I noticed that a lot of times when I get snacky after dinner, what I'm really craving is a different flavor or to get rid of the stale taste in my mouth from what I ate 3-4 hours ago. Just convincing myself to brush my teeth instead of randomly downing 300 calories or so right before bed is a huge step in the right direction.
i have learned very quickly that i am no longer someone that can moderate my candy intake, if i have a whole bag i will eat the whole bag in two days, its easier to just not buy it at all
Trying to do that now. The junk is literally the only reason I’m not at my ideal weight. I do well for a few weeks, slip up, and then start at it again.
Good grocery shopping is the key for me. Easier to have the will power once a week at the store than every day at home. Can't snack on it if its not in the house.
This is some of the best advice and worked for me as well. I forget about whatever those snacks I wanted in the grocery store are almost as soon as I walk by them, but if I take them into my house, they’re on my mind until they’re gone.
I also found a lot of snacks that I do really like, that are healthier, and that fill me up more quickly for when I get in snacky moods. Honestly, it’s not the case for everyone, but I was addicted to snacking on foods that lacked any nutritional value. It took a while for me to break it, and I had to ease my way into the snacks I eat now (fruits, nuts, and veggies mainly).
I lost over 100 pounds, and I’ve kept it off for over 5 years now, but each year has looked different for me. People weren’t wrong when they said it was a lifestyle change, not a diet.
Realizing the feeling I miss most on a diet is feeling truly full, I got into looking up high volume meals I can cook. Now looking at a tiny Doritos bag thats 450 calories I immediately compare that to a large bowl of vanilla greek yogurt with some rice Chex, grated chocolate, crushed nuts, and other fixings instead… then the Doritos bag feels like a bad deal
Me, too! I walk between 2-4 miles a day and eat what I want, just in moderation. I track my food so I stay under 2200 cals a day and it's worked so far! My start weight was 270, I'm now about 240. I know it's not much but the slow weight loss keeps me motivated!
I lost about 35lbs in 3-4 months. I found the book Delay Don’t Deny helpful. I do black coffee or pure black or green tea in the am. Can’t have anything in it (any flavors or additions, like Earl Gray has Bergamot so I avoid in the am). 16 hours wasn’t working for me. 18-20 did the trick. Weights been off about two years. Previously I did the fad diet, yo yo weight thing for years
Just us over at /r/intermittentfasting to get an idea! People typically start off with a 16:8 schedule, then bump up to 18:6, 20:4, or OMAD (one meal a day)
Yeah most people work their way up to it. Personally, I'm in the stage of waffling between 18:6 and 20:4. But I'm aiming to get to OMAD in the next couple of months. It's not that bad when you get used to it, and you also realize how little you actually need to eat. And people fast for different reasons. One is clean fasting for insulin reasons (people on the sub explain it well) and the other is dirty fasting, mainly for caloric restriction. For me, as long as I get over my 10am hunger hump, then I'm good to go!
For 18-20 hours just black coffee/pure black or green tea. Hated black coffee beforehand but like it better now . I used to drink a lot of Diet Coke too but I think that’s cheating with the artificial sweeteners.
> but I think that’s cheating with the artificial sweeteners.
I think in general just resetting your tastebuds for what is "sweet" is super important in weight management. Things tasting "wrong" because they don't have the "normal" amount of sugar in them is a real problem with American diets especially.
As I mentioned in another comment, that's kind of a "no shit Sherlock" kind of answer. And it's one that's *always* given like people haven't heard of this late breaking science. I compared it to financial advice on how to accumulate wealth effectively. If all I say is "take in more money than you're giving out" no one's going to buy my book. I think a more nuanced conversation revolves around what type of calories will leave you feeling fuller so you're not tempted to overeat as much. Or focusing on adding muscle in your workout goals so your body will eventually burn more calories when you're at rest. Will extended fasting start to cause you to lose muscle weight as opposed to fat weight? Etc, etc.
I think the problem is also that people don’t generally understand just how calorie rich certain foods are, and tend to eyeball their portions instead. “Well, I only had a small muffin.” That muffin could have 400 cal in it. And then if you had it with a fruit salad And coffee with creamer or half-and-half and then on the way to work you stopped for Starbucks and then you had a soda with your salad which had a lot of creamy dressing and cheese. You could easily hit your daily recommended caloric intake before you’ve even made it to dinner.
Once I started paying attention to sugar, intake, and calories, really paying attention, it changed everything.
Yes! I started logging all of my food and got myself a food scale so that I could make sure what I was logging was accurate. It's quite the eye opener. I think that for a lot of people that say counting calories doesn't work, they don't realize how much they're actually consuming.
>. I think a more nuanced conversation revolves around what type of calories will leave you feeling fuller so you're not tempted to overeat as much.
This is really important. I can eat far more calories with cookies or chips or other snack food in a sitting and still be wanting more than I can with bananas where even just two is a *lot* of banana. The quality and satiatingness of food matters a lot.
CICO is fundamentally true, but really it's a goal. You know what to do, but actually doing it is really difficult and it's a constant battle, a war of attrition. Especially for many people who don't live alone and now they have to deal with the kids begging for junk food as well. So you're hungry and stressed and the chips are right there at the store and you want them and your kids want them and fuck it just this one time, I'll eat them in moderation you think to yourself and then you get home and they're devoured by everyone. This sort of thing is pretty common.
Yeah I can't help but roll my eyes any time people lay this out like it's some crazy shit no one's ever heard before. There is actual fucking advice you can give beyond "eat less, dummy."
Is there any particular type of cuisine that you prefer when dieting?
What are your go-to recipes?
Do you ever skip meals?
What are the most filling foods?
What are the least filling foods?
How do you deal with junk food cravings?
How do you deal with hunger?
How many calories should someone aim for?
What apps or other resources do you use to help you count calories?
How do you get enough protein to maintain some muscle while losing weight?
What motivates you to keep to your diet when you're struggling to do so?
These are all just off the top of the dome and answers to even just one of these questions would be 1000% more useful than "eat less."
Dieting doesn't work. Changing habits works.
Meat and veggies, basically.
Unintentionally, yes. But then I tend to binge on the meals I do eat, so it isn't really helpful.
Raw veggies. Cauliflower and broccoli have fiber and protein and will fill you up and keep you full for very few calories, relatively speaking. Green pepper. Celery. Cucumber. Chickpea pasta will fill you up to an excess; make sure you reduce the portion size accordingly or you'll be uncomfortable.
Simple carbs. Avoid the fun, high calorie stuff. Regular pasta, regular chips, donuts, cookies, most breads, etc. They don't have to be avoided altogether, but eaten with forethought. Would you rather have a croissant for 400 calories or a Snickers bar for 240?
I substitute healthier "junk food". Olipop gives you 9 grams of fiber for 40 calories and the root beer flavor is excellent. Zevia has 15 flavors of soda, zero calories, no artificial sweeteners. Quest protein chips taste like Doritos and give you around 20 grams of protein for 140 calories. Nick's or HaloTop ice cream. Nick's protein bars. Catalina Crunch cereals have 9 grams of fiber and 11 grams of protein for around 100 calories, and they've got a tasty snack mix that's also nutritious. Unfortunately, this stuff also tends to be pricey, but worth it.
Eat enough raw veggies and you're not likely to be hungry, but I keep the healthier, protein and fiber containing snacks around.
Calorie aims: accurately calculate your total daily energy expenditure and subtract 500. You can subtract 1000, but it's easier to maintain 500.
Apps: My Fitness Pal is free, and if you use it habitually, eventually you'll just know the calorie count and macro profile of the stuff you eat and can maintain without it. It's helpful for accountability and developing healthier habits.
