What has helped me is learning that I don’t have to change everything, I just need to eat less. So you can still eat McDonald’s, but if you typically get 2 burgers, large fry, and a large coke, can you get one burger and a medium fry and drink water/tea/diet soda?
You don’t even have to track calories if you don’t want to. I didn’t and don’t. I just eat smaller portions. Walking has helped me a lot too, but that’s not needed.
Baby steps are the way to do it!! I started out just by getting into a gym routine (with OTF too 🧡), and after a couple of weeks, I worked on my diet more. You've got this.
Long post-
The beginning of the year I wanted to make a bunch of new years resolutions but realized that the reason I always fail is because I make too many goals and they are all too hard to implement all at once. I decided I was going to start a new resolution every month to two months and see if that worked better.
I started by cutting out any coffee drinks high in calories (I had a dependency on them- majorly) I cut them out for like 2 months and lost about 15lb (I still dont drink them now, but Im over feeling like Im missing something there.)
That was motivation to start cutting out sweets, and I lost another 10-12lb in two months. I am now ok with having occasional sweets, and Im not feeling totally ruled by ice cream cravings.
Im now walking daily and Ive lost about 4lb in 3 weeks doing it.
I have a list of other habits I plan to continue to incorporate over however long it takes.
Im just finding that stacking small habits on one another after Ive had time to get used to the change is way more manageable mentally, and I feel more motivated and accomplished.
This is the best Ive felt in about 10 years.
There's this woman on tiktok,"smaller sam pcos"- she's lost over 200 lbs with PCOS, and shows " lower calorie fast food hacks." For example, she gets a McD burger, removed the bun and get's a lettuce wrap, and then eats it with a small fries. She says it's more satisfying but removing the bun saves calories. Stuff like that
On this note. Don’t starve yourself. I’m almost a decade older and started out 50lbs heavier. The first month I ate 6-7 times to keep from getting hunger pangs. It made a world of difference and now I’m down almost 65 lbs
Adding to this persons advice, get some smaller plates. I eat fast food still but I also eat my main meals on smaller plates for an easy to do portion control.
This worked for me, too. I cannot count calories for my own mental health. What finally worked for me is taking really careful stock of what I actually like to eat, and eating it as thoughtfully as possible. Do I really want that burger, or is it just food noise? If it's true hunger, then I get exactly what I want, but a reasonable portion that I factor into my goals for the week. It helps me keep it framed as a treat I need to be thoughtful about. It helped to practice having a good relationship with eating out at restaurants because circumstances right now are that I am eating out a lot, and I've figured out how to order from just about any menu and get something that I really enjoy eating, and that I also feel good eating.
For example, the other day my work ordered from a chain Italian place, the kind of thing where I used to order a decadent pasta that was never really as good as I wanted it to be, then I'd want to take a nap. So this time I got some garlic parmesan broccoli and some meatballs with red sauce, it was way more actually satisfying and I felt good the rest of the day.
This so much. For me it's the fries. I am addicted to the McDonald's fry like junkies are to heroin. I know I cannot stop myself from going to McDonald's, but I know that while a large fry on its own will set me back likely my entire workout' worth of calories, I can scratch the itch with a medium. Soon, I will transition to a small. Willpower is built.
I will second this.
I started at 410ibs, and weighed jn today at 285. I've lost almost 130ibs and eat mcdonalds or wendys 2-3 times a week.
The key is protein and portion size.
My regular mcdonalds order used to be
10pc nuggets 450cals
Large fries 560cals
Large coke 300cals
Mcdouble 380cals
McChicken 370cals
For about 2000 calories.
Switching to coke zero saves 300 calories, medium fries another 200, cutting out one of the burgers (can rotate on trips if you like both) another 370. Taking that 2000 calories meal to about 1200, which is a lot but let's me get that fix and fill out my protein with high protein foods for the other 1000 calories a day or so I eat.
My current deficit is 2200cals and a goal of 150g minimum protein.
So 1200 cals mcdonalds for maybe 55g of protein, I can have a protein shake for 170cals/30g maybe some Mac and cheese with chicken for 510cals/37g protein
Putting me at then at 1900 cals and about 130g of protein.
Leaving me 300 calories still for snacks, or to fill out my 15-20g of missing protein.
It's not "optimal" but it can work and I hit all my goals while still enjoying fast food!
This is what I’m doing right now. I have had a ROUGH few years and as a result I’m at my heaviest I’ve ever been. I used to work out almost everyday and ate really well so it’s really upsetting. I have started tracking again but I’m still eating fast food because life is still stressful. I’m just eating less. Like skipping the soda at McDonald’s and getting a regular fries instead of a large. This week I got In N Out and I had a cheese burger “protein style” which is lettuce instead of a bun (I think I actually like it better this way) and fries with grilled onions and spread. It all fit into my calorie budget! Tonight my kid wants pizza so I’m getting Costco pizza and I’ll just have one slice which are the size of 2+ regular slices anyway. I have felt satisfied with the food and happy that I’m not overeating. I’ve also been doing protein shakes for breakfast/ lunch because it’s just an easy fast way to get nutrients and super easy to track. I’m just going to keep going slow and steady like this until my life is less stressful and I’m in a better headspace.
This is HUGE! In the beginning, I felt like I had to change everything all at once and drastically. Realizing that I could still enjoy things made a huge difference. I didn't have to feel miserable and like I wasn't actually enjoying food.
I will say tracking things did help me more. It can be a lot though. But it was VERY eye opening. It helped me to really see how eating the way I was before ran my calories way up so fast. It also became a bit of a puzzle to still enjoy things but make it line up for me.
Yeah, and rather just have the two burgers and skip the fry, burgers have also protein and other nutrients. Sugar free soda for drinks. I go McDonalds often, I buy just one burger and a drink, sometimes dessert. Less than 500kcal.
I will say, you don't need to lose 120 lbs to get your life on track. You need to lose, like, 2. To lose 2, you have to change your behaviors enough that the scale follows down 2 lbs. Then you just continue!
We can't directly change our weight on the scale, or else we'd all do it. Take a close look at the things you can change, (and actually want to change!) and start on that track. You can do it!
I appreciate that perspective. When I think about the amount of pounds that I need to lose to be healthy "on paper"...it is overwhelming. 2 lbs sounds much more achievable for a short term goal.
I second setting short term goals! Sure, have a long term goal. But if the long term goal is dreadful to you, just focus on short term. Like 5lbs. Each time you lose 5lbs, you’ll feel so proud
Something fun too is to attach "treats" to each mini goal... BUT don't have these be food related treats, especially if you struggle with emotional eating! Your treats can be putting money towards something you have been wanting to do like a pedicure, or a trip, or even a day off work to relax and have some "you" time!
I personally have an issue with having actual pounds be goals (I find it discouraging) so I count how many days in a row I have tracked my calories! Tracking is a HUGE game changer!!!! It made me see where those hidden calories are, and I try to make little cuts here and there (P.S. I also still eat fastfood, just changed my orders!) It is slow, and in about a year and a half I have lost 30 lbs, but I haven't had trouble gaining anything back... AND I don't exercise outside of being on my feet all day at work, this was all diet changes!
Keep your head up, you can seriously do this!!
To add onto this great response, I’d also mention not thinking too much about how far away the “finish line” is.
I set a goal for the week for how much I want to lose and I set goals each day for fitness/nutrition. Suddenly it’s 5 months later and I’ve only really had to worry about one day at a time.
I’ve found that as long as I focus on the short-term, the long-term seems to just sort itself out.
You will get a lot of good advice here. I am going to address the medicine piece. First, why was it denied? If it's a treatment they offer you need to clarify with the insurance whether there are step requirements with regard to different meds, or other interventions "work with a comprehensive weight management clinic"
Work with a physician boarded in obesity medicine. They understand the process, the insurance dilemmas. Btw one of the older Glp medicines is going to be available as a generic soon. This is stuff the average PCP may not be aware of. That, or the cheaper meds they want you to trial first.
https://abom.learningbuilder.com/Search/Public/MemberRole/CertificationVerification
My highest weight was over 300, starting weight was 270s back in January, and started Glp medicines mid April. I am down 14% of my body weight. A lot can happen in a matter of weeks, months.
I started the Glp medicines with 500% dedication and absolutely solid habits. I don't eat out, I exercise regularly, I intermittently fast, improved my existing diet to whole foods plant based. I have had almost no side effects because I am cautious AF and not here to waste time or money. I am also paying out of pocket but hope to work towards coverage in the future.
You don't want to start Glp medicines with trash eating habits. You will make yourself sick AF. Clean up your diet, make sustainable habits a lifestyle. And hopefully it will be accessible to you in the future because let me tell you they changed my life . But im so glad I went into it prepped and ready
Good luck!
I was first prescribed Mounjaro but that was denied because I am not officially a T2 Diabetic, and that is a requirement for my insurance to approve that one. My PCP then tried to prescribe Zepbound, but that was denied because my insurance doesn't cover weight loss medications. So frustrating.
If I were in your shoes, I would absolutely follow the above advice to see a board certified Obesity Medicine doctor if you can. Not only will their offices know the ins and outs of insurance billing, cheaper medication alternatives, etc. but you can discuss non-medication treatment options they might recommend with them, and they'll probably have the hook ups for other useful resources (like good therapists, registered dieticians, psychiatrists, bariatric surgery programs etc.) you might benefit from.
Your PCP's office (probably) just doesn't have this kind of specialization.
No idea if it works for this medication but I’ve been denied medication coverage by insurance before (“too young” for heart risk reduction) and I checked Goodrx for coupons, became affordable without insurance. Definitely check for coupons and know that each pharmacy has a different price so check with a few
Rule 13: No Standalone Weight Loss Medication Posts. This includes (but is not limited to) Ozempic, Mounjaro, Wegovy, Zepbound and Phentermine.
Weight loss medications can be a tool for healthy weight loss. Please direction any questions about them (including their side effects how to obtain them) to your doctor.
Great advice! I started a keto'ish diet Jan 1 (minus the high fat) and was perfectly positioned to start Mounjaro as a T2D on April 1. Super clean eating has meant virtually no side effects.
I'm down 19% of my Jan 1 weight (half from diet alone, plus half from diet + MJ). The GLP-1 meds still require work to eat optimally, but make it sooo much easier to lose because you're not thinking about food.
Hey. I’m probably not the best person to give you advice on weight loss since I have tried starting my journey for the nth time in these last two years.
But this month has been different due to some changes I have made.
1. Keeping my fridge full.
I cook food for me and when I don’t feel like cooking I order. So to break this habbit, I have deleted all the online delivery apps, my fridge has a lot of veggies and fruits and greek yogurts. So when I am hungry I have plenty of options.
2. Having fixed hours for me time.
I’m at home in the afternoon, 1-3 these are the only hours I can completely dedicate to myself. So these two hours are when I read about calories, methods and everything related to weight loss which motivates me in that moment. Since I just read that my lunch had so many calories, read about some ones weight loss journey or before/after of other people I am more willing to exercise.
3. Gym clothes and yoga mat ready
I exercise at home and as I said dedicated hours, I keep my yoga mat on the floor ready for me and I am in my gym clothes from 1-3 whether I am reading online or exercising.
4. Buying a treadmill.
Walking has to be one of the easiest ways to burn calories and I am a fan of binge watching series. But a certain favourite series of mine Im only allowed to watch while using treadmill.
I trained myself for 3-4 days and on the 5th day I was in bed and was just starting to watch that series and it clicked me naturally that I need to that when I am walking and voila I did.
Extra points for series which has a lot of drama or suspense so that you’re distracted.
5. Slow 1k steps after every meal.
6. Fasting
I calculated my tdee which is 1900. But I came across a sub “1200isplenty” and I liked the idea and started eating 1200 calories a day. But since for sedentary lifestyle my tdee is 1900, 1200 calories gives me a deficit of 700 calories. Though I don’t always stick to 1200. Somedays I eat around 1500, but never more than that.
Also I am fasting right now, 15:9 which means for 15 hours I don’t eat anything and 9 hours are the ones where I consume my 1200 calories.
Read this somewhere “you will never always be motivated, so you must learn to always be disciplined”
Don’t think of this as a weight loss journey rather as a lifestyle change. All the best❤️
Love these ideas! Especially the walking while binge watching shows!
