Weight Loss: What works for me

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Hi guys. A few weeks ago I decided that I wanted to finally shed those extra 60+ pounds that I had been carrying around for the past few years and have been exercising daily as well as cutting way down on what I eat for almost 3 weeks now. So far I've dropped a little over 12 pounds.

I thought I'd write this piece just to let any of you guys who are struggling with your weight loss or want to lose weight know what seems to be working for me. So a few points:

You gotta want it

For you to lose weight consistently over long periods of time, you gotta want it more than you've ever wanted anything else in your life. Make a list of the reasons why you want to lose weight, and read it over and over again until those reasons are etched into your brain.

Stay motivated:

Currently on the back of my door, I have a list of all the reasons that I want to lose weight. I have it there so I am forced to see it everyday I leave my apartment. Not only that, but I also have a calendar on my wall where I write my weight down daily. Being constantly reminded why I want to lose the weight as well as seeing the consistent weight loss day has really done wonders for my willpower.

Visualize future you:

Everyday, you should think about what you want to be in the future. Everyday, you should think about the body you want to have in a few years. Everyday, you should remind yourself the repercussions future you will have to deal with if you don't take steps towards your end goal today. Have a clear picture in your head of the man or woman that you want to become.

Weigh yourself regularly:

I know there is no consensus on how frequently you should weigh yourself, but I find daily weigh ins seem to work best for me. Weighing yourself frequently is a good way to make sure that what you are doing is working. You could also do things like take measurements if you are so inclined. Please note that you should always weigh yourself in the morning when your stomach is the least full, otherwise your weight will fluctuate a good amount.

Don't clean your plate:

I know that in many parts of the United States and probably around the world, it is considered wasteful not to finish off the food that you've prepared. However, this often leads to you eating way more than you want to and being uncomfortably full. I decided that every meal I was going to leave just a little bit of food on my plate, and gradually that amount of food has grown larger as my appetite seems to be getting smaller and smaller. Doing this alone will shed calories off your daily intake.

Drink plenty of water:

Since the majority of water you consume comes in the form of food, you'll want to drink plenty of water to make up for that extra water that you'll be losing. Not only that, but your appetite goes down a good bit when you have a belly full of water.

Eat foods that make you feel good:

When I say eat foods that make you feel good, I don't mean foods that taste good, like sweets and junk food. I mean foods that don't leave you feeling bloated, overly stuffed, etc. Fruits and vegetables are great because they keep you full for long periods of time on minimal calories, all without giving you that nasty bloated feeling you get from something greasy like fast food.

Realize that the first few weeks are as hard as it's going to get:

Want to give up? Don't. Especially not in the first few weeks. It takes at least a few weeks to form new habits, and just like a smoker recovering from cigarettes, your body and mind will put up a hell of a fight. It will be incredibly difficult not to give into that temptation to sit around all day, or eat junk food, fast food, etc. You gotta realize, however, that those first few weeks are as hard as it's going to get. After that, it'll become easier and easier to just stick to eating healthy and exercising daily.

Some days will be realllllyy tough:

Yesterday, I had probably the biggest temptations so far to give in and pig out. I had to muster all the willpower in my body to not give into those desires just to go back to my old lifestyle and give up. Instead of pigging out, I left my apartment and went on a long walk. By the time I got back, I didn't even care about eating anymore. You gotta realize that there will be a few really critical points where you really want to give in, but you just have to fight it with all the strength you can muster. Just like every other emotion or feeling that you have, eventually these cravings will subside.

(Optional) Drink coffee:

I find that a cup of coffee a day keeps my appetite suppressed and my body energized. Helps keep me going through the day.

(Optional) Meditate:

I picked up meditation a few months ago and it has done wonders for my willpower and emotional well-being. I find that daily meditation helps to keep my head clear, and it helps keep all the nasty thoughts like "You'll probably fail at this" or "Just give up" to a minimum. It's also a great mood booster, and it helps to keep your perspective in check. I'll probably make a post about the benefits of meditation at some point as I can't recommend it enough.

Feel free to post what you find works for you bellow, detail your experiences, etc. I'll probably be updating this post over the next few months as I continue my weight loss journey.

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Have noted that putting tiny bit sugar into food makes me eat less, the irony.

I dont do it myself and dont like people doing it as I'm pretty lightweight and like to just eat food. Still for example if I just compare regular sauce vs. 1-2 teaspoons sugar sauce with steaks, regular one I can eat for 3-4 steaks and the sugar barely just 1 depending how stiff it is.. :D

Still, 8/8 for that dedication whats probably more important than my cheats.

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Coffee is ok, as long as it only Filter.

http://thelucidnutritionist.net/stop-drinking-instant-coffee/

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Nice guide, (although it might not work for everyone) seems like it would for me aside from the "Water" part....I do drink a fair bit of water, but I am addicted to Rockstar more than smokers are addicted to cigs....

