Howdy folks. I lost 75 lbs over the last 10 months and I thought I'd share my experience in case it can help anyone.
The Beginning
I started my weightloss journey after Thanksgiving this year when I realized my weight was creeping up past 245. I knew how to lose weight. I've gotten down to 220 many times, but once I got there, my mind said "You did it! You can stop counting calories!"
In short order I would get back up towards 245, and the process would repeat itself. I'm sure we've all been there.
What was different this time?
There were multiple facets that I clung to for inspiration here. First, I wanted to look better for my wife. Second, we had just had a little girl and I realized she needs a healthy father to look up to. Last, my stepson is entering teenagehood and needs a good role model in terms of taking care of himself. I think these long term goals helped in locating the difference between motivation and discipline.
Calories
I started off being allowed like 2,200 calories and could lose 2 lbs a week. Sticking to that was easy, but as the weight came off, it got lower and lower. Now I'm eating around 1,600 calories a day.
Diet
I eat two packs of Oikos Triple Zero Greek yogurt for breakfast- 15 grams of protein for 110 calories each. This was my most common breakfast, with occasional eggs on the weekends.
Lunch would be a couple protein shakes or leftovers from dinner the night before- depending on if I worked from home or not.
A snack would usually be a protein bar.
My wife has a lot of food allergies, so we don't eat out anyway. This really put me in control because my dinners are consistently a grilled piece of meat and vegetables roasted with about 1 tbs of oil. I would eat 4 oz portions (I weighed after cooking, which may not be technically correct), and a happy serving of veggies.
Most things that involved a sauce were made spicy, using vinegars, mustards, and hot sauces so they are all low or no calories.
This diet usually put me at about 1000-1200 calories by the time dinner is over, which leaves room for a dessert or some snacking.
Intermittent Fasting
I originally heard about IF, and thought it was crazy talk. I'll never make it to noon without eating! Once I tried it out, I actually like it much better. It especially helps on weekends where it's easy to eat out of boredom.
I only used this method over the last 20 lbs or so.
Exercise
Once I got down to 210 lbs or so, I began running. I have a love hate relationship with running. I would jog until I was out of breath, walk until I caught my breath, and then jog again. I started out running a mile and thought I might die. So I started listening to music while I ran. That didn't help, because it broke things into 3-4 minute chunks. I got a tip to listen to audiobooks, and that makes a world of difference. It is much easier for me to get immersed in a story.
I also cannot stand running on treadmills. I'm a quitter at heart, and it's so easy for me to say that whatever I did on the treadmill is good enough and stop early, but if you give up halfway into a 5k, you still have 2.5 k to go back to your car.
Going forward, I plan to bring in some weight training to gain strength.
Struggles
The one thing I had the hardest time with over 10 months was alcohol. I've been sober for about 2 months now, and it's soooo much easier to exist without alcohol. I've tried drinking since, but it was overall an unpleasant experience. I recommend anyone trying to lose weight to quit drinking, but I've also had my share of days where I eat 1200 calories to leave room for a bottle of wine. I've been there.
As far as the rest of social life goes, don't get too hung up on missing out. You will be tracking your calories for a long time. There is no reason to give up on having a slice of cake to celebrate a friend or to go out for pizza sometimes.
Other rambling
I'm really not sure where I'm going at this point. I don't really feel like I crossed a finish line as much as I've started a new chapter. I made this post to give a little bit of insight for anyone. This is really a lifestyle change. I stopped drawing motivation from this sub after about 50 lbs lost because I knew my routine, and I knew if I wanted to lose weight it was up to me to hit that routine.
I honestly planned to stop at 200 lbs, but by the time I got there I knew I could keep going. I dropped my goal to 190, and then to 170 when I learned that would put me at a healthy BMI.
I'm here to answer any questions or comments if I can. I'm always happy help anyone that's struggling. I have utmost faith that you can achieve your goal, and there's never any shame in asking for help. Everything can only be accomplished one day at a time, so please don't beat yourself up for one bad day, and don't get lost in celebrating multuple good days in a row.
[link] [comments]
from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/2R2s7hD
No comments:
Post a Comment