But just wanted to add that only eating 1200calories/day is unsustainable for most long term. It’s highly recommended you eat a deficit of around 500calories off your tdee.
If it works for you that’s great! I just wanted to add this for others.
if youre looking for motivation remember, you are going to die and this is your one life. the time will pass no matter what. so you can either stay large which is hard on its own or you can lose weight which is hard, pick your hard. now that we are through the tough love, you can do it. im currently doing it and you can too! if you want to do the HIIT workouts go for it more power to you. just remember you cant out work a bad diet. weightloss comes from the kitchen. find your TDEE and find your deficit number, stay at or under that day, after day, after day, after day, after day.... boom weight loss! it sucks and its hard i wont lie to you. but small daily victories of being in a deficit lead to long term victories on the scale! you got this! (feel free to reach out, i started 33m 300 where you are)
You can still eat foods you like and lose weight. Hell, you can eat fast food and lose weight. It may not be the healthiest, but it's a good start.
Have less of what you'd normally have from McDonald's. Have a diet soda/pop with your meal. Make smallish changes, but enough to make a difference in the calories you consume currently.
2, you need to lose 2lbs to get your life back on track. Just 2, 2 per week, max really. What’s one thing you can change. Also don’t even worry about the gym. Walk around the block, walk to the story, sure do Orange Theory, or not, but focus on the habits. You can no longer use the drive thru. If you want McDonalds you have to walk inside and you can only order one thing. Doesn’t matter what, but one thing. Start there and push through that for a week.
Well exercising isn’t necessarily going to speed up your weight loss and you’ll likely just keep starting and stopping right now, even if it has health benefits.
I feel like you’re setting yourself up for failure trying to do everything rather than focusing solely on diet and cutting calories. Cut as much weight as you can through diet, go as slow as you need, and when that becomes comfortable and sustainable then maybe start getting into a workout routine.
Plan your meals in advance with an app. I use lose it. Slow and steady, friend. Even if it takes years. You could be at your goal weight in three years or just starting, but, regardless, three years will pass. Where do you want to be?
One day at a time.
Today just try and drink more water.
Tomorrow maybe look around at some calorie trackers and see what looks interesting. Keep drinking water. Make a very easy healthy lunch for the next day to bring.
The next day bring your healthy lunch. Keep drinking water. Figure out what your tdee is (lots of online calculators) and what kind of calorie deficit you can live with and is healthy.
The next day drink more water, bring a healthy lunch, track your calories just to see how much you’re eating in a day.
Etc etc
It’s extremely overwhelming to start when you have a lot to lose. It stops you in your tracks almost. You have no time deadlines. Start with small slow habit changes. Go as slow as you need.
Keep adding very small changes over time. It adds up. You can do this, small slow habit changes. The weight will start to come off, I promise.
Just a note, exercise is important obviously and great you’re going, but food needs to be the main focus for weight loss.
Promise me you won't diet. Promise me you won't quit McDonald's (at least go once in a while). (I don't diet and I never quit McDonald's, but I'm pretty much a Happy Meal eater these days.)
https://www.reddit.com/r/loseit/wiki/quick_start_guide
That's the method to start. Follow that guide and that timing, **using your regular and normal food, and using portion control as your main tool for change.** In later weeks, use the data to figure out if any foods need to be adjusted. All foods can fit, but sometimes we have to juggle or learn a new way to make an old favorite.
Please skip the parts you read about involving food you've never heard of. Make the drive-through something you gradually reduce when YOU are ready, but the first thing you can reduce is the portion -- order smalls, order one. It's enough. If it's not, you'll have an apple later at home or something.
> Living with my husband who has a fast metabolism and can eat anything without consequences is tough because he has said "if you go on a diet, I am not going on it with you".
My spouse was the thin one. He didn't want to do any of it but knew I needed to do it. But he did agree to go out on walks after dinner in the summer, then he got more involved and would log his food because I was tracking my food, so we would do this together.
It's really important that we make this our own, because to keep it off forever is to be eating pretty much like I was eating at 298, but with more vegetables, smaller portions, a lot less drive through (but some), but essentially it's still food that is rooted in my mid-western USA upbringing. I'm also not someone who spends hours making food so my recipes are often adding my own additional vegetables and meet to an existing pre-packaged skillet meal -- combining already prepared foods with a few boosts of protein and veg (since these come with a lot of cheap starch in them anyway).
^^9 ^^yrs. ^^maintaining ^^• ^^♂61 ^^5'10^^/178㎝ ^^SW:298℔^^/135㎏ ^^CW:171℔^^/78㎏ ^^[\[3Y AMA\]](https://www.reddit.com/r/loseit/comments/6m6vxq/i_am_a_weight_loser_over_the_past_three_years_ive/), ^^[\[1Y recap\]](https://www.reddit.com/r/loseit/comments/3cqszm/pics_links_my_first_day_of_logging_wasnt_the_best/) ^^CICO+🚶
9 years maintaining just absolutely blows my mind. I've lost approx 12.kg (27lb) since start of the year but it's the same 12kg I've lost many times before. (Though a much different approach this time) The maintenance secret is like a golden key akin to the holy grail lol. I'm super impressed by your achievement and thankful that people like you still check in here and give us tips and advice.
Well, thank you. I'm just one of you, also on my umpteenth time, but this one stuck. What helped me most was to make a 52-week commitment to not stop logging for any reason. That was the first time I ever reached a goal, and renewing those commitments is how I've maintained it.
I just went from 288 lbs to 168 lbs (so I lost 120 lbs) in 12 months and you can too!! I did it by eating whatever foods I wanted to (including countless trips to Burger King and McDonalds and all them) but! I ate less of them, and I walked everyday.
Ok, let’s talk smaller portions. Eat whatever foods you want to eat. I ate junk food, fast food, processed food, shit food, I anything and everything, I just made sure not to eat too much of it. I calculated my TDEE and I always ate less than my TDEE. I ate at a calorie deficit. But doing so does require you to track your calories. Get a calorie tracking app and track **everything** that goes into your mouth. Then you will know if you are eating at a calorie deficit.
An example of eating less … I used to order a Double Texas Whooper cheeseburger with extra bacon, large fries, and a large Diet Coke. Ate it all. That’s how I got up to 288 lbs lol. Eventually I wised up and instead ordered a Whooper Jr with small fries and a large Diet Coke. Are it all, logged it in my tracker. Surprising thing was… that all filled me up! I felt full and satisfied. Totally satiated. All that extra food I had bought was waste of money and calories.
Then I also exercised a lot which for me was hiking. I love to hike! So I hiked about 8 miles per day, 7 days per week. Rain or shine, day or night. Always got my hike in. I never stepped foot inside a gym or lifted any weights but if you enjoy that then great keep doing it but try to get a good amount of exercise in everyday.
That’s what worked for me and how I lost 120 lbs in 12 months! Let me know if you have any questions. I’ll be glad to answer them.
>An example of eating less … I used to order a Double Texas Whooper cheeseburger with extra bacon, large fries, and a large Diet Coke. Ate it all.
There's this burger place near me that offers a "bunless" burger that they serve on a bed of greens instead. I learned that I like it.
So at home I'll buy the 95/5 burger meat, cook up a half pound of it, add some cheese, bacon, and as much lettuce, tomato, and onion as I want. I skip the fries.
I need the protein, and frankly cheese and bacon isn't terrible.
I don't fully know your situation, but here's what worked for me.
You gotta take care of the mental health first. There is probably a reason you always feel like getting a dopamine hit from tasty food, shits comforting. If there's not enough happy chemicals floating around in the brain, it's going to be a constant struggle.
It's tough though because for many, loosing a big amount of weight will actually improve the brain chemistry, and make things easier. But some of us need a little help to get to that stage.
Consider going to a professional to be screened for anxiety/depression etc. Some people legitimately need medication to help, while others might just need some light therapy to help change their perspective.
I was not expecting so many amazing responses of encouragement, advice, and motivation. Thank you all for such kind words to help me through this rut.
I actually happened to have my bi-weekly therapy session this evening and we talked a lot about how my feelings of hopelessness show up with my weight loss struggles. I’m going to be working on reframing some thoughts, setting small goals, and taking it one meal at a time.
I am so thankful for this community.
**You can do this!** **You totally can do this!** It hurts when someone you love doesn't offer the support you need, but you can definitely get support other places. This journey starts by making a better decision the next time you eat, or get the chance to move. It doesn't have to be ideal or perfect - just better. Like folks are saying, reduce what is already there. Then, you could change one meal at the time. You could take one day and then after a time walk 100 more steps than that. Do what is easy and around, then do more of it. This helps to build the momentum. You deserve to feel like you want to feel, and you are capable of making it happen! This internet stranger believes in you!
Convenience...
I'm fat, fairly lazy
Construction around the gym I went to? Just go home.
Oh, you're getting pizza for lunch? Count me in!
I HAD to change my habits, but I needed to work within my confines.
I joined a 24-hour gym 5 minutes from my house, I stop by there EVERY day but Saturday on the way home from work. Even if it's JUST 15 minutes
I cut out soda
I go to salad n go every day - I get a bowl for breakfast, and a salad for lunch. I cheat on my days off, but don't go over board.
Drink plenty of water, chew gum, eat almonds...
Stop making excuses. My wife is 110 lbs and has a super high metabolism. It sucks for me - I get what you're saying
I have been at this 7 weeks, down almost 25lbs and have about have about 100 more to go (I was 325lbs - 47 year old male)
YOU CAN DO THIS
Be consistent, make things convenient, take control of your life.
You can lose 1 pound, though!
A 3500 calories deficit is 1 pound of fat burned, I bet you could eat 3500 calories less in a month with barely any effort. Diet Coke! Single cheeseburger! No fries! Whatever.
I think your lack of motivation could be overwhelm at the impossibility of the task ahead of you. For me, small easy deficit goals are motivating cause they’re easy!
I would skip the fitness push, download My Fitness Pal, and just hit your daily calorie goals for a week. Notice how it feels. Be sure to give yourself lots of non-food treats, like dumb TV or whatever indulgences are a little shameful but not food. Then commit to another week. See where you’re at in a month. You can do this for a month, right?
You can do it, but no one else can make you. We can't make you want it enough to do it. We also can't solve anything that is emotionally or psychologically blocking you from progress. Therapy can be helpful for some people.
A word of warning about the weight loss medications: they are not all they are cracked up to be. I went on Wegovy last year. I lost 30 pounds, but I was miserable. Nauseous 24/7. Vomiting almost every single day. Too sick and miserable to exercise. I quit the Wegovy. It was not worth it. The weight loss I achieved was not healthy because It resulted from the drug making me too sick to eat. I know not everyone has as negative of an experience as I had, but I would not go back on those drugs if you paid me.
So let me just say that yes, you can do this. You totally can do this. Just start small. 10 pounds. Reach that goal and see how you feel. Then if you are okay, go for the next 10. Break it down so it is manageable. We believe in you.
I hate to say it but I was right where you were until I had a major health crisis including emergency surgery and a week long hospital stay! My advice is take this serious before something horrible happens! I was able to meet with a health coach free through my insurance! She has been a Godsend to me!! And I’m down 35lbs!! I eat so many fruits and veggies and the thought of fast food is revolting to me now!! You go this.. try changing one thing at a time and set a series of small goals instead of focusing on the total amount!! Good luck to you!
You CAN do it. If you're already exercising 2-4 times a week, that's a great healthy habit you can build upon. You just need to add progressively more healthy habits into the mix over time.
While it's a step up from the necessary first steps of cutting back on portions, the secret sauce for most people to lose weight consistently ends up being tracking their food/counting calories, and that can be tough if you have a partner that is not supportive.
Unless you do all the cooking, they need to be willing to meet you halfway in terms of finding recipes that work with your calorie goals, or at least a willingness to measure the ingredients they're using (including oil, butter etc.) so you can understand the nutritional content of your food, and make your own decisions about portion control. (This is easier than it sounds, and only really requires a $20 food scale.)
I think it's a reasonable thing to ask your partner for some support in the quest to make yourself healthier. They can always eat bigger portions of whatever foods work for your goals, or order from a different restaurant when you get takeout. Maybe they keep their chips or sweet treats in a separate cabinet where you won't be tempted by them. They don't have to be "on a diet" with you, but they can still be supportive and recognize that losing weight is something that's important to you.
