Losing weight in a controlled way

[WhirlwindShep]

So, I'm in much need of losing weight. Tried multiple times before. Some of them were more successful than others. Now I'm depressed and on a medication that makes me have a huge appetite. I currently weigh 105kg, and would like to reach 85kg. That would still be overweight but it would be a whole lot better. 

 

I'd like ideas on how to do this slowly and steadily. I tend to go for the "all or nothing" with the more or less obligatory feeling of being a failure for not sticking to it... I know it isn't the best way to approach it, but it still isn't easy to do it "the slow way". I will be starting to walk 5 times a week as part of next challenge, and I've already started to swap some of the soda I drink for water. but how do I continue? How do I keep it up? What can I do to eat better without falling back into old habits?

 

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

[farflight]

Personally, I had to retrain my brain as to what a "serving" of whatever is. I started eating by the posted serving sizes (from the nutrition labels) of the different foods I ate.

 

I also started tracking all my foods on a food tracker (myfitnesspal). When I made the account and started the process, I set it up to drop 0.5 pounds a week. This allowed me to have easily obtainable successes, without feeling like I was being starved and miserable. This gave me a long time to practice and build the healthier habits of eating more reasonable amounts. 

 

Around the same time, I started cooking more of my own food. I quickly learned that if I ate healthily, and enough protein, it was pretty easy to stay under my calorie goals.

 

Walking was  huge help as well. I went from 280+ to around 215-220 pretty much on diet and walking alone.

[RisenPhoenix]

I will always, always, always vote for tracking calories.  It's not fun to begin with, but it will give you an idea of what a real serving size is, how much junk you might not realize you eat, and eventually can become a game if you let it (ie - How can I get away with eating ice cream today?!).

 

Don't go all or nothing.  All or nothing does not promote good habit build up, and when failure happens it usually results in terrible feelings about the matter. Slow and steady/smaller goals means you learn how easy it is to perform, but also how easy it is to get back on track.

[WhirlwindShep]

1 hour ago, farflight said:

I also started tracking all my foods on a food tracker (myfitnesspal). When I made the account and started the process, I set it up to drop 0.5 pounds a week. This allowed me to have easily obtainable successes, without feeling like I was being starved and miserable. This gave me a long time to practice and build the healthier habits of eating more reasonable amounts.

 

1 hour ago, RisenPhoenix said:

I will always, always, always vote for tracking calories.  It's not fun to begin with, but it will give you an idea of what a real serving size is, how much junk you might not realize you eat, and eventually can become a game if you let it (ie - How can I get away with eating ice cream today?!).

 

I have a myfitnesspal account and have used it with varying success earlier. The issue is that I find it annoying when I log food I make myself, since when I do cook I often use a lot of various ingredients. And I tend to get a little bit stressed by counting calories. Maybe I set my goal too low though, because I always ended up feeling super hungry at the end of the day...

 

1 hour ago, RisenPhoenix said:

Don't go all or nothing.  All or nothing does not promote good habit build up, and when failure happens it usually results in terrible feelings about the matter. Slow and steady/smaller goals means you learn how easy it is to perform, but also how easy it is to get back on track.

 

Yes, it does fail every time, and that's why I want to figure out a smarter way. I have a tendency to beat myself up about it when I fail at something so I really don't need more of that.

[farflight]

17 minutes ago, WhirlwindShep said:

The issue is that I find it annoying when I log food I make myself, since when I do cook I often use a lot of various ingredients.

Have you tried building your recipes in fitnesspal? I've got a slew of recipes that I've either input from the internet or made myself, tends to help out.

 

18 minutes ago, WhirlwindShep said:

Maybe I set my goal too low though, because I always ended up feeling super hungry at the end of the day...

That is exactly why I set my weight loss goal for 0.5 lbs/week. I never felt hungry in the past 4 years (at least not from restriction). I HAVE felt hungry from...you know...actually being hungry...

 

I also tried to remind myself that I didn't get 280+ over night. It took me 30+ years of bad decisions to get that heavy. Thankfully, its taken far less than 30 years to get back to where I can see my feet. I think steve said it in an article/email thingy..."I had to think in months and years instead of days and weeks..." There are several times a month (sometimes a week) that I blow my calorie allotment (I'm talking like 2-3k over the limit, think going to the brunch buffett 2-3 times). I have to remind myself that that is perfectly FINE...as long as I don't do it every day/week. When I wake up the next day, or whenever I can get back to normal, I resume my normal eating habits. 

 

[Rostov]

21 hours ago, RisenPhoenix said:

I will always, always, always vote for tracking calories.  It's not fun to begin with, but it will give you an idea of what a real serving size is, how much junk you might not realize you eat, and eventually can become a game if you let it (ie - How can I get away with eating ice cream today?!).

 

Don't go all or nothing.  All or nothing does not promote good habit build up, and when failure happens it usually results in terrible feelings about the matter. Slow and steady/smaller goals means you learn how easy it is to perform, but also how easy it is to get back on track.