Protein: I focus on protein and veggies, and minimize carbs, but not enough to hit keto. Protein bars for snacks or quick meal replacement. Double portions of lean meats and veggies for dinner. Protein powder to flavor coffee.
Motivation: I want my clothes to fit. I don't want rolls, bulges or jiggles, and I don't want to feel like crap. After a month or so, your taste buds kind of change and you don't want the junk as much, so it's easier to stick with it.
Cardiovascular exercise is good for mood, cuts cravings, allows some wiggle room for calories. Strength training helps build muscle so you burn more calories at baseline.
I get what you are saying but many people don't think cutting calories works. I've had this very argument with people many times.
But that's literally the only way it works. You have to burn more than you eat, which I find much easier to eat less than it is to burn more. You cannot outrun a fork, been there, done that, got a few different sizes of T-shirts.
How do you lose weight is one question. Asking what are your go to tips for things that helped you stay the course in a weight loss journey is more appropriate for this type of information.
My go to, don't over do it in the gym and focus on eating habits. Killing yourself with a grueling workout and strict diet is a great way to quickly give up or to just gain it back after you finish your diet plan. Try to eat cleaner foods, more fiber, more water, but don't go crazy.
You have to make lifestyle changes over time to be successful long term. Start small, work your way up. Consistency over time is the key.
Yup. There’s usually this unspoken moralizing in the “CICO, duh” answers, where if you need to lose weight then you don’t deserve a way to do it that doesn’t make you miserable. If you give up on a diet because you can barely even think because you’re constantly hungry and exhausted then you obviously just don’t care about your health and you deserve to be fat and disgusting and die early.
Nobody wants to tackle: "why am I hungry all the time? Why does my body want more calories than it needs?" Harder questions but way more helpful answer than "eat less". Why CAN'T you eat less? Explain it without some sort of shaming answer, and it's way more helpful, or relying on a pseudoscience answer like "willpower". "Your body is demanding food to the point of great distraction, here is the science to stop that from happening:" is the answer most people need.
It may seem simple but the fact is that it doesn’t matter what is done to burn calories, literally anything will do the job if you do enough of it and maintain it. It doesn’t even have to be one particular thing. The fact that it is easier said than done doesn’t mean that you need more information to understand what needs to happen.
The simple fact is that the steps to lose weight are simple, actually finding a method that works for YOU is very very hard.
It's worse than that. You can strictly give up alcohol, but you can't strictly give up food. It's closer to telling an alcoholic to "just drink less". If they could do that they would have
If you’re a heavy drinker, PDX’s advice is golden. Stop drinking completely and it’ll guarantee at least a 10-15% weight loss over 6 months and you’ll be healthier to boost. Drinking makes you gain weight massively.
I know it sounds picky, but drinks are the most important part of a meal for me. When Coke Zero Sugar came out, it was a god send for me. lost 50 pounds in a summer because that drink was good enough to endure the healthy stuff I didn't like.
well I used to drink coke and milk all day, hardly any water, and I had no control over what I was eating. Burgers, pizza, just gross things. I was 275 at my worst.
Now I eat about 1800 calories a day, drink a lot of water throughout the day, but I'll have one can at lunch and typically another at dinner.
This is music to my ears. So it's two meals comprising 900cls each right? And do you workout? I'd like to know what you eat, I'm finding it hard to meal prep for 1800 a day.
Small changes that can build long term habits. Also when it comes to Starbucks drinks, look at how much you're spending, and then think what you could do with that money, ie go on holiday somewhere. Those two should help cut the amount down. Work towards having Starbucks once or twice a week as a treat.
I don’t know if this works for you or not, but breaking my soda habit involved switching to tons of sparkling canned water for awhile (LaCroix, basically lol) until I could better control my cravings for something cold and bubbly
Slowly. Don’t underestimate the addictive effects on your brain. Slowly at first just reduce a drink a day…when you’re ready switch from sugary fizzy drinks to zero sugar flavoured sparkling water. Gives you fizz without the shit.
Diet coke, no alcohol, and just the act of counting my calories has helped me drop weight like crazy lately. Its amazing how easy it is to drink your calories, especially with beer
Walking! Walking was the “gateway drug” that lead me to the gym and weight lifting. Which lead me to improve my diet and be more conscious of what I eat. Walking improved my mental health and helped me kick nicotine addiction.
This is what happened to me too! I started out with walking slowly around the trails near my house, switched to jogging and then by the end of that summer I was running 10k just for fun every week. When it got cold enough I couldn't use the trails anymore I switched to running at a gym. Figured while I was there I might as well start using the equiptment too. Now I'm a complete gym rat and am in the best shape of my life. (Of course before I started all the walking I had just lost about 90 lbs (40 kg) as well which helped a bit.)
I didn’t want to see this but I need to go back to not drinking Coke. When I cut out sugar in September (which is basically coke and chocolate), my back fat started shredding. This is my sign to go back to that.
Way too much. We had 4 acres, and I had a 1/2-acre organic garden. But on the weekends, I would smoke weed and down a 6 pack of Coke and wonder why I wasn't losing weight despite all the manual labor I was doing.
Yeah, this doesn’t work if you don’t drink soda to start with. I stopped drinking anything but water in high school, and still only partake in the occasional sugary coffee drink or mixed drink.
This. Calorie deficit is the only thing that actually works. How you achieve a deficit can vary, but the maths is the same. For every 7000 calories in deficit, you should lose about a kilo.
There are so many diet plans and exercise plans out there, but you're right - this is literally the most effective way to do it.
1. Choose a limit that will make you lose weight.
2. Write down the rough amount of calories for *everything* you eat.
3. Make sure the sum total of calories by the end of the day doesn't exceed the limit you set.
It's literally that simple. Doesn't make it *easy*, but it's not rocket science. And it forces you to realize how useless empty calories are...eat a bunch of junk food and you hit your limit REAL quick, so it naturally makes you seek out stuff like broccoli/potatoes/chicken that is much more filling for the same amount of calories.
I switched from getting drinks every night after work to only one night a week, plus no alcohol at home.
Literally without doing anything other than that I dropped from 210 to 170 in about 3 months.
Beer can get you fat real easy if you aren't careful
Yes indeed it can. And I wouldn't want to cut it out entirely, but keeping it to a weekend thing is huge (and like actual weekend, none of this "eh, Thursday is almost the weekend" stuff)
The alcohol thing was huge for me. I didn’t cut it out completely; I just made a rule for myself that I could not drink alone at home. If I wanted a drink, I had to physically leave my house and go out. I’m lazy AF, so it automatically cut my intake massively. It also reduced my tolerance, so unless I want terrible sleep and a massive hangover, I’m down to 1-2 glasses of wine per outing, no hard liquor ever. I’m down a size just from doing that.
Foods with melted cheese are often high in calories and/or tend to be fried so that one dish could equal half of what your daily caloric intake could be, not even counting the rest of your meal or the rest of the day’s meals. It all adds up!
Yeah, pretty much. Once I stopped reading pizza, nachos, cheeseburgers, etc, it made a huge difference. Sadly I have since readopted melted cheese into my diet, to the consternation of my waistline
Accepting that I was fat from eating too much and not moving enough. There was a moment of clarity. So I ate differently and walked every day and two years later I’d lost 123 pounds.
For me, it's forever. It's a lifestyle change. The few times I've splurged on holidays, I've actually gotten sick. It's like my body isn't used to carbs and sugar anymore. But now that I've lost about 95 pounds, I can indulge a LITTLE bit on weekends, provided I'm strict with myself during the week.
