Asklemmy

60lbs. Calorie deficit. Aimed for 1500 calories, bled over with a reasonable margin to 1800 calories. Per day.

Measured everything I ate and put it into a calorie counter app. Ate whatever I wanted, but if I wanted to eat (or drink) it, I had to measure it and put it in the app.

I tried not to go over the recommended calorie amount, and if I did, I did some exercise that the app would put me under the calorie amount for the day.

I had it set to the slowest weight loss amount (something like 0.5lbs per week?), but lost weight faster than that.

It helped me improve my diet, get a better understanding of what I was eating, helped me get better in tune with my "fullness", and got me drinking more water.

Figure out how many calories you need to maintain your weight and eat less then that.

A calorie calculator can estimate how many calories you burn a day and can estimate plans based on how much weight you want to lose per week.

Exercise so that you don't lose muscle mass and your body burns the stored calories.

And finally, test things and find what works for you. Staying consistent is key.

For myself, I like a Zig Zag plan for losing weight cause I can still enjoy some junk food on the weekend. I track my calories using MyNetDiary because it syncs with other apps I use.

I've lost 15lbs in 4 weeks but I know it's going to take about 5 more months to meet my goal weight.

Good luck on your journey!

Overweight and obesity are extremely complex disorders, that combines genetic predisposition, changes in hormonal levels and horrible obesogenic environment that we have nowadays. There is no simple answer on how to lose weight as it depends on multiple factors too - your home and work environment, availability of stores with fresh products, your medical history, your goals in general. What is working well for one person, may not be ideal for others or even sometimes dangerous (depends on other comorbidities).

Most important part is not just to lose weight, but do it safely and maintain the weight loss. For that you need a whole lifestyle change, that is why it is so hard for many people. The major rule is: permanent dietary changes needed for a weight loss and regular exercises needed for maintaining the result.

My advise (if you are in the US) - find an obesity clinic with obesity board-certified physician, discuss all your concerns and develop a plan what will work specifically for you. It is pretty well covered by insurances and you will always have a specialist who can answer your questions and help to overcome any barriers in the future.

And remember we all are just internet strangers, take all our advices with healthy skepticism.

Dance Dance Revolution. More specifically, an open source clone of it called StepMania. Very fun way to lose weight. You'll want to invest in some high quality metal dance pads if you really enjoy it though.

I'll focus on decision making with a threefold approach. If that sounds fancy, well that's because it is.

Firstly, large change comes from seemingly insignificant decisions. Actually, they just seem so small because they are made in the current moment. But decisions made in the moment are all anybody has and ever had, and so they are actually most meaningful.

Secondly, grow your capacity for decision making. Don't start with the oak, but with the seed. Start small, slow, and with low expectations. Keep in mind that these take place in the moment.

Examples:

• Pay attention to the moments in your day when you could have made a decision. Don't interfere, just observe.
• While going for a walk, decide to change your path. Take an unplanned turn. Try a U turn.
• See how long you can just sit somewhere. More challenging than it sounds.
• Swim one extra lane.
• Stop watching after one episode.
• And so on.

Thirdly, the same as point two, but focused on cultivating healthy eating patterns.

Examples:

• Observe your eating behavior without interfering and judgment. You're simply learning about how things are and have been.
• Throw away a handful of chips. It's alright to toss food given your circumstances.
• Switch out a chocolate bar with stracciatella quark. Chocolatey protein!
• Read up on nutrition while waiting for the train. What is glycogen? How does one properly store prepared food?
• Cook something nutritious and tasty by adding spices, cheese, cream, butter, salt, sugar. Can't be worse than a factory meal, right?
• Standing in the store in front of what you're craving, and pay attention to what you're feeling. Buy it.
• Standing in the store in front of what you're craving, and pay attention to what you're feeling. Say no.
• And so on and so forth.

Lastly, I'd like to say that weight loss is a personal journey, filled with unique challenges and discoveries. Beyond these practical steps, it's crucial to remain open to deeper insights about yourself. Whether it's addressing emotional eating, seeking social support, or trying out sport, the essence lies in making a series of informed decisions in the present moment. Each choice, no matter how small, propels you forward, shaping the future you envision for yourself.

