Here's the before and after: https://imgur.com/a/FfXuXtG
Reading through this community has been tremendously helpful to me as I've been losing weight, so I wanted to make a post a) to celebrate that I reached my goal weight, and b) to add the knowledge I've gained throughout this process to the wealth of knowledge already in this sub.
Backstory: I cannot say I've ever *truly* struggled with my weight. I was never so thin that people would actually refer to me as skinny, but never so heavy that people referred to me as fat. At my heaviest, I was barely in the overweight category on the BMI scale. I'm often told I carried my weight well - nobody believed I was 170, mostly because I'm fairly tall and carry extra weight in my butt and thighs, which is definitely *in* right now (skipping the commentary on body type 'trends'...) Regardless, I finally decided I was *not* happy at this weight. I felt better a few years ago at the same weight when I lifted weights constantly and was very strong, but I'd been out of the gym a long time by then (January '21) and felt slow, soft, bloated, tired, not confident, etc.
Timeframe: I weighed in at 170 at a doctor's appointment in late December 2020. This was at the beginning of Christmas break. Over Christmas break, I went back to my job at the nursing home and ran like a crazy person all over the COVID unit for a month. I made no purposeful changes to my diet. I had another doctor's appointment right at the start of second semester (late January '21) and had lost five pounds, so I was at 165. Lost the remaining 25 pounds between late January and today.
170-->150 was fairly easy and did not take that long. 150-->140 would've been similar if I had not plateau'd at 142.9 for 12 days. That sucked and was mentally miserable.
Method of Exercise: I love lifting weights and pushing myself in the gym. Truly, nothing sets my heart on fire like that does. I stopped lifting after my freshman year of college (finishing up junior year right now) because I went back to work 60+ hours a week, then when summer ended and I planned to go back to school (and therefore have more time for the gym,) I got mono and barely dragged myself through first semester of sophomore year. Halfway through second semester when I started going again, COVID hit, and boom, no more gym. Gyms re-opened but I was now back at home with no gym membership (used campus gym for free at school) and just didn't go back.
So, in January I got myself a gym membership and started lifting again. I like to lift 5/6 days a week for 30-50 minute sessions, but sometimes that is not realistic given my school schedule. I also always do 10-20 minutes of incline walking on the treadmill after a lift, and sometimes I will do an ab workout. If I can't make it to the gym, I go for a 30-45 minute walk outside. Some days, that is all I have time for, as the gym takes a lot of time because I have to drive 20 minutes there, stretch, lift, walk, and then drive home.
I've also tried to increase my NEAT. Using the rings on my Apple Watch has helped me do this, especially the stand ring. If I haven't stood in an hour, that's a great excuse to run the garbage outside, fold a few pieces of laundry, play with the cats for a couple of minutes, etc. This was not a huge change by any means, just being more mindful of when I'm sitting and focused on studying for far too long at a time.
Method of Diet: Diet/nutrition is what always stopped me from reaching my goals before. I've had a few phases in life where I've been awesome about exercising very consistently, but I never made the necessary changes to my diet. Ultimately, diet is what's most important, as diet will be what carries you through losing/maintaining weight when activity levels decrease for whatever reason. Before I lost weight, honestly, I ate too much and I ate garbage. I live with my 6'2", 200 pound, *very* active boyfriend and thought I could eat like him. Not true! I need way fewer calories to fuel my body. So, I downloaded MyFitnessPal, bought some measuring cups and a food scale, and got to work. At first, my target number for the day was 1690. It amazes me now that I struggled for the first few weeks to stay under that number, as now, I have a hard time getting above 1200. Take that as evidence that you just have to push through those first few weeks. You will be uncomfortable, you will be hungry, but your body will adjust and you will learn the difference between real hunger and a craving.
Also - I used CICO *only.* I did not cut out any food groups or consciously try to limit carbs or fat. I did purposely increase protein intake to support muscle growth (as it's very hard to build muscle while in a deficit,) but that's all the more attention I really paid to macronutrients.
Some of my favorite/the most beneficial changes I made to my diet:
- Unsweetened almond milk instead of whole milk/coffee creamer
- Lean ground turkey instead of ground beef
- PAM (cooking spray) instead of butter/olive oil (seriously, saves so many calories and tastes the exact same)
- Popcorn instead of chips
- Low-calorie toppings/dressings/flavor boosters (? - don't have a good word for this.) I ditched the ranch, French dressing, shredded cheese, butter, cream cheese, mayonnaise, etc. Now, I go for more spices, hummus, and mustard. Pickles, banana peppers, mushrooms, onions, and cucumbers have a special place in my heart for adding so much flavor to meals without the calories.
Conclusions:
Losing weight is simple but not easy.
Losing weight is a mental game more than it is physical. Like I said, your body will adjust to its new calorie intake. However, you have to be mentally prepared to grind through the boring stuff like weighing food and eating carrots instead of chips every day, and mentally strong enough to not break and go back to old habits when you hit a plateau.
You do not get to choose where you lose weight. When I put the pictures side-by-side now, I can see that my legs leaned out. I wanted them to lean out more, but they didn't. Instead, I lost most of the weight off my gut (not complaining about that, either) and my upper body - face, chest, arms, etc.
If you're still reading this, wow and thank you! I know this is long, but I don't have a ton of people to share this journey with and I want to be helpful to anyone else who may need the information. Unfortunately, fitness/nutrition information on the internet is mostly garbage and communities like this really help to cut through the crap.
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source https://www.reddit.com/r/loseit/comments/mzgjbw/hit_goal_weight_today_f2058_170lbs_1394lbs/
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