A couple of weeks ago, I traveled out of town for a concert and stayed in a hotel. The room had a full-length mirror and I thought to myself that I hadn’t taken any progress pics in quite awhile (5 years). When I returned home, I compared them to the pictures I took when I decided that I was done getting fatter and was pretty proud of the results. I shared the pics with some of my friends on discord, and one told me that it inspired him to lose weight. So, I thought that I’d tell my story on here to see if it helps anyone. I think I will always have that fat mentality, though, so it’s a bit weird posting my belly in public.
I’m greatly impressed by everyone that’s been able to lose great amounts of weight. My story’s not as impressive, but I feel good about myself for the first time in a long time. I’m currently 46 years old, began my journey when I was 41, and have maintained my losses for the past 6 months.
Some history. I was a fat kid. Graduating high-school, I was 200 lbs, size 38 jeans. I’m also 5’6”, so I looked like a roly-poly. I managed to lose quite a bit in college, dropping down to 135 lbs, due to a variety of factors (poverty, broken heart, etc.), and swore that I’d never get as big as I had been in my teenage years.
Well, a lot of life happened. I got a soul-crushing desk job, and the weight began to sneak on. I went back to school to get a degree that had some monetary value; and going to school again led to fast food every day, doing all my studies with a glass of beer beside me, and not working out. When I graduated, I was back up to 190 and size 38 again. I had forgone jeans for cargo pants at this point and would often leave the top button undone; relying on my belt to fight the good fight against gravity. Of course, being round meant that my pants sat around my hip bones, so I’d have to wear extra-long shirts or a perpetual hoodie to keep from mooning everyone when I sat down. I refused to go up another size in pants, though. In a Samwise Gamgee way, I knew that one more size and I’d have to recognize that I’d travelled fatter than I ever had before.
Losing 30 lbs. After graduation, I was stuck at home for a couple years providing in-home assistance to my father. This provided me with a lot of free time, which I know is not applicable to everyone’s situation. It’s okay, though, as most of my advice/tips come from when I overcame my plateau (spoilers.) I had taken a thermodynamics class back in college and one of the assignments was to track our energy in vs. energy out (CICO). I had downloaded myfitnesspal at the time and recognized that I was eating a full 4th meal in beer. Well, being stuck at home, I found the time to start working out a lot. I lost 30 lbs, which I guess is okay, but my eating habits didn’t change, and my drinking habits worsened. I just managed to eat once a day and, somehow, I was able to exercise a calorie deficit in there. It wasn’t sustainable, though, and I generally didn’t feel good. I got down to 160; but still didn’t like how I looked, only dropped down to a size 36 pant, and still had a protruding stomach that I wouldn’t dream of tucking a shirt in over. And I couldn’t hit that magic number of 155 that my apps told me was the boundary of being overweight. So, I sat around 160 for another couple of years.
The plateau. I got another job, and my coworkers started a weight-loss pool in June 2021. I didn’t think I would win, but I thought it might be the impetus that I needed to hit that 155 mark. I joined and reinstalled myfitnesspal, which had been unused for a while. With COVID, I started cooking at home and realized that I enjoy it quite a bit. This led to me being better able to track my calories when I could weigh everything, rather than guessing at what Buford’s Discount Rib Shack was putting in my body. And I tracked everything, every piece of chicken, pizza roll, beer, gin martini. I limited myself to 1500 calories a day but would cheat on Fridays due to friends being over and cooking well and drinking. I took an early lead in the weight challenge, and it gave me the resolve to keep losing. In the month leading up to the September deadline, I had close competition and even cut out my cheat Fridays for a bit. I ended up losing 18 lbs, 12% body weight during that 3-month challenge and won some good cash. Since then, I’m still sitting at 142. Maintaining is a lot easier than losing. I keep myself at 1500 calories on myfitnesspal, but cheat on Fridays and now on Tuesdays, when I go to my favorite restaurant. It comes out to be an average of 1700-1900 calories when you figure in the full week. It looks like this is the number I need to be at to maintain my loss. I’d like to maybe get to 140, or 135 to hit that first time in college high, there’s a bit of love-handle I could lose, but I’m in no rush.
Tips. I feel that eating smaller portions was the path for me. I still eat lunch and dinner (never been much of a breakfast guy). I’ll do Cup Noodles for lunch (I get sleepy if I eat a bigger meal) and it sustains me fine without leaving me lethargic. I have three go-to’s for dinner for my non-cheat days: chicken breast, steak, or a burger. No sides. I find that if I just cook and eat without preparing sides, then I’m satisfied a few minutes after the meal is done.
