Weight loss support thread

[Mutley]

Question for the regulars in this thread: What causes that plateau when losing weight?
Part of me feels like "set point" is real but I disagree with fatties that it would ever be anything over 200lbs for most people.

I am in the same boat at the moment..on a plateau that seems to stay the same. For the last two weeks my wright has pretty much been the same.

But what i was told is that weight is not the only thing to focus on, focus on measurements like waist etc as you may see the difference there rather that just weight coming off.

So I have found that I am still slimming down waist wise but I can see I am putting on some muscle which (i hope) may account for a perceived plateau. At the same time I am going to review my diet and exercise plan in light of my changed BMR etc

At least that's what I am telling myself to remain motivated

 

[NoReturn]

Also 200lbs for me is malnourished even 220lbs is still malnourished for me.

That's why I said "most people". If Andre the Giant was 200lbs he would have been the world's spookiest scariest skeleton.

 

[Cum Laudely]

Ye

That's why I said "most people". If Andre the Giant was 200lbs he would have been the world's spookiest scariest skeleton.

Yeah I seen the "most" part, forgot to throw in I'm one of the outliers in that mostly. Imagining Andre the Giant as Eugenia Cooney is very spooky indeed. I forgot who but someone said his remains were like 30lbs or something crazy like that. I just remember it being an absurdly high number for ashes.

 

[Overly Serious]

Finally saw 169 on the scale today. Still a ways to go, but that made me feel good.

Congratulations. Especially once I realised you probably weren't talking in metric!

Don't want to sound defeatist, yet it's fucking difficult. I go to the gym at least 5 days a week, and do cardio + weightlifting. Yet the compulsion for eating crap like snack food sometimes is way too hard. Or worse: sweet (sugar) coated food. It would be an option not to have it in the house, but I can't control others' lives. Either way, hope others are doing good in their progress.

Despite everything, I'm 124 KG. My next step is 110 KG.

What are you down from?

If it helps, sugar isn't addictive in the drug sense per se. What it does is throw you wildly out of balance so that you keep having spikes and troughs leading to strong cravings. But if make it through a few days without eating refined sugars then you get back into balance. You may still want sugar out of habits you've acquired but you wont be having those wild body driven urges for it. It'll just be psychological. I went cold turkey on refined sugars over a year ago and it had a dramatic effect on lowering my weight. Admittedly I was in a situation where I was able to eliminate them from my house but even without that, it's doable. The trick is to get through the first few days so your body can re-find its balance and then remind yourself after that point that it's just psychological. A few days without and it suddenly gets easier.

Complex carbs are good it's the simple carbs that are bad. Me personally I would only up protein intake if you actually workout. I mean supplemental protein as well. Protein from meats is fine but supplemental protein should be done with workouts because otherwise it's doing nothing for you from what I've seen.

I don't know if it's useless. You're not going to build muscle just from eating protein. But I think it can help manage hunger if you're trying to get fewer of your calories from carbs. And I think it can reduce loss of muscle a bit when dieting. But yes, really you should be working out a little to maintain muscle whilst dieting. I just don't think it's bad to have it. I started taking Huel which is high in protein and it's been good just for reducing calories as it makes me feel somewhat satisfied just by itself.

 

[Taxidermied Rat]

Yet the compulsion for eating crap like snack food sometimes is way too hard. Or worse: sweet (sugar) coated food. It would be an option not to have it in the house, but I can't control others' lives.

I found that having healthier alternatives, which are easier to access, help avoid snacking.

For sweets I like %83 cocoa chocolate(I would go %100 but I can't find any in store) and it's great for satisfying a sweet craving while not resetting my sugar addiction. It may taste bitter at first, but your taste buds will eventually adjust. Fruit also helps here. I would also recommend avoiding fake sugar since even though it's low calorie it maintains a sugar addiction.

For other snack foods try to identify what you like about them and try to find a different food which gets close. For example I used to love chips, specifically the texture. I replaced them with veggie straws a low calorie chip and eventually replaced those with baby carrots and fresh celery(I made transition since veggie straws are still ultra processed so I don't want to binge them either, but they are lower calorie than other chips so it helps with weight loss + they aren't as addictive to me).

What causes that plateau when losing weight?

Basically what others have said. These things specifically worked for me to break one:

• Make sure to get enough sleep, about 7-9 hours
• Exercise with a focus on enjoyable low impact exercises, your body will eventually adapt to this though just like it adapts to a calorie deficit
• Try eating at maintenance calories, at what ever your current weight is, for about a week or two and then try to continue loosing weight. Make sure to continue eating what ever you're eating for your diet, just a bit more of it (don't use this as an excuse to eat a whole bunch of sweets or junk). You may gain a bit of water weight, but don't be discouraged. This has broken the most steadfast of plateaus.

 

[Outer Space Traveller]

What are you down from?

