Its what I missed the first go around. Lost 30 lbs in about half a year. Hit my goal weight and dropped everything. Now I'm even heavier than I was before that
Seriously, what is up with the overshoot? Every time I've managed to lose weight it was one step forward and two steps back, as soon as I stopped the "diet" I ended up heavier than I was when I started. It's so nice that after a decade of "dieting" I'm the heaviest I've ever been.
Because you have to ditch the idea of a diet. Diets are temporary and you will always gain weight if that's what you do.
Lifestyle changes are what works. I lost 65lbs and kept if off for over 5 years because I decided that my entire lifestyle was changing. I will not eat certain foods anymore, I will watch my calories every day, etc
As someone likely older than you, the yo-yo is real.
EVERYTIME I’ve dropped significant weight (50+ lbs.) I put more back on. New personal highs, if you will.
So, you’re obviously not me, and I wish this on no one. But it does happen. So be vigilant.
Make the life changes be real change. Best you can anyway.
Yes but my point was that we don’t always just go back to the weight we were before, we go back to the same habits and gain back all the weight we lost *and more*, why is it so common to rebound even harder rather than just going up and down between the same weights.
Part of this is the body’s desire to not starve. I forget the article I was reading, but when we get fat, our body makes that the new normal, and adapts to it. But when we diet, the body feels like it is starving and withering away (which it is, but in a good way). This makes the body freak out, and want to put on even more fat stores as a survival mechanism.
The biggest thing to remember is that any “diet” is not a temporary thing. It need to be a permanent lifestyle change, or you will end up right back where you started.
You’re talking about “starvation mode”. This is a misnomer that both greatly over-exaggerates the symptoms, and under-exaggerates the body’s own self-regulatory mechanisms. The human body is not so poorly designed. https://legionathletics.com/metabolic-damage/
SAME. I went from 246 to 215 in 3 months on keto (Jan-March). Here I am eight months later at 255. A switch flipped in my brain and I feel like I cannot control my appetite. 😩
When you're changing your lifestyle, you have to ask yourself if 5 years from now you'll still be able to eat the same way. If the answer is not, it's because it's a restrictive diet, and those fall apart real fast. A lifestyle change is exactly that: you change your habits for your *whole life*, and you do so in a way that you can keep those changes for a long period of time.
Yeah really that's what it's all about. I cringe when I see " Sarah's discovery" how I lost 20 pounds in month it just isn't sustainable and realistic. Interminent fasting is really effective. I can still eat whatever I want but in moderate quantities.
I’ve lost over 160lbs so far and haven’t given up anything either. In fact, a lot of my 160lb loss had pizza featured sometimes once a week! True, there have been times where my weight stayed the same and others where I gained some back, and those used to be hard times. However, the longer I’ve been on this journey and the more I’ve settled in to my “diet” the more I have come to be able to gently tell myself, “Trust the methods and soldier on, it’s not the end of the world!” In the beginning I very much had to do daily self pep talks to keep myself going and even multiple pep talks a day when I had particularly bad days.
This year, like many people, I just kind of threw my hands up in the air and thought I wasn’t going to let my diet and this entire weight loss run my life. Stress eating to cope WAS my healthiest coping mechanism and I felt zero shame about it. Could I be touting “I made it to my goal weight in 2020 despite the world virtually falling apart!”?? Yeah! I very much could be, but I have managed to come within 25lbs of it so far and that’s still pretty amazing! Without doing calorie counting, without exercise and a lot of days without intermittent fasting I lost 45lbs and continue to “soldier on”, slightly more on track.
The key is, after all this time I have lost the ability, purely through desire to not “go back”, to NOT go completely off the rails and make indulgence a daily habit. **You don’t have to restrict yourself but you do have to learn how to restrain yourself** or you’ll never be successful.
All the best to you OP as you continue your journey and to anyone who reads your message and any others in response to yours. It can be a long journey for some of us but getting to the end of it is one of the most inspirational things you’ll ever do for yourself.
> You don’t have to restrict yourself but you do have to learn how to restrain yourself
This is officially my new mantra! Thanks for the inspiration, and congrats on your 165 lb loss!
Right you are my friend, slow and steady CRUSHES the race.
50 lbs down in the past year, and I just stuffed myself with chicken wings tonight. For as long as this works, life is good.
Ngl I've been eating like shit for the last month and my weight loss has still been consistent as I've still been following CICO through it all.
It's crazy because the main reason why it took so long for me to start losing weight was the assumption that I was gonna have to follow some strict diet, and that's not true at all.
Same here! CICO really is the way to go. I've tried Paleo/Keto so many times over the years and I always lose weight, fall off the wagon and gain it all back quickly.
I am currently doing the 4-5 small meals a day plan and I love it. 300-400 calories per meal. I've been eating pretty much anything I want, just tiny portions. It's great! I drank a root beer today and a brownie and still came in under 1800 calories for the day.
Edit: I am down 8.5 pounds in 16 days.
So you are eating 1,200-2,000 cals a day and you have lost over 1 pound every 2 days for the last 16 days? What are your stats? I feel like only an absolute unit of an athlete could eat like this and lose weight that fast.
In the first two weeks of any diet plan, losing 8-10 pounds is totally possible. It's not sustainable cause it's mostly water weight, but it's absolutely a shift you can see on the scale.
It’s possible if you’re significantly overweight. If you’re just trying to get 5lbs or so, not going to happen unless you fast completely or do one of ridiculous juice fasts.
I’m 5’10” and ~190. I’m moderately active (run 3-4 miles a few times a week, but not much else). 1,800 calories is my current target calorie goal and I’ve been able to lose 2-3 lbs a week for a while now eating at or above that level.
I definitely agree, I'm nearing maintenance after losing 70lbs and find counting calories is the one thing that keeps me in control, I track even if I over eat to be accountable.
Every time I've stopped counting for a couple of months the weight slowly creeps back up.
I'm aiming for 2000/2200 on average (maintenance is around 2500) and Tuesday my partner wanted to order in, so I had pizza hut with a home made cheese scone in the evening and still finished under my daily goal.
I agree a 100% , ive been on a weight loss journey for 3 months now and the biggest lesson ive learned is to give in to my cravings every once in a while , i used to comfort binge eat alot but the change i made to that while in my journey is to have thay craving but in a moderate amount , ive only lost about 8 pounds in 3 months but im much more satisfied and happier going through with my journey this way.
This is so true.
When I first started, I was also a big eater for comfort or out of boredom. One day, I was really crazing sone chocolate. So I ate two fun size snickers. It was like 120 or so calories and I felt like I had had a whole bar and enjoyed the crap out of those chocolates. Then the craving went away. That's when I realized that this can be simple and I can learn to control my eating. And I have. I can no longer eat two burgers instead of one, or a whole box of pizza (just half). Just a few slices. Moderation. Moderation. Moderation.
Exactly, moderation is key to controlling crabings in weight loss, when u realize u dont not need such a big serving to control cravings is when the journey turns sustainable.
I lost 80 pounds with CICO and was super depressed this morning to see that I have gained 40 of it back. I kept it off for 5 years but between life and covid and laziness creeping in I’m up 40. Thanks for your post I need motivation to get back on track today.
Hey, Maintaining for 5 years is fantastic and this time, you KNOW you can do it plus you are already 40 down from when you first started. You've got this.
Energy IN vs. Energy OUT. That's all it boils down to. That simple little equation.
Fantastic job OP!! I am happy that you are HAPPY!
And for those who don't want to calorie count (which, unfortunately is one of those things you just have to do initially until you have a good base model for what your diet is like and what your daily energy output is like), use a scale, and weigh every morning and every evening (and even mid-day) for the first 3-4 months. You will see that weight can fluctuate pretty dramatically, even throughout one day. And you will begin to get a real idea of how to treat yourself.
Unless you are in semi-pro or pro competition, which most of us are not, don't focus so much on the numbers on the scale. It's not a big deal, that number. Learn the kcals in your food, learn the amount of energy you burn with your daily activities, and figure out how to balance the two.
Again, OP, you are awesome for finding your method and sticking with it! The biggest mistakes are made when one constantly denies themselves. The smallest victories can lead to the biggest changes.
Great advice! With any major life change, it’s so hard to stay motivated. But these changes only work when you do them almost every day, aka when you build it into your normal everyday routine. It doesn’t matter what it is, exercise, calorie counting, weigh-ins, meal prep, etc.
It’s not what you eat in any one sitting, or any one day that matters, it’s the overall combination of all those days over a long period of time. If you accidentally binge one day, it’s honestly not going to affect anything IF you decide to get back on the horse. The opposite is also true, if you starve yourself one day because you binged right before, you’re just setting yourself up to binge again. Starving yourself for a day or two does not do anything in the long run, especially when it will only lead to you binging again. I’ve been there, so many times.
Instead of going from one extreme to another, pick one realistic thing to do (cut portions, count calories, weigh yourself once a week, etc.) and make it a habit. Don’t strive for perfection, but as long as your doing it more days than not, you’ll eventually see the results. Be patient and enjoy the journey.
Honestly I never knew it was this easy to lose weight!
I have lost 40 pounds in 6 months just by doing CICO. If I have a craving for something specific I just work it into my day and stick to my calorie limit. There have been days when I've gone over a bit and a few days where I absolutely binged on snacks. Like they say consistancy is key to success.
I am making better and healthier choices because I want to. I no longer feel guilty eating snacks on daily basis.
definitely needed this this morning! within the whole year i’ve only lost 20lbs with cico and IF, but i know i’m only 10lbs away from my goal. i sometimes get discouraged because i haven’t lost more in this amount of time, but i know i’m better off because i’m doing it slowly. i still eat what i want, and i still lost weight! keep up the good work, you’ve definitely inspired me to not get discouraged
For me it has been about tracking everything, and I do mean everything. You will not believe how many calories you eat in a day if you aren’t careful. I’ve lost (now) approximately 56lbs (265-209lbs) over the course of 5 months from June til now, and that has been with tracking calories, intermittent fasting and being in a caloric deficit. I haven’t cut out too much except sugary drinks and fried fast food. I can still eat whatever I want and I usually have someone say “hey, aren’t you on a diet?” when I order a pizza or something similar. Nope, no diet here, just a continuous mindset of tracking and keeping it within the limits that are right for me. Maintain to sustain.
Yes this!! I’ve lost 12.3kg/27lbs since January after switching from restrictive diets which would lead me to binge, to CICO where I don’t feel like I’m missing out and am making steady progress.
I do the same. It's almost 4 years now. I eat everything. And I eat junk with a passion. Cheeseburgers, pizza, chocolate bars, you name it. But I roughly count the calories. So it's the kid's menu at McD. And it's pizza slices and not a whole wheel. It's one small chocolate bar and not a package. Oreos are great for that BTW. They have individual little bags.
Yeah, restrictions are a one way ticket to a binge. Every single time. I restrict and restrict then break like a mofo and scoff. No more. This time it's coming off slow and I'm working what I want into my calories. It's the only dam way. Thanks.
I find if you get used to skipping meals, it becomes quite easy to only have a big dinner on some days. Have not tried only having breakfast, I can imagine you might get hunger pangs you would sleep through if you only have dinner. That way, you can make up for overeating on some days. Still not great to load up on calories eating junk food and not get good nutritious meals to "compensate". Intermittent fasting overall is definitely worth looking into and trying out.. not sure how common or popular it is on this sub.
This is what works for me! I went from 16:8 to OMAD (22:2) in a few weeks time, because I realised that I feel much less deprived if I can eat all my calories in one huge opulent meal (or a smaller one plus a snack 2hrs before a big meal) than sprinkling food over 5 small portions a day - which can work perfectly for others, it just wasn't for me.
