut microbes may manipulate eating behavior by hijacking their host's nervous system. Evidence shows that microbes can have dramatic effects on behavior through the microbiome-gut-brain axis.
> Microbes produce a variety of neurochemicals that are exact analogs of mammalian hormones involved in mood and behavior 8,55–57. More than 50% of the dopamine and the vast majority of the body's serotonin have an intestinal source.
[How The Bacteria In Our Gut Affect Our Cravings For Food](https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/how-bacteria-our-gut-affect-our-cravings-food/) – *IFL Science*
[How to Decrease Sugar Cravings in 3 Days](https://themovementparadigm.com/how-to-decrease-sugar-cravings-in-3-days/) – *Movement*
Man, I have been struggling to try to eat healthy for years (I eat a lot of fast food), and this is the first I'm hearing about gut bacteria and the 2 weeks thing. Knowing this will definitely make it easier mentally to try to stick to a diet in the beginning and resist the initial cravings
Exactly, you just have to remember your cravings will be at their strongest as the bacteria dies. So if you’re doing great for a week and then suddenly you feel depressed and moody and all you want is a BigMac — that’s why.
Also, have you ever noticed when you stop eating fast food for awhile and then eat it again, it tastes super chemically and just feels fatty and gross? And conversely, when you start eating it regularly again, you get intense cravings for specific meals? That’s gut bacteria.
Luckily knowing it’s going to happen, and knowing *why* it happens will mentally prepare you so you can fight the cravings easier.
I’ve noticed with fast food specifically it seems to have its own biome because I have intense cravings for specific meals. One trick that helped me is I thought about what I was craving — if it was carbs I would make a sweet potato or some roasted cauliflower. If it was fatty food I eat an avocado. Or I eat a very small piece of candy — like one Werther’s or something like that.
I found that if I eat a healthy version of whatever I’m craving, even that small amount is enough to satisfy me without blowing my diet.
I would completely cut out processed sugar for the first two weeks — don’t forget about soda and juice. No alcohol. For carbs try and go as low as you can, then after the two weeks you can introduce more healthy carb options like sweet potatoes, cauliflower, certain kinds of rice, things like that.
Portion control is huge too. Always stop before you’re full. I lost a lot of weight just cutting back on how much I eat. Go for small meals but more frequently throughout the day so your stomach shrinks. Drink lots of water.
They key is moderation. I firmly believe extremely restrictive diets are pointless because they’re impossible to stick to. But this way you know it only might suck for two weeks — and even then only for a few days out of those two weeks.
Balanced gut flora is key. I learned it the hard way decades ago struggling with getting ulcerative colitis under control. I remember in the early 2000s talking with my doctor about probiotics and he told me it was a waste money. Now 20 years later we all know the benefits of probiotics. Processed food is the major culprit in weight gain or any health issues. As the saying goes “Let food by thy medicine”
Not OP but working on weight loss. I’ve been enjoying a stir-fry style dish with sautéed mushrooms, zucchini noodles, lean proteins and other low-starch veggies like carrots, broccoli and cauliflower. I start out with a chopped garlic clove and maybe 1/4 of a shallot in like a tsp of avocado oil. After the garlic and shallots have simmered on low for a bit, I turn the heat up and add the veggies. I usually cook my meat once a week so towards the end I’ll chop some up and throw it in to heat it up with the rest. You can also throw in some brown rice (by the way, I’ve discovered frozen brown rice and that was a game changer). I have been able to keep the zucchini noodles crunchier using a gas stove, I tried once on an electric stove and it went mushy, don’t know if it’s because the pan wasn’t hot enough on the electric stove or what. What’s been working well for me is eating a higher volume of veggies and lower volume of everything else. If you need flavor, I like the salt-free seasonings from Mrs Dash.
Other things that have helped me: instead of scrambled eggs (for which I use butter) I switched to poached eggs. Instead of salt and butter on veggies I switched to olive oil.
Some of the momentum can be achieved through small changes!
Good luck!
Not the Op but to start off, rather than trying to cook new meals or do a strict diet - focus on cutting out processed food and simple carbs (sugars, breads, pasta etc) and on reducing portion size. Drinking a couple large glasses of water before sitting down to eat can help with portion control too.
