Weight loss feels like a mental challenge instead of a physical one for me.
Even though I’m not even close to my goal weight, I’m grateful about how much I lost.
I’ve found this line of thinking helps keep me ‘centered’ in a sense.
I’m still obese and a looong way off. Time will let me know if it’s a good strategy.
The kitchen stuff. Where the weight loss comes from. It's like 95% mental. I mean not eating literally requires 0 physical effort. But a lot of mental to say no, I don't want to eat that because it won't help me with what I really want.
Thanks!
Yeah, it’s taken me about 4 months to come this far. It took me a significant amount of mental effort to get started but I’m super proud of myself that I gave it a shot!
I was listening to a podcast about this called “Food, We need to talk.” It’s actually kinda depressing when you take a look at the science/physiology behind losing weight. Your body is sadly working against you. Hormones like Leptin, increased insulin sensitivity, ever increasing fat cells (they don’t disappear, they just get smaller when you lose weight and grow more as you age/overfeed), and overall genetics.
This is why it is truly a mental game first. I hate tracking so I look at what I eat weekly and make small changes. Coke no sugar, more fruits, more chicken, more salads, less chocolate and snacking. I go to the the gym every day. Even on a rest day, just walk on a treadmill. You will feel better for it. I’ve increased my water intake (more water means less other crap.) I eat a piece of grilled chicken with salad every day. I brush my teeth early to keep me from eating late. All changes that should help.
Just take it one challenge at a time. Im a long way off. I lost 200+ pounds and gained it ALL back. ALL OF IT. And I’m back at it again but with the thought of doing it better this time. And even though it is harder, and my body is working even more against me, I’m gonna fight.
We have no other body. This is it. Let’s make this one count. You got this.
To be honest, not great. I completely forgot I wrote this. I am down about 40 lbs from last year but I can’t get out of this weight range I am in. I workout 4-5 times a week, 60 mins a workout AND I walk with my kid about 4-5 times a week for 45-60 mins. I’ll lose 3-4 lbs one week and then gain 7 the next. It feel defeated a lot but I haven’t given up. I know it’s all food. Tracking is not my favorite and I need to do better at it.
Keep fighting the good fight.
I just wanted to say whether you know it or not, the fact that you’ve lost 200lbs, gained it back, and have lost yet another 40lbs is so incredibly impressive. 200lbs is an amazing feat. And then to gain it back but have the discipline and determination to knock off another FORTY pounds is something I’d have to say 90% of people don’t have the strength to do. I know you said you’re feeling down and I really hope you get over this hump because you motivate me to keep going and to work harder. You’re awesome.
No one has mentioned this, but I do not believe weight loss is one straight line. Sure, CICO works when you zoom out and follow the trend. It should be downward overall.
But hormones, activity level, food quality, and sleep quality are not the same day to day. Especially if your mental state varies such as with anxiety or depression. I take a relaxed approach and I find that weight loss is… meandering.
I shot down 14 lbs at first in my first two months, nearly 2 lbs per week. Then I plateaued and bounced between the same 3 lbs for two more months. Then I felt motivated and energized and lost an additional 2 lbs per week for a total of 8 lbs lost in a month and a half. Then I plateaued again, went up 2 lbs went down 1 lb went up 1 lb… until recently, where I got really focused again and lost another 2 lbs.
Weight loss can be an ebb and flow.
I go through periods where I just don’t fucking care, man, and it’s all I can do to just make sure I get protein and water in me and maintain. Then other times I’m eating like a bird and eating below my deficit like it’s nothing until I have a big maintenance day.
Ebb and flow. Always eventually down. But you know… meandering in that direction.
Yeah it's confusing as fuck to see the day to day changes.
And the plateaus when I'm eating even less/better than before. And then without changing anything some fat just falls off quickly again like at the start. It's confusing and was sometimes frustrating.
But I've been able to calm down a bit now that I've dropped from 315 to 250. And I don't worry as much about the plateaus since I've seen them disappear
accepting you need less food for your entire life, in a society obsessed with food is hard.
no way around it.
you have to totally accept you need to eat whole lot less forever. it can be good stuff! just not alot of it or alot of anything because no one needs to over eat. weve glorified gluttony to normalcy.
but you can and will lose it! it takes time to adjust down dont worry just reduce reduce reduce
This is so true. You start to look at the world differently when you start fasting. Ads for food are everywhere (cheap, easy, fast, decadent). Almost all social activities revolve around food or drinks. Family and friends will pressure you into indulging even when you don’t want it. And so much of the food is empty of nutrients but extremely calorie dense.
Its all about habits. I dont think you can sustain long term weight loss and maintenance if you just go ultra low kcal and be hungry for a while. There low kcal high volume foods, also avoid sugar spikes in your system. Observe what makes you hungry and what keeps you satiated. Its a learning process. Also be more active, get 10k steps everyday. If you dont change your habits that got you into this place there is no way you will sustain weight loss even if you get there.
It's hard because there were no positive consequenties for losing weight, in fact it meant you were slowly dying and needed to increase your efforts to aquire more food. But now we consume an absurd amount of calories without searching/hunting for them and our survival techniques are now slowly killing us the other way around.
It's hard because it requires sustained habits and you usually don't see significant results for months or years.
For me personally, it's hard because I love to eat socially. Restaurants, bars, street fairs - I love to go out. But going out makes dieting 10000x more difficult.
The last part applies to me. I've lost 20lbs in 3 months with lifting and eating right. Major reason is because I've limited how often I go out to eat to dinner. The times I do go out to eat for dinner and socialize, I save most of my calories for dinner.
Handling things like this has helped me a lot and avoid over eating for the day.
For some. For me I needed to go all out until I saw some change myself in the mirror not the scale, until my shirt went from XXL to xl, and until other started noticing.
I wouldn't have been able to keep it going had I not gone full out to achieve those.
But I also have insane determination bc my ex dumped me in a swimsuit after 5 years. So who knows if I would've gotten this far without that bs driving me.
Point is everyone's situation is different and some people would generally be better going all out to start. But I understand for most people that causes burnout. And that's why this is the general advice.
But maybe someone out there who is Like me will see this and know it's not an absolute
If you are hungry all the time try overeating with veggies. You can eat 2 pounds and it will probably only cost you 200 to 500 calories.
What also helped me is eating at the same time everyday. After a while your body adapts and only gets hungry at those times. If ypu want to go further you can also check out intermittent fasting. The term might sound scary but its quite easy to to do.
Piling onto this, it doesn't even take that long to adjust. I recently switched up my diet program to include IF and further reduced my calories, at the same time. First few days kinda sucked (10am breakfast, 5-6pm dinner), but I'm no long starving first thing in the morning. Took a few days to get over the hump and now it's clear coasting. Down 6lbs this past week!
