Obese dieters- what worked?
empressjasmin
Posts: 170 Member
Just curious. As I feel as if I have been a yo-yo dieter for the entire time I have been on this journey, over a year. I have tried it all and found that calories-in/calories-out worked, but my weight loss was very slow. Tried keto, weight-loss shakes, you name it. I have tried it. For those who had or wanted to lose 30-50lbs what helped you lose the initial first 30lbs? I guess because I am considered obese, I thought the fat would just melt away lol...
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Calorie deficit. Which included accurate tracking. Depends what you think is slow. I never aimed to lose anyt faster than 1lb per week.20
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Being honest with myself on how much I should be eating for my size and activity level and sticking to it. Logging everything as best I could. Getting a food scale helped with that part.
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Calorie counting and eating whatever I want in moderation since it helps prevent me from binging. Weight loss is a slow process, I started a year ago and am still working on reaching my goal weight. Stay patient, you'll lose that weight eventually! Just gotta stick with it.
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Calorie deficit and reasonable expectations.
Do you understand the math of weight loss?
Weight doesn't fly off people like it does on The Biggest Loser.
Someone with 30-50 pounds to lose will lose, at most, a pound a week, usually.15 -
I've tried more than my share of diets too, but never maintained. Temporary changes in dietary habits only lead to temporary weight loss for me.
Measure & log. Stay in a calorie deficit. Stop looking for the magic bullet, there is no healthy & safe fast weight loss.8 -
Eating at a calorie deficit is what worked for me. No tricks or fad diets. A food scale is a huge benefit to making sure that your CI is as accurate as possible. Some exercise helps too. But you don't have to live at the gym or do anything crazy. I started out walking with my dog. Then I added a little yoga. Now I run. But the main thing was the calorie deficit. It also took me about a year to get to my goal. It isn't going to happen fast.15
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I think you need to forget about the idea of different fad diets, and decide to make a life story change, but one that works for you. It can be hard, as you need to look at yourself and what you are doing that has led to gaining weight, and what is stopping you from loosing it. Diets are not a magic bullet, and I think if you use a specific fad diet, even if you stick to it, the chances are you will put weight on afterwards, as you'll go back to rating who you were before when you put the wieght on.
The simple approach has already been mentioned, it is simply a matter of making sure your calories out are more than the calories in. You need to find what types of food will satisfy you, as what you choose to eat is completely up to you. By doing it as a lifestyle change, and being honest with yourself, I think there is a greater chance of success getting the weight off and keeping it off.
If it helps to know, as you go along, it gets easier. I found my tastes changed. I had a sweet tooth, but that has now diminished. I used to like junk food, but now it just tastes processed and I prefer fresh home cooked food, and find a lot of fried food to heavy.
You can do it, and when it starts to come off you'll feel great!
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Calorie deficit, recognizing that treats didn't have to be cheats, sensible portions, and exercise.15
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Girl, I went to my doctor and asked for help. Physicians these days will throw pills at high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, anxiety, depression, etc etc, all these issues caused by being overweight, so I thought, "Surely there is a safe prescription pill that can assist in weight loss? There's a pill for everything CAUSED by it..." I've been on Adipex (phentermine) tablets for 30 days and have lost 10 lbs. It's a stimulant, and it will cause some issues sleeping, but it cuts your appetite in half. I struggled and yoyo'd for years too. I hear ya. Its frustrating. Don't be afraid to ask your Dr. for help - it was hard for me to do, but I don't regret it. It's getting me where I need to go. It will help kick start your weight loss journey.23
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For one, I never tried, I just did. For two, I accepted that weightloss would be slow, and get slower as I lost weight. For three, nothing has helped losing weight - that is an attitude I see a lot, which seems to indicate that the individual doesn't feel in charge; taking charge is crucial - some things have made eating less/moving more easier: Planning meals and only eat food I like. No banning of foods. Avoiding temptations as much as possible. No planned exercise, but moving more as part of my day. Being kind to myself, this means saying yes, and no, and own my decisions; accept that I'm going to stumble sometimes. Taking one day at a time, and acknowledging that each day has the potential of moving me a little bit in one direction or the other, and that every choice is mine to take.13
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I lost the first 30 something by writing everything I ate in a little notebook, focusing on eating more whole foods and less junk, and moving more. I didn't weigh/measure/count calories.5
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Serendipity1517 wrote: »Girl, I went to my doctor and asked for help. Physicians these days will throw pills at high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, anxiety, depression, etc etc, all these issues caused by being overweight, so I thought, "Surely there is a safe prescription pill that can assist in weight loss? There's a pill for everything CAUSED by it..." I've been on Adipex (phentermine) tablets for 30 days and have lost 10 lbs. It's a stimulant, and it will cause some issues sleeping, but it cuts your appetite in half. I struggled and yoyo'd for years too. I hear ya. Its frustrating. Don't be afraid to ask your Dr. for help - it was hard for me to do, but I don't regret it. It's getting me where I need to go. It will help kick start your weight loss journey.
