Hello! I'm not sure if there is a thread on here like this already, but I would like to have a thread where people can discuss weight loss / maintaining a healthy weight. For background, I had spent my entire life overweight/obese. I was always the fat kid, and had no hope of losing weight. I was never taught growing up what TDEE was, how to calculate it, how to track calories, stuff like that. Because of this, I struggled with health/mental issues related to my weight. I would hate for anyone to be in a similar situation. Growing up, I was always under the impression that just being active was sufficient enough to get to a healthy weight. This resulted in many failed attempts to lose weight. For reference, I was once obese until I started changing my lifestyle a little over 2 years ago. I would like this to be a discussion about weight loss, for anyone to ask questions and seek advice, and for those to post their experiences losing weight, and how they have maintained it. I would like this to be more of a serious thread, but I know jokes are inevitable, so preferably kept to a minimum. Also, methods that would be deemed medically hazardous is discouraged as well. Since starting my journey, weight loss and fitness have been a very high priority in my life, and helping others achieve their goals brings me joy. Sorry if this kind of post is looked down upon, but if it can help just one person, I would be content! EDIT: Figured some more information may be needed for the main post. Initially, you need to find out where you are at using a TDEE calculator (tdeecalculator.net). I was 265 lb (120kg) at 5'10 (177-178cm) as a 21 year old male. These stats are what you will use (height, age, weight, and gender). It is recommended to set your activity level as sedentary. Plugging in your stats, you will get a good estimate of your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure), or the amount of calories you burn each day with minimal movement. Mine was about 2,650 calories. So, I needed to eat less than that each day to lose weight. This brings me to my next point, tracking calories. Many of us will look at something, and say, "that's about one portion", but the reality is the human eye is not the best measuring tool. What you think may be one serving could very well end up being 2 or 3, or even more. For this, I highly recommend getting a food scale. I've found even with things that say something like "1 piece", and they will have the weight in parenthesis, and a lot of times the weight doesn't equate to the "1 piece". So, weighing your food for the exact weight is a good idea to make sure you know just how many calories you are consuming. Once you've figured out the food scale, now we have to log those suckers! Logging is a good way to keep track throughout the day so you don't forget and go over your caloric goal. I started out using an app called MyFitnessPal, but really a pen and paper would work just as well. It's important to log everything. the oil you use, the couple crackers you ate, condiments. Yes, everything. That may seem extreme, but these "little" things can add up, and make quite the dent in your daily calories. A pound of fat is 3,500 calories. So, if you ate at a 500 calorie deficit each day, you would lose 1lb a week. It is generally recommended that 1-2lbs a week is what is considered to be safe weight loss, unless you are very obese. I would start with a 500 calorie deficit. Going too extreme can not only be detrimental to your health, but the likelihood of sustainable weight loss is greatly diminished. I have more I could go on, but I believe this is a good start. Please do reply if you have questions, or have comments on anything related to this topic. Thank you!
For weight loss or a healthy lifestyle, i hightly recommend going ( Keto / Carnivore ) with intermittent fasting. This changed my life.
Interesting! The beauty of weight loss is that there are many ways to go about it. What was your IF window? I tried IF very early in my weight loss, but it definitely wasn't for me, but it does work for a lot of people! I've never done a strict keto diet, but I can see why it would work well for people. The combination of good amounts of protein and dietary fiber will help you stay satiated longer, helping stay within caloric limits by reducing hunger. Had you tried other methods before finding this success, or was this just the one that you naturally gravitated to? Glad you found success! Thank you for replying
My IF window is 16/8 sometimes even up to 20 as i only eat 2 full meals . i tried 3 years Vegan back then ,but u will lack a lot of Vitamins and take supplements and stuff.
