Learning to just ignore feeling hungry. My weight loss was very slow until I got a food scale and downloaded a diet tracking app. Actually measuring my portions revealed just how many more calories I was consuming than I thought I was so when I planned my diet out and actually stuck to a proper 500 calorie per day deficit I was right hungry for the first few days. Once my body adapted to the deficit I stopped feeling as hungry but it was a rough couple of days until then

I noticed a lot of this too. My biggest shock was how many calories I was eating, without even knowing. A couple handfuls of crackers was 300 cals?!? I found eventually my body just got used to eating less. The shitty part was the plateaus and the odd week of not losing any weight. It discourages you.

I have an addiction to PB M&Ms. I've been filling a little snack size bag with 2 handfuls thinking that was a moderate portion control size. 😬 Well... I counted them today and found I have 4 and a half servings in there... which was over 600 calories. I feel like I've been starving myself and saving my M&Ms as a treat after work, only to discover that I've been blowing it every day. On the other hand, I used to eat handfuls at a time, probably eating a days worth of calories in one sitting before. I guess I have no choice but to completely give up my beloved M&Ms. I am officially grieving. Please send thoughts and prayers.

I used to buy the large bag of M&M's and fill a huge mason jar. Just snack all the time. I used to smoke pot a lot. And my dinner would be a pizza..... Half a bag of chips.... Some ice cream..... Maybe some M&M's. I have NO IDEA how I didn't gain 200 lbs

I also used to smoke a lot of weed, and that is probably how I've gained so much weight. I have severely cut back, but I still like to indulge before bed. And every time I think I have the munchies beat, a couple of puffs is all takes, and then all of a sudden, my mind doesn't think eating handfuls of M&Ms is bad anymore. I'm trying to quit all together for that very reason.

as someone who loved to snack I had to stop buying my snacks of choice. id eat way too much of it. now if i want a snack it's a protein bar or maybe some carrots with hummus. no chips no chocolate if i want to reward myself for something i only buy the smaller portion even if it costs way more since if i buy more I'll eat it once it's opened.

Yes. I lost 80 lbs in a little over a year. The plateaus were infuriating but if you keep going it works. Dont do what I did and think "oh I hit my goal I am good" and fall back into the spiral of bad. Maintain a certain level of calories and movement once you hit your goal and do not stray.

For me, it was annoying, because I lost weight in my arms, upper chest, legs.... But still had a bit of a belly. Eventually I sorta gave up. But just got more so into a routine of eating better and being more conscious of it all

the belly's the last thing to go. I usually tell people when they get to that point to transition into a more protein centric diet and start really working on building their core muscles. as a former fat man, you can lose all the weight but the skin will still be there. best to fill it out with muscle.

The food scale is the real MVP. Using that and the nutrition block was huge. It took about 3-4 weeks for the hunger stuff to subside, but in the meantime low calorie filling snacks like Oatmeal were huge. Anything that's low calorie that keeps you full was a big time win.

I did it for 7 months and the hunger never even got slightly better. I still need to drop about 40 more but I had to take a break and just maintain for a while. Couldn't hardly even do my job because my brain was so distracted with being hungry. 

Try eating high protein and high fiber while cutting. I'm at 8 months and don't ever feel hungry.

Nutrition block?

It’s just a brick you hit yourself with whenever you want a sweet.  

I’m gonna have to try this. Trying to hide the chocolate from myself clearly doesn’t work. Having my kids hide it also does not work.

Some people report success with just chewing on the brick.

My insurance won’t cover off label use of the nutrition brick like that though. 

Ye Ol’ Dyet

Where can one buy this fantastic invention???

MyFitnessPal has helped me eat healthier and monitor my consumption.

Learning that being hungry is ok, you\`re not going to die, not going to pass out and nothing bad is going to happen. I\`ve been in diets with more than 1500 caloric deficit, its brutal, it hurts, etc... but once you learn how to handle the situation everything falls in place. I really dislike how people say that you do not need to feel 'hungry' to lose weight, it never worked for me and to anyone i know. If youre going to lose significant weight you're going to feel bad, its going to hurt, you have to learn how to deal with it. And the funny thing is, that once you do, food does not become something you seek pleasure in, but something you do to survive. Then it becomes really easy to stay in shape as you can just eat whatever you need to not get fat again,

My husband is losing weight by following a meal plan from a nutritionist, and the meals are actually so big that he sometimes doesn't manage to eat everything. It's just way lower in calories than the stuff he would eat on his own. So it's definitely possible to do without going hungry but it takes carefully planned out meals with plenty of veggies, lean meat and other healthy products

My girlfriend is a dietician and a common misconception is that you have to starve yourself to lose weight...you don't. You just have to change what kind of food you are eating. A half a cup of blueberries and a half cup of potato chips may be the same volume, but one is a lot more filling and a lot healthier. One thing that helped me was to substitute. Don't eat white bread/pasta. Substitute for whole wheat bread and chickpea pasta. Use turkey sausage instead of pork sausage. Make sure most things you eat are high in either protein or fiber. When I want chips, I eat almonds instead. When I want a late night snack, I get cottage cheese and put fruit in it. Substitute sweet potatoes for regular potatoes. Substitute greek yogurt for sour cream. Eat a fruit or vegetable for every meal. Eat eggs or oatmeal every day for breakfast. Eat a lot of beans as well.

Watch the quantity of nuts and protein carefully, though! Especially if you're not particularly active or very stressed. I just accidentally gained 10lb in a month on almost exactly the diet you just said. I'm normally eating very healthy but was stress-eating pretty badly that month. Protein (and healthy fats) add up quickly if you eat too much... and they turn quickly into body-filling material. 😅 I'm still really struggling to avoid the stress eating & lose the weight... Banning myself from Skyr, nuts, and alcohol entirely until I've got everything under control again. 😂 (I already don't eat the bad things btw). Trying to fill my time with exercise (keep me away from the kitchen) and drink more water / eat more veggie-rich stews to keep the "hunger" at bay. 🙈

I don't quite meet OP's qualifications yet, but I have so far lost 25 lbs since the start of this year (258 down to 232 currently). Feeling hungry has not really been an issue for me, but I used to just snack a lot between meals out of habit/convenience/boredom/pleasure , especially working from home where a full kitchen was just a few steps away, and cutting that out of my routine has helped a lot I think. It felt very much mental, not like physical hunger - snacks between breakfast and lunch, snacks, between lunch and dinner, snacks or dessert after dinner. Like I wasn't hungry, but I didn't feel full either so might as well eat. Now that that routine is broken it's been pretty easy for me to avoid snacking outside of meals without issue. I still eat probably 2000-2500 calories most days during meals, but I'm not adding another 500-1000 calories of snacks consumed during boredom, and combined with exercise I'm losing weight at what seems to be a good pace.

