Please note: I've written my biological sex in the description for logistical reasons since hormones and other biological sex factors play a role in health matters but I'm trans/nonbinary and working towards a masculine physique so please be respectful and mindful in word choice 😄
Progress pictures: https://imgur.com/a/UL9FA6g
(Photos are me in a tank top and boxer shorts, I wasn't sure if that constituted NSFW so I marked it just to be on the safe side.)
Stats: F/31/5'7" - SW 83.4kg CW 70.5kg GW 62kg
Summary:
Work from my home office, sedentary lifestyle.
- May 2019-Nov 201983.4kg to 75kgWhat I did: 120g protein, 200-300 calorie deficit, 7k steps per day, 3x week dumbbell workouts for approximately 4-6 weeks before I went back to no exercise program
- Nov 2019-Dec 2019MaintenanceWhat I did: No specific diet, tracking foods to stay at maintenance calories, no exercise program
- Jan 2020-Mar 202075kg to 70kgWhat I did: 140g protein, 500 calorie deficit, 4k-7k steps per day, no exercise program
- Mar 2020-Jan 2021Maintenance around 71-72kg fluctuatingWhat I did: No specific diet, portion control from memory during diet tracking, no exercise program
- Jan 2021-Feb 20214kg~ gain due to stress eatingWhat I did: Start snacking on large bowls of chocolate cereal daily
- Mar 2021-Apr 202175.5k to 70.5kgWhat I did: 120g protein, 500 calorie deficit, started a beginner bodyweight fitness routine during April, 5k average steps per day
How I got here:
In May 2019 I went to my friend’s wedding and did not like what I saw of myself in the resulting photos and videos. I've struggled with fitness for my whole life due to confusing body image issues and thankfully it was also around that time I was connecting the dots on being transmasculine (not just nonbinary). This epiphany helped me realize why working out and losing weight always felt pointless: I felt disconnected from my body to begin with in many ways. Starting to work on that relationship with my body in combination with feeling generally dissatisfied about the state of my health starting making things tick.
I dropped 3kg worth of water weight and a bit of fat in one month just by paying attention to what I ate when I got back home from the wedding. The next month I signed up for a 12-week program with an online coach. I didn't even fully properly finish it but lost about 5-6kg on that program, which included dumbbell training 3x per week, walking 7k steps per day, eating about 120g protein, and maintaining a 200-300 calorie deficit.
That November, I went on vacation with my family and visited home again and managed to only gain about 1kg over the course of 3 weeks, which was easily lost by eating at maintenance once I got back home.
In January 2020 I followed a high-protein (130-140g) program at a 400-500 calorie deficit for about 6 weeks and dropped down to around 70kg. I maintained between 71-72kg for the following year without tracking because I had been weighing and tracking all my food since May 2019 at that point (excluding my vacation) and was ready for a break. I was feeling much better at this weight range and also wanted to let my body get comfortable hanging out in this zone.
Fast forward to a few months ago: I started stress eating without realizing it and gained back about 4kg. Once I figured out why I was feeling so funky I jumped back on my 500~ calorie deficit and started tracking everything again, aiming for a minimum of 100g protein since my body seems to function well on the higher protein diet. Now, I'm back around 70kg on the scale!
I've also picked up an interest in bodyweight fitness while looking for fun ways to move during this renaissance so I'm starting that journey as well. Originally I just wanted to regain my maintenance weight but now that I'm here, I can see my very first original 62kg goal is probably possible in the next 4-6 months if I stick with it – so I'm feeling motivated to push forward. I expect to not see it completely happen on the scale since I am starting strength training, but I should still be able to see the effective progress.
I've wanted to pursue health and fitness for my whole life and it's taken me until my 30s to start figuring it out so I wanted to share what's worked for me.
Observations and takeaways:
It's okay to go slow.
Regression may happen. You still made progress. You still learned valuable lessons. Your past progress is not erased. I found it way easier to do it the second time. I already knew I could do it!
Dig deep to figure out how to have a healthy relationship with your body so you can be in tune with it and accept it even when it's not what you want it to be. This has helped me not overthink stuff and enabled me to let go of my insecurities and just do what I know I need to do. Am I still insecure? Sure. But in facing those insecurities and taking away their power by acknowledging them and dismantling their origins, they've become more like background noise than debilitating anxiety or self-hatred/self-blame/what-have-you.
Figuring out the program that reliably works for you takes time and patience. I always rushed into things needing results ASAP. The body needs kindness and time, it's doing a lot of work to keep you alive and without a medical degree it's easy to forget how many variables go into making bodily change.
Unless you're a professional or otherwise an expert, don't try your own programming at first! Start with a recommended program that suits your goals, track as much data as possible, and then make small tweaks one at a time as you learn how your body reacts to the programming (and those changes). I like to give at least 1-3 weeks to measure how a change affects me. Prior to this I always made my own diet or fitness programs thinking it was fun to put them together but I never got results because it turns out you can easily skip over the keys that make certain programs work without realizing it.
Edit: More takeaways!
[link] [comments]
source https://www.reddit.com/r/loseit/comments/mzkqnf/progress_pics_13kg_down_834kg_to_705kg_f3157/
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