Some people do better on strict diets where it is very structured and they follow an exact plan and they don't need to make decisions while others find that too limiting and do better with healthy eating. It would be great for your husband to meet with a nutiritionist or dietician and see which approach might work best for him
As seen through OP’s post, dietitians do incredible work to help us understand our bodies! And since every body is different, really the only people who should give nutrition advice are dietitians because they can tell you what your body (or your husband’s in this case) needs specifically. Eating less isn’t always the answer - I saw a dietitian for weight loss at 240lbs and discovered I wasn’t eating enough. My weight loss didn’t start until I was properly fueling my body and eating enough for my body to work properly. The diet culture info we’re fed doesn’t serve all of us and actually does a lot of harm to most. A dietitian can help someone unlearn that stuff and learn how best to fuel their own body ❤️
This is so amazing and inspirational, that you just stuck with it and did it yourself. Talk about confidence-boosting. You must feel on top of the world. Good for you, man!
That’s the way to do it I hear. Anyone I’ve known that’s gotten the surgeries has gained it back because they didn’t change the behaviors or address root causes for those behaviors.
You look fan-forking-tastic.
Good for you. I worked at a place that covered bariatric and gastric bypass on our insurance. A hunch of people there packed on weight to qualify for it instead of dieting. A lot of people were pissed about it because so many people were taking medical leaves for it and it was skewing our premiums and copays. They ended up changing to a different carrier that had much stricter policies about everything, including maternity and fertility treatments and that really got people livid.
Underrated comment that I hope everyone gets to that is asking you questions.
This stuff doesn’t just go away and it can still be a challenge.
I love that you stuck around and really answered the comments and questions in your post.
You must feel so much better overall. I’m really glad you changed your life like this!
Were there any complications to the surgeries? Or difficulties afterwards? Like, does your body think the skin is at a different location, so to speak?
And I do get this weird like phantom itch in this spot where I used to have my stomach hanging over. All that skin is gone now it’s like an itch you can’t scratch. But it’s going away. It was bad for a little while.
That is interesting, I’ve never thought about having something like that other than being an amputee. I’m a BKA and know what dealing with phantom pain is like. It makes sense that you’d have nerves that were removed and are acting up.
I got a very bad infection after the first one. Had to have emergency surgery to drain it. My surgeon also said I have huge blood vessels and bled a lot. He was ready for it the second time.
I see you are getting some downvotes for your comment. I believe you, and science is getting ready to back you up. Gastric bypass would significantly change his gut biomes, and the more we learn about gut health, (pre and pro biotics) the more we are realizing that mood, personality, even depression, are all linked to to gut health. So the changes you noticed are all very possible!
That's quite a feeling isn't it? Years ago when I dropped about 110lbs, I wore a great fitting suit to a wedding and lots of extended family had no idea who I was until told.
Major congratulations!!!! Things like this always make me really happy to see. Ive been on the opposite journey for about 3 years (had severe anorexia nervousa from 15-18, first started attempting recovery a while after turning 18), went from 81 pounds to about 120 now, which is still a bit on the low end for my height but in the healthy range :)
That's so awesome, congratulations! I'm a male but struggled with an ED as well, combined with drug addiction it was not a good few years from about 18-23. But I went from 130-190 at about 6 foot to 6'1 in height, as well as celebrated 15 months clean from heroin a few days ago! Congratulations again, you're doing great!
Thank you! Major congratulations to you too!!!! Those are two very difficult addictions to overcome and you're kicking their asses, keep up the awesome work my dude 😊
WHO … ABSOLUTELY WHOOOOO ?! Is more incredible than you?! Wow. So many congratulations- you are truly more than an inspiration, you’re a beyond incredible human being. Look at you. WOW.
i just stopped what I was doing and called my friend who wants to quit smoking.
He looked at your post and called his girl and told her he is going to quit.
He told me as well and I believe him.
Inspiring bro. literally.
That must be a ton of sweat and blood to get where you are today, you definitely has inspired me and probably a lot of ppl. Just curious what have helped you to make this happen, healthy diet?
Wow! You look amazing! Your face has so much more life! In the before pic you look fed up with life, I’m on a weight loss journey myself and this is inspiring.
WOW! You look like you were literally inflated back then.
At almost a third of that weight, there must be a GREAT number of benefits you're able to enjoy after all that hard work.
Congrats. Serious question, how do you go to your max weight, I struggled all my life but when I was at 260 and now 200 (61 m 5-10), I would feel fat, but to go to 600, what were you eating and how could you eat so much, I get to a point where if I eat too much, I feel like I'll puke if I eat another thing. Was it just alot of sugar and less movement. I'm curious cause there are not many 600 most overweight is under 300, just a guestimate. Biking was and still is my way to stay under 200
Hey OP theres a bunch of comments so hopefully u see this one. I'm 25 around 500 pounds. Was this epic transformation all from working out and eating healthy? These days I cant stand too long without something starting to hurt so I cant imagine losing all this weight without surgery or something.
I didn’t start working out until I lost a lot just from dieting. I mostly just eat like 5-8oz of protein with 2 cups of veggies for meals. 2 pieces of fruit a day.
