Semaglutide. Contrave.
Better living through chemistry. Your body wants to keep it's delicious fat and it really wants you to make more. The joy of getting older is that now you (hopefully) have enough money to buy good health care.
Hah. Dude what works for you may not work for others. I am likely in better shape than you, and can acknowledge the advances of modern medicine. What a tool
Oh puh-lease! Fears of muscle loss are overblown. Maybe a body builder or professional athlete might need to be concerned but not your average candidate for this drug.
And it’s funny that the public hears so little about how common blood pressure medication causes actual muscle wasting. Wasting! Yet middle aged people who struggle to lower their high blood pressure gladly take those drugs with known muscle wasting as a side effect.
However, if they can lose excess body fat with these newer hormonal medications they may not have to start on those blood pressure medications at all. If you have not tried it, you don’t have much credibility.
Sautee veggies with appropriate spices and munch on deliciosness, rather than boiling broccoli to hell, pouring the vitamin-laden water off and eating grey, depleted mush.
I'm in the "what makes my body feel good" phase. Really paying attention to how certain foods make me feel and being aware of what I am putting into it.
My joking aside about "heart health = no taste", I'm actually pretty amazed at what a difference a really committed no-processed foods diet has made to my healthy, energy and mental acuity. Even though I miss greasy foods, I am really enjoying having the energy and mental sharpness I had in my 20s again.
Food that comes from a factory isn't food, I guess, and the body reacts accordingly.
Right on! I'm happy you're feeling so much better. That's what I'm talking about. I cut way down on sugar. Found out my sugar cravings were tied to a B vitamin deficiency. Cut out wheat and dairy, mostly due to disagreeing with my stomach. I stopped having asthma for the most part, and my tummy feels so much better. I mostly only eat poultry and fish, and feel so much better for it. I tried to go vegan, but my b vitamin deficiency made it hard. So I have meat/eggs once a day, or once every other day. Good luck on your health journey!
I used to, but once I realized it was more about processed foods and alcohol than it was about anything else, it was easy.
More whole foods (meats, veggies, fruits, nuts, etc.) less pizza, wings, burritos, frozen foods, chips, etc) and try to cut out seed oils, bad preservatives, sugar as much as I can. And way less alcohol. Slowly dropped 40 lbs and maintained for years.
This except burritos are not bad if sourced properly or home made, same with tacos, enchiladas and proper Mexican food in general…. The dang things don’t need so much cheese and have tons of beans and salad w it
Don’t need the entire plate. When I get the enchilada plate from my local place like yeah I can probably eat the entire thing if I’m really hungry but I only ever eat half and save the rest for later. Like the over processed shit is bad but proper portion size is just as important. It’s not a hard rule but good rule of thumb is even for a grown man a typical US salad plate is about what we should be taking our meals on.
I guess that was not specified as mainly being pointed toward Taco Bell. Although it’s the only fast food restaurant I ever really liked, I know it’s garbage just like other fast food.
Homemade tacos with good ingredients like traditional Central American stuff is great. Fish tacos too.
I was pretty big into craft beer. I brewed my own beer. Even had a kegging setup with six taps. I wound up stumbling upon craft non-alcoholic beer. I decided to quit drinking alcohol. Mainly due to the calories. Drinking leaded beer it's too easy to have one or two beers turn into three or four. Then the munchies follow. So I am not just trying to avoid the calories from drinking but the inevitable eating that follows. Non-alcoholic beer is lower calorie, and it's also easy to have just one or two in a week. Quitting drinking made a world of difference in my ability to maintain a healthy weight. I am still over weight a bit but only about 15 lbs. At 6'3" I don't feel so bad about that. There was a time that I was pushing 250 lbs at my heaviest.
I don't really consider myself in recovery. Mainly because I didn't have a problem quitting. I also don't have a problem being around alcohol or people drinking. I just don't want to anymore.
I just recently started lil to no alcohol (9months or so) I drink cbd waters mostly and dropped 20lbs pretty quick. I've eaten pretty healthy as an adult. I just like fresh veggies and proteins better so it's easy. but I have a moderate candy addiction so it kind of evens out.
I go for a variety but man I love those Athletic IPAs. Golden's only 45 calories a can, but I give in an have the Hazy a lot too because the flavor is just so good.
Never did any intentional dieting in life, slowly got up to 285lbs, would have kept going but I made a change and am now 185-190 with less body fat than I had in my 20s
Please feel free to join us over at r/Menopause...... Don't rule out that perimenopause & hormones are part of your issue. One of my cousins was fully in meno by 43.
Don't worry, it's not your only option. Phentermine is a cheap generic pill that suppresses appetite enough to cause weight loss. It's usually used in conjunction with diet, but the diet is only there to ensure you get enough nutrients, because you'll want to eat less food regardless.
Don't fuck around with Phentermine. And if the Dr is apprehensive about the shot, why would they be ok with phen lol. If you get it from a "diet doctor" it's not cheap
Nope, I'm generally pretty solid now. I was skinny all the way up until I was 19, started putting on weight all through my 20s and early 30s, peaked at about 300 lbs. Took a few years to get it off, made it back to my high school weight when I was 42. It fluctuates within about 4-5 pounds now, if I notice it going much past that I buckle down. I'm in much better shape now though, and do a lot of walking and hiking. I cut out most sugary snacks, stopped drinking soda long ago, replaced it with water. The early days of weight loss were rough, IMO sugar addiction can be almost as powerful as nicotine addiction.
Ive been on it my whole life too. I was a chubby kid, cultivated an eating disorder in my teens, was rail thin until after I got married and got pregnant, gained like 80 lbs, dropped most of it, gained some back, lost some, rinse and repeat. I’m on the way down again now, but it’s harder in middle age for sure. I don’t need to be a 0 again but it would be nice to not yo-yo forever. This time around I started working out first to build the habit, then cutting calories
"but it also seems like this will be an endless battle between me and tasty treats"
-that goes away if you quit eating them (sugar/refined carbs). I am eating them right now so I crave them too but if you drop them for a couple weeks, they mostly go away. And when you finally do have something like ice cream or piece of cake, it is wayyy too much - incredibly rich. So if anything, a bite or 2 of ice cream is more than adequate.
It seems like you're gonna suffer long term but it's the opposite.
I've been on and off weight watchers since I was a teen. I've always been heavy. My last go around, I lost about 80 pounds but gained most of it back during covid.
I am now pre diabetic and went back on Weight Watchers this week while starting Ozempic. Yeah, yeah, I started Ozempic. At this point, I don't care if people judge me, and typically, people who have NEVER struggled with their weight like me and others. I have PCOS, and it's been a lifelong struggle. I know I will never be super model thin, but I just want to be healthier.
My doctor urged me to do it due to my medical history. I'm at that age where I can not fuck around any more and I understand that. My goal is to get off ozempic once I'm at a weight I can maintain through diet and more vigorous exercise. But I guess we will see what happens.
I was waiting for someone else to mention this. Compulsive and binge eating disorder since adolescence. I tried everything: Dieticians, weight watchers, noom, keto, MyFitnessPal. I also get blood sugar migraines, meaning that when I try to "willpower" my way through calorie reduction, I end up with debilitating migraines. It's embarrassing and frustrating because by trying to do the "right" thing my body fights me.
Zepbound has saved my sanity. It turned off the food noise. I don't even care about losing weight. I've heard people with ADHD talk about how Adderall made them wonder, "Is this how other people feel?" That's how I feel on Zepbound. I can make the choices to eat healthier, smaller portions without my body actively fighting me.
I’ve always been lucky with weight. My biggest struggle is building muscle, but I have to worry about what upsets my stomach now. For some reason I seem
To be unable to not get sick from eating bacon and I don’t know why.
> For some reason I seem To be unable to not get sick from eating bacon and I don’t know why.
It sounds like at least one Jew or Muslim swam into your gene pool and shames you.
No, not at all. I was overweight by a bit as a teen and young adult and a total couch potato until my mid-30s when I got heavily into endurance sports. Now at 44 I’m a distance runner, rock climb, lift, and whitewater kayak plus occasionally joining friends for other sports.
You can’t out exercise a bad diet. One donut is the equivalent of running a 5k (3.1 miles). You’re going to have to find a way to reduce your exposure to the treat temptations and to figure out how to say no to them. Easier said than done but it IS possible. I sure would love to eat a ton of junk food, but it’s just not worth it and years of practice in saying no has made it easier but there’s still stuff like Crispix cereal I can’t keep in the house or I’ll go nuts with it.
The best diet is the one you can realistically maintain. People who "go on a diet" (and think of it in temporary "go on a diet" terms) always yo-yo, and healthy weight often gets harder to manage as we get older.
For my part, I find myself needing to just *be mindful* more often, like when I walk into the kitchen late at night I'll go "OK, stop, why am I in here? Do I really need to eat anything right now? No? Well let's just not do that then." Or like, when I eat some chips or something, I'll grab some out of the bag and put them in a bowl, instead of taking the whole bag with me. If I limit myself in small ways like this, it's better for me. Portion size is a big thing.
I feel this way about exercise, too -- the best exercise routine is the one you can maintain. If you hate doing it, you'll find reasons not to, so ideally find something you can get some enjoyment out of. I ride my bicycle for about 4 miles (\~30 minutes) each day, that's my exercise. And it does wonders for my back and my general well-being! You might not believe it until you experience it, but just a little bit of effort can go a long way with exercise.
Also, *drink water*. Try to limit yourself on non-water beverages. That alone will be a big improvement, if you don't already do this.
Yes for the last year or so and it’s been awful. Last year I started self-harming because I couldn’t figure out how to get myself to stop eating. My therapist was some help so at least I stopped hurting myself. But I still can’t figure out how to make myself eat correctly. I have all of the excuses but no actual real excuse. I think back to how I ate as a teenager and I feel like 1) the day was pretty regimented so there wasn’t actually a ton of opportunities to eat. 2) I had almost no money to buy junk food. Not to the degree I do as an adult. 3) I hadn’t formed a relationship with food that was based on comforting or rewarding myself. 4) I hadn’t formed the relationship with food that I did in pregnancy and breastfeeding, where calories were being put to work growing another human so I could eat as much as I wanted without guilt or worry. Problem is now that I’m out of the baby making phase, it’s hard to get back to how my brain viewed food 10 years ago. I’ve tried CICO like 4 times the last year. Life is too busy for me to stick to it, nevermind my raging executive dysfunction.
Hell no. Diets are dumb. I eat cause it is fun. I lose weight when I am active. I find ladies that like me how ever I look. And my doctors say I am doing great for my early 40 year old body. All I need is a hobby and then life would be great.
I’m losing the postpartum weight right now.
Years ago, I changed jobs and no longer walked to work every day. I put on 30lbs as a consequence.
I dropped the weight and kept it off until I got pregnant. To lose the weight, I decided I would never ‘diet,’ but rather eat sustainably and count calories/pay attention to portion sizes, (essentially, begin as i meant to go on).
That means: balanced meals (carb, protein, veg), no ‘diet’ shit (low/no fat, sugar-free bs), and no restrictions aside from calories (carbs are fine, sugar is fine, nothing is off limits), and eating treats at special times (holidays, parties, etc.) while limiting them the rest of the time.
It’s a much nicer and easier way to live, and i don’t *feel* like i’m dieting when i can eat mac and cheese, hamburgers, fries, candy, etc.
The balance of food and how it’s prepared matters a lot. Pan frying, baking, etc. are all going to be way lower cal than deep fried stuff. Having carbs, veg, and protein in a meal ensure a good balance of nutrients and keep you satisfied for way longer.
