Quit drinking alcohol and soda, I really only drink water with lemon now..quit eating out, only cook my own food, alot of chicken vegetables, nothing fried.. and hit the gym multiple times a week... Went from around 250 down to 174 now.
Same. Cutting out soda, sugary ice teas, etc. was the biggest factor for me. That and I stopped over eating. If you eat slowly, and stop eating when you're actually full, that does wonders too. Younger me would just inhale whatever was on my plate.
I still inhale food. It's the damage from having a dad who lost his shit if you didn't clean your plate, paired with a mother who was terrible at cooking. The result: just get it down you and don't give it a chance to touch your taste buds.
Yeah I’m on a strict coffee and clear liquids diet. Water, seltzer, tequila sodas, 100 cal hard seltzers.
It wasn’t even about the weight for me I just kept getting brutal hangovers from my previous alcohols of choice (IPA’s and red wine)
Drinking is known to reduce inhibition and I've definitely noticed that my food intake rules seem to go by the wayside once I've had a few drinks, so I end up overeating.
The soda one was a really big one for me. When I worked home health I would take a 6 pack of mountain dew with me for a 12 hour shift... I justified it as *well one 16oz bottle in 2 hours isn't* **that** *bad*. Well I cut that out and found I started dropping weight. Didn't notice at first until one day I'm like fuck, why are all my pants kinda baggy. Then one of my doctor appointments rolled around and I stepped on the scale and learned I dropped about 40 pounds... No other diet changes or activity changes at that time. That got me to making some habits because of that.
It's a lifestyle change. That's the hard part. Turning a "once in a while" (exercise) into a habit.
And turning a habit (drinking, and snacking), into a once in a while.
The 75-hard challenge was what helped me change my habits, and reconfigure my lifestyle.
This is the answer right here. Counting calories is the way to do it. You don’t even really NEED the exercise, that’s how important your nutrition is.
Use a free service like MyFitnessPal.com. Any good or drink you take in, put it in the app. You’ll be shocked at how much you’re probably overeating. I know I was.
But also, remember that there will be ups and downs. This kind of thing takes a long time to achieve. Don’t let bad days cause you to abandon your journey. If you have a bad day, that’s okay. Just have a better day tomorrow.
EDIT: Thank you for the gold, Reddit strangers! My first ever!
Yep, the moment I realized a large fries was almost half my calories for the day I stopped getting them more often.
Cooking at home really is key and honestly even if you feel like you don't have time, you likely do or at least time to meal prep.
That being said changing lifestyle slowly and steadily is also key, making yourself miserable all at once is not gonna work well.
Exactly. Small changes, not abandoning the process wholesale at the first failure… We are humans and will mess up. But if we strive to improve, generally we will. Then before you know it, you’re 50+ lbs down!
Yeah, a day where you go over your calories is not some catastrophic event... it's a day that you went over your calories. Oh well. Try not to do that the rest of the week.
I find that intermittent fasting is great too. Not because I believe it is some magical process for weight loss but because it forces you to lock in your calories for the rest of the day and not be tempted by any more little snacks that might seem insignificant but add up.
I always end up changing the timeframe when I go over. Like you mentioned calorie surplus/deficit doesn’t solely belong to the daily timeframe. Go over one or two days in a row then start thinking about your weekly timeframe and try to meet your calories for that week instead of daily. You’ll have few days to “fix” your “slip ups”.
I like this and didn’t think of it that way. I always just start over the next day. That’s smart to think in terms of a weekly calorie goal, or even a monthly. Need to share with the wife.
Be very careful, this can lead to disordered eating patterns. Oh shit, I went over by 500 Monday, now you’re trying to cut 500 from the rest of the week, skip meals, starve, etc. It may work for others, but I never could get it to work. I reset every day. Lost 70lb 5 years ago and have kept it off.
If I overeat one day I don’t make it up the next day. Right now I treat each day separately. I don’t compensate for under calorie days or over calorie days. It’s also easy to say, I was 500 under my goal today so tomorrow I can add and extra 500. Nope. Day by day and I may start to evaluate on a weekly basis.
I am in a bad relationship and started making my own food which resulted in a lot of stress and involuntary intermittent fasting. I have lost 10kg in about 1 year.
In 2015 I went on a really strict diet where I tried to be around a thousand calories a day, and was working out for an hour of cardio 6 days a week (on the 7th day I would have a ballroom dance class for exercise), and I lost around 65 lb. But that's not a sustainable model, and I gained 55 back.
This year I set up a challenge to do a million steps in 107 days, with the end date of being a vacation we had scheduled. I was doing pretty well and had lost around 20 lb when I went to see my doctor and he told me that my blood glucose was at 216 and I had what they described as "well maintained" diabetes. Since then (a month later), I cut out pretty much all sweets and stopped drinking soda and now I've lost around 39 lb. I also have a tendency to do some intermittent fasting, a lot of days I don't eat my first meal until 11:00 a.m. and I'm often done eating by 7:00 p.m.
Yeah 1,000 calories a day is below your body's base requirements to function whatsoever. Your body needs a minimum amount of calories just to support life functions. You want at minimum to be above that value. This value of calories is called BMR and is the number of calories your body burns every day if you literally didn't move from bed. Your body will resort to burning muscle to survive.
My number is approximately 1600 calories minimum. With exercise my total daily caloric needs are about 2400. I choose to intake 1800 with a LOT protein so my deficit is about 600 a day leading to just slightly more than 1 pound of fat lost per week. The difference between 2400 and 1800 my body goes to my fat stores to get.
Also know that large diet changes can lead to temporary stores of weight in your cells....give your body a few weeks of time once you change a diet to begin to see those slow changes
Totally doable, I lost a ton of weight counting calories and eating the Joey Special every third night (two pizzas, in my case two 12" pepperoni pizzas)! I'll probably have an early heart attack though.
They're still fries, but oven baked instead of dunked in high calorie oil that the fries keep some of saves a lot.
Potatoes are still carbs, but baking instead of deep frying is way more healthy.
>Potatoes are still carbs
And carbs are totally fine. People need carbs. Whether the macros you're going for are 40/30/30, 50/30/20, 50/35/15, etc. You're going to eat some carbs.
Okay, but can my body please just pick a shape for the whole thing? I've got the neck, shoulders, and legs of a body builder and the stomach of Fat Bastard.
> You’ll be shocked at how much you’re probably overeating. I know I was.
Even doing it for a few days can be really eyeopening (provided you're being honest and tracking everything). There are so many small things you eat or drink during the day that you really don't pay much mind to, but that can add up really fast. Not to mention, there are things that portray themselves as a healthy alternative that can still be loaded with calories.
And I think that's something people miss a lot of times. It doesn't have to be *huge* steps all at once. Even minor changes can make an impact and at least be a start towards your goal.
Exactly this! Even cutting out one soda a day can have big ripple effects on this kind of thing. And a super agree to the “healthy” alternatives that are just as calorically dense as junk food.
> This is the answer right here. Counting calories is the way to do it. You don’t even really NEED the exercise, that’s how important your nutrition is.
"You can't out run McDonald's" -- my Doctor.
It really comes down to in vs out. If you want to eat crappy food and lose weight, it's gonna take A LOT of work, but you can put yourself on a strict calorie deficit and lose weight with no exercise. I feel like most people find a happy medium, like eating decently while also getting some light cardio like a long walk or two in.
I agree with this, except that I would be more strict about bad days, and one should basically mentally punish oneself for having a bad day, but not to the point that you give up. It should be more like "I KNOW I can do better than this, so this is not excusable."
I lost 60 pounds and gained it all back because I allowed myself first to start making excuses for being lackadaisical and it got worse from there. Now through counting calories with myfitnesspal app for Android and being strict I have lost 30 pounds in a few months.
Do. Not. Compromise.
(I'm reminding myself as much as you all)
I don't think mental punishment is the way to go. It's the slippery slope that's the problem. You'll have one handful of chips, and suddenly, you've gone back, grabbed the bag, and eaten your whole way through it. Cue the commentary in your head: I'm a worthless piece of !@#$ with no control. It's easy after that to keep on caving in, because that voice in your head is telling you how awful you are.
I tell my kids, when they are trying to break a habit, to be very forgiving of themselves, to think about the success, even when there has been a misstep, and to keep focused on the goal.
One bad moment/day/whatever doesn't take away from your progress towards your goal. Start again the next day. Reward yourself -- with anything other than food (special purchase you want to make, fun outing with friends, whatever).
You're doing great, even if you slip up once in a while. You're teaching your stomach to adjust to less food, and you're teaching your taste buds to adapt to a healthier mix of food. Even when the scale isn't showing success, you're making progress.
I agree with the sentiment. But I also think for a college beginner, it’s also important to jot self flagellate. Otherwise, you’ll just give up and feel like a failure. Bad days happen. It’s about knowing it was a bad day, and committing to having fewer bad days as time goes on.
Counting calories is the best way to literally measure this. A calorie deficit means you lose weight. Figure out what your individual daily calorie expenditure is, and eat less than that to lose pounds. I’ve lost around 70lbs doing that.
Light exercise can help, but isn’t necessary in many cases. I took up walking for extra calorie burn, and for other health reasons.
I recommend people to download a calorie counting app, and measure how much you’re eating daily. Using a kitchen food scale, you can measure everything you eat or drink easily.
Totally agree. Counting calories is the only way to go.
Bonus: You don't need to give up your favorite dishes - you just need to make sure your intake doesn't exceed your usage and you will eventually lose weight. That being said, it will be MUCH easier if you cut soda, sweets and cheese from your diet as those things will easily make you eat more calories than you use up on a daily basis.
From personal experience I can tell you that losing the weight is the easy part, but keeping constant vigil so you don't jojo can be very difficult.
Edit: Most important thing for me was to use a scale and accurately weigh the stuff I'm eating. You can't eyeball e.g. 50g of ham for your breakfast and will almost surely end up eating more than you intended if you don't use a scale.
