Weight loss support thread

[Accept Only Substitutes]

I have also promised myself a spa break including a loooong hot some massage and hot oil scalp massage, getting my hair done (first time in 3 years) and a new expensive dress IF I get down to my goal weight. Hopefully it helps keep me motivated.

Depending on how far away your goal is you might consider treating yourself with smaller things every X pounds. Especially since the closer to goal the slower the weight will come off.

Today is my first day of keto. Husband is now pre-diabetic and I'm actually diabetic, so we're making the switch to low carb. I'm doing actual keto, he's just cutting back on his carbs.

I have a meal plan for the next few weeks, I'm working on a grocery list to see much we need to increase the food budget. He's going to start doing the shopping because I am incapable of going to the store without buying junk food.

I made zucchini stuffed like baked potatoes with sour cream, cheese, and bacon bits for lunch. I can hardly believe that they are diet foods. Like there's no way I can actually lose weight while eating such rich food. But I know as long as I watch the calories and don't overeat it will work and my blood sugar will get down where I don't need meds anymore.

If you do keto I highly recommend the Dirty, Lazy, Keto cookbooks. I've only tried one recipe so far, but I don't see any reason the other ones aren't going to be good too. I like the format of the books, there are tons of recipes in each book, and the author has lost 140 pounds using these recipes (or ones like them). Plus they are cheap and use easy to find ingredients, the weirdest thing you need is xanthan gum, which isn't hard to find (Walmart has it).

Super excited to continue and see results that I can keep up with because I won't hate the food I'm eating.

 

[ATI Escapee]

Ive done super well so far this year on NOT over eating on calories (take meds that make me ravenous and of course didnt control myself and overate consitently for like....months) and this week was able to maintain a meager daily deficit. Fighting the extreme nauseating hunger cues from said meds but I think the more I power through the more I acclimate to it and I can feel a very very slight reduction in hunger misery, I think. Going to slowly get acclimated to eating 'normal' then slowly add a deficit 100 calories per week at a time until I am used to eating at a calorie amount that lets me lose just under 1lbs per week. I need to lose 30 lbs ideally, but 15lbs in order to be 'healthy' again. I tend to go all in hard and fast, lose 10lbs, then quit. This time I am focusing on slow but steady progress. If I get any heavier then it will break my weight record. Really dont want that. Gonna tell myself by the time I am 30, I will be 'healthy' weight again. That gives me a year and some change. I am going to take it much slower than I have in the past because I straight up ate like crazy due to how my meds made me feel. I have to learn to handle that. So far so good.

 

[Option]

Exercise helps speed up weight gain 2-3x for 1 week after strenuous workout but its not strictly necessary if you are currently overweight.

Eat within a 4 hour window each day, don't move the window around, and consume zero calories outside that time window.

 

[Swordfish]

When I was losing weight last year, the best thing I did was eat what I wanted but be calorie conscious and weight train. You can eat your goal in whatever you want, but being conscious of how full that keeps you is really important. You can eat a 700 calorie sandwich, but how full will that really keep you for hours? It's better to eat a 300 calorie meal and be full for a few hours and make up those calories later to keep yourself not starved throughout the day. Weight training is great because it's so goal focused, hit 150 on your bench? Awesome! Now you change your goal to 160. It keeps you going like no other training I've tried.

 

[MeganDodgedABullet]

6lbs lost since Boxing day. Looking to lose 28 lbs before end of March.

 

[Accept Only Substitutes]

3.4 pounds lost last week! I am off my diabetes meds most days. I'm planning on using up my meds and not getting a refill because I'm currently using them as a crutch. If I eat more carbs than I'm supposed to, oh well take a pill! It's not healthy.

I've also lost another shoe size. I've been a size 10 women's since at least the mid-90s. At my heaviest I was a size 11. Last summer I bought a pair of size 10 sandals and now those are too big?! I knew weight loss could essentially shrink the feet because of less stress on them, but I was surprised by going down another size.