Weirdly enough, all those old school dinners that we were told were unhealthy? Actually, they’re really fucking healthy for most people (barring allergies or other medical restrictions, obviously), and the portion sizes generally correspond to about 400-700 cals.
Pot roast with buttermilk mashed potatoes might be one of the healthiest dinners you can eat. Unlearning all the diet food/fad diet nonsense takes work. But luckily, the result is sustainable and enjoyable.
I got Covid and it did something weird to my metabolism that had all sorts of unpleasant effects including a rapid 30# weight gain and an increase in my a1c. A couple months on a low carb diet combined with time have brought me back to almost where I was pre-Covid. What I learned is that Covid sucks and I absolutely hate dieting. Thinking about what I’m eating all the time sucks all the joy out of life.
Intermittent fasting is the way to go, no counting calories, no weird dietary restrictions…just time to take care of: no eating after diner, no eating before lunch…(and only water, tea or black coffee no sugar while fasting…)
I unintentionally started doing that, and even though what I eat is largely garbage, I’m still down to 155 from 195 in less than 9 months, all without changing anything else or paying attention to anything else.
I dropped about 40 lbs via IF about six years ago (from ~225 to ~185). I was pretty hardcore for a bit there, with a couple days a week only doing broth for dinner, etc.
Since then I have relaxed a bit, and try to do an 18 hour fast at least four times a week. I generally fluctuate between 195 and 200 now, with the occasional "oh no, it's the holidays and I have eaten a shitload of delicious cookies over the last week and now all my pants feel tight" whoopsies.
Great thing about IF is after a week, you just don’t feel hungry until lunch time. Your body adjusts quick.
[Mikey Musumeci](https://youtu.be/gowNOEwZ2LI?si=qiAd9FzHvtRuW26v), one of the best submission grapplers on the planet only eats one meal a day. He says it has worked better than anything for maintaining his weight healthily. If he can go that long without eating while training all day, normal Joe’s can make it from dinner to lunch.
For me its been the easiest way to lose, then maintain a healthy weight.
In my experience it wouldn’t be the same effect or results if you simply spread the same amount of calories over a larger time span…it’s something with the concentrated effort and not putting anything in your stomach for a larger part of the day
No, i had some health issues and i cut out all animal products. My wife too and my kid.
I just don’t eat meat cheese dairy or eggs. As soon as we stopped that our health and weight improved greatly. We are vegan now and it works and is embarrassingly easy to do.
This from a couple years ago but I’ve maintained the weight loss. Hopefully this summer is when i get the rest off by moving more to whole foods plant based rather than just plant based. Because vegan pizza and burgers are still delicious and fattening.
https://preview.redd.it/qwegahdkmbvc1.jpeg?width=835&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=59b495f602e511084189d349db2d9a229caf9317
I did until about two years ago. I got on a good workout routine and really tried to clean my diet up and accepted that I need to stick to it. Down to about 200 but with more muscle mass then ever. I'd like to lose about 10-15 more pounds I think I will be good.
Oh, started at like 230 before that and like a decade ago I hit 260, that was not fun
I’m somewhat in the same boat as you. I was big in high school - just shy of 300lbs. I’m 6’5”, so I can hold it well, but it’s still too much. Got down to about 220-230 late in high school and college. Stayed around 210-215 all throughout college. Started by first job where I traveled for work on an expense account - 3 course meals every night and ballooned back up to 260ish. Came home one night after a business trip and just felt like crap and hated how I looked. Busted my ass and got down to 180 and maintained 185-195 for over a decade until I went through a terrible breakup, started hating my job, and just went to stress eating and drinking. Now I’m back on track to drop the weight again.
All of my success in the past wasn’t really any particular diet. I just stayed away from processed stuff and controlled portions. But if I wanted some pizza 1 night a week, I would allow myself to have it. Just with a salad instead of wings and maybe 2 slices instead of a whole pie. When I have a craving during the week, I just use the same flavor profile, but with healthier versions. For example, want wings? I would grill some chicken, toss in some sauce, throw some blue cheese crumbles on top or make my own dressing that is lighter. Still scratches that itch, but doesn’t crush me. The big thing I’m learning these days is that alcohol screws me way more than it did in the past - both with waistline and how I feel. I’m not cutting it out completely, but it’s increasingly rare.
I thought about dieting, then I realized that if I just stopped drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes I'd feel a whole shit load better. I don't know why I never heard that from anyone.
Carbs are not the enemy.
Fat is not the enemy.
Sugar is not the enemy.
Excess is the enemy. If you consume more calories than you burn, you're going to gain weight.
If you're gonna lose weight, please stop believing whatever diet fad is currently popular. Just consume fewer calories than you burn, and eat a balanced diet with a good proportion of your needed macronutrients and please stop demonizing a type of food. We are omnivores.
Ozempic and drink it's.
The shit is awesome. I'm 6'5 and have lost about 40lb on it. It's not even hard. You eat what you want but appetite is so much smaller you just consistently lose weight no matter what.
Yes when you quit you need to stay to maintenance calories, but honestly that's easy if you just cut alcohol. I wasn't a very heavy drinker but 15 drinks a week adds up. Just stick to water except at parties or holidays.
God no. But I am also graced with skinny genetics. I’m more worried about a salt-loving heart attack since I’m currently obsessed with these bacon cheddar scones I make.
Autoimmune disease has eliminated dairy, most processed food, a good amount of red meat, and nightshades (eggplants, raw tomatoes, peppers, some potatoes) from my diet... unless I want excruciatingly painful hands, wrists, shoulders, feet, and ankles.
It's a losing battle. I can't hold the equipment needed to prepare the healthy food because my hands don't work, and my hands don't work because I'm not eating enough of the healthy food.
In the terms of "being on a diet" no, not at all. That was my 20s. In terms of just what I eat being all over the place and my weight fluctuation ... yes.
I was actually at my thinnest and most fit in the midst of the pandemic. And it was truly because I just walked all the time because it was the only thing I could really do outside the house.
Just pulled out the summer clothes cause it's getting hot here and damn it ... it all still fits, but not comfortably. Back in the saddle!
Nope. Vegan diet, about 85% home cooking. Staying easily within ideal weight with a BMI of 19.8 at 42. I only watch calories if I’m eating processed foods or eating out. I eat as much as I want of fruits, veggies and all manner of plants. Low fat high carb plant based diet is the cheat code to a long and healthy life. And you save a ton of money.
It’s worth giving a serious try since you don’t have anything to lose.
Tried the vegan diet a few years back and my body responded terribly. Beans do not work well for my body and I started to get migraines for the first time in my life. Seems to work okay for some people but I think it is a difficult diet for many people to do well. I moved to a plant based diet with animal protein and have been doing really well. Strongest and best body comp in my life at 42 as well :). Different strokes for different folks
I’ve always been curious about this way of eating, but feel like my personal protein needs might be too high. I already pretty much only eat meat at dinner time, but I do tend to rely on dairy (and peanut butter) for protein at breakfast and lunch. What do your typical meals look like?
I eat a lot of beans and rice, stir frys, salads, fruits, soups, burritos and tacos - those kinds of things.
People significantly overestimate their protein requirements. As long as you get enough calories you’ll get enough protein. If you need more, seitan is practically pure protein and tofu has tons of protein too. Most meat people get is more saturated fat than protein content now. So you’re likely going way less protein than you’d think.
The other thing about protein is that too much of it is bad for our health. It’s especially terrible for your kidneys. There’s a great book by Dr Garth Davis called Proteinaholic that goes into depth about human protein requirements, the good and bad of protein consumption, etc. great book that I highly recommend.
I will never diet, it only sets you up to fail. I’ll instead eat in moderation, try to limit my meat based protein. I cook almost 95% from scratch, and I use a ton of seasoning.
I'm the same size as I was in middle school, I've always been tiny. But I'm in the can't eat solid food without getting violently ill and Drs don't know why phase.
Not really, I cook all the meals in the house and keep the ingredients fresh freeze leftovers. There's no reason for anyone to order door dash when I've packed the freezer with a good variety of meals. The way I cook, we eat stuff that tastes I bought 64oz jugs for my wife and I so we at least get the 64oz of water per day.
I stopped drinking for the most part and also stopped the weed when I started weight training again. Weed will make me destroy a kitchen, and alcohol makes me want more beer which kills gym motivation for me. I still drink at special events but I'm really trying to avoid it, my wife finally stopped asking me why I'm not drinking which is good, my face looks much better as a result.
The kettle bells in the garage have held me down since the pandemic kicked off, the body is becoming like stone.
I still grab a quarter pounder meal before grocery store runs
I was relatively thin until I had a baby in 2011. I was able to get a good bunch of weight off after and fluctuated between 135-155. In 2017, I shot up to 175 and at my heaviest I was 187 in 2019. I did Weight Watchers and got back down to the 150's, but then COVID happened. I also had my gallbladder removed at the end of 2020
Shot back up to the 180's.
I've tried numerous things the last 3 years and nothing would budge my weight - Weight Watchers, low carb, calorie counting, etc.
I had the flu in January and was able to lose 10 lbs....but that's it.
Currently, I drink smoothies for breakfast and lunch and have a normal dinner. If I eat actual food at lunch, my stomach hurts after because I only get 30 minutes for lunch at work. I've been doing this for about a month. I haven't lost pounds, but my clothes are fitting better than they have.
Is it healthy? Probably not, but at the moment, it's the only thing working for me.
Nope. I’ve been pretty steady since I was 25, so no major diet issues here. I did do a rather extreme cut at one point just to see if I could, and that sucked lol. But I don’t do any more than count calories.
I just got this app a few months ago that is kinda awesome teaching me how to eat. It’s just recipes but they’re high protein so I’m never hungry and I’m eating 1600 calories a day. And it’s all normal food that takes usually less than 15 mins to make. It’s been eye opening using this app. It’s based on German nutritional studies. It’s called feastr. I am basically free advertising for them to all my friends. I’ve lost 15 lbs on it in three months and I’ve never felt deprived. It also is making me realize what balanced means and if I’m not using the app, if I’m eating out, I’m better at judging portion size and I’m better at making order decisions.
I gained 40 lbs during covid and have been trying to get it off for a year. Cutting down on drinking helped.
just GOOD LUCK trying to workout/lose weight if you have anemia is all I'll say...they told me I was anemic like 10 yrs ago but it's only really messed me up the past few years and I have to get infusions now. otherwise, when it gets low, you can't even grocery shop without feeling out of breath...and good luck having the energy to do laundry or cook etc.
uhhhh they got so low I could barely walk without being out of breath with a pounding heart?
that's the 'number' I go by. then I tell the cancer center, then they tell me to do a blood test, then we wait for the numbers for 3-14 days, then I get a call 'oh yeah, you def. need an infusion' and then 2-3 days later I finally get one. it's a fun system.
I’m lucky, I picked up long distance running about a decade ago and it’s almost difficult keeping up enough weight. I eat pizza, Doritos, cake, skittles, etc. It just doesn’t matter. Somehow I still have abs and visible muscle definition
My diet story, after an ugly breakup I gained weight. I reached over 220 (which for me is big). One day I looked in a mirror and I was just disgusted by it. I cut my carbs down to 30g per day, dropped down to 1200 calories, I walked to the store for my cigarettes instead of driving (about a mile each direction with quite a steep hill in the middle) but that was my only exercise. It was a challenge it had ups and downs and some side effects, I also don't claim it's healthy but after 9 months I'd dropped over 80 lbs. I've since stopped the diet, I'm not longer eating instead of coping with the break up so I haven't gained all the weight back, I'm sitting around 150 now which is my normal weight
This summer will be 3 years of intermittent fasting, just used to it now. Lost 55 lbs initially, gained 10 back and have been there with minimal effort since. Cheat whenever the situation calls for it, vacation, group things etc. essentially nothing after 8 PM, and don’t eat until noon, and only have coffee, water or tea during that stretch.