Lost around 10 kg in lockdown era. Ate less and did some exercises 3 days a week (nothing fancy. Just played a YouTube video and followed along). Most importantly I got used to feeling a bit hungry sometimes.

2 hours of moderate exercise a day, ate less and replaced things like potato chips etc. with healthier things eg. nuts

I read labels and...

• Eat only trace amounts of saturated fat.
• No sugary drinks.
• Eat a lot of fiber.
• No breakfast, it isn't necessary.
• Walk or bike 1 hour every morning.
• Lift & run every work day during my lunch hour.

I've never been more fit.

Lost 100 lbs by having a slimfast shake for breakfast and a Greek yogurt or banana for lunch. Anything I want for dinner.

Counted calories, ate less, reduced sugar, flour and potato consumption. No exercise.

Exercising has a lot of health benefits and helps with loosing weight but food consumption is the most important.

Eventually I started running but this was after I lost weight. If exercising demotivates you, don't force it

COVID. Lost 10kg.

Stopped drinking beer and doing HIIT/circuit workouts regularly -- lost about 30lb so far

Low carb diet. I count carbs and keep the daily total below 70g and try to keep it closer to 30g per day. My peak weight was 235# and I am now at 172#.

Eat raw veggies (salads)

In the first week or two you won't feel like it was a real meal since your body still craves sugars, fats and junk. But once you get past the cravings you find out that this huge meal filled with fiber is super filling but the calorie count is really low, and so you start losing weight

Nutritional Ketosis reversed my obesity and high blood pressure (after 6 months)

https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/for-doctors (they have references just hover over the numbers)

Ketogenic: The Science of Therapeutic Carbohydrate Restriction in Human Health a scholarly book for medical professionals if you prefer heavy book medical texts 🦜⛵

There are many paths to metabolic health, this path worked for me. Because my insulin levels are kept low by avoiding carbs by body is able to self regulate hunger, satiation, and cravings. I no longer had to struggle to maintain my diet, it was no longer a impossible hill to climb. I found the hormonal model of healthy eating much easier to maintain then the calorie counting model.

The body is an amazing homeostasis machine, if you let it.

The hardest part was learning how to go out socially and eat drink on plan without hurting my social life. Bars: soda water. Restaurants: salad/eggs are always available. Coffee shops: black coffee, Americano. Clubs: Soda again, with a lime slice.

I've seen a few people recommending calorie counting here but haven't seen anyone mention Macrofactor, which seems weird considering how often I see people recommending Kagi. I draw the parallel because, while it's a paid product, I find it significantly better than the competition.

I started using it at the start of the year and have had steady progress. Foremost, it is extremely snappy and easy to log food. The database is fairly expansive without having poor quality user submissions. The real win of the app is the feedback loop. Rather than estimating calories expended using formulas meant to be accurate across a population (but not necessarily accurate to each person), it uses your calorie intake data and your weight data to derive your expenditure.

This, to me, helps reduce the stress of tracking significantly. Reason being, if you habitually do not track something like small bites during cooking or condiments, the calculation will take it into account and reduce your calorie target accordingly.

It also doesn't take into account data from activity trackers. Instead, your exercise is essentially smoothed over the following weeks. It helps psychologically to break from "I exercised so I get a treat" mentality, where you 1: immediately eat back whatever you've burned (or more) and 2: are telling yourself a reward for good behavior is calorie-dense food.

The website has a lot of data driven articles.

It also has a bunch of neat graphs. Anyway. Would recommend it. Obviously there's a LOT of different ways to lose weight, but for me it starts with understanding what I'm putting in my body. Can't outrun a bad diet.

I went from 217->173 and have stayed in that range for 4 years. I’m 5’10” / M / 43years

Short answer: high protein / adequate fat keto with skipping breakfast (aka 16:8 intermittent fasting)

I tried it for weightloss, and immediately had health benefits within 36 hours of switching over. I’m never going back. I feel 10 years younger. Brain fog lifted, joint pain gone, more energy to move and do things, more patience and clarity at work and home. Hunger is a signal now and I’m never hangry.

