Current Events > Coming from a fat person who just started a weight loss journey

(+) Yeah! (+)

COUNT YOUR CALORIES. SERIOUSLY.

I always wondered if its possible for me to lose weight because it just seems impossible. I am currently 70 pounds overweight. From last week, I just started my weight loss journey now and I plan on taking it super slow so my body and mind can adjust to this lifestyle, just counting my calories now and walking now.

Also, back to the calorie shit... Wow, holy shit. My bro bought Dominoes today and its no fucking why I and so many other people get fat. A whole fucking slice is 250 calories alone.

I limited what I ate normally and went from 3 slices to 1. Temptation is a bitch but it gets easier over the time to deal with.
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Congrats starting it! It's not as easy losing weight as some would have you believe.
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Every few days swap one unhealthy thing for a healthy thing or cut it out altogether. Over the course of several weeks or months youll be eating healthier and your body will have adjusted.
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QuantumTheory posted...

Every few days swap one unhealthy thing for a healthy thing or cut it out altogether. Over the course of several weeks or months youll be eating healthier and your body will have adjusted.

Great advice. I actually had a bowl of Broccoli over Mac and Cheese for Lunch the other day.

Banjo2553 posted...

Congrats starting it! It's not as easy losing weight as some would have you believe.

It's weird. In a way, it's easy since all I have been doing is going down to 1500 cals a day. I've already lost a pound from doing that last week. This week, I started doing daily 60 minute walks around the neighborhood starting monday.
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Keep it up! I was surprised just how many calories were in my food when I started actually paying attention as well.
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i lost 80 pounds once and it was the best decision i ever made, don't give up, it's hard but very worth it.

if u only eat one package of rice crackers and a cucumber a day i guarantee u will lose weight
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7lightsXIII posted...

A whole fucking slice is 250 calories alone.

This does not seem like a lot. Aren't most meals around the 1000 Calorie mark?
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A year or so ago, I had to lose 50 pounds because I wanted to enlist in the Navy.

I wouldn't say it was hard to do, just took a long time. Changed what I ate and increased physical activity and the weight gradually dropped off.
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The_Thinker posted...

7lightsXIII posted...

A whole fucking slice is 250 calories alone.

This does not seem like a lot. Aren't most meals around the 1000 Calorie mark?

Which is a problem when you really only need 2000-2500 calories a day, add in a snack, and you are already over, plus meals at restaurants are routinely 1500+ in calories due to the amount of oil/butter used
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I never had to count calories when I lost weight, I just ate less than usual. Of course I'm aware that a lot of people don't have that form of self-control, but all I did was work out more and ate less with some fruits or vegetables as snacks on the side if my cravings kicked in.
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The_Thinker posted...

7lightsXIII posted...

A whole fucking slice is 250 calories alone.

This does not seem like a lot. Aren't most meals around the 1000 Calorie mark?

Not necessarily. 1000 calories is a lot for a single meal.

For example, when I was working on losing weight, I ate a lot of baked chicken breast with vegetables.

So, for dinner, I may eat a chicken breast with cajun seasoning, served with carrots and green beans. My meal could come up to about 600 - 700 calories or so.

You really need to watch out for sugary drinks like soda and juice. So, I mostly drank water or unsweetened iced tea.
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7lightsXIII posted...

Great advice. I actually had a bowl of Broccoli over Mac and Cheese for Lunch the other day.

For a second I thought "putting broccoli on top of mac and cheese" doesn't help. Then I realized you meant instead of.
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#13

my biggest problem is alcohol too. i bought a bottle of wine because im in my feelings today but havent opened it yet and wont tonight. but tommorow? probably.

and its also relatable that friends treat u like a party pooper for not going out to dinner, or eat cake at an event, etc. i strictly dont now cuz im determined to lose fat (except for that wine bottle lol) but its hard when u feel obligated to make exceptions on your diet for ur social life. its bad for ur routine.
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Yeah it's really useful. I ate healthily anyway but counting calories allowed me to tweet things and get in really good shape. I can plan ahead and with moderation fit almost anything I want into my diet but pizza is a really tough one. It's massive in calories, loaded with fat and salt and has next to no nutritional value.

nice.

i lost 50 pounds. it got routine. had all i needed to do and wanted more. i had to reset what i was doing to go further. do more physical activity by changing sports i play. i had to get more variety in the meals after 50 pounds.

still wish i had done it sooner, say after 25 pound weight loss. the 1st ten pounds went fast. the next ten was mentally and physically challenging for me.
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Yeah I was about 24% body fat at around 140 lbs when I decided to start losing weight. I basically worked out and counted my calories to get to 15% bf. Its a struggle now lol
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Crono99 posted...

There was a guy at my gym about 10 years ago who helped people lose weight. It worked for almost 100% of the people who did it. The problem was that most people weren't able to stick to it.

His idea was not about "counting" calories specifically, but about following a specific plan.

It went something like this. He divided the day between 6 meals, with the 6th meal optional:

Breakfast
Snack 1
Lunch
Snack 2
Dinner
Snack 3

Breakfast was something very simple, like a sandwich or omelet. The first two snacks was fruits and nuts, like walnuts or almonds. Lunch and Dinner were pretty much the same, some meat (like a steak, chicken, turkey, tuna, whatever) with some veggies. And the third snack was something like yogurt or cheese.

