Weight loss support thread

[Lisa Frank Abomination]

I started at 100kg a few years ago and got all the way down to 60kg last summer (I'm 168cm tall for the record). But since moving in with my husband's grandparents I've bounced back up to 68kg.

We're incredibly lucky that his grandmother cooks us dinner every night, but she's a bit of a food pusher. It's difficult for me to refuse, and she sometimes just straight up doesn't listen or offers over and over again when I say I don't want something (like extra bowls of rice). I've decided what I need to do is cut calories from my other meals and increase exercise - which is where my problems also lie.

I have a grazing problem because I work from home and don't have any kind of regimented time for eating. I try to set alarms for breakfast/lunch/a coffee break but so far it hasn't helped much. I try not to keep anything snackish in the house but my husband often brings stuff home. Convenience stores are another issue because I'll go to pay a bill or hit the atm and it's like they brainwash you into buying snacks and shit once you're in there. It's obviously a self-control thing on my end, but it's almost become a habit to get something. I've found myself standing outside the store holding chips or a cookie or something wondering why the fuck I bought it even though I walked in telling myself I wasn't going to get anything to eat.

For exercise, I am a basic bitch walker and occasional cycler. But it is fucking abysmally hot and humid right now, to the point that we're getting heat alerts and I nearly passed out waiting at a traffic light last week. I've read a lot of suggestions for indoor exercise on here but I can't do much because every little step on the second floor can be heard downstairs. Does anyone have any experience with those little under-desk pedal machines? I have one but it's seriously so boring... And it never really feels like I'm doing anything worthwhile on it.

Ultimately I'd love to get down to 58-60kgs and maintain there. Any advice or support is greatly welcomed.

Good luck to everyone else in the thread!

 

[HexFag]

I've started taking my exercise seriously and I'm attempting to cut out sugary drinks, but my sleep schedule is horribly fucked. Will this cause problems in the long run, I've always had a hard time sleeping (ie only able to sleep for about 3-4 hours at a time).

 

[latinlover]

Ultimately I'd love to get down to 58-60kgs and maintain there. Any advice or support is greatly welcomed.

Congrats on losing 40kgs, that's quite the feat already! It seems like you know what to do, I can't really add anything besides noting that I've honestly never seen anyone lose weight by not altering their food habits as well in addition to other lifestyle changes.

Sure, more working out is excellent for your health and it does burn calories and naturally you should do it. However, it also makes you hungrier and if you're already not counting calories religiously and just playing it by the ear when it comes to your diet it'll result in a lack of perceived progress on the scale seeing as you're likely to just eat it all back. This is less of an issue if you're lifting weights as even if you're treading water in terms of weight loss you're still building muscle and likely to experience a body composition change, with cardio though it can very often feel frustrating that you just eat those calories anyway. Counting calories and sticking to it avoids this issue.

I've started taking my exercise seriously and I'm attempting to cut out sugary drinks, but my sleep schedule is horribly fucked. Will this cause problems in the long run, I've always had a hard time sleeping (ie only able to sleep for about 3-4 hours at a time).

Good luck!

Are you a biphasic sleeper or a vampire? In the first case, I'm not intimately aware of the latest research when it comes to sleep science but I'm reasonably sure the consensus is that as long as you get adequate (at least 7 but no more than 9) sleep it doesn't really matter if it's in one go or if you have siestas.

Kicking sugary drinks is great, but if you get the cravings, my advice would be to feel free to go for some diet soda. It's not great for you and has its own set of issues, but being overweight is far, far unhealthier than any artificial sweetener. That being said, some diet sodas do spike your insulin levels but so does carbs, in this case though it's likely offset by the morale boost of having something genuinely sweet and good tasting completely guilt free. I think there's a couple studies that found the 'diet soda' group to have lost more weight vs the 'water' control group, not because of any inherent magical properties in Zero Coke, but simply because they found it a lot easier to actually stick to the diet. After you're firmly on the path it'll be a lot easier to slay the 'soda' dragon than just quiting every joy in life cold turkey straight away.

 

[HexFag]

Good luck!

Are you a biphasic sleeper or a vampire? In the first case, I'm not intimately aware of the latest research when it comes to sleep science but I'm reasonably sure the consensus is that as long as you get adequate (at least 7 but no more than 9) sleep it doesn't really matter if it's in one go or if you have siestas.