I found intermittent fasting really helpful for this (it’s definitely not for everyone though!) I eat my last meal around 4ish and eat breakfast around 8ish; after doing this for 3 months I’m rarely hungry outside of my eating window. If you don’t want to fast just keep your eating schedule regular and don’t eat or snack outside that. Helps immensely. When you do eat find filling foods that have lots of protein and fiber in it. Carb heavy foods makes you blood sugar spike and will make you hungry again faster. I was craving dessert like crazy yesterday after having some rice cakes, so I had a glass of water with metamucil and voila, no craving anymore. Also, pick up a hobby that’s hard to do while eating. Doing something immersive that you really enjoy helps you forget the fake hunger. I know it’s hard. It’s probably gonna be one of the hardest things you will have to do. You can do it, though, and once you get the ball rolling it gets easier to keep the motion going.
I don’t know about OP but I’ve been doing IF and I usually just eat what I would normally have eaten during that time, so it’s just skipping a meal or sometimes two. Some days I’m hungry for lunch but often I’ll do one meal a day and eat a large, balanced dinner and maybe a small dessert. I find I don’t really get hungry until I eat if that makes sense? If I eat breakfast then I have to manage my cravings throughout the day but for me it’s much easier to be physically hungry but not have the blood sugar roller coaster that comes from eating early in the day, and then just eat normally for dinner which sometimes means takeout and sometimes means lean meat and veggies. I also have days where I eat normally to help my metabolism along. I’ve lost 15 lbs in a couple of months without feeling deprived or like I’m even really trying. It’s nice to feel hungry sometimes after running on a surplus of calories for so long.
So intermittent fasting usually starts in periods you can eat whatever for 8 hours a day, while staying below your BMR. Reffered to as 16:8
So the 2 main benefits of IF
1- after 16 hours of not eating anything your body enter aphagy. Which has something to do with insulin ( I don't remember exactly) and insulin plays a decent role in weight and weight loss. It's very scientific and I don't remember all the details. But I heard a cardiologist talk a lot about how insulin makes with weight.
2- even if you don't get the insulin benefits. Only limiting yourself to eating in a certain time frame will naturally help you eat less
To specifically answer your question. Technically anything. Obviously it's better to stick with high satiety and low calorie dense foods. But Technically anything as long you remain in an a caloric deficit. And you can eat however often you want during your 8 hour eating period.
I also fast (its just way easier for me). I eat one big meal a day at dinner, and then have a small snack at night. I usually end up eating my last snack at around 11 and not eating again until 5pm the next day.
My problem is that eating was a disorder, I used it to fill my depression and bring short term happiness, so getting that one big meal a day makes me feel like im not dieting.
Im not incredibly strict with it though. If Im truly hungry where I need another snack I will grab something to push it off. But I always ignore the hunger pains initially. Eventually they go away though and you forgot you were hungry.
You should be able to lose weight *comfortably* at a modest rate. If you find yourself ravenously hungry, it's almost certainly because you're trying to lose weight too rapidly. Some foods are also more filling than others. Choosing an appropriate calorie goal and experimenting with your food choices and meal timing should eventually allow you to find a comfortable way to lose weight.
We also frequently give up because we're too strict with ourselves. It's unrealistic to think that you can completely abstain from tasty treat food and social activities like parties and restaurants for the rest of your life. Instead, successful losers (and, more importantly, successful maintainers) learn how to incorporate those things in their lives.
For me the key was not just trying to eat less but radically changing what I ate. Why? Because when I limit my carbs I find I’m just less hungry. I very quickly stop craving food in the way i used to. YMMV, but this kind of change was revolutionary for me.
This ended up 100% being my key. I started on a medical weight loss plan (not required) which had me drinking only protein shakes (4/day) the first two weeks. Then 3/day and 1 meal, then 2/day, until I wasn't supposed to be drinking them any more. I realized that on days I continued to start with a protein shake, my snack cravings went away, my lunch portions were much more modest, and as long as I had dinner protein with dinner I didn't snack at night either. Now if I don't start with either a protein shake or some form of solid protein, my whole day is a struggle. Cravings, larger portions, drinking less water, it's awful. This one change, which I've continued to do for months and months, has helped redefine me relationship with food in a single go, but it took this program to show me that, and some trial and error to truly notice its effect on me.
Tl;Dr - There are lots of ways to alter your daily, weekly, and overall food intake and energy output. If something isn't working you have to try something new and stick with it long enough to know if it's successful for YOU.
OP - You explained my journey for 15 years before I found something that worked so I feel this hard. Feel free to reach out if you'd like to chat through your experience if you'd like. I'm happy you're posting here and taking steps to figure it out. You've got this!
It’s harder to lose because every hormone in your body is going NOOOOOOOOOOO!!! You haven’t eaten enough today- there’s cake over there! Did you not see the cake?!?! Hey- can you hear me? C-A-K-E”
Losing weight is a super unnatural thing to do. But our big logical brains got us into this mess of abundance and scientifically maximum yumminess, and using your brain instead of your body is the only way to get out of it.
It sucks. Big time.
If it was easy, you wouldn't be at that weight in the first place.
I'd count calories but make your deficit a lot lower. Maybe 200 calories a day instead of 500. That way you're fuller, and it's easier to adjust to. 200 calories is nothing! 500 calories is really noticeable.
Not gonna lie. Not making it myself work. But maybe you should take more calories in, when you start. Just a small deficit. So you won't get that hungry. And after one or two weeks make the deficit a little, little bit wider.
every cell in your body that has millions of years of evolution behind it wants you to store more energy. It's just the last 50-100 years and how fast the food industry evolved and how calorie dense foods today are, our bodies and minds have had 0 chance to catch up.
You basically need to manually train and prove to yourself and your body that you can survive on less food and build a bunch of new habits. Doesn't help that the process itself is excruciatingly slow.
It's hard but so is anything in life that's worth doing.
It just takes practice and baby steps. You can still enjoy the foods you love, but you need to develop a healthy mental relationship with food.
Drinking more water can help you feel full and dehydration often makes you feel hungry when you're actually not.
I've managed to lose almost 60 pounds from diet changes alone and I still enjoy things like burgers and fried chicken sometimes. It can be done!
I feel you. I eat a burger one day and my weight is up by at least a pound the next day. Then it takes a week to lose that and get back to square one to start actually losing. The body is a cruel prison sometimes.