He had different specific guidelines for everybody depending on whether they were male or female, or the amount of exercise that they did, but it was pretty much always with the same kind of outline.

And it was the same plan every day, except for a day or two "cheats" a week where they could take either dinner or lunch and replace it with whatever they wanted (pizza, ice cream, whatever) while still doing the plan the rest of the day.

And it worked. People didn't have to count calories because if they just followed the plan they were going to be at somewhere between 1200 and 1800 calories a day depending on their portion sizes. So they just blindly followed it.

And it worked. Universally.

There were several problems, though:
- People got bored because it was rigid and they were eating almost the same thing every day, so many ended up not following it
- People tended to stop following the plan once they reached their target weight and went back to their old eating habits - and those who did that regained their weight. There was always a second phase of the plan with a different diet that was made to stabilize their weight, but many people were so bored with the plan by then that they stopped. That was the biggest problem - people lost all the weight they wanted to lose, and were super happy, but then they just regained it because they got off the plan.
- People were complaining that it was difficult sometimes to socialize because alcohol was not allowed except on specific "cheat" meals and so sometimes they had a hard time joining their friends at the bar and not drinking, etc
- People on the plan often had a lot of pressure from friends and family that kept telling them "you can eat this or that" and didn't really trust that the plan would work
- The plan is very rigid, so when people got used to it, they tended to get discouraged easily if they ever "fell off" the plan, so most people on the plan needed to see the guy at least once or twice a month to be encouraged to stay on it

So it wasn't perfect. But it worked for those who did it as written.

The problem with counting calories is that it takes time. People go crazy. It's easier to follow a specific plan that just tells you what to do, it requires less thinking.

A lot of people disagreed with that method. A lot of people criticized it. But it worked.

That's not a bad idea. I might try something like that out. I admit that I have gotten a bit lazy with counting calories (Went two days without counting any)
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Bump

How do you gents deal with cravings? Sometimes my inner fat boi just wants to gorge on shit and I would have to snap myself out of it.
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7lightsXIII posted...

How do you gents deal with cravings?

Popcorn.
Not the ultra super butter kind, but plain old plain popcorn, from an air popper.

supposedly for fat people it's easier to lose weight at the start. i don't know the science behind it. but then eventually you hit a plateau.
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7lightsXIII posted...

Bump

How do you gents deal with cravings? Sometimes my inner fat boi just wants to gorge on shit and I would have to snap myself out of it.

water fills you up. no sugar no calories.
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SauI_Goodman posted...

i don't know the science behind it. but then eventually you hit a plateau.

If your caloric intake drops off a cliff, the body assumes it's starving and slows down every metabolic process in response, and begins hoarding every stray calorie it can find. That's also the basic mechanism behind yo-yo dieting.

JBaLLEN66 posted...

Yeah I was about 24% body fat at around 140 lbs when I decided to start losing weight. I basically worked out and counted my calories to get to 15% bf. Its a struggle now lol

How tall are you @JBaLLEN66? Do you still weigh around 140 at 15% since you been working out?

As you progress, try to get a gym membership along with another friend. Id say Im in fairly decent shape, but it can be veeeeery easy to skip a day (or 5) if you are just doing it on your own. If you have a friend join in with you, it makes it easier since you hold each other accountable (same with changing your diet, in general),

Cardio is good for weight loss, but even adding a bit of muscle can help speed up your metabolism in the long run, so using weights is a good idea as well.

Youre on the right track, though. Good luck!
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I lost twenty pounds over three months by just replacing my lunch with a banana.
Could probably drop thirty or forty more if I ever stopped drinking. Ethanol just ruins weight loss.

Rather exercise more.
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ZeroKelvin posted...

JBaLLEN66 posted...

Yeah I was about 24% body fat at around 140 lbs when I decided to start losing weight. I basically worked out and counted my calories to get to 15% bf. Its a struggle now lol

How tall are you @JBaLLEN66? Do you still weigh around 140 at 15% since you been working out?

**** I meant 240 lbs lol. Im about 190 now and around 6ft. I was one of those guys that worked out and basically let my diet go to crap lol. I definitely have a more jacked appearance.
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The Popo posted...

As you progress, try to get a gym membership along with another friend. Id say Im in fairly decent shape, but it can be veeeeery easy to skip a day (or 5) if you are just doing it on your own. If you have a friend join in with you, it makes it easier since you hold each other accountable (same with changing your diet, in general),

Cardio is good for weight loss, but even adding a bit of muscle can help speed up your metabolism in the long run, so using weights is a good idea as well.

Youre on the right track, though. Good luck!

This is a pro for being an introvert lol. I prefer to workout alone so its just forcing myself to go at the right times haha. If youre an extrovert Id probably go at busy times instead of dead times.
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7lightsXIII posted...

COUNT YOUR CALORIES. SERIOUSLY.

This is the truth. That's how I lost 65 pounds and have been keeping it off.
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