Weight Loss / Healthy Living -- TIPS AND TRICKS

Onedaywriter

Rannoch3908 wrote: »

Onedaywrite -- what movements did you start with? You said you didn't count calories but stated moving a lot more. What types of things did you start with when you were same weight as me and not used to moving?

---

Sorry to not respond sooner!! Didn’t see your question until now.
I started CrossFit and bicycling and doing more outdoor chores. From the CrossFit I was very very sore at first and had to skip every other day for the first months. Everything was scaled down because I couldn’t do simple things like running. On the days I didn’t work out I walked for while or rode my bike. Some days that meant walking 15 minutes, Bike riding was at least half hour but I tried to get some movement. You have to find what you like. At first you may not like anything because it is hard to start and there is much soreness!! Any proper form movement is good movement and resistance training and/or interval training is best. That’s why CrossFit worked so well for me but it isn’t for everyone for sure.

The first “aha” moment about nutrition was when I busted my butt for 10 minutes on an exercise bike to realize I had burned less calories than in two packaged cookies!! I would normally eat At least 10!
I did some things that would have seemed silly to me in the past. Eg. I would eat my normal lunch but split it in half to have lunch and then a before gym snack right before I left work. Prior I had been having lunch and a snack lol!!

So, the way I did it was I looked at what maintenance calories would be for my first goal- to be “overweight” lol! 240 lbs. At sedentary about 2400 cals and at lightly active about 2700. I didn’t track but kept a rough idea in my head and tried to be 2400-2700 most days. It worked. I dropped fast like you are. First four months 40 lbs.!!
After a while it slowed but was still noticeable easily in the scale. When I got to within 35 lbs (around 230) or so of top of healthy BMI(195-195) I started logging and weighing food because movement on the scale became much slower.
I’m now about 6 lbs over healthy BMI( at 201) I was at 195 but gained some lockdown weight. I haven’t weighed over 220 since early 2019. According to my Dr. all is well (BP, cholesterol, blood sugar etc). I do the CrossFit workouts still (because I like it!) and try to get 10000 steps. I know 10000 is arbitrary but so are all these goals we make for ourselves.

Sounds like you’re doing great!! When you’re big like us, you have a lot of muscle mass just to move the weight around. Not kidding. Big people tend to be strong.

But you want to keep the muscle and lose the fat. I lost muscle along the way and wish I hadn’t been quite as aggressive in the beginning. On some of the lifts I do, I’m still trying to get back to where I was two years ago!! But I feel soooo much better. You got this!! If I can help let me know- I do feel like I walked like 9/10 mile in your shoes! Still working on that last bit myself!!

Dogmom1978

Rannoch3908 wrote: »

Onedaywrite -- what movements did you start with? You said you didn't count calories but stated moving a lot more. What types of things did you start with when you were same weight as me and not used to moving?

---

I am at one week of changing my life. Down 7 pounds so far whether that be real or just water weight. But still makes me happy and like something is working. Was moving basically all weekend - played 5 rounds of frisbee golf, went of walks, walked around stores, anything to be up and off couch. Kinda hard to find things to fill 7 hours of normal tv time per day with healthier options -- what does everyone else do from after work till you go to sleep?

Pretty proud of myself - I broke down and went for fast food this weekend. But when I got to drive in I ordered 16 GRILLED chicken nuggets at Chickfil-A. No sauce - no fries - no drink. That is only 280 calories.Wasn't very delicious and pretty boring since it wasn't breaded and there was no ranch to drench them in but I have to make those kind of decisions if I want to be healthy. In the past I would have said "screw it" and got 16 nuggets, a sandwich, fries, a large shake, and tons of dipping sauces. So big deal for me.

You don’t have to spend every moment exercising. You’ve only been on this journey for 1 week and you will burn out very quickly if you keep going at this pace.

Seriously, pace yourself. You CAN wach tv or a movie. Resting isn’t a bad thing.

Also, it helps a lot of people to keep eating what they like but fit it into their calories. For example, I love pizza. If I want pizza, I will cut calories in other meals and/or exercise more so that I can have a couple of slices of pizza and remain in a calorie deficit. I’ve lost over 25 lbs so far (42 more to go) without removing a SINGLE food that I like. I just started weighing it and tracking it and eating in a deficit.

jenkspaf

Hey there!

I think everyone has given such very good advice. And it looks like you are having success doing what you are doing.

A couple of things that have helped me:

Eat smaller bites and chew for longer. Take time to enjoy and taste what you are eating.

Track things before you eat them. Don't try to guess and then track. For example - I just had sushi take out for lunch. I could have made a guess of what to get and then tracked it after, but instead I looked it up and made an educated choice depending on calorie count and what I could afford calorie-wise.

Find some treats that taste more high-calorie then they are. For example, half a cup of halo top chocolate ice cream mixed with half a cup of halo top strawberry ice cream, a half a banana, and a few tablespoons of fat free whipped cream is freaking delicious and is a splurge you can afford.

Track your food honestly. Don't under-estimate. Get a scale if you can afford it.

And for me, tracking everything is essential. If I don't track I will eat crap and reason to myself that it's not that bad. But if you actually see the calorie amount of things that "don't look that bad" the reality can help hold you accountable.

Try to remember how good you feel at the end of the day when you've had a good day and hold on to how that feels. It feels good to take good care of yourself, and that's what you are doing. This isn't punishment. You haven't done anything wrong by gaining weight. But now you are making yourself a priority. Be proud of that and a little selfish about it when people try to throw you off track or convince you that their needs should come before your need to exercise or eat right. I know that sounds weird, but it happens.

Finally, take each day one day at a time, on hour at a time, one minute at a time. If you go off plan, don't tell yourself "Well I might as well eat that pizza because I've already screwed today up," or "I totally messed up Wednesday, I'm just going to start again Monday." That's something I have done about a billion times.

With exercise, start gently. You don't want to go and injure yourself and have a doctor tell you that you have to hold off working out for a month or something. That can lead to some depression eating. Let your body gain strength and find new challenges slowly, and as you feel ready for them.

I'm going to go take some of my own advice now, after gaining about 15 COVID pounds...

Jen