I'm now back in 2xl shirts I had just barely sized out of and could go out in public in an XL. I like my shirts to be a little looser in the belly than it is.

Feels good, man.

 

[BigFanOfTheKillstream]

I started the journey a 14 months ago and have lost 70 pounds.

The very first thing I did was cut out all caloric drinks, especially alcohol.

During the initial couple of months I only ate 1000 calories per day (Two packs of ramen and a large can of tuna). I leaned very heavily on black coffee for suppressing cravings. For me, this period of time was crucial as I learned to better cope with hunger and my stomach capacity shrank.

Afterwards, I spent spring through autumn cycling everywhere. I was a real lump of shit at first but I kept pushing myself and improved quickly. What and when to eat became more intuitive due to the constant exercise. I kept focus on being calorie deficit but began to reward myself weekly scheduled cheat days but balanced them out by making the day before and after 1K calorie days. Sort of like Jershes pidser day, except I actually followed through with the rest of his plan.

That's really the extent of what I did. No special supplements or goofy pseudoscience shit. Just diet and exercise. I've got 18 pounds left until I'm at my ideal body weight and they have been the hardest to lose. I've recently started using a calorie tracker to better quantify everything and am confident that they'll be gone by spring.

If I could give people struggling a single piece of advice, it'd be to focus on today.
It's so easy to let yourself get bogged down by yesterday and tomorrow. But you'll find success in telling yourself "Today, I'm going to make good choices". Make that affirmation every morning and follow through on it. More than losing weight, the goal is to gain self control.

You've got this, Kiwis

 

[Accept Only Substitutes]

If I could give people struggling a single piece of advice, it'd be to focus on today.
It's so easy to let yourself get bogged down by yesterday and tomorrow. But you'll find success in telling yourself "Today, I'm going to make good choices". Make that affirmation every morning and follow through on it. More than losing weight, the goal is to gain self control.

You've got this, Kiwis

I would add don't beat yourself up over mistakes. If you fuck up, log it in your tracker (if you use one) and do better at the very next meal. This is a marathon, not a sprint. You spent however many years creating bad habits, it's unrealistic to expect yourself to be perfect 100% of the time.

I'm not saying make bad choices on purpose, but forgive yourself if it happens. Don't let it derail you.

For instance both times I've eaten a bar of low carb chocolate I've had trouble with binging on sugar. Yesterday I ate half a dozen large cookies. Moving forward I'm not going to buy any chocolate. Can't binge if I don't buy anything to binge on.

I'm having a hard time breaking the soda habit. It's always diet, but I'd like to stop being addicted to it for a number of reasons. I know the solution is stop buying it, but most of time I don't remember that I want to do that until I'm home unloading the groceries.

 

[BigFanOfTheKillstream]

I'm having a hard time breaking the soda habit. It's always diet, but I'd like to stop being addicted to it for a number of reasons. I know the solution is stop buying it, but most of time I don't remember that I want to do that until I'm home unloading the groceries.

Assuming you get a caffeinated soda. Diet sodas are ok but they perpetuate sugar cravings so I avoid them.

I have a half gallon water jug that I put 3 bags of green tea into and refill it a couple times throughout the day. That might be a good substitute to try since you're not just addicted to the sweet drank but the caffeine as well. You could also try unsweetened aguas frescas. Nothing quenches thirst like cucumber/lime water.

Personally, I'd take the soda back to the store. A couple times of driving all the way back and embarrassing yourself by hassling a cashier for a $5 refund would likely break your automated purchasing. I had to build habits to outsmart myself and small measures like that go a long way

 

[Accept Only Substitutes]

Assuming you get a caffeinated soda. Diet sodas are ok but they perpetuate sugar cravings so I avoid them.

I have a half gallon water jug that I put 3 bags of green tea into and refill it a couple times throughout the day. That might be a good substitute to try since you're not just addicted to the sweet drank but the caffeine as well. You could also try unsweetened aguas frescas. Nothing quenches thirst like cucumber/lime water.