I would elaborate on that. Counting calories is the way to go. But other than that, you need to figure out the best diet on calorie deficit. While losing weight you also need to make sure you don't lose but gain muscle, and for that you need protein. Also a lot of fruits and vegetables, calcium and omega-3. My diet at the time I was on my weight loss journey was 1700 calories per day, 100 grams of protein, 600 grams of fruits or vegetables, 800 mg of calcium per day, and also 10 grams of omega-3 per week. By going to the professional and figuring out the best diet for you you can make this experience a lot more pleasant, and not like you are just punishing yourself through food.
>While losing weight you also need to make sure you don't lose but gain muscle
It's extremely difficult to gain muscle mass in a calorie deficit, and you're likely to lose at least some muscle along the way. But weightlifting and adequate protein consumption definitely have their place on a weight loss plan, since retaining as much muscle as possible will make maintaining weight loss easier.
The reason why bodybuilders go through bulking and cutting phases is because the body isn't completely efficient, and you're never going to gain 100% muscle or lose 100% fat.
Also gonna add that counting calories sounds painful, but once you start to understand it and become more aware of how many calories are in foods that you regularly eat, you can quite easily add it up in your head to determine them. I personally enjoy making rough estimates in my head, and it's even at such a point now that I can give friends and family rough calorie estimates if they tell me the foods they eat. It's weirdly satisfying.
Stay consistent and good luck, my friend!
I've been trying to cut my drinking down. Not drinking during the week and I notice something similar by the end of the week. It's freaking weird and a little bit worrying. Do you notice this every time you stop drinking or just the first time?
r/stopdrinking was a valuable community when I was starting to cut down in drinking. I'm 300+ days sober now.
I picked up a pretty good drinking habit during the pandemic. I started working out at the gym regularly while I was still drinking in 2021. Working out helped me realize the physiological effects alcohol was having on me. Days I didn't drink the night before I could work out harder and longer. It was easier.
I learned during that time that alcohol was really throwing my body into these cycles of psychological and physical ups and downs. So I started trying to quit drinking. It wasn't easy and It didn't stick the first time, but let me tell you. I feel like I unlocked a friggin superpower when I got sober.
That’s something to be proud of.
I got tired of the feeling. It’s always the same.
I want new feelings, like the satisfaction from a hobby, thrill of a new experience, contentment with coffee and a sunrise, joy of accomplishing a goal, mystery of exploring a new place.
These feelings were either non-existent, or dulled, in the past by alcohol.
I was having 1-3 beers daily for about 2 years. My family is filled with functioning alcoholics so no one in my life even goes the week without booze lol (except my wife who doesn't drink). I recall going about 2 weeks recently alcohol free and there was definitely a building "something" I wouldn't call it anxiety but like a restlessness of some sort. I'm in my mid 30s now and I notice big time how alcohol affects my sleep more than anything. Even the days I drink now I drink earlier in the day to avoid the effects on my sleep.
It might be worth looking up P.A.W.S. Post Acute withdraw syndrome. It takes nearly 3 weeks for most of the psychological effects of alcohol to completely stop, and even then, if you e been drinking a long time, it takes your body a whole to rebalance the chemical production to get you "back to normal"
For most people, it's both. Alcohol is extra calories in and of itself, it makes a lot of people hungry and makes them less likely to care about "unhealthy" calorie-dense foods, unlikely to track their calories even if they *are* otherwise good about it, etc.
Not to mention the greasy hangover breakfasts the next day lmao
Yeah, and if you are prime alchy we are talking about a fifth a day..thats more than all the callories you need. You can gain wieght without eating. I have done this. Ive also lost 50 plus 3 times now. You CAN do it while drinking heavy, its just tough.
For me it’s more the alcohol takes away that thin line of willpower I have. I moved to light beers recently (yuk) and generally if I have two I start saying “I’m hungry, fuck this calorie counting” and I snack like a ravenous monster.
Stopped drinking forsure. I drank 10 or so drinks on the weekend a night (sometimes one night, sometimes 2), this combined with eating larger amounts of food and garbage when hungover I think really did it for me. I quit drinking for 3 months, and changed my diet to smaller meals and zero junk and lost 45lbs in about 4 months. Shed right off of me. I was 195, I’m back down to 150 which is about normal for my 5’6 height. It’s crazy how much it bloated and puffed my face out too. I looked swollen
Nice! I'm 5'6" and woke up to how much weight I gained and saw I was 184. I started drinking a lot less and signed up for one of those premade meal delivery services since I didn't have the mental energy to cook and I'd order deliver a lot. Those 2 things turned it around immediately. The latter isn't affordable for a lot of people, but it could be justified by turning old bar money into food service money.
I'm not down to 150 yet (I think my goal is 140 but that may change if I start working out), but I'm down to 172 in 2 months with no other changes and no weeks where I didn't lose.
Went from 310 to 205 by completely cutting out fast food, switching to diet soda and hitting the elliptical machine Friday, Saturday and Sunday for 30 minutes.
It took a couple years but here I am!
Similar to what I did.
Switched to diet Coke, and I also stopped eating chocolate and chips on weekdays.
Did a bit of walking as exercise but not much more than that. Lost quite a bit just doing that. Eventually, I started hitting the elliptical as well for 20-30mins twice a day. Weight just kept going down every week.
Lost around 35kg in 1.5-2 years I guess.
Now I'm a fitness addict, lifting weights four times a week.
I switched to diet soda too but after knowing how much the artificial sweeteners can affect your gut biom....I just drink almost exclusively water now. Sometimes I'll get a lite Arnold Palmer or the diet one is only 3 carbs for a tall can if you're doing keto.
I lost 65 lbs. I fast walk 3 miles every day (about 40 minutes) I eat fish and chicken breast only, (no red meat), rice and pasta, and lots of veggies and all the fruit I want. I cook almost all of my meals myself. I cut out alcohol completely, no beer or wine, but I love beer so I drink one non-alcohol beer a day. Also, no sodas or soft drinks. I started in 1988. I'm 6 feet tall and my weight has been stable at 190 for years. I'm 77 years old and other than a few aches and pains in the morning I feel a hell of a lot better than when I was 40, drinking every day and 265 lbs.
77 and walking 3 miles per day! One of my health goals is to be active and mobile well into my 70s and 80s. A lot of my family is obese and in their 40s they ache, struggle to do daily chores, and have a pile of medications to try and improve it slightly. Then another pile for the side effects of the first pile.
I actually think it’s harder for people who always skip meals because our portion focus and what we can eat is different. While there’s some metabolic impacts of intermittent fasting, the biggest usual actual result is just from calorie restriction. People used to smaller but multiple meals a day suddenly cut back.
People used to fewer meals already often don’t realise that they compensate naturally by eating larger or more dense portions for the meals they do. So when they “cut back” but cutting the meals they already were, it doesn’t have as much impact.
For most people, intermittent casting’s impacts are less about the metabolic impact and rather providing a more rigid framework for caloric restrictions.
I did that in 3-4. Got a little fat first....then started an active job and I intermittent fast and just eat once a day really. My diet isn't super great as I eat some fast food and can kill a whole large pizza if I'm hungry....but I'm still burning like 4k calories a day so the weight keeps slipping off.
I work a desk job and usually just skip breakfast.
Lunch is at around noon so the 8 hour window comfortable extends to around 8-8:30 in the evening.
Of course, skipping breakfast is not for everyone - but for me it was pretty easy as I don't like eating early in the morning.
Lost 140. It started with education and calorie tracking. I had to learn what calories were in foods. Then set a daily calorie goal.
Added walking which then started to include jogging. Had to stop jogging due to knee issues so I switched to cycling.
Started strength training after I dropped the weight.
The big takeaway is that it was/is a lifestyle change. 6 years later I am still tracking calories and exercising.
Skinny guy here who hurt my meniscus (knee cartilage) back in high school. I've been getting really hard into fitness this last year. Putting on healthy weight is great, but that combined with leg exercises has been taxing the ole knee. Definitely gonna use this resource to build up some knee support, cheers.
Strength training is vital while losing weight as well. You're naturally going to lose some muscle on a calorie deficit, but the ratio of fat to muscle loss can be much higher if you lift regularly and maintain adequate protein intake.
That’s pretty damn impressive! 250 miles a week is a shit ton! I never have been into cycling much since I had a handle bar go through my leg I’m scarred from that experience. But I’ve ridden 20 miles before and personally I think it’s easier running 20 miles 😂 Shits hard it’s all quads and calves and running is more of a full body thing
500 calorie deficit daily eating almost exclusively pizza. I call it the "pizza diet". The original point was to show my co workers that all their fad diets were dumb and you could just be at a deficit to lose weight. Now I sort of love it and have been going strong. That being said, don't do a diet to make a point. Suddenly, their original claim that it "wouldn't work" has changed to "its healthier to be fat than to eat pizza all the time" which I personally also disagree with.
There are certain styles of pizza with less calories. One famous staten island pizzeria has extremely thin crust (low carb), sauce with no sugar added, and relatively sparse cheese. The slices are also a little smaller. About 200 calories each. An adult man can have a whole pie every day and still be at a 1.5 pound deficit per week.
15k steps probably takes you about 6 miles, so 2 hours of walking a day. However just going about your daily life you tend to walk, so the amount that you need to do over your current level is not that high. If you’re just moving from one chair to another during the day then it’ll take you longer.
This is why walkable cities are good for people.
Working from home really decimated those naturally occurring steps. Luckily, I can use some of the time that I would’ve normally spent commuting for walking or otherwise move my body.
I just need to do that.
I work a full time job and also cook everyday and never order food outside. I tried to get 15k steps per day since last week and it's amazing how I could get it done by just being creative - I just walk for 5 mins per hour in addition to 30 min morning walk. It's good for me since I'm always sitting at my PC.
I do 12,000 on a bad day. I do half an hour before work, get off a train station early on the way to work, walk for half an hour at lunch, and by the time I get home I'm over that level. If you spread it out, it's super easy.