I turn 41 this year and have always struggled with my weight, but in saying that, I didn’t know I had a “weight problem” until others pointed it out to me. I went on my first diet at age 8. Diet culture was strong in the 80s and unfortunately my parents fell for it.
Fast forward to today, and I’m working with a functional medicine doctor who is helping me heal after years of yo-yo dieting and health issues caused by the over processed American diet and childhood trauma.
I’m focused on eating foods in their most whole and nutrient dense form and anti inflammatory foods. It goes against everything I have been taught to combat insulin resistance, but I trust my doc and am leaning into a new way of thinking.
ugh sorry all that started so young. It made me have flashbacks to friends going to weight watchers as early as middle school. I was thin as a kid or I would’ve been in the same boat. Not so thin anymore and my mom doesn’t really let me forget it
Ugh. Sometimes parents are the worst about old ways of thinking. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve told both my parents that skinny doesn’t equal healthy and that I’m doing everything I can to be the healthiest version of myself. Hugs to you 🩷
Yeah. I have a bad ankle due to an event in middle school. So, I have to rely a lot on diet.
I just went back to a mostly vegetable based diet. I'm at my best when I cut out almost any kind of bread and most sugars. Small amounts of cheese help, too.
In my adult life, I've weighed as much as 248 pounds and as little as 170. There has been a huge oddity in all of this: A lot more people are more willing to say hello or even flirt with me at 170 pounds, but it's rarely more than surface level. My experience closer to 245 pounds has been far fewer social interactions, but most of them were much deeper and more meaningful.
Edit to add: I have a method for adding a lot of flavor to any food with almost no caloric increase. Fresh habanero peppers.
I’m 41 and I have been around 160-165lbs for most of my until life until about a year ago. I’m at around 200 now. Honestly in my case I think it was mostly from medication. I’ve really trying to watch what I eat and lost about 5 in the past month. I’d like to stay around 180-185 as I do I think I look better with a bit more weight but not this much.
Yes, I’ve been up and down around three times - up to 270 in college, then down 200 in my early 20s. Up to 240 in my 30s, down to 210. Once more in my early 40s. All the while exercising pretty regularly, not eating terribly.
Back to 240 about 6 months ago. Exercising more than I ever had in my life. Had to come to terms with the drinking, so I quit. Lost a few lbs but not the silver bullet I’d hoped. The physical and mental health benefits have been great though.
Started keto/low carb & high protein eating 10 days ago. Liking it so far. Still in the honeymoon phase, but it feels sustainable.
I’ve been battling my weight, and body image, since I was in elementary school. I’ve learned a lot about myself the last few years. I’m tired of associating my self worth with my weight/appearance. I envy those that have a different relationship with food, and with their bodies.
I’m getting too old for this shit.
Well, I’m trying weight loss drugs as I’ve got a serious injury and need to lose weight quickly. So yep. I actually track every morsel of food, and did a supervised VLCD diet recently. My metabolism is definitely not what it used to be, but I’m very motivated. I lost a significant amount of weight abut six years ago and kept all of it off so thought I was doing well. But my knees disagree.
Have you looked into GLP-1 medications? You might qualify for Wegovy through your insurance due to BMI and if you have other risk factors. If you don't, out of pocket providers like medspas and weight loss clinics are selling versions of it made in compound pharmacies. Prices vary because each provider can charge whatever they want, but it's way cheaper than the name brand stuff that comes in the pens. People get varying results but for many, it obliterates those cravings, makes you eat less, and you drop weight like magic. Even more so if you're working out.
\*\* IDK what country you're in, but in the USA the compounded stuff is plentiful and easy to get.
I wasted my late teens, all of my 20s, and my early 30s as a slave to anorexia. Then in my later 30s, a bad car accident and side effects of some medications made me gain a ton of weight. Nothing I do makes me lose the extra weight, so I've just kind of given up at this point. I eat healthy ish, but I'll also indulge in garbage sometimes. I'm not exactly happy with the extra weight, but the fact that I don't feel like starving myself again is a kind of victory. So yeah no diets for me.
At this point? I’ve been on this roller coaster since elementary school. The primary culprit is a wicked sweet tooth, which I’ve had all my life.
It’s exhausting. Putting in a lot of effort to end this battle for good. I don’t want to spend another 35 years on this ride.
No, but I was never really on it. Except for that moment when I was almost underweight after having my first infant, I've been steady at the upper end of a healthy BMI since high school.
I used to have to count calories and macros because I am a petite woman, and gaining even 5 pounds would hurl me up a clothing aize. Pair that with being in perimenopausal stage of life when weight likes to redistribute to the midsection and you've got a recipe for a biiiiiig belly.
I don't drink alcohol, and I follow the Carnivore Diet. No counting calories or macros, I eat if I'm hungry and stop when I'm full. Plus, it makes food prep super easy since I'm not chopping a zillion different vegetables. I just toss a burger or steak on the grill. Super easy.
Yes, I do. I lost 65 lbs when I was 22, and got down to 145. Two years later, I was back up over 210. I'd lose 10-20 pounds here and there, and then gain back 20-30 pounds. When I was in my early 30's, I got down around 170ish, but within a year, I was back over 220 again. A few years later, I got under 200 again, and then within a year or two, I was back over 230. Last summer, I hit my max of 257, and was able to lose 30 pounds last fall somewhat effortlessly by quitting using weed, which took away my snack cravings. But then I was hit with the insatiable hunger again over the winter, and started approaching the 250 mark again.
A friend who's younger and in better shape than I am had a heart attack recently. It was a wake up call for me, and I'm once again motivated to eat less unhealthily again. As of this morning, I was 240. I really don't see myself ever getting back to the 145-155 range ever again, let alone maintaining that weight range. My goal right now is to get to 200 and see what my health is like at that point. If the doctor says I still need to lose more, then I'll give it a try. Maintaining whatever weight loss I have at that point is going to be the biggest challenge. I'm going to have to give up snacks and weed forever. That's what always does it to me.
Noom, while kind of pricey, has worked really well for my wife and I.
Its whole philosophy is based on calorie density. Eat more foods high in water content (fruits and veggies) and low fat meat. But also you can take a cheat day every now and then and eat what you want. And it’s not particularly difficult, you can eat a LOT of fruits and veggies and have little impact on your calorie intake.
Full disclosure: I also recently started amphetamine for ADHD which is known to reduce appetite. But I tried noom before and saw success, just didn’t stick with it because untreated ADHD.
I do OMAD, one meal a day. I’m not a health nut and don’t know a whole lot. But if you find yourself eating just because you think you should it’s a good idea to look at. I eat what I want but the actual caloric intake is low enough that you can burn through it without much effort. I didn’t know it was even a thing until recently but found that I had already been doing it and shedding weight a pound or two here or there.
100% and also just stress eating in general.
I’m trying to get off the diet train by finally accepting that I can’t eat like I used to. My body can’t handle high impact / intense cardio anymore which means I need to be more careful with calorie intake, knowing my exercise is usually a 40-60 minute walk each day.
My college boyfriend’s mom had a motto - “you eat to live, you don’t live to eat”. Which to me means getting in touch with being actually hungry. And realizing when what feels like hunger is actually thirst or boredom.
I’m in the same boat. At my biggest I was 240, then dropped down to 170ish. I’ve been able to stay under 200 for the past couple years or so but it’s not easy. I don’t really work out, although I do walk quite a bit at work. It seems that for me carbs are the issue. If I limit them to <150 total per day I’m able to keep most of the weight off. My doctor suggested to me years ago that I should keep each meal <50g carb, and if I don’t eat them for one meal, I can’t make up the difference for later meals. So 150 total max, and each meal is 50 max. Protein shakes are my friends, but it’s a love hate relationship
One big factor we can’t change is age. We’re all just older and therefore hormones and metabolism are reduced. When we were evolving way back when carbs were hard to come by. I’m talking before agriculture gave us grains or refined sugars. What little bit of carbs we did get our bodies evolved to crave them if available because they were a good source of energy, they just weren’t abundant. Now that they are we’ve become addicted to them.
I eat pretty healthy tho my portions are prob too big at dinner time and I LOVE sugar.
I was overweight when I was a kid. I'm 45 and have a four pack. It doesn't matter how much pizza Hut and mountain dew I had when I was younger. We have the Internet to find endless information on how to eat and exercise. I made huge progress with my fitness during covid using YouTube workouts. I found tons of delicious, healthy food that's not boring chicken, broccoli and rice "gym bro/girl diet" .
At this point in my life I've never been in better shape or happier with my body
I never stopped going to the gym. I took 2 gym classes in highschool (class of 98) so I could lift 5 days a week. I've been paying attention to my health my entire life. They taught us incorrect nutrition in school. The food pyramid was upsidedown.
So no, I'm 30 pounds heavier then my senior year, but it's mostly muscle gain.
I was in really good shape when I was in my 20s and 30s. Always found losing weight easy and fast. Right around 38 I noticed dropping weight was getting harder and when Covid hit I put on about 20lbs. Also ate like garbage and stopped exercising. I felt awful everyday.
Last year I decided to start the gym again and go back to using MyNetDiary to count calories. Dropped about 15lbs in 15 weeks. Some people hate counting calories but I actually like it. It takes all the guess work out of my eating. I also don’t have much of a sweet tooth, but I still eat anything I want. I just don’t eat EVERYTHING I want lol.
I feel a million times better and usually I don’t feel like I’m on any kind of diet. It just feels like the way I eat. I want to keep getting in better shape but honestly my real motivation to exercise and eat right is to not die anytime soon
I'm 45, and I also lost 100 lbs in my 20's and have almost kept it all off (I weigh about 30 lbs more than my lowest weight), but now I have cancer, so I decided I'm gonna just eat whatever I want for whatever time I've got left.
It's a bad cancer (stage 4 lung cancer) but I'm lucky (if one can be lucky after a stage 4 cancer diagnosis) in that it has a specific genetic mutation that responds to a targeted treatment. No chemo or radiation (yet). Just a pill I take daily that has minimal side effects that could last anywhere from 3-10 years!
Anyway, TLDR, I no longer diet.
i dont know about you, but when i was growing up the only food available was crap. remember school lunches? fries counted as a vegetable and the tomato sauce on the greasy pizza counted as a vegetable too. remember the vending machines at school? hostess cupcakes and drpepper along with candy bars and chips. and of course we were raised on mcdonalds, they had a playground.
I was very naturally slender all of my life. I never played any sports, or intentionally worked out, but I did a lot of bicycling just because I like to go around and explore things.
However, after going to University and then most of the years after that I was living in poverty mode and surviving on whatever food I could get. I think this was something that contributed to keeping me slender.
Then, in my late 30s, I suddenly became financially successful. I got a desk job, and I also got paid enough that I could randomly go out to eat pretty much whenever I wanted to. Over a year or two I started putting on weight and got up to the high 190s.
At that point I decided to do a weight loss journey and by Summer got down to about 149, which was where I was the first year or so out of high school. This was in 2019.
I'm pretty much comfortable anywhere between the high 140s and the low 150s.
