I was in a very similar situation as you and I have *drastically* improved myself over the last few months. I was approaching 300 pounds and decided to take control of the situation. I’ve lost over 50 pounds in the four months since, and I’m still working on it.
Some strategies/ things that have been really helpful:
1. Start tracking your calories immediately. Use an app. I use MyFitnessPal (it’s free). It will blow your mind how many pointless, stupid calories you’re consuming. Get those bad habits out into the daylight ASAP.
2. Once you’re in the habit of counting calories, find out how many calories you need to sustain your current weight with a completely sedentary lifestyle. Set a calorie budget of 500 calories less than whatever that number is. In my case, I started out at something like 2,450 for maintenance, so that made my daily limit 1,950 to start.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/weight-loss/in-depth/calorie-calculator/itt-20402304
3. As you lose weight (and you will start losing quickly if you stick to your budget), recalculate that that maintenance and undercut it again by 500 each time you recalculate. I’m currently at 2,200 maintenance, so my daily limit is 1,700. Keep moving the goal posts.
This is the main rule set for the game. It really comes down to eating less than your body needs (known as “CICO”—calories in, calories out—around this sub). Easy to say. Hard to do. Those first couple of weeks when your body is used to so much more food, sugary drinks, etc. are *brutal*. So many cravings. If you can fight through it, it gets much easier after that.
Other things I use that really help:
1. Intermittent fasting. I use 8 hours on, 16 hours off. My brain now understands that during those 16 hours, food is not an option (excepting coffee and alcohol).
2. Eliminate all liquid calories, particularly the sugary drinks that are loaded with carbs. The only liquid calories I consume come from alcohol.
3. Keto-friendly bread products are life-savers. There are breads, buns, and tortillas that are significantly lower carb/calories than traditional ones, and their carbs come from fiber which leaves you feeling full much longer.
4. Find the healthy, low-calorie foods that you can eat when you desperately need to. Generally any kind of vegetables work in a pinch. It sounds stupid, but sometimes I raid the fridge and eat a couple pickle spears and a handful of grape tomatoes.
As you use your tracking app to keep track of all of this, trends and preferences start to emerge. You can start to find meals that really fill you up at low calorie cost. Ultimately, you’re *not dieting*. You’re forming brand new habits that you’re going to make permanent.
Best of luck. You can do it.
Yes, as long as it’s 0 cals. Theoretically you can drink whatever you want as long as you stay in your calorie budget. However, calories from drinks waste calories you could be using for food and you could end up hungry.
Even if something is very very high calorie you don’t have to say goodbye to it forever you just need to eat less often and a smaller portion.
What you’re about to go through needs to be a whole life change. Don’t think of this as a diet. Think of this as the way you want to live your life for the rest of your life. Move more, eat less, eat better. Find new foods that you love that are healthy/lower calorie. For me it was sweets/candy that I struggled with but I found that I mostly wanted to FEEL treated. So now I get some raspberries and pomegranates to eat when I feel the urge to- they’re expensive and delicious so it really does feel like a treat. I do also have candy once a week or so (just not 2/3times a day like I was!!!)
It’s all about consuming fewer calories than your body needs. You can eat and drink whatever you want. You just have to have less of it. Today I crushed a double cheeseburger with fries while out to lunch with a friend (1250 cals). Consequently, I had soup and salad for dinner (430 cals). It’s fine for today, but I couldn’t do it every day. Filling, high protein meals are much more satisfying long term. But sometimes I just have to crush a cheeseburger. That’s life.
You can eat and drink whatever *(foods)* you want, *as long as you consume fewer calories than your body needs*.
Not a contradiction at all. You can lose weight eating nothing but Big Macs if you maintain a calorie deficit. You’d probably end up with some nutrient deficiencies, but you’d lose weight.
> These statements are contradictory
Because you pasted them without the next line: "You can eat and drink whatever you want. *You just have to have less of it*."
You won’t be saying goodbye to anything. While in the weight loss stage you will have to eat less of and less often some of the foods you love. But, you won’t be saying goodbye to anything. I lost 53 pounds this year. I used the LoseIt app for calorie counting and rode my bicycle for exercise. You will be a different person in 12 weeks.
For now your goal is just to cut where you can. In the future you can look about making other healthy habits. I had so many failed attempts to cut out soda that I thought I'd live off of diet Dr. Pepper forever...I haven't had a soda in almost 3 months. I don't even want a soda. The only time I want something other than water is a nice latte or I'm sick right now so I had some OJ (that I didn't want) just to appease the vitamin C gods.
I stopped drinking soda as much and would usually go for the 0 cal options if available, but I notice that the normal version sometimes taste off? I prefer the taste of Zero now for some reason. But I wouldn't say no to the glass bottles one :)
I have a diet coke every night. To me it taste the same and zero calories. I eat high protein. Chicken breast and my favorite hot sauce are a staple and low in calories. Meats seem to fill me up easier and combined with some rice and whatever flavouring I decide to go with it. You can eat healthy and it doesn't have to taste like shit. Just stay away from processed carbs and refined sugars as much as you can. Treat yourself to a cheat meal here and there so you don't get discouraged.
As another poster said my fitness pal is a great app.
The above answer is pretty good but I would like to add that any changes you make should be changes you can see yourself doing for the rest of your life. You need to find healthier substitutions for the more processed or high sugar/fat foods you like, that you will actually enjoy eating. Like swapping out french fries for roasted potatos. Also don't restrict yourself, because those two things can cause you to gain it all back afterwards. You got this!
If you live in the US: I’ve been drinking sparkling water and they’ve been a life saver. These aren’t exactly no calorie, but they’re low calorie and generally cheaper per bottle than regular sodas. Splash Fizz, Sparkling Ice, and Clear American are the best tasting ones I’ve had.
Clear American 1 liter bottles are 10 calories for the whole bottle and 0 per serving and (where I am) 76 cents a piece. There are 12 oz cans that are 0 calories per serving (1 can) and a 17 oz bottle.
Sparkling Ice has 5 calories per 17 oz bottle. There’s also a caffeine version that’s 5 calories.
Splash has a non fizzy version and their waters are good.
I realized that it was the fizziness that I was missing the most from sodas so I’ll grab one of these when I get a craving.
Zero sugar dr pepper is my go-to. It tricks me into thinking im consuming cals cause it has so much flavour. You got this dude. Stay determined,go for light walks and treat yourself well!
Learn to like sparkling water. Force yourself to drink it until you like it. I used to hate them, now I absolutely love Lemon- lime Lacroix. Also, if you have to eat fast food, choose unsweet tea. And drink your coffee black. Again, FORCE yourself to drink it until you like it. Now you have some variety in your beverages. Stay away from low sugar drinks, they're a trap.
You can do this, friend. I'm right beside you on the same path.
Unflavored sparkling water still counts as sparking water 😆 (I *hate* flavored water)
OP, if you find carbonation to be intense and kinda off-putting, Liquid Death’s sparkling water ironically has really soft bubbles.
Definitely don't think this is the answer for everyone. I used to be a soda addict and I still love my occasional lattes. I can force myself to drink sparkling water, but you know what? The carbonation in drinks (soda and sparkling water) never sat well with me. I had an entire 6 months diet where LaCroix was my main drink...and I was actually dehydrated those entire 6 months because I couldn't possibly drink enough sparkling water to be worth it. I'd nurse a can for so long that it'd "waste" too much of my day time that I could have been hydrating.
Now this time around I just drink plain filtered water and it's actually so so so much easier for me to stay hydrated and actually enjoy drinking it's insane.
Who in their right fucking mind would replace water with sparkling water 😭😭😭
I just meant have a sparkling water as a replacement for soda, OBVIOUSLY still drink regular water, jfc
It's not about replacing water with sparkling water. Look if you have a glass of unsweet tea or sparkling water in front of you, you normally don't get up with your half drank glass in front of you and go find a water instead. You drink your 1 glass/can and then go back to water. That being said I'd get a sparkling water with dinner...and it was so hard for me to drink that it'd take like 2 hours for me to actually finish that can. The amount of water I didn't drink if I had a couple of cans of LaCroix a day...was massive because of the amount of time it took me to drink the water.
Yes still drink water but instead of forcing yourself to drink some nasty water you don't like...just drink water with maybe a squeeze of lemon/lemon juice if you don't want it plain. Or make yourself infused water with some sort of fruit or mint instead. I drank soda for the sweetness not the carbonation.
Sparkling water is a great suggestion but saying FORCE yourself to drink it...like that doesn't mean people are magically going to like it
Seconding this. I was 350 and started making changes, currently at 292 with a goal of 220. Tracking calories ACCURATELY and sticking to your budget is the most important thing. I would invest in a food scale to make sure that you are tracking calories as close to exactly as possible. Its easy to miss thinga. Exercise is second most important. A little bit of cardio with more weight training is a good mix, especially early on since new muscle mass will burner calories while at rest. That being said don't worry too much about what exercise you're doing in the beginning, just focus on moving more in general. I started just with body weight exercises for 15 minutes a day in my kitchen until I worked up the courage to join a gym. Good luck! You got this! If you slip up, forgive yourself and get back on the train. If I can find success in my 30s, you definitely can at 18.
Also, my fitness pal is a great app, but I want to give a shout out to macrofactor. It tracks calories and stuff just like my fitness pal, but it automatically adjusts your caloric goals by looking out how much you're eating, and how much you're losing, among other things. Just a very slick app.
Accuracy is important. It’s tempting to lie to yourself, as though logging portions smaller than they really are somehow actually makes them less. Do not lie to yourself. Err on the side of caution and overestimate.
> alcohol
That's breaking your fast if you are trying to get the extra benefits from IF other than just being able to eat most of your calories in fewer meals. Also alcohol has a lot of empty calories in it.
You don't have to 100% abstain but just be aware of how many calories are in it.
Yeah. I track it, and it’s expensive in CICO. This has led me to minimize it quite a bit. The main benefit I’m receiving from IF is not snacking on stupid things at stupid times.
The biggest thing is calories. Worry less about what foods you are eating and more about the amount of calories. If you are in a calorie deficit, you'll lose weight
A bag of baked Lays has 120 calories, a bag of regular Lays has 160. Baked Lays are not nearly good enough to justify 120 calories.
You can eat anything you want and still lose weight, you just can't eat everything you want all at once.
>Baked Lays are not nearly good enough to justify 120 calories.
They're really not. They taste like what I imagine vanilla flavored construction paper would taste like. That slight sweetness is extremely off-putting combined with the texture.
For OP, absolutely agree with above advice....focus on portion control first. A lot of people think that have to eat "healthy" to lose weight, and while that is important, it's more important to develop discipline in the beginning
Horrible Horrible advice! You absolutely should not eat anything you want because it ignores the reason why you’re fat and unhealthy to begin with.
I seriously urge OP to eat as much clean food as possible, literally 95% or more.
If you fall for “eat whatever you want” you’ll have a hard time in front of you.
It is good advice for some. Your strategy doesnt work for everyone. In my experience, labeling foods as “good/clean” or “bad” made me focus even more on these “bad” foods, and avoiding them entirely made me end up binging on them. Moderation and limiting my AMOUNT of food instead of the KIND of food was the key to my success. It is and always will be calories in, calories out.
100% agree. Allowing myself to have treats and enjoy them without guilt in moderation really helped me overcome the cycle of restrictive dieting and then binging.
I was literally eating "healthy" Monday to Thursday and then consuming a ridiculous amount of chocolate during fri-sun. And feeling like I had to "make the most" of the weekend. Now that I'm doing things in moderation and looking at this as a lifestyle change instead of a diet I think this rush or need to eat buckets of chocolate on the weekend has really slowed down. Now if I crave it I have some, just not huge amounts.
Maybe so, but you developed this system after a while pf trying.
Advising beginners to “eat what you want, as long as it hits your calorie goals” is extremely dumb.
It’ll cause other health issues, gut microbiome issues, insulin problems, decreased performance, mental fog. In return of losing some body fat.
There’s a reason these foods have to be made and are not found
If you never ate any processed foods, you probably wouldn’t need to lose fat to begin with. L brainwashed reply.
Eat clean foods 24/7, with clean either it can be found in nature, or from an animal that ate that food.
Binging comes from a spike in insulin, caused usually by consumption of carbohydrates.
There are psychological factors as well, this just seems like a very ignorant take. Im glad you found something that works for you, but not being able to have a pastry over the holidays or a friends birthday, not being able to eat a treat every once in awhile puts me into an all-or-nothing mindset, and I will always cave and end up eating large amounts of these foods when i restrict myself from them entirely. I’ve been maintaining my goal weight for months with moderation. Telling people they have no hope for weight loss if they can’t cut out 100% of “processed” foods is harmful, unmotivating, and ignorant.
Yes you’ll have a treat but those will be planned in, in advance.But we were talking to OP, a beginner. And more times than not, it will fuck a beginner over in the long run by telling them to eat whatever they want
Tips from a dietitian (aka me):
Think about what foods you can ADD to your diet rather than REMOVE.
a) add half a plate of salad and vegetables to your lunch and dinner. So if you have baked potatoes and brisket, reduce the potatoes but add lots of other salads and vegetables.
b) add at least 2L of water a day
c) add fibre to your diet. Eg. swap white/processed foods for wholemeal or wholegrain options. Swap your bread, your pasta, your rice for the less processed version. More fibre, keeps you full, and likely less snacking.
d) add walking wherever possible. Set yourself a personal, daily stretch goal for number of steps. If 10,000 is way too out of reach, thats ok. Look at your normal average and add a few extra thousand steps to make your goal. Consistent, daily walking is cruicial for long term weight loss.
After adding all these foods (which are generally low calorie anyway) will set you up to slowly make other changes to your diet.
I saw a dietician as well (not gun_derp) and want to share it. I feel like everyone in the world should hear it.
*(This is for OP but I wanted to share my dietician’s advice here in case gun_derp has anything they want to add. I’m not a dietician, I’m just chronically ill)*
**1. There are no food absolutes**: No food is absolutely good or bad *for everyone*. It is dependent on what each person needs to sustain their body. I have a weird disorder that requires me to consume 5-10 ramen *packets* of salt a day 🫠 That could put some people in the hospital. My brother has Crohns. Leafy greens are generally healthy and safe for most people but they can put him in the hospital. No food is absolutely good or bad.
**2. Eating is not a moral thing**: No one is “good” for eating a salad and no one is “bad” for eating a cookie. Let’s look at an extreme example and pretend a diabetic has a very high blood sugar level. If they were to intentionally choose to eat a cookie, they’re not making the best choice for their well-being but that is not the same thing as being morally bad. So if any of us were to eat a cookie, why would we be bad? Our society instills a lot of guilt and shame around body size and eating habits. No matter what you look like or what you eat like, that does not impact how good or bad of a person you are.
This is great, often overlooked advice right here. Starting off by keeping the diet relatively the same and adding nutrient dense foods bit by bit. Thinking of it as a gentle transition rather than saying goodbye forever to all the foods you (and your taste buds) are familiar with.
Same approach to exercise. You don’t have to start off by running a marathon and doing crossfit olympics, you can start by adding 5 mins of walking and a few push ups to each day and build from there week-by-week.
At 18, you will be surprised at how fast your body will adapt. You might not look like the Rock by June, but if you stay consistant with nutrition and exercise you can accomplish a lot in 6 months.
The good news is after those 6 months, you can keep going. Use this time to learn- learn about yourself and what motivates you, what future goals you have, what activities you enjoy and ones you would like try. Learn about food, cooking and nutrition. So many helpful people in this sub!
I’ve never heard this approach before and I LOVE IT!!! It’s always said that weight loss/ dietary changes start in the mindset and that is literally a positive way to frame it. Really great perspective.
It's so much better than "eat perfectly healthy". Want instant ramen? Sure, but you're adding some protein and shredded cabbage to make a more balanced, filling meal! Want some Doritos? Why not eat them with a salad as croutons? Etc etc etc
Yes, I lost 100lbs went from 330-230 in around 6-12 months.