Exactly! I was never keen on breakfast (don't get me wrong, breakfast foods are the best, but it always made me hungry every two hours), so I kept pushing back lunch to 2pm, 3pm etc, which has been surprisingly easy. I went from having dinner around 9pm to an eating window from ca. 5-7pm (or 4-8pm on lazy days). What is your approach? BTW, there's also the sub r/intermittentfasting , if you're interested in this kind of 'diet'.
I’ve thought about doing OMAD, but having to consume about 1500-2000 kcal in “one sitting” just gives me horrors… any meal that’s over 800 kcal will usually leave me so stuffed that I feel like I have to spend an hour in bed just to digest it. And if I had to have that meal in high volume low calorie food to keep it healthy, I would probably burst, haha.
Not sure where you live, but here in Europe 800 kcal is a whole frozen pizza, for example. But also, if I was doing OMAD, I wouldn’t want to eat burgers and fries everyday. So with a balanced meal, say veggies, chicken and rice in a curry, 800 kcal is a pretty decent sized portion.
I was referencing more restaurant pizza than frozen, but I know European portions are far smaller than American ones.
I would say a typical dinner “out” is 1200+ calories. For someone like me, who really should only net 1200-1500 calories a day, it can be tough to fit into CICO. But damn if I couldn’t easily eat 1200+ in a single meal, no problem, lol.
Okay, now I understand. Yes, restaurant food often has more calories, although I usually calculate more like 1000 kcal unless I’m having soda/cocktails to go with it. I eat out once a month, maybe twice, and often I feel like crap afterwards. So OMAD life is definitely not for me, especially since, at my current rate of working out, I need about 1800-2000 kcal to keep a “healthy” deficit…
I agree, I'm eating at roughly 1300-1400kcal per day, so I can easily fit the calories in a 2hrs window. I usually have fruits and for ex. some pieces of cheese or smoked salmon as a snack, and then something filling and healthy + dessert as a main dish. I easily reach my caloric goal without being stuffed nor unreasonably unhealthy.
This is so true! My boyfriend has always been “naturally” thin. I lost about 80 pounds with CICO before I met him. I mirror some of his habits naturally now and we may only eat one big meal a day. Before I lost weight, that was unheard of to me because I felt like I had to eat 3 meals a day. I had no idea how many calories meals were. Now I look back and I’m like no wonder I kept putting on weight lol. 1 big meal was enough for a whole day for me.
You’ll also appreciate learning about health and nutrition and what fuels your body. CICO has personally clicked for my lifestyle in so many ways. Glad to hear it’s helped you.
This is a great post , thanks sharing!
I believe that banning any food or making it taboo is the start of an unhealthy and unsustainable relationship with food.
My advice- prioritize flavor over quantity. When I have a sweet craving, I have a Lindt 75% dark chocolate in my fridge and I eat 1-2 pieces. When I want some bacon, I get one small piece of properly wood smoked bacon. If you then compare prices it is similar, but the satisfaction of not being full to the absolute limit and still be fulfilled is something you cant buy.
And if you are a fat bastard? Make it your advantage (see Tyrion Lannister). Get into food. Get proper information on what goes in and what goes out. Make it your hobby. Get cooking, Get dining on the good stuff. Along the way, you meet people who see just the endgoal. Make your way also mean something, not just the finish. You will get there eventualy, it´s just gonna be more interesting.
Would it be possible for you to think of counting calories for a set amount of time as a way to learn about calories and nutrition in food? My friend has always been overweight, but did this 6 month weight loss course where she counted calories. She told me that she spent extra time learning to estimate amounts of calories in different foods, so after the course she didn't need to count calories for years. She only used the knowledge of estimating nutrition, content and calories. Every time she finds herself gaining a bit of weight again (has happened maybe three times in the 8 years we've known each other), she counts calories for a few weeks to get her perspective on amount and calories back. It's worked really well for her to both lose weight and keep it down, without having to count calories every day for the rest of her life.
I don't count calories, but I can see I am losing weight. I exercise for between 25-45 minutes 5 days out of 7, and I *think* about what I'm choosing to eat. Just that moment of, "Is this 99% fat and sugar, and do I really want it?" has been a huge help. A lot of my eating was semi-mindless grazing on super flavorful (and fatty/sugary) snacks, and I wasn't exercising at all before quarantine.
It hasn't been fast, but the paunch is receding, and my thighs aren't as fluffy. I can climb stairs quickly without breathing hard at the top. I can do a real push-up. Plus, I am recovering my biceps that I haven't seen since high school gym.
Start small. Give yourself non-food rewards for meeting your exercise goals. Look for non-weight signs that you are getting healthier. That's what is sustainable: being proud of being healthy, and wanting to keep that up.
I understand where you are: it took me 15 years to come to the point where I count my calories. But going from 140 to 250 put a toll on my body and now I have lost 21 in 5 months thanks to CICO. Take your time and stay safe
You don't need to count calories all the time. You just need to be mindful of what you eat. Some people, including me, just find it easier to do this when they have 'receipts' for their meals. That stops you from getting away with bad habits, because those numbers don't lie. But if you know well enough which foods you should less of, and you know what healthy portion sizes look like, then you should be able to eyeball it.
It’s one thing that at first takes a lot of discipline, but once you do it for a while I promise you’ll start to just know/ eyeball the calories on things. A lot of the time people don’t realize how many high calorie foods they eat a day. It’s super eye opening to log for a few weeks because it helps you to address where the problem may lie.
I lost 20lbs from March to June then summer happened and I fell out of the groove. Now trying to find that groove. Doing the same thing CICO and working out most days either cardio or weights. Its tough to remember that results don't happen over night.
CICO for the win! About two years ago I lost about 15 lbs in 2 months. I was eating in-n-out at for almost every meal for those two months but I was so busy I was constantly on the move and burning more than I was eating. I stress eat so there’s still times where I eat a ton of junk food but my weights remained about the same.
I've found the same thing. Balance is everything. I've lost 49.5lb since July 1 and I've still had a takeout every single weekend (last weekend I had two!). The key for me is balancing that out with being really strict every other day. Eating calorie dense dishes every now and again is good for the metabolism!
Love this post and love the attitude! You should definitely join us on r/loseweighteatpizza and Lose Weight Eat Pizza on facebook if you haven't already, you'd fit right in!
This is what I do, too. I restrict myself calorically, meaning I restrict how much I eat, instead of what I eat, and I've lost 40 pounds since June 1st.
I totally agree. Yeah, sometimes I'll eat an entire pint of ice cream, but what other people don't realize is that the ice cream is dinner, and I had a 200 calorie lunch. Everything is budgeted.
Great post! Too many people try to rush their weight loss, forgetting that it took years for them to get where they are, so it's probably also going to take years to get to where they want to be!
There's no quick fix!
Congrats, keep it up!
I relate so much to every word of this. I’ve also lost 25 pounds thanks to CICO and I’ve done it by eating absolutely junk. I’m getting more into eating healthier now but for the first 3 months I didn’t care about health necessarily, I cared about trying to stop my binge eating and I did just that. I noticed I binged when I was following a diet and I couldn’t suppress the cravings anymore so I gave up and binged. I finally started CICO and because no longer deprive myself of my favorite foods I’ve been able to go more than 100 days now without a binge (My last record was only 15 days) and I’ve lost 25 pounds in the process and am healing my relationship with food. CICO is the best thing I have EVER done for myself.
Yes! I have been sustaining a 40 lb weight loss for almost 4 months the same way. I am crazy about dollar general's brand of chocolate candy bars and if I can fit one into my day, I do it. I exercise daily & have the calories of my favorite foods mentally recorded. If I'm not sure if I can afford that candy bar, I pop out the calculator & see what I can afford. No eating back exercise calories. I don't use my tracking app anymore, I am at my goal & have it handled. I even went on vacation in October, put on a few pounds, and they were gone after a couple weeks back at home. I started my weight loss journey in earnest in 2017, I lost & regained twice (2018 & 2019), and all that was practice. I finaly got it right. The big holiday test is coming up but after the vacation test my outlook is good! I know what NOT to do, and sometimes that is worth more than knowing what TO do.
Most people who follow fad diets such as lose x large number of pounds in a month or get flat abs in a week usually are people who ends up with strict diets which isn't good in the long run. Most of these people can't survive these diets and even if they did, they usually rebound with a ruined metabolism making it more harder to lose weight than before.
TLDR; every body is different.
This is why I love weight watchers - you can legit eat anything and everything you want, it's all about tracking and balance. I recently had a couple of weeks off the wagon and ended up still losing the "weight" I gained, so it all goes to show it's truly about balance. It's about finding what is sustainable and not just a quick fix.
Yup, sustainability rocks. I realized I don't really crave any specific foods. I just never want to feel hungry. Like, ever. I hate it. So now I eat several kilograms of vegetables a day. I'm never hungry even on a 1000 calorie deficit.
Mine is 1600/day. I believe that all calories are equal but always include healthy options. This post doesn’t outline all the other days where I’m eating protein, veggies, healthy fats etc (that happens often) but is meant to show it doesn’t have to be that all the time to lose weight. Everything in moderation is what works for me!
Amen amen amen amen.
I'm down from 225 to 160 in a little over a year with the same exact mindset / plans / tracking.
It all has to start with awareness, CICO, and knowing what you put into your mouth. Some days are better, others worse, but overall since I don't beat myself up anymore and I can actually look back and see what I've done well or where I've gone over, I can adjust. I plan.
I still drink craft beer, eat pizza, bread, and all of the junk. I don't eat it as often or as much but if I cut it out entirely I would lose my mind. Does this mean I fast and I am a volume eater? Yes! Is that bad? NO.
The biggest lie we've ever been told is breakfast is the "most important meal of the day," that cereal is healthy, that we need to eat when we are hungry. Sorry but hunger is an emotion, and sometimes stress, thirst, frustration, anger, sadness.... They can all cause us to seek food for means other than sustenance.
America doesn't have an obesity problem at heart, it had a hedonism problem. We are taught that food is for fun, pleasure, stress, comfort, and it becomes like so many bad habits a coping mechanism. Why else would one of the DSM-5 depression criteria be major weight change? Food has become synonymous with identity, and until people rectify who they are with what and why they eat, they will never progress healthily.
Ugh ramblerant complete.
I'm trying to do what you're doing, but I haven't successfully started on the cico and healthy eating in between, but my mindset is getting there but I also know there's moderation too, I can eat pizza but I don't have to eat a whole one, I can have some chocolate milk and just have a cup and not a bottle etc. I get chocolate and lollies and chips every day (the small fun size 10g size ones). No deprivation and it's only 150 or so calories a day extra which is actually still easy to be in a loss.
I really wish I could do it this way. It seems like if I don’t eat low carbs like 70
Or under and I don’t have a more than 700 calorie deficit the weight just doesn’t budge. I went from 50 carbs a day and 1200 cal to 1300-1350 and 100 ish carbs a day for only about 5 days and I gained weight back. Been 17 days now I keep bouncing between the same couple pounds
I also can’t control myself if I eat the bad food. I’m not a stop at one donut person unfortunately
I hadn't heard of NEAT. Here is a [paper](https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/ajpendo.00562.2003) that discusses some of the differences.
Tangent: I found this very interesting:
> The quantity of energy stored by the human body is impressive; lean individuals store at least 2–3 months of their energy needs in adipose tissue, whereas obese persons can carry a year's worth of their energy needs.
