21yo in a rut. How do you lose weight??

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  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    Eat less, move more. Not hard.
    GO AWAY.

    Uh. Do people not like the truth around here? There is no magic formula of losing weight. It's simple, really.

    Actually sometimes the problem is you need to eat more.

    That is usually when someone has reached a plateau, not when they are starting out as the OP is. While eating too few calories can slow weight loss over time (a pretty long time), people don't get fat by eating too few calories.
  • aliceguy
    aliceguy Posts: 128 Member
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    start by messaging and then going out with a 41 year old aussie.....:blushing: ....haha
  • walkner88
    walkner88 Posts: 165
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    My only magic bullet I learned was to stop thinking of food as something to do or something to be social or even something to enjoy. I began to think of it only as fuel. Like my stomach is a gas tank and I just need to fill it up. Something about that thought process has really helped me eat things I would have never thought.
  • Peeps111
    Peeps111 Posts: 1 Member
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    I recently purchased The Lean, by Kathy Freston and she pushes a vegan lifestyle. Although I am not vegan I do find a lot of useful tips in her book. She also has a ton of receipes and teaches you how to slowly incorporate new healthy habbits. Specifically up your fiber and drink lot's of water and you will see changes. I have been following some of her methods and walking 30 mins each day and I have lost 2 lbs over the past 2 weeks.

    It's all about what works best for you and what feels good. I know eating vegan feels good but I do crave meat and sweets once in a while so you still have to treat yourself.
  • jeffrodgers1
    jeffrodgers1 Posts: 991 Member
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    I think there is a measure of truth to all of these answers... but really I think it all starts with a little soul searching?

    Ask yourself the opposite... Why did you gain weight? Take ownership and dig deep (it's ok to look in the mirror) No weightloss you will experience will be permanent until you actually stop and look at the root causes and then accept the changes you need to make. Its a lifestyle change that leads to health.

    Most people in their late teens, early 20's start to gain weight because they enter a sedentary workforce complete with all the vices. They no longer have state mandated physical education, they stop or reduce their participation in organized sports, and they all of a sudden have certain monetary advantages that a job or career brings (face it, now that you have money in your pocket, it's easier to hit McDonalds for dinner, then go consume a thousand calories of beer/wine/shots etc).

    Personally I yo-yo'd for years... It wasn't until I was ready to look long and hard at the way that I was living that I met lasting success. I needed to stop living on the couch and via a drive thru window. I got up and exercised, and made sense of my dietary needs. I've now been down about 100 lbs for a few years. I feel great and know that I am my own best friend in living a healthy lifestyle.

    Good Luck!
  • Devolucien
    Devolucien Posts: 55 Member
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    [/quote]
    But often people are deluded. They are eating more than they think, which is why they're not losing weight.
    [/quote]

    Hence keep a food journal of everything! My nutritionist used to be very stern with me because I'd log in my food journal that my breakfast was like a 1/4 of a papaya or 1/2 a grapefruit and then I didn't eat again until like a salad for dinner.

    Having a log keeps you on track with times, portions, etc.

    Sometimes I feel like I am eating all day and I am but in the end it's because I've only eaten a handful of nuts or a handful of berries picked at sporadically throughout the day.

    Start eating at regular times to regulate your hormones. Ghrelin makes you feel hunger and when you eat too much OR too little, your body can become immune to ghrelin which makes you immune to feeling hungry or full.

    For example, because I wreaked so much havoc on my body my entire life by not eating enough, I generally do not feel hungry. People around me have to remind me to eat much of the time because if they don't, I will totally forget about it.


    I understand there are people that delude themselves into thinking they don't eat as much as they do which is true but at the same time there's a heavy stereotype on overweight people that all we do is eat eat eat. In many cases, that is not true!
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    My only magic bullet I learned was to stop thinking of food as something to do or something to be social or even something to enjoy. I began to think of it only as fuel. Like my stomach is a gas tank and I just need to fill it up. Something about that thought process has really helped me eat things I would have never thought.

    Oh, this makes me sad. I LOVE food. LOVE it. I love gatherings that include food. You can enjoy food and lose weight and keep it off. I think the problem is too many people have eaten artificial foods or atrificially enhanced foods for so long that they've forgotten how to love real food. Natural homemade healthy foods are delicious!
  • Jacwhite22
    Jacwhite22 Posts: 7,012 Member
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    Eat less, move more. Not hard.

    Yeah......You obviously have that together.........Image of fitness......



    That said....It's not easy....It's hard work. You have a lot of good advice in this thread. For me eating is always the hardest part......Tracking everything keeps me honest and on track......I love exercise but find it hard to fit into my schedule sometimes....I have both a fitbit and a nike fuelband and they definitely help to keep me motivated. I don't like to miss goals.
  • secretlobster
    secretlobster Posts: 3,566 Member
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    I have both a fitbit and a nike fuelband and they definitely help to keep me motivated. I don't like to miss goals.

    Oh yeah, love the fitbit!! Toys help keep me motivated. Maybe it's bad for my wallet but it's fun.
  • saxmaniac
    saxmaniac Posts: 1,133 Member
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    im trying to eat as raw as possible and ive been vegetarian my whole life. i think its the exercising i need to work on.