Personally, I'd take the soda back to the store. A couple times of driving all the way back and embarrassing yourself by hassling a cashier for a $5 refund would likely break your automated purchasing. I had to build habits to outsmart myself and small measures like that go a long way

I drink plenty of plain water. At least a gallon a day. I just also have a 2-liter once or twice a week and that's only because that's how often I go to the store. I can take or leave the caffeine, I just want the soda. But I also want to stop wasting money on shit I don't need, and the stress on my teeth and kidneys.

I like the idea of taking it back to the store. I also thought of pouring it out when I got home. I'm not sure which idea I like better.

Thanks!

 

[Tetragrammaton]

I'm having a hard time breaking the soda habit. It's always diet, but I'd like to stop being addicted to it for a number of reasons. I know the solution is stop buying it, but most of time I don't remember that I want to do that until I'm home unloading the groceries.

have you considered alternatives? diet soda is absolute trash so you would for sure wanna stop that. as far as alternatives think about what it is you like about the soda and go from there. do you actually like the flavors? the carbonation? the sweetness? once you figure out what it is you even like about soda you can find healthier replacements.

for example i have found that for me its not even the soda that i like its just that option of an easily accessible quick drink of something different. so ill drink various types of sparkling water instead or add plain sparkling water to healthier juice drinks like orange juice or grapefruit. a little soda is fine here and there and if you are truly addicted the best way to get out of the habit is to ween yourself off little by little. and notice stuff that makes it less appealing.

look at the price of soda and think about the stuff you could buy instead of that soda. like just as an example sparkling water is usually vastly cheaper than soda so you are saving money and can get more. so its a win/win.

 

[ATI Escapee]

I posted a while ago about having issues eating at night due to some weird meds basically ambien like haze.... it has taken me a while but I figured out a way to beat it.

Spoiler: long explanation

Fuck. I swear it was like quitting heroin or something. Basically researching the mechanism of action in my meds, there is a dopamine dump and about 1 hour after a massive block in dopamine production in the brain. Because the drugs make me heavily sedated/drunk like, at that moment my brain yells at me to find any source of dopamine possible and in my haze I cannot resist or maybe even remember correctly the next day. My brain on these drugs operates like an addict's brain. So I studied the mechanism of addictions etc and was able to learn that any signal of "go get your fix" is that of my brain wanting dopamine, bad. Had to meditate on the idea that I am not hungry, my brain is just being chemically altered and it will pass soon. More dopamine in the morning if I wait. Delayed gratification. Meditate each night on that thought until I fall asleep. I turn off phone and any source of easy dopamine at least 1/2 hour before bed and keep it in another room. Got earplugs, over the ear noise cancelling hearing protection, and a blackout sleep mask thing that keeps any trace of light out. Limit my own dopamine production before sleep, take meds, continue to meditate on the changes in nueral pathways and reward of NOT eating at night til I pass out with no noises or changes in light just sensory deprivation.

Been able to keep my habit up thank god and its getting easier. I count my calories and havent overate this year- even when I had some slip ups I was able to balance that out with a deficit. I havent weighed myself but I can tell I may have lost a modest amount due to my pants fitting a teeny bit looser, but I think I can up my deficit soon for more weight loss. I just want my not eating habit at night to really get burned in my brain first and if I go to bed hungry, I will lose. This has been embarrassingly difficult lol normally I am seen as one with a lot of, or even too much, self discipline. Struggled with borderline orthoexia (sp?) before and struggle with rigid tendacies so not being able to control this was really eating (no pun intended) me up inside.

 

[FraudFrog]

Hey guys!

I love reading all of your posts! It’s great to see everyone is keeping up and managing with a up beat attitude!

Checking in from last November, I managed the holidays alright. What got my weight up was a barrage of birthdays in early January, all that cake and snacks did me in. Tortilla chips just go straight to my spare tire. Still I got control and made it down to 122 lbs!