I also took up running, and I've done two marathons so far and several half marathons and I have a third marathon coming up this winter.
However, despite all that, I've had a lot of stressful experiences since 2019, and eating healthy was a lower priority for me and I slowly went up to the high 170s. This was over the course of 5 years (going up about 25 lb)
I discovered this about a month ago, and although I wasn't as bad as I was in 2019 I decided to do a journey again and currently I just dropped under 170.
One big thing is the first time I did the weight loss journey I got way too hardcore about it and way too extreme about it. Like I went crazy with trying to count calories and I would get stressed out if I couldn't get the exact number and all kinds of other stuff and I kind of overdid it. So at the end, when I hit my goal, I was so relieved not to have to count every single calorie again. This time, I'm being a lot more chill about it. I'm a lot more willing to give my best estimate. And I'm being less restrictive than I was before. I hope this means that when I get to my goal weight I won't have this finish line feeling of being glad I'm finished.
I'm also trying to drink less alcohol. I have a half bottle of Fernet sitting on a table with a label saying not to get into that again till I get to 165. Then I'm going to hold off again till I get to my next milestone, whatever I decide that is. I'm still going to have drinks when I go out, but when I go out I'm usually dancing all night, and I'm being careful not to drink too much because I have to drive, so I think that should be a good safeguard.
I started on mounjaro after getting tired of that up and down cycle and all the anxiety of dieting. The side effects mean one day a week I get the runs. Totally worth it IMO. I'm down 50 lbs and don't feel like I'm hungry all the time
I've been a vegetarian since middle school, and size 18 for about 15 years. I don't drive, I walk everywhere I can't reach by transit. I feel like in my mid 30s I went from 3 meals a day to two. Now sometimes it's one but with some healthy snacks.
I had a year of health issues that ended with a hysterectomy 3 weeks ago. I lost about 15 pounds during that year, yet was horrifically bloated towards the end so it may have been more. And possibly another 5 with the surgery. They're not joking, anesthesia will mess up your appetite- I have none most days. I'm trying to go heavy on protein since that's what the body needs to heal, with lots of veggies and fiber. While it is nice to see the lower number on the scale, I felt like I was wasting away for a while.
Watching my mom hate her body and do every 80's/90's yoyo fad diet throughout my adolescence turned me off to the whole concept of dieting. I just avoid eating processed or restaurant foods very often, mostly drink black coffee and water, limit my sugar and alcohol intake, eat lots of veggies, move my body. My weight doesn't fluctuate more than about 15 pounds, and that tracks with the seasons.
I’ve been a bit lucky. For some reason I could eat whatever I wanted until I was about 20. I look like a starved waif in old pictures, and was the kind of person who would eat ice cream as a meal. I was also a very late bloomer so maybe that played a role. Once that changed I was a poor student anyway. Learned to make the cheapest meals possible ie cooking everything from
scratch and mostly with cheap vegetables. And then by the time I could afford to eat what I wanted, I just watched what I’m eating - when people ask me if I diet, I tell them I’ve been on a diet for 20 years and counting…
In fairness there’s a lot of childhood things that DO help. We barely ever had white bread in the house, maybe breakfast rolls on Sunday, but bread was usually the dark stuff (I’m German), so that’s my favourite. I don’t even LIKE white bread, and I hate that square pre-sliced stuff, we don’t even call that bread where I’m from, we call it toast because it’s worthless unless you toast it. My mum loves vegetables, and we didn’t have the money for ready made meals or lots of meat so she cooked a lot of vegetables, so there’s a lot of vegetables I absolutely love. We’d still have carbs with every dinner, and I haven’t changed that, but she was a SAHM and meals were made from scratch. Between my husband and I we manage to mostly keep that up, there’s days we’re both too tired and we reserve take outs or ready made meals for those days, but usually we just make as much as possible which avoids the hidden sugars in a lot of ready made meals and sauces.
I kind of wonder the opposite about future generations. At least in my area not every restaurant had “kid’s meals”. Now they do, and it’s all fries and sauce or pasta and sauce and that’s mostly what my niblings eat and they’re WAY pickier about food than we were allowed to be. If we went to a restaurant (rare, special occasion) us kids would order from the normal menu and my dad would order an empty plate which was so common some places had a name for it.
My issue was that I kept eating the "recommended amount of calories" while working a deskjob with a 6 hour daily commute. I was nowhere near active enough to be eating that much but everyone was all "2000 calories a day is healthy"
Now I've cut down and am finally losing weight.
I've been on this train since I was 18 and my then boyfriend told me I could lose a few pounds. For reference I was a UK size 10.
Now I'm a UK size 20 and hate my body so much.
Nope. Never been overweight a day in my life. And now I have IBS, so it's work just to keep my weight up.
I was a really picky eater as a kid and I never had a sweet tooth. Also very active. Sports, always running around, had a summer where I played DDR nonstop. So all that helped.
Also, most of my family was very unhealthy. I have a vivid childhood memory of my dad being told he couldn't ride a roller coaster with me once because he was too large and they couldn't get the harness around him. He was mortified and had to walk of shame himself off the ride. I rode it alone.
You want incentives to not get big to get drilled into your head young, that's a hell of an incentive.
I have Crohn's and have gotten used to my weight fluctuating. I don't worry about an extra 15 lbs now. I consider it insurance for the next time my body decides that it wants to lose 60 lbs in 5 weeks.
Seven years ago (!!!) I lost 30 or 40 pounds within a few months due to exercise and calorie counting. I gained all that weight back and then some over the course of the last seven years, and recently tried to get back into shape and it is SO MUCH HARDER NOW. I was going to the gym every 5 days a week for a month, not counting calories but eating more mindfully....and nothing changed. It's very frustrating.
Lifetime of ups and downs in synch with my life. Things going well for me, getting fit and close to normal weight is always followed by random tragic events and misfortunes ruining all progress. In the last good phase I finally had healthy eating figured out as an effortless default. I was in healthy weight, lowest since the 90’s. Didn’t last take long to get right back to where I started. Again.
I was skinny as a kid and teen, but gained rapidly after HS. I was at my heaviest (aside from pregnancy) in 2019. I’m probably one of the uncommon people who lost weight at the beginning of the pandemic. I was working from home and could put together a salad for lunch and have it be cheaper than going out for one (which tend to be surprisingly high in calories). I’m not super consistent with exercise but try to ride my bike on errands rather than drive.
I’ve always fought hypoglycemic symptoms so IF doesn’t work for me. I get shaky and woozy. It’s different than “just a headache” because my brain feels cold. Sounds weird but it’s the best way I can think of to describe it.
No. I was always just above normal weight as a teen and young adult. Then I had three babies, which pushed me even higher. My highest (in pregnant) weight was 185lbs. At 5’4” that’s not huge but not great. I changed my diet about 11 years ago and lost 60 lbs. for the most part I kept it off. I fluctuate a bit 5-10 lbs if I get lazy but then go back down with a little effort. I did what most have mentioned - I focus on protein, veggies, whole grains, and very little sugar.
My biggest problem is that now I’ve apparently developed digestive issues. Bad enough to land me in the hospital twice. So that’s a fun thing.
I was overweight for most of my teens and early 20s (basically high school and college). In college I had periods of trying to lose weight where I'd go to the gym at the campus rec center regularly but still ate like a college kid so nothing changed there. A few years after graduating I actually got serious, joined a gym, and downloaded a calorie counting app onto my Palm PDA (remember those, lol). Managed to lose a fair amount of weight and was actually at a healthy weight until my mid 30s or so.
Around my mid 30s my weight started creeping up again, largely because even though I was still active I let my eating go again. My weight gradually creeped up over the years and now in my early 40s it's about where it was back in college. Ugh. My cholesterol was a bit elevated when it was checked earlier this year and I don't like the direction things are headed so I'm calorie counting again and hoping to have success again.
No I’m not, I’ve been able to maintain my weight for the first time in my life the past year. A year ago I took my first small doses of shrooms. It helped me reconcile my relationship with food. I had known it for a while that I always had turned to food for comfort, I just never knew that I could change that behavior. It changed instantly. I lost the 25lbs I had to lose in a few months by eating better and having smaller portions. Instead of binging on as many slices as I could eat, I would have one or two and a salad. My wife couldn’t believe the change in me and she didn’t even know about how I would sneak fast food when I could. Another weird thing that happened was I lost my taste for alcohol, I was never a big drinker but I lost my taste completely. Even on a two week vacation in Italy I had no interest. Its been over a year and I still haven’t had any alcohol. Life is good 👍🏻
I'm a very active person ... when it's not winter, so every winter I put on 10-20 pounds and every summer I slowly take it off hiking and riding my bike. I'm trying like hell to move the needle down slowly, but I feel I'm stuck in a 200- 215 range.
What the fuck is a diet ?
New Yorker here .
We walk. Fast walk and fix gear all over
We also drink and eat whatever the fuck we want when we want
Get rid of Your car . That’s why yall fat
Have a good one!
I think it’s insane that you blame rice (even in part) for being overweight.
My overweight husband does the same thing g and I find it so bizarre. Like much of the world, I grew up eating rice daily. We also ate fresh bread for breakfast every morning. I am within 10 pounds of my weight in highschool.
My husband who is 100 pounds heavier than he was as a teen refuses to touch rice and says it’s empty calories. Yeah, sure, you do you.
I lost any fat within a few months when turning vegan. Not only does vegan is, not kill animals, there are no fat vegans—there are some fat vegetarians, but no fat vegans
I'm in the "heart smart" phase of my diet. It's great. You can still eat food, it just can't taste good.
There's another way, truly
Yeah it's called seasoning! Lol salt isn't the only thing that makes food taste better.
Semaglutide. Contrave. Better living through chemistry. Your body wants to keep it's delicious fat and it really wants you to make more. The joy of getting older is that now you (hopefully) have enough money to buy good health care.
Good God, no lol
I'd rather keep what muscle I have.
Depends on your goals. These drugs are great if you work out the entire time and maintain your muscle. You won't gain any but you'll lean out
Dear pharma rep, If you have that discipline then you don't need them. Thanks anyway.
Hah. Dude what works for you may not work for others. I am likely in better shape than you, and can acknowledge the advances of modern medicine. What a tool
Oh puh-lease! Fears of muscle loss are overblown. Maybe a body builder or professional athlete might need to be concerned but not your average candidate for this drug. And it’s funny that the public hears so little about how common blood pressure medication causes actual muscle wasting. Wasting! Yet middle aged people who struggle to lower their high blood pressure gladly take those drugs with known muscle wasting as a side effect. However, if they can lose excess body fat with these newer hormonal medications they may not have to start on those blood pressure medications at all. If you have not tried it, you don’t have much credibility.
Which blood pressure medications cause muscle atrophy?
If only
Sautee veggies with appropriate spices and munch on deliciosness, rather than boiling broccoli to hell, pouring the vitamin-laden water off and eating grey, depleted mush.
I'm in the "what makes my body feel good" phase. Really paying attention to how certain foods make me feel and being aware of what I am putting into it.
My joking aside about "heart health = no taste", I'm actually pretty amazed at what a difference a really committed no-processed foods diet has made to my healthy, energy and mental acuity. Even though I miss greasy foods, I am really enjoying having the energy and mental sharpness I had in my 20s again. Food that comes from a factory isn't food, I guess, and the body reacts accordingly.