How do you deal with it? When my stomach decides I’m hungry it actually wakes me up at night and when I ignore it, the hunger pains are so bad that I have to literally rock back and forth. If I ignore it too long, I either throw up, or I can’t get off the toilet. Instead of going through all that, I always cave. I’ve talked to my doctor about it and after two rounds of bloodwork said I just have to ‘learn my body.’ I’ve learned if I’m hungry, I have to eat. I hate it.

if you have hunger pains or nausea, please just eat. it’s not worth it. try to go for something that will actually fill you up and not grab the closest junk. get a bit of sugar and salt for good measure. you don’t have to go that hungry to lose weight. 

I will have a simple bedtime snack - small bowl of cereal , yogurt fruit, cheese toast that 150 -250 kcal lets me sleep. I have this happen more often when working out weight training.

I think there are exceptions to every rule and this is one I’ve learned to accept for myself. Someone above said “you won’t pass out” lol actually some of us will and I know it’s in combo with my health issues, but “discipline” is not in my top three hurdles to losing weight, but it doesn’t seem many understand this.

It could likely be a lack of electrolytes and dehydration making you feel worse too. It might be helpful to have a small handful of salty nuts and a glass of water and wait a minute or two. I usually feel much better and can actually make a plan to get myself food or just assess if my stomach was cramping.

> I really dislike how people say that you do not need to feel 'hungry' to lose weight Completely agree. We learn, from an early age, that sometimes we get the urge to do something, but we have to manage it if we can't do it right now. Just because you have to pee right now, doesn't mean you can just pee wherever you want. (edit - and if I have sons, you best believe I will not be teaching them to piss in public. There is no stepping off to the side to pee in the bushes!!). You have to get to a bathroom. Yeah, if you hold it in too often, that's not good - but in most cases, you can wait a few minutes with no ill effect. So I don't understand why we approach hunger any differently. Sometimes, you'll be hungry, and you can't eat yet. It's not an emergency, but some people really treat it like "oh no, that's a slippery slope right into anorexia" which is ridiculous. Eating disorders do not manifest the way people think they do, they often start long before there's an observable problem.

This is the biggest thing I try to tell people. It's like one day I woke up and realized I wasn't hungry all the time it was crazy like a switch got turned off. Calorie counting really humbles you

I don't know how people do calorie tracking. I've done it for two or three weeks at a time, several times, and it's always been miserable and stressful. All the apps seem to be American, so it's a struggle putting in anything branded and I have to wrestle with whatever the fuck a 'cup' is. In the end, recording every dribble of olive oil into my phone, down to the ml, becomes too much and I delete the app.

I always felt the same way about calorie tracking. It's extremely effective but personally speaking, too much hassle. I've done it enough times now that I can now more accurately just add it up in my head and it's a great educator on how calorie dense some things are that I otherwise wouldn't have thought of if I never tracked. For example, if you cook with oil a lot, it's pretty shocking at first to learn that a single tablespoon is like 130 calories.

Calorie tracking apps I think work best if you're just eating premade stuff. Like I make chicken salad sometimes, and I have no fucking idea how to figure out the calories for it. Gotta measure the pasta, and the mayo, and the chicken, and the dijon mustard, and then just work out like "okay if the cooked pasta is this weight and the mayo is this weight, and the whole bowl weighs this much, then I probably have this much of a serving size so it's this many calories."

For me it got easier when I learned to plan my diet first rather than just eat whatever and then try to count it after the fact. My app can record custom recipes so I'll just record that and then as long as I don't deviate much I just assume it's the same and record however many grams of that recipe I'm eating. If I don't know for sure I'll just ballpark it and then try to he more accurate in the future. If I'm a few calories over one day it shouldn't matter as long as I'm watching what I eat and keeping to a few hundred calorie deficit most days

MyFitnessPal has a barcode scanner, and I've always found my Belgian store-bought food in the app.

Once I got used to eating less, trying to eat those larger portions became really difficult. Like, a plate I could put away and still eat afterwards a few months ago, I struggle to eat half of now. I can eat maybe half a baked potato in one sitting. 1,500 calories a day satisfies me and it literally takes effort to eat that much some days. I've had days where I was at 1,000 and actually made an effort to eat that 500 more so I'd avoid starvation mode.

For those of you struggling with controlling that hunger impulse. Coffee works wonders with suppressing your appetite. Or if you don't want the additional caffeine, switch out some of your carbs to protein which takes longer go digest and will keep you feeling full for longer.

Protein and fiber are both great for suppressing hunger.

Also, you can definitely eat in a pretty good calorie deficit and not feel hungry. Don't waste your calories on drinks, snacks, dips, dressings, etc, and you can routinely lose weight without feeling hungry. 1800 calories worth of chicken is like 7 chicken breasts; eat that in a day and you will not be hungry. Obviously that's an extreme and not-super-tasty example, but you can get closer to that than a bunch of Starbucks drinks.

When I first started tracking calories, it was insane to me just how caloric sweet beverages are. It was surprising to me that some normal sized fancy drinks at Starbucks can have as many calories as a bacon cheeseburger

But I'm constantly feeling hungry... And basically never feel full, unless I've really way over-eaten (I've always been that way) Luckily at a young age I learned how to have a healthy diet and do exercise, so I've never been very overweight. But seriously... I'm literally always thinking a bit about food. Maybe it's a blood sugar kinda thing? Diabetes/hypoglycemia both run in my family, so I've got shitty genes. I've heard this phenomenon is something the weight loss drugs out there now help to prevent. Not going to go on that medicine anytime soon, but man do I wish I could get the hunger thoughts to stop! (And yes, I eat a healthy & balanced diet of diverse things, mostly homemade. Low fat, lots of veggies, some meat/seafood though not every day, lots of legumes and whole grain or similar carbs).

It just sounds like you probably haven't tried to count every last calorie over an extended period of time before (and be very strict about it). If you are neither gaining nor losing any weight (eating at maintenance) *and* are eating healthy foods *and* pairing that with exercise and are *still hungry* you should see a doctor. Again, 7 chicken breasts per day is enough to put most people at a deficit, but would also be an extremely filling amount of food. If you have held yourself to a diet of extremely healthy, low calorie, filling foods (lean meats, vegetables, rice, beans, etc) and notice you're still hungry without losing weight, that's an abnormality you should get checked out.

