Weight loss support thread

[gaystoner]

Don't want to read 81 pages, so this is probably redundant, but in Nov 2020 I saw how much of a fat I've gained due to lockdown.

I'm 6ft and I was pushing 210-215, so not crazy, but more than I liked.

I started with intermittent fasting 16/8 and in two weeks I felt so much better I added the keto diet to see.
Without really trying anything, other than keto and fasting, I'm under 170lbs, so ~50 pounds in 6 months without even counting calories or paying attention to it.
I eat fatty steaks every night and pig out with eggs+cheese, so it doesn't even feel like work. Even things I miss like waffles have good keto substitutes: Almond flour is fucking amazing. My plan is to drop to 157, then add back BJJ/Boxing since gyms are opening back up and re-doing the starting strength program. Planning on getting ripped and staying that way.

EDIT: Few things I learned along with way. When you start out with fasting, the first 2 weeks are the hardest. I used to eat snacks before bed, so that time was the hardest for me. Just drink a bunch of water and you won't be hungry anymore. Also fuck breakfast. Don't eat after 9pm and skip breakfast, and you've essentially done a 16/8 fast. I dropped 10 pounds in my first 2 weeks of fasting. Food will taste amazing when you're fasting. I'm a slow eater, but I clean my plate in 5 minutes when fasting.

When I switched to keto I dropped another 10 pounds in a week. After that, it'll gradually slope off and weight loss will slow or stall for a bit, don't worry and just keep at it. At this point if you wanted to, you could incorporate cardio or calorie counting, or shorten your eating window, but I did none of that and still lost weight, just at a slower pace. For Keto, Whole foods has the best keto food available, look for brands like "Simple Mills" and things that use almond flour. I actually prefer almond flour for my stuff rather than flour: It tastes better to me and I don't get that "I ate a plate of pasta and now I'm a zombie" insulin spike.

This is how i lost like 10 pounds the last month and 1/2...I'd add I'm a big fan of coffee in the morning with a bit of cream/sugar. Only max 2 cups and if I have a lunch its probably a green smoothie or nut/cheese snack for protein but I prefer the vitamin smoothie. Then for dinner I do a grain (big fan of the Far East brand Quinoa / Rice w/ Rosemary) and a meat. Sometimes a glass of milk or a PBJ with 2 glasses. Simpler Eatting and I feel so much better. Even when I'm 'tired' I still feel energized.

I also workout close to daily with various things and have gone from barely 10 pushups to 30. UP UP UP!!!!!

 

[Fliddaroonie]

It was my profession being celebrated at work week, and boy, did we get so much junk food when 75% of the office is on a diet. We got free lunch for three days.

I ate only one cheat thing a day and gained three pounds. Like WTF how does a single cupcake and donut pack on the pounds?

I feel bad about last week.

I now drink four protein shakes a day. I cut out all fruit out of my diet because it was making crash harder than those airplanes on 9/11. I basically consume protein shakes, low-calorie fudge bars, protein water, string cheese, baby carrots, high protein yogurt, and anything high protein made by Quest.

My active calories on a workday walking half a mile both ways is like 420 calories without working out after work. Working out on a day off burns over 500 calories if I workout 70-90 minutes. Working out on a workday is like over 700 active calories if I do the full 90 minutes workouts.

Like WTF am I doing wrong to be plateauing and gaining weight again?

Ditch the refined processed foods. And double check your estimated BMR/TDEE. And stop thinking of things in terms of "cheat" meals. Moralising food - "cheats", "treats" is absurd, what, are you a dog who needs rewarding with junk food? If you see food as a reward, it might be worth considering why. It's just food, it's just fuel, nothing more, nothing less.


And always, always, ALWAYS UNDERESTIMATE calories burned through exercise. Additionally, stop seeing exercise as a method to "burn off" calories so you can "cheat". How do you know you're burning off over 500 calories? That's a fairly significant amount. Are you exercising with an empty stomach, or are you eating before hand "for energy"? If you're doing that, you won't be burning fat, you'll be burning muscular glycogen. Real fat burning exercise can only happen once you've no muscular or hepatic glycogen left.



And walking half a mile twice a day burns off 420 calories? X to doubt unless your BMI is like 45. Half a mile is literally nothing, even if you do it twice.



TLDR: You're eating some crap, overestimating calories burned from exercise, your estimates from BMR/TDEE are likely off (based off the fact you're clearly overestimating your calories burned from exercise) and you may not properly be keeping track off your calorie intake. You may also be eating before working out meaning you're not burning actual fat.


Oh, and nobody pinned you down and forced you to eat those "cheat" items.