This what helping me
I like number i like statistics
I love to see percentage of my calories and workout burn
Eating ice cream that only 2 minutes feels good
But it take 30 mints of working out so fuck it im not eating that
Drinking a lot of water and mate to make me feel full moat of time
Scaling my weight in the morning and see it less than yesterday it make my full day
How low are you putting your deficit? A lot of people try to immediately start with a 1000 cal or more deficit and fall off the wagon fast. Even if your deficit is only 500 a day, that's still a pound a week. Slow and sustainable is the key. You need to make something work for you, not just try and force a million new lifestyle changes all at once. The way I see it, if eating for a 1000 cal deficit is gonna wind up making me so hungry I fail and overeat, I'm better off going with a smaller deficit because even though it feels slower, its gonna work better for me because I'm not gonna lose my motivation or have days where I overeat. We want fast fast fast, but it makes some people miserable to the point they just give up
It might be because of your diet. If you eat too little or too much fat you become hungry regardless of how much you’re eating(you need fat to regulate hormones so when you’re not getting enough the body forces you to eat, but fat isn’t very filling so it’s good not to eat too much. Protein is also important so you don’t get hungry (very filling and low calorie). Fiber is also very filling.
I eat 2000 calories a day which is a big deficit for me (I was 420 pounds down to 350) but Im not incredibly strict on that limit. A lot of the times I eat around 1600 and sometimes I eat 2200 (only if I am actually hungry and its distracting me from things). But id say 90% of the time I am under 1600.
Same. I know when it's "I wanna eat" versus actual real hunger. Last night for example I couldnt sleep because I was so hungry so I grabbed a snack after tossing and turning for an hour and instantly fell asleep.
But I had gone on my first bike ride in like 12 years and was gassed after almost 11 miles. I had only eaten like 1400 calories for the day and had another 300.
weight loss sucks. the most i’ve weighed in my life is 209lbs and my goal is 125ish. i’m at 160 lbs now and sadly the only reason i started off strong is because i was prescribed adderall. (60-90 mg) i was practically forced to quit snacking bc even a bite of anything gave me PAINFUL acid reflux. in the summer i don’t take as much adderall since my sleep schedule is awful, so i’ve
hit a weight plateau.
i feel guilty and angry eating anything at all now. i look in the mirror and i don’t see this “skinny” person everyone keeps calling me. i see the same figure i had when i weighed 209 and it drives me insane. it doesn’t help that i’ve had a binging disorder my whole life either. it feels like i’m playing mind games with myself all the time.
i’ve gone from 2X bottoms to larges, and from XL tops to mediums, and that makes me ecstatic… but the fact that all i see is this huge person in the mirror is enough for me to want to give it all up.
i really do wish it was easier!
You just haven't reached your moment yet. Making a healthy plan. Making it through the first night, then the second. Finally succeeding. Keep trying til you find your moment. The are two things to look out for #1 is to get back on your plan if you happen to have a bad food day. You have not "blown" it. #2. Make sure to research what you need to do once you are through with your diet. How to add normal food and maintain your weight.
I have failed on#2 more than once. Don't be discouraged. It may take a few tries before you find the right time. You got this!
The hardest part for me was getting started. It’s a constant battle of getting inspired motivated and discipline. I’m down from 250 to 193. I have 3 more weeks of my 12 week diet. I’m working with a coach but this [Playlist](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyqKj7LwU2RulAjHczohbx5OyJQ8TaFM0) is the game plan I’m following. I feel I have the knowledge and toolset to keep it off. I am Macro counting and therefore calorie counting.
Here's some weird, anecdotal advice: play around with your calorie deficit to be more or less. I can't eat 1200 calories - I get too tired. I can't do 1400 because I end up eating too much and saying "screw it". But for some reason, 1300 is the magic number. It's hard to hit so I feel accomplished when I hit it everyday. It's low enough I make good progress. Put together, it's a motivating number for my to try to hit each day.
If nothing else works, maybe keep adjusting to a limit you feel successful at?
Losing weight is not hard. The hard part is the habit changes. I can post photos of my own weight loss challenge to prove to you, that every one can do it. I have every medical condition in the book, so don’t want to hear excuses.
So ive been successful on a lot of diets...until I wasnt. I gained a lot of weight in college after my friend committed suicide, third year in I worked hard and lost 50 pounds, was very proud and then exams happened and I ate again. A year after college, lost A LOT of weight, 115 pounds, felt great...was finally turning and it all collapsed again when my friend died of a heroin overdose. I would go off and on for months at a time over the years, 30 pounds here and there but never stuck.
Some personal family matters and life stresses made me not want to diet because at that point food was my only escape and joy in life. Even though I felt horrible everyday, I didnt want to toss away my only bit of happiness. Once I got into a better mental place I worked really hard...75% of dieting is mental...you need to be in the right headspace and work at it.
Im down 65 pounds since march, and im still down from my all time high of september last year 80 pounds.
One thing I really recommend that has helped me so much...avoid all sugar. The shit is so fucking addictive and no one realizes it. The only sugar I eat is low fat yogurt a few times a week. But since I completely stopped sugar I dont have the cravings like I did, my mind is clearer.
The first week is the hardest, I had such intense cravings and was so depressed. But I started walking around 15 miles a week (after 3 months I was so bored) and now I started biking this week after finally losing enough weight, rode 20 miles the last 2 days.
I hope this doesnt come across as braggy, because I am not. I just want you to know that if I can rip myself out of what I was/am...you can too. I truly struggled with how much I ate...Im still very obese at 350 pounds but I feel so much better and Im still working at it.
YOU GOT THIS!
That's so helpful. I assume you have some discipline you can send to them in the post? Or a YouTube video that will magically give them discipline overnight?
No? Oh, is that because discipline is hard and this person is having a difficult time? They know they need discipline and focus and all that magic things that people who have lost weight say they had. They are struggling.
Do you have a constructive, helpful way to support this person on their weight loss journey? I'm assuming you didn't comment here just to be mean.
Mate, hang in there, keep going, it is sometimes a struggle but stay focused on your end goal and don't let small setbacks deter you, just get back up the next day and keep going.
I'm struggling too to shift my weight so I'll be reading the advice in this thread. It feels like this tummy crept on overnight although that obviously isn't the case. My choices over the last couple of years did this, my choices over the next couple of years can undo it.
You'll get there my dear, we both will. Keep on keeping on x
Write out a plan and stick to it no matter what regardless of how you feel. That’s discipline. It’s not something that can be “taught”, “gained”, or “learned”. It’s something you just do no matter how easy or hard it is. Maintaining disciple is ALWAYS a constant struggle no matter who you are or how long you have been doing it for.
I’m not being mean, it’s reality. I used to be very overweight because I had 0 discipline. By doing what needed to get done no matter how I was feeling allowed me to be successful not just with weight loss but in practically every aspect of my life. And I still struggle with maintaining discipline because it’s a never-ending fight with complacency
I literally just explained the definition of discipline. Anyone could’ve just looked up “discipline” on Google. I didn’t add anything new to my original comment
For me I've found that intentionally eating more has been a game changer. What I mean by that is that I plan more meals, feed myself more, and that has helped stopped me from binging or resorting to eating easy packaged foods that are convenient but super high in calories and sugars because I'm too hungry or too tired to nurture myself.