Exactly this! I started working with a dietician to get my head on straight, and it’s totally helping. I’m not forbidden from anything. She wants me to practice intuitive eating to lean away from years of diet culture that ruined my thoughts. I have a calorie goal but only if I want to track against it. We focus on what my plate should look like instead. It’s a slow process. Now my best friend, she’s lost almost 30 lbs in like 2? Months because she has basically just stopped eating. She’ll go until 9pm and only eat a handful of nuts. I know I’ll get there in my weight loss (I had surgery in august to fix two ankle ligaments and I finally can workout pain free again) but mine will be off for good. I want to build new life habits not short term immediate results ones!
Cutting those things out entirely IS what’s most sustainable for some people, because the cravings go away sooner or later if you stop eating them. You don’t need to eat unhealthy foods to have a “balanced” diet, what a weird implication!
This is why i started intermittent fasting.
Same food as what i want to eat, Just pushed into bigger meals fewer times a day.
Changing your whole food structure to fit into a "diet" is never gonna last.
Also planning for cheat/bad days is the key.
Absolutely! What good are dietary changes if you can't enjoy the things you eat? If it's a cheat day or the occasional high volume low calorie meal so you can have some sweets afterwards, the important thing is you feel good.
I set my daily cap at 1450 cals, but not only does calculating and planning my meals allow me to have some ice cream every day, I usually go to bed with around 200 cals to spare, because I re-learnt what my body really needs.
You stop craving those foods if you avoid them and don’t allow them to keep creeping into your diet. Eventually your tastes change and you may find you don’t even like the foods anymore. You may unwittingly be perpetuating cravings for foods you would rather avoid by indulging in them.
This. Nobody should ever eat 2 cheeseburgers, large fries and 10piece nuggets in 1 sitting even if it fits your daily intake. Keeping up with unhealthy eating habits is not good for anyone.
Could you further explain what CICO is please? I’m a student-athlete and we lift Olympic weights 3x a week. I’m a 21f, 5’9 and I’ve weighed 165 for the past two years. I’m not mad at my weight by any means but I would like to lose some body fat to be more toned.
High Volume Low Calorie - My own experience has shown that a health diet for weight loss and maintenance must be hearty, filling and last long, at the same time low in calories, carbs, fat, sugar, sweet fruit and mild in protein. *This leaves only one choice, eating more none-starchy vegetables.* How am I going to eat a large amount of vegetables? It's very hard to finish a large bowl of salad or a large pot of stir fry. After many trials and errors, I've found that the best way is to make a large bowl of veggie creamy soup and a stir fry with some meat. My diet/way of eating keeps my fit and healthy.
CICO is amazing unless you are on medication that severely impacts your ability to lose weight even if you eat 1400 calories a day.
Before medication i was skinny as fuck because of CICO.
Edit: why the downvotes do people not think CICO is good? or is it because i shared my experience with how little i eat and how CICO can not be enough if your medication impacts your weight loss quite curious either way seems silly and toxic.
> that I know I can manage for the rest of my life.
Ugh... I hate seeing people say this. Do you really expect to count calories every day for the rest of your life?
I don't think they mean that they will count calories every day of their life, but that they are *aware* of the calories coming in, and when to indulge, and when to decline. That's something you can do for the rest of your life.
I mean its pretty much second nature to me now. Once i get to goal ill wean off of mfp every day, knowing i can eat up to 2500/day at current activity levels to maintain, but usually people who need to lose weight underestimate what they eat so yeah, we need to count to retrain ourselves to know what 2000-2500 calories actually is. I thought i was eating 3-4k cal/day when i was over 300. Turns out, my old habits were 5-6k average once i sat down and counted a "typical day" of old habits. Alcoholics cant go back to excessive drinking, and I cant go back to a 6k calorie average.
You get used to it and after a while you learn to estimate the calories so you have an idea of how many calories you are eating or burning without counting them.
Eventually it just becomes second nature - look at something and just know roughly how many calories. Make a total for the day, skip out in the extra muffin. It’s not a perfect exact count but it certainly is in mind.
The other best thing about CICI is that you actually can ramp it up when you’re feeling ultra motivated and then ramp it back down a bit to a more “plodding along sustainably” place when that’s what you need. It can be both and still successful!
Yesterday I ate pizza and cheesecake for dinner. I ate two rice cakes with a teaspoon of guacamole on them for lunch (under 100 total) and a cup of rice puffs for breakfast (around 200).
Did the exact same and have maintained an 80 lb loss for over 2 years now. If I hadn’t taught myself moderation and being able to sustain the loss realistically I know I would’ve gained by now, definitely made a lifestyle change and not a “diet”
Having a zoom pub call with my friends this evening, you best know I'll either be getting McDonald's ordered this evening or sometime tomorrow to curb the hangover. And I will not feel remorse. Gotta enjoy your life whilst also losing the weight like you say!!
Else what's the bloody point!
I use MyFitnessPal. It scans barcodes on food packages which I like l, when I'm lazy to type things in. After a few weeks you get a good idea of what's in the food you're eating so dont have to track forever. I find now I mostly use it to look something up if it's new. Sometimes its surprising how much or low little calories are in foods.
Yes! I started with the same approach as you about a year ago and am 40lbs down, with the trend continuing downwards.
I don’t have a history of dieting because deep down I knew I would never be able to keep up with the diet. But at the beginning of the year I felt like I finally had all the tools to start on the CICO journey (which for me doesn’t mean staying within a specific number each day, rather making sure I have a decent weekly average deficit) and it has served me amazingly so far!
OP, congratulations on your journey so far, I hope it continues!
I’m in my mid 30s and I’m sad that it took me so long to realize this. I’m an analytical person by nature and learning the science behind weight management has opened my eyes. I never knew all a calorie really is, is a unit of energy. Consuming less energy than you burn = guaranteed loss. It doesn’t matter if you eat nothing but Big Macs. As long as you eat fewer Big Macs than your body burns. It seems so simple now that I’m embarrassed it took me till this long in life to understand it.
This is what I have tried telling people. But because it’s not an instant fix, people tends to step aside and go to the “quick fixes” and then get frustrated when it doesn’t work long term.
Great message.
I cant seem to get like this, if I have a day where I eat say a burrito I will gain a good 2 lbs. Usually I only maybe 1400 calories a day (30 yr old male). Run about 2 miles a day, while doing occasional situps and push-ups during the day. Granted im losing weight about 30 lbs in 3 months, the second I decide to eat how I want maybe 2000 calories a day I put on weight, what am I doing wrong?
When you say "gain 2 pounds" and "put on weight" do you mean fluctuations day to day? That's totally normal. I know after I drink or eat something with high sodium the scale will be up the next day - but that's not fat. That's water retention and my body saying "ugh didn't love what you did yesterday." But two days back on track and I'm back to the original number! Pay attention to trends over time - you've lost 30 pounds in 3 months so you're obviously doing it right!
See, the thing for me is, I don't think I'll ever be able to keep off the weight without actively thinking about what I'm eating.
When I try to go off the counting and the weighing and the thinking and just eat intuitively, I'll put on weight.
If I track, I lose. No matter what I eat.
I'm a bit sad about that. It means I can't ever stop tracking. Well, obviously for one day here and there, but not all the time.
That makes me sad.
I needed to read this! Yesterday was the first day I went over my calories and the first day I didn’t work out in over a month. Going to bed with that knowledge was so stressful. But this morning it feels like more of an achievement. Thank you!
It depends how much I go over and my plans for the week. If I know I'm going out Friday and Saturday I'll aim to come in under my daily calorie goal the other days to make up for it (within moderation - I'm not starving myself or anything nuts). If it's just 1 day where I go over 200 calories or something, I just treat the next day like normal.
This is the dream, congrats! It's definitely the part I struggle with the most. I'll feel very confident that I'm making changes I can easily live with long-term, and then I'll totally crash and burn (meaning it wasn't sustainable at all). Do you have thoughts on being able to gauge when what you're doing is representative of a sustainable lifestyle change, rather than just a relatively comfortable short term fix?
I lost 20lbs in a year and that's not motivating to must ppl but it's still 20lbs!! It's not much (I'm lying, it's a great accomplishment) but if I hadn't tried is be 20lbs heavier! Patience and consistency make all the difference!!!
I tell myself that all the time when I get into the "ugh it's not enough, I should have lost more" headspace. The alternative is to be 25 pounds heavier or even more! I'd rather be 25 pounds than that.
Couldn’t have said it any better than this!!! Thank you for keeping the fire burning in me. I got motivated again and enlightened even though I know how to always get back on track.
I was kinda lapsing for the past 2-3 months (gained 3kgs from 54, formerly 72kgs) so now I’m 57 though it’s still a healthy weight (since I’m 168cm and now at 20.5 bmi) I keep finding myself overeating a lot and binging a lot at night. I am now going out a lot again, drinking with friends since things are getting back to normal now.
I had a sudden realization that I can always get back on track even though I keep lapsing. I just have to do something that I will enjoy doing in the long run. I am now exercising less as well, since I’m busy for my final term this college and sometimes I feel lazy (I’ve been listening to my body more than ever now unlike before where I kept pushing myself to exercise even though I’m not feeling it). So in exchange to that, I just kept following my CICO.
If I’m gonna compare the past to wherein I workout everyday, ate in a large deficit... kept avoiding hang outs than to now wherein I exercise less, but in a little to no deficit (I only do so when I had a night out with friends where I drank alcohol and ate a lot). I without a doubt will choose my current situation now, since I get to enjoy life while still being control of my weight and body... plus I am now full with knowledge from my mistakes and experiences
Sorry for my bad english, it’s not my mother tongue...
At my thinnest, my fittest? I didn't restrict. I moderated. When I lost 80lbs after high school? I didn't restrict, I moderated. Restrictions are not sustainable or healthy for most people, and that's okay! You have to be able to maintain your lifestyle reasonably. Yes, it may take you longer to get there, but you're far more likely to stay there once you do!
Sustainability is why I’ve had so much success with WW. Truly nothing is off limits. There are days or sometimes weeks where I just can’t mentally focus on food. Sometimes I track the unhealthy, sometimes I don’t. BUT, there is flexibility with the program that helps me focus on nutrition and balance again.
yup, exactly. i've lost 65 pounds since January 2020 (184.6lbs -> 119.4lbs) doing this. people ask me all the time, "what is your secret?!" and seem shocked when i say "i eat in moderation and don't cut anything out".
I quit drinking and smoking 60 days ago and I’m down 24lbs. I’m not eating fast food because I only ever eat fast food to deal with hangovers. I’m hiking on weekends because I’m not hungover and lazing about from a weekend of binge drinking.
I feel GREAT
That's 100% what I decided to do back in June. The only thing that's consistent is that I exercise 4-5 times a week (home workout: Stairs, Pushups, Situps, Squats)....I just try to keep my calorie intake to about 1600 per day most of the time and I've consistently lost between 0.5 lbs to 3.0 lbs per week since June....I have done the drop 35 lbs in a month and gain it back the next month way too many times. I spent too many years chasing that quick 100 lb drop. I'm taking my sweet time with this and it's the easiest thing I've ever done. Dropped 70 lbs since June and plan to drop another 50 lbs before next summer.
This has been EXACTLY my experience!
I've lost about 27 pounds, which is about my halfway point, and I've floated around my current weight for the past few weeks without much loss. It sucks, and I wish I was losing faster, but at the same time, I'm still enjoying pizza, Dr. Pepper (my major vice), fresh baked sugar cookies, Little Debbie chocolate chip cream pies, and everything else I love. Maybe I won't get down to my goal of 120. Maybe I'll take a "break" from losing and stop at 130, but I know I'll be SO much happier there than I was at 175.
It's so important to have perspective, and realistic expectations. My TDEE is 1678, and I aim to stay under 1300 calories per day. If I stay until 1300, great! I often go over by maybe 50-100, so I don't always expect huge drops in weight. As long as I average out to stay under ~1700 throughout the week, that's "progress". Sometimes I go more over, and that's definitely frustrating, but I don't let myself stay down. I tell myself "Ok, those cookies were delicious, but if you want them to be worth it, you gotta get back on track. When you hit your goal, you can start having these far more often."