Oh boy, Jason, I found your thread 5 minutes after I just cried for 30 minutes over my weight--the timing is crazy LOL. Trust me when I say I know exactly what you went through! I was always a thin little stick growing up, but when I was 19, I got diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder that caused my metabolism to slow down and gain weight and I've been struggling ever since. But I decided to do something about it and 3-4 years ago, I was weightlifting 5 days a week (I alternated days between upper and lower body) and tracking all my calories on an app. I weighed everything I ate on a food scale for more accurate tracking. I made sure to be in about a ~500 calorie deficit from my TDEE in the beginning and gradually increased my calorie intake as I started building muscle. I was also tracking my macros and eating 0.8-1g of protein per pound of my bodyweight. The rest of the allowance for carbs and fats, I divided 60/40, respectively. This was when I was at my peak and it worked great for me--I was finally thin but also lean and fit. I did not use the scale as a way to track my progress because I was gaining a lot of muscle, which obviously made me heavier. Instead, I used body fat percentage. However, I was also severely restricting any treats or cravings at that time, which ultimately made this unsustainable. I also ended up injuring my legs during training and haven't been able to exercise since then, so I highly recommend anyone who does this to TAKE IT SLOW... do NOT increase weight too rapidly, especially when just starting out. Also, make sure you learn how to do exercises with the correct posture, breathing, etc. The most important part when it comes to losing weight is to do it in a way that will avoid any physical injuries. This is a lesson I learned the hard way and now I need surgery on both legs -__- I'm slowly trying to get back into this routine as it has worked best for me in the past. Fad diets and extreme calorie restricting do not work in the long run and in fact make it easier to gain the weight back. But man, it's been hard as hell to stay consistent when you know how you used to be like in the past and how much work it will take to get back to it. That's my current struggle right now.. I can't stay motivated for more than a few days
My best advice to lose weight is start slow! You mentioned that you needed about 2650 calories for your daily needs. So try to start at maintaining at 2000 calories! Nutrition information of your food are your best friend to keep track of your calories! Once you are used to your current daily intake calories~ go for lower! But try not to go for 1000 as it is mentally draining and can make you depressed. Of course, try to exercise! For me is go for daily walks and maybe once you are used to it, go for run then! I love running since I love to daydream and overthink alot while running. >_<'' And of course, Saledor's favourite tip! "Hydrate/Drink water!" Always go for plain water if possible! Water are good to keep you full for a short-time being! Hope that helps!
My goodness, I am so sorry to hear about your struggles both with the auto-immune disorder and the injuries you sustained. Maintaining weight and building muscle are hard enough on their own, much less with those two factors hindering any progress. The good thing is you know exactly what to do, I saw no errors in the information you provided (calorie deficit, grams of protein per lb of body weight, tracking calories). Two things that you pointed out in your post make me really happy you brought them up: over restriction and safety when beginning a workout regimen. As you already had acknowledged, restricting too heavily of foods you enjoy can have a negative effect on sustainable weight loss. Since you already know this, I will touch on this for anyone else that may be reading. You do not have to cut out everything from your diet when you lose weight (fat). Weight loss is essentially CICO (calories in, calories out). It's all a science in the end. Over restricting can work for a short period of time, but often we cave to these cravings, resulting in sabotaging our progress. My suggestion for anyone starting out is if there's a particular treat you enjoy, then still enjoy it periodically, but to weigh it and work it into your caloric goal. This could be done by either cutting the normal serving size in half, or making room in your other meals to allow for this treat. If the craving isn't for a particular food, but rather for something sweet, I suggest keeping fruits around the house. These natural sugars will be better nutrition, and not only can the volume be better per calorie, but the fiber can help stave off some feelings of hunger. As for beginning to workout, I love the advice you gave. Too often we want to push our bodies, especially after losing some weight initially, and this can be problematic. As you said, learning proper technique and not over exerting your body are ways to take precautionary measures. If you haven't worked out in a while, start slow with something like taking walks, or riding an exercise bike at a steady pace. As you start, it is important to listen to your body to see how it reacts. I also have made the mistake of 1. Not using proper technique and 2. Over doing it, and had sustained a shoulder injury while getting into lifting weights. If you go to the gym, ask people who you notice doing exercises for tips on good techniques. In my experience, most people are more than willing to show someone the correct way to do something at the gym. A good rule of thumb for what to start at, is if you can't perform the exercise with proper technique, you should drop the resistance to one you can perform the exercise properly. Also, when building muscle (or generally, really), hydration is very important! I know you already know these things, Snay, but this was more for people who stumble across this thread. You hit the nail on the head in regards to fad diets and over restricting. These techniques work REALLY well at first because youre putting yourself at an extreme calorie deficit, and as you mentioned, sustaining these is not only going to effect your health, but is likely to not be something you can maintain. Over restriction can be done in the short term, but your body will fight back, and can very likely end up in a binge, and then you giving up altogether. The strategies we enact in fat loss aren't meant to be a "diet", but a lifestyle change you can transition to that you can maintain for the rest of your life. This is part of the reason we hear about those crazy stats about people who lost weight regain it within 5 years, because they aren't changing their lifestyle, they're just temporarily changing their diet. I'm so sorry that you're struggling with motivation. But, on the bright side, you know exactly what to do, and are very knowledgeable, and have gotten to where you want to be before. Getting back will be a lot of work, but you know you can do it, now. Think back to the times throughout this time where you had that "high" of seeing changes both in the mirror and on the scale, how good it felt. Also, if you want we can help motivate each other to stay on track. I am at a healthy weight, but I'm trying to build more muscle now, so we can keep each other accountable and not have to go through our journeys alone! I'm still waking up so I may come back to this comment to add more, but Snay, thank you so much for opening up about this and providing great insight. I truly believe you have what it takes to get back to where you want to be, and I will definitely be here to encourage you every step of the way. We don't have to do this alone!