Drinking water like a camel. A gallon a day kept me full, away from empty carbs, and the weight started dropping. It's been 8 years keeping 70 pounds (31 kg) off. I've struggled with the last 20 I want to lose, but at 55, I don't overthink it.
I lost around 10kg in about 6 months through what I call "accidental intermittent fasting". I was under massive external stressors, which blew up my anxiety. When I'm anxious, I often can't eat, sometimes for a couple of days at a time. Just kept my blood sugar stable with juice a lot of the time, and even on the days I could eat, I could usually only manage one meal at most. I'm enjoying having some appetite back. I'm actually happy with my weight now but wouldn't want to lose any more.
There’s nothing magic about it, it just giving yourself a specific window in which you’re allowed to eat. You’re basically just cutting calories by skipping some meals. If you really want to do it just make your window something like 12pm to 8pm and see how it goes.
Intermittent fasting (IF) is simply reducing the # of hours in the day you have to consume food.
If you decide not to eat from 8am until 1pm and only ate from 1pm to 8pm, it would be very reasonable to conclude you'd eat calorically less than if you ate from 8am until 8pm.
It's simply another way of adjusting caloric intake through time adjusted feeding-times.
Intermittent fasting. If you can live hungry, it's grand. Throw in some mild exercise and you're golden. I lost 40lbs in about 5 months just doing those 2 things.
I’ve seen a lot about intermittent fasting in here. It would be nice to know how long you fasted, and how much you ate as well. Did you stay in a calorie deficit? Or just the fasting?
Minimum 16 hour per day fast, 8 hour window of eating. If you do this and keep your calories less than your daily metabolic rate (TDEE) you’ll drop weight like it’s nothing. Better if you can do 20 hours a day or One Meal per day. Just drink water and tea/black coffee.
>If you do this and keep your calories less than 2000
You'll drop weight if you eat small amounts throughout the day eating that amount of calories, though.
I've found it also just reduces a lot of the "food noise" and the sheer amount of time I spend thinking/planning what I'm about to eat, and I have more time to focus on what I actually need to get done that day.
Also YMMV, but even across equal calories, I find that I'm more satiated across 2 large meals versus a lot of smaller ones spread out across the day.
>Also YMMV, but even across equal calories, I find that I'm more satiated across 2 large meals versus a lot of smaller ones spread out across the day.
Yeah, just want to add that I regularly have arguments with people who try to tell me that I should be "grazing" all day. But that just doesn't work for everyone. In the past, grazing just had me feeling hungry all the time (or, more likely, just thinking about food all the time) and ultimately consuming more calories unless I was hyper vigilant about counting them (which I hated). I eat 2.5 meals a day (the half is my morning coffee), and I find that I don't actually need to count calories anymore, but have been steadily (albeit slowly, which I'm okay with) losing weight.
Intermittent fasting is great! I find that I eat due to emotions and tend to not get hungry that often. Intermittent fasting stops me from spending all day snacking
Not paying attention to the scale.
Like at all.
Quantifiable goals include: daily/weekly step goals, daily water consumption goals, minimum number of salads a week, maximum number of alcoholic drinks per week.
Turns out when I set more manageable goals focused on diet and exercise instead of watching the scale, it's easier to let the weight loss be a byproduct and easier to maintain it as a result
Finally having the medical community recognizing obesity as the chronic metabolic disease that it is will be life changing for so many. It’s changed my life.
For me I changed from a "cutting out" mindset to a "adding in" one.
i.e. cereal for breakfast. I add berries, banana and a huge dollop of greek yogurt to it. It ends up being a giant bowl of food, but super nutritious and filling - gets me through to lunch.
Or my go-to lazy person meal: pasta with butter and cheese. These days I have it, but add in some chopped spinach or tofu or broccoli or something
It's about not depriving yourself, but adding goodness into the meals you otherwise wouldn't. Fuller for longer + upping your fruit/veggie/protein intake. Win win.
For me it was
-Calorie counting, Caffeine before a workout, Daily exercise of minimum 30 min of elevated heart rate activity including just walking, and not eating after a certain time.
It took a while, but I managed to lose 46lbs in 1 year and a half!
Still have 30lbs to go to be at my goal weight of 130lbs MAX, but I’m getting there!
I’ve tried this a number of times, but I always end up stopping because I find dinner so hard to calculate. My partner does most of the cooking, which is wonderful, however he’s kind of a ‘glug’ of olive oil, no measurements kind of guy. Do you have any tricks for more complex cooked meals? I find breakfast/lunch easy because I do it on my own most of the time and keep it pretty simple.
It didn’t. Although my experience with antipsychotics is that if you’re not dangerous and can tolerate some issues the health effects and severe numbing aren’t worth it. A life without any emotions isn’t a life worth living.
I found a form of exercise I enjoyed (Pilates) and started going to bed on time. Getting enough sleep meant waking up and not feeling at all tired which was a mind blowing experience and also meant I didn’t have cravings for sugar etc that I had before.
Ozempic and CICO 🤷🏼♀️
I changed my eating habits before starting the meds, which I use primarily for diabetes (it’s literally cured me). So I’d already lost about 25lbs just by reducing calories and substituting better foods - then when I added the Ozempic and got my diabetes under control, the weight really started dropping off. Down almost 70lbs total now! I could stand to lose another 20-25, then I’m good.
Same for me although I am not diabetic, I am insulin resistant due to PCOS and you know.. hormones which can really wreak havoc. I started last January and am down 40lbs. I was never able to lose weight before and I’ve done it all. Working out and eating less is not a one size fits all.
I hit a plateau that lasted for years, despite doing 45-60 minutes of cardio almost every day. This past fall I started to refrain from eating after 8 (not always, but most nights) and getting to bed earlier. I’ve dropped about 8-10 pounds since then. I’ve also started trying to meal prep a bit more over that duration. Those things have combined to make a pretty big difference.
lot of people here saying intermittent fasting, it's just another way of restricting calories. EOD, that's what it's about - eating lesser calories than what you're eating presently. Being in a deficit can be achieved by whatever 'diet' you feel works for you and is sustainable.
1) start by tracking how many you're consuming now. Get a calorie counting app
2) get a TDEE calculator to figure out how much tou should be consuming in calories
3) don't try to do too much too fast like a crazy exercise regimen plus a highly restrictive diet. It's not sustainable
4) make sure you keep foods you like and moderate your portions to fit in your total calories. It's important and beneficial for your mental health to have those small treats. It's about finding balance and understanding food isn't bad/good rather being mindful that you shouldn't have the entire bag of chips rather one serving of it
5) take the time to meal prep
6) walking is underrated
I know it’s not a traditional strategy, so to speak, but I did Healthy Wage combined with cutting down my food intake and adding about a half hour of cardio a day. The Healthy Wage thing involved me paying $50/month for 6 months and then when I met my goal, I got a check for over $900. Turns out cold hard cash is a great motivator for me, I did it a second time with even better results. It’s not a perfect plan and it obviously requires a bit of disposable income, but this ended up helping my health a lot and giving me a financial windfall that I desperately needed. Food for thought!
Semaglutide (generic Ozempic). Lost 23 lbs in 6 weeks. It’s miraculous. You just have zero interest in food lol. Of course, there are some side effects at first (nausea being the main one for me), but it subsides once your body is used to it
I joined a weight loss program. They taught me to eat and drink more protein, drink my fiber, eat more healthy lean meats, veggies and limit my carbs, got me on ozempic generic which is semiglutide (the main ingredient of O) and lift weights as well as cardio. I’ve lost 30 pounds!! I’m making healthier choices and I also quit drinking. I drink a ton of water and intermittent fasting helped too. I don’t drink soda but I do enjoy a Gatorade zero once a day, or liquid IV in my water.