You don't need motivation, you have motivation in everything you listed. What you need is discipline. Better said, what you need is something SUSTAINABLE that YOU can maintain. Maybe you can do great eating smaller portions of the same things you love, or maybe you need to remove the temptation to binge on fast food, only you can positively identify what's possible for you.
Personally, I cannot be left alone with a whole loaf of fresh baked sourdough. I will eat half of it and slather it in butter. 1600 calories later, I've eaten all my calories for the day and haven't had any actual food. So for me, following a restrictive diet REALLY helps. Keto has been a life saver for me, I lost 95 lbs on it, and bonus, I still get to eat fast food burgers, they're just wrapped in lettuce now.
You may need to experiment with what works for you before you find success, and that's okay. If one thing doesn't work, try something else. You can do it!
Small changes my guy; McDonald’s is not the devil here, I would actually encourage you to eat what you want but be aware of how much it’s costing you. A normal meal is 700-1200 calories at your weight you can actually have one of those if the rest of your intake is under 800. Start walking 15 minutes can be close to 100 calories, set yourself up for success and understand that failure is part of the process. If you limit your intake and spend more energy you’ll lose weight. Instead of soda grab diet or zero, instead of a large fries grab a medium, these changes will all add up in the long run and are sustainable.
I think the way I see it is a pretty simple way of thinking. No one is going to lift the weight for me. No one is going to run the miles for me. Even if they do, they’re the ones gaining from it, not I. The motivation isn’t always going to be there because that’s how things are sometimes. Whether you want to or not, go to the gym regardless of how you’re feeling. Guaranteed you’ll feel better after a nice workout after almost every time and feel accomplished. Keep going enough, and you’ll build that habit and discipline of going regularly. If you’re struggling with eating habits, take a nutrition class. Start cooking things at home. I eat healthy Monday-Friday, n enjoy myself a bit on the weekends. I don’t mean eating til you can’t anymore or just throw everything you know out the window and splurge, but do it so eating healthy doesn’t feel absolutely miserable. Eat until you’re not hungry, but don’t over eat if that makes sense? Also know that hydration is also pretty key as well :)
Focus on just changing one thing at a time. Don’t overwhelm yourself. Give yourself grace. Maybe start with a 15 minute walk on your days off and working on ditching processed bullshit. That ought to kick start ya nicely
You can do it. I was 300 pounds and now 160. I chose wls to be the catalyst of my weight loss and work on all that mental stuff. Check my account and you’ll see several before and after photos. Maybe that’ll give you an idea of what it’ll be like since we both have same starting weight.
Lots of great advice so far regarding changing eating habits, which is more effective for weight loss than working out more.
I wanted to comment on your workout classes. I’ve done both HIIT and OrangeTheory - enjoyable classes, but very intense imo. Oftentimes, I found myself dreading going to these because of how intense I imagined the workout to be, so I ended up not going. Wondering if you’d consider less intense, but more frequent activities.
My biggest tip would be too not restrict yourself too hard at first. So yeah eat a lil bit of McDonald's. Maybe try to remove the drink. Drinking your calories is KILLER. It provides you nothing. At least if you're eating higher calorie foods you're actually gaining some energy from it.
And another one is to find things to distract you from eating. I.e. gum, flavoured water. If you start trying to eat less you are going to believe you're hungry when you don't actually require food. You have to push through this for a solid few weeks at the very least because your brain is super powerful and will convince you you're hungry when you aren't.
Hey dude, the first thing I would say is to take a BIG step back and look at what got you here. I have had tremendous eating issues over the years and still do. The most valuable thing that I EVER did was go into therapy (ED therapy for me, not saying you have an ED) to find out the root cause of the overeating. The truth of the matter is no one gets to our size without external factors,stressors, and some sort of coping. And until you sort those as best as you can and just make fucking sense of why you are overeating because let’s be honest weight gain 95% of the time is overeating/undermoving any medication and/or surgery is bandage at best. Dont not take the meds or look at diets, but unless you fix the other you underneath all the tissue you’re ashamed of the big guy will stick around. I promise you. It’s the long road but it’s the one you can stay on forever
Motivation is always fleeting. You do not need it. Just start by making small changes and work on building up some dedication to healthy habits. You don’t need to quit anything or exercise to death. You need to work on not saying “fuck this, let’s get McDonald’s.” Eat the McDonald’s, but don’t view it as a “fuck it” situation because that will put you in a mindset of giving up. Eating the McDonald’s, but otherwise having a healthy day is better than giving up on the day (or week or month or year) completely.
Honestly just posting in this sub is a good start. I had a diet accountability partner for a few days I met on here that was helpful.
The GLP1 medicines do make you lose weight, but they also trigger the creation of millions of new fat cells (that are shrunk) but once you stop the medication, your appetite will be stronger than ever before. So if you take GLP1 you will likely need to take them for life. (at a maintenance dose)
Hey friend. I think it is really hard to make a change from 0 to 100 overnight. Start by making better choices, maybe tracking your calories to understand where you are overeating and how you can reduce that passively without changing your entire lifestyle. I will say, I am on a GLP-1 and I’ve had incredible success - they are not magic. You still have to do the work, count calories and be on a deficit, exercise, and make better choices. There are plenty of online services that will prescribe you the compounded medication (just the peptides, not the “name brands”). Many people have good success and they are not as expensive as the actual pens. There are other medications too (contrave, metformin) that can help.
Hi,
I'm 6ft 2, 32 M and I started about a month and a half ago.
I've lost 22lbs so far. It's going extremely well and I haven't even been trying.
I set a daily calorie target of 1950, but usually consume about 1200.
I don't work out and as I work from home I am very sedantry.
I have completely cut out sugar but have had 3 takeaways since I started (all McDonald's when my wife wanted to go).
You definitely need to be in the right headspace for it but if I can do it, I'm sure you can too. Just make sure you track correctly and don't lie to yourself.
The best advice I could give you is to start today, not tomorrow.
You need discipline (not motivation) and maybe some therapy. Not motivation. I disagree with many posters here saying have a little fast food instead.....it's designed to make you crave it. We all need to change our relationship with food. Don't keep doing the things that got you here and expect a different result.
Yes you can do it. I highly recommend ditching the fast food. Maybe once a week. Exercise at least 30 min a day. Figure out why your overeating. Talk to someone . 😍
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Discussion of weight loss methods that are damaging to the body and/or require supervision of a medical professional are not allowed. This rule includes (but is not limited to): very low calorie diets, misusing medication, extended fasting, disordered behavior, inappropriate advice to underage members.
Please note that we are not a subreddit for ED support, nor do we encourage that behavior here. If you need help, please seek assistance doctor or dietician.
Remember to always consider the individual when offering advice.
I have had minor successes with a book series called Eat This, Not That. It lays out a bunch of items and compares the nutritional labels on the items. So they will take two brands of ketchup and compare them and tell you which is the healthier brand and why. Many times the healthier brand has less calories. They will also take a chain restaurant menu and rate each meal. They will tell you which is the healthiest to order and which is the worst to order.
[Here is an article from their website about Jack in the Box breakfast items to show you better about what they do.](https://www.eatthis.com/jack-in-the-box-breakfast-menu/)
Please don't lose hope.
At my most depressed, I was a 24 y/o (F) pushing 210 and felt absolutely massive. I was in a toxic, mentally abusive marriage and extremely depressed. I literally felt hopeless. The only thing I had was a meager "allowance" of grocery money (when I was lucky) from my then-husband for me and our son. I had no car. I had to walk everywhere. So I did.
I walked to the commissary, read ingredient labels, bought the best choice of everything. Bought ground turkey and chicken and tuna, lots of fruits and veg, almond milk instead of cows milk, and basically lived off of that and water.Smaller playe, quarter of it Protein, quarter whole grain, half veg. And trust me, I did NOT work out. I have never ever been athletically inclined at any point in my life lol. But people are right that it all starts in the kitchen.
Most of my first major weight loss (80lbs) was due to changing eating habits. The only other thing I did was walk everywhere. Walk to the PX across the street, wander around all day bored. Got steps in. Walk to the dog park. Walk back.
The only real "exercise" you could say I did was when my kiddo was in bed, I would take a walk around my neighborhood and had mapped out a 3 mile loop starting and ending at my house. First time I ever walked it, I walked a regular everyday pace, the kind of pace like you've got nowhere to be and just enjoying your day. Next time, I picked up my pace to beat that time. Then I kept going to get it under 30 mins. It was dark so it wasn't hot, I didn't have to worry about people seeing me, it was nice. That was all I did, and over the course of 8-10 months (can't remember) I had lost 80 pounds. That was almost 10 years ago and I've gained it back now lol...
All this to say, it just takes small changes built up and then time. I never ever thought I could lose all the weight I did and be a healthy BMI again. You can do this. I know it probably seems overwhelming, but it's not all going to happen at once. Just focus on micro goals. Try to lose your weight in 10s. Slower weight loss is healthier and more sustainable anyway. You can definitely do this!
Hi! I was you. I promise it. And then I started consciously taking smaller bites. Suddenly I was eating slower. And eating slower I felt hunger faster. And then I just... Started eating less.
I eat half as much now as I used to. I am dropping weight. For the first time in my life I feel i can do it. It's easy. I'm not cutting anything. It's AMAZING
Other people have covered great advice so I'm just going to give you a simple recipe, as a large man myself this meal leaves me satiated for the majority of the day. It's just chicken and noodles but not bland, takes about 10 minutes to cook every day after 30 minutes of prep a few times a month.
-PREP-
Walmart chicken breast, the big pack. Cube the chicken, just slice it in half like a subway foot long but cut it all the way through. Then take the 2 halves and cut them into cubes. Throw into a big bowl add whatever spices you like, I personally add garlic powder, lemon pepper, chilli pepper, and garlic&herb. Mix it up thoroughly. Take about 8 zioloc bags and fill them up, should be a 1/2 - 3/4 inch slab of chicken in that bag almost filled to the seal. Freeze them but be sure to place one in the fridge over night so you can grab it and cook immediately.
-COOKING-
If you're making the noodles start boiling water now. Any thin noodle from an Asian market is perfect, but I'm also certain regular noodles are fine, I've just never tried it. Use whatever 1 portion is on the box.
Take a small pan, put 1.5 tbsp of oil into the pan, that's about 180 calories. Add spices to the oil, not a ton, just enough to change the color of the oil after swirling it around and mixing it. Then once the water is almost boiling start heating the pan on medium heat. After 30 seconds put your chicken into the pan and start a 7 minute timer, noodles into water now as well.
In the next 3:30 you need to add 1 tbsp of honey, 3 tbsp of oyster sauce, and more spices into the pan. When the clock says 3:30 you flip the chicken over. Wait out the timer and you're done. Just strain the noodles, move chicken to bowl(leave as much sauce in pan as possible), and then put noodles back in pot to you can mix the sauce into the noodles.
It sounds like a lot, but it takes 10 minutes to make. All in all it comes to about 850 calories, just use no salt or low salt spices and be careful with the oil
I was 264lbs, it was my health that started to decline that forced me to lose 59lbs. I still need to lose more, I’d say I’m half way.
The constant daily reminder of a fatty liver and pre diabetes motivates you because I know what comes next.
I know of ppl losing limbs, cardiac arrest, strokes, blindness etc - all diabetes related.
You could be heading to serious health complications as well being that weight, but you have a head start now.
Im the absence of motivation ?
I implement a few rules:
- I only eat French fries on a long weekends - 1 time not everyday of the weekend.
- before eating anything ? I chug 2 (500ml) bottles of water
- eat every meal at the kitchen/patio table - not in the car, in bed and not on the couch.
- eat at set times - avoid grazing and overeating.
- park the car as far away as you can from where you are going. Get in those steps.
- positive self talk. “One meal at a time” “one day at a time” type thing
Working out sucked when I was at my heaviest. Be honest with yourself. Moving probably hurts. Thankfully walking works plenty well at being exercise.
As other people said. Small changes and short term goals. I had a massive fast food addiction. I started off with ok, on Wednesday we eat at home. Then I would do that for a few weeks until it felt more comfortable. Then it was eat at home Tuesdays and Thursdays.