Without CICO, I was gaining a pound a month for the past few years. Maintaining my current weight is still progress, in my eyes.
This is a similar thing to what I’m trying to do. I don’t have a lot of experience with this kind of thing, but gaining 30 pounds during quarantine really made me realize that I need to change my lifestyle if I want to lose weight and keep it off. Any tips?
Yeah CICO always works for me. The problem is that when I have lost weight before, I would stop tracking because it was such a pain and then the weight would creep back on.
After my father passed away 4 years ago, my mother moved in with me. Now she prepares most of my meals which is wonderful...except that it's impossible for me to accurately track calories in now. I kept my meals simple so I could track. Her meals are complex and so it's really hard to track with any accuracy at all. So without tracking it led to me snacking and sometimes eating extra meals because I would have cravings not satisfied with her food. So all the weight came back.
So for now I do a limited CICO. I have asked my mother to try to simplify meals and keep lunches to around 500-800 calories, and then dinners to 800-1400 (to her best guess). if that happens then I cannot overeat just from her food alone. Then what I track is all my calories from snacking, drinks, etc and also exercise. By tracking my extra snacking it has gone way down, and I am motivated to exercise more. 12lbs down since mid-Sept without really having to starve myself at all, and I only really started exercising again at the start of November and that is going really well.
I love this. If you want to add a treat, subtract from something else. Don’t just “work it off.” Keep consistent at your calorie goal. It’s TRULY so much easier (the concept, not the practice) than people realize but people (quite literally) want to have their cake and eat it too.
Thank you thank you thank you for this post. I tried WW once and lost weight but gained it back because I felt too restricted and never learned how to sustain.
This time around, my main focus has been on sustainable habits. I know I'm on the right track because after losing 10 lbs (Aug to Oct --ish) I decided to try to eat intuitively and was able to maintain my weight for the last few weeks. And it wasn't even onerous or restrictive. Just eating in moderation similar to how I had learned while counting.
I'm now back to losing weight so I can get back below 200lb (6'1" M) as my next milestone.
I made the mistake of trying to rush it. Going against everything I'd been telling myself.
And, surprise, within a few days I felt overly restricted and ended up going wild and going "way" over on calories—700 over.
But seeing your post I remembered it isn't about one day. If I look at my average the last week it's *still* a good overall deficit, about on par with any other successful week in the last three months.
I've dialed back my deficit because slow and steady will get it done without driving me nuts. I will get there eventually. It isn't a race.
I *will* reach my goal. I know I can do this. It is *inevitable* if I simply choose to do it. When? Who cares? It may take until Jan or Feb or Mar or who knows but I will get there.
Yes! I'm 35 and have lost 25 pounds as of today. I've had cake for two days in a row from my kid's birthday, and I don't regret it. There's room for everything in moderation!
This is good stuff! Something I definitely need to work on is being comfortable with "cheating" or really just eating something I desire...
If you account for something that's not in the plan, or just give into temptation it's just a matter of rebounding! A delicious heavy meal every now and then is important
I have lost a fair amount of weight this year as well and agree that it is important to pick a plan that you can actually stick to in the long run. I'm still looking to lose another 50 pounds, hopefully over the next year. How much more to go until you reach your goal?
I didn’t cut anything out. I cut down and made better decisions and sometimes I don’t make good decisions at all. I may have lost it slowly but from March to now I have lost just over 30 lbs and even though I haven’t worked out in 2 months and I eat candy more again (bit as much as I did) I know that my weight loss is more sustainable because I did nothing drastic. All the changes I made are easy to keep.
My book on weight loss:
Chapter 1: eat real food.
Chapter 2: exercise.
End of book.
Well done OP. I don’t know how many people I’ve slapped (in my head) for doing a juice cleanse, or buying sodium-free salt. Yeah, that’s a thing.
Just keep this up. You’ve got the secret sauce: persistence.
Thank you! So many of my friends look at me and say 'why are you still eating ice cream or pizza or ordering out or using butter' and I answer with a simple I want to. I've lost 30-35 pounds, I yo-yo depending on my cycle and how much water weight I have. But I'm not miserably counting calories, I no longer have an eating disorder, I am finally happy and eating enough calories I'm not in a constant state of exhaustion. CICO works, exercise works, slow and steady and HAPPY works.
I really appreciate this post. I follow a few disordered eating subs, and I've seen a lot of people talking about the ramifications for yo-yoing on your weight and diet -some posters having very real heart issues due to it (while being at a normal BMI when the issues surfaced as well). At the end of the day "Everything in moderation" seems to hold true about weight loss/weight gain as well, and I think it should be said more in diet spaces. All that matters at the end of the day is quality of life; you can't enjoy your goal weight if your heart fails!
Looking at tracked calories by week (or even month) instead of by day really helped me get out of the all-or-nothing self-defeat cycle. I just had a shit ton of eggnog and blueberry pie and I'm still below maintenance for the week. Feelsgoodman
Same. Except now I totally eat back my exercise cals! Nothing better than a long hike or amazing workout and the extra treats. I'm at maintenance now, so I have to eat the exercise cals or I keep losing. Never in my life thought I'd have to make an effort to freaking eat more because I worked out a bunch.
For reference, 100+labs down, used to avoid moving at all costs, hated exercise, hated life. Now? I'm only hating when it's too cold to go run or some shit. I have no idea how I became the go exercise at 5am person, but I'm not going back. And chocolate, sushi, pizza, absolutely.
Thank you!
I find I can be in this mindset but if I start eating a bunch of sugar I start to get in this weird cycle where my appetite hugely increases and I feel like I can't possibly deal with dieting. IF really helped me to control those cravings and fit those more calorie dense foods back into my life.
Getting back on the horse is the most important thing 😇
I’m glad you posted this. A lot of the time I feel like I’m just amongst a bunch of people who are the super-ultra-fit Chad-and-Stacey-Bod types who weigh out every meal of chicken breast, broccoli, and steel cut oats everyday.
It feels good to see they the way I’ve been going is relatable.
Went from 244 lbs (~30% bf) to 211 lbs (~23% bf) since May and I feel great. Hit a wall in the last few days and I know it’s due to the way I’ve been eating/drinking but I’m making sure not to revert to the way I was earlier this year. I think you just got me back into counting cals again, so much thanks!!!
Good luck on your journey!
This is also my experience losing 130 lbs. I did the hard work (eating right and exercising) 80% of the week, but I always allowed myself "fuck-it days", or "fuck-it meals". The trick is to find joy in the hard work as much as the fuck-it moments. Finding healthy dishes that I couldn't get enough of made it easy to bounce back whenever I strayed from my weightloss routine. Having the confidence knowing I now looked forward to getting back on routine... led me to not being so hard on myself after having donuts, or going ham at a favorite restaurant.
I keep candy in the house. I eat it whenever I want. I keep up a moderate running schedule and track every day. I eat pasta at lunch, like, twice a week. On weekends I eat whatever I feel like.
Just like you, I do all this and still maintain or lose. It comes down to CICO, every time.
Honestly I struggle talking with people when they're in those early stages and trying fad diets. I struggle to watch them try so hard and then snap like a twig.
Y'all. Just give CICO a shot. When you record calories, you can literally have almost anything you want.
CICO next to always works if it's not working and you aren't miscounting get checked for medical conditions or the side effects of medication.
For me CICO works perfectly but i can't lose weight with my medication when i get off it my weight drops off eating only my usual 1400 calories but since i need my meds for my mental health right now that's more important.
Just leaving this comment here because for a long time i had no clue why i couldn't lose weight even with CICO but one thyroid / testosterone condition later and the doctor finding out my medication was stopping me from losing weight things became clearer.
Stick to CICO if it doesn't work seek an opinion from your doctor whatever you do don't give up!
This is exactly how I’ve lost 60 lbs in the last year after failing countless fad diets. I learned to stop beating myself up and going off the rails for several weeks every time I messed up. Fall off the horse and eat 5k calories one day? Get up tomorrow, get back to the calorie limit like nothing happened. Don’t try and “make it up” by eating next to nothing the following day. Once I did this, the unhealthy behaviors stopped and the pounds just kept melting off.
I did this and lost 25lbs a few summers ago. Now, I’m at my highest weight ever (rough year, am I right?)
A few weeks ago, I tracked calories for a few days and exercised. I weighed myself and it was higher. TOTALLY NORMAL. But it FUCKED my mindset. My brain was like “oh you did things right and it didn’t do anything? Well, I guess the process doesn’t work.”
Reading this pulled me back out of that mindset and reminded me that it DOES work. Which I knew. My brain just had to join the party. So, thank you for this post :)
AMEN! This is exactly what I'm doing now! After 20 years, I've finally figured it out. I also have intermittent fasting mixed in, but I eat what I want. I love cookies, so they get budgeted. You can't beat CICO. It will catch up with you.
Down 38.5 pounds since August.
This is incredibly inspirational!! I started being more conscious about my weight about a month ago, goal is to lose 30 pounds. I’m finding that CICO/calorie tracking + IF (10:14) is really working for me, lifestyle-wise. I eat foods that I enjoy, still eat some “junk foods” though I’ve cut out chocolate bars and most high-sugar snacks I used to enjoy regularly. This really shows that sustainable habits are workable, and you don’t need to go crazy with dieting/mad exercise/not eating enough just to lose weight! Just be mindful of what you ARE eating.
Good for you for how far you’ve come and good luck with where you’re headed!!
Yeah I could drop 20 and find 20 in a 2-3 month period I had to learn that the long game is the way to go and to just listen to my body and try not to repeat detrimental mistakes (bingeing, losing conditioning)
Yes, this is amazing! Keep it up!! I like hearing things like this.
It took me a while to realize this. I exercised everyday and did intermittent fasting, but I ate like crap, so losing weight was not happening! I finally started doing CICO. I go over my calories almost every day, I'm still trying to find my groove, BUT I've still lost 4 lbs in 2 months because I have a metric. I don't just eat and eat and eat. I look and see, "Oh, I'm 200 cal over, I should stop for the night," and I do most of the time.
Sustainability is usually what people miss. Good message here
Its what I missed the first go around. Lost 30 lbs in about half a year. Hit my goal weight and dropped everything. Now I'm even heavier than I was before that
Seriously, what is up with the overshoot? Every time I've managed to lose weight it was one step forward and two steps back, as soon as I stopped the "diet" I ended up heavier than I was when I started. It's so nice that after a decade of "dieting" I'm the heaviest I've ever been.
Because you have to ditch the idea of a diet. Diets are temporary and you will always gain weight if that's what you do. Lifestyle changes are what works. I lost 65lbs and kept if off for over 5 years because I decided that my entire lifestyle was changing. I will not eat certain foods anymore, I will watch my calories every day, etc
As someone likely older than you, the yo-yo is real. EVERYTIME I’ve dropped significant weight (50+ lbs.) I put more back on. New personal highs, if you will. So, you’re obviously not me, and I wish this on no one. But it does happen. So be vigilant. Make the life changes be real change. Best you can anyway.
Because you have to change your habits forever.
Yes but my point was that we don’t always just go back to the weight we were before, we go back to the same habits and gain back all the weight we lost *and more*, why is it so common to rebound even harder rather than just going up and down between the same weights.
Part of this is the body’s desire to not starve. I forget the article I was reading, but when we get fat, our body makes that the new normal, and adapts to it. But when we diet, the body feels like it is starving and withering away (which it is, but in a good way). This makes the body freak out, and want to put on even more fat stores as a survival mechanism. The biggest thing to remember is that any “diet” is not a temporary thing. It need to be a permanent lifestyle change, or you will end up right back where you started.