Starting slow is absolutely the key. Over restricting will just lead to a sabotage of your weight loss efforts. I had added that my tdee was 2,650 calories. I dropped down to a healthy weight 2 years ago, and am maintaining my weight currently, although my tdee is more 1,700 calories now. This thread was less of advice for me (although I am always learning!!!) but more for people who are in a similar position I was in. I do agree though, 1000 calorie deficit can be insanely difficult on both mental and psychical health, and is very hard to maintain for a true lifestyle change. Also, love what you said about water! Sometimes when we feel "hunger" our body is just saying "water me, dammit!" I love you pointed this out. When feeling hungry, it's always great to start with a couple glasses of water and waiting 20 minutes. A lot of time we will see that "hunger" fade. Exercise can definitely be great. It's important for anyone looking to lose weight to not eat back their exercise calories, and not to trust calorie tracking apps. I have a fitbit, but don't look at the calories burned, as I've found they can be really inaccurate. Starting slow with exercise is also important as to not put too much stress on your body. So if you haven't ran in awhile, go for walks! With the more weight you lose, the easier it will be to exercise, and having less weight on your body will be beneficial to your joints. Thank you for the reply!
Saying I have a sweet tooth would be an understatement. I am extremely addicted to sugar, and it gets really bad at some times in my life. I lost 40 pounds in a little over a year by deciding to do intermittent fasting (IF), combined with a few other things. I do not exercise apart from walking to and from work (about 14 minutes total) and some active stretching. I'll just write what I did here to share my experience. I did a 16:8 (16 hours no eating, 8 hour eating window). I would say that IF really helped me to control my cravings through force; that is, my body was trained to feel hungry only at certain times and given I was eating only two meals a day on average, I was forced to make my meals as full and diverse as possible. I was by no means starving myself (although it felt like it at first.) I made sure to do a few other things like: Completely avoid highly processed foods. Find meals that you can meal prep with fresh ingredients, and you'd be surprised at how you can make dinner for 4-5 days in one sitting. Know exactly what you're putting in your food as much as you can. Avoid sugar altogether, but feel free to give yourself a cheat day. By avoid sugar I mean candy, cookies, cakes, etc. Eating whole fruit is fine and plain yogurt is fine as long as you mix it with other things (I use bananas, blueberries, and rolled oats.). This can be especially hard if you live in the USA, since the sugar industry has fooled society (lobbying efforts, biased/improper studies) into thinking fat content is the big scary issue. This results in corn syrup (fructose) and other sugars being pumped into everything. Incorporate fiber in your diet consciously. Many people don't think about this enough. If you have low fiber intake right now, don't start gobbling down high fiber foods all at once (your gut will scream at you ). Whole fruit, oats, psyllium husk (supplement), 647 bread (the only "processed" thing I'd recommend), nuts, etc Do not starve yourself. I firmly believe that establishing good habits comes first before you think about calories in calories out. I did both at the same time because I was used to fasting for long periods of time due to my early life. All of this allowed me to establish routine and lose weight. I was never obese thanks to my height, but losing fat in certain areas and reaping the benefits of a healthy diet/habits are invaluable to me. I think the key for me was to stick to things that were familiar to me, and not to make it too complicated (I did not track anything day by day, I just followed a few simple rules.) Knowing myself, if I turned it into a science like constantly logging, using an app, and so on I would get burnt out and regress. I've relaxed recently and now eat 3 meals a day without a strict window, and put a little sugar in my tea and such, but so far things are really good. Sugar cravings will always be with me, but I give myself a cheat day once a week which seems to offset most of it. Thanks for reading and thanks to everyone sharing their experience!