Edited to say: "Plateaus" are a myth. If you are not as fat as you were, your body expends fewer calories just existing. When you are losing weight you constantly need to re-evaluate your calorie intake to reflect your BMR/TDEE/BMI because the thinner you are, the fewer calories you need. If you weighed 300lb, lost 50lb and are still eating the same number of calories that you were, you'll struggle to lose.

 

[Jeff Boomhauer]

I got a wake-up call recently when I found out how high my BMI was for my height (I'm 5'8", not quite a manlet but still shorter than most men I know).

I don't have a good excuse, either. I've just been lazy and unmotivated to work out these past few years. Last week, I bought a some cheap equipment to at least do something while I'm home on my days off. Fingers crossed I don't give it up in a month or so...

 

[world of shit]

I now drink four protein shakes a day. I cut out all fruit out of my diet because it was making crash harder than those airplanes on 9/11. I basically consume protein shakes, low-calorie fudge bars, protein water, string cheese, baby carrots, high protein yogurt, and anything high protein made by Quest.

Exercise is to feel good and live long, not exactly weight loss. In my experience it's 85% food and 15% exercise. Instead of walking you might want to try heavy compound lifts, as those burn calories the next day even when you're doing nothing.

Those quest bars and lowfat snacks are usually shit.

Until my bodyfat % started to drop to normal-below normal, I didn't even count calories, instead I limited carbs and sugar. Eating no sugar and low carbs is how I dropped my first 10pounds in a a week or two.

 

[TVStactic]

I got a wake-up call recently when I found out how high my BMI was for my height (I'm 5'8", not quite a manlet but still shorter than most men I know).

I don't have a good excuse, either. I've just been lazy and unmotivated to work out these past few years. Last week, I bought a some cheap equipment to at least do something while I'm home on my days off. Fingers crossed I don't give it up in a month or so...

you can also do this

i do it every now and then because busy but if i could i would do each day i wouldn't be recovering, it leaves you a bit sore (granted you did post excercises stretches, they even have a strech guide too)
it's good to gain stamina because it's mainly focused on cardio, if you have good stamina then you can do strength excercises that will help curb the fat even quickier depending on your metabolism. i recommend that shit but keep in mind to not attempt to do all the excercises in full if you can't. try doing a circuit until you habe enough stamina for all the excercises, then jump to strength and you even have equips to help, that's good too.

 

[Not Really Here]

Ditch the refined processed foods. And double check your estimated BMR/TDEE. And stop thinking of things in terms of "cheat" meals. Moralising food - "cheats", "treats" is absurd, what, are you a dog who needs rewarding with junk food? If you see food as a reward, it might be worth considering why. It's just food, it's just fuel, nothing more, nothing less.


And always, always, ALWAYS UNDERESTIMATE calories burned through exercise. Additionally, stop seeing exercise as a method to "burn off" calories so you can "cheat". How do you know you're burning off over 500 calories? That's a fairly significant amount. Are you exercising with an empty stomach, or are you eating before hand "for energy"? If you're doing that, you won't be burning fat, you'll be burning muscular glycogen. Real fat burning exercise can only happen once you've no muscular or hepatic glycogen left.



And walking half a mile twice a day burns off 420 calories? X to doubt unless your BMI is like 45. Half a mile is literally nothing, even if you do it twice.



TLDR: You're eating some crap, overestimating calories burned from exercise, your estimates from BMR/TDEE are likely off (based off the fact you're clearly overestimating your calories burned from exercise) and you may not properly be keeping track off your calorie intake. You may also be eating before working out meaning you're not burning actual fat.


Oh, and nobody pinned you down and forced you to eat those "cheat" items.


Edited to say: "Plateaus" are a myth. If you are not as fat as you were, your body expends fewer calories just existing. When you are losing weight you constantly need to re-evaluate your calorie intake to reflect your BMR/TDEE/BMI because the thinner you are, the fewer calories you need. If you weighed 300lb, lost 50lb and are still eating the same number of calories that you were, you'll struggle to lose.

Just to add a point about over/under estimating, one should always overestimate the calories they are eating.
Round everything you eat UP to the next hundred (eg X portion adds up to 110 calories, count it as 200.)

 

[burntgrilledcheese]

Down two more pounds, which is great, but I'm feeling bigger than ever? What the fuckery.

 

[X Pac Heat]

Started Keto last Friday, already down 6 pounds. I know it's water weight but it's still nice as I was having trouble dropping water weight I'd gained since an operation I had last year.

