Weight loss support thread

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Recently started a clinical trial for orforglipron, which is an oral medication that does exactly what Ozempic does except it's taken as a tablet. I had actually already began losing weight prior to taking the medication (2 months: down 10kg; 100->90kg, 31->29 BMI) and weirdly have stopped losing weight since I started taking it. I don't think it's the medicine's fault, just that I am not used to never feeling hungry, so I don't know actually when I should be eating. Seriously, you don't get hungry at all on this stuff. Minor nausea up to 5 minutes after taking and that's all it is side-effect wise.

TBH I actually liked feeling hungry/eating 1400 calories max because it was a reminder that I was losing weight now it feels like my stomach is on SSRIs. I was fat (31=obese) but I live in freedom-land so I was at least just one in the crowd, plus I was losing weight before I started taking it I just decided to start taking it because they are paying me
 
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Markiplier's Basement said:
Recently started a clinical trial for orforglipron, which is an oral medication that does exactly what Ozempic does except it's taken as a tablet. I had actually already began losing weight prior to taking the medication (2 months: down 10kg; 100->90kg, 31->29 BMI) and weirdly have stopped losing weight since I started taking it. I don't think it's the medicine's fault, just that I am not used to never feeling hungry, so I don't know actually when I should be eating. Seriously, you don't get hungry at all on this stuff. Minor nausea up to 5 minutes after taking and that's all it is side-effect wise.

TBH I actually liked feeling hungry/eating 1400 calories max because it was a reminder that I was losing weight now it feels like my stomach is on SSRIs. I was fat (31=obese) but I live in freedom-land so I was at least just one in the crowd, plus I was losing weight before I started taking it I just decided to start taking it because they are paying me
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Daily, huh? I hear it's supposed to be cheaper but I bet it costs just about the same when it comes out.
 
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Ultrapenguin said:
I think if people tried limiting the period in which they eat they might find they feel a lot better; one's energy levels will be a lot higher if they get used to putting off eating until later in the day. If someone can limit the period they eat to between 3-9, or 5-12, it will most likely benefit them in a lot more ways than just cutting weight.
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I switched to Intermittent Fasting, eating only between 12 noon and 8pm. It had an impressive effect on my weight loss. Despite the fact that intermittent fasting isn't actually a diet or a weight-loss treatment. It was all secondary effects resulting from better meal planning, more rest for my digestive system, I suspect lower average blood sugar and the fact that in an eight-hour window, two filling meals take up all the available space.

It is NOT a weight-loss tool in itself, but I highly recommend it.
 
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Currently down to 306.6 according to the bathroom scale. I'll start implementing fasting from midnight to noon on Mondays through Saturdays. Steps have been out of wack, same with gym routine.
 
6’ Male. I was over 330 in February (The scale errored out over that so I don’t know by how much), and I’m currently down to 279. My goal is 250 by the end of the year and then probably 200 by the end of 2026.

I cut down to about 1000 calories per day for the first couple months, than readjusted up to 1000-1500. Even my “cheat days” every 1-2 weeks tend to only reach 2000-2500 as the diet changes have generally slowed down my eating as I try and savour the flavour and dopamine from the smaller food portions. It also means I get to recognizing the feeling of fullness at a lower calorie amount since I’m not stuffing myself before it can register.

Some things that helped me early were switching to a largely canned soup diet (Tomato or chicken soups are pretty low calorie, the calories are easier to count than making it homemade as it is preportioned and if you cook it hot it further forces you to slow down your eating) and eating pickles to sate the off-hour food cravings / feelings of hunger. Frying a single egg is also a fairly normal snack for me recently, I’ve avoided boiling only because I initially was avoiding having too much “ready to eat” food available, the more prep time food had the easier it was the reign myself back in as I was struggling to keep from binging past my calorie goals.

Once it warmed up in spring I started walking the 30 minutes to and from work and by the time summer hit I was up to an 8-10km walk twice daily. I have an exercise bike I’ll start using in the winter when it’s too cold/dark again. I would also like to move on from walking to jogging/running or other higher intensity cardio, but that’s for after I’m closer to 200 and there is less potential joint strain from weight.
 
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WardTrangler said:
I would also like to move on from walking to jogging/running or other higher intensity cardio, but that’s for after I’m closer to 200 and there is less potential joint strain from weight.
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I saw this post from the 'new post' section so sorry if this is unwarranted, but I wanted to ask if you'd ever consider swimming instead? It's a lot easier on the joints than jogging or running, and it burns a comparable amount of calories, if not more. Plus, it's a full-body workout so you'd notice some development of the musculature too. I know that not everybody has easy access to swimming pools, but if you do have access to one it might be something to consider.
 
