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I'm down 83 lbs from 2017 and I'm at a healthy BMI for the first time in 15 years. I know I will not gain the weight back. Why? Because I finally figured out ho

by mevile 8y ago

I'm down 83 lbs from 2017 and I'm at a healthy BMI for the first time in 15 years. I know I will not gain the weight back. Why? Because I finally figured out how to manage a routine, how to exercise regularly, how to plan out what I eat, and I learned to get enough sleep. Don't want to be fat anymore? Stop eating at restaurants, cook all your own food, bring in a lunch to work, count your calories. Also exercise, lots. And get 7+ hours a sleep a night. That's it, that's all it takes.

agentdrtran 8y ago
oh wow massive life changes are all it takes to lose weight?
- twodave 8y ago
  That seems fitting, doesn't it? Weight change requires weighty changes :)
patejam 8y ago
> count your calories That's all it really is. Everything else just makes it easier to eat few enough calories, including any crazy diets.
- patejam 8y ago
  I'd be interested to hear from the couple people downvoting. Find a lifestyle that lets you eat few enough calories. If that's low-carb, then go for it. If that's counting calories and just eating less, go for it. When I was losing weight, I realized that certain foods made me feel more full per calorie (vegetables). Then I realized that drinking was using up a huge part of my calorie allotment. Then I realized that if I run then I can eat more. Everything was just to make it easier to eat few enough calories, and it happened to all make me healthier too. I'm not claiming its easy, but it's true.
- qnsi 8y ago
  I can't see myself counting calories for the rest of my life
  - rconti 8y ago
    Don't fall victim to all-or-nothing thinking. I actually did it for almost 8 months straight, and then stopped when I went on vacation. The nice thing is, unlike some forms of data, if you skip a week or three, it won't hurt you. You just hop on the scale and you know where you're at, you can start again any day. But even if you only do it for a few weeks, you'll learn valuable lessons about your good and bad habits. You might not ever have to do it again. Or you might prefer to keep doing it. YMMV.
falcor84 8y ago
That sounds wonderful and I really wish you the best with this. Please come back in 2022 (5 years after you started) and tell us more about this.
- mevile 8y ago
  I'm fairly confident, I've had weight loss before that didn't last and it involved unsustainable dieting, no exercise, and unrealistic expectations. It's been over a year already, I actually started in September 2017. I don't see anything changing for me. There was a lot of ignorance on my part. I had to learn how to exercise, learn how to have fun exercising, how to set and meet goals and how to cook, how do a lot. I have all these skills, I have a routine. I've already had setbacks from which I've recovered. I injured myself and couldn't exercise, I kept eating correctly and when I got better I got back to exercising. Over thanksgiving I ate a lot, I took a week break from managing a calorie deficit to enjoying myself and since then I've been back to cooking and counting my calories.
rconti 8y ago
I dropped 40lbs in about 5 months and it was REALLY EASY. Put down your pitchforks, everyone, I know everyone has reasons and excuses, I'm just here to back up what you said about counting calories. It's the best thing I've ever done. Seriously. I always viewed the idea as the last refuge of a miserable process. That I'd rather just be somewhat overweight than to track everything that closely. But actually it was INCREDIBLY freeing, because it helped me realize that 95% of my habits were REALLY GOOD, but the 5% that I thought was sorta bad was actually extremely terrible. By having the immediate data on what you're consuming or about to consume, it gives you the power of choice, rather than just hand-waving about "it's just one <whatever>" or "it's a friday, what the hell". Anyone here should appreciate how having data, and seeing "I am on track to lose 2lbs this week" and then it shows up (not every week, but on average) creates a really positive feedback loop in a way that a vague concept of "cutting back on X" never does.
antisthenes 8y ago
> Stop eating at restaurants, cook all your own food, bring in a lunch to work, count your calories. Also exercise, lots. And get 7+ hours a sleep a night. > That's it, that's all it takes. That's a simple recipe, but let's not pretend it's an easy one. It's a significant investment of your time and resources.
- mevile 8y ago
  That's a fair point. It's definitely not a thing to do all at once, I took baby steps to get here.
- rconti 8y ago
  Just the awareness is a great start. I'm reading the book Why We Sleep, which was recommended here recently. I've always loved sleep. I've always known you're SUPPOSED to get X hours of sleep and go to bed and wake up at roughly the same time. I've learned a lot of shocking things from the book already, but none of them scared me into sleeping more. Just the very fact that I'm a person reading a book about sleep has made me more aware of it. More likely to think "yes, i am a person who considers sleep valuable", which means I'm more likely to veto that extra TV episode before bed -- not because I necessarily learned more about the value of sleep, but just that the act of reading and thinking about it has made it more front-of-mind and hence more important.

