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Weight loss support thread

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Zaphora, Jun 19, 2018.

  1. Zaphora

    Zaphora Moderator Staff Member

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    No it's a good.thing I drink tea....when I want to eat I eat sunflower seeds sometimes like when you feel like you want to eat....I also have these garcina cambogia pills they help with your appetite they suppress it...I cut back on how much I eat by limiting....honestly...I try to stay under 500 calories for a day....it sounds ridiculous but I manage to keep it at 800 max...walking everyday you can find workouts on YouTube I recommend the walk away the lbs videos feel free to pm me betty I'd love to be your support system and maybe even get a kickass friend out of this :D
     
  2. Zaphora

    Zaphora Moderator Staff Member

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    Can't believe I am actually gonna post this...but this is how I look I've lost thirty pounds as of last year....so there's that I've got fifty more pounds to go...to reach a healthy bmi...

    I included a photo of me prior to my weight loss of last year...so you can see a difference

    I've just gotten to the point where I just hate my body...my dad is constantly putting me down and calling me fat....is it bad that I believe it...I have found a really nice workout on you tube I can link...she's got a nice 500 calorie workout I do everyday now...I think I may up it to twice a day...
     

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  3. lustinthewind

    lustinthewind Member

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    So far so good!
    I was obese for a long, long time. Losing weight allowed me to lose major health problems and accomplish things I wouldn't have been able to do (one of my recent jobs depended on constant physical activity).
     
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  4. Zaphora

    Zaphora Moderator Staff Member

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    That's so awesome....I'm always stuck at home and it's depressing being around food all the time the bad kind...
     
  5. lustinthewind

    lustinthewind Member

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    Aw. Do you make most of your food purchases, or do your family members or friends or relatives? Eating healthy is a bit of a challenge for me ever since moving back home since my family rarely thinks about nutrition and such.
     
  6. Zaphora

    Zaphora Moderator Staff Member

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    Honestly no I am not the one who gets to decide what to buy...but I am trying to make everyone make healthier food choices...I do walk every day with my dog so at least I get outside...there's a plus....


    On the upside I have lost 4 lbs...
     
  7. Zaphora

    Zaphora Moderator Staff Member

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    Damn I haven't updated this is ages but figure I can try again. This time my twin is doing it with me I am aiming to lose 75 lbs this year. Hoping it can stay that way just really have to change my mindset. So there's that. I'd like to be at about 130 so here we go.
     
  8. Villie

    Villie wrow

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    I've been having 0 luck losing weight and it's frustrating
     
  9. Zaphora

    Zaphora Moderator Staff Member

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    Believe me I know I have been trying and then when I get some success twenty pounds down my family gets mad at me and yells and complains well now she's about 15 lbs away from where I am so maybe she wants to do it with me. I'm going to try the keto diet and fasting to see if that can help.
     
  10. lustinthewind

    lustinthewind Member

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    That's okay. It's always going to be work since you have to change the way you look at food like I did.
    I was overweight since the 4th grade (became obese during high school). I did not have any success until I was almost 28 years old. Most of my family has chronic illnesses. The turning point for me was when I dropped out of graduate school and saw that I was going to be 30, still single, had no accomplishments in my life, and was going to have a life-threatening chronic illness like the rest of my family. That was when I forced myself to run every single day until my clothes were soaked and I was coughing phlegm.
     
  11. Feverdream

    Feverdream Well-Known Member

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    This is a really complex topic and people literally devote entire books to this, but there's a few basic ideas I'd like to suggest.

    First, if you can consult with a nutritionist or join a plan where you get guidance (Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers) that can be really helpful for people who do better with direct support, or people who are unsure what to do.

