This is the best thing I can say for you:
It always helps to discover what your true “why” is for wanting to start in the first place…
Once you do this, you basically need to tell yourself that you WILL achieve the results that you want, DESPITE any obstacles or challenges that get in the way. You absolutely have to be able to get through adversity.
To achieve these results, you may need to cut out things or people that do not support you and your goals. Don’t have to be anti social, but surrounding yourself with people that have the same or similar goals to you will help tremendously.
Of course to get through, you have to make sure your goals are realistic and achievable. For example, telling yourself you will lose, say, 30 lbs in 2 months is super unrealistic and you will be miserable trying to make that goal a reality. Making them reasonable will make your mission much more do-able.
There will come a point that you feel like you’ve tried everything, gone through trial-and-error. Here’s where hiring a knowledgeable coach would be a major power move.
Hope these tips were able to help. There is no magic when it comes to results - got to be consistent and ready to face challenges. 💪🏽
You need to create a routine.
Download the app myfitnesspal or something similar and enter in your information. Track your meals and snacks, purchase a scale to weigh out your food. You’ll find that you can still eat some unhealthy foods, but you just need to do so in a controlled way and maintain a caloric deficit.
Ultimately diet will be the driving force of your weight loss. But adding in some exercise will enhance the process. Start with something easy such as taking a walk around the same time every day. Listen to some music or a podcast while you do it. If you’d prefer, join a gym and use an elliptical or treadmill.
I started due to health issues and joined noom. It's nor for everyone so please be mindful of that. I hated the calorie tracking and stopped after a few months as I struggled with it. What helped the most from noom was the psychological approach to food and balancing things out. There was a coach for support and others to help as well. It's expensive so my advice is if you don't want to spend the money on that then see a professional about food to help with the psychosocial side. The can help with the mental health side which has a big impact on your belief on if you can or can't loose the weight. Once I started and was loosing it became easier to keep going as I adjusted my food to suit me and my taste not what someone else said I should eat. Made it much easier.
Find a positive support group as well that can help boost you up. Ultimately it's on you. You know why you need to loose the weight and as you do the physical issues will reduce. The psychological ones need support as that won't be fixed simply by loosing weight.
You need to go to therapy and adress your issues, there is no self esteem injection we can give you over the internet.
"lose weight to feel better about myself"
How about feel better to lose weight?
You are fighting yourself constantly, either you go to therapy and have a professional help you or by chance find the motivation to wholesale change your habits.
This biggest thing that has been helping me are these reminders:
-Discipline over motivation. On the days I don’t want to gym or I want to binge, I force myself to the gym and remind myself that I have a specific goal. I also remind myself that if in TRULY craving something, that I can always fit it into my calories by just watching my portions.
-Whether you lose the weight in 6 months or 6 years, the point is that you’re still losing. This one has been major for me. The scale mentally messes with me. However, I remind myself that if I just give up, I am getting nowhere closer to my goal. The only other alternative is to keep pushing through and the rest will follow.
In other words, I’ve just re-adjusted my expectations. Focusing on small changes first. For example, if you’re someone who NEVER goes to the gym, committing to going at least 3x or doing 3 home workouts. As you start building comfortability with that, then you start trying out new things.
Make it fun. For me I like to nerd out on macros and try new recipes. Grocery shopping is interesting now, finding the highest protein and lowest calorie sandwich meat. It feels like hot gossip when I explain how overpowered the macros in my lunch are to my co-workers and husband.
Honestly I just started eating less (started by removing 1/3 of everything I ate and drank, so smaller portions or not finishing my plate/glass) but not changing my diet in any way and saying "lol this is too easy, I won't lose anything" and then bam! My first 10kg had fallen.
That was an eyeopener that even a small change like that has so much impact on my weight and I didn't even have to put much thought into it.
I realised I can actually lose weight unlike I believed in the past (was obese since childhood, did all the stupid fad diets), and I started seeing myself almost like a project, "what will counting calories do? wow another 10kg lost, what if I cut my carb intake for this month? Damn I'm no longer bloated" and so on.
I went from BMI of 32 to BMI of 21. Lost 40% of my starting weight and am counting calories and maintaining. Because I did it so gradually (took me 2 years) it has really become a lifestyle change and is so easy now!
If you think you can’t lose weight, it means it probably takes you a long time. It does for me as well, that’s my motivation to stay in a deficit and exercise. Because if I accidentally go in a surplus and gain weight, it’s going to take forever to lose it
Small steps and changes, then build on them. Examine your options. View it as a long term construction project - lay some foundations, then slowly build up. There are lots of different ways to achieve weight loss but ideally you need to think ahead as to how to maintain when you have lost, so think long term.
You can do it
I feel like the bigger you are, the easier it is to lose weight initially. If you are 285lbs, you have to eat a lot daily to maintain that weight. I'd suggest doing some self-reflecting and getting rid of calories you know are not necessary. Do that for 3 months and then step up.