Kicking sugary drinks is great, but if you get the cravings, my advice would be to feel free to go for some diet soda. It's not great for you and has its own set of issues, but being overweight is far, far unhealthier than any artificial sweetener. That being said, some diet sodas do spike your insulin levels but so does carbs, in this case though it's likely offset by the morale boost of having something genuinely sweet and good tasting completely guilt free. I think there's a couple studies that found the 'diet soda' group to have lost more weight vs the 'water' control group, not because of any inherent magical properties in Zero Coke, but simply because they found it a lot easier to actually stick to the diet. After you're firmly on the path it'll be a lot easier to slay the 'soda' dragon than just quiting every joy in life cold turkey straight away.

I don't think I'm either and I most likely have a bad case of sleep apnea. It runs in my family and my sleep is incredibly poor with my snoring being described as "violent choking and coughing until I jolt out of bed". I'm going to get a test soon so I'll let you know but usually whenever I sleep, I wake up in a worse condition.

I've never liked sodas as a whole and I've kicked 90% of sodas a couple of years ago but I do like handsqueezed orange juice and I've had my old trusty juicer for a couple of years now. Would that be a viable alternative to diet soda? There are also these packets for my water that have electrolytes that are about 11g of carbs per each packets. Usually I have 1-2 a day in my 40oz water bottle. If you want the brand I could supply that.

 

[latinlover]

I don't think I'm either and I most likely have a bad case of sleep apnea. It runs in my family and my sleep is incredibly poor with my snoring being described as "violent choking and coughing until I jolt out of bed". I'm going to get a test soon so I'll let you know but usually whenever I sleep, I wake up in a worse condition.

I've never liked sodas as a whole and I've kicked 90% of sodas a couple of years ago but I do like handsqueezed orange juice and I've had my old trusty juicer for a couple of years now. Would that be a viable alternative to diet soda? There are also these packets for my water that have electrolytes that are about 11g of carbs per each packets. Usually I have 1-2 a day in my 40oz water bottle. If you want the brand I could supply that.

Yeah, you need to get tested ASAP, once you get a CPAP machine your life will change. Do note that losing weight will not always but quite frequently make obstructive sleep apnea less severe, or in some cases make it go away completely.

If you don't like sodas that's great, I'm not shilling them, they are unhealthy overall, but they are a good 0 calorie treat. Orange juice (especially fresh squeezed) is obviously a lot healthier in moderation, but it is extremely sugary and when you're in a significant caloric deficit you really do want to make every calorie count in order to be able to get adequate 1. fat (especially if you're a man, low fat diets will result in severe hormonal issues) 2. protein 3. various micronutrients, this one can be remedied by getting a good multi(vitamin) stack.

If you aren't big on sodas anyway my advice would be to just stick to water, coffee and tea is also great, caffeine is an appetite suppressant.

 

[Overly Serious]

Does anyone have any advice on getting through the 5-6 month boundary? You institute changes, you burn fat, you lose at a steady and sustainable rate for about 5 months. And then it's like you've burned through will power and effort and you start back sliding. I was going down a steady 2kg per month for most of this year and suddenly I've fallen off the wagon. Trying to reapply what was working before.

 

[Brahma]

Been a while since I was in here. Had a great start to the year, lost about a kg a week through to week 20, then hit a stall. Started at 127 on Jan 1st, down to 105 in week 22, back up to 109 and hovering there the last couple weeks.

Really just need to get back on track with the diet 7 excercise, I was enjoying the shit out of OMAD as much meat and veg as I wanted, and was walking minimum 5k cross country with some calisthenics and light strength stuff my physio had me on but let bread, and pasta, then desserts and shit creep back in, then the excercise fell by the wayside. Fucking carbs, they just make me want to eat and not move. So kind of glad I only put back on 4 of it tbh.

I do think I was probably pushing a bit hard in other areas of my life, work, interpersonal etc and that's what caused the stumble rather than the diet itself.

Doing a fast today to get myself in to a reset, not going straight in to OMAD again, but cleaning up the diet and get back to that in a week or two

 

[Lisa Frank Abomination]

Does anyone have any advice on getting through the 5-6 month boundary? You institute changes, you burn fat, you lose at a steady and sustainable rate for about 5 months. And then it's like you've burned through will power and effort and you start back sliding. I was going down a steady 2kg per month for most of this year and suddenly I've fallen off the wagon. Trying to reapply what was working before.

If you've been dropping for a while, you eventually reach the point where your calorie deficit becomes your calorie maintenance. If you want to continue losing, you can do all the same things you did before, but you need to recalculate your tdee for your new current weight.

If you're really happy with the way you eat already, then adding some kind of movement to your day can be all you need to create the new deficit you need.

I've started a challenge to go up and down the stairs at home 50 times a day and it's kicking my ass, but it's a hell of a workout without having to go outside.