My one friend whos is a massive alcoholic threw a bitch fit at me about it. I know his wife tried doing it last summer and failed miserably, but he just kept going on and on about how it isn't sustainable and that "guzzling butter" is the most unhealthy thing ever which really makes me question what his wife did on it.

Honestly, my diet hasn't really changed much outside of me cutting out bread and sugar, and eating a serving of bacon with my breakfast and lunch. The big takeaway I have is I just haven't felt hungry at all since Monday, to the point where I'm basically intermittent fasting without trying. If that ends up killing me oh well, at least my corpse won't be bloated.

 

[rocknrollmartian]

Started Keto last Friday, already down 6 pounds. I know it's water weight but it's still nice as I was having trouble dropping water weight I'd gained since an operation I had last year.

My one friend whos is a massive alcoholic threw a bitch fit at me about it. I know his wife tried doing it last summer and failed miserably, but he just kept going on and on about how it isn't sustainable and that "guzzling butter" is the most unhealthy thing ever which really makes me question what his wife did on it.

Honestly, my diet hasn't really changed much outside of me cutting out bread and sugar, and eating a serving of bacon with my breakfast and lunch. The big takeaway I have is I just haven't felt hungry at all since Monday, to the point where I'm basically intermittent fasting without trying. If that ends up killing me oh well, at least my corpse won't be bloated.

There's so much hyperbole surrounding keto. Someone I know is a medical resident and acts like keto is evil, which is a joke when most overweight and obese people are SAD-eating fast food junkies. High-quality meat/fish, eggs, dairy, and non-starchy veg are not bad for you if you tolerate them well and are dropping extra fat while eating them. If you start to feel sluggish and disgusting or your bloodwork is awry, that's another issue, of course.

 

[ClownBrew]

I got a wake-up call recently when I found out how high my BMI was for my height (I'm 5'8", not quite a manlet but still shorter than most men I know).

I don't have a good excuse, either. I've just been lazy and unmotivated to work out these past few years. Last week, I bought a some cheap equipment to at least do something while I'm home on my days off. Fingers crossed I don't give it up in a month or so...

Bro. I am the same height and there's just no wholesome sensitive progressive way to say it. We're manlets. Fucking leprechauns in fact.

Might as well own it...it's very liberating that way.

Just be glad you don't have to be a skinny manlet to boot. We look like eleven year olds wearing glue on beards from Spirit Halloween.

 

[lurk_moar]

I just lost three pounds. Now, I am overweight for the first time in twelve years instead of obese.

What I have been noticing is that my weight will stay the same for a couple of weeks, then my body would just one day suddenly decide that it no longer wants three pounds of fat. Weight loss is not linear it seems. Please do not give up when the scale refuses to budge for weeks despite diet and exercise.

Edit: From my highest weight until now, I lost 49 pounds. I have seventeen more pounds to lose until I surpass my lowest weight as a teenager. I need to lose 24 more pounds until I reach my ultimate goal weight and maybe lose even moar weight. Let's go do this.

 

[Uncle Warren]

Down to 215 and change. Went for rice and cheated a bit, but the weight's still going down the same as it should. I am definitely ok with this, but I honestly feel like after having pizza and dumplings, I realize I just don't miss them as I used to the first month. The nuclear protein buff I had with the rice though was fucking kino.

Spoiler: Imagine responding to a week old post.

It was my profession being celebrated at work week, and boy, did we get so much junk food when 75% of the office is on a diet. We got free lunch for three days.

I ate only one cheat thing a day and gained three pounds. Like WTF how does a single cupcake and donut pack on the pounds?

I feel bad about last week.

I now drink four protein shakes a day. I cut out all fruit out of my diet because it was making crash harder than those airplanes on 9/11. I basically consume protein shakes, low-calorie fudge bars, protein water, string cheese, baby carrots, high protein yogurt, and anything high protein made by Quest.

My active calories on a workday walking half a mile both ways is like 420 calories without working out after work. Working out on a day off burns over 500 calories if I workout 70-90 minutes. Working out on a workday is like over 700 active calories if I do the full 90 minutes workouts.

Like WTF am I doing wrong to be plateauing and gaining weight again?

Well first of all if you were eating one junk a day, you're building up to the end of the week, literally in your colon, fat, and well being. Your answer to this is even worse.

All of the stuff you're chomping on means nothing if you're gorging yourself. You could literally eat the best food money can buy and still gain weight from the amount you consume. If you want to lose weight, you need to portion yourself out, count your calorie intakes, and focus on getting your macronutrients balanced while working on your vitamin/mineral intake, otherwise you're eating all that health shake bullshit in a panic with no progress getting out of it.