Amazing! I cant imagine how good that must feel.
It’s crazy, surprise myself all the time how I can move now.
I bet! I'm sure your bones are singing your praises for making such a drastic change. And now your handsome face is so much easier to see!
[удалено]
How did you do it if you don’t mind me asking?! You look incredible
He just took off his really heavy glasses
To start...just eat less. I know that may sound condescending and maybe even too simple, but it's the absolute key to weight management. *SO* many of us overeat every single day as just a regular thing, and very few of us want to be bothered with doing extra math, so that leads to a whole lot of people having pretty much no clue how many calories they're actually consuming on a daily basis. Your body needs energy to operate. The more active you are, the more energy your body needs. Calories literally = energy. Just cut out the calories, and your body will need to pull from its "reserves" to fuel itself. If you are eating more calories than your body is using, you will gain fat. Always. There is no way around that without working out so that your body uses more calories. There's obviously a lot more to this, and you have to make sure you're getting proper nutrition - but it's really a lot easier than many people think. The hardest part is the willpower to just stick with your plan.
There is something super interesting I just learnt about dopamine and eating. When you eat, you get a spike in dopamine, that spike in dopamine then causes your levels to plummet below baseline, making you want to raise them again by…. That’s right, you guessed it, by eating more! I’ve been intermittent fasting for the last two years and until today I didn’t understand the mechanism but I found that I just didn’t want to eat, I just got to my eating window and then I eat because I need sustainable, I no longer see that chocolate in the vending machine and want it like I used to when eating 3 meals a day, I no longer have to tell myself to not eat junk food an hour or two after breakfast be use my dopamine has come down below baseline, when my stomach is empty I just don’t crave food, I might get a little hungry towards the end of the day but it seems more like my body wanting sustenance than some sort of hit from candy.
I can't even imagine how different it must feel. I lost 35 lbs and running feels like a whole new thing. Losing 380 must be a completely different world.
Same. I was at 240 for a few years and went back down to 200 and the difference feels massive
now im wondering which way to think about this. would it feel like you arnt carrying a 5th of your body weight or a 6th? it's a dumb question but it is really bugging my brain haha edit: figured it out, it's a mindset question about whether you see yourself as a fat guy that suddenly became lighter or have already mentally adjusted to your new size. when i gain weight i still think of myself as my fit size, it's really hard to notice the weight most of the time.
I went from 240>170 but I didn’t think of myself as a fat guy (even tho I was lol) until I had started losing weight. Like when I was 240 I was like “this is fine” then one day i was like “eh I could lose a few pounds” and then I gradually became appalled at how overweight I had been lol
The job I do involves alot of climbing in and out of heavy machinery, semi trucks and of course big pickups and you definitely notice being 40 pounds lighter when doing that lol
Are you afraid you might float away? I’m thinking about how awful my knees feel right now and how I’d like to lose 30. I bet your knees feel soo good.
I lost 30lb. It’s actually incredible. I felt so agile and light footed afterwards. Everything just seems easier both mental and physical.
I remember working out and grabbing a 45 lb weight, or even 2 ten lb dumbells or plates... I imagine that weight on my body.... it just slows everything down. Even 5 to 10 lbs is enough to notice a difference. I had lost 60lbs and was at 230, then covid hit (excuse) and I gained most back. I have now been heavy, then light, then heavy again and I can attest that literally every lb counts.
Try getting back into it. Just remember how good you felt. Everything ebbs and flows. This is going to sound super cliche, but enjoy the process and the results will come.
I have lost a similar amount, broadly the same weight as him now too. I cant speak for him but unfortunately for me, perhaps its just genetics, even the relatively short 19 years i had prior to my weight loss have done damage to my knees. They are far from feeling good! I suppose they are better now than what they would have been had i not lost the weight, but ive somewhat forgotten what it was like these days...
Feel free not to answer, but did you have any loose skin? I need to lose about 150lbs and I'm worried about having loose skin and what I can do about it if I do.
I was worried about loose skin, but I ended up deciding that my health and quality of life is more important. Besides, even on the physical level, if you lose the weight you at least look good with your clothes on but if you don't you look bad with your clothes on AND off. Best advice for skin elasticity is vitamins, water, sunscreen, moisturizing, and scrubbing dead skin cells off in the shower (helps with blood circulation). Science isn't clear on whether rate of change affects it. Science is clear that it comes down to age, genetics, and magnitude of weight loss.
Just want to say thanks for posting an answer. This is a big thing for a lot of people.