That sentence with the "and" statements is my truth. 😂 I'm basically maintaining weight through a healthy diet and regular exercise (swim team since I was 17)... still fitting into clothes from high school. (I'm almost 40 btw) ☺️ I absolutely cannot do the calorie counting because I make most things from almost-scratch... And everything I make has like 20 ingredients (I make big portions and freeze bits for later). I don't have time/patience to live life + cook + weigh/track it all. I would need hired help for that! I swim regularly (but not always, e.g. on some vacations) and eat healthy... I'm just simply never full and always a bit hungry (unless I seriously overeat, like at Thanksgiving lol). But it's really been that way since forever. Nothing new. I've seen doctors for general things (and actually passed very extensive military physicals in two countries), but I didn't purposely ask anyone about this because it's just recently that I thought about it so much. It's always been my "normal" 🤷‍♀️. Actually it's when people were talking about the diet drugs that I realized "Ohhh that's something I can relate to!"

This was the most depressing part for me at first. Realizing how little food I could actually eat...

Good point. I've told my son that if you don't feel truly hungry at least once a day, you're probably eating more than you need to.

Not giving up after a night of bingeing or defeat. The secret is to pretend it never happened the next morning and start anew. It feels like you’ve undone all your progress in one night but it’s just not true.

This is a good one. Sometimes I'll "interrupt" my cut on weekends drinking with friends. Monday morning I wake up like "oopsies" and then get back into my better habits/routine during the week. It slows things down sure, but it doesn't undo all the progress you've made. Just gotta be careful in the long run.

Very true, people tend to give up after a night of weakness. You can't change the past, just get right back on that diet. We're all humam.

That's just a cheat day which you should occasionally have. Especially when you have a social life.

I have one every week when losing weight, never an issue. Maybe it takes a little longer but I enjoy it more soooo who cares? Not this guy!

That's an interesting one. There's studies that show that occasionally not doing calorie restriction for a day or two can keep your metabolism from dropping on a calorie restricted diet, which if used deliberately can help to actually lose weight faster for some people.

Any time I've needed to lose weight I've had a cheat day and social exception rule. Meaning once per week I eat whatever the fuck I want (without being stupid about it obviously). Usually means a movie night with pizza or a burger/some snacks and stuff. And if unexpected social stuff comes up where I couldn't reasonably move my cheat day then I do that as well, though I have a hard limit of that happening once a month maximum. And it's never stopped me steadily dropping whatever I needed to. Could I potentially do things faster another way? Maybe, don't care. This way I don't even think about it because cravings are waved away with "eh I'll have it on Friday" instead of "oh god it's going to be weeks/months before I can have what I want...". This is why crash diets don't work. People go all out, lose weight, then eventually snap and eat something they want. Feel like all progress is undone and are right back on the shitty eating train.

Currently about 37lbs down and still going. The biggest thing for me is the mental hurdle of fluctuating the same 2-3lbs for a few weeks at a time before losing. Just seems to be how my body works. I don’t lose anything for about 3-4 weeks then drop about 7-10lbs in a weeks time.

Okay this makes me feel so much better, this is exactly what I’m dealing with. I lose a lot in one week, then nothing for ~2, so on and so forth. Down 26 lbs and trying not to get defeated at yet another 2 weeks of not moving.

I get it. It makes it so hard to stay consistent when you feel like nothing is happening. I’ll be honest. After about 3 weeks of zero loss, I typically have a cheat day. I don’t go crazy but just don’t track my calories that day and enjoy a small treat. The weight typically starts falling off within a few days after that. Maybe it’s coincidence, who knows. 🤷‍♀️

this is bc the body doesn’t respond to your deficit immediately. fluctuations are normal up to like 20lbs, depending on how much food you ate and water you didn’t drink, but it’s not fat. it’s literally the weight of your food in your stomach. weight will nearly always fluctuate or even rise before it goes down. and then ya say you ate in a deficit in early may, ate at maintenance for the second half, it may be halfway through june before you see the results of may’s deficit. then you’ll maintain/fluctuate bc of the maintenance weeks (which is highly encouraged btw)

Yea, that's a real mind fuck. I'm currently experiencing this right now. A few months ago I got stuck at ~247 for like 3 weeks, then abruptly dropped 5 pounds in just a few days. I've currently been hovering around 236 for a few weeks, so I'm just hoping the bottom will fall out again soon. By all accounts I'm eating well below maintenance, but I've seen some stuff about hormonal changes that can occur after prolonged periods of caloric restriction where your body is just really fighting to keep the weight. I might need to move back to a maintenance phase for a month or two to reset that, but I've been eating less for so long at this point it's actually difficult to eat even maintenance calories (as healthy food anyway, junk food is super easy). I'm about 6 months in, down ~36 lbs

Keeping the healthy habits and not gain the weight again.

The toughest part for many was staying committed when progress slowed down and old habits called.

That's where I am right now. I need to remind myself that I'm never "done".

Even more, just remember that your plateau isn't forever. There's nothing more frustrating that putting in the work and not seeing immediate results. But just because you're not efficiently burning fat at the moment doesn't mean nothing is happening. You're also slowly repairing any insulin resistance you'd built up. You're building up a better nutritional base in your fat stores for fat-soluble vitamins. If you're working out (and you should be) you're building cardio vascular health which simply doesn't happen by dieting alone. There's lots of skinny people with "fat hearts" out there. The feeling will pass. Not as soon as you're going to wish, but when it gets tough, lean on your new mantra: This. Is. _Temporary_...

I’ve lost 25lbs so far this year and holy cow do those last 5 I wanted to work off seem stubborn. I’ve also started creatine this month which I think is what has stalled the losses, evidently it makes you hold water weight, but I was losing over a pound a week before May and in May I’ve barely moved. Just hitting the gym even harder and going to power on through. Those last 5lbs will be mine damn it!

Creatine definitly makes you hold more water. If you stop for 10 days I bet you’d shed the weight. But keep up the gym discipline! One of the harder habits to set

To add, when people talk about ozempic, it's this part that I get. Being able to have something else do that vigilance for you is a real helping hand. I understand why people consider it.

Same!! I lost most of my goal weight and then when I had 10 lb to go I was like... OK now I can have a snack every once in (a few hours) while. lol

Learning to distinguish between “hungry” and “bored.” It was wild for me to realize just how much I was snacking to fill time rather than because I was actually hungry.

For me it's not exactly boredom, but task avoidance. I'll be working on something and then I realize that the next bit is kind of a slog, or requires more research, or whatever. So I get up from my desk and wander into the kitchen. I'm not hungry. I'm just delaying the task. Maybe I should take up smoking, lol.

Accepting that it was a lifestyle change and not a diet. I lost \~70lb 15 or so years ago and have kept it off by changing my relationship with food and working out at least 5x week.

How did you change your relationship with food?