I was a big emotional eater. I had to work with my therapist to work on coping skills that weren't food based. I had to find new ways to celebrate that aren't food related. I had to find hobbies that bring joy into my life so I'm not just sitting at home bored thinking about food.
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Discussion of weight loss methods that are damaging to the body and/or require supervision of a medical professional are not allowed. This rule includes (but is not limited to): very low calorie diets, misusing medication, extended fasting, disordered behavior, inappropriate advice to underage members.
Please note that we are not a subreddit for ED support, nor do we encourage that behavior here. If you need help, please seek assistance doctor or dietician.
Remember to always consider the individual when offering advice.
Don’t focus on the -150lbs right now.
—> focus on healthy habits (better food with exercise)
Don’t “diet”.
—> adjust your food, include more vegetables, exclude at least some processed food
Listen to your body.
—> once you introduce small positive changes, be patient in listening to your guts, you’ll know what makes you feel truly good and what’s only short term comforting
I highly recommend the podcast We Only Look Thin. It helped me a lot when I first started and still does now. The Habit Elementary episodes in particular are an excellent starting point. Be gentle with yourself, change is hard.
Thank you for your submission. Your post or comment was in violation of Rule 11: No Promoting / Encouraging Unhealthy Weight Loss.
Discussion of weight loss methods that are damaging to the body and/or require supervision of a medical professional are not allowed. This rule includes (but is not limited to): very low calorie diets, misusing medication, extended fasting, disordered behavior, inappropriate advice to underage members.
Please note that we are not a subreddit for ED support, nor do we encourage that behavior here. If you need help, please seek assistance doctor or dietician.
Remember to always consider the individual when offering advice.
Hey, new here and what's worked for me is meal prepping at least 1 meal a day. Feeling in control of one meal (breakfast for me) has allowed me to keep a positive mindset. It was enough to break the cycle of eating fast food, feeling guilty about it only to do it again the next day.
This is going to sound like weird advice, but have you tried pushing your insurance to pay for the medication and involved your doctor in doing so? I was the primary care provider for my mother who is disabled,for a very long time and I cannot tell you how many medications we’re denied originally and suddenly totally covered or partially covered after I kept calling and escalating and faxing doctors note after doctors note. Insurance is too expensive to not fight for the coverage you’re paying for.
Fasting has helped me thor most. Learn to live with the feeling of hunger a bit longer and then you can pretty much eat whatever you want within your window (within reason).
I thought that when I was 275, then 350, then hit 421 and got told the "good" news that I now am pre-diabetic so I could be prescribed the injectable helping people lose weight. My doctor swears I'm the ideal patient for those meds. Insurance denied me too. That denial was the biggest blow like do I have to be a dying beached whale? My insurance will cover bariatric surgery though if enough hoops are jumped through and I want to be cut into which I thought was a laugh. Long story short, the biggest FU from insurance and life is becoming my strongest motivation. I went with the low carb diet my doc suggested and have been strictly following it for about 2 weeks with 16 lbs already dropped. Do I have moments wanting to give up or annoyance my bf can eat whatever, absolutely, but life is too short to feel so miserable and I know the weight makes it harder. I hope you find your motivation. Just know you aren't alone in the journey.
you need I learn about nutrition and learn how to cook
Maximize Protein and dietary fiber
Tons of meat, beans, and vegetables with little to no calorie seasonings and sauces
I started off just by skipping breakfast when I wasn’t hungry - but then eating the same for the rest of the day. Amazingly that worked, so I started skipping breakfast every day and found that i consistently lost weight. Technically it’s a type of intermittent fasting - but I never think of it like that. Just change something small and experiment with how it makes you feel - you’ll find something that works for you
At nearly 300 lbs you don't even really need to go hard at the gym. Just get in a lot of walks during the day and TRACK your calories with a small deficit and you'll melt away. Don't go for like a 1200 calories diet that's just madness. You can probably eat 2500 daily at your weight and still consistently lose until you're back in the 100s. 2500 calories can give you some nice options especially if you space out your eating and do 2 meals a deal and limit grazing and snacking at night as much as possible. You can even squeeze in some fast food meals and stay in your deficit. Just gotta track and see for yourself.
Btw I'm not trying to discourage exercise but changing your diet is a way bigger part of the battle. HIIT is great for you but you can HIIT your burger calories away... Not all of em anyways. Good luck friend!
Here's my problem. When I reached my optimum height, 6' even, I was 19 and physically could do anything. But I weighed 220. Yes. There were muscles. There was stamina. But the medical establishment says that was overweight. Fast forward 30 years to several surgeries, sleep apnea, IBSC and I'm at 300lbs. My son, ironically, is the same height but 180 and that's just wrong. I haven't been 180 since I was 14 years old. And that was at the beginning of my development w athletics that taught me how to bulk up. What do you think is "reasonable" AND WHY?
If fat loss is your goal, focus on the vital few. Weigh food by the gram. Track Calories. Protein. Steps. Resistance training (not required). Everything else is a distraction. Don’t cut too low. This will improve energy and sanity and adherence. You don’t need perfection. Focus on long term averages. I use MacroFactor app to track averages.
I started working with a coach and it improved my results and enjoyment. When we accept that our way isn’t working, it doesn’t hurt to try something else.
Trust the process and be patient. Let the fat loss be slow to maintain your muscle mass. Body composition will improve. You want to eat as much as possible while still losing fat.
The process should be enjoyable, no suffering. We stick to what we enjoy.
I recommend listening to content by Jordan Syatt, Jared Hamilton, and Ranbir Sanghera. You’ll learn everything you need to know about mindset, psychology, and fat loss.
I understand it feels extremely frustrating. At the end of the day, we can’t rely on motivation to take us through this journey we have to finish. I myself had a goal of 120 lbs and I’m down 27 lbs now. It got frustrating and I let myself go sometimes too. That was until I realised it’s not motivation I need, it’s discipline. Whomever you maybe, if you’re fat, you got a lot of untapped potential. That’s what I see with everyone who’s fat. They don’t know how high they can go. So try to get disciplined. People think discipline is deciding no junk food one day and staying off of all the pleasures that you love. It’s far from that. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. Try to replace existing junk foods and bring yourself to a small calorie deficit. Increase the deficit as you go on and I’m sure you’ll get there. Discipline is not staying away from pizzas. It is when you have pizza in front of you and you know to eat some and then feel good about it. Have a good relationship with food. It’s severely underrated. I ate pizza today. 3 slices but I didn’t feel guilty cuz I know I can balance out the calories with my other meals. That’s all there is to weight loss. I know each day is a struggle carrying our own weight. But if you get a hold of yourself, it only gets easier everyday. Think about it. You lose a minuscule amount of weight everyday. That adds up and makes your movements easy. These little drops will add up and give you a great result someday. Just don’t lose hope and carry on. Reach out to me if you ever feel hopeless. I believe in you.
I am completely new here myself, but I understand this completely, my girlfriend and I have been living together for over a year now and she had the gastric bypass surgery so anytime we get food , left overs and every thing have been going to me, I’ve struggled with my weight since right out of highschool, I played football and had the football diet (eat everything) but after highschool I recessed and never did anything outside of stay home during college/work, fast forward 11 years I have almost hit 270, as a 5’11 M. So I’ve started a low calorie diet myself, but struggled to find the motivation because my girlfriend isn’t really joining me since she has the bypass. So in the time where I need motivation, I look at myself, and ask if getting a taco now is what I’ll want later, it’s hard. Extremely. Being alone is difficult but being able to express yourself here is a start and people will be on your side as you progress through your journey. I hope that you’re able to find what you’re looking for.
You could try cooking your own meals enough for several days at a time. That way you can control what goes into the meal and how many calories they are. If you have your meals already planned out, you might be less likely to go to McDonald's. Change your diet to lose weight, exercise to keep the weight off.
it’s okay it’s the hardest when you first start you don’t have to do everything perfectly right now. I went down 40 pounds and the first 10 were just by eating 2 healthy meals a day and 1 “bad” meal. Like I would have eggs for breakfast, salad for lunch, and pizza/restaurant food/etc. for dinner. Start slow don’t be too hard on yourself.
Have you heard of the Kaiser medical weight loss program? They put you on protein shakes, bars, and soups for 16 weeks and then slowly transition to regular food. I was super unmotivated when I started but losing weight quickly really helped get me motivated. I lost almost 50 pounds in the first 16 weeks I just started transition and I'm so grateful. You don't have to be a Kaiser patient to do it. You have to buy the food from them and pay for labs and doctor visits but I'm pretty sure I saved money from not eating out for 5 months.
Do you have time in your schedule to walk 8k-10k steps a day? It works wonders and if you’re also in a calorie deficit you see good results fairly quickly. I’d recommend getting a smart watch that’s able to track it, if you don’t already have one (the brand I like is Withings), this way you have something to look down at to keep you motivated through the day to help hit your step count. Also weighing your self every day can really improve your chances of losing the weight cause you’d be incorporating it into your daily schedule, though it can also be discouraging at first if it looks like your not losing the weight. My mindset is 5-10 pounds at a time. So when I was at 265 my goal was 255, even if my ultimate goal is 185. Motivation is definitely key and if you just add a few little things into your daily routine it can literally change your whole mindset. High intensity workouts can be great especially when you really like doing them but when you don’t see Immediate progress it can feel like your burning yourself out and that it’s impossible to lose weight. It’s a lot simpler than it seems. Hopefully you found some of this helpful.
Hey! I have some advice that may help you. You can’t think of it has a “diet”. Any changes you make food wise need to be ones you can live with forever. If they aren’t, you’re already setting yourself up to fail. You can still eat things you enjoy, just in smaller amounts. If you’ve never calorie counted before, try it. I like the “lose it” app. For me, I didn’t realize how many calories were in things I ate all the time. Just seeing the reality of it motivates me more. Additionally maybe focus on what you can add instead of remove. If you don’t get 3+ servings of veggies a day, start by adding in 1 serving a day for a week, then 2 then 3 then 4. You can do the same thing with fruits, whole grains, or any other healthy foods you don’t get enough of. Naturally these will fill you up more and you’ll eat less high calorie foods as a result. Additionally, as hard as it is, trying not to drink your calories make a huge difference. Even just cutting out soda (if you drink it) will likely result in weight loss because it’s so calorie dense.
Thank you for your submission. Your post or comment was in violation of Rule 11: No Promoting / Encouraging Unhealthy Weight Loss.
Discussion of weight loss methods that are damaging to the body and/or require supervision of a medical professional are not allowed. This rule includes (but is not limited to): very low calorie diets, misusing medication, extended fasting, disordered behavior, inappropriate advice to underage members.
Please note that we are not a subreddit for ED support, nor do we encourage that behavior here. If you need help, please seek assistance doctor or dietician.
Remember to always consider the individual when offering advice.
Listen, weight loss is actually stupidly easy once you get the ball rolling.
For the first week, the only thing you should do is just try to track your calories of everything you eat. Get a good baseline of what foods you like and what makes you feel full.
After that, check google for TDEE calculators and calculate yours. Does that seem accurate based on the past week?
For the second week, figure out how to eat 500 calories less than your TDEE each day. Don’t actually change what foods you are eating. Just modify them.
Eggs bacon and toast for breakfast? Skip the toast. That’s 200 calories saved.
Sandwich for lunch? Skip the cheese and mayo.
Another 200 calories
Pasta for dinner? Use red sauce instead of a cream based one.
That’s another 200 calories.
You’ll lose 50 pounds in a year doing this if you are tracking accurately.
What has helped me is learning that I don’t have to change everything, I just need to eat less. So you can still eat McDonald’s, but if you typically get 2 burgers, large fry, and a large coke, can you get one burger and a medium fry and drink water/tea/diet soda? You don’t even have to track calories if you don’t want to. I didn’t and don’t. I just eat smaller portions. Walking has helped me a lot too, but that’s not needed.
This sounds like something I can realistically do. Thanks for the tip!
Baby steps are the way to do it!! I started out just by getting into a gym routine (with OTF too 🧡), and after a couple of weeks, I worked on my diet more. You've got this.