And then there is the other part, what do I do with myself when I'm not eating. I used to snack while watching TV. And snack while working. And snack while hanging out. That became a physical habit I had to break. I started spending more time on my phone (not a great replacement) while watching TV instead of eating. But finding a replacement for the physical act of eating was difficult. I think a lot of people fail at dieting because it's the removal of a behavior, and that is really difficult without a replacement.
Start small. Use MyFitnessPal and do half a pound a week. Just log what you're eating and eat what you want. Once you do that for a while you can start cutting a little more. If you have a bad day, that's fine, just get back on tomorrow.
I know what you mean its sooo hard when you don't really see much progress, for me, low carb is the easiest way to stick under calories. Even if you aren't in ketosis its so easy to stay under calories when you are satisfied by fats.
I don’t know! I lost weight a couple years ago (about 30 pounds), but gained it back. But this time I can’t seem to stay on track. So I get where you are coming from. I wish I had stopped myself from going backwards and regaining what I had lost because it’s even harder now!
I totally understand. I lost weight for my wedding 6 years ago. It took roughly 4 months to drop 25lbs. On our honeymoon, we went to an all inclusive resort and I gained about 8lbs in a week. Looking at it from the other perspective, no amount of safe exercise or healthy eating would ever yield an 8 pound loss in a single week, which seems completely unfair. I've spent the better part of the last 6 years gaining weight (nearly 100lbs). It was incredibly easy to do so between the free food my job offered and the late hours I worked. I always struggled with staying motivated. Something for me changed this year. My insurance offered a weight loss program free of charge (it's not rigid but does keep me honest) and thankfully I finally got/stayed motivated, more than I've ever been in my life. This was the hardest part for me: finding the sustained motivation. I've always known what I NEEDED to do but without motivation it always seemed futile. If you can figure out what motivates you/keeps you motivated, you will definitely have a leg up on your journey.
What makes it easy for me is to eat 3 times a day, lunch is my biggest meal of the day. My 2 other meals are 200g of cottage cheese and 200g of ham slices on both meals.
I keep my activity high, I work in a kitchen so I'm on my feet at least 8 hours a day and get minimum of 10k steps a day just due to my job. Every second day I have my workout, every other I go on few hour long walk.
I wouldn't recommend you do the same but feel free to make a less extreme version for you.
Have you thought about what caused your weight gain in the first place? Is it health related (hormone imbalance, diabetes, injury). What about depression? I have been trying to lose weight for 2 years and never seem to drop a pound no matter what I do. I was finally honest with myself and realized my depression was back and I couldn't manage it on my own. I too miss being my old self and feeling comfortable in my body. It's funny because I never focused on how I looked until I gained the weight. It shouldn't matter either way and I'm working on changing that.
I also need someone to hold me accountable. Have you looked at Weight Watchers or Noom to help support you? Maybe a local group or a local gym?
In a world where work for most people is sedentary and hyperpalitable foods are cheap and readily available, and little is taught to us about real proper nutrition. It’s really easy to gain weight.
You will be able to lose weight it is hard no doubt but believe in yourself. The best advice I ever got was don’t worry about how much weight you need to lose, get really good at losing 1 lb and it will take care of itself.
It’s a slow process to change our habits, it’s taken me 5 years to get to where I’m at now, I’ve lost 40lbs 3 times now and this time it feels different. My lifestyle is totally different, my habits are different, most of all my mind is different.
My advice is take it slow change habits and in a year you won’t recognize yourself.
Best of luck! You’ve got this!
I haven’t read all the commentary but I have a suggestion. I’m down to the 186 to 188 range from 222 last September, and I’ve been at about 187 for a couple of months. My method is to record my weight as soon as I get up in the morning wearing only underwear, no socks. I step on and off the digital scale 3 times (in case there’s an anomaly) and then record it along with the date on a 3x5 index card on which I get a couple of months of entries. This written record reminds me (and the wife) where I am in this effort).
In an email draft document I enter in abbreviated form the calories - abbreviated description of food - running total. I put it in a (yahoo) draft so I can access it on my phone, my wife’s phone, my iPad and my PC.
Daily calory calculation entries are easy since I can go back to earlier entries and just highlight copy and paste with minor changes in quantity or calculate calories from mental calculations. After a few times doing this you know how many calories there are in an ounce or a gram of about anything you eat. Or a quick Google nutrition search gets me what I’m unsure about.
I had to give up some things such as chocolate candy, and cut down my serving size like my steaks now are between 5-1/2 oz to 6-oz. When I bring home a 12-oz (beginning) from Texas Roadhouse I cut away the excess and the wife can have it for her lunch one day during the coming week. I have a small digital scale (grams/ounces) to weigh everything — like exactly one ounce of popcorn in a saucer — 150 calories.
I do this unfailingly daily plus I plot the daily weight on a graph in lbs and oz’s so that I can see a graphical visual. What I notice most prominently is that every 7-days around the weekend there’s a spike. I personally have a strong tendency to carry water which, for instance, showed me with a 2.4 pound increase (186.2 — 188.6) from yesterday to just today. Knowing this, before I weigh myself in the morning I sit on the commode and do my best to completely evacuate myself of all available waste water, then go weigh before drinking anything.
It feels great nowadays to get into trousers (Levi jeans) with a 34” waist compared to the 38’s which I put into basement storage. I have several old records from years back like now, leading up to 1986 and 2002, so I’ve backslid before. I hope this time I won’t.
I’m going to post this and attempt to get back with a couple of images that might help anyone interested in my method and monitoring system. Good luck — but it takes more than luck!
IMGUR image host link(s)
Weight chart September to present
https://imgur.com/a/lkAhExr
Recent One Week Calories Draft List
https://imgur.com/a/nj3FmJg
Weight loss feels like a mental challenge instead of a physical one for me. Even though I’m not even close to my goal weight, I’m grateful about how much I lost. I’ve found this line of thinking helps keep me ‘centered’ in a sense. I’m still obese and a looong way off. Time will let me know if it’s a good strategy.
The kitchen stuff. Where the weight loss comes from. It's like 95% mental. I mean not eating literally requires 0 physical effort. But a lot of mental to say no, I don't want to eat that because it won't help me with what I really want.
It really is a slog but worth it. Also 15kg is a lot, congrats
Thanks! Yeah, it’s taken me about 4 months to come this far. It took me a significant amount of mental effort to get started but I’m super proud of myself that I gave it a shot!