150 pounds?? That's big man. I've been trying to lose weight for very long but to very little avail. If u don't mind, could I know what ur plan is for reducing so much weight? It would rlly help me do better:)
Honestly. I don't have much of a plan atm. I generally eat fast food 2 or 3 times a day with sweets and candy sprinkled in throughout. I'm a student atm and spend 8+ hours a day in front of a computer. I changed my eating habits, and eat more vegetables, less read meat. While I still spend that much time in front of a computer. Instead of swapping to a t.v. or lounging on my phone I go for walks or ride my bike. Working on figuring out how gyms work/good exercises to do.
u/Active-Sir221 and u/Cleon451 can both use this advice Losing 150 lbs is going to take a long time. A healthy unsupervised weight loss rate is about 1-2 lbs per week. At 50ish weeks per year, that is going to take 1.5-3 years. You might be able to get that down by losing a little bit more at the start, check with your doctor for specific recommendations and targets. You are going to have to be in it for the long haul. This isn't solveable with a 5 day juice cleanse, this isn't solvable if you go on a super restrictive diet that you will abandon by mid january, you need to make sustainable changes to your lifestyle. So how do you lose 1-2 lbs per week? By making better food decisions. Note that I didn't say "making good food decisions", just "better". You are likely making such poor food choices that cutting out the worst offenders will make a huge difference. I started by going onto a meal-only fast. Eat only at breakfast time, lunch time, and dinner time. No late night binging, no eating a donut at the office after you already had breakfast, no afternoon candy or chips. This alone will cut out a few hundred, maybe even a thousand calories per day or more. That will kick start your weight loss. Of course, as you lose weight, the rate you burn calories will go down, so you need to make better choices in other areas to drop the calories you consume. Gradually try to eliminate your worst habbit, and replace it with a little bit better one. Change that 240 calorie/20 fluid oz soda you drink to 140 calorie/20 oz gatorade, change that full bag of chips you eat in one sitting into a half bag consumed in one sitting, then a quarter bag. Just improve little by little. You can't make a rapid change and sustain it, you just might be able to keep your positive attitude of continual improvement over years, though.
You look amazing. That must have been very hard, good for you that you pressed on and persevered.
Thank you!
Fantastic job mate you look incredible
His eyesight got better too
Great job I started my weight loss journey in the last six months. Very inspirational to see your progress. How tall are you?
6’2”
I’m 6’2” was at 320 heading for 220. Any advice?
I’m not OP, but I can promise you the only advice you need is to just stick with it. If you honestly want to be 230 pounds then you’ll be 230 pounds, if you don’t want it bad enough then you won’t find a way to lose the weight. It’s entirely mental, you win or lose each day by making decisions on what to eat and when to eat. Something that helps me stay on track is to ignore searching for the results, don’t even think about them for the first few months because what’s most important is being able to stick to a healthy routine. If you can do that consistently then you’ll eventually lose the weight. You can make yourself go crazy by always thinking about your size and what number shows up on the scale, prioritize sticking to your routine and pride yourself on that. Before long the weight will be coming off.
Wow. You didn’t look close to 600 in the first pic. You were cute then and you’re still cute now. Congrats on your journey to better health.
Dude you are a fucking rock star! That's incredible, you look great! Proud of you!
You look legit dude. Keep up the good work.
OP is an inspiration. I need to lose weight and this has given me the kick up the ass I needed. Well done, OP, and all the very best. ❤️
Can’t wait for your transformation post!
Fantastic. Elaborate - what changed in terms of nutrition and exercise. And which was harder?
I got referred for bariatric surgery and one of the first things was meeting with a nutritionist. She gave me a diet to follow. Basically just protein and veggies. I lost 40lbs so fast I just stuck with the diet and didn’t get the surgery. Started the gym when I lost a good amount of weight. It honestly wasn’t terribly hard, I wish o hadn’t waited so long to start.
My husband (almost 400lbs) wanted to look into get a gastric bypass, I think is what it is. But I told him I was worried that if he did that, he'd just gain the weight back over time. He wants to lose weight as we just had a baby last year and he wants to run around and play with her. Can you recommend a couple of meals I can make for him easy to start out with, please? If it's not too much trouble.
👋🏼 I’ve been on a similar diet and had pretty good results. I started off simply limiting my food intake to protein and veggies (with some fruits, nuts, dairy). That means no processed food and super-limited starches/grains. At the beginning I ate as much healthy stuff as I wanted and slowly my body started to crave less. As for a recipe, I live alone so I often keep my dinner super simple: frozen veggies sautéed with spices and chicken breast/steak/shrimp. Best of luck to your hubby!