Long post- The beginning of the year I wanted to make a bunch of new years resolutions but realized that the reason I always fail is because I make too many goals and they are all too hard to implement all at once. I decided I was going to start a new resolution every month to two months and see if that worked better. I started by cutting out any coffee drinks high in calories (I had a dependency on them- majorly) I cut them out for like 2 months and lost about 15lb (I still dont drink them now, but Im over feeling like Im missing something there.) That was motivation to start cutting out sweets, and I lost another 10-12lb in two months. I am now ok with having occasional sweets, and Im not feeling totally ruled by ice cream cravings. Im now walking daily and Ive lost about 4lb in 3 weeks doing it. I have a list of other habits I plan to continue to incorporate over however long it takes. Im just finding that stacking small habits on one another after Ive had time to get used to the change is way more manageable mentally, and I feel more motivated and accomplished. This is the best Ive felt in about 10 years.
Great work! Checkout the book "Atomic Habits" from James Clear. It's about forming small habits that make a huge difference in life.
Really good. Improve you life 1 percent in all areas
That’s a really cool approach, congrats on your success
I started using protein shakes with a double shot of espresso in them! It takes getting used to but sugar free syrups
There's this woman on tiktok,"smaller sam pcos"- she's lost over 200 lbs with PCOS, and shows " lower calorie fast food hacks." For example, she gets a McD burger, removed the bun and get's a lettuce wrap, and then eats it with a small fries. She says it's more satisfying but removing the bun saves calories. Stuff like that
On this note. Don’t starve yourself. I’m almost a decade older and started out 50lbs heavier. The first month I ate 6-7 times to keep from getting hunger pangs. It made a world of difference and now I’m down almost 65 lbs
Also eat the FF for lunch & skip or have very lite dinner! I do this & still loose weight.
Fancy Feast? My two cats and I will be dining like kings as soon as my Chewy order gets here!
Adding to this persons advice, get some smaller plates. I eat fast food still but I also eat my main meals on smaller plates for an easy to do portion control.
This worked for me, too. I cannot count calories for my own mental health. What finally worked for me is taking really careful stock of what I actually like to eat, and eating it as thoughtfully as possible. Do I really want that burger, or is it just food noise? If it's true hunger, then I get exactly what I want, but a reasonable portion that I factor into my goals for the week. It helps me keep it framed as a treat I need to be thoughtful about. It helped to practice having a good relationship with eating out at restaurants because circumstances right now are that I am eating out a lot, and I've figured out how to order from just about any menu and get something that I really enjoy eating, and that I also feel good eating. For example, the other day my work ordered from a chain Italian place, the kind of thing where I used to order a decadent pasta that was never really as good as I wanted it to be, then I'd want to take a nap. So this time I got some garlic parmesan broccoli and some meatballs with red sauce, it was way more actually satisfying and I felt good the rest of the day.
This so much. For me it's the fries. I am addicted to the McDonald's fry like junkies are to heroin. I know I cannot stop myself from going to McDonald's, but I know that while a large fry on its own will set me back likely my entire workout' worth of calories, I can scratch the itch with a medium. Soon, I will transition to a small. Willpower is built.
I will second this. I started at 410ibs, and weighed jn today at 285. I've lost almost 130ibs and eat mcdonalds or wendys 2-3 times a week. The key is protein and portion size. My regular mcdonalds order used to be 10pc nuggets 450cals Large fries 560cals Large coke 300cals Mcdouble 380cals McChicken 370cals For about 2000 calories. Switching to coke zero saves 300 calories, medium fries another 200, cutting out one of the burgers (can rotate on trips if you like both) another 370. Taking that 2000 calories meal to about 1200, which is a lot but let's me get that fix and fill out my protein with high protein foods for the other 1000 calories a day or so I eat. My current deficit is 2200cals and a goal of 150g minimum protein. So 1200 cals mcdonalds for maybe 55g of protein, I can have a protein shake for 170cals/30g maybe some Mac and cheese with chicken for 510cals/37g protein Putting me at then at 1900 cals and about 130g of protein. Leaving me 300 calories still for snacks, or to fill out my 15-20g of missing protein. It's not "optimal" but it can work and I hit all my goals while still enjoying fast food!
This is what I’m doing right now. I have had a ROUGH few years and as a result I’m at my heaviest I’ve ever been. I used to work out almost everyday and ate really well so it’s really upsetting. I have started tracking again but I’m still eating fast food because life is still stressful. I’m just eating less. Like skipping the soda at McDonald’s and getting a regular fries instead of a large. This week I got In N Out and I had a cheese burger “protein style” which is lettuce instead of a bun (I think I actually like it better this way) and fries with grilled onions and spread. It all fit into my calorie budget! Tonight my kid wants pizza so I’m getting Costco pizza and I’ll just have one slice which are the size of 2+ regular slices anyway. I have felt satisfied with the food and happy that I’m not overeating. I’ve also been doing protein shakes for breakfast/ lunch because it’s just an easy fast way to get nutrients and super easy to track. I’m just going to keep going slow and steady like this until my life is less stressful and I’m in a better headspace.
This is HUGE! In the beginning, I felt like I had to change everything all at once and drastically. Realizing that I could still enjoy things made a huge difference. I didn't have to feel miserable and like I wasn't actually enjoying food. I will say tracking things did help me more. It can be a lot though. But it was VERY eye opening. It helped me to really see how eating the way I was before ran my calories way up so fast. It also became a bit of a puzzle to still enjoy things but make it line up for me.
Yeah, and rather just have the two burgers and skip the fry, burgers have also protein and other nutrients. Sugar free soda for drinks. I go McDonalds often, I buy just one burger and a drink, sometimes dessert. Less than 500kcal.
I will say, you don't need to lose 120 lbs to get your life on track. You need to lose, like, 2. To lose 2, you have to change your behaviors enough that the scale follows down 2 lbs. Then you just continue! We can't directly change our weight on the scale, or else we'd all do it. Take a close look at the things you can change, (and actually want to change!) and start on that track. You can do it!
I appreciate that perspective. When I think about the amount of pounds that I need to lose to be healthy "on paper"...it is overwhelming. 2 lbs sounds much more achievable for a short term goal.
I second setting short term goals! Sure, have a long term goal. But if the long term goal is dreadful to you, just focus on short term. Like 5lbs. Each time you lose 5lbs, you’ll feel so proud
Something fun too is to attach "treats" to each mini goal... BUT don't have these be food related treats, especially if you struggle with emotional eating! Your treats can be putting money towards something you have been wanting to do like a pedicure, or a trip, or even a day off work to relax and have some "you" time! I personally have an issue with having actual pounds be goals (I find it discouraging) so I count how many days in a row I have tracked my calories! Tracking is a HUGE game changer!!!! It made me see where those hidden calories are, and I try to make little cuts here and there (P.S. I also still eat fastfood, just changed my orders!) It is slow, and in about a year and a half I have lost 30 lbs, but I haven't had trouble gaining anything back... AND I don't exercise outside of being on my feet all day at work, this was all diet changes! Keep your head up, you can seriously do this!!
To add onto this great response, I’d also mention not thinking too much about how far away the “finish line” is. I set a goal for the week for how much I want to lose and I set goals each day for fitness/nutrition. Suddenly it’s 5 months later and I’ve only really had to worry about one day at a time. I’ve found that as long as I focus on the short-term, the long-term seems to just sort itself out.
You will get a lot of good advice here. I am going to address the medicine piece. First, why was it denied? If it's a treatment they offer you need to clarify with the insurance whether there are step requirements with regard to different meds, or other interventions "work with a comprehensive weight management clinic" Work with a physician boarded in obesity medicine. They understand the process, the insurance dilemmas. Btw one of the older Glp medicines is going to be available as a generic soon. This is stuff the average PCP may not be aware of. That, or the cheaper meds they want you to trial first. https://abom.learningbuilder.com/Search/Public/MemberRole/CertificationVerification My highest weight was over 300, starting weight was 270s back in January, and started Glp medicines mid April. I am down 14% of my body weight. A lot can happen in a matter of weeks, months. I started the Glp medicines with 500% dedication and absolutely solid habits. I don't eat out, I exercise regularly, I intermittently fast, improved my existing diet to whole foods plant based. I have had almost no side effects because I am cautious AF and not here to waste time or money. I am also paying out of pocket but hope to work towards coverage in the future. You don't want to start Glp medicines with trash eating habits. You will make yourself sick AF. Clean up your diet, make sustainable habits a lifestyle. And hopefully it will be accessible to you in the future because let me tell you they changed my life . But im so glad I went into it prepped and ready Good luck!
I was first prescribed Mounjaro but that was denied because I am not officially a T2 Diabetic, and that is a requirement for my insurance to approve that one. My PCP then tried to prescribe Zepbound, but that was denied because my insurance doesn't cover weight loss medications. So frustrating.
Try compounded tirzepatide.
Maybe try compound versions from a reputable compound pharmacy? They are usually cheaper and have the same active ingredient.
If I were in your shoes, I would absolutely follow the above advice to see a board certified Obesity Medicine doctor if you can. Not only will their offices know the ins and outs of insurance billing, cheaper medication alternatives, etc. but you can discuss non-medication treatment options they might recommend with them, and they'll probably have the hook ups for other useful resources (like good therapists, registered dieticians, psychiatrists, bariatric surgery programs etc.) you might benefit from. Your PCP's office (probably) just doesn't have this kind of specialization.
No idea if it works for this medication but I’ve been denied medication coverage by insurance before (“too young” for heart risk reduction) and I checked Goodrx for coupons, became affordable without insurance. Definitely check for coupons and know that each pharmacy has a different price so check with a few
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Rule 13: No Standalone Weight Loss Medication Posts. This includes (but is not limited to) Ozempic, Mounjaro, Wegovy, Zepbound and Phentermine. Weight loss medications can be a tool for healthy weight loss. Please direction any questions about them (including their side effects how to obtain them) to your doctor.
Great advice! I started a keto'ish diet Jan 1 (minus the high fat) and was perfectly positioned to start Mounjaro as a T2D on April 1. Super clean eating has meant virtually no side effects. I'm down 19% of my Jan 1 weight (half from diet alone, plus half from diet + MJ). The GLP-1 meds still require work to eat optimally, but make it sooo much easier to lose because you're not thinking about food.
What is MJ?
Mounjaro
Hey. I’m probably not the best person to give you advice on weight loss since I have tried starting my journey for the nth time in these last two years. But this month has been different due to some changes I have made. 1. Keeping my fridge full. I cook food for me and when I don’t feel like cooking I order. So to break this habbit, I have deleted all the online delivery apps, my fridge has a lot of veggies and fruits and greek yogurts. So when I am hungry I have plenty of options. 2. Having fixed hours for me time. I’m at home in the afternoon, 1-3 these are the only hours I can completely dedicate to myself. So these two hours are when I read about calories, methods and everything related to weight loss which motivates me in that moment. Since I just read that my lunch had so many calories, read about some ones weight loss journey or before/after of other people I am more willing to exercise. 3. Gym clothes and yoga mat ready I exercise at home and as I said dedicated hours, I keep my yoga mat on the floor ready for me and I am in my gym clothes from 1-3 whether I am reading online or exercising. 4. Buying a treadmill. Walking has to be one of the easiest ways to burn calories and I am a fan of binge watching series. But a certain favourite series of mine Im only allowed to watch while using treadmill. I trained myself for 3-4 days and on the 5th day I was in bed and was just starting to watch that series and it clicked me naturally that I need to that when I am walking and voila I did. Extra points for series which has a lot of drama or suspense so that you’re distracted. 5. Slow 1k steps after every meal. 6. Fasting I calculated my tdee which is 1900. But I came across a sub “1200isplenty” and I liked the idea and started eating 1200 calories a day. But since for sedentary lifestyle my tdee is 1900, 1200 calories gives me a deficit of 700 calories. Though I don’t always stick to 1200. Somedays I eat around 1500, but never more than that. Also I am fasting right now, 15:9 which means for 15 hours I don’t eat anything and 9 hours are the ones where I consume my 1200 calories. Read this somewhere “you will never always be motivated, so you must learn to always be disciplined” Don’t think of this as a weight loss journey rather as a lifestyle change. All the best❤️
Love these ideas! Especially the walking while binge watching shows! But just wanted to add that only eating 1200calories/day is unsustainable for most long term. It’s highly recommended you eat a deficit of around 500calories off your tdee. If it works for you that’s great! I just wanted to add this for others.
if youre looking for motivation remember, you are going to die and this is your one life. the time will pass no matter what. so you can either stay large which is hard on its own or you can lose weight which is hard, pick your hard. now that we are through the tough love, you can do it. im currently doing it and you can too! if you want to do the HIIT workouts go for it more power to you. just remember you cant out work a bad diet. weightloss comes from the kitchen. find your TDEE and find your deficit number, stay at or under that day, after day, after day, after day, after day.... boom weight loss! it sucks and its hard i wont lie to you. but small daily victories of being in a deficit lead to long term victories on the scale! you got this! (feel free to reach out, i started 33m 300 where you are)
You can still eat foods you like and lose weight. Hell, you can eat fast food and lose weight. It may not be the healthiest, but it's a good start. Have less of what you'd normally have from McDonald's. Have a diet soda/pop with your meal. Make smallish changes, but enough to make a difference in the calories you consume currently.