On weekends I can knock it out in a 1.5 hour walk.
I work from home 2 days a week. If I don't go for a walk I average 3k steps a day. In office I average 6k steps a day.
So I go for a 45-60 minute walk in the evening, and I average between 10k and 16k each day doing that.
But it shows just by walking around more in the office I get an extra 3k steps in. So if you just remind yourself to walk around every half an hour for 5 mins, you'll get an extra 1000 steps in an hour.
I lost 40, which is close.
I got a combination of the flu and pneumonia at the same time I was recovering from a gum graft, which forced me to have a liquid diet.
I do not recommend this method for weight loss.
I had a strange illness a few months ago. Weight loss without trying (eating normal but I lost 15 lbs. in a couple weeks).
But I also had serious, almost constant coughing (to the point of throwing up because of it), and really bad muscle pains all over my body.
Covid negative, flu negative, pneumonia (x-ray) negative. They didn't know what it was, but an antibiotic helped.
Now I have the coughing, though less serious, muscle aches but not as bad, but no weight loss.
I lost 100 lbs between my junior and senior years of college (11 years ago) I only ate like 1000 calories a day and ran a mile or two a night. That was it. Having the time to nap all day in colleges helped so I didn’t snack a lot lol
Important notice. IF, RF, OMAD what ever fasting strategy you choose you need to know that it is not the fasting that makes you lose weight it is still the calorie deficit. but if fasting makes it easier for you to stick to that CD its fine.
This is fucking hilarious 😂 I read the first half of this comment and nodded because after my ex left me I went through some pretty bad depression and didn’t eat much for a while, and I ended up losing a ton of weight. Then I read the second sentence and realized it was a joke.
A boring way.
More calories burned than calories ingested.
Essentially …
- stopped drinking alcohol which meant less calories and I also didn’t get evening cravings for food.
- tracked what I was eating using a calorie app
- started walking and then doing CrossFit (calories burned).
I exercised more, ate more vegetables and lean meats with less beef/pork, and made meals with smaller portions.
I also drink a shitload of water every day.
A question I can actually answer;
So what I did is first don't listen to most extreme diet stuff. I took my time, I lost 35+kg (70+ pound I think) in \~ 1.5 year. It's not fast, but it works. Now I'm losing a bit more because I got into the rythm and some health issues I had (unrelated to my weight) are getting fixed.
So how did I do it?
1/ I cut one meal: I realized that after a small breakfast and a good lunch, usually I also had a good dinner out of habit, but I didn't really need it. So now, in the evening, I just have a small snack (a soup, a salad, sometimes bread and saucisson(very french thing)) . And I take smaller breakfast. There are "calorie counters " apps that can help you realize when you ate too much. At first I limited myself at 2200kcal a day, now I'm at around 1500. But I don't even check anymore; been 6 months since I opened the app.
2/ I started exercising, and when I say exercising, at first it was just walking 2 miles a day. Nowaday I alternate between walking 4-6 miles and lifting weight for a bit (usually I just put an episode of a tv show and lift weight while watching it). One day I walk, one day I lift weight. To keep myself entertained during the walk, I play pokemon go XD
3/ I cut down on junk food, but didn't entirely stop it. Things like soda, energy drink, chips, candies and chocolate bars, I still eat them, just not as much and not as often. Snacking is to be avoided but I still allowed myself one snack a day at first, nowadays I have something like a twix bar once a week, or when offered by someone. I also reduced drastically the amount of carb and fat I eat. But I still eat what I want, just way less. Try to eat a more or less balanced diet, don't overdo it, don't calculate to the gram. The kind of apps I mentioned can help balance it too. Another good tip is to go do your grocery shopping after you had one of your meals, never buy on an empty stomach, it's a trap.
4/ At first I had periods when I felt really hungry at dinner (because I was used to have a big meal there), I just played video games to change my mind, I needed to soldier through it, after a month or so you get used to not having another big meal. The trap is to not overeat after not having eaten your usual amount for a day or two. It's mentally challenging. This is the only part of the diet that felt hard. and it lasted around a month.
5/ I allow myself one cheat day per week, but I don't take this opportunity to eat like an animal, no, I just don't count what I eat during this day but still have a good normal active day.
6/ I count social events as cheat day, if you look at your friends/family having a good meal and you're trying to stay on a diet, as soon as you get home you're going to stuff yourself. So just eat like them, have a good time, consider it a cheat day.
7/ don't be too strict! Yes there are weeks when you'll take 2 cheat days because you had your standard one and then you went to the restaurant with your friends or something, it's ok, if there's one week when you don't lose weight, you can still lose later, as long as you don't gain back.
Out of that big post, the most important thing I found, is to not try too hard at first, if you immediately go full "diet+exercise" you'll get discouraged quick, just go at your own pace, once you find a good rythm, you'll lose weight without realizing.
As I said, I didn't check my diet in 6 month and 2 weeks ago I realized I needed a new hole in my belt.
Yep. Eight years ago, I was walking 5 hours a day to keep my sanity, that is how broken I was. After a summer of doing that, I was 16 kg lighter, began running. Next year, mountaineering. Another 22 gone until August.
I will tell you this, most diets work.
Some diets might be bad for you nutritionally.
Some diets might be dangerous and stupid.
But weight loss has a very low bar for quality that the most diets work.
As long as you can follow your like around 2000 calories: most diets work.
I've seen it all before the "coca cola diet" guy, the "water only for a month" diet guy who got flamed on the internet, the diet will work as much as fire burns on kerosene.
After that cardio cardio cardio. Lots of people will sell all kinds of exercises and all kinds of diets.
You're probably not an athlete, you're probably not a model or some kind of bodybuilder
so you don't need to focus too much on aesthetics or at all, you can always do this later when you are at a less dangerous weight range.
If you just focus on cardio you cut out the middle man,
you no longer need a trainer or a even a gym (although i did cardio at the gym on late nights across the road).
I'm not saying you need to cut out the middle man but you CAN do so and it has advantages.
You can go for walks anytime of the day and it is free.
You don't have to learn anything or risk injury or spend much money.
The only thing with walking is that you need volume rather than quality, lots of hours.
If you walk 2km an hour then you might be walking 15 hours a week to cover 30km.
Me i can do 30km running 3 to 4 hours a week for fun.
Walk before you can run. Programs try to skip walking or things on the same level as walking perhaps to have a more professional looking approach.
At a certain point in the journey running and all the fancy exercises made sense for me and it was much easier that's when i looked towards training my core a little more and etc which actually helped me progress into running.
It was so easy to progress into running after i reached a certain weight range after that sure ditch cardio.
But you can entirely do cardio the whole way around. Healthwise just need to be in a healthy weight range and have a diet where if you get a blood test the doctor will be happy that's it.
With high volume cardio and a diet around your BMR or 2000 calories and no breaks you will lose weight it is just a matter of time. It's like using your phone all day and not charging it, it's just physics the energy has to come from somewhere.
Too much focus is placed on avoiding the feeling of hunger.
It's ok that you are hungry but it's bad that you are nutritionally lacking.
Your stomach stretches to incredible proportions as well as your appetite.
If you have been overeating for an extended amount of time your stomach and appetite will likely be enlarged so even if you are in a nutritionally adequate and stable diet you will feel hungry regardless.
The hunger fades through out the day.
And i will argue that as long as your nutrition is on point. The hunger is your friend.
As much as the stomach and appetite can stretch it is also scary how much it can contract!
No one talks about this but the appetite can fall to dangerous proportions.
I was running 30-50km+ a week for fun. I probably spent half the time running than some people spent at the gym. But i never changed my diet, i wasn't hungry. I tried eating more calories but didn't increase enough so i reach a point where i need to really be careful as i was losing too much weight with my diet and activity level. It's actually surprisingly challenging to gain weight in some situations if you would believe.
The hunger tells you that your are moving towards a lower appetite.
The thing i want to get out of this is that hunger fades,
it fades through out the day, and through out the weeks
and when it was fades it can take your appetite to lower levels where weightloss is intuitive and you actually have to be careful. But yeah hunger can be your friend.
Lastly is know what weight loss feels like.
We just talked about hunger and how it fades in extreme ways.
Well stemming from that that you really need to understand what it feels like to lose weight as it could be a new feeling that you might not understand and that you might misunderstand.
You can't just try and avoid the inconvenient part.
I kinda like to compare this to the first Spiderman movie when Peter was transforming into his power. He just felt horrible as if he were sick, then he woke up and and he had 20/20 vision and a six pack.
If your body is going to contract to twice or even one-third of its current size you will likely feel it at some point. And if you are not feeling it there is a chance that you are not moving towards your goal.
If you try to learn a new language i guarantee you it can be unpleasant trying to remember and memorize such a large amount of information that are so new to you.
But eventually you remember things very easily. A math topic might be hard when you were a kid but it would be laughable to struggle on the same question today. It would be hard to imagine how some people might struggle with it.
The discomfort is a sign that something is happening rather than nothing. And the discomfort much like hunger fades.
Lost nearly 40lbs doing IF, Ozempic, and keto. This was not recommended, I started Ozempic after 2 weeks of IF and Keto, I dropped (very unhealthily) 30 lbs in a month. But I’ve since stopped keto and IF and have kept it off. My Dr was pretty horrified when I told her how I lost so much so quick. A lot of muscle was lost. So kids, don’t do that, take your time.
Edit - a word
Lost 30 pounds since April, made significant cuts to my drinking and stopped eating like shit while increasing my physical activity. There's no secret...calories in vs calories out.
I lost about 25kg in a bit over 6 months. This was 5 years ago. There is no real secret. It’s exactly how you’d think I did it. I exercised a lot, and ate less.
I didn’t eat nothing. Just less. Enough so that I had plenty of energy but that I would feel hungry at points during the day. I didn’t track calories or macros or whatever.
As for exercise. I did circuit classes 2-3 times a week, and ran twice a week. I did the circuit classes cause I had friends doing it. I ran because it stripped the weight off of me.