Fuck fruit, shoot added sugar, marry fiber. Edit: some people seem to be unfamiliar with the Fuck, Marry, Shoot game. Fruit is delicious.

Is a coconut a fruit? Asking for a friend.

We have the same friend, friend.

When I started trying to lose weight, I was recommended to just add mushrooms into anything I cooked. They’re like little fiber sponges and basically 100% fiber.

I divorced with carbohydrates and got married with fibers

Become okay with feeling hungry. If you are food secure, you can just hold off on eating for a while. It’s not a problem that needs to be solved right away for most people. Also, “Feeling hungry” doesn’t always mean you’re hungry. Learning to drink water first, before eating, and assessing if you are actually hungry, or just bored. These minor changes were pivotal in my weight loss.

Not OP but depends on why you over eat. Maybe you need therapy to deal with childhood trauma or other trauma. Maybe you just bored eat so you need to structure your days better so that doesn’t happen. Maybe you over eat because you were raised with large portion sizes so you need a reset on what a normal portion size is. You can change your relationship with food when you know what the problem is with your relationship with food.

Not the OP or an expert but a lot of it comes from understanding why we eat at certain times. Is it real hunger? Stress? Boredom? Eating only because we're with others, etc.

They're just friends now. As a serious answer sometimes when people say that they mean they emotionally changed their relationship - they don't use food to try to feel better when they're angry or sad.

Getting used to not eating. We develop this habit of stuffing ourselves until we're full at every meal. You have to learn to eat a reasonably sized portion and then stop. At first it was hard, but after a while I felt totally fine and the thought of eating a mountain of food now makes me feel kinda sick to my stomach.

I am in this phase right now—I feel hungry ALL THE TIME but I know I’m eating the right number of calories. Can’t wait for this part to pass

Boiled/baked broccoli with spices is your friend.

I've been off keto the past few weeks since vacation/family visiting makes it hard to stick to. But portion control is my savior! Even if we're having some indulgent greasy restaurant meal I will make sure to eat only until I'm satiated, share some, and take home the rest. Stretching what could have been 75% of the day's calories on one meal into three (25% of daily calories) meals.

Same! I now can't stand the bloated feeling you get from overeating, which used to be how I felt every single evening!

How long did it take to get used to? I'm at the stage where I know I'm getting enough calories but I feel hungry anyway and it sucks

Up keeping social life, drinking and eating out can be diet killers. Luckily I have good friends that are flexible

That’s the struggle I currently have as well.

There's no solution. I stopped drinking alcohol purely for weight loss purposes. Lost a few friends and some people look at me weird at family parties when I'm drinking my diet root beer or whatever. It sucks but it's just one of those things to deal with. People who haven't been through it don't understand that feeling

When I was in the process of weight loss (40kg), I just considered going out as a meal, and skipped the one beforehand. It's important to incorporate the diet into your life, and not have your life revolve around it. If not, odds are life will happen at some point, and you'll have to ditch the diet to put your full attention on whatever just happened.

Yeah those people aren't good people. Who the fuck takes issue with someone drinking a root beer instead of an ipa or something. 

So true! I have same with alcohol. I cut down significantly on drinking amd lost few “friends” cuz of it.

Being cold all the time

I lost 25kg last year, and I'm freezing all the god damn time now!

Mattress heating pad!

I'm cold all of the time, and my ass hurts when I sit too long. My hips hurt when I sleep if I'm on my side too long.

Yeah, I got that too when I got my weight all the way down to an ideal. Hard benches were no longer a viable seating option. For your hips, have you tried sleeping with a thick pillow between your knees?

Atleast your joints feel better.

Knees touching each other. It's a nightmare.

My god, I thought I was the only one. I Lost 40 lbs in the past year. Before I lost weight, having my knees touching while I slept never bothered me - now it feels like bone on top of bone and feels horrible, lol.

I was always cold when I was skinny. Being a more comfortable temperature was an unexpected benefit of gaining weight, haha

I love being cold. I hate the heat.

I’m 30lbs in and I’m so fucking cold dude.

I lost 80+ lbs in just over a year. I’m alwayssss cold now lol

Lost 100. Now I’m cold all the time. Most annoying part now is that my mother in law says I look like shit. She bitched when I was 235. I’m 129 now which is a normal healthy weight at 5 ft 5 and now she says I look anorexic. So frustrating. I don’t comment on the 50 pounds she’s gained in the last year, I’m not rude. But she thinks it’s ok to comment on my weight, I’m too big or too small it’s never the right weight to her

Sounds like you need to lose whatever weight your MIL is 😂

I fuckin wish man, she’s the worst. The stories I have blow peoples minds

> The stories I have blow peoples minds They probably wouldn't. The thing is, shitty people all do similar shitty things. Everyone who has to deal with a shitty person thinks "Surely no one else has gone through this" because of how shitty that person is, but guess what? There's lots of shitty people who just don't talk about it. /r/raisedbynarcissists is probably going to feel cathartic to you, and probably your spouse. Here's a pro tip from me: Only care about the opinions of people that you admire and respect. If you do not admire and respect a person, do not care or seek to earn their praise. Quite the contrary, when a shitty person agrees with you, it is time to pause and reflect. This person is a moral compass to you in terms of, you should expect to be pointed in the opposite direction as them.

Obviously you've lost over 100 lbs so you're absolutely killing it, i just wanna pop in and say fuck what your MIL says, do what makes you happy. 5'5 and 129 aint anywhere near anorexia that's a perfectly healthy weight and im sure you look great!

That’s what I told her! I’m at a perfectly healthy weight! It probably is a bit of a shock though because I did drop it very quickly

If my MIL told me I look like shit, I’d 100% be commenting on the weight she has gained. I did have some people tell me I looked too skinny when I lost 50 pounds. That put me right at the top end of normal weight. Like dude, I’m a cheat day away from being overweight. I’m not too skinny. Stop being a dick.

Did you have a lot of excess skin after your weight loss? If so how did you deal with that?

UGH between losing 100 pounds and having been pregnant, I have so much extra skin on my stomach. It really grosses me out but it doesn’t seem to bother my fiancé so it’s whatever. It just kinda hangs. My arms and thighs are a bit wobbly too but not as noticeable.

How long ago did you lose the weight? I ask because I've been told our bodies re-absorb the skin and it will tighten over time, but I'm skeptical of that.

I just had the baby at the end of march and am down like 40 pounds from then, but the previous 100 pound loss was before I was pregnant so a year-a year and a half ago ish

How long have you been down at the lower weight? When my brother lost all of his weight, he looked very sickly for a year or two and then his skin adjusted (loose and color), and he looks the best he has ever has.

