20 lbs down! What’s working/what am I still struggling with

mimimunchery

Hey all! So I’m down about 20 lbs (or 9 kgs) since March 8th when I started trying to lose weight, and down a few more than that from January (my highest).

Stats

5’8”, female, 41 years old.
Sw March 8: 200 lbs (91 kgs)
Cw: 180.4 lbs (82 kgs)

I don’t strictly count calories or measure food. But I am mindful of which food are higher or lower calorie, and of my portion sizes. So I thought it would be helpful to re-cap what’s working for me and what’s not. Would love to hear other people’s strategies too!

So...what’s working:
More veggies! I am adding them to a healthy sandwich at lunch,snacking on them etc. also berries and cherries!

Eating less of my kids’ food. I am trying (mostly successfully) to not have half a bowl of spaghetti or a piece of toast etc when my kids don’t finish something

Only drinking (a few glasses of wine) on Friday & Saturdays or if I (occasionally) go out - not the four, five or six evenings I used to be drinking

Eating (mostly) healthily on the weekends like it’s a normal weekday and maybe having a slightly more indulgent dinner (pizza maybe) instead of saying *kitten* it it’s the weekend I can eat whatever I want

(Mostly) cutting down on late night snacking

Getting a personal trainer - started strength training twice a week, now three times a week for half hour. It’s been SO hard and SO amazing.

So now for what hasn’t really worked yet:

I still find myself nibbling (maybe not AS much) on kids snack foods (pretzels, pirate booty, goldfish). It’s crap and I know my kids shouldn’t be eating it either

When I get something like pizza (which I LOVE) I still over-indulge

I still (pretty occasionally) get times when I want to eat everything on site. Usually either before dinner or late night. I’ve had a few incidences when I’ve inhaled 4 cookies or two big bowls of cereal. This is happening less than before (and is DEFINTELY helped by cutting back on alcohol - because when I have a few drinks my will power goes WAY down)

So anyways - thought it might be helpful for me & others to re-cap like this. Let me know what is working/what you’re still struggling with !

bjkoziara

Congratulations! It's noce to see what's working for you.

I'm only 17 pounds down and I'm sure it's water at my weight, but I've found that focusing less on calories and more on how food makes me feel works. Also planning my whole day of eating before breakfast so I know what I will have and when has helped me not to binge. I have only had one relatively minor relapse on the binging front in the last 2 weeks where I inhaled 5 chocolate donut holes without thinking.

I'm still working how much to eat. I get confused with how my hunger works. Yesterday I ate literally the exact same things as I did today and did the exact same amount of activity. Yesterday I felt quite satisfied and today I was hungry. I ate more and am still hungry, like stomach growling and all. No idea why though 🤷‍♀️

Justin_7272

Great to hear!

I've (re)discovered fruits and vegetables; an apple, banana, or pear is much more satisfying than candy.

A can of green beans with S&P and Everything Bagel seasonig...satiating and delicious!

Carrots and whole grain mustard.

Mindfulness.

meganreid163

Mine are almost the exact same as yours and I’ve lost about 25 pounds.
I’ve really amped up my work outs and trying to eat less processed foods to lose the last 25

charlenekemp07

It's great to see what works for others, it gives you some tips, so thank you!! I lost 8kg,still have 22 more to go, but so far so good..
What works for me:
Stop eating my kids' leftovers! (this is hard)
I cut out alcohol and chocolate for the month of May, it was stalling my progress.
More veggies and fruits
No more cheese and butter, I would rather choose mayonnaise and cut those out
No more eating after dinner (usually around 5pm)
Eating oats with a fruit and coffee every morning
Changing from full fat milk to low fat, the calorie difference is ASTONISHING!!
Green tea with honey and chia seeds on my food help with the toilet problem, haha.
Mindfull eating! Junk is so not worth all the calories!!

surf4ogxlcc

I am a Personal Trainer with a top certification and I wanted to say congrats as your progress is great! As far as the snacking goes I totally agree that getting the crap out of the house will allow you to avoid eating it. All of my mom and dad clients have trouble avoiding their kids food and it really hinders their progress.

Keep up the great work!

fcanad

I’m down about 45 lbs from my highest in feb.
worked
- counting calories (measure or weighed food, planned out the day in advance, etc)
- Avoiding added sugar
- Lower carb (I don’t get hungry as fast)
- A ban on eating out/buying coffee
- College food and nutrition course

No go:
-Keto, I couldn’t handle those macros
-assuming the same number of calories would always be sustainable
-having any rule more than 95% of the time

whmscll

I love the last one “having any rule more than 95% of the time.” Gives you the freedom to mess up, fess up and move on.

OooohToast

Well done on the weight loss OP ! I dont have kidlets but snacking /picking is my undoing too ! I am loving your balanced approach.

I am 40lb down since the start of Feb.

What works for me:

1. Weighing, recording and planning all eating apart from eating out. If I go out for dinner (a rare occurrence !) I have what I like but am mindful (and am always designated driver)
2. Keeping added sugar under 20g per day
3. Keeping net carbs at 100g per day (a lot less snacking, rumbling etc etc)
4. Eating what I like rather than what everyone tells me they like/prefer/recommend
5. I try to make as much from scratch as possible, inc bread
6. Walking 10k steps a day
7. Drink a lot of water
8. Having a routine with meals and exercise as much as possible has encouraged consistency