So I figured let’s go for 120lbs. I want to know I can get that low if I pushed myself, so in the future I have no excuses for putting the pounds back on. As of this morning (after my morning poop) I got on that scale and saw 120.5.

That’s it. I’m done. I went beyond my initial goal by 10 lbs, I’ve shown myself I can do it with discipline and patience.

Now I want to focus on building muscle. I’ve been only doing cardio for the past 2 months (5lbs lost since November). I’m gonna take my time and eat correctly. I know I can get skinny and stay skinny now, I want to believe I can get jacked and stay jacked. I’m a 40 year old guy, I shouldn’t have the body of a 12 year old.

Good luck to all of you in your journeys! If I can do it so can you! I’m in your corner!

 

[Local Degenerate]

So, fuck it, in my attempt to actually live up to my goal of losing my beer gut (or as I've heard it called before, Xbox Belly, since I don't drink), I'm joining in.

Spoiler: Introduction bullshit, since I don't know what the fuck I'm doing. Shit tons of PL ahead.

To speedrun this shit: 259 at 5'9, most weight is in my gut. I DO blame genetics (fat asses on both sides of the family, at least three generations before I lose track), but not as a scapegoat, as I got down to 180 but that involved starving myself and damn near breaking my knees (military or homelessness situation), so I know for a fact I can do it, and if I pace it out more, probably even without killing myself. Working nights from 5 PM to 4 AM, so getting outside, as well as cooking, is kinda rough, but not undoable, and I'm fully aware I'm making excuses. Have a shitty mini-gym and a pool in my apt. complex. Poor as fuck due to outrageous rent, so fuck getting an actual trainer or a real gym.

Tried keeping an eye on calories, last time I checked I was too low, and have since just gotten fucking lazy. Currently stuck eating shitty frozen dinners at lunch, and usually ramen for dinner. Am trying to cut soda out entirely, but I fucking hate the taste of water (tap water tastes like poison, and bottled water all tastes...just bad.), and I get sick of flavor packs real quick. Don't care, going to double down on the water. My biggest problem is 100% my activity though. I don't do shit most days. Trying to gamify it to get started, before moving onto just...doing it, ya know?

To start, when gaming, any loading screens or respawn timers is spent doing quick workouts (squats/pushups/situps), and I make sure to get 30 minutes (minimum) of decent cardio in the mornings before eating, though this slips my memory a lot, I'm damn sure working on it. I'm also trying to get swimming in at least twice a week, but it's pretty rough with my hours.

My goal isn't any number, just losing the gut and titties. Putting on some muscle wouldn't go amiss, less for strength, more for looks, admittedly, and I'd like to get some of my stamina back. I don't need to get back down to military standards, but I'd like to not get winded so fucking quickly.

Bonus challenge is to help my wife out too, who's gotten a bit of a belly on behalf of living with my fat ass, and would like to trim it down. Though, she has legit reasons to have a harder time getting active, those being a fucked up back (not crippled, but very tender, due to a previous incident), and asthma. I don't know how much of that is excuse, and how much of it legit, as I'm pretty damn sure my back pain is purely from said fat ass, and I don't have asthma, so I don't know how much to push her, when and where. Any advice for her will be read over my shoulder, so feel free to offer it.

I don't know if the purse dump is needed or wanted, but, as stated, I don't know what the fuck I'm doing. Never figured I'd talk to the farms about this shit.

 

[FraudFrog]

So, fuck it, in my attempt to actually live up to my goal of losing my beer gut (or as I've heard it called before, Xbox Belly, since I don't drink), I'm joining in.

Spoiler: Introduction bullshit, since I don't know what the fuck I'm doing. Shit tons of PL ahead.