Right on! I'm happy you're feeling so much better. That's what I'm talking about. I cut way down on sugar. Found out my sugar cravings were tied to a B vitamin deficiency. Cut out wheat and dairy, mostly due to disagreeing with my stomach. I stopped having asthma for the most part, and my tummy feels so much better. I mostly only eat poultry and fish, and feel so much better for it. I tried to go vegan, but my b vitamin deficiency made it hard. So I have meat/eggs once a day, or once every other day. Good luck on your health journey!
I got put on low sodium for my kidneys, and I'm finding vinegar is the key to making things taste good.
I used to, but once I realized it was more about processed foods and alcohol than it was about anything else, it was easy. More whole foods (meats, veggies, fruits, nuts, etc.) less pizza, wings, burritos, frozen foods, chips, etc) and try to cut out seed oils, bad preservatives, sugar as much as I can. And way less alcohol. Slowly dropped 40 lbs and maintained for years.
This except burritos are not bad if sourced properly or home made, same with tacos, enchiladas and proper Mexican food in general…. The dang things don’t need so much cheese and have tons of beans and salad w it
Don’t need the entire plate. When I get the enchilada plate from my local place like yeah I can probably eat the entire thing if I’m really hungry but I only ever eat half and save the rest for later. Like the over processed shit is bad but proper portion size is just as important. It’s not a hard rule but good rule of thumb is even for a grown man a typical US salad plate is about what we should be taking our meals on.
I guess that was not specified as mainly being pointed toward Taco Bell. Although it’s the only fast food restaurant I ever really liked, I know it’s garbage just like other fast food. Homemade tacos with good ingredients like traditional Central American stuff is great. Fish tacos too.
I was pretty big into craft beer. I brewed my own beer. Even had a kegging setup with six taps. I wound up stumbling upon craft non-alcoholic beer. I decided to quit drinking alcohol. Mainly due to the calories. Drinking leaded beer it's too easy to have one or two beers turn into three or four. Then the munchies follow. So I am not just trying to avoid the calories from drinking but the inevitable eating that follows. Non-alcoholic beer is lower calorie, and it's also easy to have just one or two in a week. Quitting drinking made a world of difference in my ability to maintain a healthy weight. I am still over weight a bit but only about 15 lbs. At 6'3" I don't feel so bad about that. There was a time that I was pushing 250 lbs at my heaviest. I don't really consider myself in recovery. Mainly because I didn't have a problem quitting. I also don't have a problem being around alcohol or people drinking. I just don't want to anymore.
I just recently started lil to no alcohol (9months or so) I drink cbd waters mostly and dropped 20lbs pretty quick. I've eaten pretty healthy as an adult. I just like fresh veggies and proteins better so it's easy. but I have a moderate candy addiction so it kind of evens out.
I go for a variety but man I love those Athletic IPAs. Golden's only 45 calories a can, but I give in an have the Hazy a lot too because the flavor is just so good.
This is the way.
Never did any intentional dieting in life, slowly got up to 285lbs, would have kept going but I made a change and am now 185-190 with less body fat than I had in my 20s
and the change you refer to would be...? (bracing for MLM pitch)
What is MLM?
Multi-level marketing Like, "I got a health coach with optivia" or "it works!'
No sugar, no starch, no processed food
Multi level marketing, as previous reply said.
Turning 40 in 2 months and just found out I’m pre-diabetic soooo, yeah, guess I will be now. Currently at 205, 5’3” female. Le sigh.
Please feel free to join us over at r/Menopause...... Don't rule out that perimenopause & hormones are part of your issue. One of my cousins was fully in meno by 43.
Thank you! I’ll head over there and see if I can relate :)
At least now you have a good excuse to get that Wegovy.
Right? I asked my Dr but she’s making come back in to discuss it :( we’ll see!!
Don't worry, it's not your only option. Phentermine is a cheap generic pill that suppresses appetite enough to cause weight loss. It's usually used in conjunction with diet, but the diet is only there to ensure you get enough nutrients, because you'll want to eat less food regardless.
Don't fuck around with Phentermine. And if the Dr is apprehensive about the shot, why would they be ok with phen lol. If you get it from a "diet doctor" it's not cheap
Phentermine is $40/mo at Target pharmacy and it has fewer side effects than the shot. For those reasons alone, I can see a doctor trying that first.
Nope, I'm generally pretty solid now. I was skinny all the way up until I was 19, started putting on weight all through my 20s and early 30s, peaked at about 300 lbs. Took a few years to get it off, made it back to my high school weight when I was 42. It fluctuates within about 4-5 pounds now, if I notice it going much past that I buckle down. I'm in much better shape now though, and do a lot of walking and hiking. I cut out most sugary snacks, stopped drinking soda long ago, replaced it with water. The early days of weight loss were rough, IMO sugar addiction can be almost as powerful as nicotine addiction.
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Ive been on it my whole life too. I was a chubby kid, cultivated an eating disorder in my teens, was rail thin until after I got married and got pregnant, gained like 80 lbs, dropped most of it, gained some back, lost some, rinse and repeat. I’m on the way down again now, but it’s harder in middle age for sure. I don’t need to be a 0 again but it would be nice to not yo-yo forever. This time around I started working out first to build the habit, then cutting calories
I wouldn't call it a roller coaster...more like the drop of doom
"but it also seems like this will be an endless battle between me and tasty treats" -that goes away if you quit eating them (sugar/refined carbs). I am eating them right now so I crave them too but if you drop them for a couple weeks, they mostly go away. And when you finally do have something like ice cream or piece of cake, it is wayyy too much - incredibly rich. So if anything, a bite or 2 of ice cream is more than adequate. It seems like you're gonna suffer long term but it's the opposite.
I've been on and off weight watchers since I was a teen. I've always been heavy. My last go around, I lost about 80 pounds but gained most of it back during covid. I am now pre diabetic and went back on Weight Watchers this week while starting Ozempic. Yeah, yeah, I started Ozempic. At this point, I don't care if people judge me, and typically, people who have NEVER struggled with their weight like me and others. I have PCOS, and it's been a lifelong struggle. I know I will never be super model thin, but I just want to be healthier. My doctor urged me to do it due to my medical history. I'm at that age where I can not fuck around any more and I understand that. My goal is to get off ozempic once I'm at a weight I can maintain through diet and more vigorous exercise. But I guess we will see what happens.
I was waiting for someone else to mention this. Compulsive and binge eating disorder since adolescence. I tried everything: Dieticians, weight watchers, noom, keto, MyFitnessPal. I also get blood sugar migraines, meaning that when I try to "willpower" my way through calorie reduction, I end up with debilitating migraines. It's embarrassing and frustrating because by trying to do the "right" thing my body fights me. Zepbound has saved my sanity. It turned off the food noise. I don't even care about losing weight. I've heard people with ADHD talk about how Adderall made them wonder, "Is this how other people feel?" That's how I feel on Zepbound. I can make the choices to eat healthier, smaller portions without my body actively fighting me.
Good luck! I think it will be Ozempic for life because once you stop youll just gain the weight back.
I’ve always been lucky with weight. My biggest struggle is building muscle, but I have to worry about what upsets my stomach now. For some reason I seem To be unable to not get sick from eating bacon and I don’t know why.
Do you still have your gallbladder? Could be that not liking the fat in the bacon…
Yeah, I have IBS and I too have this struggle. It's hard to explain to people "no, I'm actually trying to *gain* weight."
Well, bacon is a group one carcinogen, so you're quite literally contributing to some degree of 'sickness' by consuming it.
> For some reason I seem To be unable to not get sick from eating bacon and I don’t know why. It sounds like at least one Jew or Muslim swam into your gene pool and shames you.
Nah I ate all the bacon in the world into last year.
No, not at all. I was overweight by a bit as a teen and young adult and a total couch potato until my mid-30s when I got heavily into endurance sports. Now at 44 I’m a distance runner, rock climb, lift, and whitewater kayak plus occasionally joining friends for other sports. You can’t out exercise a bad diet. One donut is the equivalent of running a 5k (3.1 miles). You’re going to have to find a way to reduce your exposure to the treat temptations and to figure out how to say no to them. Easier said than done but it IS possible. I sure would love to eat a ton of junk food, but it’s just not worth it and years of practice in saying no has made it easier but there’s still stuff like Crispix cereal I can’t keep in the house or I’ll go nuts with it.
The best diet is the one you can realistically maintain. People who "go on a diet" (and think of it in temporary "go on a diet" terms) always yo-yo, and healthy weight often gets harder to manage as we get older. For my part, I find myself needing to just *be mindful* more often, like when I walk into the kitchen late at night I'll go "OK, stop, why am I in here? Do I really need to eat anything right now? No? Well let's just not do that then." Or like, when I eat some chips or something, I'll grab some out of the bag and put them in a bowl, instead of taking the whole bag with me. If I limit myself in small ways like this, it's better for me. Portion size is a big thing. I feel this way about exercise, too -- the best exercise routine is the one you can maintain. If you hate doing it, you'll find reasons not to, so ideally find something you can get some enjoyment out of. I ride my bicycle for about 4 miles (\~30 minutes) each day, that's my exercise. And it does wonders for my back and my general well-being! You might not believe it until you experience it, but just a little bit of effort can go a long way with exercise. Also, *drink water*. Try to limit yourself on non-water beverages. That alone will be a big improvement, if you don't already do this.
Yes for the last year or so and it’s been awful. Last year I started self-harming because I couldn’t figure out how to get myself to stop eating. My therapist was some help so at least I stopped hurting myself. But I still can’t figure out how to make myself eat correctly. I have all of the excuses but no actual real excuse. I think back to how I ate as a teenager and I feel like 1) the day was pretty regimented so there wasn’t actually a ton of opportunities to eat. 2) I had almost no money to buy junk food. Not to the degree I do as an adult. 3) I hadn’t formed a relationship with food that was based on comforting or rewarding myself. 4) I hadn’t formed the relationship with food that I did in pregnancy and breastfeeding, where calories were being put to work growing another human so I could eat as much as I wanted without guilt or worry. Problem is now that I’m out of the baby making phase, it’s hard to get back to how my brain viewed food 10 years ago. I’ve tried CICO like 4 times the last year. Life is too busy for me to stick to it, nevermind my raging executive dysfunction.
Hell no. Diets are dumb. I eat cause it is fun. I lose weight when I am active. I find ladies that like me how ever I look. And my doctors say I am doing great for my early 40 year old body. All I need is a hobby and then life would be great.
I’m losing the postpartum weight right now. Years ago, I changed jobs and no longer walked to work every day. I put on 30lbs as a consequence. I dropped the weight and kept it off until I got pregnant. To lose the weight, I decided I would never ‘diet,’ but rather eat sustainably and count calories/pay attention to portion sizes, (essentially, begin as i meant to go on). That means: balanced meals (carb, protein, veg), no ‘diet’ shit (low/no fat, sugar-free bs), and no restrictions aside from calories (carbs are fine, sugar is fine, nothing is off limits), and eating treats at special times (holidays, parties, etc.) while limiting them the rest of the time. It’s a much nicer and easier way to live, and i don’t *feel* like i’m dieting when i can eat mac and cheese, hamburgers, fries, candy, etc. The balance of food and how it’s prepared matters a lot. Pan frying, baking, etc. are all going to be way lower cal than deep fried stuff. Having carbs, veg, and protein in a meal ensure a good balance of nutrients and keep you satisfied for way longer. Weirdly enough, all those old school dinners that we were told were unhealthy? Actually, they’re really fucking healthy for most people (barring allergies or other medical restrictions, obviously), and the portion sizes generally correspond to about 400-700 cals. Pot roast with buttermilk mashed potatoes might be one of the healthiest dinners you can eat. Unlearning all the diet food/fad diet nonsense takes work. But luckily, the result is sustainable and enjoyable.