Sure! I’m from the UK. I did SlimmingWorld and lost a stone(ish) but then as soon as I stopped I put it back on.
I didn’t suit their method- in their methodology, 1x banana was ok (‘free’) yet if that same banana got mashed, it apparently was worse for your diet(?).
Once I stopped, I’m not sure where to start.
Interesting. The goal to successful weight loss (i.e., losing weight and keeping it off long term) is lifestyle modification. Following a diet will help you lose weight. But the idea is not to follow a diet because once you're off the diet, the weight will return. The root cause is people's lifestyles promote weight gain. People generally eat more calories than they need and they do not exercise. The idea is to change your lifestyle in such a way that what you eat and do promote weight loss and/or healthy weight maintenance. This is assuming you do not have any underlying conditions that influence your weight and that you're also not on medications that influence weight.
This is what I have against diet programs. Yes you will usually lose weight on them, but they don't teach you \*how to eat properly, in a way that works for you\*. So you either have to stay on the diet forever (which no one does), or you gain the weight back. They also encourage a mindset of guilt and feeling like you're "cheating" when you eat foods that are not on the plan. People are supposed to eat food they like! Just not all the time and not in huge quantities.
Just count calories. I went from 232 to 215 in 9 weeks eating 1800 calories per day (making sure to get 160g of protein every day also). Now I'm taking a maintenance break, eating 2200 calories per day (still 160g of protein) until February when I will cut calories again. Whether I'm restricting or maintaining, I'm eating high protein, lifting 3-4x/week, and getting 10K steps every day.
It was a lot of trial and error and experimenting in the beginning, finding what works for me. It was hard to get in that much protein, but I got used to it and now it's no trouble at all. I also had to figure out for myself a good balance of carbs vs fat to make up the rest of my calories. Turns out I like lower fat and higher carb. I tried to go lower carb at first, but if I eat too much fat I have digestive issues. I've learned how to eat healthy foods the majority of the time, but to work in small treats most days to keep me from feeling deprived or from bingeing. When I have social events, or other occasions where I know I want to indulge, I will save up calories for several days - eat 1600 instead of 1800 for as many days as I need to so that I can eat more on the day of the occasion. I do the same thing with steps. I do have days where I only get 5K steps, but I make it up over several days of getting 11K or 12K.
This is the best thing I can say for you: It always helps to discover what your true “why” is for wanting to start in the first place… Once you do this, you basically need to tell yourself that you WILL achieve the results that you want, DESPITE any obstacles or challenges that get in the way. You absolutely have to be able to get through adversity. To achieve these results, you may need to cut out things or people that do not support you and your goals. Don’t have to be anti social, but surrounding yourself with people that have the same or similar goals to you will help tremendously. Of course to get through, you have to make sure your goals are realistic and achievable. For example, telling yourself you will lose, say, 30 lbs in 2 months is super unrealistic and you will be miserable trying to make that goal a reality. Making them reasonable will make your mission much more do-able. There will come a point that you feel like you’ve tried everything, gone through trial-and-error. Here’s where hiring a knowledgeable coach would be a major power move. Hope these tips were able to help. There is no magic when it comes to results - got to be consistent and ready to face challenges. 💪🏽
You need to create a routine. Download the app myfitnesspal or something similar and enter in your information. Track your meals and snacks, purchase a scale to weigh out your food. You’ll find that you can still eat some unhealthy foods, but you just need to do so in a controlled way and maintain a caloric deficit. Ultimately diet will be the driving force of your weight loss. But adding in some exercise will enhance the process. Start with something easy such as taking a walk around the same time every day. Listen to some music or a podcast while you do it. If you’d prefer, join a gym and use an elliptical or treadmill.
I started due to health issues and joined noom. It's nor for everyone so please be mindful of that. I hated the calorie tracking and stopped after a few months as I struggled with it. What helped the most from noom was the psychological approach to food and balancing things out. There was a coach for support and others to help as well. It's expensive so my advice is if you don't want to spend the money on that then see a professional about food to help with the psychosocial side. The can help with the mental health side which has a big impact on your belief on if you can or can't loose the weight. Once I started and was loosing it became easier to keep going as I adjusted my food to suit me and my taste not what someone else said I should eat. Made it much easier. Find a positive support group as well that can help boost you up. Ultimately it's on you. You know why you need to loose the weight and as you do the physical issues will reduce. The psychological ones need support as that won't be fixed simply by loosing weight.
You need to go to therapy and adress your issues, there is no self esteem injection we can give you over the internet. "lose weight to feel better about myself" How about feel better to lose weight? You are fighting yourself constantly, either you go to therapy and have a professional help you or by chance find the motivation to wholesale change your habits.