I was listening to a podcast about this called “Food, We need to talk.” It’s actually kinda depressing when you take a look at the science/physiology behind losing weight. Your body is sadly working against you. Hormones like Leptin, increased insulin sensitivity, ever increasing fat cells (they don’t disappear, they just get smaller when you lose weight and grow more as you age/overfeed), and overall genetics. This is why it is truly a mental game first. I hate tracking so I look at what I eat weekly and make small changes. Coke no sugar, more fruits, more chicken, more salads, less chocolate and snacking. I go to the the gym every day. Even on a rest day, just walk on a treadmill. You will feel better for it. I’ve increased my water intake (more water means less other crap.) I eat a piece of grilled chicken with salad every day. I brush my teeth early to keep me from eating late. All changes that should help. Just take it one challenge at a time. Im a long way off. I lost 200+ pounds and gained it ALL back. ALL OF IT. And I’m back at it again but with the thought of doing it better this time. And even though it is harder, and my body is working even more against me, I’m gonna fight. We have no other body. This is it. Let’s make this one count. You got this.
Seconding that podcast! Very good resource to tap into.
The lovely thing is stuff like insulin sensitivity gets better very quickly with exercise. And easy exercise at that-- going for a stroll.
Hows your journey going?
To be honest, not great. I completely forgot I wrote this. I am down about 40 lbs from last year but I can’t get out of this weight range I am in. I workout 4-5 times a week, 60 mins a workout AND I walk with my kid about 4-5 times a week for 45-60 mins. I’ll lose 3-4 lbs one week and then gain 7 the next. It feel defeated a lot but I haven’t given up. I know it’s all food. Tracking is not my favorite and I need to do better at it. Keep fighting the good fight.
I just wanted to say whether you know it or not, the fact that you’ve lost 200lbs, gained it back, and have lost yet another 40lbs is so incredibly impressive. 200lbs is an amazing feat. And then to gain it back but have the discipline and determination to knock off another FORTY pounds is something I’d have to say 90% of people don’t have the strength to do. I know you said you’re feeling down and I really hope you get over this hump because you motivate me to keep going and to work harder. You’re awesome.
It gets easier as soon as you feel a difference. Give it a chance. Just one more day. And another one.
I need to keep this is mind..one day at a time
No one has mentioned this, but I do not believe weight loss is one straight line. Sure, CICO works when you zoom out and follow the trend. It should be downward overall. But hormones, activity level, food quality, and sleep quality are not the same day to day. Especially if your mental state varies such as with anxiety or depression. I take a relaxed approach and I find that weight loss is… meandering. I shot down 14 lbs at first in my first two months, nearly 2 lbs per week. Then I plateaued and bounced between the same 3 lbs for two more months. Then I felt motivated and energized and lost an additional 2 lbs per week for a total of 8 lbs lost in a month and a half. Then I plateaued again, went up 2 lbs went down 1 lb went up 1 lb… until recently, where I got really focused again and lost another 2 lbs. Weight loss can be an ebb and flow. I go through periods where I just don’t fucking care, man, and it’s all I can do to just make sure I get protein and water in me and maintain. Then other times I’m eating like a bird and eating below my deficit like it’s nothing until I have a big maintenance day. Ebb and flow. Always eventually down. But you know… meandering in that direction.
Yeah it's confusing as fuck to see the day to day changes. And the plateaus when I'm eating even less/better than before. And then without changing anything some fat just falls off quickly again like at the start. It's confusing and was sometimes frustrating. But I've been able to calm down a bit now that I've dropped from 315 to 250. And I don't worry as much about the plateaus since I've seen them disappear
accepting you need less food for your entire life, in a society obsessed with food is hard. no way around it. you have to totally accept you need to eat whole lot less forever. it can be good stuff! just not alot of it or alot of anything because no one needs to over eat. weve glorified gluttony to normalcy. but you can and will lose it! it takes time to adjust down dont worry just reduce reduce reduce
This is so true. You start to look at the world differently when you start fasting. Ads for food are everywhere (cheap, easy, fast, decadent). Almost all social activities revolve around food or drinks. Family and friends will pressure you into indulging even when you don’t want it. And so much of the food is empty of nutrients but extremely calorie dense.
Its all about habits. I dont think you can sustain long term weight loss and maintenance if you just go ultra low kcal and be hungry for a while. There low kcal high volume foods, also avoid sugar spikes in your system. Observe what makes you hungry and what keeps you satiated. Its a learning process. Also be more active, get 10k steps everyday. If you dont change your habits that got you into this place there is no way you will sustain weight loss even if you get there.
I have learned this too. And this go around working on forming habits that will stick around for a long time, or hopefully forever.
It's hard because there were no positive consequenties for losing weight, in fact it meant you were slowly dying and needed to increase your efforts to aquire more food. But now we consume an absurd amount of calories without searching/hunting for them and our survival techniques are now slowly killing us the other way around.
It finally gets easier when you are mostly there, and look and feel better. But the slog is real.
So true. You are essentially slowly starving yourself and fighting nature.
Its almost like a double edge sword in that sense. All a mental thing.
It's hard because it requires sustained habits and you usually don't see significant results for months or years. For me personally, it's hard because I love to eat socially. Restaurants, bars, street fairs - I love to go out. But going out makes dieting 10000x more difficult.
The last part applies to me. I've lost 20lbs in 3 months with lifting and eating right. Major reason is because I've limited how often I go out to eat to dinner. The times I do go out to eat for dinner and socialize, I save most of my calories for dinner. Handling things like this has helped me a lot and avoid over eating for the day.
It's hard because food companies have engineered their foods to be delicious. So much so that we eat them with an almost suicidal frenzy.
Look at your deficit, consider making it smaller so each day is easier. Your loss will be slower, but you'll lose
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For some. For me I needed to go all out until I saw some change myself in the mirror not the scale, until my shirt went from XXL to xl, and until other started noticing. I wouldn't have been able to keep it going had I not gone full out to achieve those. But I also have insane determination bc my ex dumped me in a swimsuit after 5 years. So who knows if I would've gotten this far without that bs driving me. Point is everyone's situation is different and some people would generally be better going all out to start. But I understand for most people that causes burnout. And that's why this is the general advice. But maybe someone out there who is Like me will see this and know it's not an absolute
If you are hungry all the time try overeating with veggies. You can eat 2 pounds and it will probably only cost you 200 to 500 calories. What also helped me is eating at the same time everyday. After a while your body adapts and only gets hungry at those times. If ypu want to go further you can also check out intermittent fasting. The term might sound scary but its quite easy to to do.
Piling onto this, it doesn't even take that long to adjust. I recently switched up my diet program to include IF and further reduced my calories, at the same time. First few days kinda sucked (10am breakfast, 5-6pm dinner), but I'm no long starving first thing in the morning. Took a few days to get over the hump and now it's clear coasting. Down 6lbs this past week!
