Weight loss journey: FatKM
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FatKM
Posts: 14 Member
Hi i have been fat all my life and i want to lose weight and be at a healthy weight. I want to do this so i don’t have ant health problems from eating badly, and i want to learn to control my food intake. Right now i am probably 35% fat percentage i want to get to 15% at least. I am 5’8 175 lb. Trying to lose the fat and get to the 135 lb range through diet. I will be posting a photo of me everyday and sharing what i ate. I am doing this to help me keep myself accountable. If you have any advice or motivational words please share.
Day 1: Today i ate fried rice vegetables and chicken for lunch, sushi for dinner and 2 cookies. Around 1800 calories.
Day 1: Today i ate fried rice vegetables and chicken for lunch, sushi for dinner and 2 cookies. Around 1800 calories.
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Day 2: ate rice vegetables chicken for lunch and dinner. Blueberries for snack. 1500 calories.
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Day 3: ate alot of tacos 2700 calories. Bad day.
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Day 4: ate rice/fish in the morning and a sandwich for dinner and cheese sticks. 2200 calories. Not a terrible day.
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Day 5: Another ok day. Ate for lunch sandwiches and a chicken bowl for dinner. Also had a 300 cal candy bar. 2300 calories.
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Day 6: No lunch. Had rice and chicken and vegetables for dinner. Also had a cinnamon buns and a candy bar. 1900 calories. Plan to get back on track this week and stay under 2000.
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Just out of curiosity, when are you taking the photos? After a meal? A large glass of water? After the salty soy sauce laden fried rice or sushi or tacos?
I can mentally beat the crap out of myself by staring at the mirror and judging myself after either.
And positioning it to hang over the waistline. Yup. Do that, too.
Pull your big boy britches up, let the Lycra or elastic do its job, and look at yourself that way. That’s how others see you. Why judge yourself harsher than the general public, seeing you on the street would?
I say this with love and sympathy. You’re only a week into this. If I could share anything with you, I’d tell you, don’t start the process full of self criticism, and be kind to yourself along the way.
And, there’s more to “you” than belly photos. Maybe you have great shoulders? Bangin’ good legs? My husband, who is here on MFP, still in obese category, has the hips, calves and legs of the daintiest ballerina, and shoulders of a linebacker.
If judged only on his belly, people (and him!) would be overlooking his awesome attributes and snarking on his belly.1 -
i take a pic right before going to sleep every night.springlering62 wrote: »Just out of curiosity, when are you taking the photos? After a meal? A large glass of water? After the salty soy sauce laden fried rice or sushi or tacos?
I can mentally beat the crap out of myself by staring at the mirror and judging myself after either.
And positioning it to hang over the waistline. Yup. Do that, too.
Pull your big boy britches up, let the Lycra or elastic do its job, and look at yourself that way. That’s how others see you. Why judge yourself harsher than the general public, seeing you on the street would?
I say this with love and sympathy. You’re only a week into this. If I could share anything with you, I’d tell you, don’t start the process full of self criticism, and be kind to yourself along the way.
And, there’s more to “you” than belly photos. Maybe you have great shoulders? Bangin’ good legs? My husband, who is here on MFP, still in obese category, has the hips, calves and legs of the daintiest ballerina, and shoulders of a linebacker.
If judged only on his belly, people (and him!) would be overlooking his awesome attributes and snarking on his belly.
it honestly isn't much about self-criticism lol. pretty much all of my fat goes to my belly and chest area(seems to be the case with most males), so i just want to see the progress, share it, and keep a record of it for my own amusement. i also want it to give me visual motivation when i'm 1-3 months in and start to feel unmotivated.
thank you for sharing your thoughts.
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Day 7: ate rice/chicken/vegetables for lunch , noodles for dinner and ice cream. 2200 calories.
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Day 9: ate rice vegetables and chicken for lunch and pizza for dinner. 1900 calories
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You're not going to succeed until you give up the cheats. No candy bars - period. Cut out sugar. No frigging pizza! Eat the same meals every day. You'll never learn what works by spitballing it and having an inconsistent diet. Don't listen to those on here who tell you those behaviors are okay - they just want you to join them in their misery. Consistency and discipline in everything you do, from health to weight to finances. Practice mindfulness and delayed gratification. Surround yourself with like-minded people. Avoid losers, unless you want to be one too. I started gym and MyFitnessPal 12 years ago, I'm going to be 60 in a couple of weeks and I'm at low-teens bodyfat, I do boxing and Crossfit as well, and I'm going to retire in a couple of years. You don't get there by guessing or half-measures.0
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You're not going to succeed until you give up the cheats. No candy bars - period. Cut out sugar. No frigging pizza! Eat the same meals every day. You'll never learn what works by spitballing it and having an inconsistent diet. Don't listen to those on here who tell you those behaviors are okay - they just want you to join them in their misery.