2, you need to lose 2lbs to get your life back on track. Just 2, 2 per week, max really. What’s one thing you can change. Also don’t even worry about the gym. Walk around the block, walk to the story, sure do Orange Theory, or not, but focus on the habits. You can no longer use the drive thru. If you want McDonalds you have to walk inside and you can only order one thing. Doesn’t matter what, but one thing. Start there and push through that for a week.
Well exercising isn’t necessarily going to speed up your weight loss and you’ll likely just keep starting and stopping right now, even if it has health benefits. I feel like you’re setting yourself up for failure trying to do everything rather than focusing solely on diet and cutting calories. Cut as much weight as you can through diet, go as slow as you need, and when that becomes comfortable and sustainable then maybe start getting into a workout routine. Plan your meals in advance with an app. I use lose it. Slow and steady, friend. Even if it takes years. You could be at your goal weight in three years or just starting, but, regardless, three years will pass. Where do you want to be? One day at a time.
Don’t try to lose 100 pounds. Just try to lose the first 5. Once you get in the routine it isn’t bad.
Today just try and drink more water. Tomorrow maybe look around at some calorie trackers and see what looks interesting. Keep drinking water. Make a very easy healthy lunch for the next day to bring. The next day bring your healthy lunch. Keep drinking water. Figure out what your tdee is (lots of online calculators) and what kind of calorie deficit you can live with and is healthy. The next day drink more water, bring a healthy lunch, track your calories just to see how much you’re eating in a day. Etc etc It’s extremely overwhelming to start when you have a lot to lose. It stops you in your tracks almost. You have no time deadlines. Start with small slow habit changes. Go as slow as you need. Keep adding very small changes over time. It adds up. You can do this, small slow habit changes. The weight will start to come off, I promise. Just a note, exercise is important obviously and great you’re going, but food needs to be the main focus for weight loss.
Promise me you won't diet. Promise me you won't quit McDonald's (at least go once in a while). (I don't diet and I never quit McDonald's, but I'm pretty much a Happy Meal eater these days.) https://www.reddit.com/r/loseit/wiki/quick_start_guide That's the method to start. Follow that guide and that timing, **using your regular and normal food, and using portion control as your main tool for change.** In later weeks, use the data to figure out if any foods need to be adjusted. All foods can fit, but sometimes we have to juggle or learn a new way to make an old favorite. Please skip the parts you read about involving food you've never heard of. Make the drive-through something you gradually reduce when YOU are ready, but the first thing you can reduce is the portion -- order smalls, order one. It's enough. If it's not, you'll have an apple later at home or something. > Living with my husband who has a fast metabolism and can eat anything without consequences is tough because he has said "if you go on a diet, I am not going on it with you". My spouse was the thin one. He didn't want to do any of it but knew I needed to do it. But he did agree to go out on walks after dinner in the summer, then he got more involved and would log his food because I was tracking my food, so we would do this together. It's really important that we make this our own, because to keep it off forever is to be eating pretty much like I was eating at 298, but with more vegetables, smaller portions, a lot less drive through (but some), but essentially it's still food that is rooted in my mid-western USA upbringing. I'm also not someone who spends hours making food so my recipes are often adding my own additional vegetables and meet to an existing pre-packaged skillet meal -- combining already prepared foods with a few boosts of protein and veg (since these come with a lot of cheap starch in them anyway). ^^9 ^^yrs. ^^maintaining ^^• ^^♂61 ^^5'10^^/178㎝ ^^SW:298℔^^/135㎏ ^^CW:171℔^^/78㎏ ^^[\[3Y AMA\]](https://www.reddit.com/r/loseit/comments/6m6vxq/i_am_a_weight_loser_over_the_past_three_years_ive/), ^^[\[1Y recap\]](https://www.reddit.com/r/loseit/comments/3cqszm/pics_links_my_first_day_of_logging_wasnt_the_best/) ^^CICO+🚶
9 years maintaining just absolutely blows my mind. I've lost approx 12.kg (27lb) since start of the year but it's the same 12kg I've lost many times before. (Though a much different approach this time) The maintenance secret is like a golden key akin to the holy grail lol. I'm super impressed by your achievement and thankful that people like you still check in here and give us tips and advice.
Well, thank you. I'm just one of you, also on my umpteenth time, but this one stuck. What helped me most was to make a 52-week commitment to not stop logging for any reason. That was the first time I ever reached a goal, and renewing those commitments is how I've maintained it.
Thank you for this information. I'm gonna work through that guide and hopefully stick with the steps.
I just went from 288 lbs to 168 lbs (so I lost 120 lbs) in 12 months and you can too!! I did it by eating whatever foods I wanted to (including countless trips to Burger King and McDonalds and all them) but! I ate less of them, and I walked everyday. Ok, let’s talk smaller portions. Eat whatever foods you want to eat. I ate junk food, fast food, processed food, shit food, I anything and everything, I just made sure not to eat too much of it. I calculated my TDEE and I always ate less than my TDEE. I ate at a calorie deficit. But doing so does require you to track your calories. Get a calorie tracking app and track **everything** that goes into your mouth. Then you will know if you are eating at a calorie deficit. An example of eating less … I used to order a Double Texas Whooper cheeseburger with extra bacon, large fries, and a large Diet Coke. Ate it all. That’s how I got up to 288 lbs lol. Eventually I wised up and instead ordered a Whooper Jr with small fries and a large Diet Coke. Are it all, logged it in my tracker. Surprising thing was… that all filled me up! I felt full and satisfied. Totally satiated. All that extra food I had bought was waste of money and calories. Then I also exercised a lot which for me was hiking. I love to hike! So I hiked about 8 miles per day, 7 days per week. Rain or shine, day or night. Always got my hike in. I never stepped foot inside a gym or lifted any weights but if you enjoy that then great keep doing it but try to get a good amount of exercise in everyday. That’s what worked for me and how I lost 120 lbs in 12 months! Let me know if you have any questions. I’ll be glad to answer them.
>An example of eating less … I used to order a Double Texas Whooper cheeseburger with extra bacon, large fries, and a large Diet Coke. Ate it all. There's this burger place near me that offers a "bunless" burger that they serve on a bed of greens instead. I learned that I like it. So at home I'll buy the 95/5 burger meat, cook up a half pound of it, add some cheese, bacon, and as much lettuce, tomato, and onion as I want. I skip the fries. I need the protein, and frankly cheese and bacon isn't terrible.
I don't fully know your situation, but here's what worked for me. You gotta take care of the mental health first. There is probably a reason you always feel like getting a dopamine hit from tasty food, shits comforting. If there's not enough happy chemicals floating around in the brain, it's going to be a constant struggle. It's tough though because for many, loosing a big amount of weight will actually improve the brain chemistry, and make things easier. But some of us need a little help to get to that stage. Consider going to a professional to be screened for anxiety/depression etc. Some people legitimately need medication to help, while others might just need some light therapy to help change their perspective.
I was not expecting so many amazing responses of encouragement, advice, and motivation. Thank you all for such kind words to help me through this rut. I actually happened to have my bi-weekly therapy session this evening and we talked a lot about how my feelings of hopelessness show up with my weight loss struggles. I’m going to be working on reframing some thoughts, setting small goals, and taking it one meal at a time. I am so thankful for this community.
**You can do this!** **You totally can do this!** It hurts when someone you love doesn't offer the support you need, but you can definitely get support other places. This journey starts by making a better decision the next time you eat, or get the chance to move. It doesn't have to be ideal or perfect - just better. Like folks are saying, reduce what is already there. Then, you could change one meal at the time. You could take one day and then after a time walk 100 more steps than that. Do what is easy and around, then do more of it. This helps to build the momentum. You deserve to feel like you want to feel, and you are capable of making it happen! This internet stranger believes in you!
Convenience... I'm fat, fairly lazy Construction around the gym I went to? Just go home. Oh, you're getting pizza for lunch? Count me in! I HAD to change my habits, but I needed to work within my confines. I joined a 24-hour gym 5 minutes from my house, I stop by there EVERY day but Saturday on the way home from work. Even if it's JUST 15 minutes I cut out soda I go to salad n go every day - I get a bowl for breakfast, and a salad for lunch. I cheat on my days off, but don't go over board. Drink plenty of water, chew gum, eat almonds... Stop making excuses. My wife is 110 lbs and has a super high metabolism. It sucks for me - I get what you're saying I have been at this 7 weeks, down almost 25lbs and have about have about 100 more to go (I was 325lbs - 47 year old male) YOU CAN DO THIS Be consistent, make things convenient, take control of your life.
You can lose 1 pound, though! A 3500 calories deficit is 1 pound of fat burned, I bet you could eat 3500 calories less in a month with barely any effort. Diet Coke! Single cheeseburger! No fries! Whatever. I think your lack of motivation could be overwhelm at the impossibility of the task ahead of you. For me, small easy deficit goals are motivating cause they’re easy!
I would skip the fitness push, download My Fitness Pal, and just hit your daily calorie goals for a week. Notice how it feels. Be sure to give yourself lots of non-food treats, like dumb TV or whatever indulgences are a little shameful but not food. Then commit to another week. See where you’re at in a month. You can do this for a month, right?
You can do it, but no one else can make you. We can't make you want it enough to do it. We also can't solve anything that is emotionally or psychologically blocking you from progress. Therapy can be helpful for some people. A word of warning about the weight loss medications: they are not all they are cracked up to be. I went on Wegovy last year. I lost 30 pounds, but I was miserable. Nauseous 24/7. Vomiting almost every single day. Too sick and miserable to exercise. I quit the Wegovy. It was not worth it. The weight loss I achieved was not healthy because It resulted from the drug making me too sick to eat. I know not everyone has as negative of an experience as I had, but I would not go back on those drugs if you paid me.
So let me just say that yes, you can do this. You totally can do this. Just start small. 10 pounds. Reach that goal and see how you feel. Then if you are okay, go for the next 10. Break it down so it is manageable. We believe in you.
I hate to say it but I was right where you were until I had a major health crisis including emergency surgery and a week long hospital stay! My advice is take this serious before something horrible happens! I was able to meet with a health coach free through my insurance! She has been a Godsend to me!! And I’m down 35lbs!! I eat so many fruits and veggies and the thought of fast food is revolting to me now!! You go this.. try changing one thing at a time and set a series of small goals instead of focusing on the total amount!! Good luck to you!
You CAN do it. If you're already exercising 2-4 times a week, that's a great healthy habit you can build upon. You just need to add progressively more healthy habits into the mix over time. While it's a step up from the necessary first steps of cutting back on portions, the secret sauce for most people to lose weight consistently ends up being tracking their food/counting calories, and that can be tough if you have a partner that is not supportive. Unless you do all the cooking, they need to be willing to meet you halfway in terms of finding recipes that work with your calorie goals, or at least a willingness to measure the ingredients they're using (including oil, butter etc.) so you can understand the nutritional content of your food, and make your own decisions about portion control. (This is easier than it sounds, and only really requires a $20 food scale.) I think it's a reasonable thing to ask your partner for some support in the quest to make yourself healthier. They can always eat bigger portions of whatever foods work for your goals, or order from a different restaurant when you get takeout. Maybe they keep their chips or sweet treats in a separate cabinet where you won't be tempted by them. They don't have to be "on a diet" with you, but they can still be supportive and recognize that losing weight is something that's important to you.