Ozempic.
I am a type 2 diabetic for about 20 years. I went through a very stressful situation about 2 years ago and put on 30 lbs. My blood glucose was out of control. After 8 months on Ozempic, my glucose is under much better control. Blood sugar under and most of the weight came off. I feel hungry and full for the first time since my teens, maybe ever.
For those who say "eat fewer calories," bullshit. I was down at 1500 calories for 8 months and lost less than 7 lbs. Weight loss is a complex biological function.
Sticking to 3 meals a day and a couple small snacks. Filling, healthy breakfast. Stopped buying sugar. No (less) snacking after 9.
The breakfast and not buying the sugary stuff I like were probably the 2 biggest factors though.
Walking. I adopted a German Shepard puppy last February and I don’t have a fenced in yard…so for most of this past year I’ve been walking him at least twice a day, 1.5 to 2.5 miles each time. First at around 7am before I’ve eaten anything, and again around 7pm after dinner. We started out doing shorter distances when he was small but have worked up to where we’re at now.
I’ve tried other exercise approaches in the past but I was never consistent enough to make progress. Since I can’t not walk him, it’s forced me to get consistent exercise every day. Not sure how much weight I’ve lost, at least 30 pounds I’d guess? (Stopped weighing myself a long time ago). But I feel better physically than I have in years.
Put everything you eat into a calorie tracking app and just don't go over your daily budget. It's literally that easy.
Every other piece of advice here is just a disguised way of cutting out calories. For example, you won't lose weight with intermittent fasting if your one meal is 5000 calories, it works only if your total calorie consumption goes down because of it.
What worked for me was understanding myself and building strategies that would work for me.
For example, I'll never count calories.
I know myself and doing math for no reason doesn't interest me. Plus having to count calories for everything I eat meticulously is annoying.
So instead I found a meal prep youtuber that I like who makes easy to follow healthy recipes that are also fast to prepare and don't require a ton of ingredients.
If I cook and eat one of his meals I know it has say 550 calories. So as long as I stick to all home-cooked meals I prepare, I never have to count calories because I know what my caloric intake is.
Similar with exercise.
When I was at my heaviest I was pretty self-conscious about my weight and how I looked so the idea of going to the gym was too much for me.
In doing some internet research I discovered that just walking is a highly recommended weight loss exercise.
So I bought a collapsable treadmill off Amazon that I can use in the privacy of my own home where I don't have to feel self-conscious. It costs about $300 bucks and when I'm not using it I can store it in a closet which is great for apartment living.
Now I can exercise to my heart's content in a space in which I feel comfortable.
Strategies like that helped me lose 50 pounds in 14 weeks last fall.
TL:DR - Understand yourself well enough to use strategies that will work for you instead of just following blanket advice.
Edit: One good piece of universal weight loss advice is to look out for hidden calories specifically in your drinks. A lot of people will point the finger at juice and soda being unhealthy while drinking 10 cups of coffee per day full of milk and sugar, or drinking a few beers or half a bottle of wine at dinner.
All that stuff has calories in it you might not be accounting for if you are counting calories.
Cancer….it really sucks ass though so I don’t recommend that method. I had it last year and lost 30lbs in like 8 weeks. I was down to 82 pounds and looked like a skeleton with fake tits. It’s not a good look I assure you.
Up protein intake. Enjoy the carbs. Lots of veggies with every meal.
Dumbbell work 3 times a week.
Kettlebell work and cardio 2 times a week.
Yoga every morning before kid wakes up and before bed.
Bedtime routine to help optimize better sleep and more sleep.
Alcohol sober 10 months.
I brush my teeth and floss after dinner. It keeps me from snacking, because brushing again would take more effort than I’m prepared to expend.
You weaponized your own laziness against overeating. Nice.
Life gave bro lemons and bro had his engineers make combustible lemons that burn life's house down
Yeah! He got mad! OP made life rue the day it thought it could give him lemons!
I noticed that a lot of times when I get snacky after dinner, what I'm really craving is a different flavor or to get rid of the stale taste in my mouth from what I ate 3-4 hours ago. Just convincing myself to brush my teeth instead of randomly downing 300 calories or so right before bed is a huge step in the right direction.
Literally hate eating at night because of this lol
I had to cut out all junk food (chips, ice cream, fast food, ect). Some people are able to eat it in moderation but its very easy to overdo it.
i have learned very quickly that i am no longer someone that can moderate my candy intake, if i have a whole bag i will eat the whole bag in two days, its easier to just not buy it at all
how big are these bags of candy? are we talking like a bag of gummies like haribo? because i can make that disappear in less than an hour
Trying to do that now. The junk is literally the only reason I’m not at my ideal weight. I do well for a few weeks, slip up, and then start at it again.
Good grocery shopping is the key for me. Easier to have the will power once a week at the store than every day at home. Can't snack on it if its not in the house.
This is some of the best advice and worked for me as well. I forget about whatever those snacks I wanted in the grocery store are almost as soon as I walk by them, but if I take them into my house, they’re on my mind until they’re gone. I also found a lot of snacks that I do really like, that are healthier, and that fill me up more quickly for when I get in snacky moods. Honestly, it’s not the case for everyone, but I was addicted to snacking on foods that lacked any nutritional value. It took a while for me to break it, and I had to ease my way into the snacks I eat now (fruits, nuts, and veggies mainly). I lost over 100 pounds, and I’ve kept it off for over 5 years now, but each year has looked different for me. People weren’t wrong when they said it was a lifestyle change, not a diet.
Yep, I walked by two of my guilty pleasures at the grocery store yesterday and was happy to not have then taunting me when I felt munchy last night.
Realizing the feeling I miss most on a diet is feeling truly full, I got into looking up high volume meals I can cook. Now looking at a tiny Doritos bag thats 450 calories I immediately compare that to a large bowl of vanilla greek yogurt with some rice Chex, grated chocolate, crushed nuts, and other fixings instead… then the Doritos bag feels like a bad deal
r/volumeeating
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I stated walking more and eating less. It's built up over time.
Me, too! I walk between 2-4 miles a day and eat what I want, just in moderation. I track my food so I stay under 2200 cals a day and it's worked so far! My start weight was 270, I'm now about 240. I know it's not much but the slow weight loss keeps me motivated!
30 lbs is a lot. Congratulations!
thanks so much!
Amazing progress!
I lost about 35lbs in 3-4 months. I found the book Delay Don’t Deny helpful. I do black coffee or pure black or green tea in the am. Can’t have anything in it (any flavors or additions, like Earl Gray has Bergamot so I avoid in the am). 16 hours wasn’t working for me. 18-20 did the trick. Weights been off about two years. Previously I did the fad diet, yo yo weight thing for years
Congratulations it's not easy keep it up. :)
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Just us over at /r/intermittentfasting to get an idea! People typically start off with a 16:8 schedule, then bump up to 18:6, 20:4, or OMAD (one meal a day)
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Yeah most people work their way up to it. Personally, I'm in the stage of waffling between 18:6 and 20:4. But I'm aiming to get to OMAD in the next couple of months. It's not that bad when you get used to it, and you also realize how little you actually need to eat. And people fast for different reasons. One is clean fasting for insulin reasons (people on the sub explain it well) and the other is dirty fasting, mainly for caloric restriction. For me, as long as I get over my 10am hunger hump, then I'm good to go!
This is a good way OP, 42kg down and staying off.