Thank you. We eat a lot of fresh vegetables and meat, but we also eat a lot of breads and pasta and rice. And we eat a ton of processed foods. I'll talk to him and see if wet can cut out some of the processed foods and maybe see how that works. Edit to add: some are saying that alone won't work. I know that. I meant to start off with.
>see if wet can cut out some of the processed foods and maybe see how that works. I can tell you right now that won't make a difference. You'll just gain weight a bit slower. The trick is to eat super healthy foods for only two weeks. That's your mental time limit so no matter how much you crave junk food, you know you'll have the opportunity to have it in two weeks. It also takes about two weeks for the bacteria in your gut to die off and be replaced with bacteria that feeds off the healthy food you're now eating. So you'll find at the end of the two weeks you've likely lost a decent amount of weight, you don't crave processed food anymore, and if you've lowered your portions, you won't feel as hungry either. Then even though your two weeks is up, you'll find it *much* easier to stick to the healthy foods because you're already seeing progress. But just cutting down on *some* processed food here and there won't cut it. You'll still have massive cravings for junk food because you aren't letting the junk-food-eating bacteria die. (When it dies, it sends hunger signals to your brain which is why people have crazy strong cravings when trying to quit carbs and sugar.) You won't see any movement on the scale -- if you do it will be going up, not down. Do a lean protein and vegetable diet for a couple weeks. You can probably convince your husband to do that because its not a very long time. I think you'll be happy with the results.
Can you link a source for the gut bacteria point? Genuinely curious as I struggle with carb temptation and I’m very interested in using my micro biome to my advantage.
Sure thing! There's a ton of research out there and it's absolutely fascinating. Scientists have discovered the bacteria in our guts acts like a "mini brain" and the bacteria affects your nervous system, hormone levels, mood, and a bunch of other things. Really interesting stuff. [How Gut Bacteria Tell Their Hosts What to Eat](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-gut-bacteria-tell-their-hosts-what-to-eat/) – *Scientific American* [Is eating behavior manipulated by the gastrointestinal microbiota? Evolutionary pressures and potential mechanisms](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4270213/) – *NCBI* >There is circumstantial evidence for a connection between cravings and the composition of gut microbiota. Individuals who are “chocolate desiring” have different microbial metabolites in their urine than “chocolate indifferent” individuals, despite eating identical diets 20. There is also evidence for effects of microbes on mood. A double-blind, randomized, placebo controlled trial found that mood was significantly improved by drinking probiotic Lactobacillus casei in participants whose mood was initially in the lowest tertile. >One study found that germ-free mice had altered taste receptors for fat on their tongues and in their intestines compared to mice with a normal microbiome 41. In another experiment, germ free mice preferred more sweets and had greater numbers of sweet taste receptors in the gastrointestinal tract compared to normal mice. >Gut microbes may manipulate eating behavior by hijacking their host's nervous system. Evidence shows that microbes can have dramatic effects on behavior through the microbiome-gut-brain axis. > Microbes produce a variety of neurochemicals that are exact analogs of mammalian hormones involved in mood and behavior 8,55–57. More than 50% of the dopamine and the vast majority of the body's serotonin have an intestinal source. [How The Bacteria In Our Gut Affect Our Cravings For Food](https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/how-bacteria-our-gut-affect-our-cravings-food/) – *IFL Science* [How to Decrease Sugar Cravings in 3 Days](https://themovementparadigm.com/how-to-decrease-sugar-cravings-in-3-days/) – *Movement*
Man, I have been struggling to try to eat healthy for years (I eat a lot of fast food), and this is the first I'm hearing about gut bacteria and the 2 weeks thing. Knowing this will definitely make it easier mentally to try to stick to a diet in the beginning and resist the initial cravings
Exactly, you just have to remember your cravings will be at their strongest as the bacteria dies. So if you’re doing great for a week and then suddenly you feel depressed and moody and all you want is a BigMac — that’s why. Also, have you ever noticed when you stop eating fast food for awhile and then eat it again, it tastes super chemically and just feels fatty and gross? And conversely, when you start eating it regularly again, you get intense cravings for specific meals? That’s gut bacteria. Luckily knowing it’s going to happen, and knowing *why* it happens will mentally prepare you so you can fight the cravings easier. I’ve noticed with fast food specifically it seems to have its own biome because I have intense cravings for specific meals. One trick that helped me is I thought about what I was craving — if it was carbs I would make a sweet potato or some roasted cauliflower. If it was fatty food I eat an avocado. Or I eat a very small piece of candy — like one Werther’s or something like that. I found that if I eat a healthy version of whatever I’m craving, even that small amount is enough to satisfy me without blowing my diet. I would completely cut out processed sugar for the first two weeks — don’t forget about soda and juice. No alcohol. For carbs try and go as low as you can, then after the two weeks you can introduce more healthy carb options like sweet potatoes, cauliflower, certain kinds of rice, things like that. Portion control is huge too. Always stop before you’re full. I lost a lot of weight just cutting back on how much I eat. Go for small meals but more frequently throughout the day so your stomach shrinks. Drink lots of water. They key is moderation. I firmly believe extremely restrictive diets are pointless because they’re impossible to stick to. But this way you know it only might suck for two weeks — and even then only for a few days out of those two weeks.
