OMG! I'm 230 pounds.

[Anonymous]

I see a lot of recommendations for WW but I personally find it super restrictive and too taxing of filling, whole fat foods and occasional sweets. I prefer just staying under a reasonable and very gradual calorie budget where I can still eat all the foods I like. Plus logging through WW is way more painful than LoseIt.

Just my experience!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd recommend two things.

1) Change your thought processes and embrace radical self love. Love yourself at the weight you are at, and learn a little bit about how diet culture sets you up to fail. I'd recommend the podcast Maintenance Phase for that.

2) Take actions that make you feel good, as part of your radical self love. Does drinking make you feel bad? Ditch the habit. Does taking a walk make you feel good? Do it.

Be comfortable in the skin you are wearing AND take actions to care for yourself. You'll probably lose weight, but you will also care less because you will feel better.

+1 for recommending listening to Maintenance Phase. The Angela Landsbury wellness book deep dive episode was my favorite so far, and the origins of the BMI chart episode was eye-opening. Bottom line...fatphobia is real, and so many people are conditioned to hate their bodies at any stage.

[Anonymous]

Seconding the recommendation for Maintenance Phase--listen to the obesity epidemic and the BMI episode.

Michael Hobbes, the co-host of the podcast, is author of this incredible article.

https://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/everything-you-know-about-obesity-is-wrong/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, try to just make one change and stick to it. You don't need to do everything or turn into a perfect model of health to lose weight. Maybe try no snacks after dinner, or cut out drinks that are not water/black tea/black coffee, or go for a walk at lunch. You can do this - every little bit will help.

This exactly. When I find myself starting to binge on certain things I tell myself that I can eat anything I want except for X, but I make sure X is always the one item I can't resist that accounts for 400-500 unnecessary calories per day. After I have ruled out that Cote d'Or salted caramel bar or bag of quinoa chips or bowl of B&J's I find that my appetite decreases overall. The psychological component is paramount. People scourge themselves, a losing strategy in the long-term. At 5'6 and 44yo, I have never weighed more than 135 lbs except during my pregnancies.

[Anonymous]

+1 do daily weigh-ins. When I saw #s drop, it helped me keep to my diet and exercise. I would weigh myself first thing in morning naked before any food or water to stay consistent.

[Anonymous]

I will recommend you not fall into health at every size and the maintenance phase.

You should not hate yourself or your body. Your worth as a person has nothing to do with the numbers on the scale. But those philosophies in my opinion are quite dangerous. People embrace intuitive eating and gain another 40 pounds. And while a persons worth is not diminished with an extra 20/40/100 pounds, their quality of life is. Don’t fall into this trap.

What works for one person might not work for another. And I strongly believe that the methods you pursue should be lifestyle changes and not diets, diets are recipes for the yo-yo trap. But HAES just puts you in handcuffs of a different kind. One where you think you have no control and are just along for the ride. Diet culture, haes, both sell you a strict framework. Figure out what you really want for yourself apart from all this societal crap and pursue it in a way that makes sense to you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I see a lot of recommendations for WW but I personally find it super restrictive and too taxing of filling, whole fat foods and occasional sweets. I prefer just staying under a reasonable and very gradual calorie budget where I can still eat all the foods I like. Plus logging through WW is way more painful than LoseIt.

Just my experience!

It’s not restrictive at all. In fact, they’ve recently changed it so it’s even less restrictive. Eggs and potatoes are zero points, for example.

[Anonymous]

Do something about it now. I got up to 178 when I was 130 before kids and lost about 35 pounds. You need to figure out what works for you and stick with it. For me, while trying to lose weight without exercising much (just being honest) it means no alcohol; most days no bread or pasta; no soda, candy, or dessert, no sugar in coffee; plus 5 days a week of intermittent fasting (eating only within a certain time window). I used to only do both intermittent fasting and diet restrictions M-F, but having weekends off really triggered my sweet tooth and love of wine, so it works better if I just try to mostly stick to this, obviously with exceptions for going out, holidays, vacation. I know it sounds like I am deprived but I feel like I eat pretty tasty dinners, I still eat rice, and I love vegetables and fruit anyway. Plus I don't consider anything 'cheating' which helps mentally. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I see a lot of recommendations for WW but I personally find it super restrictive and too taxing of filling, whole fat foods and occasional sweets. I prefer just staying under a reasonable and very gradual calorie budget where I can still eat all the foods I like. Plus logging through WW is way more painful than LoseIt.

Just my experience!

Weight watchers exposes you to foods and amounts that teach you to eat healthy and don't make you fat. Eating "all the foods you like" if they are sugar and starch laden is not going to help in the long run.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wegovy

+1 or if you can't get that, get Ozempic (same thing - semaglutide)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Optavia. It's an expensive MLM but my sister convinced me to try it and I've gone from 199 to 187 in 15 days.

The food takes some getting used to, and it's VLC diet, but after the first few days, I am never hungry and honestly have to set alarms to eat every 3 hours. It's like in the last two weeks food has just become .. fuel.

But, it's an MLM, my "coach" has already asked me to "coach" and their videos are hokey. But, not being hungry and dropping weight very quickly makes it worth it for me.

Do not listen to this advice. Optavia is crap and it's expensive. It's super low calorie and it doesn't work. If you want to starve yourself, eat carrots and celery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, try to just make one change and stick to it. You don't need to do everything or turn into a perfect model of health to lose weight. Maybe try no snacks after dinner, or cut out drinks that are not water/black tea/black coffee, or go for a walk at lunch. You can do this - every little bit will help.

This is good advice.

I'm with you OP, I put on weight when we moved to the suburbs & had a kid. I haven't been totally successful in losing most of the weight, but small, single changes help. For example, I used to always snack on Cheez Its late at night when working, or watching TV. Then I stopped buying them and after a couple weeks, didn't miss them at all. It's small but it really makes a difference.

I've also found Noom to be helpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Seconding the recommendation for Maintenance Phase--listen to the obesity epidemic and the BMI episode.

Michael Hobbes, the co-host of the podcast, is author of this incredible article.

https://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/everything-you-know-about-obesity-is-wrong/

I'm listening to the newest episode right now, and it's FASCINATING to look at how basically everything we think we know about health and weight is wrong. The last 10 minutes of the episode zero in on how there are ZERO non-surgical weight loss options that work long term, or have an evidence base over time. The very best you can do, long-term, is 10% of your weight. So if OP does everything right, she maybe gets down to 210 lbs. GREAT. That is success. But she really ought to put as much energy into loving her 210 lb self as getting there.

[Anonymous]

Weight watchers works for me.

[Anonymous]

Cut yourself a break. Daily stress makes people do lots of unhealthy things. Plan a diet you can live with. I would suggest weighing yourself daily. Do not worry about your weight on any one day, just track the trend. Knowing you are going to weigh yourself daily helps avoid the “I have a week before I weigh myself , I can eat junk today” mindset.

Figure out your triggers to eating unhealthy and minimize them. Start looking at your habits for easy things to cut. Do you endlessly snack? Try measuring out portions. Or maybe you fo better with no snacking. Keep trying different things until something works.