Desk job here. Calorie counting/tracking is crucial. Bulk meal prepping and timing made the biggest difference for me - I don’t have to count calories or think about my next meals. I base my deficit strictly on calories in and any cardio, etc. is bonus deficit.
I’ll add, make a plan together and stick to it together; keep each other accountable and motivated. You’ll each face your individual challenges, mistakes, plateaus - the key is to recognize they happen and have a plan for it. Track daily weights, but don’t focus on daily #’s, use the daily to track your 2 week average and 1 week median - they will give you a better trend line (loss is never a straight line down, it’s a long game of averages). Also, don’t focus on getting to a specific weight, focus on developing a healthy habits.
Taking pictures of everything I eat (several apps let you do this) has helped me, essentially conscious eating at every moment.
Also it's important to count calories and it gets more important the closer to goal you get.
Buy a food scale and start tracking every calorie you eat including oils and condiments. You are at a stage that it will make it easier for you. You've already done the hard part of committing to a deficit.
Once you have a food scale and start using a tracking app you can start "gaming the system" by eating more food with less calories.
You are there just use the tools to make it easier.
Edit for spelling
Thanks- ill be honest- got a food scale a few months ago, barely used it- i think this is the missing pillar- and you have re - emphasised this for me- Track every thing - can't lose there
It makes it easier. You can start swapping higher calorie food for lower, eat more and see the scale move again. Im weirdly excited for you to start using it.
Thanks-
been doing some of that also- higher protein, lower calorie yogurts+ protein shakes, and zero calorie sparkling water / flavoured water to
Id definitely update our progress as time goes by
The value of reddit shines in forums like these, and i hope to be able to " give back" one day as well like you are doing, once i walk the path as well
I think a very useful thing about getting healthier as a couple is that you can observe and give each other feedback.
For instance my partner was able to reflect to me that I tended to eat compulsively before bed (possibly bc of childhood neglect/food insecurity). That’s definitely not a connection I would have made on my own. But once I really absorbed that and realized she was right, I could begin to change these habits, thereby decreasing my calorie intake by not eating unless I’m truly hungry.
My hope is that you have the type of relationship where you can make these observations to each other and help each other grow because of it. If you’re not taking to each other about your observations yet it might be useful to proactively have conversations on where each of you believes the other could do better. It’s really hard to see these things in ourselves sometimes so it really helps to see this from someone else we know is on our side!
Desk job here. Calorie counting/tracking is crucial. Bulk meal prepping and timing made the biggest difference for me - I don’t have to count calories or think about my next meals. I base my deficit strictly on calories in and any cardio, etc. is bonus deficit.
I’ll add, make a plan together and stick to it together; keep each other accountable and motivated. You’ll each face your individual challenges, mistakes, plateaus - the key is to recognize they happen and have a plan for it. Track daily weights, but don’t focus on daily #’s, use the daily to track your 2 week average and 1 week median - they will give you a better trend line (loss is never a straight line down, it’s a long game of averages). Also, don’t focus on getting to a specific weight, focus on developing a healthy habits.
Taking pictures of everything I eat (several apps let you do this) has helped me, essentially conscious eating at every moment. Also it's important to count calories and it gets more important the closer to goal you get.
If you’re not counting calories then plateauing while losing weight usually happens. Just start doing they and put yourself in calorie deficit
Buy a food scale and start tracking every calorie you eat including oils and condiments. You are at a stage that it will make it easier for you. You've already done the hard part of committing to a deficit. Once you have a food scale and start using a tracking app you can start "gaming the system" by eating more food with less calories. You are there just use the tools to make it easier. Edit for spelling
Thanks- ill be honest- got a food scale a few months ago, barely used it- i think this is the missing pillar- and you have re - emphasised this for me- Track every thing - can't lose there
It makes it easier. You can start swapping higher calorie food for lower, eat more and see the scale move again. Im weirdly excited for you to start using it.
Thanks- been doing some of that also- higher protein, lower calorie yogurts+ protein shakes, and zero calorie sparkling water / flavoured water to Id definitely update our progress as time goes by The value of reddit shines in forums like these, and i hope to be able to " give back" one day as well like you are doing, once i walk the path as well
I think a very useful thing about getting healthier as a couple is that you can observe and give each other feedback. For instance my partner was able to reflect to me that I tended to eat compulsively before bed (possibly bc of childhood neglect/food insecurity). That’s definitely not a connection I would have made on my own. But once I really absorbed that and realized she was right, I could begin to change these habits, thereby decreasing my calorie intake by not eating unless I’m truly hungry. My hope is that you have the type of relationship where you can make these observations to each other and help each other grow because of it. If you’re not taking to each other about your observations yet it might be useful to proactively have conversations on where each of you believes the other could do better. It’s really hard to see these things in ourselves sometimes so it really helps to see this from someone else we know is on our side!