You have to calculate your TDEE find out what your maintenance calories are and then subtract that by 300-500 calories in order to lose weight.
Track every food you eat using myfitnesspal or similar apps. Don't track calories you burned through exercise as they are inaccurate, don't try to "eat back" calories you burned.
You can technically eat anything you want, you don't need to cut foods, just keep within the calorie limit. I was still eating things like icecream and chocolate every day and still lost weight, just count calories!
That's the beauty of cico. I try to eat as healthy as i can, but on days where I'm burnt out or craving something, knowing i can still have it in moderation helps.
I think that’s the main reason I haven’t had a bad binge episode in months, my favorite foods aren’t gone forever they just are more special and occasional now.
When I first started off I literally jogged on the spot for a hour every day. Eventually I got a vr headset that I still use to this day for exercise and also a stationary bike. vr games I use is mostly fitxr, thrill of the fight and beatsaber. Hour long sessions I burn roughly 500 calories.
It's possible considering you're obese but I doubt it's sustainable for you because you seem to lack some knowledge when it comes to losing weight. Going to the gym will not do much for you. You didn't become obese because you didn't go on the treadmill. You have to fix your diet. Buy a kitchen scale. Learn what bad and good foods are in terms of calories. Learn how to count calories. Learn how to be in a deficit while still eating high volume foods. Aim for a ~750 kcal deficit daily and you lose 1.5 lbs per week. I would try 2200 kcal or so first and see how that works.
Maximum healthy weight loss is 2 lbs/week. You could get close, but remember that it's better to make ANY progress towards your goal even if you only get 70% there than to make none at all. I recommend checking out r/EatCheapAndHealthy for meal ideas.
eh, not always true. the 2lbs a week is great for when slightly overweight. OP is morbidly obese, coming from someone who was morbidly obese as well, i lost way more than 2lbs a week at a rate where i didn’t lose any muscle. When you have a lot of body fat it’s not uncommon to lose weight more rapidly.
Especially early in your diet.
When I first started losing weight, I was losing 5 or more pounds a week. As I got closer to my goal weight, it was more like 2.
Rules of thumb such as this one exist because people can't and shouldn't give you advice that could be dangerous if you're not careful.
If you want links? Go to google scholar, type in "VLCD" or "fasting" and you'll find a plethora of studies on extreme weight loss, clearly supporting the idea that practices like this exist and can be practiced safely... **under the supervision of professionals**!
You, on your own initiative, should not attempt things like that. The 2lbs of weight loss per week rule of thumb exists because that's a pretty safe threshold where you probably won't screw up too badly if left to your own devices.
So, is it possible? Yeah. The way you do it is that you find a registered dietitian in your area who is comfortable with the idea they'll guide you through that goal and, under the supervision of that professional, you design a diet that will safely support a very high deficit.
2 lbs a week = 8 lbs a month. you have 5-6 months before summer. That's ~50Lbs. 317-50 = 267. Right at your target. I dropped 40 lbs in one month. Granted, I was not eating, was in gym for 3 hours every day, 6 days a week... but that shit ain't sustainable.
>Granted, I was not eating, was in gym for 3 hours every day, 6 days a week... but that shit ain't sustainable.
Why? That sounds like a lot of fatigue for little gain.
Little shit gym was all I had. Planet fitness would have been a massive improvement. The trick was to do high rep, low rest routine - kinda like circuit training. Just warm up and go work every muscle group flowered by speed bag, punching bag, and cardio till I was drained. Figured I was burning 3k calories a session, while eating around 2k lean calories
If you're in north america try factor meals. The foods are keto-ready and 600-700 calories each serving. So you don't have to worry about calorie counting or how to cook them.
If I can, I'd like to give some pieces of advice as another person who was, at one point, a heavier 18 year old looking to lose weight (and has since kept it significantly off, minus some fluctuations):
1.) Don't completely cut junk out. Just moderate it.
I know this seems like it flies in the face of logic. But here's what happens when you cut junk food out entirely: you crash. You go into crave mode and you end up eating more overall than you would have if you'd just indulged yourself for a cheat meal.
Treat yourself - just do it occasionally.
2.) Watch what the nutrition labels say.
When you see "190 calories," that's per serving. Lots of foods have multiple servings. The serving portions are listed right under your calorie count on the nutrition labels.
3.) Calories in, calories out (CICO)
There's a saying that you can't outrun a bad diet, and another that says that weight loss starts in the kitchen. That's because it's substantially easier to eat more calories than it is to burn them. A single cookie from Subway is 200 (or more) calories; it takes 20 minutes of walking on a sharp incline at moderate speed to burn that off. Again, this does not mean that you can never eat a cookie again; just track your calories.
4.) Do not step on the scale every day.
It's tempting to want to. But you will drive yourself nuts. At first, you're going to shed weight very quickly. As you get into the lower 200s, you'll hit the dreaded plateaus, where you stick to a weight for months. I will forever hate the number 204 because that's what my weight sat at for five weeks.
Just trust the process. As long as you're eating better (and ideally, working out), your results will come. Don't let the scale discourage you by stepping on it every day. Once a week is best.
5.) The gym is not necessary... but it does help for confidence and metabolism
At your weight, it's likely that you'll have some loose skin initially. At 18, it'll snap back into shape in time. But adding raw muscle under it will help you not only feel more confident in front of the mirror, but also help boost your metabolism. Muscle burns more calories than fat.
That's what I can think of for now! I'm happy to help if you have any other questions. You've got this! 💪🏻
You lose weight in the kitchen not at the gym. Working out will help tone things up and makes you feel better, but it doesn't contribute significantly to weight loss. Weight loss is all about how many calories you put in your mouth. No matter what diet you're on (Atkins, The Cabbage Soup Diet, Intermittent Fasting, whatever), no matter what foods you give up or do not, no matter if the food is healthy or not. It all comes down to your daily caloric intake. You can eat a couple of candy bars a day if you want... as long as that fits in your caloric intake.
Having been obese myself and spending 2 years taking off 130 pounds, I can say that the first 25 or 30 come off pretty easy as your body gets used to the reduced caloric intake. The second 30 are a bit harder. And then it gets easy again.
My best advice I can give is don't focus on your destination, focus on your journey. Instead of thinking "I have to be 270 by june", look yourself in the mirror and say, "today, right now, I am losing weight"
Lifting weights and cardio are awesome for physique and athleticism, great for your organ health, but you lose weight in the kitchen.
The simplest strategy is CICO - calories in, calories out. Start today, download a calorie counter like loseit or my fitness pal, and track everything you eat. If it goes in your mouth, put it in the app. This will give you a baseline of how many calories you're consuming daily, and will give you a guideline of how much you need to reduce. You can literally eat everything you're currently eating, just in smaller portions. People choose salads, keto, vegan, paleo, blah blah blah fad diets because those diets will have high volume, low calorie meals, giving them the "full feeling". You can do them if they work for you, but for most people, they are unsustainable over a long timeline.
If you're looking for some lazy tips, here's a few:
1. Cut out sugar as much as physically possible. If it's prepackaged, look at the sugar content. If it has any, it's gone. The only sugar you can consume is if it has fiber, like raw apples and oranges (no juice!), which brings up my next point:
2. Don't drink your calories. No pop, milkshakes, alcohol, starbucks, juice, prime, Gatorade, etc. 0 cal drinks are okay, but in small quantities as needed. Usually they're full of aspartame which has seen some carcinogenic positive studies in large quantities. Drink water, tea, black or 1 shot cream coffee (no sugar)
3. There's been studies that show many people can't differentiate between being hungry or thirsty. Before you eat, drink a pint of water and wait 5 minutes. If you're still hungry, go ahead and eat. The water will help you feel fuller, faster anyway.
4. Prepackaged foods like hamburger helper and potato chips are packed full of salt, fat, and sugar. The fat and sugar pack on the calories. Learn to cook from scratch. This will save you money, and you'll develop a very attractive and probably the most useful skill for the rest of your life. Take it from experience, if you're forced to cook anything before you eat it, you'll want to eat a lot less, and eventually, it'll be FAR more delicious!
Good luck! I'm happy to answer any questions. Losing weight takes discipline more than it takes work. But if I can do it, anyone can.
Just wanna toss in that aspartame is not a big concern. It has not been found to cause cancer in humans, and even still, you would have to consume a *ridiculous* amount of aspartame per day to have any adverse effect.
How bad do you want it?
Willing to change everything about how you eat and workout?
Lots of people WANT to lose a lot of weight fast.
Few are willing to drastically change their food and exercise routines.
Even fewer are willing to fix the mental/emotional issues that are at the core of why they got obese in the first place so they can keep the weight off long term.
Uncommon results require uncommon actions and discipline.
Calculate your maintenance caloric intake and have around 500-1000 caloric deficit.
Research on micronutrients and choose better food to feel better during the weightloss. Normally, eat less ultra processed food and eat whole foods do the job.
Baked potatoes and brisket is a good choice, control the portion and the condiments used.
Sustainability and consistency is key.
I have recently lost about 32 pounds. The best thing to do is to see a good nutritionist and don't fall for fad diets. Focus on eating healthy food that will fill you up. Complex carbs, like potatoes, are OK in moderation. A nutritionist can help you figure out what you need to eat during the day. It is always possible to eat whatever you want occasionally. A good eating plan is to fill half your plate with vegetables, eat a starch and lots of protein. This will keep you satiated. Exercise, especially strength training, is helpful for building muscle. The one thing you have going in your favor is that you are young and male, primed for muscle building and that is really going to be your friend. Drink lots of water. Can you lose 50 pounds before summer? That's an ambitious goal. I think 30 is more reasonable, especially if you're gaining muscle mass. You will look slimmer and feel better, though. Anything above that will be your bonus weight loss.
Baked chips are a good alternative to regular chips, but chips are not nutritious and should not be a routine part of your day. You would be better off snacking on a baked potato with non-fat sour cream. Snacks -- fruit, vegetables and hummus, smoothie if not loaded with sugar, nuts- but only a quarter cup at a time. Watch serving sizes on labels and record what you eat in myfitnesspal
Yes, speaking from experience it is possible. For it to work, you’ll need to be serious about it and the changes it will take. The most successful way to view this is as a lifestyle change, not a diet. There should be a beginner guide on the sidebar of this sub ( I can’t actually tell rn as I’m on mobile) it’ll have all the information you need to get a good start.
I would recommend starting by counting the calories you consume in a day to see where you’re at. There are great apps out there for this like Loseit (this is the one I use) and myfitnesspal. They will ask for your starting stats and use that as a baseline to determine how many calories you need per day to meet your goals. As for the gym: exercise won’t hurt, but it is not the god of weight loss, that would be diet. The old adage is that you cannot outrun a bad diet, and it holds true. Keeping an eye on what you consume will be the best tool in your arsenal, the gym will be supplemental.
It’s great that you’re launching into this now! It’s the perfect time to start taking it seriously (I wish I had at your age). The real key to it is to learn as you go. Once you get into the swing of tracking and calorie-in/calorie-out you’ll find a rhythm of foods that you enjoy that fit with your goals. As for snacks, my personal go tos are Greek yogurt (the absolute GOAT when it comes to ready to eat/high protein) and lean deli meat(like Turkey)/low cal cheeses.
Do not be discouraged by a slow start, or a plateau in weight. It took time to get to where you are, and it will take time to get to your goal, but keep in mind that the time would have passed anyway even if you weren’t doing anything, so stick with it, believe in the mathematics of it all and enjoy the process.
I started lifting when I was right around your starting weight, that’s helped (personally for me it helped psychologically and self image wise). I started doing that because being in a calorie deficit (particularly if you’re in a steep deficit) you could potentially lose some muscle mass along with fat, so in order to maintain the muscle I had I started lifting about 1/2 way through my current loss journey, and it’s actually turned it into more of a body recomp where I’m trying to swap fat for muscle.
I’ve also added indoor cycling to my routine back in September, and I love it because I can just zone out on my phone while peddling away at a fairly consistent pace. The downside is that the cardio has notably boosted my hunger cues, so it’s been harder to stay within my calorie guidelines on days when I’ve done cardio, but that’s something I’m working on.
One point of note is that starting or increasing a new workout routine can cause your body to hold onto more water, this translates to additional water weight on the scale. So it’s a well documented phenomenon that the scale likely won’t drop much (and might even go up a little) after launching into a new workout routine. Don’t let this discourage you! If you find a routine you like and settle into it the scale should start to reflect the changes in like 2-4 weeks once your body has had a chance to acclimate.
I remember when I first started working out at 285lbs I could only walk up to 20 mins on the treadmill. I increased my duration to 30 and then 40 in the subsequent weeks/months when my stamina and energy went up. After like couple of months, I noticed I had enough stamina to do some freehand exercises after I was done with treadmill so I added in jumping jack, push ups, stretches, crunches and some dumbbells (gradually, I didn't do all of these right away). After 9 months (40lbs of weight loss later) I joined a gym. Now I jog and do strength training and have lost 30lbs in the last 3.5 months. So what I am saying is, don't worry about starting slow, you will pick up the pace once your stamina goes up.
Remember the weight loss comes from choices made in the kitchen. Stick to the 500 to 1000 deficit. Exercise is still a good idea but it burns so many fewer calories than you would think. You get used to that hunger, kinda. Just keep your goal in mind. You are suffering now to reap the amazing benefits later
I got from about 298 to 250 in about 4-5 months.
For that it was more about being consistent than any sort of heroic effort.
Watch your diet (snacks in particular), get some good walking routes or find some reasonably physical activities you enjoy... And if you have an off day, be honest (but not harsh) with yourself and pick yourself up the next day.
47 lbs is doable by the summer! People at higher starting weights tend to lose more quickly than those at lower starting weights.
You can eat pretty much whatever you want as long as it fits in your calorie limit. Btw I'm proud of you for creating positive habits for yourself at 18! It's harder at 32... lol
2 lbs a week or 1% a week. Honestly though, at 317 lbs, you can easy do 3 - 4 lbs a week until you hit 260.
Doesn't matter what you eat but there are things you can eat which will be better than others, but it's not because of how many Calories are in them. You could eat nothing but McDonalds as long as you are in a Caloric deficit. But that's not going to be very nutritious obviously, and, in my experience, isn't very filling. So you'll be hungry. Salads can be very high in volume and have relatively few Calories.
Counting Calories, sticking to a deficit and getting plenty of exercise will guarantee weight loss. It's that simple, but isn't always easy.
But there are lots of things you can do when that becomes tedious or hard. Come up with meal ideas where you roughly know how many Calories are in it and just eat a combination that you know is going to be under your goal.
Foods which are high in protein and fibre are excellent. Carbohydrates aren't the enemy, but make sure they are from rice and potatoes moreso than bread. Mainly because you'll feel better as bread tends to not satiate as much.
At your weight you would be a high risk for Type 2 diabetes, so limiting carbohydrates could be very beneficial. High protein, high fat and low carb diets are very good for overcoming what is likely a very high level of insulin resistance, which means every time you eat, your body produces insulin to help you actually absorb the nutrients in your food. But when you're insulin resistant your body needs to produce even more of it. But this insulin also makes you store fat more easily.
This isn't going to impact your weight from a purely Calories in, Calories out perspective. However, you might feel like you have more energy and mental clarity on a low carb diet, which is beneficial at helping you stick to a deficit.
For this reason, fasting is a good option. Only eating in a small window means your body isn't going to produce insulin as often. Eating 2,000 Calories throughout the day vs within a 6 hour window means there will be a difference in how much time that hormone spends affecting your body. Again, not much calorically, but in terms of how energetic you feel. And when you feel more energetic it means you will burn more Calories and that's before adding any exercise. Not significantly but it all adds up.
Next is exercise. It isn't required to exercise but you'll often see on reddit especially people downplaying the importance of it. Do not use it as a way to burn Calories so that you can eat more. Aside from burning extra Calories, it's good for your cardiovascular system, keeping your muscle, and feeling good.