I eat sugar, I eat candy, I eat low cal pizza (will have tonight) but sometimes I go the whole Mellow Mushroom, Parmesan knots included.
I frequently eat the same foods, but if I deliberately ate the “same meals every day” I’d lose my mind.
And occasionally I ate the whole pizza, the whole box of candy.
Yet, I lost almost a hundred pounds and have maintained that loss for several years, except for a few I intentionally chose to add back to accomodate muscle gain. Yeah, muscle gain, and I’m female and in my 60’s, too.
If you sincerely believe that people intentionally give bad advice here to keep others as miserable as themselves, well, wow.
Slip-ups happen. So frigging what? As long as you climb right back in the drivers seat of control, you’ll get there. So what if it’s a day or a week or a month longer.
And you know what else? Any improvement you make is better than it was the day before.
Dude, where’s the joy?!!!3 -
You're not going to succeed until you give up the cheats. No candy bars - period. Cut out sugar. No frigging pizza! Eat the same meals every day. You'll never learn what works by spitballing it and having an inconsistent diet. Don't listen to those on here who tell you those behaviors are okay - they just want you to join them in their misery. Consistency and discipline in everything you do, from health to weight to finances. Practice mindfulness and delayed gratification. Surround yourself with like-minded people. Avoid losers, unless you want to be one too. I started gym and MyFitnessPal 12 years ago, I'm going to be 60 in a couple of weeks and I'm at low-teens bodyfat, I do boxing and Crossfit as well, and I'm going to retire in a couple of years. You don't get there by guessing or half-measures.
@FatKM
Please ignore this bad advice. You do not need to give up on food that brings you joy. You do need to eat them moderately. This has an asterisk; there may be some foods that you need to forego completely, at least for a while. I still don't buy loaf bread. Sometimes I'll get a bagel. For a long time, I couldn't buy potato chips or other crunchy salty things. I've graduated to a place now where I can have them in the house and not eat the whole bag before the sun sets. I eat pizza; I just don't eat the whole thing. I'm not motivated by sweet things, so that's not an issue for me. If sweets are your thing, you do need to keep in mind that the calories may be "empty" and provide little nutrition. Oddly enough, a Snicker's Bar has a decent macro mix of fat, protein, and carb. It kind of fails on the nutrition in total, but it's no worse than some "energy bars" out there.
The most important things are:- Have a good plan with good goals that are specific, measurable, have a deadline, and are tough but not too tough.
- Stick to your plan. If you go off plan for a day, get back on your plan right away. Today. Not tomorrow.
- Log your foods completely and honestly. Try to hit your calorie goal. Don't try to go under it; try to hit it.
- Go slow. This will take time. You already know this.
- I'll repeat because it's so important: STICK TO IT! No quitting. Keep going.
I don't want you to "join me in my misery." I am not miserable. I'm maintaining my weight in my goal range after losing, I get to eat delicious and healthy food, I get to splurge on foods I like that may not be nutritious from time to time, I get to go hike and paddle and watch birds and grow a garden, and I can look forward to many more years of the same.
Keep sticking to it. Don't be discouraged. Join me in my happiness!3 -
In addition to what Springering says about over-focusing (photographically) on your belly: In the first photo, your posture is definitely contributing to your belly looking more prominent. (We can see the extreme curve in your low back. It's common to develop that posture with a little extra central fat pulling the center forward and down, but it can be countered by strengthening the core (360 degrees, not just or even mostly front muscles).) In the subsequent photos, we can't see what your posture is. We can't clearly see how you hold your shoulders in any of the photos, and that can also affect how much the belly area protrudes.
Part of your motivation seems to be appearance. Working on your posture could give you a quicker win while you continue working on weight loss.
It may be overkill in your case, but this is a very good article (that another person on MFP first sourced) about various things about posture that can contribute to making the belly appear more prominent, though its focus is health impacts:
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/lower-cross-syndrome
For a male at 5'8", 135 would be very light. It's BMI 20.5, not much above what's technically underweight (18.5). It's more common for men to find a healthy weight higher in the BMI range, though that varies. Are you lifting weights? That would help you reach your body fat percent goal. Without some muscle mass, 15% body fat is . . . just skinny.
I'm not trying to be mean here. Think of me as your concerned internet granny who wants to see you healthy and striving . . . I'm sure I'm old enough to be your granny, and even though I'm a stranger I do care and do want to see you succeed with your goals, and in thriving good health. (FWIW, though I'm 3" shorter than you, way older, and 100% more female, I currently weigh 135 and while it's a little heavier than I prefer to be, it's not majorly fat even on my shorter and 100% more female body.)