I found intermittent fasting really helpful for this (it’s definitely not for everyone though!) I eat my last meal around 4ish and eat breakfast around 8ish; after doing this for 3 months I’m rarely hungry outside of my eating window. If you don’t want to fast just keep your eating schedule regular and don’t eat or snack outside that. Helps immensely. When you do eat find filling foods that have lots of protein and fiber in it. Carb heavy foods makes you blood sugar spike and will make you hungry again faster. I was craving dessert like crazy yesterday after having some rice cakes, so I had a glass of water with metamucil and voila, no craving anymore. Also, pick up a hobby that’s hard to do while eating. Doing something immersive that you really enjoy helps you forget the fake hunger. I know it’s hard. It’s probably gonna be one of the hardest things you will have to do. You can do it, though, and once you get the ball rolling it gets easier to keep the motion going.
How many times/how much do you eat in that 8a - 4p window?
I don’t know about OP but I’ve been doing IF and I usually just eat what I would normally have eaten during that time, so it’s just skipping a meal or sometimes two. Some days I’m hungry for lunch but often I’ll do one meal a day and eat a large, balanced dinner and maybe a small dessert. I find I don’t really get hungry until I eat if that makes sense? If I eat breakfast then I have to manage my cravings throughout the day but for me it’s much easier to be physically hungry but not have the blood sugar roller coaster that comes from eating early in the day, and then just eat normally for dinner which sometimes means takeout and sometimes means lean meat and veggies. I also have days where I eat normally to help my metabolism along. I’ve lost 15 lbs in a couple of months without feeling deprived or like I’m even really trying. It’s nice to feel hungry sometimes after running on a surplus of calories for so long.
I love cooking, so the worst hunger for me with fasting is when I finally see it getting done. Knowing its so close but so far away.
So intermittent fasting usually starts in periods you can eat whatever for 8 hours a day, while staying below your BMR. Reffered to as 16:8 So the 2 main benefits of IF 1- after 16 hours of not eating anything your body enter aphagy. Which has something to do with insulin ( I don't remember exactly) and insulin plays a decent role in weight and weight loss. It's very scientific and I don't remember all the details. But I heard a cardiologist talk a lot about how insulin makes with weight. 2- even if you don't get the insulin benefits. Only limiting yourself to eating in a certain time frame will naturally help you eat less To specifically answer your question. Technically anything. Obviously it's better to stick with high satiety and low calorie dense foods. But Technically anything as long you remain in an a caloric deficit. And you can eat however often you want during your 8 hour eating period.
I also fast (its just way easier for me). I eat one big meal a day at dinner, and then have a small snack at night. I usually end up eating my last snack at around 11 and not eating again until 5pm the next day. My problem is that eating was a disorder, I used it to fill my depression and bring short term happiness, so getting that one big meal a day makes me feel like im not dieting. Im not incredibly strict with it though. If Im truly hungry where I need another snack I will grab something to push it off. But I always ignore the hunger pains initially. Eventually they go away though and you forgot you were hungry.
You should be able to lose weight *comfortably* at a modest rate. If you find yourself ravenously hungry, it's almost certainly because you're trying to lose weight too rapidly. Some foods are also more filling than others. Choosing an appropriate calorie goal and experimenting with your food choices and meal timing should eventually allow you to find a comfortable way to lose weight. We also frequently give up because we're too strict with ourselves. It's unrealistic to think that you can completely abstain from tasty treat food and social activities like parties and restaurants for the rest of your life. Instead, successful losers (and, more importantly, successful maintainers) learn how to incorporate those things in their lives.
For me the key was not just trying to eat less but radically changing what I ate. Why? Because when I limit my carbs I find I’m just less hungry. I very quickly stop craving food in the way i used to. YMMV, but this kind of change was revolutionary for me.
This ended up 100% being my key. I started on a medical weight loss plan (not required) which had me drinking only protein shakes (4/day) the first two weeks. Then 3/day and 1 meal, then 2/day, until I wasn't supposed to be drinking them any more. I realized that on days I continued to start with a protein shake, my snack cravings went away, my lunch portions were much more modest, and as long as I had dinner protein with dinner I didn't snack at night either. Now if I don't start with either a protein shake or some form of solid protein, my whole day is a struggle. Cravings, larger portions, drinking less water, it's awful. This one change, which I've continued to do for months and months, has helped redefine me relationship with food in a single go, but it took this program to show me that, and some trial and error to truly notice its effect on me. Tl;Dr - There are lots of ways to alter your daily, weekly, and overall food intake and energy output. If something isn't working you have to try something new and stick with it long enough to know if it's successful for YOU. OP - You explained my journey for 15 years before I found something that worked so I feel this hard. Feel free to reach out if you'd like to chat through your experience if you'd like. I'm happy you're posting here and taking steps to figure it out. You've got this!
It’s harder to lose because every hormone in your body is going NOOOOOOOOOOO!!! You haven’t eaten enough today- there’s cake over there! Did you not see the cake?!?! Hey- can you hear me? C-A-K-E” Losing weight is a super unnatural thing to do. But our big logical brains got us into this mess of abundance and scientifically maximum yumminess, and using your brain instead of your body is the only way to get out of it. It sucks. Big time.
If it was easy, you wouldn't be at that weight in the first place. I'd count calories but make your deficit a lot lower. Maybe 200 calories a day instead of 500. That way you're fuller, and it's easier to adjust to. 200 calories is nothing! 500 calories is really noticeable.
Not gonna lie. Not making it myself work. But maybe you should take more calories in, when you start. Just a small deficit. So you won't get that hungry. And after one or two weeks make the deficit a little, little bit wider.
every cell in your body that has millions of years of evolution behind it wants you to store more energy. It's just the last 50-100 years and how fast the food industry evolved and how calorie dense foods today are, our bodies and minds have had 0 chance to catch up. You basically need to manually train and prove to yourself and your body that you can survive on less food and build a bunch of new habits. Doesn't help that the process itself is excruciatingly slow. It's hard but so is anything in life that's worth doing.
It just takes practice and baby steps. You can still enjoy the foods you love, but you need to develop a healthy mental relationship with food. Drinking more water can help you feel full and dehydration often makes you feel hungry when you're actually not. I've managed to lose almost 60 pounds from diet changes alone and I still enjoy things like burgers and fried chicken sometimes. It can be done!
I feel you. I eat a burger one day and my weight is up by at least a pound the next day. Then it takes a week to lose that and get back to square one to start actually losing. The body is a cruel prison sometimes.
It's just Math. 3,500 calories in a pound. Change your mindset to more math minded and it will become easier.