Weight loss is just the first step. Have a maintenance strategy in place (before you get there).......the second step seems to be the hardest.6 -
I started losing in January at 5'2" and 208, solidly in the obese category, and am down 32 pounds now. My goal is to make it to overweight BMI by the end of the calendar year and to normal BMI by the end of 2018. I actually started logging my food in mid-2016 to get a sense of how calorie counting and measuring portions worked. Having that data helped me see where my "trouble spots" were - i.e. where I was consuming a lot of calories without much to show for it. Everyone's going to be different depending on what their eating habits look like, but the goal for everyone is to change your diet just enough to be in a sustainable calorie deficit. That's all low-carb and low-fat and apple cider vinegar diets do, anyhow - get you into a calorie deficit. I figure it's more sustainable to eat the way I enjoy eating, just less, and as I've gone on, healthier.
Because one of my main issues was too many calories from alcohol, I started off with about a month where I didn't change much of anything except not drinking. I lost 10 pounds, probably a decent bit of that water, but that wasn't sustainable and I had a couple of months where I really struggled to get into a deficit. However, because I was used to logging at that point, I didn't gain any weight over this time, which I consider a win. It took me until about mid-June before I really nailed down the best way for me to get into a deficit and stay in one. For me, that means eating every 2-3 hours, (almost) never finishing an entree when I go out to eat, not keeping wine or potato chips or microwave popcorn in the house, packing my lunch 4-5 days a week, and keeping the house stocked with foods that I like to eat more than I like fast food.
Anyhow, the fat hasn't melted away, but I don't feel like I'm on a diet either, and I feel like I could keep eating like this for the rest of my life. I aim to lose 3-5 pounds a month, going down to 1-3 pounds a month next year as I'm closer to my goal. You can do this! You just have to take that first step right now, keep going, and be patient.29 -
Calorie deficit + time
Rome wasn’t built in a day.14 -
There's a direct correlation between your experience of "yo yo dieting" and being frustrated that your results are very slow. Looking for quick fixes to speed things along is actually counterproductive to meeting your long term goal of losing weight and keeping it off.
I tried and failed to lose weight many times, but I finally lost 170 lbs IN MY 40'S and have kept if off for 2 years so far by accepting that it was going to take a long time and that along the way I was going to have to learn how to eat more moderately both while dieting and after. Over 2 years of losing I learned:
1. To be accountable for my own choices. No blaming other people for the food that was around, no expecting other people to accomodate my choices or preferences.
2. To plan ahead. My life is fairly unpredictable but day to day I still have some idea of how physically intense my day is going to be (i.e., do I physically NEED more food than usual) and where I'm going to be at mealtimes. I can pack a meal if I need to. I can eat early. I can go hungry for a couple of hours usually if I really need to.
3. To not undereat to try and speed things along. If you've got a lot of weight to lose, it's going to take a long time no matter what you do, and trying to shave time off by undereating isn't really going to make a difference to results in the end, but it will make a negative impact on your willpower and enthusiasm over time.
4. To be kind to myself and allow myself to enjoy food. I plan my food days with the understanding that I have to meet my nutritional goals FIRST, and any calories left over after that are "recreational calories" and I can do what I want with them. I've gotten good at packing a lot of nutrition into meals and I've ALWAYS got recreational calories leftover. A couple of cookies, or a glass of wine, or a few squares of chocolate.
5. To accept that once in a while (in my case, maybe up to 3X per year), the whole day is just gonna be shot. Thanksgiving is what it is. Enjoy it. Make a couple of concessions (e.g., the table is loaded up with starchy foods, I don't have to sample everything; Aunt Mildred's mashed potatoes are nothing special but maybe the stuffing is spectacular) but am I drinking a lot of wine and eating 3 slices of pie? Yeah, I probably am.26 -
A couple of years ago I was 250lbs. I cut soda, fast food, and junk food/sweets out of my life and added DDP Yoga and I lost 40lbs. I've slacked a little bit on eating right but never went back to drinking soda. I've also added running and high protein low carb. Gained some weight back in the form of muscle (mostly in my calves.) and now I'm working on Calories in/Calories out (along with the yoga and running) b/c my pants are getting tight again. I put it this way, some people can just drop weight like a bad habit, while others, it's gonna take a while. Just keep doing you and enjoy the ride because once you're at your goal weight...that's it and it'll be all about maintaining.7
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So many great responses! Thank you everyone. Really helpful!!5
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Weight loss is slow, that's just the nature of it. When I started I was losing 3.5 lbs / week and I still felt like it would take forever to reach my goal - which is true, in terms of the impatient lazy person I was when I started! It takes a lifetime to lose and then maintain weight, and here's hoping a lifetime is a very long time for us both. The cure for yo-yo dieting is realizing that eating and exercising in the way you need to have the body you want is not a temporary thing. You must do it forever, or when you stop, you will go right back to the way of eating and living which made you overweight in the first place. So you better pick a way of living which you want to do forever.