    I actually disagree. There are fat vegetarians. Eating raw is great for more bulk and better nutrients, but that's not going to make you lose fat. Losing fat is 90% about controlling your food intake, and that means the total amount more than anything. It's nearly impossible to out-exercise a bad diet, but you can lose weight eating nothing but a small amount of Twinkies.
  • wisegirl_k
    wisegirl_k Posts: 38 Member
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    You are absolutely right. I had tried everything, all the fads, all the pills, all the shakes and nothing (well, maybe not "all" but you get the picture). It wasn't until I finally got my butt into the gym that I really started to see results, in the mirror and on the scale. And because I was working so hard in the gym, I didn't want to erase all that hard work by putting junk in my mouth. Hence, eating healthier.
    I've been going strong for 2 months, working out 3-5 days a week. 30-40 minutes of cardio, lifting the heaviest weights I can lift for an 8-12 rep set (currently around 15 lbs curls), eating as clean as I can, snacking on fruits and veggies, cutting sugars and carbs (not totally), DRINKING LOADS OF WATER, and it's been working for me. Oh, and please make sure you don't go cardio crazy. Yes, do cardio but you have to lift weights also. Lifting weights keeps calories burning long after you stop.

    Best of luck, everyone has their own way, I'm sure you'll find yours!! :wink:
  • Cupcakehippiemommy
    Cupcakehippiemommy Posts: 457 Member
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    Far from fig this out lol I just started with little changes that tumbled into bigger ones with bigger results.I started by drinking diet soda and more water to know only drinking water and limiting other drinks.I still eat "normal foods" but at a MUCH smaller scale or for better words normal sized portions :) Good luck doll!
  • callmeBAM
    callmeBAM Posts: 450 Member
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    eat more, move less... does not equal better nutrition or weight loss.

    Eat better should be step 1.
    I don't eat less move more. I just eat better, period.
    Yes, simply by eating better meats, veggies, fruits, nuts, dairy, eggs, I have lost 24 lbs since January.
    I have eliminated refined sugars (instead go for honey, stevia, natural ingredients), gluten (will reduce inflammation and gut size), and minimize grains (because most have little to no nutritional value).

    Cut out the junk and you should see results. Fine tune after that. That's what worked FOR ME (as you asked) :)
  • Dagoth
    Dagoth Posts: 172
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    Lol@people in this thread making excuses for not losing weight. If you eat at a deficit, you WILL lose weight.
  • secretlobster
    secretlobster Posts: 3,566 Member
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    Honestly I have never seen anyone get healthier by becoming a vegan, and I've been in touch with lots of vegans. I am not saying that veganism is wrong for ethical reasons - it's absolutely your choice, but if you want to become a vegan - But you need to understand that you are removing incredibly important nutrition sources from your diet, and it's going to be difficult to compensate. Because you HAVE to compensate somehow. You can't remove healthy meat, fish, and eggs and replace those items with high-calorie/low-nutrition bread and pasta and expect to lose weight. It won't happen.

    I was a vegetarian during the period I was overweight. It made weight loss so much harder, because nothing I ate was remotely filling. So if you are trying veganism JUST for the sake of losing weight, you are fighting a losing battle and I bet you are going to be very hungry.
  • Jacwhite22
    Jacwhite22 Posts: 7,012 Member
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    Lol@people in this thread making excuses for not losing weight. If you eat at a deficit, you WILL lose weight.

    Lol@overweight guy saying it's easy. Nobody is arguing with you about the post above.......It's the other part....where you said it's easy......so nonchalantly. It's not easy.....if it was none of us would ever get fat.
  • secretlobster
    secretlobster Posts: 3,566 Member
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    Lol@people in this thread making excuses for not losing weight. If you eat at a deficit, you WILL lose weight.

    I encourage anyone reading this to check out Dagoth's profile and ask yourself if he's a person you want to be receiving "constructive criticism" from.
  • laurenconverse88
    laurenconverse88 Posts: 1
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    You should try the Instanity Workout!!! it makes you feel great and you start to notice the way your cloths fit different within a week... im very out of shape and i have been doing the Instanity Workout for just over a wk and i have never felt better!! get a couple friends around to do the work out with you, help push you to reach your goals... good luck :)
  • effu4bleepinme
    effu4bleepinme Posts: 12
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    Eat less, move more. Not hard.
    GO AWAY.

    Uh. Do people not like the truth around here? There is no magic formula of losing weight. It's simple, really.

    Just because losing weight is easy for you does not make it easy for all. If you hit crappy times in your life and at the same time get into bad eating habits it is really hard to break out of that. Also since 90% of the food now a days is pumped with sodium and a lot of the low sodium foods taste like pooh it is hard to not only find the healthy foods that you like but a learning curve to train yourself to look for them.

    I think the problem people had with your comment is it is very trollish. It was not necessary or needed for you to say that in a rude manner. And losing weight is not just about eating less. You can eat less all you want but unless you eat right your weight loss and overall health will be limited. Also a lot of people don't realize that it's bad to eat under 1200 calories, which will not only slow weight loss but is very unhealthy.
  • Dagoth
    Dagoth Posts: 172
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    Lol@people in this thread making excuses for not losing weight. If you eat at a deficit, you WILL lose weight.

    Lol@overweight guy saying it's easy. Nobody is arguing with you about the post above.......It's the other part....where you said it's easy......so nonchalantly. It's not easy.....if it was none of us would ever get fat.
    Actually it really is. I know why I got fat. I played video games and didn't care about my health or what I was putting into my body. I've lost 30 lbs in less than 2 months and while I may have a ways to go, its not hard as people make it out to be. As long as you have dedication and you really want it, its not hard. If you don't, then that's your own fault.

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