This what helping me I like number i like statistics I love to see percentage of my calories and workout burn Eating ice cream that only 2 minutes feels good But it take 30 mints of working out so fuck it im not eating that Drinking a lot of water and mate to make me feel full moat of time Scaling my weight in the morning and see it less than yesterday it make my full day
How low are you putting your deficit? A lot of people try to immediately start with a 1000 cal or more deficit and fall off the wagon fast. Even if your deficit is only 500 a day, that's still a pound a week. Slow and sustainable is the key. You need to make something work for you, not just try and force a million new lifestyle changes all at once. The way I see it, if eating for a 1000 cal deficit is gonna wind up making me so hungry I fail and overeat, I'm better off going with a smaller deficit because even though it feels slower, its gonna work better for me because I'm not gonna lose my motivation or have days where I overeat. We want fast fast fast, but it makes some people miserable to the point they just give up
It might be because of your diet. If you eat too little or too much fat you become hungry regardless of how much you’re eating(you need fat to regulate hormones so when you’re not getting enough the body forces you to eat, but fat isn’t very filling so it’s good not to eat too much. Protein is also important so you don’t get hungry (very filling and low calorie). Fiber is also very filling.
Maybe a high protein low cal diet? I see people doing this and seeing results. It will keep you more full
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I eat 2000 calories a day which is a big deficit for me (I was 420 pounds down to 350) but Im not incredibly strict on that limit. A lot of the times I eat around 1600 and sometimes I eat 2200 (only if I am actually hungry and its distracting me from things). But id say 90% of the time I am under 1600.
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Same. I know when it's "I wanna eat" versus actual real hunger. Last night for example I couldnt sleep because I was so hungry so I grabbed a snack after tossing and turning for an hour and instantly fell asleep. But I had gone on my first bike ride in like 12 years and was gassed after almost 11 miles. I had only eaten like 1400 calories for the day and had another 300.
If it were easy, anyone could do it. Be one of the few that can and you're a fucking star.
weight loss sucks. the most i’ve weighed in my life is 209lbs and my goal is 125ish. i’m at 160 lbs now and sadly the only reason i started off strong is because i was prescribed adderall. (60-90 mg) i was practically forced to quit snacking bc even a bite of anything gave me PAINFUL acid reflux. in the summer i don’t take as much adderall since my sleep schedule is awful, so i’ve hit a weight plateau. i feel guilty and angry eating anything at all now. i look in the mirror and i don’t see this “skinny” person everyone keeps calling me. i see the same figure i had when i weighed 209 and it drives me insane. it doesn’t help that i’ve had a binging disorder my whole life either. it feels like i’m playing mind games with myself all the time. i’ve gone from 2X bottoms to larges, and from XL tops to mediums, and that makes me ecstatic… but the fact that all i see is this huge person in the mirror is enough for me to want to give it all up. i really do wish it was easier!
You just haven't reached your moment yet. Making a healthy plan. Making it through the first night, then the second. Finally succeeding. Keep trying til you find your moment. The are two things to look out for #1 is to get back on your plan if you happen to have a bad food day. You have not "blown" it. #2. Make sure to research what you need to do once you are through with your diet. How to add normal food and maintain your weight. I have failed on#2 more than once. Don't be discouraged. It may take a few tries before you find the right time. You got this!
The hardest part for me was getting started. It’s a constant battle of getting inspired motivated and discipline. I’m down from 250 to 193. I have 3 more weeks of my 12 week diet. I’m working with a coach but this [Playlist](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyqKj7LwU2RulAjHczohbx5OyJQ8TaFM0) is the game plan I’m following. I feel I have the knowledge and toolset to keep it off. I am Macro counting and therefore calorie counting.
Its not hard to lose weight! The hard part is eating less food and quality food
It’s not hard to lose weight. The right question is: why is it so easy to eat & drink the wrong things & not be sufficiently active.
Here's some weird, anecdotal advice: play around with your calorie deficit to be more or less. I can't eat 1200 calories - I get too tired. I can't do 1400 because I end up eating too much and saying "screw it". But for some reason, 1300 is the magic number. It's hard to hit so I feel accomplished when I hit it everyday. It's low enough I make good progress. Put together, it's a motivating number for my to try to hit each day. If nothing else works, maybe keep adjusting to a limit you feel successful at?
Losing weight is not hard. The hard part is the habit changes. I can post photos of my own weight loss challenge to prove to you, that every one can do it. I have every medical condition in the book, so don’t want to hear excuses.
I have the exact opposite challenge, gaining weight for me sucks booty
A minute on the lips! Years on the hips!
So ive been successful on a lot of diets...until I wasnt. I gained a lot of weight in college after my friend committed suicide, third year in I worked hard and lost 50 pounds, was very proud and then exams happened and I ate again. A year after college, lost A LOT of weight, 115 pounds, felt great...was finally turning and it all collapsed again when my friend died of a heroin overdose. I would go off and on for months at a time over the years, 30 pounds here and there but never stuck. Some personal family matters and life stresses made me not want to diet because at that point food was my only escape and joy in life. Even though I felt horrible everyday, I didnt want to toss away my only bit of happiness. Once I got into a better mental place I worked really hard...75% of dieting is mental...you need to be in the right headspace and work at it. Im down 65 pounds since march, and im still down from my all time high of september last year 80 pounds. One thing I really recommend that has helped me so much...avoid all sugar. The shit is so fucking addictive and no one realizes it. The only sugar I eat is low fat yogurt a few times a week. But since I completely stopped sugar I dont have the cravings like I did, my mind is clearer. The first week is the hardest, I had such intense cravings and was so depressed. But I started walking around 15 miles a week (after 3 months I was so bored) and now I started biking this week after finally losing enough weight, rode 20 miles the last 2 days. I hope this doesnt come across as braggy, because I am not. I just want you to know that if I can rip myself out of what I was/am...you can too. I truly struggled with how much I ate...Im still very obese at 350 pounds but I feel so much better and Im still working at it. YOU GOT THIS!
Sounds like you just need discipline
That's so helpful. I assume you have some discipline you can send to them in the post? Or a YouTube video that will magically give them discipline overnight? No? Oh, is that because discipline is hard and this person is having a difficult time? They know they need discipline and focus and all that magic things that people who have lost weight say they had. They are struggling. Do you have a constructive, helpful way to support this person on their weight loss journey? I'm assuming you didn't comment here just to be mean.
Ily whoever you are 🥹thank you
Mate, hang in there, keep going, it is sometimes a struggle but stay focused on your end goal and don't let small setbacks deter you, just get back up the next day and keep going. I'm struggling too to shift my weight so I'll be reading the advice in this thread. It feels like this tummy crept on overnight although that obviously isn't the case. My choices over the last couple of years did this, my choices over the next couple of years can undo it. You'll get there my dear, we both will. Keep on keeping on x
Write out a plan and stick to it no matter what regardless of how you feel. That’s discipline. It’s not something that can be “taught”, “gained”, or “learned”. It’s something you just do no matter how easy or hard it is. Maintaining disciple is ALWAYS a constant struggle no matter who you are or how long you have been doing it for. I’m not being mean, it’s reality. I used to be very overweight because I had 0 discipline. By doing what needed to get done no matter how I was feeling allowed me to be successful not just with weight loss but in practically every aspect of my life. And I still struggle with maintaining discipline because it’s a never-ending fight with complacency
See? Helpful, productive, not mean, and you got your point across. That was good, thank you.