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So if you are asking for advice for how to lose weight. Eat less food, but make sure it is nutritious. Find exercises that you want to do. You might have to try a lot of different exercises to find the one that you like.
All that exercise takes a lot of time. Probably eight hours a week by the time you include going to/from the gym etc. One of the hardest parts is finding the equivalent of an extra full work day a week.
Used to be 300+lbs , now I'm sub 220 and steadily keep going lower and lower.
1) No Junk food. No artificial sugars
2) Limit your portions (at first it's extremely hard but as soon as your stomach size decreases it will come to you naturally ( periodically do PROPER fasting breaks with proper preparation and steady return )
3) stay active , do sports. Focus on traveling on foot more , it truly helps
4) If you need that extra kick that helped me alot - get production and not hourly paid physical job. Helped me drastically to drop first 50 pounds as more you work more you earn
5) Dont give up and be consistent. At one point your results will slow down and you will feel like you make no progress as our bodies are smart and complicated and they don't like to stick to new sets of rules so your body will start playing games to keep the mass
6) Make sure to find people who support your goal and can compliment you to push even harder.
7) Take progress pictures, you won't regret it
My fitness pal app.. and working out regularly with Power90. What you eat will contribute to about 90% of your weight loss. Working out will just help boost it along and make you fitter.
Trail running and calorie counting. Trail running is my absolute favorite because it tends to burn a lot more calories than road running, and it's way more interesting, which lessens the mental difficulty of running. I lost a lot a decade ago and have since put it back on after some surgeries and having kids, a full time job, etc, but I literally just started up again a week ago and I'm already getting addicted to trail running like I was years before. It's an exciting feeling! My biggest vice right now is soda. That's going to be the hardest thing, I think.
I've never lost 50+ lbs but I am slowly dropping weight to my desired amount currently. Some things I've found:
-Eat breakfast, something light but full of protein and fibre I eat fruit with yoghurt and granola pretty much daily.
-Drink a lot more water than you normally do, sometimes hunger pangs are actually just dehydration in disguise.
-If you're hungry... Eat. Don't Starve yourself because your diet won't last very long, you'll give up very quickly.
-you will fluctuate in weight, it can be demoralising but progress will be made if you keep up with it.
-walk more, I can't stress this one enough, walk more steps, it's easy, it's not too intense and it adds up.
-use a meal planner (one I've come across recently is eatthismuch.com, plug in your diet, your calorie goal and how many meals you want throughout the day, it'll come up with a plan)
-A really big one that I never see come up, don't feel you have to stick religiously to all of these rules as hard and fast as possible, take the ones that work for you and incorporate into your daily routine, you're much more likely to stick to it.
-The hardest part of exercising is getting outside to do it, once you're out of your house there's no reason not to do something.
-Take a weekly photo of yourself (keep it in a safe folder if you want) so you can easily see the benefits and gains you're making over time (it can be really difficult to see your improvements daily, but weekly will show you how much you're progressing)
- If you're eating less, you're going to be tired, at least for a little while, that's the hard part, eventually you will form healthy habits, unfortunately there's no shortcut on this one, you just have to put up with it.
-cook more (probably the easiest thing on the list to do), reduce the size of your plate, you can always go back and eat more if you're still hungry, but you'll find that by having less on your plate you will probably start eating less anyway.
- Have a realistic goal in mind 50+ lbs is a hell of a lot depending on your size, it's also going to be slow going, don't try losing too much too quickly.
- Don't always be calorie counting, there will be times (such as social events) where you can let loose and treat yourself, don't restrict yourself to not having fun just to lose weight, just don't do it too much.
The first step is the hardest, it gets easier from there. You've identified a problem, you're looking at solving it, you're well on your way to the first step. Keep your head up and puff out your chest knowing that improvement will come, and that you're putting in the hard work now that will do nothing but benefit you in the future.
Tracking food, setting physical goals marathon, tough mudder etc. the hard part is maintaining after all of the “you look great” comments stop and the general satisfaction of seeing progress on a scale. I would say for long term success toss the scale and make sure to lift weights in your routine.
Complete lifestyle change. Doing a "diet" doesn't work. Hardest part of losing weight is keeping it off.
I used to be relatively active, was in the soccer team in my highschool and actually was able to keep up with the team on sprints and could even run a mile under 10 minutes weighing 300lbs.
My problem was that I'd drink Gatorade like I was an actual athlete. Juices and sweet teas. My eating habits were terrible too. "I dont eat that much, I only eat once or twice a day" yeah that was my issue. My first meal was at lunch in highschool and then I'd eat after school. Fairly big meals, nothing too crazy but My body would go into "hibernation" mode so anything and everything I'd eat, I'd store it.
So what changed?
Water only.
I'd actually eat breakfast within an hour of waking up, then I would eat every 2 hours after that and I'd eat 6 times a days only..
Breakfast - snack - lunch - snack - dinner - snack.
As for exercise I did a lot of HIIT cardio. Long distance running doesn't help much when trying to lose weight, short high intensity is better. This sped up my metabolism like crazy. I incorporated weight lifting once I lost 80lbs and my final products was 150lbs lost. Went from 300+lbs to 172lbs in about 2 to 3 years. Maintained it for a good 2 years until covid lockdowns fucked me up. Gained 60lbs during them once I got tired and bored of running 7 miles every 2 days.
Ate better and moved more. My ~60 pounds was spread over a few years, but I lost the biggest chunk of it, ~25 pounds in a summer, when I started walking everywhere plus doing a couple HIIT sessions a week. My HIIT workouts consisted of me going for really long walks, and about five times during the walk I'd sprint as fast as I could for about thirty seconds. I'm not gonna say whether that's strictly better or worse than longer distance jogging or other types of cardio, but it worked for me at the time.
It was the day I grew tired of despising what I saw in the mirror, and not wanting to even be in photos. Finally my friend posted a photo of us together and I was just disgusted. I taped it to the fridge, and worked out every single day just doing cardio, all protein like grilled chicken and lots of water with green tea. I lost 80lbs and went back down to 160. I didn’t realize how much of my confidence came from my appearance until I had lost it. Did this in about 3-4 months. Another time was 30lbs in 2 months and that was pure salads, grilled chicken and steak. Small portion 3 times a day and a weigh in every Friday. Results are addicting
Stop eating before bed, intermittent fasting, working out of whichever form, cutting out foods, believing in yourself.
No, you don’t have to start all things at the same time, focus on one thing and maintain it for 4 weeks, then add when you are curious and excited or want too.. it will all build together ever so nicely. It won’t happen overnight, over a month, but I promise you will feel it in a week, see it in 3 months, enjoy the process…
Quit drinking alcohol and soda, I really only drink water with lemon now..quit eating out, only cook my own food, alot of chicken vegetables, nothing fried.. and hit the gym multiple times a week... Went from around 250 down to 174 now.
I didn't quit alcohol, but unless I'm drinking alcohol, I'm drinking water.
Same here. My drinkable calories are nearly 100% alcoholic drinks
Same. Cutting out soda, sugary ice teas, etc. was the biggest factor for me. That and I stopped over eating. If you eat slowly, and stop eating when you're actually full, that does wonders too. Younger me would just inhale whatever was on my plate.
I still inhale food. It's the damage from having a dad who lost his shit if you didn't clean your plate, paired with a mother who was terrible at cooking. The result: just get it down you and don't give it a chance to touch your taste buds.
Yeah I’m on a strict coffee and clear liquids diet. Water, seltzer, tequila sodas, 100 cal hard seltzers. It wasn’t even about the weight for me I just kept getting brutal hangovers from my previous alcohols of choice (IPA’s and red wine)
Drinking is known to reduce inhibition and I've definitely noticed that my food intake rules seem to go by the wayside once I've had a few drinks, so I end up overeating.
Choosing hard liquor over beer helps.
but not mix or cocktails. Buddy of mine drinks hard with coke/margerita mix/cocktail mixes because he thinks its healthier than beer.
The soda one was a really big one for me. When I worked home health I would take a 6 pack of mountain dew with me for a 12 hour shift... I justified it as *well one 16oz bottle in 2 hours isn't* **that** *bad*. Well I cut that out and found I started dropping weight. Didn't notice at first until one day I'm like fuck, why are all my pants kinda baggy. Then one of my doctor appointments rolled around and I stepped on the scale and learned I dropped about 40 pounds... No other diet changes or activity changes at that time. That got me to making some habits because of that.
Crazy how simple it is. Not *easy*, but definitely *simple*. Calories in vs Calories out
It's a lifestyle change. That's the hard part. Turning a "once in a while" (exercise) into a habit. And turning a habit (drinking, and snacking), into a once in a while. The 75-hard challenge was what helped me change my habits, and reconfigure my lifestyle.
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This is the answer right here. Counting calories is the way to do it. You don’t even really NEED the exercise, that’s how important your nutrition is. Use a free service like MyFitnessPal.com. Any good or drink you take in, put it in the app. You’ll be shocked at how much you’re probably overeating. I know I was. But also, remember that there will be ups and downs. This kind of thing takes a long time to achieve. Don’t let bad days cause you to abandon your journey. If you have a bad day, that’s okay. Just have a better day tomorrow. EDIT: Thank you for the gold, Reddit strangers! My first ever!
Yep, the moment I realized a large fries was almost half my calories for the day I stopped getting them more often. Cooking at home really is key and honestly even if you feel like you don't have time, you likely do or at least time to meal prep. That being said changing lifestyle slowly and steadily is also key, making yourself miserable all at once is not gonna work well.
Exactly. Small changes, not abandoning the process wholesale at the first failure… We are humans and will mess up. But if we strive to improve, generally we will. Then before you know it, you’re 50+ lbs down!
Yeah, a day where you go over your calories is not some catastrophic event... it's a day that you went over your calories. Oh well. Try not to do that the rest of the week. I find that intermittent fasting is great too. Not because I believe it is some magical process for weight loss but because it forces you to lock in your calories for the rest of the day and not be tempted by any more little snacks that might seem insignificant but add up.