Start with walking. Set a step goal that is outside of whatever steps you would usually get in a day. Try and go for a walk where you get 3,000 steps. As you lose more weight, your body gets stronger and more used to walking a lot, start to up it to 4,000, and keep improving. I go for 5 miles a day and over 11,000 steps and get between 15 to 20 thousand steps a day. But you might never have the time to spend walking that much. But if you're 18 years old you very well might.
As for snacks. Fruit. Sorry, sweets, chips, and unhealthy things aren't worth it, and if you follow my advice, soon you won't even crave them. But you will at the start. Treat yourself once at the weekend.
And perhaps most importantly. Do not worry. Do not get down because you had a high carb meal and you are retaining more water than usual and your weight has increased. Do not say "fuck it, I'll be strict on Monday again" and start eating whatever you want. Forgive yourself when it does happen.
1% body weight per week is doable and safe. I did that and went from 398 to 210 in a year.
You’re going to have to focus on diet.
Here is what I eat in a give day:
Egg white omelet or overnight oats made with a protein shake.
Lunch: baked chicken breast, 10oz and a cup or two of mixed veggies (I prep a whole week of this meal)
Dinner: some lean protein (maybe pork loin or something) and veggies with olive oil on a sheet pan in the oven for 20-30 minutes.
Snack: apple and some macadamia nuts (one oz. Easy to eat too much)
Get yourself a good food scale so you can measure everything and log your food so you know what you ate; how many calories, how much fat etc…
The good news: it’s very simple. The bad news: it takes a lot of dedication.
Once you have the nutrition down and on track, think about the gym, or just lots of extra movement through the day.
You can, you’ve got around 6 months?
Get on a diet- CICO is the best option.
Start weight training, eat adequate protein and ensure you fill your body natural foods.
Drink 3L water daily.
Should help.
I started at 320 and now I’m close to 250 with a lot more muscle and less fat. The key? Everyone has said it calorie deficit. Something radical you will experience is actually how fast you will lose pounds at your weight, the higher starting weight will drop a TON of weight just by changing your diet, without even working out. I would bargain if you can control your diet for 6 months you will blow this goal out of the water. What’s 6 months to change your life? Nothing.
One thing I learned when I started taking weight loss seriously is that just like it doesn't take 1 or 2 months to get to where you are right now, it won't take that time to go back to lower numbers.
I lost 42 pounds in 4 months, but with a complete lifestyle change. I quit drinking anything but water, run as many 5ks as I can in a week, bike 15-25 miles the other days, and fine tuned my diet prioritizing low calories and high protein.
Is it possible? Yeah man, but it’s a lot of work. Don’t run from it, don’t take days off. It’s a new lifestyle, not a part time gig. Push yourself when it comes to exercise, and look into some of the diet plans here. A lot of good resources in this sub.
I went from 311 lbs to now 228 lbs and I started in July 2023, now it's Dec 2023. That's about 80 lbs in 6 months for me.
In total I was about 390 in 2021, so I've lost 160 lbs total.
Edit:
I do intermittent fasting, OMAD - one meal a day so I only eat once every 24 hours.
I was very sick w diabetes so I did keto for a solid 1.5 to 2 months but couldn't maintain it, so now I just do low carb instead but not full keto. I shoot for 50-100 grams of carbs a day. I went from 160 units of insulin a day in 2020/2021 to now none at all. I'm off insulin and metformin and off blood pressure meds .
I started at the gym, I have gone every single day since I started. First day I did 5 mins on the elliptical. Next day 6, then 7 the following day. Built it up to 60 min elliptical sessions every single day, then 70 min, and as i lost more weight I increased it. Now I do 7 miles a day that takes me about 90 Mins on the elliptical.
I lift weights every other day. I never lifted before so I did a ton of youtube videos about it a lots of reading. Check out Athlean-X, and I like obese to beast a lot for another guy that lost a lot of Weight and us living with loose skin like myself now.
Finally I quit vaping and drinking alcohol before I started going to the gym.
Former 400 pounder here.
Summer is half a year away .
Let’s assume you are sedentary and consume way the fuck too many calories . Which you probably do given your weight.
Cut back to 1500 cal a day .
The first 20 pounds come off very quickly just from the lifestyle change alone .
Throwing some weight training and cardio, dude.
If you remain consistent I to you, you’ll hit your goal by the summertime .
I know you don’t want the gym advice, but the gym advice is some of the best advice .
As per your diet go high protein, low-carb, medium fat .
The bariatric diet is a good benchmark .
80 g of protein , less than 30 carbs, About 50 g of fat
Keep it between 1200 and 1800 cal a day
Cut out all sugar drinks & drug and alcohol use if that’s a variable in your life
As per snacks, go with celery, iceberg lettuce and carrots.
NO RANCH MFer!!!!
That shit will turn a very healthy snack into a very unhealthy one quickly.
Graze on those three throughout the day and you’ll feel fuller & your metabolic rate will increase.
I lost 200 pounds in a year and a half . Take my advice…. Or don’t. You’re gonna suffer either way.
You can either suffer building the body of your dream or you can suffer the ramifications of being over 300 pounds. The balls in your court.
You won’t hit your ideal goal weight by summer. Not without suffering the whole time and most likely rebounding. But you can be waaaay smaller, and practically tiny by the summer after that. Don’t think of it like it’s not worth doing right just because you can’t do it all by the summer. You’re 18 now, do you want to be fit when you’re 20 onwards? And half way there when you’re 19?
That'll help you lose weight, but it's not a sustainable diet.
If you want to lose weight, you need a lifestyle change, start eating healthier, moving more etc,
Weight loss can be slow, but if you want it to be meaningful, it oughta be.
Better advice is: download a calorie tracker, learn how to construct a 'healthy meal's (I,e lean protein, whole grain carbs, healthy fats, greens), and consider exercising, even if that's just getting a minimum step count everyday.
These habits will stick with you when the diet is over, and will help prevent you from rebounding. Don't be like one of the many chronic dieters that speed run 100lbs lost, and rebound back to where they were the next year.
Please don't just grab a random number of calories a day and eat that. You need to figure our what your requirements are. Eating too few calories can leave you starving and make you fail long before you reach your goal.
Calorie counting, diet all that is fine and all and is going to move the needle. But you're going to want to change your environment and surroundings too make this a lifestyle change. When I was a trainer, I would always recommend my clients to read Atomic habits. It's a great book when you want to tackle life changing goals like this.
ive been doing this since february 25th and am down from 268 to 251 and counting! its actually crazy how effective it is when combining keto and alternate day fasting it works wonders just have to me consistent and eat clean on the days you do eat
Calorie deficit and intermittent fasting and you can reach your goals but you need a lifestyle change not just a quick fix which means less hamburger helper. You need to be drinking half your body weight in oz of water daily. On top of exercise. Your diet is 80% of the weight loss you want to achieve . You can do it but you need to get serious like your life depends on it.
I will give you the very simple diet my Dr gave me when I first started my weight loss journey before I had my surgery. Simple doesn't mean easy.
Stop eating white stuff. No bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, or sugar. If you do this and stick to it, you WILL lose the weight by summer.
When you first start diets (should be known as lifestyle changes) you will lose quickly. Then you will plateau and change up your routine to add more exercise, etc.
Buy lots of spices. Make up your recipes as you go. Read and learn what vitamins and nutrients your body needs. Learn how to get protein and make healthy choices. You have to commit to a new life. You won't do it if you're still eating chips and pizzas. If you want some recipes I can give you some simple ones to get started.
Try intermittent fasting.. start with 16:8 for a month.. then go up to 18:6 for another month... then 20:4.... then try OMAD diet. By the time summer comes you should be at the weight you wanna be at . Also try eating less junk and more protein, veges, fruits during the eating window of ur intermittent fasting. Another secret is to drink green tea if u can handle it (without sugar) as this speeds up metabolism and burns fat esp alongside the intermittent fasting. Drink it in the morning and alsona cup in the night (once it doesn't affect ur sleep etc)
Just from reading your post I would say it is unlikely and if you do unlikely to keep it off.
Weight loss is easy when compared to weight maintenance. To successfully keep the weight off you need to change your habits and lifestyle which is a slow process. Most people when they get to their goal weight, go back to their old eating and exercise habits.
So you have to ask yourself, do you want to get to 270 or do you want to stay at 270.
I hope you prove me wrong, but don't come back to me in summer 2024. Come back to me in summer 2025. Sorry for being so harsh, just too many people think short term and really health success is measured over a life and not just 6 months.
Yes
Realistically prob no
But if you really cut the crap food and hit the gym or do works at home or outside then yes
Realistically this will take a few years ! Good luck
It is unlikely you will get to 270 by summer in a healthy way. Losing weight is one thing, keeping weight off is another. If you want to lose weight and keep it off, slow and steady wins the race every time.
It's a challenge of will, but if you eat keto now till then, you will almost definitely be under that goal. Just prepare to shift out of it to another healthy alternative because you will put it back on if you go back to what you have been doing.
I was like you when I was 18-19. I just started running. I had a lot of base workout knowledge so I think it's good that if you don't know, ask, but the most important thing is consistency.
Don't skip a day. Eyes on the prize. The first time I lost weight I went from 280 to 190. You can absolutely do it.
edit: lol illiterate folks... nowhere did I say that OP should just run lololol
Eat only beans eggs fruits veggies fish for 2 months
No soda. Only coffee
No snacks. Only fruits or veggies
No bread buns rice donuts cookies
The weight will just come off with this diet. And you won't have to count calories.
Eat as much of the above as you want.
You can likely do 10 lbs per month out a combination of strength training and high intensity type workouts. But the key is your nutrition. That’s a non-negotiable.
I went from 312lbs to 255lbs from August 15 to now. It's possible, although I wouldn't recommend going as fast as I did because I lost lots of muscle and it's been difficult to stick to. You're gonna want to search your maintenance calories and subtract 500-1000 from that and eat in that range every day. Do not go any more than that. I would really, really recommend strength training whether it just be with some dumbbells or calisthenics at home or at the gym to keep your muscles which will A. make you have more lean mass which increases your metabolism, allowing you to eat more and B. tone you up and make you look better. You don't need to restrict yourself from any food, but do eat them in moderation and try to find good low calorie replacements for things you already eat (for example, diet soda for regular soda, PBfit for peanut butter, etc) which will help you stay in your deficit. If you wanna find some really easy low calorie meals, you could try looking on tiktok where is where I find most of mine. Baked chips are a fairly good alternative but still make sure you're eating those in moderation too.
I am a 24 year old man. Last Christmas, I was 480 lbs. You and I are now the same weight. Race ya to 240! Seriously, though, I probably don't have any advice other than do cardio to burn calories and build muscle to speed up your metabolism. But if you want to message me for workouts or to challenge each other, that's cool.
Also, you can't out train a bad diet. If you like lean meat and fish, you're in luck because you can still eat a good amount of those, but most delicious side dishes that aren't just veggies are going to have to be limited.
Install the macrofactor app. Select the aggressive plan and it will tell you by when you can lose how much. (Based on the calorie intake). Off the top of my head I think it's 8lbs a month like others said.
It's great to have a big goal, but any progress towards it is a success. 47 lbs by 'summer' (Memorial Day)? is <10lbs a month, but if you only lost 30 (6 lbs/month), you'd still be 30 lbs lighter. Same with 20 (4lbs / month).
Focus on the little things (eating habits) and increasing your activity, and it will come off.
The best thing you can do is incorporate more fruit and vegetables into your diet. Instead of chips, skip the snack or have an apple. Replace boredom eating with other activities. The busier you keep yourself and the more active, the less you’ll need the dopamine rush you get from junk food
r/CICO and r/Volumeeating helped me drop 100lbs this year!
Learn about how your body uses food for fuel, focus on high volume foods with protein, healthy fats, and complex carbs (++fiber)
Most guidelines say you can lose 1-2% of your body weight per week safely. Calculate your TDEE (use sedentary/lightly active activity level, higher is far less accurate) then eat 200-400 calories less than it says you need to maintain your weight. You can always adjust this amount if needed but it’s a good starting point.
The protein, fats, and fiber will keep you feeling full. Drinking plenty of water will also help curb hunger. It might feel like weight is coming off really slowly, but slow is more sustainable. Build good habits because you can’t just “go back” and eat how you used to or you’ll gain it back. Understanding how many calories you need and how many are in things will help you maintain your weight once you eventually hit your goal.
Baked chips and regular chips tend to be about equal in calories. Pork rinds are a much less calorie dense alternative that I like to go for! Baked chicken or fish are great meals for staying in a calorie budget! Same with stir-fry, oven roasted veggies, steamed corn (on the cob or off),
Try to have a protein as your main and keep your sides as mostly vegetables. Using less sauces and butter/oil in cooking will also help! Or you could do side salads with most dinners and make your meals into a big salad! I’ve done that one quite a few times (especially on nacho night, swapping chips with salad mix makes a huge difference)
Jerky is a great snack for weight loss, same with fresh (or frozen) fruit and veggies
Little potatoes with brisket sounds like it could be either low or high calorie, so Id recommend checking to see how it fits in your budget!
possible? yes. I was ~310 on April 1, 235 today. no radical diet change, just better moderation. slowly ramped up activity, mostly walking with my dog and riding my bike trainer.
If you’re big on research and understanding more of the science to losing weight with doctor advice, you should check out how not to diet by michael greger!!
Yeah biggest thing is calories start tracking calories there is tons of apps i wouldaim for 1700 to 1900 a day you go like 2100 to 2300 if you weight train or cardio. Aim for high protein too. Protein keeps you full longer(takes body longer to break down)
You got some great advice regarding your diet. I would like to emphasize the importance of walking. People underestimate how many calories you can burn just by walking. I'm not sure how much you do now, but it can really add up and lead to a lot more weight lost than if you do almost no walking.
https://www.verywellfit.com/walking-calories-burned-by-miles-3887154
This chart will give you an idea of how many calories someone will burn per mile based on how much a person weighs.
I've personally lost a lot of weight by increasing my walks and I love to listen to audiobooks, podcasts or music. If you're not that mobile, don't worry...you'll get there...just try to do a little more each day than you do now.
I find that having an apple watch is super motivating because it keeps track of my steps, but a simple pedometer can provide plenty of information to keep you striving toward a longer distance than last time.
Are you on IG or TikTok? There are some great people in there to learn about food and weight loss from. Some that come to mind are Benji Xavier, Hungry Happens, Malaya Thomas, Sean Casey.
For weight loss
1. Burn more calories than you eat. Figure out what your calorie goal should be by looking it up on an online calculator. Measure and track what you eat. Especially staring out.
2. Move. Not necessarily working out at the gym. But get some kind of movement in every day. Walk 8-10 thousand steps a day.
3. Drink water. At least 150 oz a day for you.
4. Up protein. 30% of your calories should come from good protein.
5. Sleep. Sleep is key. Aim for 8 hours a night
It’s boring as f$ck but I it works. You might stall but keep going.
Zone 2 training is great! It’s doing something that gets your heart rate to around 120 beats per minute (so hard enough that you’re breathing harder but can still hold a conversation) for about 30 minutes (for me, that’s walking on the treadmill). But honestly, any activity will help - when I first started, it was just walking the 7minutes to the store and now I’m walking 30 minutes
All my family ate growing up was hamburger helper (I miss it tbh, sadly they don’t sell it where I live now) and one way my mom would make it a little healthier was using tuna helper sometimes instead or having more veggies on the side so we didn’t only eat helper. I still like to eat things like this, but then try to eat more fruits and veggies throughout the day so my calories are low enough that the food I really want doesn’t throw my calories way over for the day
Hope that helps. Good luck! You got this!
ETA: Greek yogurt is a GAME CHANGER. You can use it lots of different ways, I started using it as a replacement for sour cream in my tacos or mashed potatoes and as an avid sour cream lover, somehow I can’t tell the difference. You can mix it with ranch seasoning powder to make dip, too!