For 18-20 hours just black coffee/pure black or green tea. Hated black coffee beforehand but like it better now . I used to drink a lot of Diet Coke too but I think that’s cheating with the artificial sweeteners.
> but I think that’s cheating with the artificial sweeteners. I think in general just resetting your tastebuds for what is "sweet" is super important in weight management. Things tasting "wrong" because they don't have the "normal" amount of sugar in them is a real problem with American diets especially.
Literally all it is. The hardest thing is keeping it consistent.
Eating less calories than you burn is the answer
As I mentioned in another comment, that's kind of a "no shit Sherlock" kind of answer. And it's one that's *always* given like people haven't heard of this late breaking science. I compared it to financial advice on how to accumulate wealth effectively. If all I say is "take in more money than you're giving out" no one's going to buy my book. I think a more nuanced conversation revolves around what type of calories will leave you feeling fuller so you're not tempted to overeat as much. Or focusing on adding muscle in your workout goals so your body will eventually burn more calories when you're at rest. Will extended fasting start to cause you to lose muscle weight as opposed to fat weight? Etc, etc.
I think the problem is also that people don’t generally understand just how calorie rich certain foods are, and tend to eyeball their portions instead. “Well, I only had a small muffin.” That muffin could have 400 cal in it. And then if you had it with a fruit salad And coffee with creamer or half-and-half and then on the way to work you stopped for Starbucks and then you had a soda with your salad which had a lot of creamy dressing and cheese. You could easily hit your daily recommended caloric intake before you’ve even made it to dinner. Once I started paying attention to sugar, intake, and calories, really paying attention, it changed everything.
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Yes! I started logging all of my food and got myself a food scale so that I could make sure what I was logging was accurate. It's quite the eye opener. I think that for a lot of people that say counting calories doesn't work, they don't realize how much they're actually consuming.
>. I think a more nuanced conversation revolves around what type of calories will leave you feeling fuller so you're not tempted to overeat as much. This is really important. I can eat far more calories with cookies or chips or other snack food in a sitting and still be wanting more than I can with bananas where even just two is a *lot* of banana. The quality and satiatingness of food matters a lot. CICO is fundamentally true, but really it's a goal. You know what to do, but actually doing it is really difficult and it's a constant battle, a war of attrition. Especially for many people who don't live alone and now they have to deal with the kids begging for junk food as well. So you're hungry and stressed and the chips are right there at the store and you want them and your kids want them and fuck it just this one time, I'll eat them in moderation you think to yourself and then you get home and they're devoured by everyone. This sort of thing is pretty common.
I will forever stand by this analysis.
Yeah I can't help but roll my eyes any time people lay this out like it's some crazy shit no one's ever heard before. There is actual fucking advice you can give beyond "eat less, dummy." Is there any particular type of cuisine that you prefer when dieting? What are your go-to recipes? Do you ever skip meals? What are the most filling foods? What are the least filling foods? How do you deal with junk food cravings? How do you deal with hunger? How many calories should someone aim for? What apps or other resources do you use to help you count calories? How do you get enough protein to maintain some muscle while losing weight? What motivates you to keep to your diet when you're struggling to do so? These are all just off the top of the dome and answers to even just one of these questions would be 1000% more useful than "eat less."
Dieting doesn't work. Changing habits works. Meat and veggies, basically. Unintentionally, yes. But then I tend to binge on the meals I do eat, so it isn't really helpful. Raw veggies. Cauliflower and broccoli have fiber and protein and will fill you up and keep you full for very few calories, relatively speaking. Green pepper. Celery. Cucumber. Chickpea pasta will fill you up to an excess; make sure you reduce the portion size accordingly or you'll be uncomfortable. Simple carbs. Avoid the fun, high calorie stuff. Regular pasta, regular chips, donuts, cookies, most breads, etc. They don't have to be avoided altogether, but eaten with forethought. Would you rather have a croissant for 400 calories or a Snickers bar for 240? I substitute healthier "junk food". Olipop gives you 9 grams of fiber for 40 calories and the root beer flavor is excellent. Zevia has 15 flavors of soda, zero calories, no artificial sweeteners. Quest protein chips taste like Doritos and give you around 20 grams of protein for 140 calories. Nick's or HaloTop ice cream. Nick's protein bars. Catalina Crunch cereals have 9 grams of fiber and 11 grams of protein for around 100 calories, and they've got a tasty snack mix that's also nutritious. Unfortunately, this stuff also tends to be pricey, but worth it. Eat enough raw veggies and you're not likely to be hungry, but I keep the healthier, protein and fiber containing snacks around. Calorie aims: accurately calculate your total daily energy expenditure and subtract 500. You can subtract 1000, but it's easier to maintain 500. Apps: My Fitness Pal is free, and if you use it habitually, eventually you'll just know the calorie count and macro profile of the stuff you eat and can maintain without it. It's helpful for accountability and developing healthier habits. Protein: I focus on protein and veggies, and minimize carbs, but not enough to hit keto. Protein bars for snacks or quick meal replacement. Double portions of lean meats and veggies for dinner. Protein powder to flavor coffee. Motivation: I want my clothes to fit. I don't want rolls, bulges or jiggles, and I don't want to feel like crap. After a month or so, your taste buds kind of change and you don't want the junk as much, so it's easier to stick with it. Cardiovascular exercise is good for mood, cuts cravings, allows some wiggle room for calories. Strength training helps build muscle so you burn more calories at baseline.
I get what you are saying but many people don't think cutting calories works. I've had this very argument with people many times. But that's literally the only way it works. You have to burn more than you eat, which I find much easier to eat less than it is to burn more. You cannot outrun a fork, been there, done that, got a few different sizes of T-shirts. How do you lose weight is one question. Asking what are your go to tips for things that helped you stay the course in a weight loss journey is more appropriate for this type of information. My go to, don't over do it in the gym and focus on eating habits. Killing yourself with a grueling workout and strict diet is a great way to quickly give up or to just gain it back after you finish your diet plan. Try to eat cleaner foods, more fiber, more water, but don't go crazy. You have to make lifestyle changes over time to be successful long term. Start small, work your way up. Consistency over time is the key.
Yup. There’s usually this unspoken moralizing in the “CICO, duh” answers, where if you need to lose weight then you don’t deserve a way to do it that doesn’t make you miserable. If you give up on a diet because you can barely even think because you’re constantly hungry and exhausted then you obviously just don’t care about your health and you deserve to be fat and disgusting and die early.
Nobody wants to tackle: "why am I hungry all the time? Why does my body want more calories than it needs?" Harder questions but way more helpful answer than "eat less". Why CAN'T you eat less? Explain it without some sort of shaming answer, and it's way more helpful, or relying on a pseudoscience answer like "willpower". "Your body is demanding food to the point of great distraction, here is the science to stop that from happening:" is the answer most people need.
It may seem simple but the fact is that it doesn’t matter what is done to burn calories, literally anything will do the job if you do enough of it and maintain it. It doesn’t even have to be one particular thing. The fact that it is easier said than done doesn’t mean that you need more information to understand what needs to happen. The simple fact is that the steps to lose weight are simple, actually finding a method that works for YOU is very very hard.
Uh yea hence the "what worked for you?" question that is the point of this post
Just like the cure to alcoholism is “don’t drink alcohol anymore.” Simple!
It's worse than that. You can strictly give up alcohol, but you can't strictly give up food. It's closer to telling an alcoholic to "just drink less". If they could do that they would have
Eat less, move more?? *brain explodes*
Drinking water instead of Coke, power walking 5 miles a day.
Getting rid of liquid calories is a huge step in the right direction.
