Another year, another weight loss plan :)

[madbean]

Last year, around this same time, I started on a fairly hardcore diet. I went full vegan/keto with the goal of losing about 50 lbs. I made it halfway. Then I gained it all back.

I've been feeling a bit bummed about that and decided it's a new year and now is the time to start again. But, differently. Around Fall I decided to take a break from 4 years of vegetarian eating and went back to poultry and fish. Mostly because I was getting sick of the vegetarian diet (although I still very much agree with the reasons I adopted it). So, this time around no keto/vegan/vegetarian. It's all about calories. I'm trying meal prep and storage. I'm going to eat at about a 1/3rd calorie deficiency for the next few weeks and see how it goes. Meals are prepped and stored with precise weights per food category and fruit snacks when I want them (obviously, I am sticking to healthy foods!) Stuff I'm not going to worry about: coffee and alcohol. I think I will eventually moderate those a bit more but one step at a time.

Maybe this will be the trick. Dunno. I do know I've felt kinda gross for the last couple of months and I'm ready to have a healthier outlook.


Anyone else trying a new food plan this year?

[jimilee]

Hey Brian, I use the "My Fitness Pal" app to keep track of my calories, and I ride the exercise bike at the GYM. I've been working on losing 20lbs since November, I've lost about 15 so far. I try to stay around 1,200 calories or less per day, which works for me, you might need more. Good luck buddy. It's all about retraining yourself how to eat. Diets only work when you're on them. After you've lost all the weight on a diet, then what do you do? Gain it back. I"ve been pescatarian for about a year and change, it's been pretty easy. I get vegan ground beef and make spaghetti and tacos and lasagna. This is a nice alternative to fish and shrimp. The Quorn brand is the best tasting. Anyhow, that's my 2 cents. It's really random isn't it.

[somnif]

https://www.myfitnesspal.com/

That's the website I used, managed to lose about ~35 pounds over 9 months.

Tried Keto at first and it just royally screwed with my brain, I couldn't keep a thought in my head for more than a few seconds, my focus was off, I'd forget things constantly, and my sleep schedule was just gone. So after 3-4 weeks of it I said screw it and just started keeping track of my calories and "exercise", and had a bowl of pasta for dinner. (By exercise I mean walking and occasionally pedaling a stationary bike while I graded papers)

Yeah weight loss slowed a bit, but I was actually functional as a human being and wasn't walking into walls constantly. If I wanted a snack, I went and walked around the parking lot with a book for a while to balance it, and I could math it out to actually show what was happening.

I've since gained some of it back as stress kicked my ass for a while, but I'm no longer threatening to bust my pants seams when I sit down suddenly, so that's a win at least.

[culturejam]

Glad you are resolved to improve yourself. 

I have a lot to say about dietary approach (especially since you referenced "keto"), but it's getting late and I'm losing focus. I'd love to have a skype call on this topic, if you're up for it.

[matmosphere]

It's not easy is it? But I wish you luck and good health.

So I dropped a little coin on an app called Noom, it is a calorie tracker and a few other things. But the cool thing is it has a huge amount of education content. Daily modules that you work through, little quizzes and task. Doesn't take any food off the table just tracks calories, so if you have the calories available you can eat it.

Lost about 40 pounds in six months and have kept it off. Confident I could loose more if I wanted to work at it too.

One thing that helped me a lot lately too is, that if I'm going somewhere less than a mile from my house I pop in headphones and walk. I try to walk about 10,000 steps a day. Can't overstate how big a deal that's been.

Good luck man.

[Thewintersoldier]

Good luck sticking to it Brian. It's not easy but you can do it. For me it was about trying to stay active. Doing things outside, going on a walk everyday with the dog and stuff like that. I also got tired of diets and tried portion control and healthier eating habits. I didn't cut anything out of my diet just ate less, and more frequently because I know how metabolisms work. Nothing better than trying to be healthier. Wish you the best my guy. I'm thinking about pedal building outside this summer lol build a pedal and play with the kids!

[dan.schumaker]

It's not easy is it? But I wish you luck and good health.