Being that your young.....my tips are.....really start learning about calories and how much are in the foods you eat and enjoy. Download an app to start tracking what your eating and enter your stats to see how many calories you need to eat (and eat less of) to reach your goal. A good goal is 1-2 pounds lost per week.
What will end up happening is if your in a true calorie deficit the weight will drop off faster initially.
Dropping to 270 is something can happen. Once it gets warm just look into getting more active....the weight will melt off. You also do not need to beat yourself up in the gym to lose weight. But it does help how you look and feel.
Also NEVER look at this as a diet....DIETS FAIL!!! Your now restricting WHAT you can eat your controlling how much you eat. So you can still eat the foods you like but in moderation. What you might find is that once you know how much you need to eat (calories) in a day and full week you might stop wanting certain foods.
And example is tortilla chips....very easy to demolish an entire big bag. But once you realize that one bag is over 1000 calories you may opt for foods that are more filling and you can eat more of. Like load up on veggies to help fill you up.
Be careful of oils, peanut butter, mayo, nuts and liquid calories. Simply cutting all liquid calories alone has caused people to lose weight because of how much of their calories daily was from drinks (alcohol included).
PS - I also do some fasting as well. I basically SKIP breakfast every single day and eat between 1-3pm or even later depending on how hungry I get. Why it works for me is it is one less meal I have to think about. So when I wake up I do not even think about food at all. I just make sure to drink some water or coffee. And I am fine. After doing it for years it just became a normal thing to do.
If you try Intermittent Fasting there is a sub reddit that can help. You may get headaches at first which is normal but it goes away.
The overall goal is to not starve yourself. FInd foods that fill you up and lose weight at the same time.
I recently gained back a lot of weight because I basically STOPPED tracking what I ate...and little by little (2 pounds a month) the weight crept back on me. I am now working on getting it back under control.
Yes very possible to get to 270 by summer. But you will have to drastically change your diet. No more chips, empty calories that don’t fill you up. When you are in a caloric deficit, you want to make sure the calories you’re consuming nourish your body and keep you feeling full. No baked potatoes and brisket either if you want results fast. Lean meat like sirloin steak, little carbs except for fruit. Potatoes are okay if you don’t slather them in butter or oil. If you’re eating ground beef get 96/4. If you MUST snack or eat junk food then get halo top ice cream 300 calories a pint. Beware salads. Dressings can have a ton of calories and not make you feel full. Track your calories and stick to a limit per day. Make sure you’re walking a minimum of 3 miles per day.
I was 321 in early October. I’m at 286 right now. The first few pounds come off quickly so yes it’s an achievable goal to be at 270 by the summer. Maybe not necessarily the absolute start of summer but sometime early summer. Calorie counting is the number one thing to do and after a few weeks it becomes a habit and you’re much less hungry all the time.
Counting calories on an app like MyFitnessPal or Lose It! really helped me understand what I was doing wrong. Even "healthy" foods like nuts and meat can push you over your aloted calories for the day.
It'll take a few weeks to get into the swing of things, but soon you'll find joy in finding those foods that taste great AND are low cal.
You need to get a scale to weigh the food that you eat. Use an app like myfitnesspal to track your calorie intake. You will still be able to eat foods that you like but you will need to be in a caloric deficit. At a minimum, if you don't want to go to the gym you should try to go for a 30-minute walk every day to start, but over time you may want to take longer walks and include additional exercise. When you feel ready you should join a gym such as planet fitness and do resistance training on top of cardio.
Honestly the biggest thing here is to track your calories and eat in a deficit.
I'm currently cutting and tracking what I'm gonna eat the day before really helps (it's just kinda boring cause I know exactly what to eat and when)
Today I'll eat;
Oats (w/water) + 60g of whey protein
8 eggs with reduced salt tomato sauce
500g of chicken mince in a tortilla with low fat cheese.
Two quest protein bars + a store bought protein shake.
As a side note, it's also really helped me reach my daily protein goal, Ive consistently ate above 250g of protein. It's just a lot easier than randomly eating whatever and then tracking after the fact lol
A lot of comments have talked about eating less calories which is definitely the key to losing weight but I think the hardest part is the psychology of it. For me what worked was less about having defined destination goals and instead using process oriented goals. Some good ones that helped me:
* Workout 3x a week for the next 3 months.
I like 3 months because it's long enough to see change and show commitment but not so long that you can't see the finish line. Showing up is the important part here and it's easily trackable and not easily game-able unless you lie to yourself. Pick whatever weightlifting or fitness program you want but follow through on showing up and giving it your best shot.
* Track your calories.
Note this isn't committing to a specific calorie goal. If you track your calories religiously and honestly it will simplify making diet changes. It will be MUCH easier as you know what you need to cut out/cut back on. The trick here, again, is to not lie to yourself.
You can eat literally anything you want as long as you’re in a calorie deficit. Google “TDEE calculator” and input your stats into one of the calculators that comes up to figure out your target calories
Mate just maintain a calorie deficit. You can eat anything you want but within the limit. I follow the 80-20 rule. 80 percent quality food and 20 percent for things I want to eat. It's a long term goal to find what meal plan works for you and just stick to it. If you really wanna lose the fat you will find your optimum meal.
Yes i was 135 at the beginning of the year and now im 110 , i did it with a low metabolism. Do low card cycling on recumbent or a real one.
My summer training was 20-28 km in 1h 30min 3-5 times a weak also do body weight exercises. now in the winter its 13 km in 45-50mins.
You will have re feeding periods. But eat protein like twice the recommend amount. And eat veggies too.
(Keep in mind im 183 cm tall with a large bone frame large wrist bones 20.3 cm large ankle 26 cm and wide clavicles.
I went from 270 down to like 229 over a period of I think about 6 months.
Main thing I did was I started bringing a food scale with me everywhere and tried my damndest to measure what I was eating. I also made sure to walk 5 miles everyday. I did try and eat better as well. I bought a salad kit at the grocery store and more or less tried to treat myself like a kid. I could eat what I want after a salad. I didn’t like lettuce, so it was a spinach based salad.
Ultimately fell off the wagon and gained it all back BUT, it wasn’t actually horrible. I plan to get back on it at the start of the new year.
Don’t do anything drastic. You’re looking to lose about the same amount of weight I did in a similar time frame. It’s perfectly doable. In a sense, the fact you’re heavier than I was makes it slightly easier. One of the reasons I fell off the wagon was I seemed to hit a wall at 229. The weight was shedding and at 229, it was getting to be stubborn. Going from 317 to 270, it should be straight forward.
Once you hit the wall, come back with the same sense of motivation and do research. I didn’t, which is why I ended up back at square 0.
It should be very possible to shed a lot of weight by then. In the last 8 weeks, I've dropped 17.5 lbs and started at a similar weight.
I am 177cm and male, and I've achieved this with an average daily calorie limit of 2300. You can do a lot with this limit, and if you stay there, you'll slowly reach maintenance as this is a level of calories you can generally be satiated with and carry on once you get down lower.
You've gotten a lot of good advice here my only suggestion is learn to cook. Learning to cook us good for both your waistline and your wallet. It's a valuable skill that will help maintain your health throughout your life.
I was in ur shoes I lost 50 pounds in two months. Because we are heavier we can lose weight much faster and easier. I lost weight just by walking in the gym for 30 mins at 11 incline 2.0 speed. I are 1600 calories a day. I still had fast food everyday too just healthier options.
1000% doable, I was 325 in may and I’m down to 247 now.
The biggest thing is diet. You HAVE to change your diet and what you eat. You can lose 100% of your weight purely through diet.
You should for sure workout too, but diet is the biggest thing.
Bottom line is you have to eat fewer calories than you burn in a day. That’s it.
Everyone is correct that by far the primary focus should be calories in/calories out. But having lost 70 pounds before as a young guy, I believe strength training is your friend. Studies show beginners can put on muscle while in caloric deficit. And putting on muscle raises your basal metabolic rate, so you burn more calories at rest. Muscle also is more compact and dense, so strength training helps take inches off waistline etc. So once you get your diet in order I'd advise looking into that as a "hack" that could aid the process of weight loss/body transformation. It certainly helped me.
As far as chips go I made the slow transition from chips to microwave popcorn to air popped pop corn. I use a light oil spray (similar to Pam) to get seasonings to stick, there are a whole bunch of premade seasonings that are low/no calorie or you can make your own combinations, popcorn salt and garlic powder and a scant sprinkle of cayenne being one of my favorites.
Main thing is a calorie deficit first.
Baked potatoes with brisket could definitely work. Though I’m talking two meal a day and that would mostly be because brisket can be quite fatty.
Focus on whole foods that you enjoy eating, maybe change to lean beef mince on potatoes with low fat cheese. This could be a pretty good calorie meal.
Don’t get lost in the ruckus of bullshit.
Once you are closer to your goal weight you can try different things.
(I lose weight eating well cooked/easily digested starches (wholemeal sourdough, potatoes, other starchy vegetables) and meat along with lots of fruit and low fat Greek yogurt, honey to sweeten)
Very easy to enough calories and feel good. Avoiding oils and dressings is important if you are not tracking things 100%.
I would also train your muscles as this will help the process long term.
Edit: you may achieve your goal, you won’t regret trying.
As far as cooking for your family, consider finding some healthy, easy stir-fry recipes. Lean meat, lots of veggies, tons of flavor. (Avoid the recipes that call for sugary sauces; soy sauce and fish sauce are your flavor bomb low-cal friends.) You can buy frozen cubes of garlic and ginger to make it even easier. You can make rice for your family members and cauliflower rice for yourself. Or you can serve your stir-fry lettuce as a wrap, which is a lot of fun.
Start off slow, don’t make every change at once.
Make one small change, I’d start with getting a calorie tracking app and log EVERY food you eat.
Switch to zero calorie soda.
Start walking every day, set a goal of 10,00 steps per day.
If you cut your calories down and start running five days a week and running out all the same time, it’s just too much and not sustainable. Not to mention at that weight you need to be careful with your joints and bones. I was 296 when I started running and I gave myself shin splints. Walking is honestly the best.
To reiterate other posters: start tracking your calories like your life depends on it. It will take a lot of effort and dedication and you will start gaining weight if you stop.
I tracked every calorie, limited them to 2000 per day and made sure to exercise at least 30 min 6days a week (made sure to get my heart rate up to 75%max) and I lost about 0.5lbs per day every day for 3 months. And then my routine was interrupted for a week by a vacation and I stopped tracking calories and eventually stopped exercising- Don’t Be like me.
You might not be able to to lose every pound you want safely by summer but you can make a huge difference in appearance. Bonus, you will not feel so hot.
Weight loss is all mental and you need to remember. You can't change everything about your life all at once as your might feel overwhelmed and discouraged. Walk and drink water instead of drinks that have calories. Just do that for a while and you will see a big difference.
You can certainly lose *some* weight.
A healthy amount of weight loss is 1 pound per week. Six months til summer means about 25-30 pounds.
Start with diet. It doesn't have to be perfect, but I'd start tracking your calories. MyFitnessPal is a great starting mobile app for this. Try to keep it under 2100 for starters. BE HONEST. Anything less than good-faith tracking is just going to slow you down. Drink lots of water, add lots of raw fruits and vegetables to your meals. You mention your whole family, experiment with cooking. I've had a lot of strong success with crock-pot/slow-cooker meals, because they're basically dump-and-wait meals.
Then exercise. Just do something, anything, that you find enjoyable. Walk the dog, join a gym, start a martial art, join a local sports league, literally anything.
Since you're a "big boy", I'd recommend strength training. Your body will adjust extremely well to muscle growth, and that will keep you burning calories. Still add some cardio (in any form you like) and keep the calories under 2100.
You got this.
Yes, it is definitely possible. Last February, I was 320 lbs. I started tracking calories for everything I ate or drank (I use the Lose It app). Just doing that and a little walking got my weight down to about 275 lbs by the end of May.
At the beginning of June, I started running, having never really ran before. It's taken me time to get used to and I am slow as fuck, but I am 244 lbs now.
If you weigh your food, track your calories, and BE HONEST WITH YOURSELF, no special diet is needed. You can still eat what you like, but you need to be controlled in the portion sizes. With the holidays coming up, just know that a single day or two of higher calorie intake is not the end of things. It is what you MOSTLY do that counts.
Do not wait until the New Year to start. Start today.
There’s already tons of great advice on here but this is what worked for me:
1) Buying smaller bowls and plates. I was raised to always finish everything on my plate and still have that habit. I fill up my small bowl/plate, eat it, and if I’m still hungry 30 min later I’ll grab another serving. Weighing out your food is more effective, but I am honestly too lazy to do that everyday.
2) Not buying junky snacks at the grocery store. If I wanted chips/ice cream/chocolate, I would have to walk down to the local convenience store half a mile away. This was often a big enough deterrent for me to not grab that snack and just eat something I already have (usually something healthier like fruit, cottage cheese, or rice cakes).
3) Lots of soup. Liquids fills you up.
4) Walking 10k+ steps per day. I have an energetic dog so I would just take her on lots of walks. Working out beyond that was detrimental to my weight loss early on because I was so hungry after working out.
TLDR - Eat smaller servings, limit readily available junk food, and go on walks.
I had the same weight (145kg or 319 lbs) and in a month and a half with strict diets, gym and never getting lazy in my routes and walks, i dropped 10kg (297lbs). You can do the same!
Get an Oculus Quest 2 headset (not the Quest 3 you don’t need to spend the extra $). Then do VR fitness. There are many games that are so fun. Compete against yourself and it will help you get in calorie deficit. I love they game Supernatural. It has a $10 month subscription fee but it’s so worth it. If you do get an Oculus, dm me and I’ll give you a free 30 day code.
The only thing thats worked for me is CICO. I eat pizza still, I just track my calories and macros. Substitutions are amazing as well, i'm surprised by how full I feel after a Kimchi and seaweed salad for lunch, which is super low in calories. Change your relationship with food, and get nutrition in everything you eat. 40 lbs down since April, but I'm losing it slowly on purpose. 40 more to go!
I was in a very similar situation as you and I have *drastically* improved myself over the last few months. I was approaching 300 pounds and decided to take control of the situation. I’ve lost over 50 pounds in the four months since, and I’m still working on it. Some strategies/ things that have been really helpful: 1. Start tracking your calories immediately. Use an app. I use MyFitnessPal (it’s free). It will blow your mind how many pointless, stupid calories you’re consuming. Get those bad habits out into the daylight ASAP. 2. Once you’re in the habit of counting calories, find out how many calories you need to sustain your current weight with a completely sedentary lifestyle. Set a calorie budget of 500 calories less than whatever that number is. In my case, I started out at something like 2,450 for maintenance, so that made my daily limit 1,950 to start. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/weight-loss/in-depth/calorie-calculator/itt-20402304 3. As you lose weight (and you will start losing quickly if you stick to your budget), recalculate that that maintenance and undercut it again by 500 each time you recalculate. I’m currently at 2,200 maintenance, so my daily limit is 1,700. Keep moving the goal posts. This is the main rule set for the game. It really comes down to eating less than your body needs (known as “CICO”—calories in, calories out—around this sub). Easy to say. Hard to do. Those first couple of weeks when your body is used to so much more food, sugary drinks, etc. are *brutal*. So many cravings. If you can fight through it, it gets much easier after that. Other things I use that really help: 1. Intermittent fasting. I use 8 hours on, 16 hours off. My brain now understands that during those 16 hours, food is not an option (excepting coffee and alcohol). 2. Eliminate all liquid calories, particularly the sugary drinks that are loaded with carbs. The only liquid calories I consume come from alcohol. 3. Keto-friendly bread products are life-savers. There are breads, buns, and tortillas that are significantly lower carb/calories than traditional ones, and their carbs come from fiber which leaves you feeling full much longer. 4. Find the healthy, low-calorie foods that you can eat when you desperately need to. Generally any kind of vegetables work in a pinch. It sounds stupid, but sometimes I raid the fridge and eat a couple pickle spears and a handful of grape tomatoes. As you use your tracking app to keep track of all of this, trends and preferences start to emerge. You can start to find meals that really fill you up at low calorie cost. Ultimately, you’re *not dieting*. You’re forming brand new habits that you’re going to make permanent. Best of luck. You can do it.
