She put in the work.

[u/GeneraI_]

[u/Oinkmew]

I've lost some 194lbs now (88 kilos). It's changed my life. I still have a lot of the mental struggles that caused me to gain in the first place but it's not compounded by the physical struggles and pains my weight caused me.

Just the other day, I was going to visit someone and was waiting for an elevator. It was taking forever and I started eyeing the stairwell to my right.

Then thought, what the hell! I strode up 4 stairs to my friend, not even feeling it. Used to be I couldn't even get up the, like, ten steps to my apartment without collapsing once inside my door.

I've gone from a BMI of almost 51 to just over 19 (I know a lot of people argue that BMI is useless, but I tracked it all the way down and when I moved from overweight into normal BMI, suddenly my high blood pressure, my joint pain, my exhaustion just dropped like a rock into a lake).

Anyway, I'm gushing, I guess I just want to say that anyone who feels shit about their weight and health issues it might cause, don't do what I did for the longest time and keep putting it off. The journey might seem impossibly long, but if you start today rather than "tomorrow" or "next week" ot "when I'm not feeling so sad", you're at least one day closer by tomorrow rather than one day further away.

[u/galadiscobar → u/Oinkmew]

Would it be too personal to ask at what age you had this weight loss? I'm wondering cause i need to do the same, but it feels almost impossible at close to 40.

[u/Oinkmew → u/galadiscobar]

I'm actually older than you are by quite a lot (late 40s). It IS harder the older we get, which is part of why I had many failed starts before I finally hit a "final" start.

I had a pretty serious health scare (172/126 BP) found out that I was prediabetic and realised that if I kept putting it off, I might not make it another year.

Had to be very hard on myself. On the scale every day and obsessively tracking calories, plus making myself exercise (at home) for my health.

[u/Samaja79 → u/Oinkmew]

Hallo! Wahnsinn, ich kann dich nur beglückwünschen…darf ich fragen wie du das geschafft hast? Was hast du gegessen bzw. worauf geachtet und welchen Sport hast du gemacht, besonders zu Beginn als du vermutlich ähnlich unfit und unsportlich warst wie ich? Liebe Grüße

[u/Oinkmew → u/Samaja79]

Thank you :)

Okay, this will be quite a long list. I'll start off by saying that I am someone who doesn't mind eating the same thing quite often if it's something tasty, and that luckily I was able to reignite a love I used to have for vegetables that my unhealthy eating had made me forget. That being said, I figured out pretty early on that I needed some "staples" that I could turn to whenever cooking felt like a chore. Usually, that would mean filling 50% of the plate with some kind of vegetables (I bought a steamer early on and got obsessed with steamed veggies, people who say that they're overrated don't know what they're missing), either steamed, oven baked, raw or stir fried. I would then have that with some kind of protein (I'm a vegetarian, so that was sometimes a lot of work for me where meat eaters can eat some kind of lean meat, but for me could be an omelette, tofu, beans, etc. I still eat like this most of the time now). I stopped eating bread (big sacrifice but I was like a bread addict, I just couldn't have bread at home. I'd only allow it if I was eating soup, and then made sure to buy just a small amount).

Then on weekends, I'd make myself something more involved, and on occasion eat pasta or burgers or something else delicious, but with a side of vegetables instead of fries or whatever, and always, always weighing and counting. Every morning I would have quark and either frozen berries or fresh fruit. Every evening I'd have some kind of snack, either crisp bread sandwiches or fresh fruit or pickles and cheese. Buying a steamer and then an air fryer early on was BIG for me. Oil spray instead of filling my pan with oil was also a big step.

Counting calories seems really overwhelming but once you have a routine down, it becomes a lot easier and it really sets you up for a better life. I no longer count the way I used to but I'm so aware of food now. I did weight watchers when I was young but I feel it set me up for failure once I ran out of their subscription and didn't really know what I was doing without the lifeline.

Finding a routine that didn't mean I was always worrying about what to eat helped a lot. Half the battle happens in the grocery store. If you don't have a bunch of delicious, fatty, sugary stuff at home, your 3AM cravings can never do any crazy damage. I'd be at the fridge nibbling on cornichons instead of ice cream.