So I dropped a little coin on an app called Noom, it is a calorie tracker and a few other things. But the cool thing is it has a huge amount of education content. Daily modules that you work through, little quizzes and task. Doesn't take any food off the table just tracks calories, so if you have the calories available you can eat it.

Lost about 40 pounds in six months and have kept it off. Confident I could loose more if I wanted to work at it too.

One thing that helped me a lot lately too is, that if I'm going somewhere less than a mile from my house I pop in headphones and walk. I try to walk about 10,000 steps a day. Can't overstate how big a deal that's been.

Good luck man.

My wife has started on Noom in the last month or so, and she is enjoying it so far.  What she has found most interesting is the reading and learning, not just "I can only eat this much".  I think the point of it is to help give you the tools and knowledge to not need the program forever.

[aion]

Intermittent fasting is also worth a look. For me it's always easier to "follow the rules" if it's a simple all-on or all-off. Not "how much can I eat", but "can I eat at all", and with IF, for 18 hours a day, the answer is no. (Or 20, or 23 - there are different degrees of it depending on how quickly you want results.)

Advance meal prep has a similar goal of setting strict boundaries, as long as you know you can only eat what's in the container and nothing else. There are some other potential advantages to IF (it's got some keto-like properties) but CICO plus advance planning should be plenty effective too. Snacking and other non-meal eating is what kills you, really.

[madbean]

Intermittent fasting is also worth a look. For me it's always easier to "follow the rules" if it's a simple all-on or all-off. Not "how much can I eat", but "can I eat at all", and with IF, for 18 hours a day, the answer is no. (Or 20, or 23 - there are different degrees of it depending on how quickly you want results.)

Advance meal prep has a similar goal of setting strict boundaries, as long as you know you can only eat what's in the container and nothing else. There are some other potential advantages to IF (it's got some keto-like properties) but CICO plus advance planning should be plenty effective too. Snacking and other non-meal eating is what kills you, really.

Yeah, I'm doing 16/8 on the IF. I did that last year and it wasn't too hard. Eventually I'll relax on that but I figure a bit of a shock to the system is a good way to start.

[madbean]

Glad you are resolved to improve yourself. 

I have a lot to say about dietary approach (especially since you referenced "keto"), but it's getting late and I'm losing focus. I'd love to have a skype call on this topic, if you're up for it.

That would be super. I know you took off a bit last year, too.

[madbean]

The great thing about making a change is it takes very little time to feel an improvement (literally 2-3 days). Over the last week I dropped a bunch of water weight and saw some very small changes. My new meal plan is working great and I feel fairly accustomed to the 16 hour fasting schedule now. Hunger pangs have gotten minimal in the fasting periods.

I've decided that while I do have a goal weight in mind I'm not going to weigh myself regularly. Instead, I am going to focus on sticking to the plan and just let the result work itself out. I think this is a healthy approach. I'm also allowing myself one cheat meal on Sundays so I can have a break. Feeling positive and like this is the right path for me. Most importantly, I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything. Luckily, I had almost no sweet-tooth to begin with and mostly I don't like junk food

[jimilee]

Nice job man. Keep going.


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[alanp]

From my experience... get a job involving manual labour, and a lot of it.

You won't lose weight. But you will put on muscle and lose fat. Knowing how seat polishers regard plebes, you will lose pay, though.

[pickdropper]

At the end of the day, it's all about the caloric intake.

About August last year, I decided that I wanted to drop a little bit of weight.  I lift weights a bit, so I wasn't in terrible shape, but I just decided I wanted to be leaner.  I really looked at what I was eating.  I actually found it easy to cut 500-600 calories a day through simple adjustments (fewer carbs, staying away from high caloric or sugary sauces).  Lunch everyday has become boneless chicken and some sort of steamed vegetable.  If I stay within that, the weight drops.

I find it actually helps to have a heavier eating day periodically to sort of reset my metabolism.  The key is not to string together numerous heavy days.

[nzCdog]

All the best with your goals bro!  I find it pretty hard to lose weight, my life hasnt been good  for routine building.  However, when things are going well in that area, life is definitely more enjoyable. When I travel for work,  I like the bodybuilder protein bars for lunch. I find them a good appetite suppressant with minimal carbs.  They're also helpful if you're exercising too, to improve muscle recovery etc.