    The two major goals are to (1) have a calorie deficit (take in fewer calories than you burn), and (2) your plan must be sustainable over a long period of time. This second point is hugely important, I cannot stress this enough. You can have a calorie deficit by only eating an apple and a can of tuna for the entire day, but it's not sustainable over a long period of time. Eventually you will have severe cravings and fall off the wagon in a big way, because a diet that radical will wreak havoc on your hormones, leading to overwhelming cravings. Your body will literally think you are starving to death, and you will eventually go into survival mode of "eat everything in sight". It's also a miserable way to live. It sounds boring but a "normal" diet of moderation is the most sustainable over the long term. A good way to transition into that is by slowly reducing or eliminating problematic food choices, for example sugary soda (replace with diet soda for several months or even years, then plain seltzer, then eventually just water). Instead of cooking with oil or butter, start using nonstick spray (Pam etc). Order the side salad instead of french fries. Try to find healthy alternatives, while still living your usual lifestyle. Try to eat smaller portions of highly caloric foods, for example if you sprinkle cheese on your taco, use it sparingly. But it's also extremely important that while you are in a calorie deficit, that you enjoy your meals and don't feel like you are being deprived. Figure out how to eat fewer calories while still enjoying tasty food. This is key to making your diet sustainable over the long term, and avoiding binges. You can still eat tasty food and enjoy your meals while losing weight, if you plan correctly and have the know-how. Figure out substitutions (low fat cheese, sugar free gum, baked potato chips) where you can make swaps. For certain items that you really love, you may want to limit it to a weekly or monthly splurge you can look forward to (example - ice cream). If ice cream is your #1 top favorite food, it's not sustainable to eliminate it completely, and say "I'm never eating ice cream again". You need to plan a diet that allows you the occasional ice cream treat, while maintaining your deficit. One option is to look for low calorie versions of your favorite foods. Another option is to limit your portion size, for example get the smallest size portion of ice cream, or split it with a friend (or two). It helps a lot to keep your diet on track, when you don't feel deprived.

    Overall, you want to establish a healthy relationship with food. Eating a whole carton of ice cream is not a healthy relationship with food. But also, only eating a can of tuna and an apple for the entire day is also not a healthy relationship with food either. It sounds boring, but a balanced diet with sensible choices and sensible portion sizes really is the best route for most people.

    A lot of your success or failure will happen at the grocery store. If you spend money on bad food choices and bring them into your home, you will definitely eat them, so making good decisions at the grocery store is crucial. Personally, I know that I cannot buy desserts like pie and cake, or I will regret it later. If I buy a pie at the store, I will eat the entire pie in two days. So not purchasing the pie in the first place is how I avoid that. At the store, when I see pies, it's easier if I don't even look at them. You can also help yourself by minimizing the damage from splurges. For example, if you have a craving for potato chips, then buy the smallest bag available, do not buy the "family size" bag (even if it's on sale). Try to keep your mistakes small, and when you stray from the plan try to get back on track ASAP. The example I've heard other people use is, if you were driving down the highway and got a flat tire, you don't say "screw it" and slash the other tires too. If you made bad choices for lunch, try to make sure your dinner is sensible. If you had a bad day of eating, try to get back on track ASAP instead of saying "screw it" and blowing off the rest of the week.

    Exercise is good, but it only burns a limited amount of calories. You should definitely exercise, it does make a difference. But it doesn't make enough of a difference that you can eat anything you want, unless you are training like a full time professional athlete.

    There are calorie calculators online, where you can estimate your maintenance level caloric needs based on age, height, weight and level of activity. A good suggestion is to eat the estimated amount of maintenance calories, and see if your weight stays the same, to test the estimate. Then try reducing calories gradually, until you are eating 300-500 less calories below maintenance. Counting calories is a little obsessive and can be unhealthy, but it helps to count calories at first, just to get an idea of how many calories you're eating, how many calories are in certain foods, etc. A pretty decent guess for calorie levels for someone trying to lose weight would be approximately 2200 calories a day for a male, and 1600 calories a day for a female. (On a practical level, for people who need to keep things as simple as possible, this means that you will probably lose weight if you eat 600-700 calories at every meal, assuming that you eat 3 times a day.) I've read advice that nobody should ever go below 1200 calories a day. Severe caloric restriction is not healthy. Yes, some people recommend fasting, but that's really for people who have a healthy relationship with food to begin with. You don't want to go back and forth between starvation (fasting) and then going back to bad food choices the next day. It's probably best to establish a sustainable diet first. Otherwise you are bingeing and purging, more or less (ricochetting between way too many calories, and way too few calories). This is really serious stuff, and can lead to bulimia and anorexia in some cases.

    The popular diets all work via calorie restriction. Low carb diets and low fat diets both restrict an entire macronutrient category. Vegetarians sometimes lose weight for this reason. But it's also possible to lose weight by eating a balanced diet too - Atkins is an example of a balanced diet that works for many people. Personally, I find it hard to sleep on low carb diets, and I really enjoy certain carb foods like whole wheat bread. I'm not willing to give up bread completely, or rice, or fruit. Fats are important for hormonal functions, and I don't want to limit fats and risk affecting my sex drive. And fats are tasty (and they are hard to avoid when eating animal protein, which is part of my diet). So I find a balanced diet to be the best for me, the easiest to maintain and stick with.