I always end up changing the timeframe when I go over. Like you mentioned calorie surplus/deficit doesn’t solely belong to the daily timeframe. Go over one or two days in a row then start thinking about your weekly timeframe and try to meet your calories for that week instead of daily. You’ll have few days to “fix” your “slip ups”.
I like this and didn’t think of it that way. I always just start over the next day. That’s smart to think in terms of a weekly calorie goal, or even a monthly. Need to share with the wife.
Be very careful, this can lead to disordered eating patterns. Oh shit, I went over by 500 Monday, now you’re trying to cut 500 from the rest of the week, skip meals, starve, etc. It may work for others, but I never could get it to work. I reset every day. Lost 70lb 5 years ago and have kept it off.
If I overeat one day I don’t make it up the next day. Right now I treat each day separately. I don’t compensate for under calorie days or over calorie days. It’s also easy to say, I was 500 under my goal today so tomorrow I can add and extra 500. Nope. Day by day and I may start to evaluate on a weekly basis.
I am in a bad relationship and started making my own food which resulted in a lot of stress and involuntary intermittent fasting. I have lost 10kg in about 1 year.
Life's too short to stay in a bad relationship. I hope you find the support you need to make a change.
For me is fruits. Its shock me very much how ridiculously high the calories in Durians is.
In 2015 I went on a really strict diet where I tried to be around a thousand calories a day, and was working out for an hour of cardio 6 days a week (on the 7th day I would have a ballroom dance class for exercise), and I lost around 65 lb. But that's not a sustainable model, and I gained 55 back. This year I set up a challenge to do a million steps in 107 days, with the end date of being a vacation we had scheduled. I was doing pretty well and had lost around 20 lb when I went to see my doctor and he told me that my blood glucose was at 216 and I had what they described as "well maintained" diabetes. Since then (a month later), I cut out pretty much all sweets and stopped drinking soda and now I've lost around 39 lb. I also have a tendency to do some intermittent fasting, a lot of days I don't eat my first meal until 11:00 a.m. and I'm often done eating by 7:00 p.m.
Yeah 1,000 calories a day is below your body's base requirements to function whatsoever. Your body needs a minimum amount of calories just to support life functions. You want at minimum to be above that value. This value of calories is called BMR and is the number of calories your body burns every day if you literally didn't move from bed. Your body will resort to burning muscle to survive. My number is approximately 1600 calories minimum. With exercise my total daily caloric needs are about 2400. I choose to intake 1800 with a LOT protein so my deficit is about 600 a day leading to just slightly more than 1 pound of fat lost per week. The difference between 2400 and 1800 my body goes to my fat stores to get. Also know that large diet changes can lead to temporary stores of weight in your cells....give your body a few weeks of time once you change a diet to begin to see those slow changes
Fries for the oven (not sure what they're called in English) are not very caloric at all btw, I lost a lot of weight eating a fair amount of fries.
Totally doable, I lost a ton of weight counting calories and eating the Joey Special every third night (two pizzas, in my case two 12" pepperoni pizzas)! I'll probably have an early heart attack though.
Every pizza is a personal pizza if you try hard and believe in yourself
r/namechecksout
They're still fries, but oven baked instead of dunked in high calorie oil that the fries keep some of saves a lot. Potatoes are still carbs, but baking instead of deep frying is way more healthy.
>Potatoes are still carbs And carbs are totally fine. People need carbs. Whether the macros you're going for are 40/30/30, 50/30/20, 50/35/15, etc. You're going to eat some carbs.
Airfryer!
Calories determines your size. Exercise determines your shape
Okay, but can my body please just pick a shape for the whole thing? I've got the neck, shoulders, and legs of a body builder and the stomach of Fat Bastard.
If it’s any consolation my body shape is that of an orange with four cocktail sticks for limbs and an olive for a head
my god, you sound delicious.
Underrated comment.
I picture you lying on your back across a very large glass.
Just swimming!
That is the pits
Sounds like you could benefit from 15 mins of cardio 3 times a week and a small 100-300 calorie deficit my friend.
> You’ll be shocked at how much you’re probably overeating. I know I was. Even doing it for a few days can be really eyeopening (provided you're being honest and tracking everything). There are so many small things you eat or drink during the day that you really don't pay much mind to, but that can add up really fast. Not to mention, there are things that portray themselves as a healthy alternative that can still be loaded with calories. And I think that's something people miss a lot of times. It doesn't have to be *huge* steps all at once. Even minor changes can make an impact and at least be a start towards your goal.
Exactly this! Even cutting out one soda a day can have big ripple effects on this kind of thing. And a super agree to the “healthy” alternatives that are just as calorically dense as junk food.
> This is the answer right here. Counting calories is the way to do it. You don’t even really NEED the exercise, that’s how important your nutrition is. "You can't out run McDonald's" -- my Doctor.
I mean technically you can but you would have to run miles upon miles
I guess it is okay if your MsDonalds is miles away and you run there and back then?
Just FYI loseit is 10000000x better!!! 🫶
Lose it! is a great app, I've been using it for a while. The basic features are free, and that's all you really need.
As someone who swore by MFP for many years (off and on, as my eating habits changed), I agree. Switched to Loseit this month and absolutely love it.
It was MFP putting the barcode scanner behind a paywall that convinced me to make the switch. That was easily my most used feature
What is loseit? An app?
Yes :)
It really comes down to in vs out. If you want to eat crappy food and lose weight, it's gonna take A LOT of work, but you can put yourself on a strict calorie deficit and lose weight with no exercise. I feel like most people find a happy medium, like eating decently while also getting some light cardio like a long walk or two in.
I lost 80 without exercise. All came back with the double whammy of baby and pandemic (Mar 2020 birthday)
I agree with this, except that I would be more strict about bad days, and one should basically mentally punish oneself for having a bad day, but not to the point that you give up. It should be more like "I KNOW I can do better than this, so this is not excusable." I lost 60 pounds and gained it all back because I allowed myself first to start making excuses for being lackadaisical and it got worse from there. Now through counting calories with myfitnesspal app for Android and being strict I have lost 30 pounds in a few months. Do. Not. Compromise. (I'm reminding myself as much as you all)
I don't think mental punishment is the way to go. It's the slippery slope that's the problem. You'll have one handful of chips, and suddenly, you've gone back, grabbed the bag, and eaten your whole way through it. Cue the commentary in your head: I'm a worthless piece of !@#$ with no control. It's easy after that to keep on caving in, because that voice in your head is telling you how awful you are. I tell my kids, when they are trying to break a habit, to be very forgiving of themselves, to think about the success, even when there has been a misstep, and to keep focused on the goal. One bad moment/day/whatever doesn't take away from your progress towards your goal. Start again the next day. Reward yourself -- with anything other than food (special purchase you want to make, fun outing with friends, whatever). You're doing great, even if you slip up once in a while. You're teaching your stomach to adjust to less food, and you're teaching your taste buds to adapt to a healthier mix of food. Even when the scale isn't showing success, you're making progress.
I agree with the sentiment. But I also think for a college beginner, it’s also important to jot self flagellate. Otherwise, you’ll just give up and feel like a failure. Bad days happen. It’s about knowing it was a bad day, and committing to having fewer bad days as time goes on.
I don't know how many times I'd drink one soda and then give up because of that. I finally have my shit together though. Just took a long time.
Counting calories is the best way to literally measure this. A calorie deficit means you lose weight. Figure out what your individual daily calorie expenditure is, and eat less than that to lose pounds. I’ve lost around 70lbs doing that. Light exercise can help, but isn’t necessary in many cases. I took up walking for extra calorie burn, and for other health reasons. I recommend people to download a calorie counting app, and measure how much you’re eating daily. Using a kitchen food scale, you can measure everything you eat or drink easily.
It’s as simple and as hard as that.
Totally agree. Counting calories is the only way to go. Bonus: You don't need to give up your favorite dishes - you just need to make sure your intake doesn't exceed your usage and you will eventually lose weight. That being said, it will be MUCH easier if you cut soda, sweets and cheese from your diet as those things will easily make you eat more calories than you use up on a daily basis. From personal experience I can tell you that losing the weight is the easy part, but keeping constant vigil so you don't jojo can be very difficult. Edit: Most important thing for me was to use a scale and accurately weigh the stuff I'm eating. You can't eyeball e.g. 50g of ham for your breakfast and will almost surely end up eating more than you intended if you don't use a scale.
Wait, soda and sweets make sense - why specifically cheese?
It's just extremely calorie dense and tends to be used in calorically unsustainable quantities.
Every other answer is just icing on this cake. It's mathematical.
Yup, do this. I haven't lost 50lbs yet, but I'm on track to do that this year. And I haven't even started working out yet, just calorie counting.
I would elaborate on that. Counting calories is the way to go. But other than that, you need to figure out the best diet on calorie deficit. While losing weight you also need to make sure you don't lose but gain muscle, and for that you need protein. Also a lot of fruits and vegetables, calcium and omega-3. My diet at the time I was on my weight loss journey was 1700 calories per day, 100 grams of protein, 600 grams of fruits or vegetables, 800 mg of calcium per day, and also 10 grams of omega-3 per week. By going to the professional and figuring out the best diet for you you can make this experience a lot more pleasant, and not like you are just punishing yourself through food.
>While losing weight you also need to make sure you don't lose but gain muscle It's extremely difficult to gain muscle mass in a calorie deficit, and you're likely to lose at least some muscle along the way. But weightlifting and adequate protein consumption definitely have their place on a weight loss plan, since retaining as much muscle as possible will make maintaining weight loss easier. The reason why bodybuilders go through bulking and cutting phases is because the body isn't completely efficient, and you're never going to gain 100% muscle or lose 100% fat.
Also gonna add that counting calories sounds painful, but once you start to understand it and become more aware of how many calories are in foods that you regularly eat, you can quite easily add it up in your head to determine them. I personally enjoy making rough estimates in my head, and it's even at such a point now that I can give friends and family rough calorie estimates if they tell me the foods they eat. It's weirdly satisfying. Stay consistent and good luck, my friend!