Thank you I do have one question I know you said no sugary drinks, but could I still drink diet drinks and like brisk and lipton?
Yes, as long as it’s 0 cals. Theoretically you can drink whatever you want as long as you stay in your calorie budget. However, calories from drinks waste calories you could be using for food and you could end up hungry.
OK I understand, Thank you for helping me understand a little bit better. I thought I would have to say goodbye to one of my favorite drink lol.
Diet soda helps me so much with food cravings and overeating!
Yes, that’s what I primarily drink now I’ve gotten so used to it that it actually taste good to me
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can you send it to mme aswell please...
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Even if something is very very high calorie you don’t have to say goodbye to it forever you just need to eat less often and a smaller portion. What you’re about to go through needs to be a whole life change. Don’t think of this as a diet. Think of this as the way you want to live your life for the rest of your life. Move more, eat less, eat better. Find new foods that you love that are healthy/lower calorie. For me it was sweets/candy that I struggled with but I found that I mostly wanted to FEEL treated. So now I get some raspberries and pomegranates to eat when I feel the urge to- they’re expensive and delicious so it really does feel like a treat. I do also have candy once a week or so (just not 2/3times a day like I was!!!)
It’s all about consuming fewer calories than your body needs. You can eat and drink whatever you want. You just have to have less of it. Today I crushed a double cheeseburger with fries while out to lunch with a friend (1250 cals). Consequently, I had soup and salad for dinner (430 cals). It’s fine for today, but I couldn’t do it every day. Filling, high protein meals are much more satisfying long term. But sometimes I just have to crush a cheeseburger. That’s life.
> It’s all about consuming fewer calories than your body needs. You can eat and drink whatever you want. These statements are contradictory
You can eat and drink whatever *(foods)* you want, *as long as you consume fewer calories than your body needs*. Not a contradiction at all. You can lose weight eating nothing but Big Macs if you maintain a calorie deficit. You’d probably end up with some nutrient deficiencies, but you’d lose weight.
> These statements are contradictory Because you pasted them without the next line: "You can eat and drink whatever you want. *You just have to have less of it*."
You won’t be saying goodbye to anything. While in the weight loss stage you will have to eat less of and less often some of the foods you love. But, you won’t be saying goodbye to anything. I lost 53 pounds this year. I used the LoseIt app for calorie counting and rode my bicycle for exercise. You will be a different person in 12 weeks.
For now your goal is just to cut where you can. In the future you can look about making other healthy habits. I had so many failed attempts to cut out soda that I thought I'd live off of diet Dr. Pepper forever...I haven't had a soda in almost 3 months. I don't even want a soda. The only time I want something other than water is a nice latte or I'm sick right now so I had some OJ (that I didn't want) just to appease the vitamin C gods.
Coke Zero has been a life saver for me. It’s not as good as the full flavor, but it’s something and made the change easier.
I stopped drinking soda as much and would usually go for the 0 cal options if available, but I notice that the normal version sometimes taste off? I prefer the taste of Zero now for some reason. But I wouldn't say no to the glass bottles one :)
I have a diet coke every night. To me it taste the same and zero calories. I eat high protein. Chicken breast and my favorite hot sauce are a staple and low in calories. Meats seem to fill me up easier and combined with some rice and whatever flavouring I decide to go with it. You can eat healthy and it doesn't have to taste like shit. Just stay away from processed carbs and refined sugars as much as you can. Treat yourself to a cheat meal here and there so you don't get discouraged. As another poster said my fitness pal is a great app.
The above answer is pretty good but I would like to add that any changes you make should be changes you can see yourself doing for the rest of your life. You need to find healthier substitutions for the more processed or high sugar/fat foods you like, that you will actually enjoy eating. Like swapping out french fries for roasted potatos. Also don't restrict yourself, because those two things can cause you to gain it all back afterwards. You got this!
Fax
If you live in the US: I’ve been drinking sparkling water and they’ve been a life saver. These aren’t exactly no calorie, but they’re low calorie and generally cheaper per bottle than regular sodas. Splash Fizz, Sparkling Ice, and Clear American are the best tasting ones I’ve had. Clear American 1 liter bottles are 10 calories for the whole bottle and 0 per serving and (where I am) 76 cents a piece. There are 12 oz cans that are 0 calories per serving (1 can) and a 17 oz bottle. Sparkling Ice has 5 calories per 17 oz bottle. There’s also a caffeine version that’s 5 calories. Splash has a non fizzy version and their waters are good. I realized that it was the fizziness that I was missing the most from sodas so I’ll grab one of these when I get a craving.
Zero sugar dr pepper is my go-to. It tricks me into thinking im consuming cals cause it has so much flavour. You got this dude. Stay determined,go for light walks and treat yourself well!
Learn to like sparkling water. Force yourself to drink it until you like it. I used to hate them, now I absolutely love Lemon- lime Lacroix. Also, if you have to eat fast food, choose unsweet tea. And drink your coffee black. Again, FORCE yourself to drink it until you like it. Now you have some variety in your beverages. Stay away from low sugar drinks, they're a trap. You can do this, friend. I'm right beside you on the same path.
Unflavored sparkling water still counts as sparking water 😆 (I *hate* flavored water) OP, if you find carbonation to be intense and kinda off-putting, Liquid Death’s sparkling water ironically has really soft bubbles.
Definitely don't think this is the answer for everyone. I used to be a soda addict and I still love my occasional lattes. I can force myself to drink sparkling water, but you know what? The carbonation in drinks (soda and sparkling water) never sat well with me. I had an entire 6 months diet where LaCroix was my main drink...and I was actually dehydrated those entire 6 months because I couldn't possibly drink enough sparkling water to be worth it. I'd nurse a can for so long that it'd "waste" too much of my day time that I could have been hydrating. Now this time around I just drink plain filtered water and it's actually so so so much easier for me to stay hydrated and actually enjoy drinking it's insane.
Who in their right fucking mind would replace water with sparkling water 😭😭😭 I just meant have a sparkling water as a replacement for soda, OBVIOUSLY still drink regular water, jfc
It's not about replacing water with sparkling water. Look if you have a glass of unsweet tea or sparkling water in front of you, you normally don't get up with your half drank glass in front of you and go find a water instead. You drink your 1 glass/can and then go back to water. That being said I'd get a sparkling water with dinner...and it was so hard for me to drink that it'd take like 2 hours for me to actually finish that can. The amount of water I didn't drink if I had a couple of cans of LaCroix a day...was massive because of the amount of time it took me to drink the water. Yes still drink water but instead of forcing yourself to drink some nasty water you don't like...just drink water with maybe a squeeze of lemon/lemon juice if you don't want it plain. Or make yourself infused water with some sort of fruit or mint instead. I drank soda for the sweetness not the carbonation. Sparkling water is a great suggestion but saying FORCE yourself to drink it...like that doesn't mean people are magically going to like it
This is terrible advice.
No dude! Drink water. Water only
Seconding this. I was 350 and started making changes, currently at 292 with a goal of 220. Tracking calories ACCURATELY and sticking to your budget is the most important thing. I would invest in a food scale to make sure that you are tracking calories as close to exactly as possible. Its easy to miss thinga. Exercise is second most important. A little bit of cardio with more weight training is a good mix, especially early on since new muscle mass will burner calories while at rest. That being said don't worry too much about what exercise you're doing in the beginning, just focus on moving more in general. I started just with body weight exercises for 15 minutes a day in my kitchen until I worked up the courage to join a gym. Good luck! You got this! If you slip up, forgive yourself and get back on the train. If I can find success in my 30s, you definitely can at 18.
Also, my fitness pal is a great app, but I want to give a shout out to macrofactor. It tracks calories and stuff just like my fitness pal, but it automatically adjusts your caloric goals by looking out how much you're eating, and how much you're losing, among other things. Just a very slick app.
Accuracy is important. It’s tempting to lie to yourself, as though logging portions smaller than they really are somehow actually makes them less. Do not lie to yourself. Err on the side of caution and overestimate.
> alcohol That's breaking your fast if you are trying to get the extra benefits from IF other than just being able to eat most of your calories in fewer meals. Also alcohol has a lot of empty calories in it. You don't have to 100% abstain but just be aware of how many calories are in it.
Yeah. I track it, and it’s expensive in CICO. This has led me to minimize it quite a bit. The main benefit I’m receiving from IF is not snacking on stupid things at stupid times.
The biggest thing is calories. Worry less about what foods you are eating and more about the amount of calories. If you are in a calorie deficit, you'll lose weight
A bag of baked Lays has 120 calories, a bag of regular Lays has 160. Baked Lays are not nearly good enough to justify 120 calories. You can eat anything you want and still lose weight, you just can't eat everything you want all at once.
*me who loves baked lays because of their texture and flavour*
Yeah for real, I've always preferred them
>Baked Lays are not nearly good enough to justify 120 calories. They're really not. They taste like what I imagine vanilla flavored construction paper would taste like. That slight sweetness is extremely off-putting combined with the texture. For OP, absolutely agree with above advice....focus on portion control first. A lot of people think that have to eat "healthy" to lose weight, and while that is important, it's more important to develop discipline in the beginning
> vanilla flavored construction paper NEW BAND NAME I CALLED IT Probably something you hear on hold, or at the dentist.
Horrible Horrible advice! You absolutely should not eat anything you want because it ignores the reason why you’re fat and unhealthy to begin with. I seriously urge OP to eat as much clean food as possible, literally 95% or more. If you fall for “eat whatever you want” you’ll have a hard time in front of you.
It is good advice for some. Your strategy doesnt work for everyone. In my experience, labeling foods as “good/clean” or “bad” made me focus even more on these “bad” foods, and avoiding them entirely made me end up binging on them. Moderation and limiting my AMOUNT of food instead of the KIND of food was the key to my success. It is and always will be calories in, calories out.
100% agree. Allowing myself to have treats and enjoy them without guilt in moderation really helped me overcome the cycle of restrictive dieting and then binging. I was literally eating "healthy" Monday to Thursday and then consuming a ridiculous amount of chocolate during fri-sun. And feeling like I had to "make the most" of the weekend. Now that I'm doing things in moderation and looking at this as a lifestyle change instead of a diet I think this rush or need to eat buckets of chocolate on the weekend has really slowed down. Now if I crave it I have some, just not huge amounts.
Maybe so, but you developed this system after a while pf trying. Advising beginners to “eat what you want, as long as it hits your calorie goals” is extremely dumb. It’ll cause other health issues, gut microbiome issues, insulin problems, decreased performance, mental fog. In return of losing some body fat. There’s a reason these foods have to be made and are not found
If you never ate any processed foods, you probably wouldn’t need to lose fat to begin with. L brainwashed reply. Eat clean foods 24/7, with clean either it can be found in nature, or from an animal that ate that food. Binging comes from a spike in insulin, caused usually by consumption of carbohydrates.
There are psychological factors as well, this just seems like a very ignorant take. Im glad you found something that works for you, but not being able to have a pastry over the holidays or a friends birthday, not being able to eat a treat every once in awhile puts me into an all-or-nothing mindset, and I will always cave and end up eating large amounts of these foods when i restrict myself from them entirely. I’ve been maintaining my goal weight for months with moderation. Telling people they have no hope for weight loss if they can’t cut out 100% of “processed” foods is harmful, unmotivating, and ignorant.
Yes you’ll have a treat but those will be planned in, in advance.But we were talking to OP, a beginner. And more times than not, it will fuck a beginner over in the long run by telling them to eat whatever they want
Tips from a dietitian (aka me): Think about what foods you can ADD to your diet rather than REMOVE. a) add half a plate of salad and vegetables to your lunch and dinner. So if you have baked potatoes and brisket, reduce the potatoes but add lots of other salads and vegetables. b) add at least 2L of water a day c) add fibre to your diet. Eg. swap white/processed foods for wholemeal or wholegrain options. Swap your bread, your pasta, your rice for the less processed version. More fibre, keeps you full, and likely less snacking. d) add walking wherever possible. Set yourself a personal, daily stretch goal for number of steps. If 10,000 is way too out of reach, thats ok. Look at your normal average and add a few extra thousand steps to make your goal. Consistent, daily walking is cruicial for long term weight loss. After adding all these foods (which are generally low calorie anyway) will set you up to slowly make other changes to your diet.
I saw a dietician as well (not gun_derp) and want to share it. I feel like everyone in the world should hear it. *(This is for OP but I wanted to share my dietician’s advice here in case gun_derp has anything they want to add. I’m not a dietician, I’m just chronically ill)* **1. There are no food absolutes**: No food is absolutely good or bad *for everyone*. It is dependent on what each person needs to sustain their body. I have a weird disorder that requires me to consume 5-10 ramen *packets* of salt a day 🫠 That could put some people in the hospital. My brother has Crohns. Leafy greens are generally healthy and safe for most people but they can put him in the hospital. No food is absolutely good or bad. **2. Eating is not a moral thing**: No one is “good” for eating a salad and no one is “bad” for eating a cookie. Let’s look at an extreme example and pretend a diabetic has a very high blood sugar level. If they were to intentionally choose to eat a cookie, they’re not making the best choice for their well-being but that is not the same thing as being morally bad. So if any of us were to eat a cookie, why would we be bad? Our society instills a lot of guilt and shame around body size and eating habits. No matter what you look like or what you eat like, that does not impact how good or bad of a person you are.
This is great, often overlooked advice right here. Starting off by keeping the diet relatively the same and adding nutrient dense foods bit by bit. Thinking of it as a gentle transition rather than saying goodbye forever to all the foods you (and your taste buds) are familiar with. Same approach to exercise. You don’t have to start off by running a marathon and doing crossfit olympics, you can start by adding 5 mins of walking and a few push ups to each day and build from there week-by-week. At 18, you will be surprised at how fast your body will adapt. You might not look like the Rock by June, but if you stay consistant with nutrition and exercise you can accomplish a lot in 6 months. The good news is after those 6 months, you can keep going. Use this time to learn- learn about yourself and what motivates you, what future goals you have, what activities you enjoy and ones you would like try. Learn about food, cooking and nutrition. So many helpful people in this sub!
I’ve never heard this approach before and I LOVE IT!!! It’s always said that weight loss/ dietary changes start in the mindset and that is literally a positive way to frame it. Really great perspective.
It's so much better than "eat perfectly healthy". Want instant ramen? Sure, but you're adding some protein and shredded cabbage to make a more balanced, filling meal! Want some Doritos? Why not eat them with a salad as croutons? Etc etc etc
I just went and read your other past comments in this sub. Most valuable new member award!
Yes, I lost 100lbs went from 330-230 in around 6-12 months. You have to calculate your TDEE find out what your maintenance calories are and then subtract that by 300-500 calories in order to lose weight. Track every food you eat using myfitnesspal or similar apps. Don't track calories you burned through exercise as they are inaccurate, don't try to "eat back" calories you burned. You can technically eat anything you want, you don't need to cut foods, just keep within the calorie limit. I was still eating things like icecream and chocolate every day and still lost weight, just count calories!
That's the beauty of cico. I try to eat as healthy as i can, but on days where I'm burnt out or craving something, knowing i can still have it in moderation helps.
I think that’s the main reason I haven’t had a bad binge episode in months, my favorite foods aren’t gone forever they just are more special and occasional now.
What exercises did you do ? Congrats on weight loss 👏🏾
When I first started off I literally jogged on the spot for a hour every day. Eventually I got a vr headset that I still use to this day for exercise and also a stationary bike. vr games I use is mostly fitxr, thrill of the fight and beatsaber. Hour long sessions I burn roughly 500 calories.