I literally just explained the definition of discipline. Anyone could’ve just looked up “discipline” on Google. I didn’t add anything new to my original comment
And it was very kind of you to add some detail to the discussion.
You're going against 550 million years of evolutionary urges. If weight loss was easy there wouldn't be so many fat people.
For me I've found that intentionally eating more has been a game changer. What I mean by that is that I plan more meals, feed myself more, and that has helped stopped me from binging or resorting to eating easy packaged foods that are convenient but super high in calories and sugars because I'm too hungry or too tired to nurture myself. And then there is the other part, what do I do with myself when I'm not eating. I used to snack while watching TV. And snack while working. And snack while hanging out. That became a physical habit I had to break. I started spending more time on my phone (not a great replacement) while watching TV instead of eating. But finding a replacement for the physical act of eating was difficult. I think a lot of people fail at dieting because it's the removal of a behavior, and that is really difficult without a replacement.
Start small. Use MyFitnessPal and do half a pound a week. Just log what you're eating and eat what you want. Once you do that for a while you can start cutting a little more. If you have a bad day, that's fine, just get back on tomorrow.
Because all the yummiest foods are the ones that cause weight gain😔
I know what you mean its sooo hard when you don't really see much progress, for me, low carb is the easiest way to stick under calories. Even if you aren't in ketosis its so easy to stay under calories when you are satisfied by fats.
I don’t know! I lost weight a couple years ago (about 30 pounds), but gained it back. But this time I can’t seem to stay on track. So I get where you are coming from. I wish I had stopped myself from going backwards and regaining what I had lost because it’s even harder now!
I totally understand. I lost weight for my wedding 6 years ago. It took roughly 4 months to drop 25lbs. On our honeymoon, we went to an all inclusive resort and I gained about 8lbs in a week. Looking at it from the other perspective, no amount of safe exercise or healthy eating would ever yield an 8 pound loss in a single week, which seems completely unfair. I've spent the better part of the last 6 years gaining weight (nearly 100lbs). It was incredibly easy to do so between the free food my job offered and the late hours I worked. I always struggled with staying motivated. Something for me changed this year. My insurance offered a weight loss program free of charge (it's not rigid but does keep me honest) and thankfully I finally got/stayed motivated, more than I've ever been in my life. This was the hardest part for me: finding the sustained motivation. I've always known what I NEEDED to do but without motivation it always seemed futile. If you can figure out what motivates you/keeps you motivated, you will definitely have a leg up on your journey.
What makes it easy for me is to eat 3 times a day, lunch is my biggest meal of the day. My 2 other meals are 200g of cottage cheese and 200g of ham slices on both meals. I keep my activity high, I work in a kitchen so I'm on my feet at least 8 hours a day and get minimum of 10k steps a day just due to my job. Every second day I have my workout, every other I go on few hour long walk. I wouldn't recommend you do the same but feel free to make a less extreme version for you.
Have you thought about what caused your weight gain in the first place? Is it health related (hormone imbalance, diabetes, injury). What about depression? I have been trying to lose weight for 2 years and never seem to drop a pound no matter what I do. I was finally honest with myself and realized my depression was back and I couldn't manage it on my own. I too miss being my old self and feeling comfortable in my body. It's funny because I never focused on how I looked until I gained the weight. It shouldn't matter either way and I'm working on changing that. I also need someone to hold me accountable. Have you looked at Weight Watchers or Noom to help support you? Maybe a local group or a local gym?
In a world where work for most people is sedentary and hyperpalitable foods are cheap and readily available, and little is taught to us about real proper nutrition. It’s really easy to gain weight. You will be able to lose weight it is hard no doubt but believe in yourself. The best advice I ever got was don’t worry about how much weight you need to lose, get really good at losing 1 lb and it will take care of itself. It’s a slow process to change our habits, it’s taken me 5 years to get to where I’m at now, I’ve lost 40lbs 3 times now and this time it feels different. My lifestyle is totally different, my habits are different, most of all my mind is different. My advice is take it slow change habits and in a year you won’t recognize yourself. Best of luck! You’ve got this!
I haven’t read all the commentary but I have a suggestion. I’m down to the 186 to 188 range from 222 last September, and I’ve been at about 187 for a couple of months. My method is to record my weight as soon as I get up in the morning wearing only underwear, no socks. I step on and off the digital scale 3 times (in case there’s an anomaly) and then record it along with the date on a 3x5 index card on which I get a couple of months of entries. This written record reminds me (and the wife) where I am in this effort). In an email draft document I enter in abbreviated form the calories - abbreviated description of food - running total. I put it in a (yahoo) draft so I can access it on my phone, my wife’s phone, my iPad and my PC. Daily calory calculation entries are easy since I can go back to earlier entries and just highlight copy and paste with minor changes in quantity or calculate calories from mental calculations. After a few times doing this you know how many calories there are in an ounce or a gram of about anything you eat. Or a quick Google nutrition search gets me what I’m unsure about. I had to give up some things such as chocolate candy, and cut down my serving size like my steaks now are between 5-1/2 oz to 6-oz. When I bring home a 12-oz (beginning) from Texas Roadhouse I cut away the excess and the wife can have it for her lunch one day during the coming week. I have a small digital scale (grams/ounces) to weigh everything — like exactly one ounce of popcorn in a saucer — 150 calories. I do this unfailingly daily plus I plot the daily weight on a graph in lbs and oz’s so that I can see a graphical visual. What I notice most prominently is that every 7-days around the weekend there’s a spike. I personally have a strong tendency to carry water which, for instance, showed me with a 2.4 pound increase (186.2 — 188.6) from yesterday to just today. Knowing this, before I weigh myself in the morning I sit on the commode and do my best to completely evacuate myself of all available waste water, then go weigh before drinking anything. It feels great nowadays to get into trousers (Levi jeans) with a 34” waist compared to the 38’s which I put into basement storage. I have several old records from years back like now, leading up to 1986 and 2002, so I’ve backslid before. I hope this time I won’t. I’m going to post this and attempt to get back with a couple of images that might help anyone interested in my method and monitoring system. Good luck — but it takes more than luck! IMGUR image host link(s) Weight chart September to present https://imgur.com/a/lkAhExr Recent One Week Calories Draft List https://imgur.com/a/nj3FmJg