More than exercise, diet turned out to be the forging and sustaining method. You can’t outrun what you eat. Research and find the foods that give you the most bang for your buck. Steak and chicken breast are both surprisingly low on calories while being a full meal.
Don’t eat until you’re full. I’ve found that there’s a good 5 to 10 minute disconnect before your belly notifies it’s supervisor that it’s good. And each time you eat to fullness it tells your belly to make more room for the next meal in an ever-expanding cycle. Try to eat a portion and wait a bit. I usually find that the hunger is gone.
Try cooking for yourself. Chicken is so easy; my method is a cast-iron, a cookie sheet, an oven, some minced garlic, olive oil, and a thermometer. I’ll play some video games as it cooks, and it’s delicious. I also get the opportunity to look and try out different recipes. Jalapeno/rosemary chicken, steak, reverse-seared steak, burgers of differing meat compositions. On the rare occasion that I have grabbed fast-food, it’s been terrible. The preservatives or something just leaves me feeling like a bloated manatee, and I’ve always regretted it. Cooking at home as a single guy makes me plan what I’ll be eating for the next day, and I have a calorie count ready.
Don’t be discouraged by seemingly small changes. It took me five years to look in a mirror and appreciate what I saw enough to take a picture. Despite losing 30 lbs, I only went down one pant size and was still unhappy. Even a tiny change is progress though. If you lose 5 lbs but don’t see any difference, that’s fine. It’s logarithmic, that first 2 lbs is coming off a much greater area so it doesn’t show as much. Beating my plateau, from 160 to 142, I was having to continuously buy new jeans. I’m now at size 30.
Psychology. Here’s the tricky part, I know that the things that motivate me won’t necessarily work for everyone. But I’ll lay out my thoughts in case someone can use it.
Being inspired to lose weight and going at it hard is easy. Sustaining those habits is much harder. Don’t set yourself up to fail by setting daily goals or doing things that you know are going to make you miserable. I feel that I eat very well, and still have the drinks that I want. I don’t dread an hour that I’ll have to spend on a treadmill, because I don't hit the treadmill. I work out about 15 minutes a day after work. It’s easy at-home stuff and I look forward to it. I like to see if I can squeeze in one more pull-up. I don’t always feel like working out after a hard day but knowing that Wednesday Ixthalian will feel better for what Monday Ixthalian does is a great motivator. I want him to feel that he’s worth it. I hope that you feel the same way about Wednesday you, 2023 you. Also, you don’t have to go whole-hog from the start. If you’re eating 2500 calories, don’t dread jumping down to 1500. Go for 2300 (less calorie deficit than a packet of peanut butter crackers) and give it a few days, see that it’s not terrible. Don’t let the fear of what you need to do stop you before you start. 2300 isn’t ideal, but at least you’ll grow less slowly than you did the day before. The alternative is nothing, and that's horrifying.
Hunger is weird. Of course, there’s a physiological component to it; but I feel, unless you’re physically starving, that it’s mostly psychological. Your psyche is very adaptable and will adjust. The first day after a bad weekend can be rough, but the day after is much easier. Even now, if I have a pizza weekend, my stomach tells me that it’s sooo hungry that first day back on my regimen. But I know that it’s a filthy liar because I just spent the last year living on it and doing fine. I may throw it a bone with some crackers, though.
Try and stay busy. I’m a very organized person, so I have lists of things that need to be done on certain days and on the weekends. I have so many chores on the weekends that I don’t usually have time to eat any meal until the evening. Making sure that every obligation is met before burger or gin time is a must for me.
Final thoughts. As I’ve said, I’m 46, will be 47 next month. I’d always been told that this is the hardest time, biologically, to make positive changes in your physique, so I’m kind of proud at what I’ve been able to do. I think the age thing is a bit of a factor in your skin’s elasticity. It’s not terribly noticeable; but when I do pushups, my belly sags down enough so that my cat looks at me and thinks that I must be a great leaper. I just have to remember not to, when in public, rip my shirt off and start doing pushups. I’m going to see if time tightens it. Also trying one of those collagen oil things. If it’s doing anything, though, it’s too slight to notice off the bat. That’s okay, though, some things just take time before they’re noticeable. Also, I’ve been doing ab workouts for many years, even at my tubbiest, thinking they’d make a difference. When I finally beat my plateau, there they were! Sorry abs, I won’t do that to you again.
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source https://www.reddit.com/r/loseit/comments/ule0rw/mid_40s_my_story/
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