Thanks for sharing!

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Sounds like you're really motivated, I hope you can maintain your new lifestyle.

I don't know if you've ever heard about darebee? They have a lot of resources on nutrition, weight loss and fitness in general. On top of that, they also have a forum full of awesome people, check it out if you're interested.

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Diet slowed my already slow metabolism to a halt so it was working your ass off in the gym for me.

If you stop eating artificial sugar,carbohydrates and drink less it is really easy to lose weight.

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Well OP I did much of what you said and lost loads of weight but now I am at the problem where I have loads of stomach fat and the only way to get rid of that is working even harder and I am not up for it. Without friends and not wanting to bother my son too much I am stuck. Eh anyway ..

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Happy to hear that approach is working for you OP. The most surefire way that I know of is to lift heavy things 2-3 times a week for 20 minutes to half an hour. There is no point in overdoing it. Side effects include larger muscle mass. Stop if you start to call people "bro" or say stupid shit like "do you even lift" as doucheitis is a common but insufferable disease to everybody around you.

PROTIP; The hardcore cut down on carbs. You don't need to, but it does speed up the process but leave some people feeling sluggish. There is no approach that works for everybody.

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I workout alone. Just gotta really commit to it. If you can muster the willpower to workout everyday by yourself and keep a healthy diet, then you can work up the willpower to do anything.

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I have lost loads of weight but when other things in your life are wrong it makes it much harder to continue to work hard at getting in shape further. Again without friends it really is not helping at all. Heck tonight while at McDonald's I saw all these young people happy and celebrating the end of the school year and it was just a reminder where I am at. I am alone. I have been alone way too much in my life. I am sorry but it is going to be a long road getting to the point where I can work on getting rid of my stomach fat on my own. I just am not up for it right now. I have hit the wall.

In regards to having the will power to do anything sorry but I have worked hard to get rid of my anxiety issues and they are not gone. I have shown the will to put in hard work to fix many things in my life but always in the end it goes wrong. Does it mean things can't change? No. Thing is though I am at a really dark period in my life that is different from others in the past. It is not where I want to be but it is reality.

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Sir, I highly suggest you seek out a therapist. This is not to be insulting--you need help. Anxiety will always be a part of life; it's something everyone suffers and handles differently. I just went through about 3 months of panic attacks and I'm not over the feeling of the onset of them, yet; It's uncomfortable, especially at work in intense meetings. The more you think about anxiety, the more it haunts you. You need to (not try; do) move on. You can get the assistance of a therapist (don't be cheap when looking for one) and help you figure shit out. I saw one when my 8yr relationship was crumbling because I wasn't happy (doesn't matter what she did or didn't do; my feelings were the problem at the end of it.) We're now hitting our 10yr mark.

Why are you going to McDonalds? There is nothing there for you. Find a better place to eat.

You don't need friends to live healthy; Your health is the only thing you have, with or without friends... Look, you're here looking at a weight-loss thread, already. Hell, forget the weight "problem." Google it, speak to doctors, fly a kite; the universe will tell you that exercise is key to managing anxiety. From there, you will find yourself feeling better. You don't need a gym membership to do this. Put on a pair of shoes and go for a 20-30minute walk outside and walk at a good pace. Don't think about your gut when you get back, think about how you feel.

I don't know you but I can see by your post that you're in pain. It's not worth being in the place you're in. It is NOT worth it. You got one life, buddy. Think of the probability of you being born. How about the probability of being on a habitable planet? Or on a smaller scale, being alive when we're getting ready to send people to Mars to colonise it? How AMAZING is that? How about the fact that we started as some slime and evolved to a species that's created the technology we're typing to each other when we're miles a part? Fuck, that makes me so enthusiastic about life, it's not even funny.

Reality is shit but you can make it into what you want to be. If you're not happy, fake it. Put a fucking smile on your face right now and fake it.

I hope this helped you even just a little bit. Go find a therapist and talk this shit out, dude--trust me. Be open-minded, put your ego away, and accept the things that happen. Embrace them, harness that dark energy and fucking put the axe to the grindstone and get shit done!

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Heck yeah dude! Keep that up. I'm currently losing weight as well. I was 260 and got down to 240ish when I started working out more. Then I actually started worrying about how many calories I was eating and I'm now sitting about at 194 as of last Thursday. I'm trying to get down to the 170s. It's been a slow methodical battle, but I have learned to 'enjoy the grind'.

I did this initially as well when I first realized how many calories I was eating. I kept my diet the same, but every meal I would have (I'm not a big snacker in between meals) I would set aside 1 bite of food at the beginning of the meal. After a few days I would set aside 2. I would continue until I would go down a size in the meal where I wouldn't set a bite of food aside and just repeat until I got down to my calorie intake goals.