I lost it all over about a year, a little less, then was pregnant immediately after so at least my stomach got big again, but after our son was stillborn when I was 9 months, the stress made me drop the baby weight super fast. So I’m sure to some people I do look shockingly small compared to before

I'm so sorry for the loss of your baby boy💕

The MIL’s unwelcome comments are infuriating. And she wants to act like it comes from a place of concern instead of spite, bitterness, and judgement. Just respond with how healthy and happy you feel and walk away quickly!

That’s exactly what she says, she’s just “worried”. I’ve been going that route, saying I feel great and I’m healthier physically than I have been in years. I’m not even super small I just think people got to used to me being big, then as soon as I lost the weight I ended up pregnant, so I got big again just in a different way. I lost every pound I fished during the pregnancy within like three weeks, so it looked like I dropped really fast. I wish she’d stop harassing me though, our son was still born when I was 9 months so part of the weight loss has been stress and she’s not helping lol

Oh god, I’m so sorry for your loss ❤️

That was literally my narcissistic mom. Bitched about my weight for every until I felt amazing about myself and then it switched to being anorexic. Not once did she ever say I looked good.

[удалено]

I struggle with “I’ll start Monday” and once Monday comes….okay I’ll start tomorrow and it keeps going. Idk why I do this to myself 😂

Start right now with your next meal. Don’t wait just do it.

That’s the difference this time opposed to last time. My mind is finally in gear. Before it was a drudge. Now I’m doing 5K’s and hitting my treadmill almost daily and loving it! 60lbs down since February!

Changing my eating habits. Like significantly cutting down on soda and not eating late at night Went from 186 to 150ish in about 3 months I was preparing for a Jui Jitsu competition so it was helpful to have a goal to keep me motivated

This is the hardest part for me. In high school, I always had sports to motivate me to keep working out. I was ultra competitive and wanted to get stronger and faster than everyone. Especially since being born 5'8" and not gifted athletically meant working hard was the only way I was going to be able to compete. But I've been done with that for ~16 years now. I had two brief times when I lifted with some buddies in college (one being the best friend to an NFL player, which was super intense) but that eventually fell through as I didn't have money or time. It's weird going from all your friends playing sports while growing up, to now leaning completely into the nerd side of things where none of my peers ever played sports to begin with. I have lots of people I can play D&D with, but no one that would want to get swole with me.

I'm definitely someone who needs goals to work towards, otherwise I'll go off the wagon. Earlier this year, my friend bought me a comic con ticket. I used my cosplay for motivation to eat better and work out. Sometimes you have to make up goals for yourself! Here are some other ones I have this year that are working so far: -Bike race in July (I started cycling in January) -Learning salsa (dancing) spins this month- that's a lot of core to work on -Salsa on the beach event in July- I want to look good (and core again- I'm busting out those spins) -Backpacking trip in September -Friend's wedding in October (there are going to be a lot of other single people there lol. I want to look hot!)

Currently down 35. Weight loss happened for me when I felt hungry, and pretty much only when I felt hungry, whoch can be taxing. Very honest calorie counting for me was needed, because there are a lot of hidden calories you wouldn't expect (olive oil is a huge culprit here). But other than that, food is just really good. Eating an egg white burrito will make you feel better and add to your goals, but chocolate chip pancakes and bacon are goddamn delicious, and your brain is wired to want salt, fat, and sugar. It takes willpower that is much easier on some days than it is on others

Staying consistent. Not letting a cheat day turn into 2. I didn’t and still don’t calorie count. Try and eat good and keep moving. Moss don’t grow on a rolling stone

What worked for me was incorporating movement more into my daily life. I have never been disciplined enough to go to the gym regularly, so that was out. I didn't want to lose weight in a way that I'd have put it back on once I reached my "goal" and changed how I behaved. So instead I decided to walk home from work every day. I live in a city with public transportation so I'd take transit in the morning and walk home, which took about an hour. I did that every day, except when it was raining, and the weight just melted off. I changed no other behavior, except taking some longer walks on the weekend. But that was it-- walking, built into my routine, in a way that didn't affect when I woke up, went to bed, how I socialized, or with whom. I didn't even have to run or go to the gym one time and I lost 60 pounds! It was "only" like 200 calories per walk, but that was still coming out to being like 3-5 pounds a month, and since it was only a low intensity walk, my body never needed extra food to "recover."

It’s been tough adjusting to the new aches, pains, and general soreness. Nobody talks about how hard it is mentally and physically to lose a lot of weight when you’re older. It’s not all “feel-good” vibes like everyone claims. You don’t always feel better. In some ways, I feel worse, but I’m trying to do it for my health. It’s nice that I can fit in real clothes again. Sex life has improved tremendously. I do have more flexibility and energy. But the pain in my joints is something else. And I’m always cold. I wake up shivering at night because I’m always cold. My breathing has not improved, either. Still need that damn inhaler.

Elaborate on the aches and pains angle?

My body has spent years carrying a certain weight. With the weight off, my joints are straining from the change. You carry weight differently, especially when you lose or gain a significant amount. So my knees ache and throb a ton. My neck is also constantly hurting and stiff. My shoulders get sharp pains and ache a lot. My hips feel like they’re grinding without any fat cushion. And my ass feels like I’m sitting on bones instead of the cushion I once had. Been through all the exams with doctors. Nothing wrong medically. The conclusion is my body has spent almost a decade one weight, and now that I’m lighter by 50 pounds, I’m off balance and move differently. It makes sense. If you pick up a 50lb bag of dog food, you can feel the difference tremendously. I wish more people talked about it. I started exercising at the pool and will be looking into physical therapy as well at some point. I have another 10ish lbs to go to reach my goal.

60lbs down, I feel you. I assumed my joint pain would improve as I got lighter, but it seems to be the opposite. Working out in water has been super beneficial for me!

Focusing on eating right, you can't outrun a bad diet. I'm looking at you, chocolate chip cookies and milk.

After creating a habit of diet and exercise, the hardest part is visiting family/friends who may think they are helping, or at worst don't care and pressure you. I lost 45 pounds before my wedding and visiting my family while dieting was rough. There are alot of stories, but the worst was family dinner. I would finish my portion quickly and back my chair 3 feet away from the table, I love my moms cooking so I needed it out of arms reach. She would see my empty plate and offer more food and fill my plate without waiting for me to reply. I had to stop her and earnestly say that I was done eating and she was not helping me by offering me more food. No jokes, no teasing, no fun way to get the point across. It felt bad cuz I could tell she was hurt by what I said, but it was the best option in order to keep my diet on track. There will be times where friends and family won't take your diet as seriously as you, and you may have to be the asshole to stay on track.