Interesting tread Jason! (btw, blaze420 from LS uwu) I've never been over-weight, currently at 155lbs (70kg) 5"7. BUT, as a fit guy (been training for 10years) a lot of people at school and work ask me for advice to get in better shape. As many of you pointed out already, the key is starting slow and being constant. Weighting food is one of the best advice you could get, as well as working out at least few times a week. If you guys want to loose fat weight, going under just a little bit under your current calories intake would be good enough. I wouldn't go crazy by cutting 600cal per day. Remember, it's a slow process and chances are that drastic changes would be too much to handle on long-term goal. Obviously, changing your diet is also something really important. What I usually do is something like this : -Morning : 6 eggs (no, it is not too much, fight me if you want) -snack : fruits/vegetables/nuts. Pretty much anything you like as long as it's not processed food. -lunch : meat/rice/vegetables. nothing fancy, about 150g of each -snack2 : protein shake. Could replace to any low calorie/high protein you want. Sometimes I replace it with 100g of turkey or w/e -Dinner : Shrimps 80% of the time/rice/vegetables. shrimps are op. That's pretty much it. Having a brother who's into bodybuilding as well as a nutritionist definitely helped me to understand all macro-nutrients and all that kind of stuff. If any of you guys want more advices or just talk about healthy life-style in general feel free to message me ign I'm addicted to that stuff! uwu
I'm 5'7" and i weighed about 180lb when COVID hit us hard in summer of 2020. I felt that I needed to do something so I started exercising. I also happened to quit on this game I was playing back then so I spent my time playing games working out. By October-November of 2020 I lost 40lb and weighed around 140-142lb. However I started playing Royals around that time curse you Royals and started selling leech 8 hours a day and farming like crazy. LOL. I was still on a lookout on what I eat but stopped working out cuz I wanted to fund apr to wash my NL. LMFAO. So I gained weight again to 170lb. How pathetic of me lmao. I am not so much addicted in Royals now, so I started working out and restricting my diet again since this January, and now I weigh like 160lb. My goal is to lower it down to 140lb and lose all that muffin tops around my belly . Hope I get to that point by May/June! Im kinda afraid that Genshin, Lost Ark, and Elden Ring may take over my workout time tho
@EL.Latino Couldn't agree more, I've been doing it for years. I wish more people knew about this. Though its hard for most since a lot of people don't realize how unnecessary BREAD is haha. Low carb/ zero carb (keto) are life hacks for losing weight. If I'm ever feeling pudgy, I cut all carbs (including sugar people - they turn into carbs) for like 2 weeks and I'm cut again. On top of that, Just don't eat after 6pm. Intermittent fasting is critical as well.
people are right that mindless eating of refined carbs is an easy way of gaining weight. but sorry i disagree with a lot of these posts recommending you cut food groups cold turkey. if it works and it’s sustainable for you, than great, but very often it’s not and the guilt from “failing” is even more triggering. our relationship with food is deeply ingrained and trying to cut something out like that is very likely to cause a binge in the future (and gaining the weight all back). then ppl start looking for the next diet and the cycle starts all over again. but it’s a marathon not a sprint, i recommend people who have a heavy refined carb + saturated fat diet slowly wean it down by replacing the carb part of the plate over time with whole grains, vegetables and protein. start with 90/10, 80/20, until you get a more complete, nutritionally dense plate. carbs and fat are not the devil. when eaten in moderation and part of a complete nutritional package, they are perfectly acceptable (and imo necessary) for a healthful life.