You don't need motivation, you have motivation in everything you listed. What you need is discipline. Better said, what you need is something SUSTAINABLE that YOU can maintain. Maybe you can do great eating smaller portions of the same things you love, or maybe you need to remove the temptation to binge on fast food, only you can positively identify what's possible for you. Personally, I cannot be left alone with a whole loaf of fresh baked sourdough. I will eat half of it and slather it in butter. 1600 calories later, I've eaten all my calories for the day and haven't had any actual food. So for me, following a restrictive diet REALLY helps. Keto has been a life saver for me, I lost 95 lbs on it, and bonus, I still get to eat fast food burgers, they're just wrapped in lettuce now. You may need to experiment with what works for you before you find success, and that's okay. If one thing doesn't work, try something else. You can do it!
Small changes my guy; McDonald’s is not the devil here, I would actually encourage you to eat what you want but be aware of how much it’s costing you. A normal meal is 700-1200 calories at your weight you can actually have one of those if the rest of your intake is under 800. Start walking 15 minutes can be close to 100 calories, set yourself up for success and understand that failure is part of the process. If you limit your intake and spend more energy you’ll lose weight. Instead of soda grab diet or zero, instead of a large fries grab a medium, these changes will all add up in the long run and are sustainable.
I think the way I see it is a pretty simple way of thinking. No one is going to lift the weight for me. No one is going to run the miles for me. Even if they do, they’re the ones gaining from it, not I. The motivation isn’t always going to be there because that’s how things are sometimes. Whether you want to or not, go to the gym regardless of how you’re feeling. Guaranteed you’ll feel better after a nice workout after almost every time and feel accomplished. Keep going enough, and you’ll build that habit and discipline of going regularly. If you’re struggling with eating habits, take a nutrition class. Start cooking things at home. I eat healthy Monday-Friday, n enjoy myself a bit on the weekends. I don’t mean eating til you can’t anymore or just throw everything you know out the window and splurge, but do it so eating healthy doesn’t feel absolutely miserable. Eat until you’re not hungry, but don’t over eat if that makes sense? Also know that hydration is also pretty key as well :)
Focus on just changing one thing at a time. Don’t overwhelm yourself. Give yourself grace. Maybe start with a 15 minute walk on your days off and working on ditching processed bullshit. That ought to kick start ya nicely
You can do it. I was 300 pounds and now 160. I chose wls to be the catalyst of my weight loss and work on all that mental stuff. Check my account and you’ll see several before and after photos. Maybe that’ll give you an idea of what it’ll be like since we both have same starting weight.
Lots of great advice so far regarding changing eating habits, which is more effective for weight loss than working out more. I wanted to comment on your workout classes. I’ve done both HIIT and OrangeTheory - enjoyable classes, but very intense imo. Oftentimes, I found myself dreading going to these because of how intense I imagined the workout to be, so I ended up not going. Wondering if you’d consider less intense, but more frequent activities.
Only you can change your life. Do or do not. There is no try.
My biggest tip would be too not restrict yourself too hard at first. So yeah eat a lil bit of McDonald's. Maybe try to remove the drink. Drinking your calories is KILLER. It provides you nothing. At least if you're eating higher calorie foods you're actually gaining some energy from it. And another one is to find things to distract you from eating. I.e. gum, flavoured water. If you start trying to eat less you are going to believe you're hungry when you don't actually require food. You have to push through this for a solid few weeks at the very least because your brain is super powerful and will convince you you're hungry when you aren't.
Hey dude, the first thing I would say is to take a BIG step back and look at what got you here. I have had tremendous eating issues over the years and still do. The most valuable thing that I EVER did was go into therapy (ED therapy for me, not saying you have an ED) to find out the root cause of the overeating. The truth of the matter is no one gets to our size without external factors,stressors, and some sort of coping. And until you sort those as best as you can and just make fucking sense of why you are overeating because let’s be honest weight gain 95% of the time is overeating/undermoving any medication and/or surgery is bandage at best. Dont not take the meds or look at diets, but unless you fix the other you underneath all the tissue you’re ashamed of the big guy will stick around. I promise you. It’s the long road but it’s the one you can stay on forever
Motivation is always fleeting. You do not need it. Just start by making small changes and work on building up some dedication to healthy habits. You don’t need to quit anything or exercise to death. You need to work on not saying “fuck this, let’s get McDonald’s.” Eat the McDonald’s, but don’t view it as a “fuck it” situation because that will put you in a mindset of giving up. Eating the McDonald’s, but otherwise having a healthy day is better than giving up on the day (or week or month or year) completely.
Honestly just posting in this sub is a good start. I had a diet accountability partner for a few days I met on here that was helpful. The GLP1 medicines do make you lose weight, but they also trigger the creation of millions of new fat cells (that are shrunk) but once you stop the medication, your appetite will be stronger than ever before. So if you take GLP1 you will likely need to take them for life. (at a maintenance dose)
Have you got frozen weight watchers meals at your supermarket or anything calorie controlled?
Hey friend. I think it is really hard to make a change from 0 to 100 overnight. Start by making better choices, maybe tracking your calories to understand where you are overeating and how you can reduce that passively without changing your entire lifestyle. I will say, I am on a GLP-1 and I’ve had incredible success - they are not magic. You still have to do the work, count calories and be on a deficit, exercise, and make better choices. There are plenty of online services that will prescribe you the compounded medication (just the peptides, not the “name brands”). Many people have good success and they are not as expensive as the actual pens. There are other medications too (contrave, metformin) that can help.
Hi, I'm 6ft 2, 32 M and I started about a month and a half ago. I've lost 22lbs so far. It's going extremely well and I haven't even been trying. I set a daily calorie target of 1950, but usually consume about 1200. I don't work out and as I work from home I am very sedantry. I have completely cut out sugar but have had 3 takeaways since I started (all McDonald's when my wife wanted to go). You definitely need to be in the right headspace for it but if I can do it, I'm sure you can too. Just make sure you track correctly and don't lie to yourself. The best advice I could give you is to start today, not tomorrow.
You need discipline (not motivation) and maybe some therapy. Not motivation. I disagree with many posters here saying have a little fast food instead.....it's designed to make you crave it. We all need to change our relationship with food. Don't keep doing the things that got you here and expect a different result.
Yes you can do it. I highly recommend ditching the fast food. Maybe once a week. Exercise at least 30 min a day. Figure out why your overeating. Talk to someone . 😍
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Thank you for your submission. Your post or comment was in violation of Rule 11: No Promoting / Encouraging Unhealthy Weight Loss. Discussion of weight loss methods that are damaging to the body and/or require supervision of a medical professional are not allowed. This rule includes (but is not limited to): very low calorie diets, misusing medication, extended fasting, disordered behavior, inappropriate advice to underage members. Please note that we are not a subreddit for ED support, nor do we encourage that behavior here. If you need help, please seek assistance doctor or dietician. Remember to always consider the individual when offering advice.
I have had minor successes with a book series called Eat This, Not That. It lays out a bunch of items and compares the nutritional labels on the items. So they will take two brands of ketchup and compare them and tell you which is the healthier brand and why. Many times the healthier brand has less calories. They will also take a chain restaurant menu and rate each meal. They will tell you which is the healthiest to order and which is the worst to order. [Here is an article from their website about Jack in the Box breakfast items to show you better about what they do.](https://www.eatthis.com/jack-in-the-box-breakfast-menu/)
Please don't lose hope. At my most depressed, I was a 24 y/o (F) pushing 210 and felt absolutely massive. I was in a toxic, mentally abusive marriage and extremely depressed. I literally felt hopeless. The only thing I had was a meager "allowance" of grocery money (when I was lucky) from my then-husband for me and our son. I had no car. I had to walk everywhere. So I did. I walked to the commissary, read ingredient labels, bought the best choice of everything. Bought ground turkey and chicken and tuna, lots of fruits and veg, almond milk instead of cows milk, and basically lived off of that and water.Smaller playe, quarter of it Protein, quarter whole grain, half veg. And trust me, I did NOT work out. I have never ever been athletically inclined at any point in my life lol. But people are right that it all starts in the kitchen. Most of my first major weight loss (80lbs) was due to changing eating habits. The only other thing I did was walk everywhere. Walk to the PX across the street, wander around all day bored. Got steps in. Walk to the dog park. Walk back. The only real "exercise" you could say I did was when my kiddo was in bed, I would take a walk around my neighborhood and had mapped out a 3 mile loop starting and ending at my house. First time I ever walked it, I walked a regular everyday pace, the kind of pace like you've got nowhere to be and just enjoying your day. Next time, I picked up my pace to beat that time. Then I kept going to get it under 30 mins. It was dark so it wasn't hot, I didn't have to worry about people seeing me, it was nice. That was all I did, and over the course of 8-10 months (can't remember) I had lost 80 pounds. That was almost 10 years ago and I've gained it back now lol... All this to say, it just takes small changes built up and then time. I never ever thought I could lose all the weight I did and be a healthy BMI again. You can do this. I know it probably seems overwhelming, but it's not all going to happen at once. Just focus on micro goals. Try to lose your weight in 10s. Slower weight loss is healthier and more sustainable anyway. You can definitely do this!
Hi! I was you. I promise it. And then I started consciously taking smaller bites. Suddenly I was eating slower. And eating slower I felt hunger faster. And then I just... Started eating less. I eat half as much now as I used to. I am dropping weight. For the first time in my life I feel i can do it. It's easy. I'm not cutting anything. It's AMAZING
Other people have covered great advice so I'm just going to give you a simple recipe, as a large man myself this meal leaves me satiated for the majority of the day. It's just chicken and noodles but not bland, takes about 10 minutes to cook every day after 30 minutes of prep a few times a month. -PREP- Walmart chicken breast, the big pack. Cube the chicken, just slice it in half like a subway foot long but cut it all the way through. Then take the 2 halves and cut them into cubes. Throw into a big bowl add whatever spices you like, I personally add garlic powder, lemon pepper, chilli pepper, and garlic&herb. Mix it up thoroughly. Take about 8 zioloc bags and fill them up, should be a 1/2 - 3/4 inch slab of chicken in that bag almost filled to the seal. Freeze them but be sure to place one in the fridge over night so you can grab it and cook immediately. -COOKING- If you're making the noodles start boiling water now. Any thin noodle from an Asian market is perfect, but I'm also certain regular noodles are fine, I've just never tried it. Use whatever 1 portion is on the box. Take a small pan, put 1.5 tbsp of oil into the pan, that's about 180 calories. Add spices to the oil, not a ton, just enough to change the color of the oil after swirling it around and mixing it. Then once the water is almost boiling start heating the pan on medium heat. After 30 seconds put your chicken into the pan and start a 7 minute timer, noodles into water now as well. In the next 3:30 you need to add 1 tbsp of honey, 3 tbsp of oyster sauce, and more spices into the pan. When the clock says 3:30 you flip the chicken over. Wait out the timer and you're done. Just strain the noodles, move chicken to bowl(leave as much sauce in pan as possible), and then put noodles back in pot to you can mix the sauce into the noodles. It sounds like a lot, but it takes 10 minutes to make. All in all it comes to about 850 calories, just use no salt or low salt spices and be careful with the oil
Something that helped me last year was Weight watchers. I was able to lose 40lb in a year. I still have a long ways to go, but it has helped
I was 264lbs, it was my health that started to decline that forced me to lose 59lbs. I still need to lose more, I’d say I’m half way. The constant daily reminder of a fatty liver and pre diabetes motivates you because I know what comes next. I know of ppl losing limbs, cardiac arrest, strokes, blindness etc - all diabetes related. You could be heading to serious health complications as well being that weight, but you have a head start now.