Swimming isn’t completely off my list of exercise options but it does have some big negatives for me.
1. No headphones. Listening to podcasts/youtube really helps me from losing motivation while doing extended exercise sessions.
2. Again regarding motivation, with walking/biking I find it a lot easier to just set a route to circle my town or to/from work/supermarket/etc than I did using a treadmill/exercise bike for a set distance/time. I guess it’s the actual physical movement or the irregularity of movement that keeps me more engaged.
3. I think my biggest concern would be fitting it in to my schedule in a consistent manner. I’m often getting up between 00:00-02:00 and work at 06:30. Walking/jogging/running is something I can do on the way to work and then I’m reinforced to do after work as I will have left my car at home.

You did however make me reassess shortening the route home after work and including swimming at that time, incorporating it during the weekend and during the winter months. I’ll have to check the local hours and membership costs.

Edit: Looks like I would be limited to Saturday/Sunday, still probably worth doing as I kind of hate treadmills and I’m not too fond of the ergonomics of my recumbent bike at home, so the less I have to rely on those in winter the better.
 
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I hope this is the right place to ask...

I want to lose weight. I'd like to lose 40 pounds by December. I'm trying to eat less (I don't knkw if I'll diet). I'd like to exercise, but I often go home late, and I don't live in a good area for me to go walking. So, I was looking for fitness equipment. However, I live in a tiny apartment and I don't have a lot of space. Can anyone recommend some small equipment? I was looking at this, and maybe some weights?
 
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Is there a gym that's open 24/7 near you?
If not, bodyweight workouts could work in the apartment. I haven't used that stepper machine you linked, so I couldn't tell you if it's good or not.
 
WardTrangler said:
1. No headphones. Listening to podcasts/youtube really helps me from losing motivation while doing extended exercise sessions.
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So does not drowning. Nice thing with swimming lengths is that you only need to motivate yourself once at each end of the pool. Once you set off you have to keep going to the other end! :)

Fittest I've ever been in my life was probably when I did a 40minute swim every morning before work. It's a great exercise. And I don't know your skill level but if you get properly good at it, it almost becomes a steady routine like running on a treadmill - the stroke and breath pattern of it. Why not try doing the swimming for a few weeks and see if the lack of headphones really is a problem.

Daddy's Little Kitten said:
I want to lose weight. I'd like to lose 40 pounds by December. I'm trying to eat less (I don't knkw if I'll diet). I'd like to exercise, but I often go home late, and I don't live in a good area for me to go walking. So, I was looking for fitness equipment. However, I live in a tiny apartment and I don't have a lot of space. Can anyone recommend some small equipment? I was looking at this, and maybe some weights?
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I can tell you from looking at it that it almost certainly wont be a good investment. Those little exercise machines that rely on little pistons for resistance are never good, ime. They have a jerky level of resistance - too hard at some parts of the movement, barely there at others. In particular watch out of rowing machines that use pistons.

If it's stepping you want you'd honestly be much better off with a plastic exercise step (get a set for different heights if you like) and a couple of dumbells to hold in your hands while you step. It'll likely be a better muscle activation as well as you'll be keeping your balance more actively and doing both step ups and full step downs. I've a strong opinion on this - it'll be better, trust me. Bonus is that you can also use the dumbells in other exercises like lunges, squats, etc.

Being mindful of your space limitations I'm just going to recommend getting a small single set of dumbells. Not sure of your sex or build so can't give specifics. If female and smaller, solid fixed weight dumbells might be fine and certainly cheaper. If you want to spend more serious money or use them for a variety of exercises you could get some adjustable ones with iron plates. I wouldn't go for vinyl ones - either just get fixed weights suitable for holding during steps; or proper metal plate ones with solid bar not hollow. But I'd suggest the former based on what you said. I can advise more on this if it's a route you'd like to go down. But regardless, I would seriously recommend just getting a step/steps that you can slide under the bed rather than cheap piston home-stepper.
 
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Daddy's Little Kitten said:
I'm a tiny fat girl.
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Great. That's cheaper!

Get yourself something like this to start with.
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There are even more basic non-adjustable ones that would probably do but it's nice to be able to do different heights of steps. I'll emphasise that in terms of weight loss diet is going to matter more than cardio but for general health cardio is still important. Not everything in health is about weightloss. And better cardio will raise the amount of fat you burn and it feels rewarding too.

Now I mentioned dumbells, also. When doing steps, dumbells aren't going to add much as a pecentage to your body weight (no matter how tiny you are) so focus on getting the steps. But it is nice to have something in your hands, especially if you start doing other exercises like lunges as well. There's just something about having that little extra weight in your hands. So I would suggest grabbing something like these. I have a little trouble suggesting an exact weight for you as I am male and rather tall. However, maybe something about 1.5kg. I'm suggesting something like the below.

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All of this together even if you include the dumbells, should still be less than that that piston stepping machine. And you can do other cardio exercises with the dumbells in your hands as well.

I'm often fairly cautious with my advice when it comes to health but in the case of that stepper, I really recommend against it in favour of these.

