LogFAQs > #950798106

I went from at least 370 to 220 (at 5'10") in about three years, so this is advice from the perspective of a super morbidly obese person with binge eating disorder and some of it may not be applicable to your goals.

Use a search engine to find a total daily energy expenditure calculator and figure out your maintenance calories. You can also use something like cronometer or myfitnesspal. I use cronometer.

Whichever you choose, it should give you options for a deficit that will enable you to lose a certain amount of weight in a certain amount of time. Choose something moderate. Shoot for .5 to 1lb of weight loss a week. This will give you a lot of wiggle room so you don't feel like you're starving or being too strict but you'll still get some results. This will also take some pressure off the desire to say fuck it and grab all the goodies.

Get a food scale and weigh everything. Track every last calorie that goes into your body as thoroughly and honestly as you possibly can. Weigh out your food using grams and compare it to what the food label says; sometimes they're not as accurate as their servings suggest. For fresh produce or other items without labels, look over difference sources online. Even if you use something like cronometer or MFP, double check the items using a search engine.

Don't eat so much processed or refined food, instead focusing on whole foods, particularly plants. You don't have to be perfect at this or cut out everything you love but you probably will have to make some adjustments. If you have something like rice or pasta, make sure to load up with vegetables and get a nice balance of healthy fat and protein in every meal. Eat high volume, low calorie density foods.

Go easy with the oil. It's calorie dense and very easy to overuse. I personally do not cook with it very much, though I do have the occasional fried dish or junk food that has it.

Stay hydrated. Hunger and thirst are often confused. Don't drink your calories. Soda, sweet tea, sweetened coffee, whatever it is will load you up with empty calories. Learn to love plain water and unsweetened drinks.

If possible, just cook enough for yourself. When I first started out, I tried to do batch cooking and meal prep, only to end up eating through everything in a day or two. Cooking enough for one meal at a time, if feasible, cuts down on that.

I eat two big meals a day, usually lunch and dinner. These are big, filling, nutritionally well-rounded meals that give me the strongest sense of satiety that I'm capable of. I'm not disgustingly full but I'm also not unsatisfied, like a regular sized meal would leave me, nor am I opening myself up to grazing and bingeing like multiple smaller meals does. This is kind of a floating intermittent fasting. I don't keep a solid schedule on it but it still helps a lot.

Exercise regularly. Even something as simple as a brisk 30 minute walk every day can help. Find some calisthenics or aerobics videos to follow on youtube. Do NOT eat your calories back. If you're ravenous after exercise, have a light snack of fruit or something. I personally plan my first meal of the day after exercise. It kind of super charges the filling effect of the large meal because I'm so hungry. Instead of wanting to overeat or binge, like one would expect, I'm actually quite full.

Whatever you do, do not put any stock in the number of calories burned on a treadmill or other equipment, even something like a FitBit. Do not google "how many calories did my walk burn?" and go by that. The amount of calories burned, especially when going by devices, is so wildly varying and prone to abuse and error that it cannot be a reliable indicator of how much you consume. Do not ever, at any point, assume you've burned anything close to what you're purported to have with the express intent of using that number to justify eating all of those calories back. You might be able to get away with it if you're extremely overweight and any deficit will help you, like I was in the beginning, but it will stall you out eventually. Focus on the amount going in and consider the outgoing to be lost in the ether.

Practice mindfulness, especially during the act of eating. Eat slowly, appreciate your food. Don't eat while watching TV or whatever. Sit down at a table, if possible, and think about every bite and what it does for you. Contemplate what junk food gives you. Is a fleeting moment of gustatory pleasure worth any ill effects that will follow? When you feel the urge to overeat, really sit with that feeling and analyze it. Contemplate your surroundings, the kind of day you had, what you could possibly do instead of eating, and your emotional state. One of the best tools I've implemented is HALT - Hungry, angry, lonely, tired. This was for alcoholism but it also helps with over/binge eating it. My biggest thing is making bad choices when I'm sleepy, so I'm especially vigilant about avoiding night time triggers.

Pick a small amount of time, maybe two or three weeks, to be as consistent as you possibly can. When that's over, stick to your maintenance calories. Do not fall into the trap of thinking you have to be restricting calories enough to lose as much weight as possible as soon as possible or overeating. There's a rich middle ground between the two where you will continue to develop and sharpen good habits to keep the weight off.

Finally, if you have problems with emotional eating or an eating disorder, talk to a mental health professional. All the tips in the world can't help you if you're not capable of implementing them. A seemingly unrelated trip foray into Alcoholics Anonymous actually helped me quite a bit, although therapy was important as well because my BED is a direct result of childhood trauma. Look into online support groups. Reddit has some good communities for all levels of weight loss and fitness goals.

I know this seems like a lot but you didn't get to this point overnight and you will not fix it overnight. However, if you start with a modest goal, eliminate bad habits, replace them with good ones, and stay patient and diligent, you can turn things around.

Good luck. Feel free to message me if you need any support.

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