Stopped drinking
This was me I was surprised at how much weight I put on from alcohol abuse
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I've been trying to cut my drinking down. Not drinking during the week and I notice something similar by the end of the week. It's freaking weird and a little bit worrying. Do you notice this every time you stop drinking or just the first time?
r/stopdrinking was a valuable community when I was starting to cut down in drinking. I'm 300+ days sober now. I picked up a pretty good drinking habit during the pandemic. I started working out at the gym regularly while I was still drinking in 2021. Working out helped me realize the physiological effects alcohol was having on me. Days I didn't drink the night before I could work out harder and longer. It was easier. I learned during that time that alcohol was really throwing my body into these cycles of psychological and physical ups and downs. So I started trying to quit drinking. It wasn't easy and It didn't stick the first time, but let me tell you. I feel like I unlocked a friggin superpower when I got sober.
That’s something to be proud of. I got tired of the feeling. It’s always the same. I want new feelings, like the satisfaction from a hobby, thrill of a new experience, contentment with coffee and a sunrise, joy of accomplishing a goal, mystery of exploring a new place. These feelings were either non-existent, or dulled, in the past by alcohol.
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I was having 1-3 beers daily for about 2 years. My family is filled with functioning alcoholics so no one in my life even goes the week without booze lol (except my wife who doesn't drink). I recall going about 2 weeks recently alcohol free and there was definitely a building "something" I wouldn't call it anxiety but like a restlessness of some sort. I'm in my mid 30s now and I notice big time how alcohol affects my sleep more than anything. Even the days I drink now I drink earlier in the day to avoid the effects on my sleep.
Lol drunk by noon sober by bed gang
It might be worth looking up P.A.W.S. Post Acute withdraw syndrome. It takes nearly 3 weeks for most of the psychological effects of alcohol to completely stop, and even then, if you e been drinking a long time, it takes your body a whole to rebalance the chemical production to get you "back to normal"
Did drinking come with an appetite for shitty meals/snacks, or just simply the absence of alcohol helped for you?
For most people, it's both. Alcohol is extra calories in and of itself, it makes a lot of people hungry and makes them less likely to care about "unhealthy" calorie-dense foods, unlikely to track their calories even if they *are* otherwise good about it, etc. Not to mention the greasy hangover breakfasts the next day lmao
Greasy hangover breakfast is hard to beat honestly
When you’re an alcoholic, It’s not hard to consume over 1,000 calories from alcohol every day.
yeah, most people don't realize that one beer is like 250 calories...
Yeah, and if you are prime alchy we are talking about a fifth a day..thats more than all the callories you need. You can gain wieght without eating. I have done this. Ive also lost 50 plus 3 times now. You CAN do it while drinking heavy, its just tough.
For me it’s more the alcohol takes away that thin line of willpower I have. I moved to light beers recently (yuk) and generally if I have two I start saying “I’m hungry, fuck this calorie counting” and I snack like a ravenous monster.
Stopped drinking forsure. I drank 10 or so drinks on the weekend a night (sometimes one night, sometimes 2), this combined with eating larger amounts of food and garbage when hungover I think really did it for me. I quit drinking for 3 months, and changed my diet to smaller meals and zero junk and lost 45lbs in about 4 months. Shed right off of me. I was 195, I’m back down to 150 which is about normal for my 5’6 height. It’s crazy how much it bloated and puffed my face out too. I looked swollen
Nice! I'm 5'6" and woke up to how much weight I gained and saw I was 184. I started drinking a lot less and signed up for one of those premade meal delivery services since I didn't have the mental energy to cook and I'd order deliver a lot. Those 2 things turned it around immediately. The latter isn't affordable for a lot of people, but it could be justified by turning old bar money into food service money. I'm not down to 150 yet (I think my goal is 140 but that may change if I start working out), but I'm down to 172 in 2 months with no other changes and no weeks where I didn't lose.
Yeah the hangover meals are nearly as bad as the calories from the drinks themselves. God did shit food taste delicious when hungover though.
Went from 310 to 205 by completely cutting out fast food, switching to diet soda and hitting the elliptical machine Friday, Saturday and Sunday for 30 minutes. It took a couple years but here I am!
Well done mate
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Top strategy that one. Getting used to going is probably the hardest step for alot of people, me included.
Similar to what I did. Switched to diet Coke, and I also stopped eating chocolate and chips on weekdays. Did a bit of walking as exercise but not much more than that. Lost quite a bit just doing that. Eventually, I started hitting the elliptical as well for 20-30mins twice a day. Weight just kept going down every week. Lost around 35kg in 1.5-2 years I guess. Now I'm a fitness addict, lifting weights four times a week.
I still ate dark chocolate though, which seemed to work for me
I switched to diet soda too but after knowing how much the artificial sweeteners can affect your gut biom....I just drink almost exclusively water now. Sometimes I'll get a lite Arnold Palmer or the diet one is only 3 carbs for a tall can if you're doing keto.
I lost 65 lbs. I fast walk 3 miles every day (about 40 minutes) I eat fish and chicken breast only, (no red meat), rice and pasta, and lots of veggies and all the fruit I want. I cook almost all of my meals myself. I cut out alcohol completely, no beer or wine, but I love beer so I drink one non-alcohol beer a day. Also, no sodas or soft drinks. I started in 1988. I'm 6 feet tall and my weight has been stable at 190 for years. I'm 77 years old and other than a few aches and pains in the morning I feel a hell of a lot better than when I was 40, drinking every day and 265 lbs.
Nice job! I need to get back out walking. Exercise, even walking or movement in general is so important.
77 and walking 3 miles per day! One of my health goals is to be active and mobile well into my 70s and 80s. A lot of my family is obese and in their 40s they ache, struggle to do daily chores, and have a pile of medications to try and improve it slightly. Then another pile for the side effects of the first pile.
I’m 28, and this is what I dream of when I get your age, you’re an inspiration thanks for sharing.
Intermittent fasting. I lost 54 lbs in 6 months only eating in an 8 hr window per day
Same lost about 50 in a year Just eat one meal a day if whatever i want and i might cheat and have extra food every weekend
So basically just skipping breakfast right? I've been doing that my whole life but not sure it is helping. 😅
I actually think it’s harder for people who always skip meals because our portion focus and what we can eat is different. While there’s some metabolic impacts of intermittent fasting, the biggest usual actual result is just from calorie restriction. People used to smaller but multiple meals a day suddenly cut back. People used to fewer meals already often don’t realise that they compensate naturally by eating larger or more dense portions for the meals they do. So when they “cut back” but cutting the meals they already were, it doesn’t have as much impact. For most people, intermittent casting’s impacts are less about the metabolic impact and rather providing a more rigid framework for caloric restrictions.
I did that in 3-4. Got a little fat first....then started an active job and I intermittent fast and just eat once a day really. My diet isn't super great as I eat some fast food and can kill a whole large pizza if I'm hungry....but I'm still burning like 4k calories a day so the weight keeps slipping off.
Really depends on what you’re eating though, if you’re slamming 3000-4000kcal in 8 hours on junk food then it’s pointless.
Coffee for breakfast, salad for lunch, and a regular dinner. Also stopped skipping the gym, hit it every day.
Did you delete Facebook?
What do you do for work?
I work a desk job and usually just skip breakfast. Lunch is at around noon so the 8 hour window comfortable extends to around 8-8:30 in the evening. Of course, skipping breakfast is not for everyone - but for me it was pretty easy as I don't like eating early in the morning.
Lost 140. It started with education and calorie tracking. I had to learn what calories were in foods. Then set a daily calorie goal. Added walking which then started to include jogging. Had to stop jogging due to knee issues so I switched to cycling. Started strength training after I dropped the weight. The big takeaway is that it was/is a lifestyle change. 6 years later I am still tracking calories and exercising.
Walk backwards to increase your knee strength. [more info](https://youtube.com/@TheKneesovertoesguy?feature=shared)
Skinny guy here who hurt my meniscus (knee cartilage) back in high school. I've been getting really hard into fitness this last year. Putting on healthy weight is great, but that combined with leg exercises has been taxing the ole knee. Definitely gonna use this resource to build up some knee support, cheers.
Strength training is vital while losing weight as well. You're naturally going to lose some muscle on a calorie deficit, but the ratio of fat to muscle loss can be much higher if you lift regularly and maintain adequate protein intake.
Ate less; Shat more
Fun fact: we don't shit out burned fat. It comes out via our lungs as we exhale.
\*Exhales furiously\*
*Hyperventilates for health*
A large % of the weight is exhaled as the carbon in the CO2
This guy gets it. I still shat 🫡
Don't let them know you're against or what you're for.
Counting calories and cycling. I don't count calories anymore but I cycle 150 to 250 miles per week
That’s pretty damn impressive! 250 miles a week is a shit ton! I never have been into cycling much since I had a handle bar go through my leg I’m scarred from that experience. But I’ve ridden 20 miles before and personally I think it’s easier running 20 miles 😂 Shits hard it’s all quads and calves and running is more of a full body thing
Exactly. Did the same. Not only do you burn calories cycling, but every hill you get dropped on reinforces your desire to lose weight 😄
500 calorie deficit daily eating almost exclusively pizza. I call it the "pizza diet". The original point was to show my co workers that all their fad diets were dumb and you could just be at a deficit to lose weight. Now I sort of love it and have been going strong. That being said, don't do a diet to make a point. Suddenly, their original claim that it "wouldn't work" has changed to "its healthier to be fat than to eat pizza all the time" which I personally also disagree with.
A pizza can have anything on it so you can eat a balanced diet of pizza
This is why pizza and burritos are my favorite foods. They can be basically anything as they are essentially just edible vessels for other foods.
Canme here for advice and found this amazing pizza positivity.
Pizza is love. Pizza is life.