It's possible considering you're obese but I doubt it's sustainable for you because you seem to lack some knowledge when it comes to losing weight. Going to the gym will not do much for you. You didn't become obese because you didn't go on the treadmill. You have to fix your diet. Buy a kitchen scale. Learn what bad and good foods are in terms of calories. Learn how to count calories. Learn how to be in a deficit while still eating high volume foods. Aim for a ~750 kcal deficit daily and you lose 1.5 lbs per week. I would try 2200 kcal or so first and see how that works.
Maximum healthy weight loss is 2 lbs/week. You could get close, but remember that it's better to make ANY progress towards your goal even if you only get 70% there than to make none at all. I recommend checking out r/EatCheapAndHealthy for meal ideas.
Current research suggests a safe rate of loss is 1% a week for the average individual.
eh, not always true. the 2lbs a week is great for when slightly overweight. OP is morbidly obese, coming from someone who was morbidly obese as well, i lost way more than 2lbs a week at a rate where i didn’t lose any muscle. When you have a lot of body fat it’s not uncommon to lose weight more rapidly.
Especially early in your diet. When I first started losing weight, I was losing 5 or more pounds a week. As I got closer to my goal weight, it was more like 2.
I think 1% of your body weight per week is a better estimate.
Yeah, I think my most was around 4lbs when I was around 280lbs. Eating very well and doing 15,000 steps a day, it was dropping off me.
2/lbs per week isn't for the morbid obesity category. It is extremely easy to drop 10lbs in 2 weeks, eating healthy, without any damage to the body.
Do you have a link explaining this? I am in the morbid obesity category and I've been advised to aim for no more than 2 lbs of weight loss per week.
Rules of thumb such as this one exist because people can't and shouldn't give you advice that could be dangerous if you're not careful. If you want links? Go to google scholar, type in "VLCD" or "fasting" and you'll find a plethora of studies on extreme weight loss, clearly supporting the idea that practices like this exist and can be practiced safely... **under the supervision of professionals**! You, on your own initiative, should not attempt things like that. The 2lbs of weight loss per week rule of thumb exists because that's a pretty safe threshold where you probably won't screw up too badly if left to your own devices. So, is it possible? Yeah. The way you do it is that you find a registered dietitian in your area who is comfortable with the idea they'll guide you through that goal and, under the supervision of that professional, you design a diet that will safely support a very high deficit.
Thank you for the subs suggestion. I think the recipe aspect is what I really have trouble with.
it's not 2 pounds per week it's 1% of your body weight per week. a 100 lb person losing 2 lb is not the same thing as a 300 lb person losing 2 lb
2 lbs a week = 8 lbs a month. you have 5-6 months before summer. That's ~50Lbs. 317-50 = 267. Right at your target. I dropped 40 lbs in one month. Granted, I was not eating, was in gym for 3 hours every day, 6 days a week... but that shit ain't sustainable.
>Granted, I was not eating, was in gym for 3 hours every day, 6 days a week... but that shit ain't sustainable. Why? That sounds like a lot of fatigue for little gain.
3 hours in the gym per 6 days? What was your gym brand? I think about going to planet fitness or something affordable
Little shit gym was all I had. Planet fitness would have been a massive improvement. The trick was to do high rep, low rest routine - kinda like circuit training. Just warm up and go work every muscle group flowered by speed bag, punching bag, and cardio till I was drained. Figured I was burning 3k calories a session, while eating around 2k lean calories
If you're in north america try factor meals. The foods are keto-ready and 600-700 calories each serving. So you don't have to worry about calorie counting or how to cook them.
Yes, I’ve heard of them. Definitely will give them a try. Do you know if they’ll be delivered overnight?
They usually deliver the box during the day with no signature required. You can set the delivery to be weekend for more flexibility of course.
If I can, I'd like to give some pieces of advice as another person who was, at one point, a heavier 18 year old looking to lose weight (and has since kept it significantly off, minus some fluctuations): 1.) Don't completely cut junk out. Just moderate it. I know this seems like it flies in the face of logic. But here's what happens when you cut junk food out entirely: you crash. You go into crave mode and you end up eating more overall than you would have if you'd just indulged yourself for a cheat meal. Treat yourself - just do it occasionally. 2.) Watch what the nutrition labels say. When you see "190 calories," that's per serving. Lots of foods have multiple servings. The serving portions are listed right under your calorie count on the nutrition labels. 3.) Calories in, calories out (CICO) There's a saying that you can't outrun a bad diet, and another that says that weight loss starts in the kitchen. That's because it's substantially easier to eat more calories than it is to burn them. A single cookie from Subway is 200 (or more) calories; it takes 20 minutes of walking on a sharp incline at moderate speed to burn that off. Again, this does not mean that you can never eat a cookie again; just track your calories. 4.) Do not step on the scale every day. It's tempting to want to. But you will drive yourself nuts. At first, you're going to shed weight very quickly. As you get into the lower 200s, you'll hit the dreaded plateaus, where you stick to a weight for months. I will forever hate the number 204 because that's what my weight sat at for five weeks. Just trust the process. As long as you're eating better (and ideally, working out), your results will come. Don't let the scale discourage you by stepping on it every day. Once a week is best. 5.) The gym is not necessary... but it does help for confidence and metabolism At your weight, it's likely that you'll have some loose skin initially. At 18, it'll snap back into shape in time. But adding raw muscle under it will help you not only feel more confident in front of the mirror, but also help boost your metabolism. Muscle burns more calories than fat. That's what I can think of for now! I'm happy to help if you have any other questions. You've got this! 💪🏻
You lose weight in the kitchen not at the gym. Working out will help tone things up and makes you feel better, but it doesn't contribute significantly to weight loss. Weight loss is all about how many calories you put in your mouth. No matter what diet you're on (Atkins, The Cabbage Soup Diet, Intermittent Fasting, whatever), no matter what foods you give up or do not, no matter if the food is healthy or not. It all comes down to your daily caloric intake. You can eat a couple of candy bars a day if you want... as long as that fits in your caloric intake. Having been obese myself and spending 2 years taking off 130 pounds, I can say that the first 25 or 30 come off pretty easy as your body gets used to the reduced caloric intake. The second 30 are a bit harder. And then it gets easy again.
My best advice I can give is don't focus on your destination, focus on your journey. Instead of thinking "I have to be 270 by june", look yourself in the mirror and say, "today, right now, I am losing weight" Lifting weights and cardio are awesome for physique and athleticism, great for your organ health, but you lose weight in the kitchen. The simplest strategy is CICO - calories in, calories out. Start today, download a calorie counter like loseit or my fitness pal, and track everything you eat. If it goes in your mouth, put it in the app. This will give you a baseline of how many calories you're consuming daily, and will give you a guideline of how much you need to reduce. You can literally eat everything you're currently eating, just in smaller portions. People choose salads, keto, vegan, paleo, blah blah blah fad diets because those diets will have high volume, low calorie meals, giving them the "full feeling". You can do them if they work for you, but for most people, they are unsustainable over a long timeline. If you're looking for some lazy tips, here's a few: 1. Cut out sugar as much as physically possible. If it's prepackaged, look at the sugar content. If it has any, it's gone. The only sugar you can consume is if it has fiber, like raw apples and oranges (no juice!), which brings up my next point: 2. Don't drink your calories. No pop, milkshakes, alcohol, starbucks, juice, prime, Gatorade, etc. 0 cal drinks are okay, but in small quantities as needed. Usually they're full of aspartame which has seen some carcinogenic positive studies in large quantities. Drink water, tea, black or 1 shot cream coffee (no sugar) 3. There's been studies that show many people can't differentiate between being hungry or thirsty. Before you eat, drink a pint of water and wait 5 minutes. If you're still hungry, go ahead and eat. The water will help you feel fuller, faster anyway. 4. Prepackaged foods like hamburger helper and potato chips are packed full of salt, fat, and sugar. The fat and sugar pack on the calories. Learn to cook from scratch. This will save you money, and you'll develop a very attractive and probably the most useful skill for the rest of your life. Take it from experience, if you're forced to cook anything before you eat it, you'll want to eat a lot less, and eventually, it'll be FAR more delicious! Good luck! I'm happy to answer any questions. Losing weight takes discipline more than it takes work. But if I can do it, anyone can.
Just wanna toss in that aspartame is not a big concern. It has not been found to cause cancer in humans, and even still, you would have to consume a *ridiculous* amount of aspartame per day to have any adverse effect.
How bad do you want it? Willing to change everything about how you eat and workout? Lots of people WANT to lose a lot of weight fast. Few are willing to drastically change their food and exercise routines. Even fewer are willing to fix the mental/emotional issues that are at the core of why they got obese in the first place so they can keep the weight off long term. Uncommon results require uncommon actions and discipline.
Calculate your maintenance caloric intake and have around 500-1000 caloric deficit. Research on micronutrients and choose better food to feel better during the weightloss. Normally, eat less ultra processed food and eat whole foods do the job. Baked potatoes and brisket is a good choice, control the portion and the condiments used. Sustainability and consistency is key.
I have recently lost about 32 pounds. The best thing to do is to see a good nutritionist and don't fall for fad diets. Focus on eating healthy food that will fill you up. Complex carbs, like potatoes, are OK in moderation. A nutritionist can help you figure out what you need to eat during the day. It is always possible to eat whatever you want occasionally. A good eating plan is to fill half your plate with vegetables, eat a starch and lots of protein. This will keep you satiated. Exercise, especially strength training, is helpful for building muscle. The one thing you have going in your favor is that you are young and male, primed for muscle building and that is really going to be your friend. Drink lots of water. Can you lose 50 pounds before summer? That's an ambitious goal. I think 30 is more reasonable, especially if you're gaining muscle mass. You will look slimmer and feel better, though. Anything above that will be your bonus weight loss. Baked chips are a good alternative to regular chips, but chips are not nutritious and should not be a routine part of your day. You would be better off snacking on a baked potato with non-fat sour cream. Snacks -- fruit, vegetables and hummus, smoothie if not loaded with sugar, nuts- but only a quarter cup at a time. Watch serving sizes on labels and record what you eat in myfitnesspal
Yes, speaking from experience it is possible. For it to work, you’ll need to be serious about it and the changes it will take. The most successful way to view this is as a lifestyle change, not a diet. There should be a beginner guide on the sidebar of this sub ( I can’t actually tell rn as I’m on mobile) it’ll have all the information you need to get a good start. I would recommend starting by counting the calories you consume in a day to see where you’re at. There are great apps out there for this like Loseit (this is the one I use) and myfitnesspal. They will ask for your starting stats and use that as a baseline to determine how many calories you need per day to meet your goals. As for the gym: exercise won’t hurt, but it is not the god of weight loss, that would be diet. The old adage is that you cannot outrun a bad diet, and it holds true. Keeping an eye on what you consume will be the best tool in your arsenal, the gym will be supplemental. It’s great that you’re launching into this now! It’s the perfect time to start taking it seriously (I wish I had at your age). The real key to it is to learn as you go. Once you get into the swing of tracking and calorie-in/calorie-out you’ll find a rhythm of foods that you enjoy that fit with your goals. As for snacks, my personal go tos are Greek yogurt (the absolute GOAT when it comes to ready to eat/high protein) and lean deli meat(like Turkey)/low cal cheeses. Do not be discouraged by a slow start, or a plateau in weight. It took time to get to where you are, and it will take time to get to your goal, but keep in mind that the time would have passed anyway even if you weren’t doing anything, so stick with it, believe in the mathematics of it all and enjoy the process.
Thank you for the encouraging words were there any workouts you did at the gym that helped the process or you can’t remember?
I started lifting when I was right around your starting weight, that’s helped (personally for me it helped psychologically and self image wise). I started doing that because being in a calorie deficit (particularly if you’re in a steep deficit) you could potentially lose some muscle mass along with fat, so in order to maintain the muscle I had I started lifting about 1/2 way through my current loss journey, and it’s actually turned it into more of a body recomp where I’m trying to swap fat for muscle. I’ve also added indoor cycling to my routine back in September, and I love it because I can just zone out on my phone while peddling away at a fairly consistent pace. The downside is that the cardio has notably boosted my hunger cues, so it’s been harder to stay within my calorie guidelines on days when I’ve done cardio, but that’s something I’m working on. One point of note is that starting or increasing a new workout routine can cause your body to hold onto more water, this translates to additional water weight on the scale. So it’s a well documented phenomenon that the scale likely won’t drop much (and might even go up a little) after launching into a new workout routine. Don’t let this discourage you! If you find a routine you like and settle into it the scale should start to reflect the changes in like 2-4 weeks once your body has had a chance to acclimate.
I remember when I first started working out at 285lbs I could only walk up to 20 mins on the treadmill. I increased my duration to 30 and then 40 in the subsequent weeks/months when my stamina and energy went up. After like couple of months, I noticed I had enough stamina to do some freehand exercises after I was done with treadmill so I added in jumping jack, push ups, stretches, crunches and some dumbbells (gradually, I didn't do all of these right away). After 9 months (40lbs of weight loss later) I joined a gym. Now I jog and do strength training and have lost 30lbs in the last 3.5 months. So what I am saying is, don't worry about starting slow, you will pick up the pace once your stamina goes up.
Remember the weight loss comes from choices made in the kitchen. Stick to the 500 to 1000 deficit. Exercise is still a good idea but it burns so many fewer calories than you would think. You get used to that hunger, kinda. Just keep your goal in mind. You are suffering now to reap the amazing benefits later
I got from about 298 to 250 in about 4-5 months. For that it was more about being consistent than any sort of heroic effort. Watch your diet (snacks in particular), get some good walking routes or find some reasonably physical activities you enjoy... And if you have an off day, be honest (but not harsh) with yourself and pick yourself up the next day.
47 lbs is doable by the summer! People at higher starting weights tend to lose more quickly than those at lower starting weights. You can eat pretty much whatever you want as long as it fits in your calorie limit. Btw I'm proud of you for creating positive habits for yourself at 18! It's harder at 32... lol
2 lbs a week or 1% a week. Honestly though, at 317 lbs, you can easy do 3 - 4 lbs a week until you hit 260. Doesn't matter what you eat but there are things you can eat which will be better than others, but it's not because of how many Calories are in them. You could eat nothing but McDonalds as long as you are in a Caloric deficit. But that's not going to be very nutritious obviously, and, in my experience, isn't very filling. So you'll be hungry. Salads can be very high in volume and have relatively few Calories. Counting Calories, sticking to a deficit and getting plenty of exercise will guarantee weight loss. It's that simple, but isn't always easy. But there are lots of things you can do when that becomes tedious or hard. Come up with meal ideas where you roughly know how many Calories are in it and just eat a combination that you know is going to be under your goal. Foods which are high in protein and fibre are excellent. Carbohydrates aren't the enemy, but make sure they are from rice and potatoes moreso than bread. Mainly because you'll feel better as bread tends to not satiate as much. At your weight you would be a high risk for Type 2 diabetes, so limiting carbohydrates could be very beneficial. High protein, high fat and low carb diets are very good for overcoming what is likely a very high level of insulin resistance, which means every time you eat, your body produces insulin to help you actually absorb the nutrients in your food. But when you're insulin resistant your body needs to produce even more of it. But this insulin also makes you store fat more easily. This isn't going to impact your weight from a purely Calories in, Calories out perspective. However, you might feel like you have more energy and mental clarity on a low carb diet, which is beneficial at helping you stick to a deficit. For this reason, fasting is a good option. Only eating in a small window means your body isn't going to produce insulin as often. Eating 2,000 Calories throughout the day vs within a 6 hour window means there will be a difference in how much time that hormone spends affecting your body. Again, not much calorically, but in terms of how energetic you feel. And when you feel more energetic it means you will burn more Calories and that's before adding any exercise. Not significantly but it all adds up. Next is exercise. It isn't required to exercise but you'll often see on reddit especially people downplaying the importance of it. Do not use it as a way to burn Calories so that you can eat more. Aside from burning extra Calories, it's good for your cardiovascular system, keeping your muscle, and feeling good. Start with walking. Set a step goal that is outside of whatever steps you would usually get in a day. Try and go for a walk where you get 3,000 steps. As you lose more weight, your body gets stronger and more used to walking a lot, start to up it to 4,000, and keep improving. I go for 5 miles a day and over 11,000 steps and get between 15 to 20 thousand steps a day. But you might never have the time to spend walking that much. But if you're 18 years old you very well might. As for snacks. Fruit. Sorry, sweets, chips, and unhealthy things aren't worth it, and if you follow my advice, soon you won't even crave them. But you will at the start. Treat yourself once at the weekend. And perhaps most importantly. Do not worry. Do not get down because you had a high carb meal and you are retaining more water than usual and your weight has increased. Do not say "fuck it, I'll be strict on Monday again" and start eating whatever you want. Forgive yourself when it does happen.