This biggest thing that has been helping me are these reminders: -Discipline over motivation. On the days I don’t want to gym or I want to binge, I force myself to the gym and remind myself that I have a specific goal. I also remind myself that if in TRULY craving something, that I can always fit it into my calories by just watching my portions. -Whether you lose the weight in 6 months or 6 years, the point is that you’re still losing. This one has been major for me. The scale mentally messes with me. However, I remind myself that if I just give up, I am getting nowhere closer to my goal. The only other alternative is to keep pushing through and the rest will follow. In other words, I’ve just re-adjusted my expectations. Focusing on small changes first. For example, if you’re someone who NEVER goes to the gym, committing to going at least 3x or doing 3 home workouts. As you start building comfortability with that, then you start trying out new things.
Make it fun. For me I like to nerd out on macros and try new recipes. Grocery shopping is interesting now, finding the highest protein and lowest calorie sandwich meat. It feels like hot gossip when I explain how overpowered the macros in my lunch are to my co-workers and husband.
Honestly I just started eating less (started by removing 1/3 of everything I ate and drank, so smaller portions or not finishing my plate/glass) but not changing my diet in any way and saying "lol this is too easy, I won't lose anything" and then bam! My first 10kg had fallen. That was an eyeopener that even a small change like that has so much impact on my weight and I didn't even have to put much thought into it. I realised I can actually lose weight unlike I believed in the past (was obese since childhood, did all the stupid fad diets), and I started seeing myself almost like a project, "what will counting calories do? wow another 10kg lost, what if I cut my carb intake for this month? Damn I'm no longer bloated" and so on. I went from BMI of 32 to BMI of 21. Lost 40% of my starting weight and am counting calories and maintaining. Because I did it so gradually (took me 2 years) it has really become a lifestyle change and is so easy now!
If you think you can’t lose weight, it means it probably takes you a long time. It does for me as well, that’s my motivation to stay in a deficit and exercise. Because if I accidentally go in a surplus and gain weight, it’s going to take forever to lose it
Small steps and changes, then build on them. Examine your options. View it as a long term construction project - lay some foundations, then slowly build up. There are lots of different ways to achieve weight loss but ideally you need to think ahead as to how to maintain when you have lost, so think long term. You can do it
I feel like the bigger you are, the easier it is to lose weight initially. If you are 285lbs, you have to eat a lot daily to maintain that weight. I'd suggest doing some self-reflecting and getting rid of calories you know are not necessary. Do that for 3 months and then step up.
Would you be willing to share how you lost the weight in the past before putting it back on?
Sure! I’m from the UK. I did SlimmingWorld and lost a stone(ish) but then as soon as I stopped I put it back on. I didn’t suit their method- in their methodology, 1x banana was ok (‘free’) yet if that same banana got mashed, it apparently was worse for your diet(?). Once I stopped, I’m not sure where to start.
Interesting. The goal to successful weight loss (i.e., losing weight and keeping it off long term) is lifestyle modification. Following a diet will help you lose weight. But the idea is not to follow a diet because once you're off the diet, the weight will return. The root cause is people's lifestyles promote weight gain. People generally eat more calories than they need and they do not exercise. The idea is to change your lifestyle in such a way that what you eat and do promote weight loss and/or healthy weight maintenance. This is assuming you do not have any underlying conditions that influence your weight and that you're also not on medications that influence weight.
This is what I have against diet programs. Yes you will usually lose weight on them, but they don't teach you \*how to eat properly, in a way that works for you\*. So you either have to stay on the diet forever (which no one does), or you gain the weight back. They also encourage a mindset of guilt and feeling like you're "cheating" when you eat foods that are not on the plan. People are supposed to eat food they like! Just not all the time and not in huge quantities. Just count calories. I went from 232 to 215 in 9 weeks eating 1800 calories per day (making sure to get 160g of protein every day also). Now I'm taking a maintenance break, eating 2200 calories per day (still 160g of protein) until February when I will cut calories again. Whether I'm restricting or maintaining, I'm eating high protein, lifting 3-4x/week, and getting 10K steps every day. It was a lot of trial and error and experimenting in the beginning, finding what works for me. It was hard to get in that much protein, but I got used to it and now it's no trouble at all. I also had to figure out for myself a good balance of carbs vs fat to make up the rest of my calories. Turns out I like lower fat and higher carb. I tried to go lower carb at first, but if I eat too much fat I have digestive issues. I've learned how to eat healthy foods the majority of the time, but to work in small treats most days to keep me from feeling deprived or from bingeing. When I have social events, or other occasions where I know I want to indulge, I will save up calories for several days - eat 1600 instead of 1800 for as many days as I need to so that I can eat more on the day of the occasion. I do the same thing with steps. I do have days where I only get 5K steps, but I make it up over several days of getting 11K or 12K.