Please focus on your health and well being!1 -
You're not going to succeed until you give up the cheats. No candy bars - period. Cut out sugar. No frigging pizza! Eat the same meals every day. You'll never learn what works by spitballing it and having an inconsistent diet. Don't listen to those on here who tell you those behaviors are okay - they just want you to join them in their misery. Consistency and discipline in everything you do, from health to weight to finances. Practice mindfulness and delayed gratification. Surround yourself with like-minded people. Avoid losers, unless you want to be one too. I started gym and MyFitnessPal 12 years ago, I'm going to be 60 in a couple of weeks and I'm at low-teens bodyfat, I do boxing and Crossfit as well, and I'm going to retire in a couple of years. You don't get there by guessing or half-measures.
If that works for you, that's excellent . . . but oh, man . . . that would make me miserable!
I don't live on treats, more like 80-90% delicious whole foods, plus a few treat foods for joy. I eat small bits of chocolate almost daily, pizza sometimes (and very occasionally a whole pizza all by myself).
I for sure don't eat the same meals every day: Any decent registered dietitian will tell you that a balanced, nutrient-dense, calorie appropriate but varied way of eating is a healthy path.
I started being routinely active about 22 years ago, after full-bore cancer treatment and with a newly-minted diagnosis as severely hypothyroid. I lost weight almost 8 years ago, obese to a healthy weight. My health markers are excellent. I won't claim low-teens bodyfat, but in the mid-20s percent is fitness range for women, and I don't aspire to extreme leanness. My fitness tracker estimates my "fitness age" at 26 (though I think that's improbable - I'm 68!). Oh, and I retired at 51.
And all of that as an aging hippie flake with strong hedonistic inclinations . . . although a modicum of common sense. It's almost like extreme structure and self-denial (discipline?) isn't essential to reach a healthy weight, get reasonably fit, or be financially stable. I mean, if that's the right thing for an individual's preferences, that's wonderful. Telling other people it's universally absolutely essential, though, and that those with different preferences are "losers"? Nah. Big nah.
Guessing and half-measures may not work . . . but estimation/approximation and balanced strategies definitely can.2 -
For a male at 5'8", 135 would be very light. It's BMI 20.5, not much above what's technically underweight (18.5)
Thanks @AnnPT77 lots of interest points.
This BMI part struck me. Within the range of normal*, suggest any point in that range is a close approximation of not-unhealthy.
(* "normal" seems a really poor choice of words by whomever named these.)
Noboday can say one point or another is some optimal point. I am not litigating the BMI criticisms here, just stating what I think it is.
The middle point of the normal range is 21.7, a person with a 20.5 BMI has a very good chance of being at a sustainable and not unhealthy weight.
(Of course most Americans are far from that range, and the BMI range in and of itself is a little dubious.)
But a noob, talking about a 20.5 BMI doesn't set off any alarms for me.0 -
chris_in_cal wrote: »For a male at 5'8", 135 would be very light. It's BMI 20.5, not much above what's technically underweight (18.5)
Thanks @AnnPT77 lots of interest points.
This BMI part struck me. Within the range of normal*, suggest any point in that range is a close approximation of not-unhealthy.
(* "normal" seems a really poor choice of words by whomever named these.)
Noboday can say one point or another is some optimal point. I am not litigating the BMI criticisms here, just stating what I think it is.
The middle point of the normal range is 21.7, a person with a 20.5 BMI has a very good chance of being at a sustainable and not unhealthy weight.
(Of course most Americans are far from that range, and the BMI range in and of itself is a little dubious.)
But a noob, talking about a 20.5 BMI doesn't set off any alarms for me.
As long as OP doesn't have severe body dysmorphia, I'm sure he'll figure out as he approaches goal weight what the right weight range is for him. If he's unsure, his doctor would be a good touchpoint, since presumably a doctor knows full health history.
I should've mentioned - thanks for reminding me - that it's not essential to set a goal weight at the start. The goal weight we put into MFP has zero effect on our calorie goal, so we can make a wild guess at the start, and adjust as we go along, with no penalty.
I'd still encourage him to be lifting with a good progressive program (and getting good nutrition), with his goals.0 -
Thanks everyone for your thoughts, i am definitely slowly trying to cut out the candy and junk food. I am not at a point yet where i can eat healthy for every meal every day.
The 135 also seems light to me, i might stop at the 140s, not sure yet. I just want to get lean and get rid of this belly fat.1 -
Day 10: ate egg sandwich for lunch and chicken/rice/veg for dinner 1800 calories. Good day.
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Day 11: ate egg sandwich for lunch and rice/chicken/veg for dinner. 1700 calories. Good day.
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