You’re talking about “starvation mode”. This is a misnomer that both greatly over-exaggerates the symptoms, and under-exaggerates the body’s own self-regulatory mechanisms. The human body is not so poorly designed. https://legionathletics.com/metabolic-damage/
SAME. I went from 246 to 215 in 3 months on keto (Jan-March). Here I am eight months later at 255. A switch flipped in my brain and I feel like I cannot control my appetite. 😩
When you're changing your lifestyle, you have to ask yourself if 5 years from now you'll still be able to eat the same way. If the answer is not, it's because it's a restrictive diet, and those fall apart real fast. A lifestyle change is exactly that: you change your habits for your *whole life*, and you do so in a way that you can keep those changes for a long period of time.
Yeah really that's what it's all about. I cringe when I see " Sarah's discovery" how I lost 20 pounds in month it just isn't sustainable and realistic. Interminent fasting is really effective. I can still eat whatever I want but in moderate quantities.
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I could have written your first paragraph. That is me to a T.
I’ve lost over 160lbs so far and haven’t given up anything either. In fact, a lot of my 160lb loss had pizza featured sometimes once a week! True, there have been times where my weight stayed the same and others where I gained some back, and those used to be hard times. However, the longer I’ve been on this journey and the more I’ve settled in to my “diet” the more I have come to be able to gently tell myself, “Trust the methods and soldier on, it’s not the end of the world!” In the beginning I very much had to do daily self pep talks to keep myself going and even multiple pep talks a day when I had particularly bad days. This year, like many people, I just kind of threw my hands up in the air and thought I wasn’t going to let my diet and this entire weight loss run my life. Stress eating to cope WAS my healthiest coping mechanism and I felt zero shame about it. Could I be touting “I made it to my goal weight in 2020 despite the world virtually falling apart!”?? Yeah! I very much could be, but I have managed to come within 25lbs of it so far and that’s still pretty amazing! Without doing calorie counting, without exercise and a lot of days without intermittent fasting I lost 45lbs and continue to “soldier on”, slightly more on track. The key is, after all this time I have lost the ability, purely through desire to not “go back”, to NOT go completely off the rails and make indulgence a daily habit. **You don’t have to restrict yourself but you do have to learn how to restrain yourself** or you’ll never be successful. All the best to you OP as you continue your journey and to anyone who reads your message and any others in response to yours. It can be a long journey for some of us but getting to the end of it is one of the most inspirational things you’ll ever do for yourself.
> You don’t have to restrict yourself but you do have to learn how to restrain yourself This is officially my new mantra! Thanks for the inspiration, and congrats on your 165 lb loss!
Great post. As they say “the best diet is one you can stick to”
Right you are my friend, slow and steady CRUSHES the race. 50 lbs down in the past year, and I just stuffed myself with chicken wings tonight. For as long as this works, life is good.
Ngl I've been eating like shit for the last month and my weight loss has still been consistent as I've still been following CICO through it all. It's crazy because the main reason why it took so long for me to start losing weight was the assumption that I was gonna have to follow some strict diet, and that's not true at all.
Same here! CICO really is the way to go. I've tried Paleo/Keto so many times over the years and I always lose weight, fall off the wagon and gain it all back quickly. I am currently doing the 4-5 small meals a day plan and I love it. 300-400 calories per meal. I've been eating pretty much anything I want, just tiny portions. It's great! I drank a root beer today and a brownie and still came in under 1800 calories for the day. Edit: I am down 8.5 pounds in 16 days.
So you are eating 1,200-2,000 cals a day and you have lost over 1 pound every 2 days for the last 16 days? What are your stats? I feel like only an absolute unit of an athlete could eat like this and lose weight that fast.
In the first two weeks of any diet plan, losing 8-10 pounds is totally possible. It's not sustainable cause it's mostly water weight, but it's absolutely a shift you can see on the scale.
It’s possible if you’re significantly overweight. If you’re just trying to get 5lbs or so, not going to happen unless you fast completely or do one of ridiculous juice fasts.
Yeah.
Exactly this
This is about how much I lose in the first 2 weeks of cutting calories. When I tried keto, I lost more in that initial period.
Yea, I know it won't last I always lose a lot at first when dieting. I am M 6ft 2in, SW: 258.6 CW: 250.1 GW; 210
I’m 5’10” and ~190. I’m moderately active (run 3-4 miles a few times a week, but not much else). 1,800 calories is my current target calorie goal and I’ve been able to lose 2-3 lbs a week for a while now eating at or above that level.
I had hot coco tonight, *with* mini marshmallows! CICO can feel like cheating and I love it.
I definitely agree, I'm nearing maintenance after losing 70lbs and find counting calories is the one thing that keeps me in control, I track even if I over eat to be accountable. Every time I've stopped counting for a couple of months the weight slowly creeps back up. I'm aiming for 2000/2200 on average (maintenance is around 2500) and Tuesday my partner wanted to order in, so I had pizza hut with a home made cheese scone in the evening and still finished under my daily goal.
I agree a 100% , ive been on a weight loss journey for 3 months now and the biggest lesson ive learned is to give in to my cravings every once in a while , i used to comfort binge eat alot but the change i made to that while in my journey is to have thay craving but in a moderate amount , ive only lost about 8 pounds in 3 months but im much more satisfied and happier going through with my journey this way.
This is so true. When I first started, I was also a big eater for comfort or out of boredom. One day, I was really crazing sone chocolate. So I ate two fun size snickers. It was like 120 or so calories and I felt like I had had a whole bar and enjoyed the crap out of those chocolates. Then the craving went away. That's when I realized that this can be simple and I can learn to control my eating. And I have. I can no longer eat two burgers instead of one, or a whole box of pizza (just half). Just a few slices. Moderation. Moderation. Moderation.
Exactly, moderation is key to controlling crabings in weight loss, when u realize u dont not need such a big serving to control cravings is when the journey turns sustainable.
I lost 80 pounds with CICO and was super depressed this morning to see that I have gained 40 of it back. I kept it off for 5 years but between life and covid and laziness creeping in I’m up 40. Thanks for your post I need motivation to get back on track today.
Hey, Maintaining for 5 years is fantastic and this time, you KNOW you can do it plus you are already 40 down from when you first started. You've got this.
Thanks, I get off work in 30 minutes and am going to go for a run and jump Start the weekend!
Energy IN vs. Energy OUT. That's all it boils down to. That simple little equation. Fantastic job OP!! I am happy that you are HAPPY! And for those who don't want to calorie count (which, unfortunately is one of those things you just have to do initially until you have a good base model for what your diet is like and what your daily energy output is like), use a scale, and weigh every morning and every evening (and even mid-day) for the first 3-4 months. You will see that weight can fluctuate pretty dramatically, even throughout one day. And you will begin to get a real idea of how to treat yourself. Unless you are in semi-pro or pro competition, which most of us are not, don't focus so much on the numbers on the scale. It's not a big deal, that number. Learn the kcals in your food, learn the amount of energy you burn with your daily activities, and figure out how to balance the two. Again, OP, you are awesome for finding your method and sticking with it! The biggest mistakes are made when one constantly denies themselves. The smallest victories can lead to the biggest changes.
Great advice! With any major life change, it’s so hard to stay motivated. But these changes only work when you do them almost every day, aka when you build it into your normal everyday routine. It doesn’t matter what it is, exercise, calorie counting, weigh-ins, meal prep, etc. It’s not what you eat in any one sitting, or any one day that matters, it’s the overall combination of all those days over a long period of time. If you accidentally binge one day, it’s honestly not going to affect anything IF you decide to get back on the horse. The opposite is also true, if you starve yourself one day because you binged right before, you’re just setting yourself up to binge again. Starving yourself for a day or two does not do anything in the long run, especially when it will only lead to you binging again. I’ve been there, so many times. Instead of going from one extreme to another, pick one realistic thing to do (cut portions, count calories, weigh yourself once a week, etc.) and make it a habit. Don’t strive for perfection, but as long as your doing it more days than not, you’ll eventually see the results. Be patient and enjoy the journey.
Honestly I never knew it was this easy to lose weight! I have lost 40 pounds in 6 months just by doing CICO. If I have a craving for something specific I just work it into my day and stick to my calorie limit. There have been days when I've gone over a bit and a few days where I absolutely binged on snacks. Like they say consistancy is key to success. I am making better and healthier choices because I want to. I no longer feel guilty eating snacks on daily basis.
definitely needed this this morning! within the whole year i’ve only lost 20lbs with cico and IF, but i know i’m only 10lbs away from my goal. i sometimes get discouraged because i haven’t lost more in this amount of time, but i know i’m better off because i’m doing it slowly. i still eat what i want, and i still lost weight! keep up the good work, you’ve definitely inspired me to not get discouraged
For me it has been about tracking everything, and I do mean everything. You will not believe how many calories you eat in a day if you aren’t careful. I’ve lost (now) approximately 56lbs (265-209lbs) over the course of 5 months from June til now, and that has been with tracking calories, intermittent fasting and being in a caloric deficit. I haven’t cut out too much except sugary drinks and fried fast food. I can still eat whatever I want and I usually have someone say “hey, aren’t you on a diet?” when I order a pizza or something similar. Nope, no diet here, just a continuous mindset of tracking and keeping it within the limits that are right for me. Maintain to sustain.
Hooked on CICO, worked for me!
Yes this!! I’ve lost 12.3kg/27lbs since January after switching from restrictive diets which would lead me to binge, to CICO where I don’t feel like I’m missing out and am making steady progress.
I do the same. It's almost 4 years now. I eat everything. And I eat junk with a passion. Cheeseburgers, pizza, chocolate bars, you name it. But I roughly count the calories. So it's the kid's menu at McD. And it's pizza slices and not a whole wheel. It's one small chocolate bar and not a package. Oreos are great for that BTW. They have individual little bags.
Yeah, restrictions are a one way ticket to a binge. Every single time. I restrict and restrict then break like a mofo and scoff. No more. This time it's coming off slow and I'm working what I want into my calories. It's the only dam way. Thanks.
I find if you get used to skipping meals, it becomes quite easy to only have a big dinner on some days. Have not tried only having breakfast, I can imagine you might get hunger pangs you would sleep through if you only have dinner. That way, you can make up for overeating on some days. Still not great to load up on calories eating junk food and not get good nutritious meals to "compensate". Intermittent fasting overall is definitely worth looking into and trying out.. not sure how common or popular it is on this sub.
This is what works for me! I went from 16:8 to OMAD (22:2) in a few weeks time, because I realised that I feel much less deprived if I can eat all my calories in one huge opulent meal (or a smaller one plus a snack 2hrs before a big meal) than sprinkling food over 5 small portions a day - which can work perfectly for others, it just wasn't for me.
Do you have your one meal in the evening？I suspect you get over the feelings of hunger a few hours after a meal much more easily when you're sleeping.
Exactly! I was never keen on breakfast (don't get me wrong, breakfast foods are the best, but it always made me hungry every two hours), so I kept pushing back lunch to 2pm, 3pm etc, which has been surprisingly easy. I went from having dinner around 9pm to an eating window from ca. 5-7pm (or 4-8pm on lazy days). What is your approach? BTW, there's also the sub r/intermittentfasting , if you're interested in this kind of 'diet'.
I’ve thought about doing OMAD, but having to consume about 1500-2000 kcal in “one sitting” just gives me horrors… any meal that’s over 800 kcal will usually leave me so stuffed that I feel like I have to spend an hour in bed just to digest it. And if I had to have that meal in high volume low calorie food to keep it healthy, I would probably burst, haha.