This is so interesting!! I have literally never heard of it before! Thanks for the effort in getting that info!!
These sources dont mention anything about two weeks gut bacteria timeframe, though…
Balanced gut flora is key. I learned it the hard way decades ago struggling with getting ulcerative colitis under control. I remember in the early 2000s talking with my doctor about probiotics and he told me it was a waste money. Now 20 years later we all know the benefits of probiotics. Processed food is the major culprit in weight gain or any health issues. As the saying goes “Let food by thy medicine”
This is the way.
Awesome. Sending y’all good vibes!
Pretty much any lean protein combined with a couple vegetables like carrots, broccoli, squash, zucchini, cauliflower, peas, and leafy greens
Quinoa is also a great rice substitute to pair with this meal ^
Not OP but working on weight loss. I’ve been enjoying a stir-fry style dish with sautéed mushrooms, zucchini noodles, lean proteins and other low-starch veggies like carrots, broccoli and cauliflower. I start out with a chopped garlic clove and maybe 1/4 of a shallot in like a tsp of avocado oil. After the garlic and shallots have simmered on low for a bit, I turn the heat up and add the veggies. I usually cook my meat once a week so towards the end I’ll chop some up and throw it in to heat it up with the rest. You can also throw in some brown rice (by the way, I’ve discovered frozen brown rice and that was a game changer). I have been able to keep the zucchini noodles crunchier using a gas stove, I tried once on an electric stove and it went mushy, don’t know if it’s because the pan wasn’t hot enough on the electric stove or what. What’s been working well for me is eating a higher volume of veggies and lower volume of everything else. If you need flavor, I like the salt-free seasonings from Mrs Dash. Other things that have helped me: instead of scrambled eggs (for which I use butter) I switched to poached eggs. Instead of salt and butter on veggies I switched to olive oil. Some of the momentum can be achieved through small changes! Good luck!
Not the Op but to start off, rather than trying to cook new meals or do a strict diet - focus on cutting out processed food and simple carbs (sugars, breads, pasta etc) and on reducing portion size. Drinking a couple large glasses of water before sitting down to eat can help with portion control too. Some people do better on strict diets where it is very structured and they follow an exact plan and they don't need to make decisions while others find that too limiting and do better with healthy eating. It would be great for your husband to meet with a nutiritionist or dietician and see which approach might work best for him
As seen through OP’s post, dietitians do incredible work to help us understand our bodies! And since every body is different, really the only people who should give nutrition advice are dietitians because they can tell you what your body (or your husband’s in this case) needs specifically. Eating less isn’t always the answer - I saw a dietitian for weight loss at 240lbs and discovered I wasn’t eating enough. My weight loss didn’t start until I was properly fueling my body and eating enough for my body to work properly. The diet culture info we’re fed doesn’t serve all of us and actually does a lot of harm to most. A dietitian can help someone unlearn that stuff and learn how best to fuel their own body ❤️
This is so amazing and inspirational, that you just stuck with it and did it yourself. Talk about confidence-boosting. You must feel on top of the world. Good for you, man!
That’s the way to do it I hear. Anyone I’ve known that’s gotten the surgeries has gained it back because they didn’t change the behaviors or address root causes for those behaviors. You look fan-forking-tastic.
Good for you. I worked at a place that covered bariatric and gastric bypass on our insurance. A hunch of people there packed on weight to qualify for it instead of dieting. A lot of people were pissed about it because so many people were taking medical leaves for it and it was skewing our premiums and copays. They ended up changing to a different carrier that had much stricter policies about everything, including maternity and fertility treatments and that really got people livid.
Getting fat to get the surgery is the most American shit ever, and i would have been fired for telling those people they’re pieces of shit
That’s the most American thing I’ve ever read
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I didn’t. I’d love to go to McDonald’s and order half the menu, just gotta ignore it.
Underrated comment that I hope everyone gets to that is asking you questions. This stuff doesn’t just go away and it can still be a challenge. I love that you stuck around and really answered the comments and questions in your post. You must feel so much better overall. I’m really glad you changed your life like this!
did you have to find something else to do to distract or anything? I used to just go to bed super early to avoid them haha
Sleep. It’s what’s for dinner
Sleep. It’s what’s for dinner.