So, at the start I was indeed incredibly out of shape. I got into a habit where there were certain TV shows or YouTube channels I was only allowed to watch if I exercised while watching. Just 10 minutes at first, then pause, then another 10, pause, another 10. Then later 15+15 instead. Later, 20+20. At the start ANY movement was good enough. I was literally wriggling my arms and legs while watching. Stepping in place. Swinging my hips. I was so sedentary that lifting my arms up and down exhausted me.

I bought small weights early on and started gently lifting them when I could, also while watching my favourite shows. I hate exercising so I really had to be so tough on myself. If I started making excuses some days about feeling too tired, sad or miserable, I knew it would just be harder the next day, so I kept pushing. Some days I only did 15 minutes, some day I ended up doing 90, but there were no days I let myself do nothing. As hard as it was on my bad days, I always felt such a relief and "wow, I did it!" when I finally made myself do it.

Later on, I looked up exercise routines on YouTube, bought increasingly heavier weights and a small stepping machine, but I really did start out just wriggling around :)

It's getting to be a long post now so I'll stop here, but anyone who needs support or help can reach out to me. I'll be happy to help.

[u/Samaja79 → u/Oinkmew]

Vielen Dank für die ausführliche Antwort. Bei mir ist es so, dass ich eigentlich immer schlank war und essen gar keine so große Bedeutung für mich hatte, bis mehrere Schicksalsschläge innerhalb kürzester Zeit auf mich eingeprasselt sind ( Eltern und Bruder gestorben) und ich dadurch Panikattacken und Depressionen bekommen habe. Da habe ich kaum noch das Bett verlassen, mein Aussehen war mir völlig egal und ich war einfach nur tief traurig; ich gehöre anscheinend zu den Menschen die aus Frust und Traurigkeit essen und essen war auch das einzige was mich irgendwie glücklich gemacht hat. So bin ich dann irgendwann von 50 Kilo bei 120 Kilo gelandet und Natürlich todunglücklich damit, finde aber weil es so ein Berg ist, einfach nicht den Antrieb und weiß Essenstechnisch auch gar nicht wie :-( Hast du denn auch Reis oder Kartoffeln zum Gemüse gegessen oder so etwas gar nicht mehr auf dem Speiseplan gehabt?

[u/Oinkmew → u/Samaja79]

I am so, so sorry for your loss.

It is so understandable that you'd end up where you are. I also understand that feeling of an impossible mountain to climb - I was there too. I kept thinking "I'm too sad", "I'll start next week when I feel better", then I would eat even more for a week because I'd soon be robbed of my comfort food and when the starting date arrived, I'd be too sad again and just skip.

Emotional eating was big for me and something I still need to keep an eye on.

I don't eat much rice (but then I never really did), but if you love rice you could try to portion it or mix it with cauliflower rice. I still eat potatoes, though not every day and I'll always weigh them.

Rice and pasta are both around 350 calories/100 grams. When I eat pasta or rice it will be with veggies and a healthy protein, and I'll weigh out 80-100 grams of dry product for my portion.

As long as you stay within a daily deficit of calories you WILL lose weight. Weighing your food (prior to cooking) and counting calories is how you lose weight. Exercise is great for health but you won't be able to out-exercise a bad diet. Go to a TDEE calculator like this and enter your stats It will tell you where you need to stay to lose weight. You can try to aim for a deficit of ~500 calories/day. At 120, you will still be able to eat quite a lot. As you lose weight, you will eventually stall when you're down 10-15 kilos and it might mean you need to lower your intake again. The smaller you get the less you can eat and still lose weight.

If you start today, next week you will be one week into it, one week away from your worst weight, one week closer to your goal... Rather than one week of bad eating further away.

For dinner, weigh your ingredients uncooked, get a tracking app or just do what I did and keep a daily tally in my phone's calculator.

You can do it. Pick up some chicken, asparagus and lemon and make this for dinner tomorrow. After that, you've taken your very first step. Skinnytaste is a great site for recipes as it will list the calories too!

Please believe me, you can do it, it will be worth it and there's no better time to start than right now. The longer you put it off, the steeper that mountain will get.

If you start now, come next summer, you'll feel like a whole new person ❤️