If it helps, sugar isn't addictive in the drug sense per se. What it does is throw you wildly out of balance so that you keep having spikes and troughs leading to strong cravings. But if make it through a few days without eating refined sugars then you get back into balance. You may still want sugar out of habits you've acquired but you wont be having those wild body driven urges for it. It'll just be psychological. I went cold turkey on refined sugars over a year ago and it had a dramatic effect on lowering my weight. Admittedly I was in a situation where I was able to eliminate them from my house but even without that, it's doable. The trick is to get through the first few days so your body can re-find its balance and then remind yourself after that point that it's just psychological. A few days without and it suddenly gets easier.

I'm down from 135 KG. But I had been fatter before.

That's interesting! Having the perspective of it being more psychological than "bodily" necessarily helps. Congratulations on quitting too. Stay strong!

found that having healthier alternatives, which are easier to access, help avoid snacking.

For sweets I like %83 cocoa chocolate(I would go %100 but I can't find any in store) and it's great for satisfying a sweet craving while not resetting my sugar addiction. It may taste bitter at first, but your taste buds will eventually adjust. Fruit also helps here. I would also recommend avoiding fake sugar since even though it's low calorie it maintains a sugar addiction.

For other snack foods try to identify what you like about them and try to find a different food which gets close. For example I used to love chips, specifically the texture. I replaced them with veggie straws a low calorie chip and eventually replaced those with baby carrots and fresh celery

Hmmmm, I think I should give it a try. With at least healthier options of snack or at least fruits and things. But There are a lot of good options I should try and just see if they are good. Fake sugars are the worst, truly.

 

[Roland TB-303]

Hmmmm, I think I should give it a try. With at least healthier options of snack or at least fruits and things. But There are a lot of good options I should try and just see if they are good. Fake sugars are the worst, truly.

What helped me a lot was getting a Soda Stream. Usually you’re not actually hungry but thirsty and having something fizzy helps with mouth feel (I’m a faggot I know). Squeeze some lemon in there and you’re good to go.

 

[Overly Serious]

I'm down from 135 KG. But I had been fatter before.

Then you're already doing very well. Just got to keep progressing and make sure you don't rebound. A tip is to avoid thinking in very dramatic terms of if you backslide on a day thinking "Oh, I've failed and can't do this". If you have a day or a morning where you backslide don't let that be an excuse to give up - just go right back to what you should be doing. You've already proven you can.

Just to maybe put my previous post in slightly clearer terms, there are two factors going on with sugar. The first is the loss of balance - that's like cycling down a road and something hits you from the side and you go wobbling in one direction, overcompensate and go wobbling in the other and you're back and forth careering all over the place. That's the sugar high-low cycle. It's very hard to resist that because your body is desperately trying to right itself and if it's crashing, it cries out for the sugar to course correct and you actually really feel crap for really real reasons - your blood sugar is all out of whack. Usually about three days cutting out sugar will help your body get out of the crazy swing cycle and have regained a balance.

Now what you're left with is the second factor - psychological / habit / comfort. This is not a negligible thing and still takes effort and planning to overcome BUT it is a much weaker force than the first because it's not the same actual real biological process causing real physiological effect of blood-sugar crashes and huge insulin spikes. Whenever you have a sugar-splurge you're going to need to re-find your balance (which you can do) and then you're back to mending your habits and steady improvement.

BTW, just to add on to the advice of finding a substitute and planning things out, this is good advice but make sure you don't overdo it and just think "hey, I can eat as much as I like because it's not X". Like devouring blocks of cheese instead of chocolate bars! My own substitute was Huel. I'm very much not a fad type person but this is non-soy based, high in protein and really, really low sugar. I get the chocolate "Black Edition" and it helped me get out of a sugar-dependency as my substitute because it actually tastes really good and satisfied the chocolate craving. Not saying this is better or worse than other people's (or cheapest), but just that this is the one I used for this technique.

Good luck and keep posting here for encouragement and support.

Also, as I think you said one of the problems is what others have in the house, be open with them - tell them you're really trying to turn things around and could they keep their snacks in their room (if housemates) or if family ask them to help avoid that stuff in other ways. Support from those around you can really make a difference and there's nothing to be ashamed of in trying to be healthier.

 

[Outer Space Traveller]

Good luck and keep posting here for encouragement and support.

Also, as I think you said one of the problems is what others have in the house, be open with them - tell them you're really trying to turn things around and could they keep their snacks in their room (if housemates) or if family ask them to help avoid that stuff in other ways. Support from those around you can really make a difference and there's nothing to be ashamed of in trying to be healthier.

Thank you for your words! I hope to be able to help others, just as others are trying to help as well.

I agree, the backsliding could be an issue, but I feel like there's no shame in trying to do better.