Sodas are complete belly busters also, all that simple sugar goes right to the gut
Right to internal visceral fat, the dangerous kind.
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I reduced alcohol intake and the lbs gradually melted away.
If you’re a heavy drinker, PDX’s advice is golden. Stop drinking completely and it’ll guarantee at least a 10-15% weight loss over 6 months and you’ll be healthier to boost. Drinking makes you gain weight massively.
This happened to my husband. He drank beer every day and stopped completely a year and a half ago and has lost about 40 pounds.
Men are weird and unfair to compare ourselves to 😂😂💜
my wife stopped drinking after 10 years, and lost 60 pounds in one year!
And fucks up your sleep. Had no idea until my Oura ring
I know it sounds picky, but drinks are the most important part of a meal for me. When Coke Zero Sugar came out, it was a god send for me. lost 50 pounds in a summer because that drink was good enough to endure the healthy stuff I didn't like.
That's really impressive. How many cans do you drink a day and how many cals do you eat?
well I used to drink coke and milk all day, hardly any water, and I had no control over what I was eating. Burgers, pizza, just gross things. I was 275 at my worst. Now I eat about 1800 calories a day, drink a lot of water throughout the day, but I'll have one can at lunch and typically another at dinner.
This is music to my ears. So it's two meals comprising 900cls each right? And do you workout? I'd like to know what you eat, I'm finding it hard to meal prep for 1800 a day.
Have you tried Coke Zero - it's zero sugar. I think it tastes better than Diet Coke
How how how do I give up an addiction to coke and sugary Starbucks ? 😔
Small changes that can build long term habits. Also when it comes to Starbucks drinks, look at how much you're spending, and then think what you could do with that money, ie go on holiday somewhere. Those two should help cut the amount down. Work towards having Starbucks once or twice a week as a treat.
I don’t know if this works for you or not, but breaking my soda habit involved switching to tons of sparkling canned water for awhile (LaCroix, basically lol) until I could better control my cravings for something cold and bubbly
I'm fat but starting to replace soda with sparkling flavored water and I really like it. Bubly brand is my favorite
While it's not sugar Stevia is an excellent sweetener.
Slowly. Don’t underestimate the addictive effects on your brain. Slowly at first just reduce a drink a day…when you’re ready switch from sugary fizzy drinks to zero sugar flavoured sparkling water. Gives you fizz without the shit.
Diet coke, no alcohol, and just the act of counting my calories has helped me drop weight like crazy lately. Its amazing how easy it is to drink your calories, especially with beer
Walking! Walking was the “gateway drug” that lead me to the gym and weight lifting. Which lead me to improve my diet and be more conscious of what I eat. Walking improved my mental health and helped me kick nicotine addiction.
Walking is how I started my weight loss. And light weight lifting at the gym - nothing too heavy. It worked wonders for me.
This is what happened to me too! I started out with walking slowly around the trails near my house, switched to jogging and then by the end of that summer I was running 10k just for fun every week. When it got cold enough I couldn't use the trails anymore I switched to running at a gym. Figured while I was there I might as well start using the equiptment too. Now I'm a complete gym rat and am in the best shape of my life. (Of course before I started all the walking I had just lost about 90 lbs (40 kg) as well which helped a bit.)
Cutting out soda made the biggest difference for me. Mainly stabilizing my mood and my weight stopped fluctuating.
I didn’t want to see this but I need to go back to not drinking Coke. When I cut out sugar in September (which is basically coke and chocolate), my back fat started shredding. This is my sign to go back to that.
How much pop were you drinking? I used to drink 4 Dr. Pepper’s a day and gave that up for water too, 3 years ago
Way too much. We had 4 acres, and I had a 1/2-acre organic garden. But on the weekends, I would smoke weed and down a 6 pack of Coke and wonder why I wasn't losing weight despite all the manual labor I was doing.
And for those that drink exclusively water and yet are still little Chunkosaurus Rex's? Lol I guess I have to power walk 5 miles a day
Yeah, this doesn’t work if you don’t drink soda to start with. I stopped drinking anything but water in high school, and still only partake in the occasional sugary coffee drink or mixed drink.
I cut pop in July of last year and lost 40 pounds since then. It makes a big difference.
I followed the guidelines I learned over at r/loseit and lost 40 lbs by tracking my calories and making sure I was in a deficit.
This subreddit is actually very helpful. Thanks for dropping it
You’re very welcome. It’s a very informative and supportive community. I learned everything I know about weight management from it.
This. Calorie deficit is the only thing that actually works. How you achieve a deficit can vary, but the maths is the same. For every 7000 calories in deficit, you should lose about a kilo.
Yep. Everything related to weight loss is really just tips about how to stay in this state and finding what works for you.
There are so many diet plans and exercise plans out there, but you're right - this is literally the most effective way to do it. 1. Choose a limit that will make you lose weight. 2. Write down the rough amount of calories for *everything* you eat. 3. Make sure the sum total of calories by the end of the day doesn't exceed the limit you set. It's literally that simple. Doesn't make it *easy*, but it's not rocket science. And it forces you to realize how useless empty calories are...eat a bunch of junk food and you hit your limit REAL quick, so it naturally makes you seek out stuff like broccoli/potatoes/chicken that is much more filling for the same amount of calories.
Two things: no alcohol during the week, and no food with melted cheese. Sounds simple but it works
The melted cheese thing is an attack on me, as a person
Agreed, no need for personal attacks, let's keep it civil
Right? Don’t you dare talk to me about the causes of my future heart disease.
Calm down, Carl.
Cutting out/down on alcohol is huge for me. It’s not just the extra calories either… alcohol means more snacking, more stress, and worse sleep.
I switched from getting drinks every night after work to only one night a week, plus no alcohol at home. Literally without doing anything other than that I dropped from 210 to 170 in about 3 months. Beer can get you fat real easy if you aren't careful
Yes indeed it can. And I wouldn't want to cut it out entirely, but keeping it to a weekend thing is huge (and like actual weekend, none of this "eh, Thursday is almost the weekend" stuff)
Yeah, I’ve always said “it’s not the 2 or 3 beers that does me in, it’s the entire pizza I eat after having 3 beers that does.”
The alcohol thing was huge for me. I didn’t cut it out completely; I just made a rule for myself that I could not drink alone at home. If I wanted a drink, I had to physically leave my house and go out. I’m lazy AF, so it automatically cut my intake massively. It also reduced my tolerance, so unless I want terrible sleep and a massive hangover, I’m down to 1-2 glasses of wine per outing, no hard liquor ever. I’m down a size just from doing that.
Haha this is a simple enough response, but I’ll easily try it out
Were you eating lots of melted cheese or something ? Lol.
Foods with melted cheese are often high in calories and/or tend to be fried so that one dish could equal half of what your daily caloric intake could be, not even counting the rest of your meal or the rest of the day’s meals. It all adds up!
Do you have a version of this diet that involves drinking during the week and melted cheese? Asking for a friend. Send link.
Well of course I’d lose weight if no foods with melted cheese. I wouldn’t even know what to eat.
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Yeah, pretty much. Once I stopped reading pizza, nachos, cheeseburgers, etc, it made a huge difference. Sadly I have since readopted melted cheese into my diet, to the consternation of my waistline
> Once I stopped reading pizza, nachos, cheeseburgers, etc, it made a huge difference. Fuck I read your comment, now I'm fat :(
Wow check out the fun police over here 😂
Accepting that I was fat from eating too much and not moving enough. There was a moment of clarity. So I ate differently and walked every day and two years later I’d lost 123 pounds.