Start by ignoring everything "people say" and "magazines say" about dieting. You are not on a diet, you are going to eat food, the right amount of food for your body. Figure out how much that is, according to the numbers MFP gives you when you input your statistics. Since you are having trouble sticking to your plan, don't try to have a 2 lb / wk week loss, go for something a little easier. Then figure out the foods you love, and how much of them to eat. Some foods may be so high calorie that they are rarely worth eating. But look for new, lower calorie foods you love. You don't have to eat boneless skinless chicken breasts unless you happen to like them.
Meanwhile, figure out an activity you enjoy that burns calories, and do that, so you have more calories to play around with.14 -
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Calorie counting. Weighing and logging my food in MFP. I started at 256 a little more than a year ago and I'm at 157 now.14
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Time, effort, honesty, persistence, and accountability.8
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I expect not to be popular with my answer but I lost my first 30 lbs thanks to Slimfast, it enabled me to change from obese to overweight in six months. I can now say calorie deficit, knowing of course now it will take much longer because I am old and don't move a lot and when I do, it is very slowly. I felt I had to post here because Slimfast gave me the original boost. My first steps on a long and winding road.6
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fitoverfortymom wrote: »Calorie counting. Weighing and logging my food in MFP. I started at 256 a little more than a year ago and I'm at 157 now.
Great job! Did you incorporate exercising? If so, what did you like to do? I started around that number and am now about 30 lbs down from that after putting some of the initial weight loss back on.0 -
Try to avoid thinking "I'm on a diet" and frame your focus on making great choices for yourself. Consistently maintain a deficit as best you can, but work on other goals besides a downward trend on the scale. Try new recipes, incorporate new activities in your life. Right now I am working on a 750 cal/day deficit (give or take)- religiously weighing/logging my food. I re-started my couch to 5k app and I am working on completing some 5ks that I have signed up for- my times are not great right now but it doesn't matter. My goal right now is to complete a hike with my family next September up a mountain in NH. I gave myself 52 weeks to do this! The running should help with the endurance, but I am also working in strength training with a trainer which right now is more palatable because I know it is helping get me ready for my hike (she is not always very nice)... by the way, I plan to beat my brothers up to the top (my 54 year old self)! On days I don't run or feel like running I strap on a backpack with 15# weights in it and go for a 3-4 mile walk- all over town- meeting new people along the way. Since I have started working on this goal a few weeks ago (when I saw pics of the fun everyone had this past September) I have worried less about the scale but I have noticed my jeans have gotten looser- even fitting in to a smaller size! Over the next few months I will find some trails nearby with some hills and elevation for practice....
Make short term goals that can feed into long term goals but avoid making a number on an inanimate object one of them. That one measurement is too often given way too much power.... The time is going to pass either way- make it count!5 -
dfnewcombe wrote: »
Make short term goals that can feed into long term goals but avoid making a number on an inanimate object one of them. That one measurement is too often given way too much power.... The time is going to pass either way- make it count!
Awesome advice! Smaller attainable goals. Wtg! Such an inspiration!!1 -
empressjasmin wrote: »Just curious. As I feel as if I have been a yo-yo dieter for the entire time I have been on this journey, over a year. I have tried it all and found that calories-in/calories-out worked, but my weight loss was very slow. Tried keto, weight-loss shakes, you name it. I have tried it. For those who had or wanted to lose 30-50lbs what helped you lose the initial first 30lbs? I guess because I am considered obese, I thought the fat would just melt away lol...
Weight loss is slow...that's how it is...I started obese and it took me 9 months to lose 40 Lbs...and that was 9 months of just plugging away and being consistent, recognizing that weight loss is a slow process.4 -
eating less. moving more.
100 pounds down.
it takes dedication and patience. 3 years for me to get this far, and more to go. but im not complaining with my size now
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callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »eating less. moving more.
100 pounds down.
it takes dedication and patience. 3 years for me to get this far, and more to go. but im not complaining with my size now
Great job!1 -
I've tried low carb and the everything-else-diets and nothing worked. Until I went to calorie restriction/deficit of 1500 cal/day and I take Adderall 3 times a day. Ive lost 23 lbs in 2 months.1
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