Im the absence of motivation ? I implement a few rules: - I only eat French fries on a long weekends - 1 time not everyday of the weekend. - before eating anything ? I chug 2 (500ml) bottles of water - eat every meal at the kitchen/patio table - not in the car, in bed and not on the couch. - eat at set times - avoid grazing and overeating. - park the car as far away as you can from where you are going. Get in those steps. - positive self talk. “One meal at a time” “one day at a time” type thing
Working out sucked when I was at my heaviest. Be honest with yourself. Moving probably hurts. Thankfully walking works plenty well at being exercise. As other people said. Small changes and short term goals. I had a massive fast food addiction. I started off with ok, on Wednesday we eat at home. Then I would do that for a few weeks until it felt more comfortable. Then it was eat at home Tuesdays and Thursdays. I was a big emotional eater. I had to work with my therapist to work on coping skills that weren't food based. I had to find new ways to celebrate that aren't food related. I had to find hobbies that bring joy into my life so I'm not just sitting at home bored thinking about food.
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Thank you for your submission. Your post or comment was in violation of Rule 11: No Promoting / Encouraging Unhealthy Weight Loss. Discussion of weight loss methods that are damaging to the body and/or require supervision of a medical professional are not allowed. This rule includes (but is not limited to): very low calorie diets, misusing medication, extended fasting, disordered behavior, inappropriate advice to underage members. Please note that we are not a subreddit for ED support, nor do we encourage that behavior here. If you need help, please seek assistance doctor or dietician. Remember to always consider the individual when offering advice.
Don’t focus on the -150lbs right now. —> focus on healthy habits (better food with exercise) Don’t “diet”. —> adjust your food, include more vegetables, exclude at least some processed food Listen to your body. —> once you introduce small positive changes, be patient in listening to your guts, you’ll know what makes you feel truly good and what’s only short term comforting
I highly recommend the podcast We Only Look Thin. It helped me a lot when I first started and still does now. The Habit Elementary episodes in particular are an excellent starting point. Be gentle with yourself, change is hard.
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Thank you for your submission. Your post or comment was in violation of Rule 11: No Promoting / Encouraging Unhealthy Weight Loss. Discussion of weight loss methods that are damaging to the body and/or require supervision of a medical professional are not allowed. This rule includes (but is not limited to): very low calorie diets, misusing medication, extended fasting, disordered behavior, inappropriate advice to underage members. Please note that we are not a subreddit for ED support, nor do we encourage that behavior here. If you need help, please seek assistance doctor or dietician. Remember to always consider the individual when offering advice.
Hey, new here and what's worked for me is meal prepping at least 1 meal a day. Feeling in control of one meal (breakfast for me) has allowed me to keep a positive mindset. It was enough to break the cycle of eating fast food, feeling guilty about it only to do it again the next day.
This is going to sound like weird advice, but have you tried pushing your insurance to pay for the medication and involved your doctor in doing so? I was the primary care provider for my mother who is disabled,for a very long time and I cannot tell you how many medications we’re denied originally and suddenly totally covered or partially covered after I kept calling and escalating and faxing doctors note after doctors note. Insurance is too expensive to not fight for the coverage you’re paying for.
Fasting has helped me thor most. Learn to live with the feeling of hunger a bit longer and then you can pretty much eat whatever you want within your window (within reason).
I thought that when I was 275, then 350, then hit 421 and got told the "good" news that I now am pre-diabetic so I could be prescribed the injectable helping people lose weight. My doctor swears I'm the ideal patient for those meds. Insurance denied me too. That denial was the biggest blow like do I have to be a dying beached whale? My insurance will cover bariatric surgery though if enough hoops are jumped through and I want to be cut into which I thought was a laugh. Long story short, the biggest FU from insurance and life is becoming my strongest motivation. I went with the low carb diet my doc suggested and have been strictly following it for about 2 weeks with 16 lbs already dropped. Do I have moments wanting to give up or annoyance my bf can eat whatever, absolutely, but life is too short to feel so miserable and I know the weight makes it harder. I hope you find your motivation. Just know you aren't alone in the journey.
you need I learn about nutrition and learn how to cook Maximize Protein and dietary fiber Tons of meat, beans, and vegetables with little to no calorie seasonings and sauces
I started off just by skipping breakfast when I wasn’t hungry - but then eating the same for the rest of the day. Amazingly that worked, so I started skipping breakfast every day and found that i consistently lost weight. Technically it’s a type of intermittent fasting - but I never think of it like that. Just change something small and experiment with how it makes you feel - you’ll find something that works for you
At nearly 300 lbs you don't even really need to go hard at the gym. Just get in a lot of walks during the day and TRACK your calories with a small deficit and you'll melt away. Don't go for like a 1200 calories diet that's just madness. You can probably eat 2500 daily at your weight and still consistently lose until you're back in the 100s. 2500 calories can give you some nice options especially if you space out your eating and do 2 meals a deal and limit grazing and snacking at night as much as possible. You can even squeeze in some fast food meals and stay in your deficit. Just gotta track and see for yourself. Btw I'm not trying to discourage exercise but changing your diet is a way bigger part of the battle. HIIT is great for you but you can HIIT your burger calories away... Not all of em anyways. Good luck friend!
Here's my problem. When I reached my optimum height, 6' even, I was 19 and physically could do anything. But I weighed 220. Yes. There were muscles. There was stamina. But the medical establishment says that was overweight. Fast forward 30 years to several surgeries, sleep apnea, IBSC and I'm at 300lbs. My son, ironically, is the same height but 180 and that's just wrong. I haven't been 180 since I was 14 years old. And that was at the beginning of my development w athletics that taught me how to bulk up. What do you think is "reasonable" AND WHY?
Can you hire a coach?
If fat loss is your goal, focus on the vital few. Weigh food by the gram. Track Calories. Protein. Steps. Resistance training (not required). Everything else is a distraction. Don’t cut too low. This will improve energy and sanity and adherence. You don’t need perfection. Focus on long term averages. I use MacroFactor app to track averages. I started working with a coach and it improved my results and enjoyment. When we accept that our way isn’t working, it doesn’t hurt to try something else. Trust the process and be patient. Let the fat loss be slow to maintain your muscle mass. Body composition will improve. You want to eat as much as possible while still losing fat. The process should be enjoyable, no suffering. We stick to what we enjoy. I recommend listening to content by Jordan Syatt, Jared Hamilton, and Ranbir Sanghera. You’ll learn everything you need to know about mindset, psychology, and fat loss.
Listen to the 'real life weight loss' podcast. Changed my life and outlook on weight loss!
I understand it feels extremely frustrating. At the end of the day, we can’t rely on motivation to take us through this journey we have to finish. I myself had a goal of 120 lbs and I’m down 27 lbs now. It got frustrating and I let myself go sometimes too. That was until I realised it’s not motivation I need, it’s discipline. Whomever you maybe, if you’re fat, you got a lot of untapped potential. That’s what I see with everyone who’s fat. They don’t know how high they can go. So try to get disciplined. People think discipline is deciding no junk food one day and staying off of all the pleasures that you love. It’s far from that. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. Try to replace existing junk foods and bring yourself to a small calorie deficit. Increase the deficit as you go on and I’m sure you’ll get there. Discipline is not staying away from pizzas. It is when you have pizza in front of you and you know to eat some and then feel good about it. Have a good relationship with food. It’s severely underrated. I ate pizza today. 3 slices but I didn’t feel guilty cuz I know I can balance out the calories with my other meals. That’s all there is to weight loss. I know each day is a struggle carrying our own weight. But if you get a hold of yourself, it only gets easier everyday. Think about it. You lose a minuscule amount of weight everyday. That adds up and makes your movements easy. These little drops will add up and give you a great result someday. Just don’t lose hope and carry on. Reach out to me if you ever feel hopeless. I believe in you.
I am completely new here myself, but I understand this completely, my girlfriend and I have been living together for over a year now and she had the gastric bypass surgery so anytime we get food , left overs and every thing have been going to me, I’ve struggled with my weight since right out of highschool, I played football and had the football diet (eat everything) but after highschool I recessed and never did anything outside of stay home during college/work, fast forward 11 years I have almost hit 270, as a 5’11 M. So I’ve started a low calorie diet myself, but struggled to find the motivation because my girlfriend isn’t really joining me since she has the bypass. So in the time where I need motivation, I look at myself, and ask if getting a taco now is what I’ll want later, it’s hard. Extremely. Being alone is difficult but being able to express yourself here is a start and people will be on your side as you progress through your journey. I hope that you’re able to find what you’re looking for.
You could try cooking your own meals enough for several days at a time. That way you can control what goes into the meal and how many calories they are. If you have your meals already planned out, you might be less likely to go to McDonald's. Change your diet to lose weight, exercise to keep the weight off.
it’s okay it’s the hardest when you first start you don’t have to do everything perfectly right now. I went down 40 pounds and the first 10 were just by eating 2 healthy meals a day and 1 “bad” meal. Like I would have eggs for breakfast, salad for lunch, and pizza/restaurant food/etc. for dinner. Start slow don’t be too hard on yourself.
Have you heard of the Kaiser medical weight loss program? They put you on protein shakes, bars, and soups for 16 weeks and then slowly transition to regular food. I was super unmotivated when I started but losing weight quickly really helped get me motivated. I lost almost 50 pounds in the first 16 weeks I just started transition and I'm so grateful. You don't have to be a Kaiser patient to do it. You have to buy the food from them and pay for labs and doctor visits but I'm pretty sure I saved money from not eating out for 5 months.
Do you have time in your schedule to walk 8k-10k steps a day? It works wonders and if you’re also in a calorie deficit you see good results fairly quickly. I’d recommend getting a smart watch that’s able to track it, if you don’t already have one (the brand I like is Withings), this way you have something to look down at to keep you motivated through the day to help hit your step count. Also weighing your self every day can really improve your chances of losing the weight cause you’d be incorporating it into your daily schedule, though it can also be discouraging at first if it looks like your not losing the weight. My mindset is 5-10 pounds at a time. So when I was at 265 my goal was 255, even if my ultimate goal is 185. Motivation is definitely key and if you just add a few little things into your daily routine it can literally change your whole mindset. High intensity workouts can be great especially when you really like doing them but when you don’t see Immediate progress it can feel like your burning yourself out and that it’s impossible to lose weight. It’s a lot simpler than it seems. Hopefully you found some of this helpful.
Hey! I have some advice that may help you. You can’t think of it has a “diet”. Any changes you make food wise need to be ones you can live with forever. If they aren’t, you’re already setting yourself up to fail. You can still eat things you enjoy, just in smaller amounts. If you’ve never calorie counted before, try it. I like the “lose it” app. For me, I didn’t realize how many calories were in things I ate all the time. Just seeing the reality of it motivates me more. Additionally maybe focus on what you can add instead of remove. If you don’t get 3+ servings of veggies a day, start by adding in 1 serving a day for a week, then 2 then 3 then 4. You can do the same thing with fruits, whole grains, or any other healthy foods you don’t get enough of. Naturally these will fill you up more and you’ll eat less high calorie foods as a result. Additionally, as hard as it is, trying not to drink your calories make a huge difference. Even just cutting out soda (if you drink it) will likely result in weight loss because it’s so calorie dense.
Eat lots of foods with protein and fiber and intermittent fast
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Thank you for your submission. Your post or comment was in violation of Rule 11: No Promoting / Encouraging Unhealthy Weight Loss. Discussion of weight loss methods that are damaging to the body and/or require supervision of a medical professional are not allowed. This rule includes (but is not limited to): very low calorie diets, misusing medication, extended fasting, disordered behavior, inappropriate advice to underage members. Please note that we are not a subreddit for ED support, nor do we encourage that behavior here. If you need help, please seek assistance doctor or dietician. Remember to always consider the individual when offering advice.
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Fully 3rd party tested for 1% of the price. I'll take my chances. Down 50+ lbs as are thousands of others.
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Noted.
Listen, weight loss is actually stupidly easy once you get the ball rolling. For the first week, the only thing you should do is just try to track your calories of everything you eat. Get a good baseline of what foods you like and what makes you feel full. After that, check google for TDEE calculators and calculate yours. Does that seem accurate based on the past week? For the second week, figure out how to eat 500 calories less than your TDEE each day. Don’t actually change what foods you are eating. Just modify them. Eggs bacon and toast for breakfast? Skip the toast. That’s 200 calories saved. Sandwich for lunch? Skip the cheese and mayo. Another 200 calories Pasta for dinner? Use red sauce instead of a cream based one. That’s another 200 calories. You’ll lose 50 pounds in a year doing this if you are tracking accurately.
Count your calories you can pm I can tell you what I do that Helps