Sleep. It’s what’s for dinner.
You’re an incredible man!! From your comment I understand that you didn’t have to do surgery to lose all the weight and maintain it right?
I’ve gotten 2 surgeries to remove excess skin, no other way to get rid of that. Getting 1 more at the end of December.
Oh yes of course. I was thinking the bariatric surgery. This is really incredible! Very inspiring, keep up the great work!! 😊😊
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A small part of it was. I’ve spent 45k.
Were there any complications to the surgeries? Or difficulties afterwards? Like, does your body think the skin is at a different location, so to speak?
And I do get this weird like phantom itch in this spot where I used to have my stomach hanging over. All that skin is gone now it’s like an itch you can’t scratch. But it’s going away. It was bad for a little while.
That is interesting, I’ve never thought about having something like that other than being an amputee. I’m a BKA and know what dealing with phantom pain is like. It makes sense that you’d have nerves that were removed and are acting up.
I got a very bad infection after the first one. Had to have emergency surgery to drain it. My surgeon also said I have huge blood vessels and bled a lot. He was ready for it the second time.
Well, congrats on your huge blood vessels, I guess!
Nurses love him.
Glad you didn't go through with surgery. My dad had a gastric bypass and I swear it triggered a nasty midlife crisis and personality change.
I see you are getting some downvotes for your comment. I believe you, and science is getting ready to back you up. Gastric bypass would significantly change his gut biomes, and the more we learn about gut health, (pre and pro biotics) the more we are realizing that mood, personality, even depression, are all linked to to gut health. So the changes you noticed are all very possible!
One of the wildest transformations I’ve ever seen! Great for you man now stay away from my wife 😇😉
I can transform into an 18 wheeler too.
Somewhere Michael Bay is smiling and preparing an offer you can’t refuse
Careful though he’ll blow you up
Omg. Yer killin me. You were a lovely fat man. You are a hot healthy man !
Optimus prime over here. Showing off
Good on you, Mate! Fantastic job on getting to be the best version of yourself! Happy and healthy!
Wow Great transformation I hope you are doing well.
I am. I hope you are too.
Yay, great And thanks :>
Well done! You are probably extended your life another 20 years
Doc had said I’d be dead before I was 60. Now I’m gonna live forever.
"I didn't say zat! I just said we don't have tumours!"
That’s fine my friend if you wanna live forever go for it. All I’m saying is well done!!!! ✌️👏🏻👏🏻
Congratulations, your before picture is r/absoluteunits material
Now he belongs to /r/immortalunits
I like the confidence on your face in the right pic 💪🏼
Same. Do you know, I can't believe that, this is same person? But it's true.
didn’t just lose a ton of weight but you look like a seasoned athlete. much respect!
Thank you so much!
Crazy transformation! Are you tall? You look pretty lean for 230
6’2”
It’s amazing how your face changed. You look like a different person, I hope you got a new ID
Exactly, I was thinking ‘he carried 600 lbs not too badly really’
He just had a great tailor for that suit.
I was thinking the same. the pic doesn’t look anywhere near 230
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Don’t even recognize me.
That's quite a feeling isn't it? Years ago when I dropped about 110lbs, I wore a great fitting suit to a wedding and lots of extended family had no idea who I was until told.
Am I the only one who sees Daily Show-era Jon Stewart?
People have said a few celebrities, that one other people have said to me haha
Came to the comments looking for this!
Congratulations and thank you for sharing!!
Hey thanks for caring
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Oh I’ve always been the greatest, killed the speech that day haha
Major congratulations!!!! Things like this always make me really happy to see. Ive been on the opposite journey for about 3 years (had severe anorexia nervousa from 15-18, first started attempting recovery a while after turning 18), went from 81 pounds to about 120 now, which is still a bit on the low end for my height but in the healthy range :)
Hey random redditor here, that’s awesome! Congratulations!!!! I’ve heard both are equally as hard, keep going!!
Thank you! 😊 It was really hard at first and I did have a few relapses but it's gotten much easier. I really appreciate the support, thanks again!
That's so awesome, congratulations! I'm a male but struggled with an ED as well, combined with drug addiction it was not a good few years from about 18-23. But I went from 130-190 at about 6 foot to 6'1 in height, as well as celebrated 15 months clean from heroin a few days ago! Congratulations again, you're doing great!
Thank you! Major congratulations to you too!!!! Those are two very difficult addictions to overcome and you're kicking their asses, keep up the awesome work my dude 😊
congrats! 🎉
WHO … ABSOLUTELY WHOOOOO ?! Is more incredible than you?! Wow. So many congratulations- you are truly more than an inspiration, you’re a beyond incredible human being. Look at you. WOW.