 

Think this is great advice. Not everyone is a fan of counting calories, but it definitely worked for me. Making a few changes (like you've already made, water for soda etc) is definitely the way to go, and once they're working it's time to make a few more. But I recognise the stress elements...I remember staring, paralysed by indecision, at a chiller cabinet full of sandwiches, unable to make any kind of decision. But I got through that.

 

One thing does give me pause... if you're depressed and on medication that enhances appetite I think this needs to be factored in. I've been on medication (not for depression) that had some similar side effects and I think any plan (and your associated expectations) need to factor in these additional challenges. It could be that actually - under the current circumstances - not putting on any more weight is an achievement in itself.

 

I don't want to be negative, or limit your ambitions. It might be that weight loss (and exercise) may help with the depression, so it may all end up being a virtuous circle, and it makes sense to do all this at once. Making plans and being positive about the future is good. On the other hand, it might be a time to be gentle with yourself and your expectations. All of which is a long-winded way of saying the obvious, that I think you should discuss your weight loss plans with whoever is seeing you for depression.

 

 

[WhirlwindShep]

On 2017-10-17 at 5:48 PM, Rostov said:

Think this is great advice. Not everyone is a fan of counting calories, but it definitely worked for me. Making a few changes (like you've already made, water for soda etc) is definitely the way to go, and once they're working it's time to make a few more.

 

I feel that it's easy for me to forget counting calories, and to also be a little stressed about it. But I am very happy that I even drink water every day now. Previously there were more often than not days where I had only liquids with calories in them.

 

On 2017-10-17 at 5:48 PM, Rostov said:

One thing does give me pause... if you're depressed and on medication that enhances appetite I think this needs to be factored in. I've been on medication (not for depression) that had some similar side effects and I think any plan (and your associated expectations) need to factor in these additional challenges. It could be that actually - under the current circumstances - not putting on any more weight is an achievement in itself.

 

Absolutely! I definitely would like to lose weight, but not gaining it is good as well. I think that the depression would benefit from some increased exercise and weight loss, but it's a balance it seems. Doing too much stresses me out, and doing nothing will make me gain more weight which isn't good either. the medication works well apart from the increased appetite and a few very minor side effects apart from that. So all in all, I like the medication and from what I know so far it seems I'm on it for at least another 6 months, probably more, before we try to lower the dosage.

 

On 2017-10-17 at 5:48 PM, Rostov said:

Making plans and being positive about the future is good. On the other hand, it might be a time to be gentle with yourself and your expectations. 

 

Which is why I'm here!  Actually, I feel like there is a huge support here, and so much knowledge. I want to see and know that small changes are good, and that "all or nothing" isn't the right way for me to do it. I do tend to work that way though, and I start up projects all the time but lose interest after a while and then do nothing... 

[PeterZejdaFitness]

Try not to have too big of a calorie deficit, it can hurt your metabolism and cause your weight loss to really stall.  It's good to provide your body with the energy to perform some of it's vital functions pretty well.  To get an estimate for your breakeven calories googla an online TDEE calculator.  From there, I recommend doing somewhere around a 20% calorie deficit, but you should track your weight so that you can figure out how accurate the estimate was by the TDEE calculator.

[Karma Krishok]

I can't even count the times I have tried to adjust diets or exercise habits in the last ten years and gave up because I was disappointed with myself. I have decided to try and use a different approach two months ago. I booked a hike in the Himalayas that's been on my to-do list for the same decade at the end of next year. There is no way I can complete it with my lazy lifestyle and 113 kgs so that gives a great motivation to eat better and exercise more. I don't worry about the calories or exact amount of exercise, I do what feels good and healthy. Because honestly, anyone over 100 kg doesn't need a calorie-counting app to tell them which foods are unhealthy. And that's a good enough starting point to change a diet and cut out the calories for your 0,5 kg weight loss per week. And when because of travel last month, I fell off the wagon, this is what got me back on track:

 

[Sylvaa]

Have you looked at the NF "Diet" Cheat Sheet? I really like the way they broke down the process into steps. Depending on your overall goals, trying to hit level 10 is pretty ambitious, but it's definitely a great place to start. I'm one of those people who gets pretty obsessive when tracking calories, so I don't always do so. Instead, I monitor my weight and currently only track if I see the weight starting to creep up (it helps put everything back in perspective for me). 

 

On 10/16/2017 at 3:54 PM, farflight said:

I also tried to remind myself that I didn't get 280+ over night. It took me 30+ years of bad decisions to get that heavy.

 

Quoting this for emphasis. It's going to be a process, and it won't always be easy. Also, don't let your bad decisions snowball. Most people are going to trip up along the way, but getting back on the horse after a bad day is going to help so much in the long run.

[KrispyPea]

Sylvaa thank you for posting that cheat sheet! I think it looks really sensible. I haven't been sticking to diets by just reducing my calories to 1200 overnight, or by going on "plans". I'm gonna follow the advice of the cheat sheet, along with MFP, and keep things simple. I don't need to be told exactly what to eat or anything either. Thanks!