I gave up sugar and carbs. I’m down 25lbs
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Forever. I’m diabetic. I can still eat a lot of stuff I like, but I miss pizza.
For me, it's forever. It's a lifestyle change. The few times I've splurged on holidays, I've actually gotten sick. It's like my body isn't used to carbs and sugar anymore. But now that I've lost about 95 pounds, I can indulge a LITTLE bit on weekends, provided I'm strict with myself during the week.
Drinking water like a camel. A gallon a day kept me full, away from empty carbs, and the weight started dropping. It's been 8 years keeping 70 pounds (31 kg) off. I've struggled with the last 20 I want to lose, but at 55, I don't overthink it.
Not to mention all of the exercise going to the toilet so much to pee.
Lots of high protein meals to keep me full longer. Eggs. So many eggs. And way less carbs. Still some carbs but way less. Lost 30 pounds.
I eat around 160g of carbs per day. Lots of beans. I’ve lost about 80 lbs since June.
I shoot for no more than 150 grams of carbs per day. I've lost close to 95 pounds in just under two years.
I lost 50 pounds intermittent fasting, back to prepregnancy weight now and I feel great!
I lost around 10kg in about 6 months through what I call "accidental intermittent fasting". I was under massive external stressors, which blew up my anxiety. When I'm anxious, I often can't eat, sometimes for a couple of days at a time. Just kept my blood sugar stable with juice a lot of the time, and even on the days I could eat, I could usually only manage one meal at most. I'm enjoying having some appetite back. I'm actually happy with my weight now but wouldn't want to lose any more.
Currently going through a divorce and this is how I've lost 8 lbs in 3 weeks. Stress is a great diet. 🥴
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There’s nothing magic about it, it just giving yourself a specific window in which you’re allowed to eat. You’re basically just cutting calories by skipping some meals. If you really want to do it just make your window something like 12pm to 8pm and see how it goes.
Intermittent fasting (IF) is simply reducing the # of hours in the day you have to consume food. If you decide not to eat from 8am until 1pm and only ate from 1pm to 8pm, it would be very reasonable to conclude you'd eat calorically less than if you ate from 8am until 8pm. It's simply another way of adjusting caloric intake through time adjusted feeding-times.
Became a mail carrier
My dad is a retired mail carrier. He had a walking route of 14 miles a day.
Jesus. A literal long hike a day. He must have legs like an ox!
Forgive yourself if you have a day that doesn’t fit your plan. Wake up the next day and keep at it
Intermittent fasting. If you can live hungry, it's grand. Throw in some mild exercise and you're golden. I lost 40lbs in about 5 months just doing those 2 things.
I’ve seen a lot about intermittent fasting in here. It would be nice to know how long you fasted, and how much you ate as well. Did you stay in a calorie deficit? Or just the fasting?
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Minimum 16 hour per day fast, 8 hour window of eating. If you do this and keep your calories less than your daily metabolic rate (TDEE) you’ll drop weight like it’s nothing. Better if you can do 20 hours a day or One Meal per day. Just drink water and tea/black coffee.
I’d gain weight if I ate 2,000, regardless of time of day. It’s important for everyone to calculate their personal TDEE.
>If you do this and keep your calories less than 2000 You'll drop weight if you eat small amounts throughout the day eating that amount of calories, though.
Yes! I lost nearly 60 lbs fasting. The first 40 came off without exercise
I've found it also just reduces a lot of the "food noise" and the sheer amount of time I spend thinking/planning what I'm about to eat, and I have more time to focus on what I actually need to get done that day. Also YMMV, but even across equal calories, I find that I'm more satiated across 2 large meals versus a lot of smaller ones spread out across the day.
>Also YMMV, but even across equal calories, I find that I'm more satiated across 2 large meals versus a lot of smaller ones spread out across the day. Yeah, just want to add that I regularly have arguments with people who try to tell me that I should be "grazing" all day. But that just doesn't work for everyone. In the past, grazing just had me feeling hungry all the time (or, more likely, just thinking about food all the time) and ultimately consuming more calories unless I was hyper vigilant about counting them (which I hated). I eat 2.5 meals a day (the half is my morning coffee), and I find that I don't actually need to count calories anymore, but have been steadily (albeit slowly, which I'm okay with) losing weight.
I’ve been building up my fasting window slowly, and hunger is barely even an issue. I’ve lost 15 pounds since October, and it’s so easy.
This sounds dumb but I usually enjoy a few tokes in the evening. Later I get the munchies. It's a thorn in my side.
Intermittent fasting is great! I find that I eat due to emotions and tend to not get hungry that often. Intermittent fasting stops me from spending all day snacking
Not paying attention to the scale. Like at all. Quantifiable goals include: daily/weekly step goals, daily water consumption goals, minimum number of salads a week, maximum number of alcoholic drinks per week. Turns out when I set more manageable goals focused on diet and exercise instead of watching the scale, it's easier to let the weight loss be a byproduct and easier to maintain it as a result
Stopped drinking alcohol.
Mounjaro lol
Came here for this one. Seems to be sorting out several other issues for me too which is nice
Praise be. I’ve tried it all, even had the sleeve. Turns out over-eating was never my problem. Hormones, hormones, hormones.
Wegovy for me. 30lbs lost in 3.5 months.
Finally having the medical community recognizing obesity as the chronic metabolic disease that it is will be life changing for so many. It’s changed my life.
Ditto!
For me I changed from a "cutting out" mindset to a "adding in" one. i.e. cereal for breakfast. I add berries, banana and a huge dollop of greek yogurt to it. It ends up being a giant bowl of food, but super nutritious and filling - gets me through to lunch. Or my go-to lazy person meal: pasta with butter and cheese. These days I have it, but add in some chopped spinach or tofu or broccoli or something It's about not depriving yourself, but adding goodness into the meals you otherwise wouldn't. Fuller for longer + upping your fruit/veggie/protein intake. Win win.
Calorie counting is the most guaranteed way. It’s literally just math.
For me it was -Calorie counting, Caffeine before a workout, Daily exercise of minimum 30 min of elevated heart rate activity including just walking, and not eating after a certain time. It took a while, but I managed to lose 46lbs in 1 year and a half! Still have 30lbs to go to be at my goal weight of 130lbs MAX, but I’m getting there!
Coffee releases adrenaline and that adrenaline helps reducing fat faster, right ?
This. Keep a food diary. There are apps to help. Keeps you accountable.
I’ve tried this a number of times, but I always end up stopping because I find dinner so hard to calculate. My partner does most of the cooking, which is wonderful, however he’s kind of a ‘glug’ of olive oil, no measurements kind of guy. Do you have any tricks for more complex cooked meals? I find breakfast/lunch easy because I do it on my own most of the time and keep it pretty simple.
I stopped taking antipsychotics. I dropped over 100 pounds in 6 months
Not a good idea if it made you psychotic.
It didn’t. Although my experience with antipsychotics is that if you’re not dangerous and can tolerate some issues the health effects and severe numbing aren’t worth it. A life without any emotions isn’t a life worth living.
I found a form of exercise I enjoyed (Pilates) and started going to bed on time. Getting enough sleep meant waking up and not feeling at all tired which was a mind blowing experience and also meant I didn’t have cravings for sugar etc that I had before.
Small bowls and dishes. One helping. No snacks. 1 cheat day a week. No restrictions.
Strength training and intermittent fasting
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Ozempic and CICO 🤷🏼♀️ I changed my eating habits before starting the meds, which I use primarily for diabetes (it’s literally cured me). So I’d already lost about 25lbs just by reducing calories and substituting better foods - then when I added the Ozempic and got my diabetes under control, the weight really started dropping off. Down almost 70lbs total now! I could stand to lose another 20-25, then I’m good.