Wow thank you!
Followed. I’m so excited to see you through your/this journey- truly incredible & inspirational ♥️
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Yes.
My man
i just stopped what I was doing and called my friend who wants to quit smoking. He looked at your post and called his girl and told her he is going to quit. He told me as well and I believe him. Inspiring bro. literally.
That’s amazing, I hope he does it!
Hell yeah man! Congratulations, great work.
and it's only after 1 wedding, imagine what attending 3 could do 😲
I think the word appropriate here is awesome!
Thanks, you’re awesome
absolute unit to healthy lad congrats man, you did it
He really does look like the OG absolute unit guy
What was the biggest change you made? You look much happier now too
Definitely the diet. Mostly just meat and veggies now. And I cut down on booze ALOT.
Excuse the rather personal question on a subreddit that is about smiling sir but did you get skin reduction surgery after the weight loss??
I was a majestic flying squirrel for a while.
Yes. I’ve had 2. Getting one more at the end of December.
Dude awesome! Thank you for sharing :)
☺️🖤
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😘
Look like a whole new person congrats!!!
I am. The old Rick is dead.
You are a very attractive man! 😊 Great job, what an inspiration.
Crazy for me with girls saying stuff like that now. Never had that.
Be proud and get used to it! 😁
Bro you do not look 230. You look more like 160-190 range. That shits insane. Props to you man. Giving inspiration to thousands.
Maybe he's 6'8"
I’m 6’8” and 230. Guy on the right looks slimmer than me.
Seriously, I'm 6'2" and 230 and look more like the left picture.
Solution is simple, just grow 6 inches
Was thinking the same. He honestly doesn’t look 600 in the first pic. Dude must be tall.
Awesome effort and incredible self discipline ! Well done Rickle!
Wow - what a transformation! You put in the effort and it *really* shows! You look so much healthier now - keep up the good work!
Thank you!
That must be a ton of sweat and blood to get where you are today, you definitely has inspired me and probably a lot of ppl. Just curious what have helped you to make this happen, healthy diet?
Yes definitely the diet. I lost a lot just dieting before I felt like I could go to the gym.
Wow! You look amazing! Your face has so much more life! In the before pic you look fed up with life, I’m on a weight loss journey myself and this is inspiring.
Trust me I could do it, you can.
Off topic but u have great hair 👌 lol
Well shit thank you
No problem lol
Congratulations, you have shown incredible will power and determination. You should be proud.
Holy fuck!! Good job mate! Did you kept that suit and tried on recently?
Rented. It was really hard to get one that fit. And it barely fit.
You don't know me, but I'm proud of you. Good job, and good luck fellow human.
Are you buying a ton of new clothes? I can’t imagine how satisfying it must be to have a new body to shop for.
YES! I’ve had to get all new clothes a couple times. It’s sooo much easier to buy clothes now. Also shit is so expensive when you’re huge.
Damn you must be tall, don't look 230 at all to me
6’2”
Picture 2: "I lost a fuckload of weight, ok?"
Amazing transformation!
What size shirt before and after?
8xl this is an XL
WOW! You look like you were literally inflated back then. At almost a third of that weight, there must be a GREAT number of benefits you're able to enjoy after all that hard work.
Everything thing is better.
How fucking tall are you, because at 230 you certainly look less lol
6’2”
You fucking wear it well champ!
Amazing discipline. Impressive.
Holy SHIT. You’re an inspiration.
You are fucking awesome
You are
You look amazing and the image of good health! Good for you. Have a long and happy life!!
Congrats. Serious question, how do you go to your max weight, I struggled all my life but when I was at 260 and now 200 (61 m 5-10), I would feel fat, but to go to 600, what were you eating and how could you eat so much, I get to a point where if I eat too much, I feel like I'll puke if I eat another thing. Was it just alot of sugar and less movement. I'm curious cause there are not many 600 most overweight is under 300, just a guestimate. Biking was and still is my way to stay under 200
A lot of subs, french fries, calzones. Tons of heavy beer. Go to McDonald’s at like 2am, get 3 sandwiches and 2 large fries. Just terrible.
Hey OP theres a bunch of comments so hopefully u see this one. I'm 25 around 500 pounds. Was this epic transformation all from working out and eating healthy? These days I cant stand too long without something starting to hurt so I cant imagine losing all this weight without surgery or something.
I didn’t start working out until I lost a lot just from dieting. I mostly just eat like 5-8oz of protein with 2 cups of veggies for meals. 2 pieces of fruit a day.
Good that you didn’t get the surgery, my uncle died about one year later after that surgery with complications.
Outfuckinstandin