    Once you have an idea what the calorie counts of certain foods are, things become clearer. You can literally eat giant bowls of vegetables without gaining weight (not deep fried vegetables, not with added butter or cheese sauce, but just plain vegetables). Fruits are also a good choice. I think it's important to prioritize protein and fiber too, and healthy fats are important too (avocado, fish, certain nuts, etc). But learning the caloric concentrations of food is empowering. By choosing foods that are less dense calorically, you can still eat a large amount of food and not feel deprived, but still be in a caloric deficit. Don't misunderstand, I don't expect people to eat giant bowls of broccoli. But including plenty of vegetables will fill you up, with almost zero caloric impact. And feeling full is important to help avoid feeling deprived. The ideal situation is to feel full and be satisfied with your meals, but still be in a slight caloric deficit.

    Personally, I love fruit and it's full of nutrients and relatively low calorie. But I remember reading "fruits have a lot of sugar" so then I started avoiding fruit. But when I was hungry, instead of fruit (100 or 200 calories) I would eat a cheese sandwich, or hummus with pita bread (500-600 calories). That was a mistake!

    Here's a couple websites I like:

    www.nutritiondata.com - get calorie counts for foods. There are lots of websites like this, but this one is pretty good. Enter the name of the food at the top of the page (includes some restaurant foods)
    www.eatthismuch.com - calorie counts and meal planner based on your targets, there is a free version of the site and a pay version which allows you to save your settings
    https://www.hungry-girl.com - low calorie recipes, lots of ingredient substitution ideas, lots of recipes that simulate popular restaurant foods
    https://www.foodnetwork.com/healthy/photos/foods-with-100-calories - shows examples of what 100 calories of certain foods looks like. What would be more filling: 100 calories from an entire apple, or 100 calories from a small handful of potato chips? There are a lot of example of this online, Google "what does 100 calories look like?"

    Sorry if this was rambling. Please don't do "crash" or "fad" diets (the Cabbage Soup Diet, etc). It's easy to lose weight on a crash diet, but since crash diets don't require long-term sustainable changes, the weight almost always comes back (and often results in overall gains, not losses). You only made a temporary change, so your weight loss will be temporary. Instead of "diets" think about making long term, sensible and sustainable changes to your approach to eating. Try to get help from a nutritionist if possible - many health insurance plans will cover that. This is a situation where "quick fixes" seem good, but they really aren't.

    Oh yeah, one more thing. Water accounts for a lot of weight loss. When you go on a crash diet, you often lose a lot of water weight. Your weight can fluctuate up to 5 pounds from day to day (!!!) just because you are retaining water (or shedding water). Don't be too impressed by fast drops in weight, it's almost certainly water weight that is making the difference. Real weight loss is slow and gradual. It's good to shoot for 1 or 2 pounds per week. As you lose weight, your body will adjust and weight loss slows down. Just stick with it. There are plateaus sometimes, don't get discouraged or think that you need to make drastic changes. Small incremental changes (like reducing your calories by 100, or adding an afternoon walk) are sustainable and that's what works. Weigh yourself at the same time every day (or every other day) and don't worry about daily fluctuations - that's probably water weight. What you want to see is an overall general trend of the weight drifting lower, over a period of weeks.
     
    Last edited: Sep 10, 2019
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  12. Feverdream

    Feverdream Well-Known Member

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    Sorry for all the edits! I kept remembering things I wanted to say.
     
  13. GreenEmbers

    GreenEmbers Active Member

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    I just got a fit bit this year and have finally been making healthy progress. I have been calorie counting with it, but not starving myself. I also let myself have 1 day of the week i dont keep tab on calories as a reward day. I was pushing 325 pounds last year this sunday, dec 22. Now im at 254 pounds. Im pretty excited how far ive come over a year, but i have a ways to go. I'm 5' 3" so Im shooting for around 125 pounds. In all honesty ill stay at whatever is a healthy bmi weight that i feel comfortable. But im trying anyway. I have alwaya been overweight and never had enough finances for healthy food. But i found cheaper alternatives that are healthy.
     
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  14. Zaphora

    Zaphora Moderator Staff Member

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    How is that going for you? :) so far ive back tracked but it was also really messed up the reactions i got from my family....they got aggressive and mad that i lost the weight.
     
  15. GreenEmbers

    GreenEmbers Active Member

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    So far i really like using the fitbit. Mine was a cheapy used one i got for 20$. Seeing the calorie number makes it a lot easier for me to say no. Ive also gotten to the point that i can tell by hunger pains if Im close to the neg in calories. Im just hoping that Christmas foods dont get the best of me lol. So far im doing okay but mannn the hommade toffy from one of my church friends is so hard to say no to. So far people have either not said anything or take me aside and compliment me. I wish others would have done that for you.
     