If you're looking for energy, try coffee, or zero cal energy powders you can mix with water. Nootropics and all that. Also this is just a me thing but ashwaghanda is good for cortisol levels, which you want to keep down.

 

[Not Really Here]

I just lost three pounds. Now, I am overweight for the first time in twelve years instead of obese.

What I have been noticing is that my weight will stay the same for a couple of weeks, then my body would just one day suddenly decide that it no longer wants three pounds of fat. Weight loss is not linear it seems. Please do not give up when the scale refuses to budge for weeks despite diet and exercise.

Edit: From my highest weight until now, I lost 49 pounds. I have seventeen more pounds to lose until I surpass my lowest weight as a teenager. I need to lose 24 more pounds until I reach my ultimate goal weight and maybe lose even moar weight. Let's go do this.

Congratulations bro, a 50 pound loss deserves more than a sticker.

 

[Cousin It]

Fell hard off the wagon at the start of covid and gained far more than I'm willing to admit. I am now on day 2 of a high protein diet shift and new exercise plan. Feeling confident so far, but we'll see how it pans out.

 

[Clown College]

Just completed my first 48 hour fast, down to 213.2 lbs. from around 216ish not sure as I forgot to weigh myself the day of my fast. I had done a 36.75 hour fast last week so this wasn't too difficult. Next week I'll do another 48 hour fast and then move to a 72 hour. One of the big things for me is not sabotaging myself after the fast with "rewards" that consist of junk food. Also talked to my dad on mother's day and the doctor finally told him to get in shape or get diabetes so it's good to have someone to lose weight with.

 

[CDXLIV]

Currently pregnant with my first child and have gained 10 pounds. I know this is normal but I’ve been eating like crazy and do not want to gain any unnecessary weight. I have a (barely) normal BMI currently and want to keep it that way as much as possible. Anyone have any tips on how to balance nurturing your body enough for two without causing excessive, unnecessary weight gain?

 

[Mr. 0]

Currently pregnant with my first child and have gained 10 pounds. I know this is normal but I’ve been eating like crazy and do not want to gain any unnecessary weight. I have a (barely) normal BMI currently and want to keep it that way as much as possible. Anyone have any tips on how to balance nurturing your body enough for two without causing excessive, unnecessary weight gain?

don't starve that child

just do some light working out/cardio and then you can do insane arnold shit once you've recovered from giving birth

maybe you can play with the kid by doing angled curls or bench presses with it (and then reap what you've sowed when it gets big enough to bench press you)

 

[Cum Laudely]

Currently pregnant with my first child and have gained 10 pounds. I know this is normal but I’ve been eating like crazy and do not want to gain any unnecessary weight. I have a (barely) normal BMI currently and want to keep it that way as much as possible. Anyone have any tips on how to balance nurturing your body enough for two without causing excessive, unnecessary weight gain?

Don't starve your kid you should only worry about weight gain if you were obese pre-pregnancy. My sister was born premature 3 weeks early only 6lbs or something like that because my mom didn't know she needed to eat. Compare that to me (yes) I'm a guy but still I was born 10lbs 9oz and my immune system is better than my sisters and I am smarter than she is. The key difference is my mom didn't starve herself when pregnant with me. Brain development happens in the late weeks of pregnancy. Don't starve yourself to the point of your baby wanting to come out the womb begging for nutrients. Keep up on your micro & macro nutrients during pregnancy. Also grant yourself at least one craving too. I've heard some crazy change in appetites because of pregnancy. Not going full Smorgasburg is fine and wanting to keep a balanced diet is also fine. But again I feel a happy medium between those 2 is whatever new craving you got allow yourself that craving. Think of it as a "cheat day" meal.

 

[Fliddaroonie]

There's so much hyperbole surrounding keto. Someone I know is a medical resident and acts like keto is evil, which is a joke when most overweight and obese people are SAD-eating fast food junkies. High-quality meat/fish, eggs, dairy, and non-starchy veg are not bad for you if you tolerate them well and are dropping extra fat while eating them. If you start to feel sluggish and disgusting or your bloodwork is awry, that's another issue, of course.

And also, if anyone is planning on trying keto, you do need to speak to your Doctor or GP first. It's not suitable for everyone, but it works very, very well for many of us.

 

[Raisin Boy]

I have a very, very basic question: I was near 280 lbs on January 4th when I started exercising and watching what I eat. I'm down 52 lbs as of this morning. Friend of mine goes "oh you sure that's not too rapid? you might be fucking up your organs or something."

That's stupid shit, right? Is this a "go to the doctor and make sure" thing or a "don't let hypochondriacs freak you out" thing? I feel awesome, no complaints here.