21 lbs in 61 days (and some "advice")

sartezalb

I've been in weight-loss land before, but I've yet to sustain it for this long (or under this much school stress), so there's a silver lining to that. I've unfortunately fallen off the exercise wagon (looking to reintegrate it eventaully), so this has (mostly) been accomplished with calorie counting.

A few things I've learned (or have worked for me):

== 1) When you first start, you'll likely be very hungry a lot of the time--but it gets better. ==
Beforehand, I tried some 1600-1800 calorie days and found myself absolutely starving. Nowadays, I regularly consume 1200, and while I do wish I could eat more sometimes, the hunger is hardly ever *painful*. So for you first-timers: it does get better. :-)

== 2) Manage your hunger--not the other way around. ==
I could write a bunch of sub-tips for this, but there are three that come to mind.

a) Work around your urges. Typically, when the day starts/is in full swing, my hunger is suppressed by my workload/activities. It comes backs in in full force when I'm more relaxed. Thus, I'm comfortable keeping myself to a small snack early on and saving myself for a larger meal later (generally more satisfying!). There is some debate as to the relative benefit of continuous snacking versus intermittent fasting, but I can say--at least from the weight loss angle--that a fasting-type schedule *can* work.

b) Keep track of your satiety versus calorie intake. One thing I learned to cut was most breads and carbs-- they taste great, but the amounts I would have to eat to feel sated would really make it difficult for me to eat much else (put another way, 300 calories of bread doesn't "feel" like 300 calories :P). On the other hand, vegetables and fish are some of my favorite go-to options. Over time, you learn what foods offer more satisfaction for the calorie cost.

c) Mind games! Ultimately, the hunger signal is the end result of your brain interpreting a silent dialogue with your stomach--and when you first restrict calories, your brain's first response might be "Something's wrong!". I found that one thing that helped in the early stages was reminding myself that my macronutrients were all right, I wasn't starving myself, I wasn't going to die, etc. and that my brain was taking time to adjust. Eventually, it got the hint. :-)

== 3) Be zen about your weight fluctuations. ==
This probably helps me the most on a day-to-day basis. It generally takes 5 days to a week before I see any significant loss--but it's usually about 2 lbs from the last measurement. Of course, I don't lose all that in one night--rather, I've been losing weight slowly and my natural fluctuations (e.g., water weight) have been masking it. So next time your scale isn't telling you what you want to see, ask yourself: am I being honest with my calorie balance? If the answer is yes, then give it some time--the results will (hopefully) show eventually.

lorib642

Thank you. I love to hear about successes and what does work

yasmine334

very useful

stephxfit

Great tips! After years of binging and just constant overeating, I'm finding myself in the "hungry even at 2000 calories" phase right now. I suspected it got better, but thank you for confirming it keep up the good work!