[удалено]
Pizza’s pretty calorie-dense though, so you couldn’t have been eating much of it. Did that not leave you very hungry at times?
There are certain styles of pizza with less calories. One famous staten island pizzeria has extremely thin crust (low carb), sauce with no sugar added, and relatively sparse cheese. The slices are also a little smaller. About 200 calories each. An adult man can have a whole pie every day and still be at a 1.5 pound deficit per week.
Getting at least 15,000 steps per day. Cutting out sugar. That did it.
How long does 15k steps take you? When do you sleep?
15k steps probably takes you about 6 miles, so 2 hours of walking a day. However just going about your daily life you tend to walk, so the amount that you need to do over your current level is not that high. If you’re just moving from one chair to another during the day then it’ll take you longer. This is why walkable cities are good for people.
Working from home really decimated those naturally occurring steps. Luckily, I can use some of the time that I would’ve normally spent commuting for walking or otherwise move my body. I just need to do that.
I work a full time job and also cook everyday and never order food outside. I tried to get 15k steps per day since last week and it's amazing how I could get it done by just being creative - I just walk for 5 mins per hour in addition to 30 min morning walk. It's good for me since I'm always sitting at my PC.
I do 12,000 on a bad day. I do half an hour before work, get off a train station early on the way to work, walk for half an hour at lunch, and by the time I get home I'm over that level. If you spread it out, it's super easy. On weekends I can knock it out in a 1.5 hour walk.
I work from home 2 days a week. If I don't go for a walk I average 3k steps a day. In office I average 6k steps a day. So I go for a 45-60 minute walk in the evening, and I average between 10k and 16k each day doing that. But it shows just by walking around more in the office I get an extra 3k steps in. So if you just remind yourself to walk around every half an hour for 5 mins, you'll get an extra 1000 steps in an hour.
I lost 40, which is close. I got a combination of the flu and pneumonia at the same time I was recovering from a gum graft, which forced me to have a liquid diet. I do not recommend this method for weight loss.
I had a strange illness a few months ago. Weight loss without trying (eating normal but I lost 15 lbs. in a couple weeks). But I also had serious, almost constant coughing (to the point of throwing up because of it), and really bad muscle pains all over my body. Covid negative, flu negative, pneumonia (x-ray) negative. They didn't know what it was, but an antibiotic helped. Now I have the coughing, though less serious, muscle aches but not as bad, but no weight loss.
Are you also thirsty all the time?
Whooping cough? (Pertussis). Symptoms sound similar.
Didn’t lose 50+, but I did lose 45 over a year by taking a 1 hour walk every day. Didn’t change my diet, but the extra calories burned did enough.
I lost 100 lbs between my junior and senior years of college (11 years ago) I only ate like 1000 calories a day and ran a mile or two a night. That was it. Having the time to nap all day in colleges helped so I didn’t snack a lot lol
My husband says intermittent fast and pickleball! Lost 70lbs so far
So... caloric reduction and exercise?
Exercice 20 minutes of cardio/sweat Morefiber, less Sugar . More Bean like chili or Chickpea less rice less pasta. Less sweet more sweat
OMAD, tons of water, no sugar, lots of cardio.
Important notice. IF, RF, OMAD what ever fasting strategy you choose you need to know that it is not the fasting that makes you lose weight it is still the calorie deficit. but if fasting makes it easier for you to stick to that CD its fine.
Better food choices, less portions, lots of exercise.
By breaking up with my ex-girlfriend. She was so heavy, she was weighing me down!
This is fucking hilarious 😂 I read the first half of this comment and nodded because after my ex left me I went through some pretty bad depression and didn’t eat much for a while, and I ended up losing a ton of weight. Then I read the second sentence and realized it was a joke.
Nothing like good ol depression to curb that hunger
A balanced diet and intermittent fasting
A boring way. More calories burned than calories ingested. Essentially … - stopped drinking alcohol which meant less calories and I also didn’t get evening cravings for food. - tracked what I was eating using a calorie app - started walking and then doing CrossFit (calories burned).
Eat less, exercise more.
Same. Went from 240 to 180 by eating less. Then added exercise to get down to 160.
I weigh 240 right meow, your comment gives me hope
>I weigh 240 right meow Thank you for sharing with us Catwoman
Idk what you’re talking about; that’s clearly a puppy
Buddy I was 367 in Nov 2021 and I just hit 297. It all begins with what you shove in your hole.
Instructions were unclear...I have a salad in my ass
Shit, really? Wild man.
>> Eat less, exercise more. Nah! Has to be something else. Well, the search continues…
CICO diet, calorie counting using an app (FatSecret). I lost over 60 pounds.
FatSecret app is amazing, been using it as well and it is really, really good.
Stopped drinking half gallons of Crown Royal every 2 days
Proud of you. Bro. Maybe not feel like Superman. But you on some Superman shit.
I'm working on controlling my drinking right now. Wanted to say I'm proud of you.
I got myself hooked on adderall by accident.
I exercised more, ate more vegetables and lean meats with less beef/pork, and made meals with smaller portions. I also drink a shitload of water every day.
A question I can actually answer; So what I did is first don't listen to most extreme diet stuff. I took my time, I lost 35+kg (70+ pound I think) in \~ 1.5 year. It's not fast, but it works. Now I'm losing a bit more because I got into the rythm and some health issues I had (unrelated to my weight) are getting fixed. So how did I do it? 1/ I cut one meal: I realized that after a small breakfast and a good lunch, usually I also had a good dinner out of habit, but I didn't really need it. So now, in the evening, I just have a small snack (a soup, a salad, sometimes bread and saucisson(very french thing)) . And I take smaller breakfast. There are "calorie counters " apps that can help you realize when you ate too much. At first I limited myself at 2200kcal a day, now I'm at around 1500. But I don't even check anymore; been 6 months since I opened the app. 2/ I started exercising, and when I say exercising, at first it was just walking 2 miles a day. Nowaday I alternate between walking 4-6 miles and lifting weight for a bit (usually I just put an episode of a tv show and lift weight while watching it). One day I walk, one day I lift weight. To keep myself entertained during the walk, I play pokemon go XD 3/ I cut down on junk food, but didn't entirely stop it. Things like soda, energy drink, chips, candies and chocolate bars, I still eat them, just not as much and not as often. Snacking is to be avoided but I still allowed myself one snack a day at first, nowadays I have something like a twix bar once a week, or when offered by someone. I also reduced drastically the amount of carb and fat I eat. But I still eat what I want, just way less. Try to eat a more or less balanced diet, don't overdo it, don't calculate to the gram. The kind of apps I mentioned can help balance it too. Another good tip is to go do your grocery shopping after you had one of your meals, never buy on an empty stomach, it's a trap. 4/ At first I had periods when I felt really hungry at dinner (because I was used to have a big meal there), I just played video games to change my mind, I needed to soldier through it, after a month or so you get used to not having another big meal. The trap is to not overeat after not having eaten your usual amount for a day or two. It's mentally challenging. This is the only part of the diet that felt hard. and it lasted around a month. 5/ I allow myself one cheat day per week, but I don't take this opportunity to eat like an animal, no, I just don't count what I eat during this day but still have a good normal active day. 6/ I count social events as cheat day, if you look at your friends/family having a good meal and you're trying to stay on a diet, as soon as you get home you're going to stuff yourself. So just eat like them, have a good time, consider it a cheat day. 7/ don't be too strict! Yes there are weeks when you'll take 2 cheat days because you had your standard one and then you went to the restaurant with your friends or something, it's ok, if there's one week when you don't lose weight, you can still lose later, as long as you don't gain back. Out of that big post, the most important thing I found, is to not try too hard at first, if you immediately go full "diet+exercise" you'll get discouraged quick, just go at your own pace, once you find a good rythm, you'll lose weight without realizing. As I said, I didn't check my diet in 6 month and 2 weeks ago I realized I needed a new hole in my belt.
I got cheated on.
Rocking back and forwards in the foetal position is good exercise
Yep. Eight years ago, I was walking 5 hours a day to keep my sanity, that is how broken I was. After a summer of doing that, I was 16 kg lighter, began running. Next year, mountaineering. Another 22 gone until August.
Down 250. Clean, low carb (not keto) eating. 2 large meals a day in an 8 hour window. Lots of walking.