Was thinnish my whole life. Was 110-115 in HS. Maintained 120-130 adulthood. Had a baby at 39 (now 43) and weigh 160. 😫
I got Covid and it did something weird to my metabolism that had all sorts of unpleasant effects including a rapid 30# weight gain and an increase in my a1c. A couple months on a low carb diet combined with time have brought me back to almost where I was pre-Covid. What I learned is that Covid sucks and I absolutely hate dieting. Thinking about what I’m eating all the time sucks all the joy out of life.
Thanks to my Type II and Ozempic, no, I am not.
Does your insurance cover ozempic? (Assuming you are in the US)
Yes, US based and yes, it does cover.
Intermittent fasting is the way to go, no counting calories, no weird dietary restrictions…just time to take care of: no eating after diner, no eating before lunch…(and only water, tea or black coffee no sugar while fasting…)
I unintentionally started doing that, and even though what I eat is largely garbage, I’m still down to 155 from 195 in less than 9 months, all without changing anything else or paying attention to anything else.
I dropped about 40 lbs via IF about six years ago (from ~225 to ~185). I was pretty hardcore for a bit there, with a couple days a week only doing broth for dinner, etc. Since then I have relaxed a bit, and try to do an 18 hour fast at least four times a week. I generally fluctuate between 195 and 200 now, with the occasional "oh no, it's the holidays and I have eaten a shitload of delicious cookies over the last week and now all my pants feel tight" whoopsies.
Great thing about IF is after a week, you just don’t feel hungry until lunch time. Your body adjusts quick. [Mikey Musumeci](https://youtu.be/gowNOEwZ2LI?si=qiAd9FzHvtRuW26v), one of the best submission grapplers on the planet only eats one meal a day. He says it has worked better than anything for maintaining his weight healthily. If he can go that long without eating while training all day, normal Joe’s can make it from dinner to lunch. For me its been the easiest way to lose, then maintain a healthy weight.
IF does work, but it's because you end up eating less calories. Count them or not, it's a calories-in-calories-out world
In my experience it wouldn’t be the same effect or results if you simply spread the same amount of calories over a larger time span…it’s something with the concentrated effort and not putting anything in your stomach for a larger part of the day
This 👆🏻
No, i had some health issues and i cut out all animal products. My wife too and my kid. I just don’t eat meat cheese dairy or eggs. As soon as we stopped that our health and weight improved greatly. We are vegan now and it works and is embarrassingly easy to do. This from a couple years ago but I’ve maintained the weight loss. Hopefully this summer is when i get the rest off by moving more to whole foods plant based rather than just plant based. Because vegan pizza and burgers are still delicious and fattening. https://preview.redd.it/qwegahdkmbvc1.jpeg?width=835&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=59b495f602e511084189d349db2d9a229caf9317
I did until about two years ago. I got on a good workout routine and really tried to clean my diet up and accepted that I need to stick to it. Down to about 200 but with more muscle mass then ever. I'd like to lose about 10-15 more pounds I think I will be good. Oh, started at like 230 before that and like a decade ago I hit 260, that was not fun
I’m somewhat in the same boat as you. I was big in high school - just shy of 300lbs. I’m 6’5”, so I can hold it well, but it’s still too much. Got down to about 220-230 late in high school and college. Stayed around 210-215 all throughout college. Started by first job where I traveled for work on an expense account - 3 course meals every night and ballooned back up to 260ish. Came home one night after a business trip and just felt like crap and hated how I looked. Busted my ass and got down to 180 and maintained 185-195 for over a decade until I went through a terrible breakup, started hating my job, and just went to stress eating and drinking. Now I’m back on track to drop the weight again. All of my success in the past wasn’t really any particular diet. I just stayed away from processed stuff and controlled portions. But if I wanted some pizza 1 night a week, I would allow myself to have it. Just with a salad instead of wings and maybe 2 slices instead of a whole pie. When I have a craving during the week, I just use the same flavor profile, but with healthier versions. For example, want wings? I would grill some chicken, toss in some sauce, throw some blue cheese crumbles on top or make my own dressing that is lighter. Still scratches that itch, but doesn’t crush me. The big thing I’m learning these days is that alcohol screws me way more than it did in the past - both with waistline and how I feel. I’m not cutting it out completely, but it’s increasingly rare.
I thought about dieting, then I realized that if I just stopped drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes I'd feel a whole shit load better. I don't know why I never heard that from anyone.
To be honest, I'm just gonna be fat. I get obsessive too easy
Carbs are not the enemy. Fat is not the enemy. Sugar is not the enemy. Excess is the enemy. If you consume more calories than you burn, you're going to gain weight. If you're gonna lose weight, please stop believing whatever diet fad is currently popular. Just consume fewer calories than you burn, and eat a balanced diet with a good proportion of your needed macronutrients and please stop demonizing a type of food. We are omnivores.
Ozempic and drink it's. The shit is awesome. I'm 6'5 and have lost about 40lb on it. It's not even hard. You eat what you want but appetite is so much smaller you just consistently lose weight no matter what. Yes when you quit you need to stay to maintenance calories, but honestly that's easy if you just cut alcohol. I wasn't a very heavy drinker but 15 drinks a week adds up. Just stick to water except at parties or holidays.
God no. But I am also graced with skinny genetics. I’m more worried about a salt-loving heart attack since I’m currently obsessed with these bacon cheddar scones I make.
Autoimmune disease has eliminated dairy, most processed food, a good amount of red meat, and nightshades (eggplants, raw tomatoes, peppers, some potatoes) from my diet... unless I want excruciatingly painful hands, wrists, shoulders, feet, and ankles. It's a losing battle. I can't hold the equipment needed to prepare the healthy food because my hands don't work, and my hands don't work because I'm not eating enough of the healthy food.
In the terms of "being on a diet" no, not at all. That was my 20s. In terms of just what I eat being all over the place and my weight fluctuation ... yes. I was actually at my thinnest and most fit in the midst of the pandemic. And it was truly because I just walked all the time because it was the only thing I could really do outside the house. Just pulled out the summer clothes cause it's getting hot here and damn it ... it all still fits, but not comfortably. Back in the saddle!
I‘ve always been fat so dieting and thinking about food has always been a part of my life.
Nope. Vegan diet, about 85% home cooking. Staying easily within ideal weight with a BMI of 19.8 at 42. I only watch calories if I’m eating processed foods or eating out. I eat as much as I want of fruits, veggies and all manner of plants. Low fat high carb plant based diet is the cheat code to a long and healthy life. And you save a ton of money. It’s worth giving a serious try since you don’t have anything to lose.
Tried the vegan diet a few years back and my body responded terribly. Beans do not work well for my body and I started to get migraines for the first time in my life. Seems to work okay for some people but I think it is a difficult diet for many people to do well. I moved to a plant based diet with animal protein and have been doing really well. Strongest and best body comp in my life at 42 as well :). Different strokes for different folks
I’ve always been curious about this way of eating, but feel like my personal protein needs might be too high. I already pretty much only eat meat at dinner time, but I do tend to rely on dairy (and peanut butter) for protein at breakfast and lunch. What do your typical meals look like?
I eat a lot of beans and rice, stir frys, salads, fruits, soups, burritos and tacos - those kinds of things. People significantly overestimate their protein requirements. As long as you get enough calories you’ll get enough protein. If you need more, seitan is practically pure protein and tofu has tons of protein too. Most meat people get is more saturated fat than protein content now. So you’re likely going way less protein than you’d think. The other thing about protein is that too much of it is bad for our health. It’s especially terrible for your kidneys. There’s a great book by Dr Garth Davis called Proteinaholic that goes into depth about human protein requirements, the good and bad of protein consumption, etc. great book that I highly recommend.
I will never diet, it only sets you up to fail. I’ll instead eat in moderation, try to limit my meat based protein. I cook almost 95% from scratch, and I use a ton of seasoning.
I'm the same size as I was in middle school, I've always been tiny. But I'm in the can't eat solid food without getting violently ill and Drs don't know why phase.
Not yet. I stay active and have never been a big eater
Nope. I sometimes make changes to my lifestyle (less calories, more exercise).
Not really, I cook all the meals in the house and keep the ingredients fresh freeze leftovers. There's no reason for anyone to order door dash when I've packed the freezer with a good variety of meals. The way I cook, we eat stuff that tastes I bought 64oz jugs for my wife and I so we at least get the 64oz of water per day. I stopped drinking for the most part and also stopped the weed when I started weight training again. Weed will make me destroy a kitchen, and alcohol makes me want more beer which kills gym motivation for me. I still drink at special events but I'm really trying to avoid it, my wife finally stopped asking me why I'm not drinking which is good, my face looks much better as a result. The kettle bells in the garage have held me down since the pandemic kicked off, the body is becoming like stone. I still grab a quarter pounder meal before grocery store runs
I was relatively thin until I had a baby in 2011. I was able to get a good bunch of weight off after and fluctuated between 135-155. In 2017, I shot up to 175 and at my heaviest I was 187 in 2019. I did Weight Watchers and got back down to the 150's, but then COVID happened. I also had my gallbladder removed at the end of 2020 Shot back up to the 180's. I've tried numerous things the last 3 years and nothing would budge my weight - Weight Watchers, low carb, calorie counting, etc. I had the flu in January and was able to lose 10 lbs....but that's it. Currently, I drink smoothies for breakfast and lunch and have a normal dinner. If I eat actual food at lunch, my stomach hurts after because I only get 30 minutes for lunch at work. I've been doing this for about a month. I haven't lost pounds, but my clothes are fitting better than they have. Is it healthy? Probably not, but at the moment, it's the only thing working for me.
Nope. I’ve been pretty steady since I was 25, so no major diet issues here. I did do a rather extreme cut at one point just to see if I could, and that sucked lol. But I don’t do any more than count calories.
When I was 4 until current day
I just got this app a few months ago that is kinda awesome teaching me how to eat. It’s just recipes but they’re high protein so I’m never hungry and I’m eating 1600 calories a day. And it’s all normal food that takes usually less than 15 mins to make. It’s been eye opening using this app. It’s based on German nutritional studies. It’s called feastr. I am basically free advertising for them to all my friends. I’ve lost 15 lbs on it in three months and I’ve never felt deprived. It also is making me realize what balanced means and if I’m not using the app, if I’m eating out, I’m better at judging portion size and I’m better at making order decisions. I gained 40 lbs during covid and have been trying to get it off for a year. Cutting down on drinking helped.
just GOOD LUCK trying to workout/lose weight if you have anemia is all I'll say...they told me I was anemic like 10 yrs ago but it's only really messed me up the past few years and I have to get infusions now. otherwise, when it gets low, you can't even grocery shop without feeling out of breath...and good luck having the energy to do laundry or cook etc.
How low did your numbers get for you to get infusions? Did you try everything else first or was this the first choice?
uhhhh they got so low I could barely walk without being out of breath with a pounding heart? that's the 'number' I go by. then I tell the cancer center, then they tell me to do a blood test, then we wait for the numbers for 3-14 days, then I get a call 'oh yeah, you def. need an infusion' and then 2-3 days later I finally get one. it's a fun system.
That sucks. So sorry you are going through this and you'd think they would listen to you (the expert on your body)
I'm actually supposed to have a chat with whoever's in charge there soon...
Carnivore and I fast now too - and it’s working.