by mevile 8y ago

agentdrtran 8y ago

oh wow massive life changes are all it takes to lose weight?

twodave 8y ago
That seems fitting, doesn't it? Weight change requires weighty changes :)

patejam 8y ago

> count your calories That's all it really is. Everything else just makes it easier to eat few enough calories, including any crazy diets.

patejam 8y ago
I'd be interested to hear from the couple people downvoting. Find a lifestyle that lets you eat few enough calories. If that's low-carb, then go for it. If that's counting calories and just eating less, go for it. When I was losing weight, I realized that certain foods made me feel more full per calorie (vegetables). Then I realized that drinking was using up a huge part of my calorie allotment. Then I realized that if I run then I can eat more. Everything was just to make it easier to eat few enough calories, and it happened to all make me healthier too. I'm not claiming its easy, but it's true.
qnsi 8y ago
I can't see myself counting calories for the rest of my life
- rconti 8y ago
  Don't fall victim to all-or-nothing thinking. I actually did it for almost 8 months straight, and then stopped when I went on vacation. The nice thing is, unlike some forms of data, if you skip a week or three, it won't hurt you. You just hop on the scale and you know where you're at, you can start again any day. But even if you only do it for a few weeks, you'll learn valuable lessons about your good and bad habits. You might not ever have to do it again. Or you might prefer to keep doing it. YMMV.

falcor84 8y ago

That sounds wonderful and I really wish you the best with this. Please come back in 2022 (5 years after you started) and tell us more about this.

mevile 8y ago
I'm fairly confident, I've had weight loss before that didn't last and it involved unsustainable dieting, no exercise, and unrealistic expectations. It's been over a year already, I actually started in September 2017. I don't see anything changing for me. There was a lot of ignorance on my part. I had to learn how to exercise, learn how to have fun exercising, how to set and meet goals and how to cook, how do a lot. I have all these skills, I have a routine. I've already had setbacks from which I've recovered. I injured myself and couldn't exercise, I kept eating correctly and when I got better I got back to exercising. Over thanksgiving I ate a lot, I took a week break from managing a calorie deficit to enjoying myself and since then I've been back to cooking and counting my calories.

rconti 8y ago

I dropped 40lbs in about 5 months and it was REALLY EASY. Put down your pitchforks, everyone, I know everyone has reasons and excuses, I'm just here to back up what you said about counting calories. It's the best thing I've ever done. Seriously. I always viewed the idea as the last refuge of a miserable process. That I'd rather just be somewhat overweight than to track everything that closely. But actually it was INCREDIBLY freeing, because it helped me realize that 95% of my habits were REALLY GOOD, but the 5% that I thought was sorta bad was actually extremely terrible. By having the immediate data on what you're consuming or about to consume, it gives you the power of choice, rather than just hand-waving about "it's just one <whatever>" or "it's a friday, what the hell". Anyone here should appreciate how having data, and seeing "I am on track to lose 2lbs this week" and then it shows up (not every week, but on average) creates a really positive feedback loop in a way that a vague concept of "cutting back on X" never does.

antisthenes 8y ago

> Stop eating at restaurants, cook all your own food, bring in a lunch to work, count your calories. Also exercise, lots. And get 7+ hours a sleep a night. > That's it, that's all it takes. That's a simple recipe, but let's not pretend it's an easy one. It's a significant investment of your time and resources.

mevile 8y ago
That's a fair point. It's definitely not a thing to do all at once, I took baby steps to get here.
rconti 8y ago
Just the awareness is a great start. I'm reading the book Why We Sleep, which was recommended here recently. I've always loved sleep. I've always known you're SUPPOSED to get X hours of sleep and go to bed and wake up at roughly the same time. I've learned a lot of shocking things from the book already, but none of them scared me into sleeping more. Just the very fact that I'm a person reading a book about sleep has made me more aware of it. More likely to think "yes, i am a person who considers sleep valuable", which means I'm more likely to veto that extra TV episode before bed -- not because I necessarily learned more about the value of sleep, but just that the act of reading and thinking about it has made it more front-of-mind and hence more important.