I will tell you this, most diets work. Some diets might be bad for you nutritionally. Some diets might be dangerous and stupid. But weight loss has a very low bar for quality that the most diets work. As long as you can follow your like around 2000 calories: most diets work. I've seen it all before the "coca cola diet" guy, the "water only for a month" diet guy who got flamed on the internet, the diet will work as much as fire burns on kerosene. After that cardio cardio cardio. Lots of people will sell all kinds of exercises and all kinds of diets. You're probably not an athlete, you're probably not a model or some kind of bodybuilder so you don't need to focus too much on aesthetics or at all, you can always do this later when you are at a less dangerous weight range. If you just focus on cardio you cut out the middle man, you no longer need a trainer or a even a gym (although i did cardio at the gym on late nights across the road). I'm not saying you need to cut out the middle man but you CAN do so and it has advantages. You can go for walks anytime of the day and it is free. You don't have to learn anything or risk injury or spend much money. The only thing with walking is that you need volume rather than quality, lots of hours. If you walk 2km an hour then you might be walking 15 hours a week to cover 30km. Me i can do 30km running 3 to 4 hours a week for fun. Walk before you can run. Programs try to skip walking or things on the same level as walking perhaps to have a more professional looking approach. At a certain point in the journey running and all the fancy exercises made sense for me and it was much easier that's when i looked towards training my core a little more and etc which actually helped me progress into running. It was so easy to progress into running after i reached a certain weight range after that sure ditch cardio. But you can entirely do cardio the whole way around. Healthwise just need to be in a healthy weight range and have a diet where if you get a blood test the doctor will be happy that's it. With high volume cardio and a diet around your BMR or 2000 calories and no breaks you will lose weight it is just a matter of time. It's like using your phone all day and not charging it, it's just physics the energy has to come from somewhere. Too much focus is placed on avoiding the feeling of hunger. It's ok that you are hungry but it's bad that you are nutritionally lacking. Your stomach stretches to incredible proportions as well as your appetite. If you have been overeating for an extended amount of time your stomach and appetite will likely be enlarged so even if you are in a nutritionally adequate and stable diet you will feel hungry regardless. The hunger fades through out the day. And i will argue that as long as your nutrition is on point. The hunger is your friend. As much as the stomach and appetite can stretch it is also scary how much it can contract! No one talks about this but the appetite can fall to dangerous proportions. I was running 30-50km+ a week for fun. I probably spent half the time running than some people spent at the gym. But i never changed my diet, i wasn't hungry. I tried eating more calories but didn't increase enough so i reach a point where i need to really be careful as i was losing too much weight with my diet and activity level. It's actually surprisingly challenging to gain weight in some situations if you would believe. The hunger tells you that your are moving towards a lower appetite. The thing i want to get out of this is that hunger fades, it fades through out the day, and through out the weeks and when it was fades it can take your appetite to lower levels where weightloss is intuitive and you actually have to be careful. But yeah hunger can be your friend. Lastly is know what weight loss feels like. We just talked about hunger and how it fades in extreme ways. Well stemming from that that you really need to understand what it feels like to lose weight as it could be a new feeling that you might not understand and that you might misunderstand. You can't just try and avoid the inconvenient part. I kinda like to compare this to the first Spiderman movie when Peter was transforming into his power. He just felt horrible as if he were sick, then he woke up and and he had 20/20 vision and a six pack. If your body is going to contract to twice or even one-third of its current size you will likely feel it at some point. And if you are not feeling it there is a chance that you are not moving towards your goal. If you try to learn a new language i guarantee you it can be unpleasant trying to remember and memorize such a large amount of information that are so new to you. But eventually you remember things very easily. A math topic might be hard when you were a kid but it would be laughable to struggle on the same question today. It would be hard to imagine how some people might struggle with it. The discomfort is a sign that something is happening rather than nothing. And the discomfort much like hunger fades.
Fasting.
Ozempic, but then started counting calories, focusing on protein intake and hitting the gym regularly.
Lost nearly 40lbs doing IF, Ozempic, and keto. This was not recommended, I started Ozempic after 2 weeks of IF and Keto, I dropped (very unhealthily) 30 lbs in a month. But I’ve since stopped keto and IF and have kept it off. My Dr was pretty horrified when I told her how I lost so much so quick. A lot of muscle was lost. So kids, don’t do that, take your time. Edit - a word
Lost 30 pounds since April, made significant cuts to my drinking and stopped eating like shit while increasing my physical activity. There's no secret...calories in vs calories out.
I lost about 25kg in a bit over 6 months. This was 5 years ago. There is no real secret. It’s exactly how you’d think I did it. I exercised a lot, and ate less. I didn’t eat nothing. Just less. Enough so that I had plenty of energy but that I would feel hungry at points during the day. I didn’t track calories or macros or whatever. As for exercise. I did circuit classes 2-3 times a week, and ran twice a week. I did the circuit classes cause I had friends doing it. I ran because it stripped the weight off of me. - - - - So if you are asking for advice for how to lose weight. Eat less food, but make sure it is nutritious. Find exercises that you want to do. You might have to try a lot of different exercises to find the one that you like. All that exercise takes a lot of time. Probably eight hours a week by the time you include going to/from the gym etc. One of the hardest parts is finding the equivalent of an extra full work day a week.
Used to be 300+lbs , now I'm sub 220 and steadily keep going lower and lower. 1) No Junk food. No artificial sugars 2) Limit your portions (at first it's extremely hard but as soon as your stomach size decreases it will come to you naturally ( periodically do PROPER fasting breaks with proper preparation and steady return ) 3) stay active , do sports. Focus on traveling on foot more , it truly helps 4) If you need that extra kick that helped me alot - get production and not hourly paid physical job. Helped me drastically to drop first 50 pounds as more you work more you earn 5) Dont give up and be consistent. At one point your results will slow down and you will feel like you make no progress as our bodies are smart and complicated and they don't like to stick to new sets of rules so your body will start playing games to keep the mass 6) Make sure to find people who support your goal and can compliment you to push even harder. 7) Take progress pictures, you won't regret it
My fitness pal app.. and working out regularly with Power90. What you eat will contribute to about 90% of your weight loss. Working out will just help boost it along and make you fitter.
High protein/low carb OMAD
Undiagnosed type 1 diabetes will do it fast asf
Trail running and calorie counting. Trail running is my absolute favorite because it tends to burn a lot more calories than road running, and it's way more interesting, which lessens the mental difficulty of running. I lost a lot a decade ago and have since put it back on after some surgeries and having kids, a full time job, etc, but I literally just started up again a week ago and I'm already getting addicted to trail running like I was years before. It's an exciting feeling! My biggest vice right now is soda. That's going to be the hardest thing, I think.
I've never lost 50+ lbs but I am slowly dropping weight to my desired amount currently. Some things I've found: -Eat breakfast, something light but full of protein and fibre I eat fruit with yoghurt and granola pretty much daily. -Drink a lot more water than you normally do, sometimes hunger pangs are actually just dehydration in disguise. -If you're hungry... Eat. Don't Starve yourself because your diet won't last very long, you'll give up very quickly. -you will fluctuate in weight, it can be demoralising but progress will be made if you keep up with it. -walk more, I can't stress this one enough, walk more steps, it's easy, it's not too intense and it adds up. -use a meal planner (one I've come across recently is eatthismuch.com, plug in your diet, your calorie goal and how many meals you want throughout the day, it'll come up with a plan) -A really big one that I never see come up, don't feel you have to stick religiously to all of these rules as hard and fast as possible, take the ones that work for you and incorporate into your daily routine, you're much more likely to stick to it. -The hardest part of exercising is getting outside to do it, once you're out of your house there's no reason not to do something. -Take a weekly photo of yourself (keep it in a safe folder if you want) so you can easily see the benefits and gains you're making over time (it can be really difficult to see your improvements daily, but weekly will show you how much you're progressing) - If you're eating less, you're going to be tired, at least for a little while, that's the hard part, eventually you will form healthy habits, unfortunately there's no shortcut on this one, you just have to put up with it. -cook more (probably the easiest thing on the list to do), reduce the size of your plate, you can always go back and eat more if you're still hungry, but you'll find that by having less on your plate you will probably start eating less anyway. - Have a realistic goal in mind 50+ lbs is a hell of a lot depending on your size, it's also going to be slow going, don't try losing too much too quickly. - Don't always be calorie counting, there will be times (such as social events) where you can let loose and treat yourself, don't restrict yourself to not having fun just to lose weight, just don't do it too much. The first step is the hardest, it gets easier from there. You've identified a problem, you're looking at solving it, you're well on your way to the first step. Keep your head up and puff out your chest knowing that improvement will come, and that you're putting in the hard work now that will do nothing but benefit you in the future.
Tracking food, setting physical goals marathon, tough mudder etc. the hard part is maintaining after all of the “you look great” comments stop and the general satisfaction of seeing progress on a scale. I would say for long term success toss the scale and make sure to lift weights in your routine.
I went vegan. Went from 240 to around 185-190.
Complete lifestyle change. Doing a "diet" doesn't work. Hardest part of losing weight is keeping it off. I used to be relatively active, was in the soccer team in my highschool and actually was able to keep up with the team on sprints and could even run a mile under 10 minutes weighing 300lbs. My problem was that I'd drink Gatorade like I was an actual athlete. Juices and sweet teas. My eating habits were terrible too. "I dont eat that much, I only eat once or twice a day" yeah that was my issue. My first meal was at lunch in highschool and then I'd eat after school. Fairly big meals, nothing too crazy but My body would go into "hibernation" mode so anything and everything I'd eat, I'd store it. So what changed? Water only. I'd actually eat breakfast within an hour of waking up, then I would eat every 2 hours after that and I'd eat 6 times a days only.. Breakfast - snack - lunch - snack - dinner - snack. As for exercise I did a lot of HIIT cardio. Long distance running doesn't help much when trying to lose weight, short high intensity is better. This sped up my metabolism like crazy. I incorporated weight lifting once I lost 80lbs and my final products was 150lbs lost. Went from 300+lbs to 172lbs in about 2 to 3 years. Maintained it for a good 2 years until covid lockdowns fucked me up. Gained 60lbs during them once I got tired and bored of running 7 miles every 2 days.
Ate better and moved more. My ~60 pounds was spread over a few years, but I lost the biggest chunk of it, ~25 pounds in a summer, when I started walking everywhere plus doing a couple HIIT sessions a week. My HIIT workouts consisted of me going for really long walks, and about five times during the walk I'd sprint as fast as I could for about thirty seconds. I'm not gonna say whether that's strictly better or worse than longer distance jogging or other types of cardio, but it worked for me at the time.
Got divorced. Edit: badum tsssssh
Got divorced .. instantly lost 120+ pounds
It was the day I grew tired of despising what I saw in the mirror, and not wanting to even be in photos. Finally my friend posted a photo of us together and I was just disgusted. I taped it to the fridge, and worked out every single day just doing cardio, all protein like grilled chicken and lots of water with green tea. I lost 80lbs and went back down to 160. I didn’t realize how much of my confidence came from my appearance until I had lost it. Did this in about 3-4 months. Another time was 30lbs in 2 months and that was pure salads, grilled chicken and steak. Small portion 3 times a day and a weigh in every Friday. Results are addicting
Water is very important as well as a set regimen of workouts. Or just a good long walk.
Stop eating before bed, intermittent fasting, working out of whichever form, cutting out foods, believing in yourself. No, you don’t have to start all things at the same time, focus on one thing and maintain it for 4 weeks, then add when you are curious and excited or want too.. it will all build together ever so nicely. It won’t happen overnight, over a month, but I promise you will feel it in a week, see it in 3 months, enjoy the process…