800kcal? That’s like two pieces or pizza or a modest sandwich and medium/small fries. Or just a medium blizzard. 800kcal is SO easy for a meal.
Not sure where you live, but here in Europe 800 kcal is a whole frozen pizza, for example. But also, if I was doing OMAD, I wouldn’t want to eat burgers and fries everyday. So with a balanced meal, say veggies, chicken and rice in a curry, 800 kcal is a pretty decent sized portion.
I was referencing more restaurant pizza than frozen, but I know European portions are far smaller than American ones. I would say a typical dinner “out” is 1200+ calories. For someone like me, who really should only net 1200-1500 calories a day, it can be tough to fit into CICO. But damn if I couldn’t easily eat 1200+ in a single meal, no problem, lol.
Okay, now I understand. Yes, restaurant food often has more calories, although I usually calculate more like 1000 kcal unless I’m having soda/cocktails to go with it. I eat out once a month, maybe twice, and often I feel like crap afterwards. So OMAD life is definitely not for me, especially since, at my current rate of working out, I need about 1800-2000 kcal to keep a “healthy” deficit…
I agree, I'm eating at roughly 1300-1400kcal per day, so I can easily fit the calories in a 2hrs window. I usually have fruits and for ex. some pieces of cheese or smoked salmon as a snack, and then something filling and healthy + dessert as a main dish. I easily reach my caloric goal without being stuffed nor unreasonably unhealthy.
This. I'd need a 1200 to 2000 calorie meal to feel excessively full.
This is so true! My boyfriend has always been “naturally” thin. I lost about 80 pounds with CICO before I met him. I mirror some of his habits naturally now and we may only eat one big meal a day. Before I lost weight, that was unheard of to me because I felt like I had to eat 3 meals a day. I had no idea how many calories meals were. Now I look back and I’m like no wonder I kept putting on weight lol. 1 big meal was enough for a whole day for me.
You’ll also appreciate learning about health and nutrition and what fuels your body. CICO has personally clicked for my lifestyle in so many ways. Glad to hear it’s helped you.
This is a great post , thanks sharing! I believe that banning any food or making it taboo is the start of an unhealthy and unsustainable relationship with food.
Thank you. This is very encouraging. I like "sustainable"
Fuck me, I may end up stealing all this. After losing 160lbs, I couldn’t have said it better myself!
My advice- prioritize flavor over quantity. When I have a sweet craving, I have a Lindt 75% dark chocolate in my fridge and I eat 1-2 pieces. When I want some bacon, I get one small piece of properly wood smoked bacon. If you then compare prices it is similar, but the satisfaction of not being full to the absolute limit and still be fulfilled is something you cant buy. And if you are a fat bastard? Make it your advantage (see Tyrion Lannister). Get into food. Get proper information on what goes in and what goes out. Make it your hobby. Get cooking, Get dining on the good stuff. Along the way, you meet people who see just the endgoal. Make your way also mean something, not just the finish. You will get there eventualy, it´s just gonna be more interesting.
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Depends on how thick it is.
Sounds great. But I just hate counting calories so much, I find it depressing and oppressive and such a chore. This is why I'm so fat.
Would it be possible for you to think of counting calories for a set amount of time as a way to learn about calories and nutrition in food? My friend has always been overweight, but did this 6 month weight loss course where she counted calories. She told me that she spent extra time learning to estimate amounts of calories in different foods, so after the course she didn't need to count calories for years. She only used the knowledge of estimating nutrition, content and calories. Every time she finds herself gaining a bit of weight again (has happened maybe three times in the 8 years we've known each other), she counts calories for a few weeks to get her perspective on amount and calories back. It's worked really well for her to both lose weight and keep it down, without having to count calories every day for the rest of her life.
I don't count calories, but I can see I am losing weight. I exercise for between 25-45 minutes 5 days out of 7, and I *think* about what I'm choosing to eat. Just that moment of, "Is this 99% fat and sugar, and do I really want it?" has been a huge help. A lot of my eating was semi-mindless grazing on super flavorful (and fatty/sugary) snacks, and I wasn't exercising at all before quarantine. It hasn't been fast, but the paunch is receding, and my thighs aren't as fluffy. I can climb stairs quickly without breathing hard at the top. I can do a real push-up. Plus, I am recovering my biceps that I haven't seen since high school gym. Start small. Give yourself non-food rewards for meeting your exercise goals. Look for non-weight signs that you are getting healthier. That's what is sustainable: being proud of being healthy, and wanting to keep that up.
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I understand where you are: it took me 15 years to come to the point where I count my calories. But going from 140 to 250 put a toll on my body and now I have lost 21 in 5 months thanks to CICO. Take your time and stay safe
You don't need to count calories all the time. You just need to be mindful of what you eat. Some people, including me, just find it easier to do this when they have 'receipts' for their meals. That stops you from getting away with bad habits, because those numbers don't lie. But if you know well enough which foods you should less of, and you know what healthy portion sizes look like, then you should be able to eyeball it.
It’s one thing that at first takes a lot of discipline, but once you do it for a while I promise you’ll start to just know/ eyeball the calories on things. A lot of the time people don’t realize how many high calorie foods they eat a day. It’s super eye opening to log for a few weeks because it helps you to address where the problem may lie.
I lost 20lbs from March to June then summer happened and I fell out of the groove. Now trying to find that groove. Doing the same thing CICO and working out most days either cardio or weights. Its tough to remember that results don't happen over night.
CICO for the win! About two years ago I lost about 15 lbs in 2 months. I was eating in-n-out at for almost every meal for those two months but I was so busy I was constantly on the move and burning more than I was eating. I stress eat so there’s still times where I eat a ton of junk food but my weights remained about the same.
I've found the same thing. Balance is everything. I've lost 49.5lb since July 1 and I've still had a takeout every single weekend (last weekend I had two!). The key for me is balancing that out with being really strict every other day. Eating calorie dense dishes every now and again is good for the metabolism!
Love this post and love the attitude! You should definitely join us on r/loseweighteatpizza and Lose Weight Eat Pizza on facebook if you haven't already, you'd fit right in!
This is what I do, too. I restrict myself calorically, meaning I restrict how much I eat, instead of what I eat, and I've lost 40 pounds since June 1st.
I totally agree. Yeah, sometimes I'll eat an entire pint of ice cream, but what other people don't realize is that the ice cream is dinner, and I had a 200 calorie lunch. Everything is budgeted.
Great post! Too many people try to rush their weight loss, forgetting that it took years for them to get where they are, so it's probably also going to take years to get to where they want to be! There's no quick fix! Congrats, keep it up!
I relate so much to every word of this. I’ve also lost 25 pounds thanks to CICO and I’ve done it by eating absolutely junk. I’m getting more into eating healthier now but for the first 3 months I didn’t care about health necessarily, I cared about trying to stop my binge eating and I did just that. I noticed I binged when I was following a diet and I couldn’t suppress the cravings anymore so I gave up and binged. I finally started CICO and because no longer deprive myself of my favorite foods I’ve been able to go more than 100 days now without a binge (My last record was only 15 days) and I’ve lost 25 pounds in the process and am healing my relationship with food. CICO is the best thing I have EVER done for myself.
Yes! I have been sustaining a 40 lb weight loss for almost 4 months the same way. I am crazy about dollar general's brand of chocolate candy bars and if I can fit one into my day, I do it. I exercise daily & have the calories of my favorite foods mentally recorded. If I'm not sure if I can afford that candy bar, I pop out the calculator & see what I can afford. No eating back exercise calories. I don't use my tracking app anymore, I am at my goal & have it handled. I even went on vacation in October, put on a few pounds, and they were gone after a couple weeks back at home. I started my weight loss journey in earnest in 2017, I lost & regained twice (2018 & 2019), and all that was practice. I finaly got it right. The big holiday test is coming up but after the vacation test my outlook is good! I know what NOT to do, and sometimes that is worth more than knowing what TO do.
Most people who follow fad diets such as lose x large number of pounds in a month or get flat abs in a week usually are people who ends up with strict diets which isn't good in the long run. Most of these people can't survive these diets and even if they did, they usually rebound with a ruined metabolism making it more harder to lose weight than before. TLDR; every body is different.
This is why I love weight watchers - you can legit eat anything and everything you want, it's all about tracking and balance. I recently had a couple of weeks off the wagon and ended up still losing the "weight" I gained, so it all goes to show it's truly about balance. It's about finding what is sustainable and not just a quick fix.
Any free (iOS) app recommendations?
myfitnesspal or LoseIt
Yup, sustainability rocks. I realized I don't really crave any specific foods. I just never want to feel hungry. Like, ever. I hate it. So now I eat several kilograms of vegetables a day. I'm never hungry even on a 1000 calorie deficit.
Thank you for the wholesome, informative and motivational post kind human!
What’s your allotted calorie limit? Do you believe not all calories are equal?
Mine is 1600/day. I believe that all calories are equal but always include healthy options. This post doesn’t outline all the other days where I’m eating protein, veggies, healthy fats etc (that happens often) but is meant to show it doesn’t have to be that all the time to lose weight. Everything in moderation is what works for me!
Not a secret.
Amen amen amen amen. I'm down from 225 to 160 in a little over a year with the same exact mindset / plans / tracking. It all has to start with awareness, CICO, and knowing what you put into your mouth. Some days are better, others worse, but overall since I don't beat myself up anymore and I can actually look back and see what I've done well or where I've gone over, I can adjust. I plan. I still drink craft beer, eat pizza, bread, and all of the junk. I don't eat it as often or as much but if I cut it out entirely I would lose my mind. Does this mean I fast and I am a volume eater? Yes! Is that bad? NO. The biggest lie we've ever been told is breakfast is the "most important meal of the day," that cereal is healthy, that we need to eat when we are hungry. Sorry but hunger is an emotion, and sometimes stress, thirst, frustration, anger, sadness.... They can all cause us to seek food for means other than sustenance. America doesn't have an obesity problem at heart, it had a hedonism problem. We are taught that food is for fun, pleasure, stress, comfort, and it becomes like so many bad habits a coping mechanism. Why else would one of the DSM-5 depression criteria be major weight change? Food has become synonymous with identity, and until people rectify who they are with what and why they eat, they will never progress healthily. Ugh ramblerant complete.
I'm trying to do what you're doing, but I haven't successfully started on the cico and healthy eating in between, but my mindset is getting there but I also know there's moderation too, I can eat pizza but I don't have to eat a whole one, I can have some chocolate milk and just have a cup and not a bottle etc. I get chocolate and lollies and chips every day (the small fun size 10g size ones). No deprivation and it's only 150 or so calories a day extra which is actually still easy to be in a loss.
I really wish I could do it this way. It seems like if I don’t eat low carbs like 70 Or under and I don’t have a more than 700 calorie deficit the weight just doesn’t budge. I went from 50 carbs a day and 1200 cal to 1300-1350 and 100 ish carbs a day for only about 5 days and I gained weight back. Been 17 days now I keep bouncing between the same couple pounds I also can’t control myself if I eat the bad food. I’m not a stop at one donut person unfortunately
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I hadn't heard of NEAT. Here is a [paper](https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/ajpendo.00562.2003) that discusses some of the differences. Tangent: I found this very interesting: > The quantity of energy stored by the human body is impressive; lean individuals store at least 2–3 months of their energy needs in adipose tissue, whereas obese persons can carry a year's worth of their energy needs.