 

[deermeat]

alright I need advice bc I have nooo idea whats going on

on Wednesday I binged like crazy. 5 Bacon, Egg and Cheese croissants from Dunkin. A Sheetz cheeseburger, two Sheetz hotdogs, a Pina Colada smoothie, the usual Monster rehab energy drinks, along with something else I cant remember. It was a literal binge as I simply grabbed whatever. I normally dont binge, and for awhile I was doing fine so idk where that came from. I felt no urge, nothing. It was random.

This whole week though Ive been irritable for no reason. Even before the binge, Ive been getting frustrated and upset for no reason. Id come home and feel overall restless.
Fast forward today and even after having normal meals, I feel ravenous. I crave the most high calorie craziest shit, like dipping pizza in cream cheese frosting type of fatass nonsense. Usually with cravings, they go away after you ignore them. But fuck. Its been ALL DAY. All day ravenous. All day obsessing over food. Its so hard to ignore and I feel like its only gotten intense as the day goes on. My only silver lining is that Im going to bed soon. Im not craving one food in particular, just food in general. The higher calorie, the better.

I ate grapes, I had a plum, a small peach, and yet I still feel ravenous. I feel irritated. I feel like the irritation is triggering my hunger? Yet I have no idea why I feel so irritated. Its awful lol never dealt with this before. Its taking so much out of me.

 

[Brahma]

This whole week though Ive been irritable for no reason.

Yet I have no idea why I feel so irritated

Obviously I'm not a mental health practitioner and if I were I wouldn't be giving advice on here anyway, but I think you need to lean in to that and figure it out. I mean sure, a neuron in your brain might have been struck by a cosmic ray making you irrationally irritated, but likelier, there's something going on in your life that is making you irritated

I normally dont binge

I don't either, it's an occasional thing I try and keep locked down.

Absolutely stress related though. If I'm not on top of my excercise, and things are bad at work or whatever, that's when, sure as hell, it'll happen

It generally occurs in the downslope of a period of deterioration of my mental health though, in fact almost acts as an alarm bell now that I'm aware of. It used to spiral me further.

So I'd be looking at the last couple weeks, go back before your feeling of irritation and look forward a couple weeks. Is there something that did happen that this is a related reaction to, or is there something coming down the line that's adding to your unconscious stress level

Fast forward today and even after having normal meals, I feel ravenous.

So, my tactic when that happens, if my cortex can seize control from my limbic system that is, is to let myself be a pig if it's that's what I'm feeling, but only on whole foods. So I'll eat a 4 pack of chicken or a lb of beef or a whole bag of carrots and peas with butter and herbs or whatever I'm currently eating. Just no carbs. Basically eat past the point of satiation, and I can usually seize on that to prevent eating a bunch of processed shit or a bunch of carbs. Damage mitigation in other words.

Other things that help are intense excercise i find. Brings up the feel good stuff, dissipates the bad.

If it's not mental health it could be hormonal or something else biological which I know sweet fuck all about I'm afraid

 

[pro-ana coach]

alright I need advice bc I have nooo idea whats going on

Stress aside, maybe you're restricting too much? If so, up your intake and see what happens. And don't limit carbs, make sure you get enough.
Don't get stressed out too much about binging. When you accept it and move on, it's easier to continue on with the diet.
Good luck <3

 

[Day of the Cope]

So, obviously with losing weight, that means getting new clothes which leads me to wonder: have the quality of jeans just gone downhill over the past few years? Part of it might just be my body is just slimming down in the most asinine way where it seems like the midsection is just going to be the last place my body pulls from which makes for a very awkward shape until I finally hit my goal. So, I'll have the lower half of my legs properly slim but my thighs still have a bit to go, which already makes it a bit of a pain to find jeans.

At the same time, I seriously think the quality across the board took a nose dive. My usual brand of jeans (Urban Star) have gone down hill since the ones I bought within this year literally never dry (thank fuck for Costco's return policy). I've worn them for years, but at some point they just dropped the ball. My Eddie Bauers are no better with them riding up my crotch and the "leather" brand patch seems like it's made of construction paper. Tried some Levis, but I just did not like the fit of the first kind and all the other ride up my crotch, too. Thankfully, managed to order some Old Navy's for like $25 a pop since they're running a summer sale for half off and tried them on in store with them fitting fine.

 

[Brahma]

And don't limit carbs, make sure you get enough.

Yeah, should have noted, the no simple carbs is a me thing, they're a trigger point overeating for me on a good day, so I avoid them like the plague. Other people manage them better. I just eat a ton of veggies to make up for no rice/pasta etc with meals.

have the quality of jeans just gone downhill over the past few years?