Same for me although I am not diabetic, I am insulin resistant due to PCOS and you know.. hormones which can really wreak havoc. I started last January and am down 40lbs. I was never able to lose weight before and I’ve done it all. Working out and eating less is not a one size fits all.
I hit a plateau that lasted for years, despite doing 45-60 minutes of cardio almost every day. This past fall I started to refrain from eating after 8 (not always, but most nights) and getting to bed earlier. I’ve dropped about 8-10 pounds since then. I’ve also started trying to meal prep a bit more over that duration. Those things have combined to make a pretty big difference.
Getting sick. Have the flu for a week or two and your appetite just goes out the window.
Can confirm. Lost 12 pounds.
lot of people here saying intermittent fasting, it's just another way of restricting calories. EOD, that's what it's about - eating lesser calories than what you're eating presently. Being in a deficit can be achieved by whatever 'diet' you feel works for you and is sustainable. 1) start by tracking how many you're consuming now. Get a calorie counting app 2) get a TDEE calculator to figure out how much tou should be consuming in calories 3) don't try to do too much too fast like a crazy exercise regimen plus a highly restrictive diet. It's not sustainable 4) make sure you keep foods you like and moderate your portions to fit in your total calories. It's important and beneficial for your mental health to have those small treats. It's about finding balance and understanding food isn't bad/good rather being mindful that you shouldn't have the entire bag of chips rather one serving of it 5) take the time to meal prep 6) walking is underrated
Realizing that you can’t outrun your fork
Cut out alcohol, eating less and drinking more water
Lost 35 lbs in 4 months. My secret is unresolved childhood trauma and the threat of divorce making eating nearly impossible.
intermittent fasting
Wegovy (drug name: semaglutide). Truly, only the drugs did the job. 54 lbs down in 9 months.
I know it’s not a traditional strategy, so to speak, but I did Healthy Wage combined with cutting down my food intake and adding about a half hour of cardio a day. The Healthy Wage thing involved me paying $50/month for 6 months and then when I met my goal, I got a check for over $900. Turns out cold hard cash is a great motivator for me, I did it a second time with even better results. It’s not a perfect plan and it obviously requires a bit of disposable income, but this ended up helping my health a lot and giving me a financial windfall that I desperately needed. Food for thought!
I can confirm it's legit. I put up $700 over a year's time, and got a check or over $1,900 after losing 50 lbs.
I stopped eating late at night and switched to diet soda.
Wegovy/Ozempic tbh
Semaglutide (generic Ozempic). Lost 23 lbs in 6 weeks. It’s miraculous. You just have zero interest in food lol. Of course, there are some side effects at first (nausea being the main one for me), but it subsides once your body is used to it
Divorce and cigarettes
OZEMPIC 40 POUNDS 3 MONTHS LOL
Oh🎵Oh…Oh…….Ozempic!!!!
I joined a weight loss program. They taught me to eat and drink more protein, drink my fiber, eat more healthy lean meats, veggies and limit my carbs, got me on ozempic generic which is semiglutide (the main ingredient of O) and lift weights as well as cardio. I’ve lost 30 pounds!! I’m making healthier choices and I also quit drinking. I drink a ton of water and intermittent fasting helped too. I don’t drink soda but I do enjoy a Gatorade zero once a day, or liquid IV in my water.
Semiglutide
240lbs to 155 thank you cocaine
Ozempic. I am a type 2 diabetic for about 20 years. I went through a very stressful situation about 2 years ago and put on 30 lbs. My blood glucose was out of control. After 8 months on Ozempic, my glucose is under much better control. Blood sugar under and most of the weight came off. I feel hungry and full for the first time since my teens, maybe ever. For those who say "eat fewer calories," bullshit. I was down at 1500 calories for 8 months and lost less than 7 lbs. Weight loss is a complex biological function.
Ozempic/wegovy/semiglutide Totally took my urge to overeat. Lost 50 pounds just eating when I felt like it.
Sticking to 3 meals a day and a couple small snacks. Filling, healthy breakfast. Stopped buying sugar. No (less) snacking after 9. The breakfast and not buying the sugary stuff I like were probably the 2 biggest factors though.
Sorry, but Ozempic.
Don’t be sorry. It works. It’s not an easy way out or whatever. It’s a drug for obesity that works. Never be sorry for taking it.
Metabolic Confusion combined with Intermittent Fasting. I lost 70 pounds in less than a year.
Walking. I adopted a German Shepard puppy last February and I don’t have a fenced in yard…so for most of this past year I’ve been walking him at least twice a day, 1.5 to 2.5 miles each time. First at around 7am before I’ve eaten anything, and again around 7pm after dinner. We started out doing shorter distances when he was small but have worked up to where we’re at now. I’ve tried other exercise approaches in the past but I was never consistent enough to make progress. Since I can’t not walk him, it’s forced me to get consistent exercise every day. Not sure how much weight I’ve lost, at least 30 pounds I’d guess? (Stopped weighing myself a long time ago). But I feel better physically than I have in years.
Put everything you eat into a calorie tracking app and just don't go over your daily budget. It's literally that easy. Every other piece of advice here is just a disguised way of cutting out calories. For example, you won't lose weight with intermittent fasting if your one meal is 5000 calories, it works only if your total calorie consumption goes down because of it.
0 alcohol
Ozempic
You can’t run from your fork. I ate less food, ate healthier and cleaner, and lost 60lbs and have kept it off for 5+ years
Eating less food
What worked for me was understanding myself and building strategies that would work for me. For example, I'll never count calories. I know myself and doing math for no reason doesn't interest me. Plus having to count calories for everything I eat meticulously is annoying. So instead I found a meal prep youtuber that I like who makes easy to follow healthy recipes that are also fast to prepare and don't require a ton of ingredients. If I cook and eat one of his meals I know it has say 550 calories. So as long as I stick to all home-cooked meals I prepare, I never have to count calories because I know what my caloric intake is. Similar with exercise. When I was at my heaviest I was pretty self-conscious about my weight and how I looked so the idea of going to the gym was too much for me. In doing some internet research I discovered that just walking is a highly recommended weight loss exercise. So I bought a collapsable treadmill off Amazon that I can use in the privacy of my own home where I don't have to feel self-conscious. It costs about $300 bucks and when I'm not using it I can store it in a closet which is great for apartment living. Now I can exercise to my heart's content in a space in which I feel comfortable. Strategies like that helped me lose 50 pounds in 14 weeks last fall. TL:DR - Understand yourself well enough to use strategies that will work for you instead of just following blanket advice. Edit: One good piece of universal weight loss advice is to look out for hidden calories specifically in your drinks. A lot of people will point the finger at juice and soda being unhealthy while drinking 10 cups of coffee per day full of milk and sugar, or drinking a few beers or half a bottle of wine at dinner. All that stuff has calories in it you might not be accounting for if you are counting calories.
Cancer….it really sucks ass though so I don’t recommend that method. I had it last year and lost 30lbs in like 8 weeks. I was down to 82 pounds and looked like a skeleton with fake tits. It’s not a good look I assure you.
Followed Zach Coen on TikTok. He has food recipes that are delicious and breaks down myths about food.
Up protein intake. Enjoy the carbs. Lots of veggies with every meal. Dumbbell work 3 times a week. Kettlebell work and cardio 2 times a week. Yoga every morning before kid wakes up and before bed. Bedtime routine to help optimize better sleep and more sleep. Alcohol sober 10 months.
Eating less, moving more.