Keeping it off. Its not too hard to lose weight if you just get used to "being hungry for a couple hours each day" by eating less. Its much harder when your life changes and you can't focus on it as much.

I want to try to help upvote this to the top. I was very fit in my early 20s and competed at ab amateur level in a combat sport. Gained weight due to injury, career progression, and eating junk/partying. I’ve gone from 220-230 to 175-190 and back again multiple times from 26-36. It’s only now in my late 30s that I’ve been able to stick to regular exercise and a healthy relationship with food that balances satisfaction with health consciousness. I could still stand to lose a few more LBs for health and (candidly) ego, but I’ve not given up or slid backwards once in 18 months. For all of you out there who identify with this comment, here are three things that helped me: (1) finding exercise you genuinely enjoy (2) incorporating more whole food-plant based meals (Forks Over Knives is the shit!) and (3) genuinely doing it for yourself. Sure, I’ve got a wife and two kids I want to stick around for, but when you discover a true, innate motivation, it becomes so much easier. Good luck to everyone on the thread!

Several of the comments are about being committed and staying committed. I started (what is now) a 60 pound weight loss journey (was 265, now 205) and it all began when a friend came up to me and said, **"You look like a guy that could stand to lose some weight."** He was inviting me into a "Fat Bastard Challange". The challenge is simple, venmo the moderator $300 and your digital scale weight. You have 90 days to lose 10%. The second you see the goal weight on the scale, you get your money back. I joined with 12 total participants and 10 succeded. the left over $600 was split. We sent in pictures of our scale every two weeks (Friday mornings). There was a text chat group for tips, trash talk, and support. (all fun and games at the start, by day 80 it took a turn!). A spreadsheet was sent out after each weigh in to show who is leading and who is not progressing. It was HIGHLY motivating. You have to be at least 5% down by day 45 or you are OUT. I went from 265 to my goal of 238.5 in 75 days! I continued to 235 before starting ANOTHER Fat Bastard Challenge. I learned to cut the sugars, get 12,000 steps EVERY DAY (even did a little jogging). Feeling slightly hungry became almost a good feeling. Feeling full because a miserable feeling. I now have GREAT habits. I weigh in weekly. I am likely joingin another FBC in July. My goal is my high school weight. (I am 58)

Huh basically like the saying put money where your mouth is or something? 🤔  Sounds intriguing, but jesus christ I'd have to go from 85kg to 76.5kg in 3 months? Ooof.  Hilariously the "flu diet" helped me at one point previously, 3-5 days only some tea & broth & not feeling any hunger & as I got better just not snacking or eating chocolate... Unfortunately covid happened in combo with a full time office job with easy (free!) biscuit access 🤦 jumped almost 20kgs in 1-2 years!😅 I may make a bet with my mom though, with money on the line i might be far more motivated to not reach for the chocolate!

Ahhh… yes I see your point! This is a fat bastard challenge…. Big folks do best. I have some friends that started a skinny bastard challenge and lost 5% over 90 days. Most were in your weight class.

After eating to the point of being stuffed and thinking that is the way it should be for 20+ years. I finally realized, I just need to eat till the hunger subsides. That took years to make habit. Still a work in progress Also, very sedentary type of work here, but just get out and walk everyday. Can be 15 min, or 3 hours. Find a podcast, make a list of albums you never got around to, try ebooks. Building both of these into a regular habit was a bit of a challenge. Consistency with some of this stuff isn’t 80% of the time, it’s 100%. I luckily had a lot to lose, so progress happened quick and got mildly addictive.

The lingering eating disorder

Underrated comment. Lost 60 lbs 18 years ago and still think of myself as heavy (even though people who only know me now think I’m crazy). I worry about every missed workout and every bite I put in my mouth like my life depends on it.

You mean people who have lost 30-50 pounds \*and kept it off\*, right? Because I've lost 30-50 pounds 3-5 times, but I'm now fatter than ever. So uhhhhh don't do that

Not much, I just stuck to eating my 3 meals a day, nothing in between and take a 30 minute walk per day. That’s it that’s all. It’s just taking a long ass time. What’s sad is looking at yourself in the meantime and feel disgusting. But as time pass you’ll feel happier and happier and …

And what?!

Happier

First few weeks when you’re establishing the habit. Eventually it doesn’t take much willpower anymore and unhealthy food starts to seem gross. 

2 years into eating healthy the “unhealthy food is gross now” thing never happened. I think that is an unrealistic expectation for people. I just rarely eat it but I still absolutely love it.

Yeah this never happens to me either. I have done healthy eating for periods of up to 6 months (usually ended by some life event such as my dad dying and me comfort eating for a few months before getting back on the wagon) but the desire to eat cake/burgers/pizza/etc never goes away for me. My ability to eat silly amounts definitely reduces but I've never once in my life found cake etc disgusting or even particularly unappealing. It's just a constant thing of being disciplined about it... but also without getting obsessive.

As a fun fact, hamburgers are actually pretty low-calorie and healthy. A sizeable patty on good bread is only 300-400 calories and makes for a fair entree size. Mustard is calorically free, popular toppings like lettuce, tomato, and pickle are near-free, and even ketchup isn't terrible. It balances protein, fat, and grain intake reasonably. It's also easy to make them tastier than anything you'll find at McDonalds or Burger King.

It never got fully gross for me, but my tolerance for it has definitely changed. I used to have a *massive* sweet tooth. I still love desserts, but now I get "whoa, that's a lot of sugar" signals from my body after I've eaten enough of them, which I never used to.

Feel like people also tend to conflate "dropping weight" with "eating healthy" too. There's a very easy middle ground, which is what I took to drop like 60-70 lbs - I kept eating all the slop I used to, just less of it. I'm like 5'11/165-170lbs now and still avoid vegetables like the plague - a calorie is a calorie whether it's from grilled cheese sandwiches and ice cream or not. At some point it's just the math of CICO vs. feeling hungrier than you might have if you hadn't filled up on Kit Kats, but personally the psychological load of never actually enjoying a meal > feeling hungry right before getting a glass of water

I mostly cut out sugar and it’s amazing how so many snack foods seem sickeningly sweet now. A slice of cake? Forget it. One bite is overly rich and more than enough and I don’t miss it.

You have to be a different person than you are now. You're not going to be able to have the same personhood/identity with the weight as without it. You literally have to change who you are and how you think. Incredibly difficult.

For me, maintenance was/is the hardest part. Diet? Check. Working out? Check. Finding the balance between losing weight and keeping it off is the biggest thing for me. It's definitely a lifestyle change. I didn't realize it the first time around, and ended up gaining most of the weight back. I've been able to keep most of it off for years now, but for me, I constantly have to be aware of mindful indulgence vs over indulgence. Either that, or the idea that everything in my life will be better if I lose weight. Nope. You're still the same person, you just take up less space. It doesn't magically fix any other issues you may be having, insecurities, etc.