 

[DrearyDoomguy]

What helped me a lot was getting a Soda Stream. Usually you’re not actually hungry but thirsty and having something fizzy helps with mouth feel (I’m a faggot I know). Squeeze some lemon in there and you’re good to go.

Sparkling water is also a good go-to. Particularly the coconut variety, it works better than all the sparkling waters that try and recreate fruit flavor and just end up with a vague scent of fruit.

 

[soft breathing]

After losing a good chunk of weight some time ago, I'm trying to get back on track. I didn't really gain any of it back, but I still want to lose around 25ish pounds, preferably by the end of the year. Wish me luck, I'll be trying my best.

Update: As of today, I'm already 5 pounds down. 20 more to go, I can do this!

 

[Iron Jaguar]

I've posted about this in the weight lifting thread but about a year ago I started being very conscious of my caloric intake, but more specifically 1) what I eat, 2) how much of it I eat, and 3) when I eat. Of these, I would say the last is the most important.
I have been fasting overnight for 12 to 14 hours every day for roughly the past 6 months and the weight has fallen away.
I do regular, heavy weight training but that plays no part in my weight loss. The majority of it has been through the fasting and thereby letting my basal metabolic rate do the work for me.
Anyone could do this. Anyone.

Edit: I have a low carb diet. When I do have carbs, they would be the equivalent of two slices of toast in the morning and maybe the same at lunchtime (but often I only have protein at lunch), but my last meal of the day (usually at 5pm) is typically a 200gm steak, pan fried in ghee. I don't eat carbs at all after midday.

Also 200lbs for me is malnourished even 220lbs is still malnourished for me.

You must be over 6'6".

Complex carbs are good it's the simple carbs that are bad.

No. That's a mistake people make. Ultimately, carbs are carbs, and carbs are sugar.
@8:40

https://youtu.be/LRHir1k9jmE?si=M_btst5gTiMRuxpP

 

[JoseRaulChupacabra]

No. That's a mistake people make. Ultimately, carbs are carbs, and carbs are sugar.
@8:40
https://youtu.be/LRHir1k9jmE?si=M_btst5gTiMRuxpP

The good part about rice is that it's much easier than sweet potatoes - both portioning and storing.

 

[Devout Muslim]

I have been fasting overnight for 12 to 14 hours every day for roughly the past 6 months and the weight has fallen away.

That’s not a long fast. Intermittent fasting is typically done for 18-19 hours.

my last meal of the day (usually at 5pm)

This is why you’re losing weight.

https://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/fulltext/S1550-4131(22)00397-7

 

[Iron Jaguar]

That’s not a long fast. Intermittent fasting is typically done for 18-19 hours.

Ok? I didn't say it was. But it's long enough to be extremely effective for me.

This is why you’re losing weight.

Did you somehow get the impression that I had absolutely no idea why I was losing weight? Did you think I was posting in the hope that someone would be able to solve this mystery?

 

[Devout Muslim]

Ok? I didn't say it was. But it's long enough to be extremely effective for me.

It literally has no relevancy. You’re losing weight because you’re not eating after 5pm, not because of the duration.

 

[Iron Jaguar]

It literally has no relevancy. You’re losing weight because you’re not eating after 5pm, not because of the duration.

Are you retarded? - Not eating after 5pm then results in the duration I need to lose weight via BMR. Not everyone needs an 18 hour fast.
Or is your objection simply to the use of the word "fasting"? Like, it's "not long enough" in your opinion, so it doesn't count as fasting? What else do I call it? - I know that the meal I eat the next morning is literally called break-fast.

Intermittent fasting is typically done for 18-19 hours.

Says fucking who? - All the social media influencers you follow? Some faggot gymbro you subscribe to?
Plenty of people use 12-14 hours for fasting.

 

[soft breathing]

I usually don't care what other people say about my appearance, but when one of my coworkers looked me up & down and was like "damn, did you loose weight? you look awesome!" it really gave me a small confidence-boost.
Seems like what I'm doing is really working and not just water-weight.

 

[Cum Laudely]

You must be over 6'6".

No 5'11" and a little extra but still not quite 6ft

No. That's a mistake people make. Ultimately, carbs are carbs, and carbs are sugar.

I never said I didn't but that glucose is necessary to be converted into glycogen to fuel muscles. My point was whatever you choose just eat quality ingredients.

That’s not a long fast. Intermittent fasting is typically done for 18-19 hours.

This is why you’re losing weight.

https://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/fulltext/S1550-4131(22)00397-7

At this point it's become about semantics and terminology. There isn't a specific number but if you wanna gripe over terminology then it still falls under TRE time restricted eating.

 

[Devout Muslim]

There isn't a specific number but if you wanna gripe over terminology then it still falls under TRE time restricted eating.

I was just highlighting the fact that in this case the timing is the more salient feature. I’m not interested in having a discussion about terminology.