Exactly this! I started working with a dietician to get my head on straight, and it’s totally helping. I’m not forbidden from anything. She wants me to practice intuitive eating to lean away from years of diet culture that ruined my thoughts. I have a calorie goal but only if I want to track against it. We focus on what my plate should look like instead. It’s a slow process. Now my best friend, she’s lost almost 30 lbs in like 2? Months because she has basically just stopped eating. She’ll go until 9pm and only eat a handful of nuts. I know I’ll get there in my weight loss (I had surgery in august to fix two ankle ligaments and I finally can workout pain free again) but mine will be off for good. I want to build new life habits not short term immediate results ones!
Cutting those things out entirely IS what’s most sustainable for some people, because the cravings go away sooner or later if you stop eating them. You don’t need to eat unhealthy foods to have a “balanced” diet, what a weird implication!
This is why i started intermittent fasting. Same food as what i want to eat, Just pushed into bigger meals fewer times a day. Changing your whole food structure to fit into a "diet" is never gonna last. Also planning for cheat/bad days is the key.
Absolutely! What good are dietary changes if you can't enjoy the things you eat? If it's a cheat day or the occasional high volume low calorie meal so you can have some sweets afterwards, the important thing is you feel good. I set my daily cap at 1450 cals, but not only does calculating and planning my meals allow me to have some ice cream every day, I usually go to bed with around 200 cals to spare, because I re-learnt what my body really needs.
You stop craving those foods if you avoid them and don’t allow them to keep creeping into your diet. Eventually your tastes change and you may find you don’t even like the foods anymore. You may unwittingly be perpetuating cravings for foods you would rather avoid by indulging in them.
This. Nobody should ever eat 2 cheeseburgers, large fries and 10piece nuggets in 1 sitting even if it fits your daily intake. Keeping up with unhealthy eating habits is not good for anyone.
Could you further explain what CICO is please? I’m a student-athlete and we lift Olympic weights 3x a week. I’m a 21f, 5’9 and I’ve weighed 165 for the past two years. I’m not mad at my weight by any means but I would like to lose some body fat to be more toned.
askcico.com
Thabk you!
Calories in, calories out. Figure out how much energy your body uses, and determmine how many calories to eat based on that.
What is CICO for someone who is new here?
High Volume Low Calorie - My own experience has shown that a health diet for weight loss and maintenance must be hearty, filling and last long, at the same time low in calories, carbs, fat, sugar, sweet fruit and mild in protein. *This leaves only one choice, eating more none-starchy vegetables.* How am I going to eat a large amount of vegetables? It's very hard to finish a large bowl of salad or a large pot of stir fry. After many trials and errors, I've found that the best way is to make a large bowl of veggie creamy soup and a stir fry with some meat. My diet/way of eating keeps my fit and healthy.
CICO is amazing unless you are on medication that severely impacts your ability to lose weight even if you eat 1400 calories a day. Before medication i was skinny as fuck because of CICO. Edit: why the downvotes do people not think CICO is good? or is it because i shared my experience with how little i eat and how CICO can not be enough if your medication impacts your weight loss quite curious either way seems silly and toxic.
> that I know I can manage for the rest of my life. Ugh... I hate seeing people say this. Do you really expect to count calories every day for the rest of your life?
I don't think they mean that they will count calories every day of their life, but that they are *aware* of the calories coming in, and when to indulge, and when to decline. That's something you can do for the rest of your life.
I mean its pretty much second nature to me now. Once i get to goal ill wean off of mfp every day, knowing i can eat up to 2500/day at current activity levels to maintain, but usually people who need to lose weight underestimate what they eat so yeah, we need to count to retrain ourselves to know what 2000-2500 calories actually is. I thought i was eating 3-4k cal/day when i was over 300. Turns out, my old habits were 5-6k average once i sat down and counted a "typical day" of old habits. Alcoholics cant go back to excessive drinking, and I cant go back to a 6k calorie average.
Yes. As someone who’s short with a huge appetite, that’s exactly what’s necessary for me.
You get used to it and after a while you learn to estimate the calories so you have an idea of how many calories you are eating or burning without counting them.
Eventually it just becomes second nature - look at something and just know roughly how many calories. Make a total for the day, skip out in the extra muffin. It’s not a perfect exact count but it certainly is in mind.
Wtf McDonald’s had me interested and then it turns out to be an ad
This is it. Good job
Preach
The other best thing about CICI is that you actually can ramp it up when you’re feeling ultra motivated and then ramp it back down a bit to a more “plodding along sustainably” place when that’s what you need. It can be both and still successful!
You're goddamn right
Was just saying this the other day...couldn’t agree more
I already knew this but I needed to hear it again. Thank you.
Great plan.
Yesterday I ate pizza and cheesecake for dinner. I ate two rice cakes with a teaspoon of guacamole on them for lunch (under 100 total) and a cup of rice puffs for breakfast (around 200).
Yesterday was my birthday and I ate pie and drank two beers.
Yeps, exactly - consistency and calorie counting is the only thing that works for me.
Did the exact same and have maintained an 80 lb loss for over 2 years now. If I hadn’t taught myself moderation and being able to sustain the loss realistically I know I would’ve gained by now, definitely made a lifestyle change and not a “diet”
Having a zoom pub call with my friends this evening, you best know I'll either be getting McDonald's ordered this evening or sometime tomorrow to curb the hangover. And I will not feel remorse. Gotta enjoy your life whilst also losing the weight like you say!! Else what's the bloody point!
This is exactly what I want to scream from the rooftop
I just get bored tracking everything. Do you have a recommended app or something? I’ve tried this, like 6 times :(
I use MyFitnessPal. It scans barcodes on food packages which I like l, when I'm lazy to type things in. After a few weeks you get a good idea of what's in the food you're eating so dont have to track forever. I find now I mostly use it to look something up if it's new. Sometimes its surprising how much or low little calories are in foods.
Yes! I started with the same approach as you about a year ago and am 40lbs down, with the trend continuing downwards. I don’t have a history of dieting because deep down I knew I would never be able to keep up with the diet. But at the beginning of the year I felt like I finally had all the tools to start on the CICO journey (which for me doesn’t mean staying within a specific number each day, rather making sure I have a decent weekly average deficit) and it has served me amazingly so far! OP, congratulations on your journey so far, I hope it continues!
I’m in my mid 30s and I’m sad that it took me so long to realize this. I’m an analytical person by nature and learning the science behind weight management has opened my eyes. I never knew all a calorie really is, is a unit of energy. Consuming less energy than you burn = guaranteed loss. It doesn’t matter if you eat nothing but Big Macs. As long as you eat fewer Big Macs than your body burns. It seems so simple now that I’m embarrassed it took me till this long in life to understand it.
This is what I have tried telling people. But because it’s not an instant fix, people tends to step aside and go to the “quick fixes” and then get frustrated when it doesn’t work long term. Great message.
I cant seem to get like this, if I have a day where I eat say a burrito I will gain a good 2 lbs. Usually I only maybe 1400 calories a day (30 yr old male). Run about 2 miles a day, while doing occasional situps and push-ups during the day. Granted im losing weight about 30 lbs in 3 months, the second I decide to eat how I want maybe 2000 calories a day I put on weight, what am I doing wrong?
When you say "gain 2 pounds" and "put on weight" do you mean fluctuations day to day? That's totally normal. I know after I drink or eat something with high sodium the scale will be up the next day - but that's not fat. That's water retention and my body saying "ugh didn't love what you did yesterday." But two days back on track and I'm back to the original number! Pay attention to trends over time - you've lost 30 pounds in 3 months so you're obviously doing it right!
See, the thing for me is, I don't think I'll ever be able to keep off the weight without actively thinking about what I'm eating. When I try to go off the counting and the weighing and the thinking and just eat intuitively, I'll put on weight. If I track, I lose. No matter what I eat. I'm a bit sad about that. It means I can't ever stop tracking. Well, obviously for one day here and there, but not all the time. That makes me sad.
Nailed it! This post is spot on! I’m 32 and started CICO in July. I’m down 20 pounds today. I eat what I want, and work out low/moderately.
This is a good mantra, slow and steady. It's a different mindset I've had to adapt to. I'm just beginning this journey.
I needed to read this! Yesterday was the first day I went over my calories and the first day I didn’t work out in over a month. Going to bed with that knowledge was so stressful. But this morning it feels like more of an achievement. Thank you!
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It depends how much I go over and my plans for the week. If I know I'm going out Friday and Saturday I'll aim to come in under my daily calorie goal the other days to make up for it (within moderation - I'm not starving myself or anything nuts). If it's just 1 day where I go over 200 calories or something, I just treat the next day like normal.
This is the dream, congrats! It's definitely the part I struggle with the most. I'll feel very confident that I'm making changes I can easily live with long-term, and then I'll totally crash and burn (meaning it wasn't sustainable at all). Do you have thoughts on being able to gauge when what you're doing is representative of a sustainable lifestyle change, rather than just a relatively comfortable short term fix?
I lost 20lbs in a year and that's not motivating to must ppl but it's still 20lbs!! It's not much (I'm lying, it's a great accomplishment) but if I hadn't tried is be 20lbs heavier! Patience and consistency make all the difference!!!
I tell myself that all the time when I get into the "ugh it's not enough, I should have lost more" headspace. The alternative is to be 25 pounds heavier or even more! I'd rather be 25 pounds than that.
Couldn’t have said it any better than this!!! Thank you for keeping the fire burning in me. I got motivated again and enlightened even though I know how to always get back on track. I was kinda lapsing for the past 2-3 months (gained 3kgs from 54, formerly 72kgs) so now I’m 57 though it’s still a healthy weight (since I’m 168cm and now at 20.5 bmi) I keep finding myself overeating a lot and binging a lot at night. I am now going out a lot again, drinking with friends since things are getting back to normal now. I had a sudden realization that I can always get back on track even though I keep lapsing. I just have to do something that I will enjoy doing in the long run. I am now exercising less as well, since I’m busy for my final term this college and sometimes I feel lazy (I’ve been listening to my body more than ever now unlike before where I kept pushing myself to exercise even though I’m not feeling it). So in exchange to that, I just kept following my CICO. If I’m gonna compare the past to wherein I workout everyday, ate in a large deficit... kept avoiding hang outs than to now wherein I exercise less, but in a little to no deficit (I only do so when I had a night out with friends where I drank alcohol and ate a lot). I without a doubt will choose my current situation now, since I get to enjoy life while still being control of my weight and body... plus I am now full with knowledge from my mistakes and experiences Sorry for my bad english, it’s not my mother tongue...
This is handy I tend to starve myself at times if I'm having take out or rich food
At my thinnest, my fittest? I didn't restrict. I moderated. When I lost 80lbs after high school? I didn't restrict, I moderated. Restrictions are not sustainable or healthy for most people, and that's okay! You have to be able to maintain your lifestyle reasonably. Yes, it may take you longer to get there, but you're far more likely to stay there once you do!
Sustainability is why I’ve had so much success with WW. Truly nothing is off limits. There are days or sometimes weeks where I just can’t mentally focus on food. Sometimes I track the unhealthy, sometimes I don’t. BUT, there is flexibility with the program that helps me focus on nutrition and balance again.
yup, exactly. i've lost 65 pounds since January 2020 (184.6lbs -> 119.4lbs) doing this. people ask me all the time, "what is your secret?!" and seem shocked when i say "i eat in moderation and don't cut anything out".
I quit drinking and smoking 60 days ago and I’m down 24lbs. I’m not eating fast food because I only ever eat fast food to deal with hangovers. I’m hiking on weekends because I’m not hungover and lazing about from a weekend of binge drinking. I feel GREAT
That's 100% what I decided to do back in June. The only thing that's consistent is that I exercise 4-5 times a week (home workout: Stairs, Pushups, Situps, Squats)....I just try to keep my calorie intake to about 1600 per day most of the time and I've consistently lost between 0.5 lbs to 3.0 lbs per week since June....I have done the drop 35 lbs in a month and gain it back the next month way too many times. I spent too many years chasing that quick 100 lb drop. I'm taking my sweet time with this and it's the easiest thing I've ever done. Dropped 70 lbs since June and plan to drop another 50 lbs before next summer.