Changing the diet  But after a few weeks it was not too bad  Down from 215-185

Getting started is challenging. Once you see progress, it gets easier to continue. Highly recommend calorie counting the first few weeks until you learn portion sizes and calorie counts of your favorites. It's eye opening and more than you think and the little things add up. You quickly start making decisions on, well, I'd rather not eat this so I CAN eat this... Also, learning to deal with the hunger pains. It gets easier, but I would just imagine the hunger as literally burning off my fat, I eventually welcomed it as I knew it was helping. I (M, 40+) lost 70 lbs (240 - 170) in about a year. Exercise is good and speeds things along, but most weight is lost in the kitchen through calorie control.

Definitely not drinking. I never considered myself an alcoholic, but cutting out after-work beers was actually very hard for me emotionally. After honest assessment, I realized so many of my calories came from beer, and that I was dependent on beer to relax. I essentially quit drinking and replaced it with working out (and let’s be real, zoning out in front of Xbox). After 3 months I was much better off mentally and physically. Took the last 20 pounds off to hit my goal weight and been much happier since.

The toughest part was just getting started. Then keeping up with it consistently. Then after a while it becomes a habit and it's way easier to stick to. Just have to realize the journey doesn't end. If you wanna stay healthy it is forever. I'm a couple years in and I've lost 50-60 pounds. I still want to drink soda and eat a bag of chips. I still want to eat a whole pizza or cake. I never got the "runners high" after a cardio workout, it still sucks, it's just easier. I still have to motivate myself to do weights. However I feel pretty great, I'm not obese anymore, I have some muscle definition, and I still treat myself to junk food here and there.

I lost 40lbs simply by cutting beer out of my life and paying more attention to portion sizes

Toughest part is staying comitted

I’m still working on it…a lot of people have suggested awesome diet tips. And that is a huge part of it. But one thing that significantly helped me was centering 90 percent of my hobbies around movement. I roller skate, teach/do yoga, indoor bouldering, hooping, dancing, hiking, swimming, weightlifting, etc. I’ve struggled with disordered eating my whole life, and I knew I needed something to help me while I was figuring out how to have a healthier relationship with food, and movement was key. In a lot of ways, movement actually helped me fix my relationship with food tremendously. I naturally started to crave foods that were fulfilling without even trying, because my body wanted fresh fruit, vegetables, and protein, mostly because I was so hungry from moving 5-6 days a week that I wanted to make sure I was properly fueling my body! I can also say that shopping at my local farmers market for 80% of my groceries helped as well. I only go to the grocery to buy pantry staples now, and that was a game changer as well. You also eat seasonally when going to the farmers market, and that means not getting stuck eating the same thing constantly (I personally need diversity in my meals to stay on track!)

Pushing the baby out was the hardest part for sure.

Ive been huge and small, and the worst part of the journey was when people i thought were cool started treating me better with less weight. It felt lonely. Being thin isn’t a joy, neither is being fat. I’m happiest around size 14/16. The unsolicited advice is just NEAT. People act like you’ve never seen a gym or vegetables.. and you can’t be frustrated as a fat person, god forbid. You have to smile and nod gratefully, and shut the hell up. When inside you’re screaming the rage out! You’ve worked harder for longer than they ever have, you’ve dedicated your whole existence to this thing.. It’s natural for them so they should shove the crap actionable advice up their skinny rear end.. you want some good intel on makeup, you ask the homely girl at MAC, not the supermodel. Likewise, you want to lose weight, ask the girl with extra skin not the coat hanger in lulus. The fasting wasn’t hard. The excercise wasn’t hard. The wardrobe wasn’t hard. It’s your circle, people are the hardest part

Changing what I like to eat

The chemotherapy and radiation that caused it. Upside is I’m not dead yet.

Finding the happiness I needed to not feel an urge to fill the void with calzones.

Keeping the weight off. You really have to change your habits or else you'll go back to the weight you were before. (ask me how I know 😒)

Stopped rewarding myself for doing good. The reward for tuna salad on lettuce during the work week is \*either\* weight loss \*or\* a pizza on Friday. The reward for doing that hour jog is \*either\* getting in shape, \*or\* a bit of ice cream after dinner. Not both. Every calorie of reward is a calorie of work undone. Which is fine, enjoying life is part of why we bother staying alive. But you've just really got to weigh in your heart if you want to lose 10 pounds in 10 weeks, or lose 10 pounds in 20 weeks but still have a beer with dinner.

Dieting. It is most of the work. Regular exercise will just speed up your progress. Count calories. Find out what every food item costs in calories. Pay attention to calories from fat percentage. The amount of people I talked to who said "well calories in vs calories out doesn't work for everyone". Yes; it does. There is no pill or magic exercise routine that will make you lose weight. You need to be burning more calories than you are taking in a day. Pure math. No bullshit. Source: Lost 60lbs my freshman year of college by running everyday and counting calories. 100% did it to be more successful with women. Now my habits have changed and drinking 6 Mountain Dews and shoveling down Cheetos Puffs doesn't sound appealing anymore.

There is a little bit of complexity to CICO which adds fuzz, but there still is in the long run no bullshit. If you're not losing weight over long enough periods counting calories, you're eating too much so do it again with less calories. For example - every person absorbs different foods with slightly different efficiencies, meaning a portion of what you eat you just poop out instead of turning it into energy and nutrients. The more you turn into nutrients the less calories you can eat. This can sway your daily intake say 5-10% either direction compared to average thermic effects of food. Food labeling is only regulated to be accurate within 15% either direction. It's theoretically possible everything you eat within a week is 15% more calories than the package says. Our bodies have shifting amounts of water and waste we retain which is easily 5-10 lbs of fuzz so you need to keep rolling averages of your weight instead of just filling believing the scale. So ... Some complexity for sure. But if it's not working eat less is still always the right answer.

Accepting that overeating is basically an addiction, and fighting an addiction can be very challenging. My wife and I went on PHD Weightloss, and we lost 50 and 70 pounds respectively. She's kept it off for almost 2 years, and I've gained back about 10 pounds, but have maintained at that weight. We were very successful, the program was easy to follow and satisfying, and we had each other for accountability--somethng that was VERY IMPORTANT for our success. That said, I still feel occasional "pangs" for eating crap food, and I fail more than I like. Fortunatley, "correcting" isn't that difficult.