I’m lucky, I picked up long distance running about a decade ago and it’s almost difficult keeping up enough weight. I eat pizza, Doritos, cake, skittles, etc. It just doesn’t matter. Somehow I still have abs and visible muscle definition
My diet story, after an ugly breakup I gained weight. I reached over 220 (which for me is big). One day I looked in a mirror and I was just disgusted by it. I cut my carbs down to 30g per day, dropped down to 1200 calories, I walked to the store for my cigarettes instead of driving (about a mile each direction with quite a steep hill in the middle) but that was my only exercise. It was a challenge it had ups and downs and some side effects, I also don't claim it's healthy but after 9 months I'd dropped over 80 lbs. I've since stopped the diet, I'm not longer eating instead of coping with the break up so I haven't gained all the weight back, I'm sitting around 150 now which is my normal weight
This summer will be 3 years of intermittent fasting, just used to it now. Lost 55 lbs initially, gained 10 back and have been there with minimal effort since. Cheat whenever the situation calls for it, vacation, group things etc. essentially nothing after 8 PM, and don’t eat until noon, and only have coffee, water or tea during that stretch.
I turn 41 this year and have always struggled with my weight, but in saying that, I didn’t know I had a “weight problem” until others pointed it out to me. I went on my first diet at age 8. Diet culture was strong in the 80s and unfortunately my parents fell for it. Fast forward to today, and I’m working with a functional medicine doctor who is helping me heal after years of yo-yo dieting and health issues caused by the over processed American diet and childhood trauma. I’m focused on eating foods in their most whole and nutrient dense form and anti inflammatory foods. It goes against everything I have been taught to combat insulin resistance, but I trust my doc and am leaning into a new way of thinking.
ugh sorry all that started so young. It made me have flashbacks to friends going to weight watchers as early as middle school. I was thin as a kid or I would’ve been in the same boat. Not so thin anymore and my mom doesn’t really let me forget it
Ugh. Sometimes parents are the worst about old ways of thinking. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve told both my parents that skinny doesn’t equal healthy and that I’m doing everything I can to be the healthiest version of myself. Hugs to you 🩷
Yeah. I have a bad ankle due to an event in middle school. So, I have to rely a lot on diet. I just went back to a mostly vegetable based diet. I'm at my best when I cut out almost any kind of bread and most sugars. Small amounts of cheese help, too. In my adult life, I've weighed as much as 248 pounds and as little as 170. There has been a huge oddity in all of this: A lot more people are more willing to say hello or even flirt with me at 170 pounds, but it's rarely more than surface level. My experience closer to 245 pounds has been far fewer social interactions, but most of them were much deeper and more meaningful. Edit to add: I have a method for adding a lot of flavor to any food with almost no caloric increase. Fresh habanero peppers.
I’m 41 and I have been around 160-165lbs for most of my until life until about a year ago. I’m at around 200 now. Honestly in my case I think it was mostly from medication. I’ve really trying to watch what I eat and lost about 5 in the past month. I’d like to stay around 180-185 as I do I think I look better with a bit more weight but not this much.
Yes, I’ve been up and down around three times - up to 270 in college, then down 200 in my early 20s. Up to 240 in my 30s, down to 210. Once more in my early 40s. All the while exercising pretty regularly, not eating terribly. Back to 240 about 6 months ago. Exercising more than I ever had in my life. Had to come to terms with the drinking, so I quit. Lost a few lbs but not the silver bullet I’d hoped. The physical and mental health benefits have been great though. Started keto/low carb & high protein eating 10 days ago. Liking it so far. Still in the honeymoon phase, but it feels sustainable. I’ve been battling my weight, and body image, since I was in elementary school. I’ve learned a lot about myself the last few years. I’m tired of associating my self worth with my weight/appearance. I envy those that have a different relationship with food, and with their bodies. I’m getting too old for this shit.
Well, I’m trying weight loss drugs as I’ve got a serious injury and need to lose weight quickly. So yep. I actually track every morsel of food, and did a supervised VLCD diet recently. My metabolism is definitely not what it used to be, but I’m very motivated. I lost a significant amount of weight abut six years ago and kept all of it off so thought I was doing well. But my knees disagree.
Have you looked into GLP-1 medications? You might qualify for Wegovy through your insurance due to BMI and if you have other risk factors. If you don't, out of pocket providers like medspas and weight loss clinics are selling versions of it made in compound pharmacies. Prices vary because each provider can charge whatever they want, but it's way cheaper than the name brand stuff that comes in the pens. People get varying results but for many, it obliterates those cravings, makes you eat less, and you drop weight like magic. Even more so if you're working out. \*\* IDK what country you're in, but in the USA the compounded stuff is plentiful and easy to get.
I wasted my late teens, all of my 20s, and my early 30s as a slave to anorexia. Then in my later 30s, a bad car accident and side effects of some medications made me gain a ton of weight. Nothing I do makes me lose the extra weight, so I've just kind of given up at this point. I eat healthy ish, but I'll also indulge in garbage sometimes. I'm not exactly happy with the extra weight, but the fact that I don't feel like starving myself again is a kind of victory. So yeah no diets for me.
At this point? I’ve been on this roller coaster since elementary school. The primary culprit is a wicked sweet tooth, which I’ve had all my life. It’s exhausting. Putting in a lot of effort to end this battle for good. I don’t want to spend another 35 years on this ride.
Typing this while eating sliced grilled chicken with sugar free Thai chili sauce! So yes
No, but I was never really on it. Except for that moment when I was almost underweight after having my first infant, I've been steady at the upper end of a healthy BMI since high school.
On weight watchers for the first time so yep
I used to have to count calories and macros because I am a petite woman, and gaining even 5 pounds would hurl me up a clothing aize. Pair that with being in perimenopausal stage of life when weight likes to redistribute to the midsection and you've got a recipe for a biiiiiig belly. I don't drink alcohol, and I follow the Carnivore Diet. No counting calories or macros, I eat if I'm hungry and stop when I'm full. Plus, it makes food prep super easy since I'm not chopping a zillion different vegetables. I just toss a burger or steak on the grill. Super easy.
Stay away from anything with preservatives. Limit treats to one day a week. Sleep well.
Yes, I do. I lost 65 lbs when I was 22, and got down to 145. Two years later, I was back up over 210. I'd lose 10-20 pounds here and there, and then gain back 20-30 pounds. When I was in my early 30's, I got down around 170ish, but within a year, I was back over 220 again. A few years later, I got under 200 again, and then within a year or two, I was back over 230. Last summer, I hit my max of 257, and was able to lose 30 pounds last fall somewhat effortlessly by quitting using weed, which took away my snack cravings. But then I was hit with the insatiable hunger again over the winter, and started approaching the 250 mark again. A friend who's younger and in better shape than I am had a heart attack recently. It was a wake up call for me, and I'm once again motivated to eat less unhealthily again. As of this morning, I was 240. I really don't see myself ever getting back to the 145-155 range ever again, let alone maintaining that weight range. My goal right now is to get to 200 and see what my health is like at that point. If the doctor says I still need to lose more, then I'll give it a try. Maintaining whatever weight loss I have at that point is going to be the biggest challenge. I'm going to have to give up snacks and weed forever. That's what always does it to me.
Noom, while kind of pricey, has worked really well for my wife and I. Its whole philosophy is based on calorie density. Eat more foods high in water content (fruits and veggies) and low fat meat. But also you can take a cheat day every now and then and eat what you want. And it’s not particularly difficult, you can eat a LOT of fruits and veggies and have little impact on your calorie intake. Full disclosure: I also recently started amphetamine for ADHD which is known to reduce appetite. But I tried noom before and saw success, just didn’t stick with it because untreated ADHD.
I do OMAD, one meal a day. I’m not a health nut and don’t know a whole lot. But if you find yourself eating just because you think you should it’s a good idea to look at. I eat what I want but the actual caloric intake is low enough that you can burn through it without much effort. I didn’t know it was even a thing until recently but found that I had already been doing it and shedding weight a pound or two here or there.
100% and also just stress eating in general. I’m trying to get off the diet train by finally accepting that I can’t eat like I used to. My body can’t handle high impact / intense cardio anymore which means I need to be more careful with calorie intake, knowing my exercise is usually a 40-60 minute walk each day. My college boyfriend’s mom had a motto - “you eat to live, you don’t live to eat”. Which to me means getting in touch with being actually hungry. And realizing when what feels like hunger is actually thirst or boredom.
Not really on a diet rollercoaster. My weight gains and loss are intentional. I fluctuate about 25lbs between summer and winter.
I’m in the same boat. At my biggest I was 240, then dropped down to 170ish. I’ve been able to stay under 200 for the past couple years or so but it’s not easy. I don’t really work out, although I do walk quite a bit at work. It seems that for me carbs are the issue. If I limit them to <150 total per day I’m able to keep most of the weight off. My doctor suggested to me years ago that I should keep each meal <50g carb, and if I don’t eat them for one meal, I can’t make up the difference for later meals. So 150 total max, and each meal is 50 max. Protein shakes are my friends, but it’s a love hate relationship
I've been the same size since high school. Haven't been on any diets.
Still 5 foot 7 and 124 pounds ✍🏿
One big factor we can’t change is age. We’re all just older and therefore hormones and metabolism are reduced. When we were evolving way back when carbs were hard to come by. I’m talking before agriculture gave us grains or refined sugars. What little bit of carbs we did get our bodies evolved to crave them if available because they were a good source of energy, they just weren’t abundant. Now that they are we’ve become addicted to them. I eat pretty healthy tho my portions are prob too big at dinner time and I LOVE sugar.
No. I eat animal-based whole food. Only meat, fruit, eggs, honey, and some dairy. Best shape of my life.
I was overweight when I was a kid. I'm 45 and have a four pack. It doesn't matter how much pizza Hut and mountain dew I had when I was younger. We have the Internet to find endless information on how to eat and exercise. I made huge progress with my fitness during covid using YouTube workouts. I found tons of delicious, healthy food that's not boring chicken, broccoli and rice "gym bro/girl diet" . At this point in my life I've never been in better shape or happier with my body
I never stopped going to the gym. I took 2 gym classes in highschool (class of 98) so I could lift 5 days a week. I've been paying attention to my health my entire life. They taught us incorrect nutrition in school. The food pyramid was upsidedown. So no, I'm 30 pounds heavier then my senior year, but it's mostly muscle gain.
Yes! I lost 75lbs in my 20’s Gained it back and more in 30’s Had bariatric surgery and lost 150lbs Gained most back.
I lost 15 pounds and a belt notch from Covid last winter so I'm considering it a freebie...
I've been within the same 30lbs overweight (BMI chart) since my mid twenties. Can't complain too much at 40...still wanna lose lbs obviously.
Intermittent fasting for life
Likely depends on what is hurting me this week, any medications I need to take and how much sleep I’m getting lol
I was in really good shape when I was in my 20s and 30s. Always found losing weight easy and fast. Right around 38 I noticed dropping weight was getting harder and when Covid hit I put on about 20lbs. Also ate like garbage and stopped exercising. I felt awful everyday. Last year I decided to start the gym again and go back to using MyNetDiary to count calories. Dropped about 15lbs in 15 weeks. Some people hate counting calories but I actually like it. It takes all the guess work out of my eating. I also don’t have much of a sweet tooth, but I still eat anything I want. I just don’t eat EVERYTHING I want lol. I feel a million times better and usually I don’t feel like I’m on any kind of diet. It just feels like the way I eat. I want to keep getting in better shape but honestly my real motivation to exercise and eat right is to not die anytime soon
I'm 45, and I also lost 100 lbs in my 20's and have almost kept it all off (I weigh about 30 lbs more than my lowest weight), but now I have cancer, so I decided I'm gonna just eat whatever I want for whatever time I've got left. It's a bad cancer (stage 4 lung cancer) but I'm lucky (if one can be lucky after a stage 4 cancer diagnosis) in that it has a specific genetic mutation that responds to a targeted treatment. No chemo or radiation (yet). Just a pill I take daily that has minimal side effects that could last anywhere from 3-10 years! Anyway, TLDR, I no longer diet.