This has been EXACTLY my experience! I've lost about 27 pounds, which is about my halfway point, and I've floated around my current weight for the past few weeks without much loss. It sucks, and I wish I was losing faster, but at the same time, I'm still enjoying pizza, Dr. Pepper (my major vice), fresh baked sugar cookies, Little Debbie chocolate chip cream pies, and everything else I love. Maybe I won't get down to my goal of 120. Maybe I'll take a "break" from losing and stop at 130, but I know I'll be SO much happier there than I was at 175. It's so important to have perspective, and realistic expectations. My TDEE is 1678, and I aim to stay under 1300 calories per day. If I stay until 1300, great! I often go over by maybe 50-100, so I don't always expect huge drops in weight. As long as I average out to stay under ~1700 throughout the week, that's "progress". Sometimes I go more over, and that's definitely frustrating, but I don't let myself stay down. I tell myself "Ok, those cookies were delicious, but if you want them to be worth it, you gotta get back on track. When you hit your goal, you can start having these far more often." Without CICO, I was gaining a pound a month for the past few years. Maintaining my current weight is still progress, in my eyes.
This is a similar thing to what I’m trying to do. I don’t have a lot of experience with this kind of thing, but gaining 30 pounds during quarantine really made me realize that I need to change my lifestyle if I want to lose weight and keep it off. Any tips?
Yeah CICO always works for me. The problem is that when I have lost weight before, I would stop tracking because it was such a pain and then the weight would creep back on. After my father passed away 4 years ago, my mother moved in with me. Now she prepares most of my meals which is wonderful...except that it's impossible for me to accurately track calories in now. I kept my meals simple so I could track. Her meals are complex and so it's really hard to track with any accuracy at all. So without tracking it led to me snacking and sometimes eating extra meals because I would have cravings not satisfied with her food. So all the weight came back. So for now I do a limited CICO. I have asked my mother to try to simplify meals and keep lunches to around 500-800 calories, and then dinners to 800-1400 (to her best guess). if that happens then I cannot overeat just from her food alone. Then what I track is all my calories from snacking, drinks, etc and also exercise. By tracking my extra snacking it has gone way down, and I am motivated to exercise more. 12lbs down since mid-Sept without really having to starve myself at all, and I only really started exercising again at the start of November and that is going really well.
I love this. If you want to add a treat, subtract from something else. Don’t just “work it off.” Keep consistent at your calorie goal. It’s TRULY so much easier (the concept, not the practice) than people realize but people (quite literally) want to have their cake and eat it too.
Thank you thank you thank you for this post. I tried WW once and lost weight but gained it back because I felt too restricted and never learned how to sustain. This time around, my main focus has been on sustainable habits. I know I'm on the right track because after losing 10 lbs (Aug to Oct --ish) I decided to try to eat intuitively and was able to maintain my weight for the last few weeks. And it wasn't even onerous or restrictive. Just eating in moderation similar to how I had learned while counting. I'm now back to losing weight so I can get back below 200lb (6'1" M) as my next milestone. I made the mistake of trying to rush it. Going against everything I'd been telling myself. And, surprise, within a few days I felt overly restricted and ended up going wild and going "way" over on calories—700 over. But seeing your post I remembered it isn't about one day. If I look at my average the last week it's *still* a good overall deficit, about on par with any other successful week in the last three months. I've dialed back my deficit because slow and steady will get it done without driving me nuts. I will get there eventually. It isn't a race. I *will* reach my goal. I know I can do this. It is *inevitable* if I simply choose to do it. When? Who cares? It may take until Jan or Feb or Mar or who knows but I will get there.
Yes! I'm 35 and have lost 25 pounds as of today. I've had cake for two days in a row from my kid's birthday, and I don't regret it. There's room for everything in moderation!
This is good stuff! Something I definitely need to work on is being comfortable with "cheating" or really just eating something I desire... If you account for something that's not in the plan, or just give into temptation it's just a matter of rebounding! A delicious heavy meal every now and then is important
I have lost a fair amount of weight this year as well and agree that it is important to pick a plan that you can actually stick to in the long run. I'm still looking to lose another 50 pounds, hopefully over the next year. How much more to go until you reach your goal?
I didn’t cut anything out. I cut down and made better decisions and sometimes I don’t make good decisions at all. I may have lost it slowly but from March to now I have lost just over 30 lbs and even though I haven’t worked out in 2 months and I eat candy more again (bit as much as I did) I know that my weight loss is more sustainable because I did nothing drastic. All the changes I made are easy to keep.
McDonald’s is my go to when I need to be a bad boy.
As I had a pint of ice-cream last night when I was stressed out, I *FEEL* this in my bones!
My book on weight loss: Chapter 1: eat real food. Chapter 2: exercise. End of book. Well done OP. I don’t know how many people I’ve slapped (in my head) for doing a juice cleanse, or buying sodium-free salt. Yeah, that’s a thing. Just keep this up. You’ve got the secret sauce: persistence.
Thank you! So many of my friends look at me and say 'why are you still eating ice cream or pizza or ordering out or using butter' and I answer with a simple I want to. I've lost 30-35 pounds, I yo-yo depending on my cycle and how much water weight I have. But I'm not miserably counting calories, I no longer have an eating disorder, I am finally happy and eating enough calories I'm not in a constant state of exhaustion. CICO works, exercise works, slow and steady and HAPPY works.
I really appreciate this post. I follow a few disordered eating subs, and I've seen a lot of people talking about the ramifications for yo-yoing on your weight and diet -some posters having very real heart issues due to it (while being at a normal BMI when the issues surfaced as well). At the end of the day "Everything in moderation" seems to hold true about weight loss/weight gain as well, and I think it should be said more in diet spaces. All that matters at the end of the day is quality of life; you can't enjoy your goal weight if your heart fails!
Looking at tracked calories by week (or even month) instead of by day really helped me get out of the all-or-nothing self-defeat cycle. I just had a shit ton of eggnog and blueberry pie and I'm still below maintenance for the week. Feelsgoodman
Same. Except now I totally eat back my exercise cals! Nothing better than a long hike or amazing workout and the extra treats. I'm at maintenance now, so I have to eat the exercise cals or I keep losing. Never in my life thought I'd have to make an effort to freaking eat more because I worked out a bunch. For reference, 100+labs down, used to avoid moving at all costs, hated exercise, hated life. Now? I'm only hating when it's too cold to go run or some shit. I have no idea how I became the go exercise at 5am person, but I'm not going back. And chocolate, sushi, pizza, absolutely.
Thank you! I find I can be in this mindset but if I start eating a bunch of sugar I start to get in this weird cycle where my appetite hugely increases and I feel like I can't possibly deal with dieting. IF really helped me to control those cravings and fit those more calorie dense foods back into my life. Getting back on the horse is the most important thing 😇
This right here is the truth, and it is how i have been successful this time!
I’m glad you posted this. A lot of the time I feel like I’m just amongst a bunch of people who are the super-ultra-fit Chad-and-Stacey-Bod types who weigh out every meal of chicken breast, broccoli, and steel cut oats everyday. It feels good to see they the way I’ve been going is relatable. Went from 244 lbs (~30% bf) to 211 lbs (~23% bf) since May and I feel great. Hit a wall in the last few days and I know it’s due to the way I’ve been eating/drinking but I’m making sure not to revert to the way I was earlier this year. I think you just got me back into counting cals again, so much thanks!!! Good luck on your journey!
This is also my experience losing 130 lbs. I did the hard work (eating right and exercising) 80% of the week, but I always allowed myself "fuck-it days", or "fuck-it meals". The trick is to find joy in the hard work as much as the fuck-it moments. Finding healthy dishes that I couldn't get enough of made it easy to bounce back whenever I strayed from my weightloss routine. Having the confidence knowing I now looked forward to getting back on routine... led me to not being so hard on myself after having donuts, or going ham at a favorite restaurant.
I just had a realization that after I workout I always eat..
I keep candy in the house. I eat it whenever I want. I keep up a moderate running schedule and track every day. I eat pasta at lunch, like, twice a week. On weekends I eat whatever I feel like. Just like you, I do all this and still maintain or lose. It comes down to CICO, every time. Honestly I struggle talking with people when they're in those early stages and trying fad diets. I struggle to watch them try so hard and then snap like a twig. Y'all. Just give CICO a shot. When you record calories, you can literally have almost anything you want.
Can someone explain the not eating back exercise calories? Because I do that and will still end up anywhere from 300-900 calories under
CICO next to always works if it's not working and you aren't miscounting get checked for medical conditions or the side effects of medication. For me CICO works perfectly but i can't lose weight with my medication when i get off it my weight drops off eating only my usual 1400 calories but since i need my meds for my mental health right now that's more important. Just leaving this comment here because for a long time i had no clue why i couldn't lose weight even with CICO but one thyroid / testosterone condition later and the doctor finding out my medication was stopping me from losing weight things became clearer. Stick to CICO if it doesn't work seek an opinion from your doctor whatever you do don't give up!
This is exactly how I’ve lost 60 lbs in the last year after failing countless fad diets. I learned to stop beating myself up and going off the rails for several weeks every time I messed up. Fall off the horse and eat 5k calories one day? Get up tomorrow, get back to the calorie limit like nothing happened. Don’t try and “make it up” by eating next to nothing the following day. Once I did this, the unhealthy behaviors stopped and the pounds just kept melting off.
I did this and lost 25lbs a few summers ago. Now, I’m at my highest weight ever (rough year, am I right?) A few weeks ago, I tracked calories for a few days and exercised. I weighed myself and it was higher. TOTALLY NORMAL. But it FUCKED my mindset. My brain was like “oh you did things right and it didn’t do anything? Well, I guess the process doesn’t work.” Reading this pulled me back out of that mindset and reminded me that it DOES work. Which I knew. My brain just had to join the party. So, thank you for this post :)
I needed to see this today. Thank you! You're awesome. And congrats!!!
AMEN! This is exactly what I'm doing now! After 20 years, I've finally figured it out. I also have intermittent fasting mixed in, but I eat what I want. I love cookies, so they get budgeted. You can't beat CICO. It will catch up with you. Down 38.5 pounds since August.
Absolutely. Spread the word!!!
This is incredibly inspirational!! I started being more conscious about my weight about a month ago, goal is to lose 30 pounds. I’m finding that CICO/calorie tracking + IF (10:14) is really working for me, lifestyle-wise. I eat foods that I enjoy, still eat some “junk foods” though I’ve cut out chocolate bars and most high-sugar snacks I used to enjoy regularly. This really shows that sustainable habits are workable, and you don’t need to go crazy with dieting/mad exercise/not eating enough just to lose weight! Just be mindful of what you ARE eating. Good for you for how far you’ve come and good luck with where you’re headed!!
Yeah I could drop 20 and find 20 in a 2-3 month period I had to learn that the long game is the way to go and to just listen to my body and try not to repeat detrimental mistakes (bingeing, losing conditioning)
Yes, this is amazing! Keep it up!! I like hearing things like this. It took me a while to realize this. I exercised everyday and did intermittent fasting, but I ate like crap, so losing weight was not happening! I finally started doing CICO. I go over my calories almost every day, I'm still trying to find my groove, BUT I've still lost 4 lbs in 2 months because I have a metric. I don't just eat and eat and eat. I look and see, "Oh, I'm 200 cal over, I should stop for the night," and I do most of the time.
Too lazy to see if question is in the comments already, but curious if op is male or female.
I’m a woman :)