I really picked up running as a workout and enjoy long runs (4+ miles). The same mentality I take towards running I take towards fixing my diet and weight loss in general. Some times during the run I want to walk rather than jog. I may slow down my jog, but I never drop down to a walk. Eventually the weariness I feel fades away and I can pick up my pace again. Like you said some days are hard, and that's alright, but you owe it to yourself to not 'walk'.

Now, all I care about when eating are calories. I eat 1600-1800 calories a day. If I can eat less I do, but I don't care where those calories come from. If I eat 1600 calories of Twinkies in a day I will lose weight. Is it healthy ... no, which is why I don't do it, but weight loss would happen. But for those who drink Calorie filled drinks (Monsters, Redbulls, etc.) you don't need to give them up IMO, just make sure you take them into account when you count calories.

Ultimately, it's all about being honest with yourself. You will see you goals come to fruition if you take your actions and the results you see as fact and adjust your plans based on those facts. If you are eating healthy and working out and you aren't losing weight, objectively look at yourself all day calorie wise. If I eat 3,000 calories of healthy, hipster-organic-certified, fresh from the farm, low fat salad, I will GAIN weight. If I think working out at the gym for 20 minutes is letting me eat an extra 300 calories, maybe I'm over estimating it. If you are not seeing the results you want, either workout longer/harder or eat less.

  • IF Calories In > Calories Out = Weight Loss

  • If Calories Out > Calories In = Weight Gain

I'll end with this: learning to 'Enjoy the Grind' was the hardest part of me. I keep focused on that I do NOT owe it to myself now to lose weight, I owe it to myself in the future to lose weight. And I already look back at my past self thanking him for doing this shit. I literally have a pair of pants that I used to love to wear that will literally fall off my ass if I jump. Heck with another month I bet they won't even stay on my waist after I let go. I can do a pull up now. I can go climbing rather than just backpacking. I can do things I've never been able to do. It wasn't over night, it still isn't over. Even when I reach my goal of the 170s it isn't going to be over and I can magically eat whatever I want and not workout anymore. I plan on shifting my goals from just losing weight to lifting goals. I want to be able to do 10 chin ups, something I've never been able to do just 1 in.

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Damn dude, I commend you for that. I only have to drop 60 pounds (47 now). If you can manage to drop 66 pounds, then I'm sure you can manage the last 24. I've also been trying to run more, but my right knee isn't so great, so I have to hold off on running daily until I lose some more weight.

That last point is something really to think about. I was reading a study about how when we think about our future selves, it lights up the same parts of our brains that we use when we think about strangers. This has a large part to do with why we put things off till tomorrow because some of us literally see our future selves as strangers, so it's almost like we're making a stranger do the work for us, even though logically we can understand that it will be us that has to do that work. I think an important point is to have what we want to be in the future in our heads at all time, because if we can't visualize what we want, then that success will seem so much more ambiguous.

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This guy is right about the faking happiness. Plenty of studies have shown that simply faking an emotion makes you begin to feel that emotion.

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Trust me I have done the therapy deal and I have a CMHA worker I talk to every week and more. Also I am on meds including a new one just given to me not more than a week ago. Unfortunately I had my first ever cutting incident but it didn't do much for me and I haven't done it since. Also in regards to me going to McDonald's and other restaurants recently it has been to deal with the stress related to hitting the wall once again with exercise and saying "**** it" kind of and being real in that even if I get in shape I will still have my other issues that cause me anxiety. As for needing friends to be healthy we as human beings are social creatures and if you understood how alone I am and how it tortures me well ..... and I have tried to make friends for over 10 years and something just always goes wrong. In regards to having one life I know that and it has been extremely painful and at 43 I am in many ways ready to call it quits. Every professional involved with me knows where I am at when it comes to dealing with life and that is if a gun is placed in my lap I will end it. I am not shopping for a gun though. I also have told them that I am looking into the Right To Die deal in Canada and will be following it to see if the Liberals can pass what they really want into legislation. My psychiatrist surprisingly feels it is everyone's right to do what they want with their life. Oh and in regards to the fake smile deal I know that pretend smiles can actually help your health and have done that in the past but it is difficult.

Anyway ... maplewalnut thanks for your feedback and I read all of what you said. I appreciate your input and other people's input.

For the record btw I have lost loads of weight and definitely I am more fit but being physically healthier clearly hasn't translated into better mental health unfortunately.

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Something that really worked once to lose loads of weight that you really need to get rid of quickly is to go on the low carb diet.

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Cycling helps too, just don't increase your appetite too.

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I was given a bike but it is not in riding shape. It needs a cap for the tire and it needs new brake pads. Heck there could be more wrong with it but I don't know. Anyway yes biking is something I really want to do and my son is interested in it too and I am hoping in the future to bike long bike rides to London and the surround areas which definitely would be a workout but also would get us to places we want to go.