Of everything I find. Having fierce trouble finding a reliable tshirt/polo brand that I can get some wear out of. I moved back to Levis/Wranglers and a Spanish brand we can get over here, Salsa for jeans though. Only the 100% cotton styles though. Anything with poly/elastane etc seems to be disintegrating shockingly fast. The 100% cotton seems to be lasting what I'd call a "normal" amount.

 

[CHARizard]

Im back on a diet, gained a bit of weight and recently had a heart scare so its time to get down below 200 again, starting from 240. Switched all my carbs to whole wheat and doing nothing but turkey and chicken. Already down 11 and its stuck for a week so I think I am doing ok.

I will say this kiwi bros, dont let that heart scare happen to you. Fucking terrifying, make changes before it happens!

Down another 5 since this post. Progress has slowed as its been brutally hot outside so I have spent my weekends on the couch instead of outdoors. Also new bagel place opened up and they make a great Lox on Asiago which has really hampered me.

Still pretty happy with myself, hoping for another 5 over the next few weeks.

 

[Silly Corgan]

Stress aside, maybe you're restricting too much? If so, up your intake and see what happens. And don't limit carbs, make sure you get enough.

I've been limiting carbs to ~10g a day and lost 50 pounds at breakneck speed feeling better than I ever have. You have to make up for it in either fats or protein to remain satiated. The only scenario in which carbs can be argued as objectively necessary is during high-intensity exercise for the purpose of maximum performance.

 

[anustart76]

quality of jeans

I bought a few pairs from Lee a couple years ago. Holding up very well, at least the specific ones I wear every day.

 

[Day of the Cope]

I've been limiting carbs to ~10g a day and lost 50 pounds at breakneck speed feeling better than I ever have. You have to make up for it in either fats or protein to remain satiated. The only scenario in which carbs can be argued as objectively necessary is during high-intensity exercise for the purpose of maximum performance.

Carb cutting is really one of the things that helped me. Finally at the point where I can go at least 5, maybe even 6 hours after waking up before needing to eat (and I could probably go longer if I really wanted).

 

[Pilgrim of Grace]

Carb cutting is really one of the things that helped me.

It helped me too. I don't know if this will help anyone, but one of the tricks I picked up is subbing out carbs like rice for buckwheat.

Buckwheat is about 75% the calories of an equivalent portion of white rice with FAR greater nutrient, fiber and protein content. It's cheap and tasty, cooks like rice but less water, and is like couscous in texture.

Buckwheat+pork cabbage rolls are extremely good as is Mexican buckwheat "rice". Any kind of couscous, orzo or quinoa salad can be used directly. It makes a good breakfast porridge too, milk or cream with sugar/honey and fruit. I even served Alligator Sauce Piquante over a bed of buckwheat recently and was surprised how the tangy tomato gravy complimented the roasty-ness of the buckwheat.

 

[Day of the Cope]

It helped me too. I don't know if this will help anyone, but one of the tricks I picked up is subbing out carbs like rice for buckwheat.

Buckwheat is about 75% the calories of an equivalent portion of white rice with FAR greater nutrient, fiber and protein content. It's cheap and tasty, cooks like rice but less water, and is like couscous in texture.

Buckwheat+pork cabbage rolls are extremely good as is Mexican buckwheat "rice". Any kind of couscous, orzo or quinoa salad can be used directly. It makes a good breakfast porridge too, milk or cream with sugar/honey and fruit. I even served Alligator Sauce Piquante over a bed of buckwheat recently and was surprised how the tangy tomato gravy complimented the roasty-ness of the buckwheat.

Yeah, one of the big things I tell people is to try and substitute if they can't cut it out. Case in point, I use liquid sucralose in order to sweeten drinks and more liquid dishes. I know some people have an issue with it, but I haven't noticed any problems. Aside from that, I just stopped eating certain things when it felt like I was doing them out of obligation and not because I enjoyed it. I used to use 'riced' cauliflower in place of rice for things like buttered chicken, but when I asked myself if I really needed to do all that, I realised that I'm just fine going without. Likewise, I've stopped worrying about having a "side dish" with my meals considering it feels more like the result of growing up with boomer parents who believe that you are legally required to have a side dish or else the government will kick their door in and shoot them in the head.

I think all that is a roundabout way of saying: don't feel like you need to eat a certain way out of obligation.

 

[Raisincrest]

Good morning, Kiwis. I started Keto last Tuesday with a goal of eating less than 20g of carbs per day.

I have lost 4.6 lbs so far, so I think it's going pretty well.

Well, I just wanted to give you all an update.

I am now down 11.5 lbs as of this morning, so I'm pretty happy with how Keto is going so far.