It’s also just not that hard. I eat a ton of awesome meals full of chicken and roasted veg, bbq meats I smoke, steaks, omelets, huge salads. Life is good and I feel good.

I rode an elliptical, lifted weights and ate healthier to lose 60lbs. Lots of water too.

I was never good at staying on a diet. I have really bad self control and go through phases where I get hooked on soda or energy drinks or smoking, etc.

Two things helped me finally lose weight and maintain a pretty healthy build (these days 90kg 183cm originally 110-115k).

First, I found I could lose weight in short periods when I had a concrete goal. I lost 10k in maybe 6 weeks. Plenty of it was water weight and came back. But after doing that 3 or 4 times I was down to a place I felt more comfortable with myself. During those cycles I was basically always thinking about my calories. It would get tiring in normal life but it was ok if I was trying to hit my goal.

Second, by focusing on my macros and trying to limit salt every day I ended up filling my stomach way before I went into calorie surplus. By going low sodium it eliminated any kind of fast food and most frozen foods. Getting rid of salt wasn't really for health it was just to lose water weight and hit my goal. But getting rid of salt ended up making my diet way healthier.

I also had some success by cutting out bread. I don't think bread is terrible for you or anything, but by giving myself that limitation I made myself choose better options

I ate less by keeping snacks out of my home.

Ulcerative colitis

Carnivore. Went from 275 to 150 in a year of as close to zero carbs as possible.

I started taking antidepressants

This might not work for everyone but this is honestly what I did:

• I made sure my health was in check. Were my Hashimoto's medications up to date? Did I have any deficiencies? etc

• Started eating filling food, without calorie counting. Both when I cooked and when I ate out I picked options that used nutritious ingredients and a variety of food groups, but also weren't absolutely fucking dreadful to consume. Getting rid of enjoyment from your diet completely is the fastest way to relapse into binge-eating and just generally isn't helpful.

• Started not just exercising, but also moving around more. Either alone to run errands or just with friends, we can just walk around and talk, see where the road takes us. (I understand this might be difficult for suburbia Americans though)

• Understood my goals. I wasn't sure initially if I wanted to just lose weight or gain muscle. I had some not-so-great experiences with the scale when I was an athlete that I only just started overcoming. I wanted to decrease my overall volume so I stopped looking towards the scale and just made sure to do the workout exercises that catered to my body's needs and checked for progress in the clothes that stopped fitting me.

Hope this helps! I've been a lot healthier and happier since taking my health into my hands and staying away from the disordered habits of my gymrat family 🫡

I know people say you can't lose weight with exercise, that diet controls your weight and exercise your health, but personally I guess I eat about the same amount all the time on average, because increasing activity (except for weight lifting) either on purpose or accidentally, has always been the factor most related to my wright. I'll note that I haven't been overweight so YMMV, but I have been hugely pregnant several times.

Weight lifting makes me gain weight but stay about the same size, which is also a good result. But anything else - walking to work instead of driving, jogging couple times a week, aerobic dance, those will drop my weight the most, the quickest, and without dieting (which isn't good for me mentally).

For me to keep it off was the challenge. I Started by working out how much I needed to eat for maintenance, through calculators and counting my calories for a couple of weeks.

Then I just brought a small deficit of a couple hundred cals, and increased exercise; making sure to go for a walk each day, started lifting weights at the gym.

Now im halfway to my weight goal. But it was all about setting the habits and keeping them going, turning down extra cake in the office or having a smaller lunch to balance everything out, now I dont have the same cravings I used to. Its been a slow year but I am happy with it.

Cutting snacking, calorie dense foods, and counting caloiries.

Calories in/calories out is the only thing that works long term. You dont go on a diet, you change how you eat permanently.

I keep bread in the freezer so i dont snack on it. I only have a small desert. Measure portions until you have a good eye for it, etc.

Working out to burn calories is unsustainable for the majority of people.

Stop drinking soda and alcohol at random. They are loaded with empty calories. You can easily drink 600-1000 calories a day with soda if you have a couple of glasses with meals and snacks.

Worked night stock.