To speedrun this shit: 259 at 5'9, most weight is in my gut. I DO blame genetics (fat asses on both sides of the family, at least three generations before I lose track), but not as a scapegoat, as I got down to 180 but that involved starving myself and damn near breaking my knees (military or homelessness situation), so I know for a fact I can do it, and if I pace it out more, probably even without killing myself. Working nights from 5 PM to 4 AM, so getting outside, as well as cooking, is kinda rough, but not undoable, and I'm fully aware I'm making excuses. Have a shitty mini-gym and a pool in my apt. complex. Poor as fuck due to outrageous rent, so fuck getting an actual trainer or a real gym.

Tried keeping an eye on calories, last time I checked I was too low, and have since just gotten fucking lazy. Currently stuck eating shitty frozen dinners at lunch, and usually ramen for dinner. Am trying to cut soda out entirely, but I fucking hate the taste of water (tap water tastes like poison, and bottled water all tastes...just bad.), and I get sick of flavor packs real quick. Don't care, going to double down on the water. My biggest problem is 100% my activity though. I don't do shit most days. Trying to gamify it to get started, before moving onto just...doing it, ya know?

To start, when gaming, any loading screens or respawn timers is spent doing quick workouts (squats/pushups/situps), and I make sure to get 30 minutes (minimum) of decent cardio in the mornings before eating, though this slips my memory a lot, I'm damn sure working on it. I'm also trying to get swimming in at least twice a week, but it's pretty rough with my hours.

My goal isn't any number, just losing the gut and titties. Putting on some muscle wouldn't go amiss, less for strength, more for looks, admittedly, and I'd like to get some of my stamina back. I don't need to get back down to military standards, but I'd like to not get winded so fucking quickly.

Bonus challenge is to help my wife out too, who's gotten a bit of a belly on behalf of living with my fat ass, and would like to trim it down. Though, she has legit reasons to have a harder time getting active, those being a fucked up back (not crippled, but very tender, due to a previous incident), and asthma. I don't know how much of that is excuse, and how much of it legit, as I'm pretty damn sure my back pain is purely from said fat ass, and I don't have asthma, so I don't know how much to push her, when and where. Any advice for her will be read over my shoulder, so feel free to offer it.

I don't know if the purse dump is needed or wanted, but, as stated, I don't know what the fuck I'm doing. Never figured I'd talk to the farms about this shit.

Hey good on you for starting to give it a serious go. And that’s the key, you have to be serious and dead set on where you want to be. At the end of the day it’s all gonna be CICO. Don’t be afraid to throw out food you don’t need. You don’t need snacks, chips, or a burger. That’s an entitlement you have to earn.

it’s great that you are doing cardio, and you can also just get by using a treadmill for 45 minutes of consistent movement.

In regards to your wife’s back pain, she should be doing some Physical Therapy. It is a workout, and in addition to dieting, she will see an improvement in her health and mobility. I had severe neck pain, PT and lifting really helped get my life back, I was downing Advil , like 6 a day to manage for years. Now I hardly ever feel it.

 

[Tren Shapiro]

So, fuck it, in my attempt to actually live up to my goal of losing my beer gut (or as I've heard it called before, Xbox Belly, since I don't drink), I'm joining in.

Spoiler: Introduction bullshit, since I don't know what the fuck I'm doing. Shit tons of PL ahead.

To speedrun this shit: 259 at 5'9, most weight is in my gut. I DO blame genetics (fat asses on both sides of the family, at least three generations before I lose track), but not as a scapegoat, as I got down to 180 but that involved starving myself and damn near breaking my knees (military or homelessness situation), so I know for a fact I can do it, and if I pace it out more, probably even without killing myself. Working nights from 5 PM to 4 AM, so getting outside, as well as cooking, is kinda rough, but not undoable, and I'm fully aware I'm making excuses. Have a shitty mini-gym and a pool in my apt. complex. Poor as fuck due to outrageous rent, so fuck getting an actual trainer or a real gym.

