cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/3286611
I lost almost 50 pounds by calorie counting back in 2015, then stopped counting and spent the next six years slowly putting it all back on. I’ve used Libra to track my weight, and you can see the half-hearted attempts over the years to halt that upward progress.
I’ve been sick of being overweight, of feeling sluggish and unattractive, and of having a hard time doing things l love like hiking and rock climbing. I stress eat a lot, and not to jinx things, but I’ve finally reduced the stressors in my life where I’m feeling really good about this latest weight loss spree.
Fingers crossed I’ll be posting here sometime in the new year about having hit my goal weight!
[Image description: a line graph with the x-axis from 2014 to 2023, and the y-axis from 108 to 160lbs, the charted line showing a steep drop, and a jagged climb, with the last couple years hovering over an “overweight” demarcation.]
Your graph there shows that you ventured slightly into the underweight category last time you lost weight. Your language here is quite self deprecating despite your weight not being out of control high. Just some alarms going off telling me to tell you to be safe, love yourself. If you have had a tense relationship with food in the past, I recommend losing this time with a doctor’s supervision. 9 pounds in two months at your weight is implies around 2 pounds a week which would be higher than the recommended 1% of your body weight per week. You are clearly dedicated, and are making very fast and consistent progress, so be proud! Just be safe! Wishing you all the best.
Aside from that! 9 pounds over 2 months
Yeah, I overshot my goal weight back then without even meaning to. Though I liked what I saw in the mirror (visible abs!), being underweight sucked, I was cold all the time, and had so little fat on my ass it was uncomfortable to sit on an unpadded chair. Not gonna let that happen again.
I don’t think it’s too crazy of a rate of weight loss, I started after getting back from vacation in the beginning of June. My sedentary TDEE is about 1600, and I aim for a deficit of about 400 day, either through eating less or moving more, which turns into about 3/4ths a pound a week.
Congratulations, I’m proud of you!
Are you me? I used calorie counting to lose weight too, back in 2019, and since then have put most of it back on. Calories showed me my problem areas: portion control and snacking. Like you I’m active, and extra weight is literally a drag. But I can’t bear to go back to counting - I used an app, but even so it made for an unfortunate daily focus on food. I would think about food all the time. Now, though I’m heavier than I would like, I’m not obsessing on food.
Do you have similar issues? If so, how do you counter them? Do you use an app for counting?
Congratulations anyway, and I look forward to reading about your victory lap!! Onward and downward, lol.
Yeah I developed some disordered eating patterns during that first large weight loss, started obsessing about food and my next meal. Those thoughts would come back every time I tried starting up the diet again, which made it such a struggle these past few years.
I haven’t noticed an uptick in food obsession in this latest attempt. I wish I had some concrete reason as to why, but the only thing I can think of is that I’ve been generally feeling less stressed the past couple months, and I have had the bad habit of reaching for sweets when stressed. I know that I’m happier dieting if I can resist spending calories on sweets, and use them on real food instead.
As for a counting app, I used to use myfitnesspal until they paywalled their barcode scanner last year, which is when I switched to loseit, which I’ve been mostly liking (with a few minor quibbles).
I eat most when I’m relaxed, sadly. I absolutely love food, especially savoury things, and I’m a decent cook. I lost weight ahead of knee surgery, to aid recovery - and it really did help. I used myfitnesspal too, though it sort of hurts to look at now, after the backsliding. I’ll check out loseit, thanks. Most recently I tried intermittent fasting, where you eat only between 8am and 8pm for example, but boy that did not work for me!
Well done!
Nice going!
The hardest thing about changing habits is keeping up with them after that initial boost of motivation wears off. I have similar patterns of weight loss in my tracking apps, where you can see significant progress for a month or two, then loss of focus. This recent weight loss looks very similar to the drops in mid 2022 and 2021, so now is the time to make sure you push through that resistance.
Yep! I was thinking that too, really aiming to keep it up and not lose focus this time.
Yeah. Getting a kitchen scale was a good investment for me too. I’m not overweight much but kinda stuck there since forever and even just rough estimates after converting some of my usual cooking stuff into grams helped me to find some consistency in my cooking, and with that a slight lowering makes the weight go down. No surprise, less calories, less weight. Didn’t even have to do any weird diets or cut out all the sweets either (which I don’t count).
Keep it up. It’s very hard work, but it absolutely pays off.