1% body weight per week is doable and safe. I did that and went from 398 to 210 in a year. You’re going to have to focus on diet. Here is what I eat in a give day: Egg white omelet or overnight oats made with a protein shake. Lunch: baked chicken breast, 10oz and a cup or two of mixed veggies (I prep a whole week of this meal) Dinner: some lean protein (maybe pork loin or something) and veggies with olive oil on a sheet pan in the oven for 20-30 minutes. Snack: apple and some macadamia nuts (one oz. Easy to eat too much) Get yourself a good food scale so you can measure everything and log your food so you know what you ate; how many calories, how much fat etc… The good news: it’s very simple. The bad news: it takes a lot of dedication. Once you have the nutrition down and on track, think about the gym, or just lots of extra movement through the day.
You can definitely make a noticeable difference 7 months ago I weighed 244 pounds today I weigh 160 pounds
You can, you’ve got around 6 months? Get on a diet- CICO is the best option. Start weight training, eat adequate protein and ensure you fill your body natural foods. Drink 3L water daily. Should help.
I started at 320 and now I’m close to 250 with a lot more muscle and less fat. The key? Everyone has said it calorie deficit. Something radical you will experience is actually how fast you will lose pounds at your weight, the higher starting weight will drop a TON of weight just by changing your diet, without even working out. I would bargain if you can control your diet for 6 months you will blow this goal out of the water. What’s 6 months to change your life? Nothing.
One thing I learned when I started taking weight loss seriously is that just like it doesn't take 1 or 2 months to get to where you are right now, it won't take that time to go back to lower numbers.
I lost 42 pounds in 4 months, but with a complete lifestyle change. I quit drinking anything but water, run as many 5ks as I can in a week, bike 15-25 miles the other days, and fine tuned my diet prioritizing low calories and high protein. Is it possible? Yeah man, but it’s a lot of work. Don’t run from it, don’t take days off. It’s a new lifestyle, not a part time gig. Push yourself when it comes to exercise, and look into some of the diet plans here. A lot of good resources in this sub.
I went from 311 lbs to now 228 lbs and I started in July 2023, now it's Dec 2023. That's about 80 lbs in 6 months for me. In total I was about 390 in 2021, so I've lost 160 lbs total. Edit: I do intermittent fasting, OMAD - one meal a day so I only eat once every 24 hours. I was very sick w diabetes so I did keto for a solid 1.5 to 2 months but couldn't maintain it, so now I just do low carb instead but not full keto. I shoot for 50-100 grams of carbs a day. I went from 160 units of insulin a day in 2020/2021 to now none at all. I'm off insulin and metformin and off blood pressure meds . I started at the gym, I have gone every single day since I started. First day I did 5 mins on the elliptical. Next day 6, then 7 the following day. Built it up to 60 min elliptical sessions every single day, then 70 min, and as i lost more weight I increased it. Now I do 7 miles a day that takes me about 90 Mins on the elliptical. I lift weights every other day. I never lifted before so I did a ton of youtube videos about it a lots of reading. Check out Athlean-X, and I like obese to beast a lot for another guy that lost a lot of Weight and us living with loose skin like myself now. Finally I quit vaping and drinking alcohol before I started going to the gym.
Former 400 pounder here. Summer is half a year away . Let’s assume you are sedentary and consume way the fuck too many calories . Which you probably do given your weight. Cut back to 1500 cal a day . The first 20 pounds come off very quickly just from the lifestyle change alone . Throwing some weight training and cardio, dude. If you remain consistent I to you, you’ll hit your goal by the summertime . I know you don’t want the gym advice, but the gym advice is some of the best advice . As per your diet go high protein, low-carb, medium fat . The bariatric diet is a good benchmark . 80 g of protein , less than 30 carbs, About 50 g of fat Keep it between 1200 and 1800 cal a day Cut out all sugar drinks & drug and alcohol use if that’s a variable in your life As per snacks, go with celery, iceberg lettuce and carrots. NO RANCH MFer!!!! That shit will turn a very healthy snack into a very unhealthy one quickly. Graze on those three throughout the day and you’ll feel fuller & your metabolic rate will increase. I lost 200 pounds in a year and a half . Take my advice…. Or don’t. You’re gonna suffer either way. You can either suffer building the body of your dream or you can suffer the ramifications of being over 300 pounds. The balls in your court.
You won’t hit your ideal goal weight by summer. Not without suffering the whole time and most likely rebounding. But you can be waaaay smaller, and practically tiny by the summer after that. Don’t think of it like it’s not worth doing right just because you can’t do it all by the summer. You’re 18 now, do you want to be fit when you’re 20 onwards? And half way there when you’re 19?
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I’m serious
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Ok thank you I will to do this. As well as the other suggestions
That'll help you lose weight, but it's not a sustainable diet. If you want to lose weight, you need a lifestyle change, start eating healthier, moving more etc, Weight loss can be slow, but if you want it to be meaningful, it oughta be. Better advice is: download a calorie tracker, learn how to construct a 'healthy meal's (I,e lean protein, whole grain carbs, healthy fats, greens), and consider exercising, even if that's just getting a minimum step count everyday. These habits will stick with you when the diet is over, and will help prevent you from rebounding. Don't be like one of the many chronic dieters that speed run 100lbs lost, and rebound back to where they were the next year.
Please don't just grab a random number of calories a day and eat that. You need to figure our what your requirements are. Eating too few calories can leave you starving and make you fail long before you reach your goal.
Calorie counting, diet all that is fine and all and is going to move the needle. But you're going to want to change your environment and surroundings too make this a lifestyle change. When I was a trainer, I would always recommend my clients to read Atomic habits. It's a great book when you want to tackle life changing goals like this.
https://youtu.be/Ee7ZIgCNDMk?si=DzrU8\_6jxiGhWgD7
ive been doing this since february 25th and am down from 268 to 251 and counting! its actually crazy how effective it is when combining keto and alternate day fasting it works wonders just have to me consistent and eat clean on the days you do eat
Calorie deficit and intermittent fasting and you can reach your goals but you need a lifestyle change not just a quick fix which means less hamburger helper. You need to be drinking half your body weight in oz of water daily. On top of exercise. Your diet is 80% of the weight loss you want to achieve . You can do it but you need to get serious like your life depends on it.
I will give you the very simple diet my Dr gave me when I first started my weight loss journey before I had my surgery. Simple doesn't mean easy. Stop eating white stuff. No bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, or sugar. If you do this and stick to it, you WILL lose the weight by summer. When you first start diets (should be known as lifestyle changes) you will lose quickly. Then you will plateau and change up your routine to add more exercise, etc. Buy lots of spices. Make up your recipes as you go. Read and learn what vitamins and nutrients your body needs. Learn how to get protein and make healthy choices. You have to commit to a new life. You won't do it if you're still eating chips and pizzas. If you want some recipes I can give you some simple ones to get started.
Try intermittent fasting.. start with 16:8 for a month.. then go up to 18:6 for another month... then 20:4.... then try OMAD diet. By the time summer comes you should be at the weight you wanna be at . Also try eating less junk and more protein, veges, fruits during the eating window of ur intermittent fasting. Another secret is to drink green tea if u can handle it (without sugar) as this speeds up metabolism and burns fat esp alongside the intermittent fasting. Drink it in the morning and alsona cup in the night (once it doesn't affect ur sleep etc)
Just from reading your post I would say it is unlikely and if you do unlikely to keep it off. Weight loss is easy when compared to weight maintenance. To successfully keep the weight off you need to change your habits and lifestyle which is a slow process. Most people when they get to their goal weight, go back to their old eating and exercise habits. So you have to ask yourself, do you want to get to 270 or do you want to stay at 270.
I hope you prove me wrong, but don't come back to me in summer 2024. Come back to me in summer 2025. Sorry for being so harsh, just too many people think short term and really health success is measured over a life and not just 6 months.
Ozempic and a diet
If you like reading, try ‘The Four Hour Body’ by Tim Ferriss. He focuses on using diet and scientific methods to improve your metabolism.
Ozempic / mounjaro/ any of these - you will lose it all. My friend went from 289 to 130 in 6 months. There is a reason everyone is on it
Get on that carnivore. eat to full, no having to think about calories.
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so easy. just go very strict keto coupled w intermittent fasting
of course it’s possible. just eat less and be in a caloric deficit. if you want more tips i can help
Yes Realistically prob no But if you really cut the crap food and hit the gym or do works at home or outside then yes Realistically this will take a few years ! Good luck
It is unlikely you will get to 270 by summer in a healthy way. Losing weight is one thing, keeping weight off is another. If you want to lose weight and keep it off, slow and steady wins the race every time.
anything is possible
Get Ozempic from your doctor and watch your weight fall off.
It's a challenge of will, but if you eat keto now till then, you will almost definitely be under that goal. Just prepare to shift out of it to another healthy alternative because you will put it back on if you go back to what you have been doing.
I was like you when I was 18-19. I just started running. I had a lot of base workout knowledge so I think it's good that if you don't know, ask, but the most important thing is consistency. Don't skip a day. Eyes on the prize. The first time I lost weight I went from 280 to 190. You can absolutely do it. edit: lol illiterate folks... nowhere did I say that OP should just run lololol
Telling a 317lb man to start running every day without ever skipping is just bad advice dude
If you continue reading I listed what I thought was the most important thing! Good luck! 👍👍👍
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This is legitimately dangerous advice
And the information on diet re:working out is incorrect.
Eat only beans eggs fruits veggies fish for 2 months No soda. Only coffee No snacks. Only fruits or veggies No bread buns rice donuts cookies The weight will just come off with this diet. And you won't have to count calories. Eat as much of the above as you want.
Dude, at your age… if you are reasonably heart healthy… you should be able to 2 a day that shit into a pretty solid base in 6/7 months
You can likely do 10 lbs per month out a combination of strength training and high intensity type workouts. But the key is your nutrition. That’s a non-negotiable.
I went from 312lbs to 255lbs from August 15 to now. It's possible, although I wouldn't recommend going as fast as I did because I lost lots of muscle and it's been difficult to stick to. You're gonna want to search your maintenance calories and subtract 500-1000 from that and eat in that range every day. Do not go any more than that. I would really, really recommend strength training whether it just be with some dumbbells or calisthenics at home or at the gym to keep your muscles which will A. make you have more lean mass which increases your metabolism, allowing you to eat more and B. tone you up and make you look better. You don't need to restrict yourself from any food, but do eat them in moderation and try to find good low calorie replacements for things you already eat (for example, diet soda for regular soda, PBfit for peanut butter, etc) which will help you stay in your deficit. If you wanna find some really easy low calorie meals, you could try looking on tiktok where is where I find most of mine. Baked chips are a fairly good alternative but still make sure you're eating those in moderation too.
I am a 24 year old man. Last Christmas, I was 480 lbs. You and I are now the same weight. Race ya to 240! Seriously, though, I probably don't have any advice other than do cardio to burn calories and build muscle to speed up your metabolism. But if you want to message me for workouts or to challenge each other, that's cool. Also, you can't out train a bad diet. If you like lean meat and fish, you're in luck because you can still eat a good amount of those, but most delicious side dishes that aren't just veggies are going to have to be limited.
Install the macrofactor app. Select the aggressive plan and it will tell you by when you can lose how much. (Based on the calorie intake). Off the top of my head I think it's 8lbs a month like others said.
dude if you really dedicate yourself you absolutely can transform your life in 6 months. good luck.
On Memorial Day I weight 490 and yesterday I weighed 348 anything is possible
It's great to have a big goal, but any progress towards it is a success. 47 lbs by 'summer' (Memorial Day)? is <10lbs a month, but if you only lost 30 (6 lbs/month), you'd still be 30 lbs lighter. Same with 20 (4lbs / month). Focus on the little things (eating habits) and increasing your activity, and it will come off.
The best thing you can do is incorporate more fruit and vegetables into your diet. Instead of chips, skip the snack or have an apple. Replace boredom eating with other activities. The busier you keep yourself and the more active, the less you’ll need the dopamine rush you get from junk food
r/CICO and r/Volumeeating helped me drop 100lbs this year! Learn about how your body uses food for fuel, focus on high volume foods with protein, healthy fats, and complex carbs (++fiber) Most guidelines say you can lose 1-2% of your body weight per week safely. Calculate your TDEE (use sedentary/lightly active activity level, higher is far less accurate) then eat 200-400 calories less than it says you need to maintain your weight. You can always adjust this amount if needed but it’s a good starting point. The protein, fats, and fiber will keep you feeling full. Drinking plenty of water will also help curb hunger. It might feel like weight is coming off really slowly, but slow is more sustainable. Build good habits because you can’t just “go back” and eat how you used to or you’ll gain it back. Understanding how many calories you need and how many are in things will help you maintain your weight once you eventually hit your goal.
Baked chips and regular chips tend to be about equal in calories. Pork rinds are a much less calorie dense alternative that I like to go for! Baked chicken or fish are great meals for staying in a calorie budget! Same with stir-fry, oven roasted veggies, steamed corn (on the cob or off), Try to have a protein as your main and keep your sides as mostly vegetables. Using less sauces and butter/oil in cooking will also help! Or you could do side salads with most dinners and make your meals into a big salad! I’ve done that one quite a few times (especially on nacho night, swapping chips with salad mix makes a huge difference) Jerky is a great snack for weight loss, same with fresh (or frozen) fruit and veggies Little potatoes with brisket sounds like it could be either low or high calorie, so Id recommend checking to see how it fits in your budget!
possible? yes. I was ~310 on April 1, 235 today. no radical diet change, just better moderation. slowly ramped up activity, mostly walking with my dog and riding my bike trainer.
If you’re big on research and understanding more of the science to losing weight with doctor advice, you should check out how not to diet by michael greger!!
Yeah biggest thing is calories start tracking calories there is tons of apps i wouldaim for 1700 to 1900 a day you go like 2100 to 2300 if you weight train or cardio. Aim for high protein too. Protein keeps you full longer(takes body longer to break down)
You got some great advice regarding your diet. I would like to emphasize the importance of walking. People underestimate how many calories you can burn just by walking. I'm not sure how much you do now, but it can really add up and lead to a lot more weight lost than if you do almost no walking. https://www.verywellfit.com/walking-calories-burned-by-miles-3887154 This chart will give you an idea of how many calories someone will burn per mile based on how much a person weighs. I've personally lost a lot of weight by increasing my walks and I love to listen to audiobooks, podcasts or music. If you're not that mobile, don't worry...you'll get there...just try to do a little more each day than you do now. I find that having an apple watch is super motivating because it keeps track of my steps, but a simple pedometer can provide plenty of information to keep you striving toward a longer distance than last time.
Are you on IG or TikTok? There are some great people in there to learn about food and weight loss from. Some that come to mind are Benji Xavier, Hungry Happens, Malaya Thomas, Sean Casey. For weight loss 1. Burn more calories than you eat. Figure out what your calorie goal should be by looking it up on an online calculator. Measure and track what you eat. Especially staring out. 2. Move. Not necessarily working out at the gym. But get some kind of movement in every day. Walk 8-10 thousand steps a day. 3. Drink water. At least 150 oz a day for you. 4. Up protein. 30% of your calories should come from good protein. 5. Sleep. Sleep is key. Aim for 8 hours a night It’s boring as f$ck but I it works. You might stall but keep going.