  16. Wolfcat

    Wolfcat Well-Known Member

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    Sucks that some members of your family are like that. Sounds like they really don't want to see you improve or do well, at least in this aspect. Hopefully that doesn't bleed over to other areas.

    Feverdream's post above is pretty spot on. Only thing I disagree with is that I don't think there's any evidence that going below 1200 calories in a day is some kind of hard limit to never go below. A shorter, smaller, sedentary person might eat that low or less.

    I'm pretty experienced in losing weight at this point. Probably gone from between ~10%-20% (intentionally, both ways) 4 or 5 times over the last 5 years . Things that helped me the most in losing:

    1: LISS (low-intensity steady state) cardio. Very useful for creating a larger deficit. It doesn't wear you out, and you can do it a long time. I am also a weightlifter (kind of a recreational powerlifter, historically, but now getting into recreational bodybuilding.) Lifting weights does not burn many calories; it's for building muscle. You can burn way more calories briskly walking compared to lifting weights. At least with any consistency. That said: Building muscle is very helpful.

    2: Realize calories are the only factor that dictates which direction your weight will trend over time (up or down.) I.E: If my weight hasn't gone up or down, I am eating at maintenance by definition. If it's going up, I'm eating in a surplus, and down means a deficit. No counting required. When I want to lose weight, I do not radically alter my diet. I just eat less of the things I already eat. That said, looking at calories is still useful so you know whether a particular food is a good choice.

    3: Develop healthier eating choices. Generally highly calorie dense foods are poor choices when losing weight (stuff like nuts, peanut butter, mayo, candy, any cooking oils, muffins (the worst!)) This stuff is very easy to eat a lot of because it's not filling. Literally filling. That is, it doesn't take up a lot of space, and has a lot of calories to boot. When losing weight, I avoid anything that could make up a large part of my daily calories, especially if it does so without also making me full. To get full on peanut butter, I'd have to eat 1000 calories of the stuff, and same goes for most calorie dense food.

    3-B: Related to #2. Figure out a bunch of satiating (makes you full) foods / meals that you can afford, don't have a bunch of calories, and you like. For me, personally, that list is:
    1. Lean meats (though I still love red meats, I strain out some fat.) Fish.
    2. Eggs.
    3. Oatmeal (I add fruit for flavor.)
    3. Almost any fruit and vegetable (there's ways to screw this up. Don't main-line avocados, even if they're healthy.) Don't cook them in oils. Starchy vegetables are fine; they are filling. I like bananas, apples, and oranges for quick snacks. Frozen berries (so they keep longer.) Canned vegetables so they keep better. They're all still healthy.
    4. Skim milk (technically possible to drink a ton and get a lot of calories, but I am not compelled to.)
    5. Spices, fat-free and sugar free syrups, condiments, sweeteners and flavors. A lot of healthy food can be bland. This helps. Stevia and aspartame is better than adding sugar. Fuck the "studies." They help you reduce calories.
    6. Bulk, plain, whey protein powder. Not really necessary for most people, but useful if you have any physique goals (muscle building.) It's just food (protein) in powder form. I'm a little crazy and bought about 20 kg for about ~$250. I eat some every day. It will probably last over a year.

    3-C: Also related to #2. Things I stopped eating on diets.
    1. Soda.
    2. Coffee-shop made coffee. You don't know what's in there. Could be a 500 calorie cup of coffee, or a quarter of the average day.
    3. ice cream
    4. Full-fat ground beef (still eat it, but I remove a lot of fat.)
    5. Pizza (I make a lot of home-made pizza, but only when trying to gain weight or maintain.)
    5. Nuts. They're tasty, and "healthy," but not for losing weight.

    Everyone has their lists. I would come up with yours. Things you can see yourself eating every day, fill you up, and you enjoy.

    I am probably at ~20% bodyfat right now. A little higher than I really wanted to go, but it's fine. I'll start losing around 1-2 lb/week starting in January or February.
     
    Last edited: Dec 20, 2019
  17. GreenEmbers

    GreenEmbers Active Member

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    I finished out the year losing 66 pounds healthily! Not quite half way to my goal yet, but at least i know i can get there.
     
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  18. Zaphora

    Zaphora Moderator Staff Member

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    I'm tryimg again so far 5 lbs down and starting at 235 lbs
     
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  19. Wolfcat

    Wolfcat Well-Known Member

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    Starting my weight loss too. Probably just losing 10-15 lbs.
     
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  20. GreenEmbers

    GreenEmbers Active Member

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    @Zaphora , im at 259 currently. Come on, we can do this! You too @Wolfcat! We got this.
     
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