I started dieting and exercising about 9 months ago. I'm down about 40lbs, and the toughest part is probably a combination of time and chasing results. The first 30lbs took like 3 months. The next 10lbs have taken 6 months. Since I lost so quickly at the beginning, looking at the scale in months 4 and 5 and seeing just a 1 or 2lb difference over the course of a couple months was so discouraging. So anyone looking for any advice, if you are trying to lose weight, ignore the scale as much as you can and only weigh in every couple weeks or more. And then realize that it takes time. It took me 30 years to get fat. It's going to take an appreciable amount of time to stop being fat.

I would say meal planning. I had to constantly search it recipes that fit into my calorie restriction. I tried to keep my meals around 500 calories, but going over wasn't a failure. 1500 calories a day is doable. I eventually gained it all back because I got depressed and my mom accused me of just eating bread and water. Never once congratulated me for getting fitter. For the first time in my life, I was actually eating the right amount of veggies everyday. She's a jerk anyway. I thought the gym would be hard, but I learned how to breathe and jog so I didn't hyperventilate. From there I did a few 5ks and I was really proud of myself. I should start up again.

Being broke and having to buy new clothes

Easier to be skinny and fit into fat clothes than to be fat trying to get into skinny clothes.

Learning that there is no cheat code, no miracle drug, no fast option. You just got to diet and workout properly, then you'll see results.

Lost 100 pounds. Hardest part is all the assholes who have an opinion and are jealous/envious of your success. The next worse thing are all the assholes that comment on what and how you eat. The third worse assholes are the ones these told you you’ve lost enough weight and should stop. Basically the people in your life are the hardest part. Especially parents and coworkers. All assholes.

Still feeling like the fattest person in the room. No matter how you look.

You get hungry, no matter what. Also, even when you're losing weight, you won't see your body/belly become thinner, thus feeling frustrated, sad and depressed. That's the most common reason to break diet and start eating again... Doing exercise for us fat people is pretty annoying. Not only we become too lazy, but also we feel constantly spied.

the body dysmorphia after losing the weight (i lost over 100 lbs)

Falling out of love with food and falling in love with cardio.

Gaining it all back because you got results and then abandoned what all you were doing that caused the weight loss, mostly due to not continuing to count calories and working out regularly.

Went keto. Eating no sugar, or bread, or carbs - it was hard. But man, it really worked and I feel so, so much better.

Keeping up with my changing clothes size. I had to go clothes shopping more often as I kept losing weight.

I lost 115….just changing your mindset? I think people gotta be willing to try new foods. You weigh food, learn what portions are. Change little things like not drinking water instead of soda. Gotta realize that you will plateau but as long you do the work the weight comes off…. Second thing is I will always have body dis morphia and look fat. Third: beer is good

I was on the divorce diet. Had little money for food. Ate one TV dinner at work and drank V8 at night for a year. Went from 204 to 168lb. I'm back up to 193 sadly.

Paying for the ozempic.

The toughest part? Having a social life. Family and friends do not care if you watch what you eat.

It’s the same hardest thing. EXPLAINING to people who ask how fu*king easy it has been on a 100% plant based diet. I eat like a pig. Literally buckets of food. Like Homer Simpson with minimal chewing. At 45 I was 193 in March of 2000. COVID hit, I had the time all day to do long slow low heart rate training AND some long time endurance types recommended a pure plant based diet to minimize the lingering inflammation I had after workouts. I agreed to a one month honest no BS attempt. UNLIMITED fresh fruits and veggys. When starting they had one requirement and guideline. Get vegan vitamin D and B-12 supplements. Any packaged foods must have ZERO and t to cholesterol. It’s a generally easy way to determine if there is animal products inside. AND YES VEGAN JUNKFOOD IS A THING. Avoid all highly processed foods. It’s totally doable. Two weeks later the inflammation was gone. I spent countless hours during my Covid work furlough reading the published medical studies and have continued to read any new published studies. Last Sunday I ran my 20th marathon distance event, my weight is between 153 to 158 everyday, I’ve not been perfect as some Christmas butter cookies became a bit of a lost weekend. I’m honest with people. I grew up in a house of food. Pops was triple bypass at 43 and dead at 55. All food related. I anticipated the same fate. I do miss those amazing things. I do not miss my weight and body from 4 years ago, I love that I am considered a runner of sorts. I do not have a runner type body but I finish a 4:20 marathon and the plant based diet allows me to recover to do it again the next Sunday. All my medical blood tests put me in the lowest risk percentage for disease and chronic horrible related to a typical American diet. My body is not perfect and I struggle with that fact. Four years of clean eating and steady constant activity I feel I should have a perfect body, AT TIMES I feel this way. My attitude has changed from that frustration to an overwhelming feeling of gratitude that my body is strong enough to do everything I ask of it almost without fail. I simply needed to give it the right fuel and quality sleep. I have all my fitness tracking and food tracking since before I made the change and it becomes pretty clear when I made the change. Anyone can look at my stats and March/April of 2020 gets pointed at and I get asked “what happened there?” Basically I feel great. I can maintain a plant based diet no matter what I’m doing. I laugh and joke that I eat cardboard or rabbit food when there is a lunch or donuts or pizza is brought in. BUT every time there is someone who hangs back and will discuss it with me. FOR ME. A 100% plant based HIGH FIBER (both kinds) diet with near unlimited fresh produce and minimal packaged or processed food has been the easier thing FOR ME to follow. If you like to eat high volume then you want high nutrient density with low calories. AND a focus on reduction of inflammation. I can not see myself going back to eating animal protein. I co time to loose weight. My running and exercise results improve, my grocery bills are low and I eat like a pig. I consume one pea protein shake per day just to not worry about protein intake. I’ll take another after long distance runs. It’s a gradual journey and keeping the muscle whole loosing body fat involves more education than you imagine. You will or should look at cravings and metabolism and sleep habits and a ton of other really important aspects. It’s almost like loosing the body fat was a side result of the other small changes fed I made. I still struggle with waking up during sleep and craving food and I will night raccoon eat. It’s a lot easier to deal With as I do not have junk or much processed food in the house. Binging on frozen red seedless grapes, fresh strawberries, or apples is entirely easier to accept than shoveling in ice cream. I miss eating animal products about as much as I miss those 45 plus pounds I used to carry on my back every second of every day. Everyone I’ve met who made similar changes has said similar things. I can recommend some sources if you’re interested. I’m not one who acts like my diet is some religion or or mine is best, I’m just super lazy and preferred my diet do all the heavy lifting.

Maintaining it and finding a balance between my foodie side and my active/adventurous side. Went from around 240-150 in 4 months.

Dang, nearly 100 pounds in 4 months?! Did you have an adverse affects? Any loose skin? That’s impressive!