A slight tangent but one of the problems with machines like that is that they take a lot of mental discipline to stick with. Compared to a treadmill or a stepper in a gym. A treadmill you start and it keeps you running because if you don't you fall off. Yes, you can hit the stop button but that's a psychological barrier. A step machine or cross-fit machine in the gym is the next level down - now you can slow down or stop but there's still some psychological barrier in that it's giving you continuous reinforcement by displaying your current level, time left, etc. Below that you have rowing machines which take a lot of mental discipline not to just stop because it's a complex effortful sequence with no external impulse like the treadmill. And then at the bottom you have things like the home stepper which most people will get on, do a bit, get very bored and shove under the bed and forget about.

Also, the manual steps are adjustable in ways that the piston stepper is not, just by changing the height. The advertised stepper might have "levels" or have straps for your arms to provide "cross-fit" but they never work nearly as well as you hope.

I hope this is useful. Again, any questions on this area I'm happy to help.

And if you want serious cardio that focuses on stepping, there's an even cheaper and more intense solution:
1753196802901.webp

But you'll need to put in a little practice for that one and also be confident enough to do it outside in your yard/park/garden/anywhere without light fittings.
 
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Jumping rope might not be for me. One of the reasons I want to lose weight is because my knees are starting to hurt. Can I even do steps? Do sweat bands for the belly work?
 
Daddy's Little Kitten said:
Jumping rope might not be for me. One of the reasons I want to lose weight is because my knees are starting to hurt. Can I even do steps? Do sweat bands for the belly work?
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Nobody can tell you if you can do steps except your own body. Though a good knee-strengthening exercise is to sit with your back against the wall and hold that position for an increasing period of time. 2x20 seconds first day, 2x30 second next day... whatever you're comfortable with. Watch out for sharp pains. Aches should just be muscles getting fitter. But listen to your body.

I would imagine steps should be fine. It's low impact unless you're jumping up and down them.

I've no idea what a belly sweat band is but if the idea is that it makes you sweat away fat, especially in a localised area, that's not going to work.

Start doing the knee exercises now, or whenever you're next alone - it's good and it's comfy. Just see how long you can hold it without straining too much. And in the meantime look at steps if they interest you.

Another good thing is just an old-fashioned aerobics DVD. They usually break them into a warm-up phase, a main phase, maybe a more intense phase and a cool-down phase. Get one with good reviews, start doing it and see how far you can comfortably get and then keep doing that. Of course if you have people who live downstairs they may not thank you so the steps are still an option too.

Also, if you don't do a direct reply or tag me, I may not know you've replied, just a note.
 
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Hit my lowest weight in months and I'm pretty close to my lowest all year. Not sure how this happened because I've been eating/drinking like poo. I've had a good amount of alcohol too, like every week or more. Socially, so it just kind of keeps happening, but I haven't declined a drink. I've had fast food, sometimes 2 sodas a day, alcohol, candy, whatever. Not really skipping meals either. So here's what might be going on:

Sunlight, red light, lower stress and some moderate exercise (paddleboarding) once a week. It's been a slow crawl but I'm genuinely surprised I've lost any lately. I fit alot better into those shorts I got, but not quite as comfy as I'd like them. I'm quite happy it's still as easy to lose. Oh and no calorie counting ^-^
 
Daddy's Little Kitten said:
I'm a tiny fat girl.
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Have you considered biking? I recently got an ebike (used, check out facebook marketplace, I recommend looking at the lighter weight foldables), and then a normal foldable for my riding partner (someone who is pretty okay weight wise but needs more movement in life).

Idk if it's that 'post money spending' delusion, but I do think it helped me take steps towards a better life.
1. I ride in the morning before doing anything else
2. We have fun exploring trails around us. Since the bikes are lighter weight foldables we can fit them in the car, and store them in the house entryway. I see bike trails, rail trails, and bike lanes in a new light
3. I got the ebike cause I was worried I'd be too weak to keep up, but actually I've been barely using the motor except for hills and to push off from stationary (especially at intersections and the like), even though it's double the weight of the normal foldable, you can get more momentum going, and I feel more stable.

3a. But if the price of an ebike seems ' too salty' to you, look at Schwinn Loop, Used Zizzo Campos, or Stowaway Adventurers (all those are around $200 used in my area), you'll Find more in bigger cities from commuters lol

I hope you consider biking, especially if you have someone to go with you (as a gurl I was kinda worried about going out into the world on my own. I've started doing solo rides after a month of riding with my bud).

But topic change:
How do y'all get your protein?
I've been trying intermittent fasting, and idk if the dinky bathroom scale is dying, but I am seeing results for the first time (combining with better eating habits and biking), but I'm being told I'm not getting enough protein and losing muscle.

Started getting whey protein isolate, greek yogurt, cottage cheese, egg whites, man I feel like my grocery bill and cooking time is gonna skyrocket. But it's fine, it feels like a new life adventure. I spend so much time trying to get protein I end up not overeating other crap before my eating window is up imo

(Currently 230, ill try and update here occasionally)
 
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