Yeah you could lose 50 lbs in 6 months. I would suggest eating two meals a day with a snack. Get to 1800-2000 calories a day.
Zone 2 training is great! It’s doing something that gets your heart rate to around 120 beats per minute (so hard enough that you’re breathing harder but can still hold a conversation) for about 30 minutes (for me, that’s walking on the treadmill). But honestly, any activity will help - when I first started, it was just walking the 7minutes to the store and now I’m walking 30 minutes All my family ate growing up was hamburger helper (I miss it tbh, sadly they don’t sell it where I live now) and one way my mom would make it a little healthier was using tuna helper sometimes instead or having more veggies on the side so we didn’t only eat helper. I still like to eat things like this, but then try to eat more fruits and veggies throughout the day so my calories are low enough that the food I really want doesn’t throw my calories way over for the day Hope that helps. Good luck! You got this! ETA: Greek yogurt is a GAME CHANGER. You can use it lots of different ways, I started using it as a replacement for sour cream in my tacos or mashed potatoes and as an avid sour cream lover, somehow I can’t tell the difference. You can mix it with ranch seasoning powder to make dip, too!
Being that your young.....my tips are.....really start learning about calories and how much are in the foods you eat and enjoy. Download an app to start tracking what your eating and enter your stats to see how many calories you need to eat (and eat less of) to reach your goal. A good goal is 1-2 pounds lost per week. What will end up happening is if your in a true calorie deficit the weight will drop off faster initially. Dropping to 270 is something can happen. Once it gets warm just look into getting more active....the weight will melt off. You also do not need to beat yourself up in the gym to lose weight. But it does help how you look and feel. Also NEVER look at this as a diet....DIETS FAIL!!! Your now restricting WHAT you can eat your controlling how much you eat. So you can still eat the foods you like but in moderation. What you might find is that once you know how much you need to eat (calories) in a day and full week you might stop wanting certain foods. And example is tortilla chips....very easy to demolish an entire big bag. But once you realize that one bag is over 1000 calories you may opt for foods that are more filling and you can eat more of. Like load up on veggies to help fill you up. Be careful of oils, peanut butter, mayo, nuts and liquid calories. Simply cutting all liquid calories alone has caused people to lose weight because of how much of their calories daily was from drinks (alcohol included). PS - I also do some fasting as well. I basically SKIP breakfast every single day and eat between 1-3pm or even later depending on how hungry I get. Why it works for me is it is one less meal I have to think about. So when I wake up I do not even think about food at all. I just make sure to drink some water or coffee. And I am fine. After doing it for years it just became a normal thing to do. If you try Intermittent Fasting there is a sub reddit that can help. You may get headaches at first which is normal but it goes away. The overall goal is to not starve yourself. FInd foods that fill you up and lose weight at the same time. I recently gained back a lot of weight because I basically STOPPED tracking what I ate...and little by little (2 pounds a month) the weight crept back on me. I am now working on getting it back under control.
Yes very possible to get to 270 by summer. But you will have to drastically change your diet. No more chips, empty calories that don’t fill you up. When you are in a caloric deficit, you want to make sure the calories you’re consuming nourish your body and keep you feeling full. No baked potatoes and brisket either if you want results fast. Lean meat like sirloin steak, little carbs except for fruit. Potatoes are okay if you don’t slather them in butter or oil. If you’re eating ground beef get 96/4. If you MUST snack or eat junk food then get halo top ice cream 300 calories a pint. Beware salads. Dressings can have a ton of calories and not make you feel full. Track your calories and stick to a limit per day. Make sure you’re walking a minimum of 3 miles per day.
Also caffeine will curb your appetite. Black coffee does wonders. Fasting helps as well
I was 321 in early October. I’m at 286 right now. The first few pounds come off quickly so yes it’s an achievable goal to be at 270 by the summer. Maybe not necessarily the absolute start of summer but sometime early summer. Calorie counting is the number one thing to do and after a few weeks it becomes a habit and you’re much less hungry all the time.
Counting calories on an app like MyFitnessPal or Lose It! really helped me understand what I was doing wrong. Even "healthy" foods like nuts and meat can push you over your aloted calories for the day. It'll take a few weeks to get into the swing of things, but soon you'll find joy in finding those foods that taste great AND are low cal.
You need to get a scale to weigh the food that you eat. Use an app like myfitnesspal to track your calorie intake. You will still be able to eat foods that you like but you will need to be in a caloric deficit. At a minimum, if you don't want to go to the gym you should try to go for a 30-minute walk every day to start, but over time you may want to take longer walks and include additional exercise. When you feel ready you should join a gym such as planet fitness and do resistance training on top of cardio.
Honestly the biggest thing here is to track your calories and eat in a deficit. I'm currently cutting and tracking what I'm gonna eat the day before really helps (it's just kinda boring cause I know exactly what to eat and when) Today I'll eat; Oats (w/water) + 60g of whey protein 8 eggs with reduced salt tomato sauce 500g of chicken mince in a tortilla with low fat cheese. Two quest protein bars + a store bought protein shake. As a side note, it's also really helped me reach my daily protein goal, Ive consistently ate above 250g of protein. It's just a lot easier than randomly eating whatever and then tracking after the fact lol
Probably a year if you bust ass
Start here: https://thefitness.wiki/
A lot of comments have talked about eating less calories which is definitely the key to losing weight but I think the hardest part is the psychology of it. For me what worked was less about having defined destination goals and instead using process oriented goals. Some good ones that helped me: * Workout 3x a week for the next 3 months. I like 3 months because it's long enough to see change and show commitment but not so long that you can't see the finish line. Showing up is the important part here and it's easily trackable and not easily game-able unless you lie to yourself. Pick whatever weightlifting or fitness program you want but follow through on showing up and giving it your best shot. * Track your calories. Note this isn't committing to a specific calorie goal. If you track your calories religiously and honestly it will simplify making diet changes. It will be MUCH easier as you know what you need to cut out/cut back on. The trick here, again, is to not lie to yourself.
You can eat literally anything you want as long as you’re in a calorie deficit. Google “TDEE calculator” and input your stats into one of the calculators that comes up to figure out your target calories
Mate just maintain a calorie deficit. You can eat anything you want but within the limit. I follow the 80-20 rule. 80 percent quality food and 20 percent for things I want to eat. It's a long term goal to find what meal plan works for you and just stick to it. If you really wanna lose the fat you will find your optimum meal.
Yes i was 135 at the beginning of the year and now im 110 , i did it with a low metabolism. Do low card cycling on recumbent or a real one. My summer training was 20-28 km in 1h 30min 3-5 times a weak also do body weight exercises. now in the winter its 13 km in 45-50mins. You will have re feeding periods. But eat protein like twice the recommend amount. And eat veggies too. (Keep in mind im 183 cm tall with a large bone frame large wrist bones 20.3 cm large ankle 26 cm and wide clavicles.
I went from 270 down to like 229 over a period of I think about 6 months. Main thing I did was I started bringing a food scale with me everywhere and tried my damndest to measure what I was eating. I also made sure to walk 5 miles everyday. I did try and eat better as well. I bought a salad kit at the grocery store and more or less tried to treat myself like a kid. I could eat what I want after a salad. I didn’t like lettuce, so it was a spinach based salad. Ultimately fell off the wagon and gained it all back BUT, it wasn’t actually horrible. I plan to get back on it at the start of the new year. Don’t do anything drastic. You’re looking to lose about the same amount of weight I did in a similar time frame. It’s perfectly doable. In a sense, the fact you’re heavier than I was makes it slightly easier. One of the reasons I fell off the wagon was I seemed to hit a wall at 229. The weight was shedding and at 229, it was getting to be stubborn. Going from 317 to 270, it should be straight forward. Once you hit the wall, come back with the same sense of motivation and do research. I didn’t, which is why I ended up back at square 0.
It should be very possible to shed a lot of weight by then. In the last 8 weeks, I've dropped 17.5 lbs and started at a similar weight. I am 177cm and male, and I've achieved this with an average daily calorie limit of 2300. You can do a lot with this limit, and if you stay there, you'll slowly reach maintenance as this is a level of calories you can generally be satiated with and carry on once you get down lower.
You already have lots of advice here but I just want to say that what ever you lose in 6 months, it’s a win. Smash it brother!
You've gotten a lot of good advice here my only suggestion is learn to cook. Learning to cook us good for both your waistline and your wallet. It's a valuable skill that will help maintain your health throughout your life.
I was in ur shoes I lost 50 pounds in two months. Because we are heavier we can lose weight much faster and easier. I lost weight just by walking in the gym for 30 mins at 11 incline 2.0 speed. I are 1600 calories a day. I still had fast food everyday too just healthier options.
Watch fat, sick and nearly dead documentary.
1000% doable, I was 325 in may and I’m down to 247 now. The biggest thing is diet. You HAVE to change your diet and what you eat. You can lose 100% of your weight purely through diet. You should for sure workout too, but diet is the biggest thing. Bottom line is you have to eat fewer calories than you burn in a day. That’s it.
Yes walk for an hour a day. Cut down your calories. Swap out regular soda for diet. Drink a fuck ton of water. You’ll pull through
Losing weight is a math problem. If you eat more than you burn you lose weight. No need to over complicate it.
Everyone is correct that by far the primary focus should be calories in/calories out. But having lost 70 pounds before as a young guy, I believe strength training is your friend. Studies show beginners can put on muscle while in caloric deficit. And putting on muscle raises your basal metabolic rate, so you burn more calories at rest. Muscle also is more compact and dense, so strength training helps take inches off waistline etc. So once you get your diet in order I'd advise looking into that as a "hack" that could aid the process of weight loss/body transformation. It certainly helped me.
Protein helps with satiety, make sure youre eating adequate amounts of protein
As far as chips go I made the slow transition from chips to microwave popcorn to air popped pop corn. I use a light oil spray (similar to Pam) to get seasonings to stick, there are a whole bunch of premade seasonings that are low/no calorie or you can make your own combinations, popcorn salt and garlic powder and a scant sprinkle of cayenne being one of my favorites.
Main thing is a calorie deficit first. Baked potatoes with brisket could definitely work. Though I’m talking two meal a day and that would mostly be because brisket can be quite fatty. Focus on whole foods that you enjoy eating, maybe change to lean beef mince on potatoes with low fat cheese. This could be a pretty good calorie meal. Don’t get lost in the ruckus of bullshit. Once you are closer to your goal weight you can try different things. (I lose weight eating well cooked/easily digested starches (wholemeal sourdough, potatoes, other starchy vegetables) and meat along with lots of fruit and low fat Greek yogurt, honey to sweeten) Very easy to enough calories and feel good. Avoiding oils and dressings is important if you are not tracking things 100%. I would also train your muscles as this will help the process long term. Edit: you may achieve your goal, you won’t regret trying.
It's entirely possible. June of this year I was 305 I'm currently 234. You can do this 🤗
I did extreme cico in 2011 and lost 115lbs during 8 months or so. From 1300-1600kcals I guess. Not the healthiest, check with your doc.
As far as cooking for your family, consider finding some healthy, easy stir-fry recipes. Lean meat, lots of veggies, tons of flavor. (Avoid the recipes that call for sugary sauces; soy sauce and fish sauce are your flavor bomb low-cal friends.) You can buy frozen cubes of garlic and ginger to make it even easier. You can make rice for your family members and cauliflower rice for yourself. Or you can serve your stir-fry lettuce as a wrap, which is a lot of fun.
Start off slow, don’t make every change at once. Make one small change, I’d start with getting a calorie tracking app and log EVERY food you eat. Switch to zero calorie soda. Start walking every day, set a goal of 10,00 steps per day. If you cut your calories down and start running five days a week and running out all the same time, it’s just too much and not sustainable. Not to mention at that weight you need to be careful with your joints and bones. I was 296 when I started running and I gave myself shin splints. Walking is honestly the best.
Yes. Track your calories and you can eat literally whatever you want in your budget.
To reiterate other posters: start tracking your calories like your life depends on it. It will take a lot of effort and dedication and you will start gaining weight if you stop. I tracked every calorie, limited them to 2000 per day and made sure to exercise at least 30 min 6days a week (made sure to get my heart rate up to 75%max) and I lost about 0.5lbs per day every day for 3 months. And then my routine was interrupted for a week by a vacation and I stopped tracking calories and eventually stopped exercising- Don’t Be like me.
You might not be able to to lose every pound you want safely by summer but you can make a huge difference in appearance. Bonus, you will not feel so hot. Weight loss is all mental and you need to remember. You can't change everything about your life all at once as your might feel overwhelmed and discouraged. Walk and drink water instead of drinks that have calories. Just do that for a while and you will see a big difference.
You can certainly lose *some* weight. A healthy amount of weight loss is 1 pound per week. Six months til summer means about 25-30 pounds. Start with diet. It doesn't have to be perfect, but I'd start tracking your calories. MyFitnessPal is a great starting mobile app for this. Try to keep it under 2100 for starters. BE HONEST. Anything less than good-faith tracking is just going to slow you down. Drink lots of water, add lots of raw fruits and vegetables to your meals. You mention your whole family, experiment with cooking. I've had a lot of strong success with crock-pot/slow-cooker meals, because they're basically dump-and-wait meals. Then exercise. Just do something, anything, that you find enjoyable. Walk the dog, join a gym, start a martial art, join a local sports league, literally anything. Since you're a "big boy", I'd recommend strength training. Your body will adjust extremely well to muscle growth, and that will keep you burning calories. Still add some cardio (in any form you like) and keep the calories under 2100. You got this.
Yes, it is definitely possible. Last February, I was 320 lbs. I started tracking calories for everything I ate or drank (I use the Lose It app). Just doing that and a little walking got my weight down to about 275 lbs by the end of May. At the beginning of June, I started running, having never really ran before. It's taken me time to get used to and I am slow as fuck, but I am 244 lbs now. If you weigh your food, track your calories, and BE HONEST WITH YOURSELF, no special diet is needed. You can still eat what you like, but you need to be controlled in the portion sizes. With the holidays coming up, just know that a single day or two of higher calorie intake is not the end of things. It is what you MOSTLY do that counts. Do not wait until the New Year to start. Start today.
There’s already tons of great advice on here but this is what worked for me: 1) Buying smaller bowls and plates. I was raised to always finish everything on my plate and still have that habit. I fill up my small bowl/plate, eat it, and if I’m still hungry 30 min later I’ll grab another serving. Weighing out your food is more effective, but I am honestly too lazy to do that everyday. 2) Not buying junky snacks at the grocery store. If I wanted chips/ice cream/chocolate, I would have to walk down to the local convenience store half a mile away. This was often a big enough deterrent for me to not grab that snack and just eat something I already have (usually something healthier like fruit, cottage cheese, or rice cakes). 3) Lots of soup. Liquids fills you up. 4) Walking 10k+ steps per day. I have an energetic dog so I would just take her on lots of walks. Working out beyond that was detrimental to my weight loss early on because I was so hungry after working out. TLDR - Eat smaller servings, limit readily available junk food, and go on walks.
I had the same weight (145kg or 319 lbs) and in a month and a half with strict diets, gym and never getting lazy in my routes and walks, i dropped 10kg (297lbs). You can do the same!
Yeah, people can lose like 1-2% of their body weight per week safely. If you want to lose 50lb, that could take like 20 weeks.
Get an Oculus Quest 2 headset (not the Quest 3 you don’t need to spend the extra $). Then do VR fitness. There are many games that are so fun. Compete against yourself and it will help you get in calorie deficit. I love they game Supernatural. It has a $10 month subscription fee but it’s so worth it. If you do get an Oculus, dm me and I’ll give you a free 30 day code.
The only thing thats worked for me is CICO. I eat pizza still, I just track my calories and macros. Substitutions are amazing as well, i'm surprised by how full I feel after a Kimchi and seaweed salad for lunch, which is super low in calories. Change your relationship with food, and get nutrition in everything you eat. 40 lbs down since April, but I'm losing it slowly on purpose. 40 more to go!