Tried keeping an eye on calories, last time I checked I was too low, and have since just gotten fucking lazy. Currently stuck eating shitty frozen dinners at lunch, and usually ramen for dinner. Am trying to cut soda out entirely, but I fucking hate the taste of water (tap water tastes like poison, and bottled water all tastes...just bad.), and I get sick of flavor packs real quick. Don't care, going to double down on the water. My biggest problem is 100% my activity though. I don't do shit most days. Trying to gamify it to get started, before moving onto just...doing it, ya know?

To start, when gaming, any loading screens or respawn timers is spent doing quick workouts (squats/pushups/situps), and I make sure to get 30 minutes (minimum) of decent cardio in the mornings before eating, though this slips my memory a lot, I'm damn sure working on it. I'm also trying to get swimming in at least twice a week, but it's pretty rough with my hours.

My goal isn't any number, just losing the gut and titties. Putting on some muscle wouldn't go amiss, less for strength, more for looks, admittedly, and I'd like to get some of my stamina back. I don't need to get back down to military standards, but I'd like to not get winded so fucking quickly.

Bonus challenge is to help my wife out too, who's gotten a bit of a belly on behalf of living with my fat ass, and would like to trim it down. Though, she has legit reasons to have a harder time getting active, those being a fucked up back (not crippled, but very tender, due to a previous incident), and asthma. I don't know how much of that is excuse, and how much of it legit, as I'm pretty damn sure my back pain is purely from said fat ass, and I don't have asthma, so I don't know how much to push her, when and where. Any advice for her will be read over my shoulder, so feel free to offer it.

I don't know if the purse dump is needed or wanted, but, as stated, I don't know what the fuck I'm doing. Never figured I'd talk to the farms about this shit.

If you aren't keeping track of calories, nothing else is gonna matter. A 25 minute sweaty-ass ride on a stationary bike is going to burn around 150 calories. All that work is undone by drinking a can of Coke. Get MyFitnessPal and log everything. Cardio is a plus but it's really going to be down to consuming a lot less calories and being in a caloric deficit day after day.

 

[Rozzy]

Since Christmas I have gained 2lbs to 149lbs.

 

[Triple Flutz]

To start, when gaming, any loading screens or respawn timers is spent doing quick workouts (squats/pushups/situps), and I make sure to get 30 minutes (minimum) of decent cardio in the mornings before eating, though this slips my memory a lot, I'm damn sure working on it. I'm also trying to get swimming in at least twice a week, but it's pretty rough with my hours.

---

Bonus challenge is to help my wife out too, who's gotten a bit of a belly on behalf of living with my fat ass, and would like to trim it down. Though, she has legit reasons to have a harder time getting active, those being a fucked up back (not crippled, but very tender, due to a previous incident), and asthma. I don't know how much of that is excuse, and how much of it legit, as I'm pretty damn sure my back pain is purely from said fat ass, and I don't have asthma, so I don't know how much to push her, when and where. Any advice for her will be read over my shoulder, so feel free to offer it.

Agreed with Tren about calories being more important than working out for weight loss- I work out to feel good and track calories to lose weight, but as far as gamifying exercise, I tend to hop on the exercise bike whenever there's a dungeon or whenever the protagonist runs, and I change inclines and resistance based on what's happening. It helps with immersion and it's fun!

I have joint pain due to sports injuries especially in my knees and back, and I suggest modified pilates and swimming for lower impact movement, but again weight loss really is made in the kitchen rather than in the gym, so she should see results as far as that goes as soon as food and drink intake are reduced to below maintenance levels. I will say that weight loss helps with the pain, even from a healthy weight down to a low-healthy weight. The less your joints have to bear, the happier they generally are. She might also benefit from PT and a visit with her doctor- my OB of all people recommended some stretches and exercises that have helped immensely with the pain.

 

[BrieLarsonFan2004]

>Had another pizza day
>Feel like shit
Wasn't worth it.

 

[decay]

Wasn't worth it.

I know what you mean I basically just eat one large meal but I get free breakfast at work , its hard to say NO to things that feel so good!