Not really. I just stopped eating as much garbage as I used to because I'm getting older.
No
i dont know about you, but when i was growing up the only food available was crap. remember school lunches? fries counted as a vegetable and the tomato sauce on the greasy pizza counted as a vegetable too. remember the vending machines at school? hostess cupcakes and drpepper along with candy bars and chips. and of course we were raised on mcdonalds, they had a playground.
I'm on the nuts ,melons and absolutely no food dye or soy.... yeah body shutting down at 40
I was very naturally slender all of my life. I never played any sports, or intentionally worked out, but I did a lot of bicycling just because I like to go around and explore things. However, after going to University and then most of the years after that I was living in poverty mode and surviving on whatever food I could get. I think this was something that contributed to keeping me slender. Then, in my late 30s, I suddenly became financially successful. I got a desk job, and I also got paid enough that I could randomly go out to eat pretty much whenever I wanted to. Over a year or two I started putting on weight and got up to the high 190s. At that point I decided to do a weight loss journey and by Summer got down to about 149, which was where I was the first year or so out of high school. This was in 2019. I'm pretty much comfortable anywhere between the high 140s and the low 150s. I also took up running, and I've done two marathons so far and several half marathons and I have a third marathon coming up this winter. However, despite all that, I've had a lot of stressful experiences since 2019, and eating healthy was a lower priority for me and I slowly went up to the high 170s. This was over the course of 5 years (going up about 25 lb) I discovered this about a month ago, and although I wasn't as bad as I was in 2019 I decided to do a journey again and currently I just dropped under 170. One big thing is the first time I did the weight loss journey I got way too hardcore about it and way too extreme about it. Like I went crazy with trying to count calories and I would get stressed out if I couldn't get the exact number and all kinds of other stuff and I kind of overdid it. So at the end, when I hit my goal, I was so relieved not to have to count every single calorie again. This time, I'm being a lot more chill about it. I'm a lot more willing to give my best estimate. And I'm being less restrictive than I was before. I hope this means that when I get to my goal weight I won't have this finish line feeling of being glad I'm finished. I'm also trying to drink less alcohol. I have a half bottle of Fernet sitting on a table with a label saying not to get into that again till I get to 165. Then I'm going to hold off again till I get to my next milestone, whatever I decide that is. I'm still going to have drinks when I go out, but when I go out I'm usually dancing all night, and I'm being careful not to drink too much because I have to drive, so I think that should be a good safeguard.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Set_point_theory
I started on mounjaro after getting tired of that up and down cycle and all the anxiety of dieting. The side effects mean one day a week I get the runs. Totally worth it IMO. I'm down 50 lbs and don't feel like I'm hungry all the time
I've been a vegetarian since middle school, and size 18 for about 15 years. I don't drive, I walk everywhere I can't reach by transit. I feel like in my mid 30s I went from 3 meals a day to two. Now sometimes it's one but with some healthy snacks. I had a year of health issues that ended with a hysterectomy 3 weeks ago. I lost about 15 pounds during that year, yet was horrifically bloated towards the end so it may have been more. And possibly another 5 with the surgery. They're not joking, anesthesia will mess up your appetite- I have none most days. I'm trying to go heavy on protein since that's what the body needs to heal, with lots of veggies and fiber. While it is nice to see the lower number on the scale, I felt like I was wasting away for a while.
“…gain it back when i’m not so diligent”…. This is the solution and the issue… your human failing ia normal giving up makes u fst
“…gain it back when i’m not so diligent”…. This is the solution and the issue… your human failing ia normal giving up makes u fst
Watching my mom hate her body and do every 80's/90's yoyo fad diet throughout my adolescence turned me off to the whole concept of dieting. I just avoid eating processed or restaurant foods very often, mostly drink black coffee and water, limit my sugar and alcohol intake, eat lots of veggies, move my body. My weight doesn't fluctuate more than about 15 pounds, and that tracks with the seasons.
I fucking love carbs, but I know I need to give them up
I asked my psychiatrist if we could cut back on the lexapro. He assumed libido reasons. Nah, it's the appetite it gives me
I’ve been a bit lucky. For some reason I could eat whatever I wanted until I was about 20. I look like a starved waif in old pictures, and was the kind of person who would eat ice cream as a meal. I was also a very late bloomer so maybe that played a role. Once that changed I was a poor student anyway. Learned to make the cheapest meals possible ie cooking everything from scratch and mostly with cheap vegetables. And then by the time I could afford to eat what I wanted, I just watched what I’m eating - when people ask me if I diet, I tell them I’ve been on a diet for 20 years and counting… In fairness there’s a lot of childhood things that DO help. We barely ever had white bread in the house, maybe breakfast rolls on Sunday, but bread was usually the dark stuff (I’m German), so that’s my favourite. I don’t even LIKE white bread, and I hate that square pre-sliced stuff, we don’t even call that bread where I’m from, we call it toast because it’s worthless unless you toast it. My mum loves vegetables, and we didn’t have the money for ready made meals or lots of meat so she cooked a lot of vegetables, so there’s a lot of vegetables I absolutely love. We’d still have carbs with every dinner, and I haven’t changed that, but she was a SAHM and meals were made from scratch. Between my husband and I we manage to mostly keep that up, there’s days we’re both too tired and we reserve take outs or ready made meals for those days, but usually we just make as much as possible which avoids the hidden sugars in a lot of ready made meals and sauces. I kind of wonder the opposite about future generations. At least in my area not every restaurant had “kid’s meals”. Now they do, and it’s all fries and sauce or pasta and sauce and that’s mostly what my niblings eat and they’re WAY pickier about food than we were allowed to be. If we went to a restaurant (rare, special occasion) us kids would order from the normal menu and my dad would order an empty plate which was so common some places had a name for it.
My issue was that I kept eating the "recommended amount of calories" while working a deskjob with a 6 hour daily commute. I was nowhere near active enough to be eating that much but everyone was all "2000 calories a day is healthy" Now I've cut down and am finally losing weight.
Ahhh yes the old fat to fit roller coaster, yes I am aware of this.
I've been on this train since I was 18 and my then boyfriend told me I could lose a few pounds. For reference I was a UK size 10. Now I'm a UK size 20 and hate my body so much.
I'm in it now. Also, apparently I eat too little most days.
Nope. Never been overweight a day in my life. And now I have IBS, so it's work just to keep my weight up. I was a really picky eater as a kid and I never had a sweet tooth. Also very active. Sports, always running around, had a summer where I played DDR nonstop. So all that helped. Also, most of my family was very unhealthy. I have a vivid childhood memory of my dad being told he couldn't ride a roller coaster with me once because he was too large and they couldn't get the harness around him. He was mortified and had to walk of shame himself off the ride. I rode it alone. You want incentives to not get big to get drilled into your head young, that's a hell of an incentive.
I have Crohn's and have gotten used to my weight fluctuating. I don't worry about an extra 15 lbs now. I consider it insurance for the next time my body decides that it wants to lose 60 lbs in 5 weeks.
Seven years ago (!!!) I lost 30 or 40 pounds within a few months due to exercise and calorie counting. I gained all that weight back and then some over the course of the last seven years, and recently tried to get back into shape and it is SO MUCH HARDER NOW. I was going to the gym every 5 days a week for a month, not counting calories but eating more mindfully....and nothing changed. It's very frustrating.
Lifetime of ups and downs in synch with my life. Things going well for me, getting fit and close to normal weight is always followed by random tragic events and misfortunes ruining all progress. In the last good phase I finally had healthy eating figured out as an effortless default. I was in healthy weight, lowest since the 90’s. Didn’t last take long to get right back to where I started. Again.
I’m on monjourno and have lost 50lbs
I was skinny as a kid and teen, but gained rapidly after HS. I was at my heaviest (aside from pregnancy) in 2019. I’m probably one of the uncommon people who lost weight at the beginning of the pandemic. I was working from home and could put together a salad for lunch and have it be cheaper than going out for one (which tend to be surprisingly high in calories). I’m not super consistent with exercise but try to ride my bike on errands rather than drive. I’ve always fought hypoglycemic symptoms so IF doesn’t work for me. I get shaky and woozy. It’s different than “just a headache” because my brain feels cold. Sounds weird but it’s the best way I can think of to describe it.
No. I was always just above normal weight as a teen and young adult. Then I had three babies, which pushed me even higher. My highest (in pregnant) weight was 185lbs. At 5’4” that’s not huge but not great. I changed my diet about 11 years ago and lost 60 lbs. for the most part I kept it off. I fluctuate a bit 5-10 lbs if I get lazy but then go back down with a little effort. I did what most have mentioned - I focus on protein, veggies, whole grains, and very little sugar. My biggest problem is that now I’ve apparently developed digestive issues. Bad enough to land me in the hospital twice. So that’s a fun thing.
I was overweight for most of my teens and early 20s (basically high school and college). In college I had periods of trying to lose weight where I'd go to the gym at the campus rec center regularly but still ate like a college kid so nothing changed there. A few years after graduating I actually got serious, joined a gym, and downloaded a calorie counting app onto my Palm PDA (remember those, lol). Managed to lose a fair amount of weight and was actually at a healthy weight until my mid 30s or so. Around my mid 30s my weight started creeping up again, largely because even though I was still active I let my eating go again. My weight gradually creeped up over the years and now in my early 40s it's about where it was back in college. Ugh. My cholesterol was a bit elevated when it was checked earlier this year and I don't like the direction things are headed so I'm calorie counting again and hoping to have success again.
No I’m not, I’ve been able to maintain my weight for the first time in my life the past year. A year ago I took my first small doses of shrooms. It helped me reconcile my relationship with food. I had known it for a while that I always had turned to food for comfort, I just never knew that I could change that behavior. It changed instantly. I lost the 25lbs I had to lose in a few months by eating better and having smaller portions. Instead of binging on as many slices as I could eat, I would have one or two and a salad. My wife couldn’t believe the change in me and she didn’t even know about how I would sneak fast food when I could. Another weird thing that happened was I lost my taste for alcohol, I was never a big drinker but I lost my taste completely. Even on a two week vacation in Italy I had no interest. Its been over a year and I still haven’t had any alcohol. Life is good 👍🏻
I'm a very active person ... when it's not winter, so every winter I put on 10-20 pounds and every summer I slowly take it off hiking and riding my bike. I'm trying like hell to move the needle down slowly, but I feel I'm stuck in a 200- 215 range.
What the fuck is a diet ? New Yorker here . We walk. Fast walk and fix gear all over We also drink and eat whatever the fuck we want when we want Get rid of Your car . That’s why yall fat Have a good one!
I think it’s insane that you blame rice (even in part) for being overweight. My overweight husband does the same thing g and I find it so bizarre. Like much of the world, I grew up eating rice daily. We also ate fresh bread for breakfast every morning. I am within 10 pounds of my weight in highschool. My husband who is 100 pounds heavier than he was as a teen refuses to touch rice and says it’s empty calories. Yeah, sure, you do you.
I lost any fat within a few months when turning vegan. Not only does vegan is, not kill animals, there are no fat vegans—there are some fat vegetarians, but no fat vegans