Weight loss support thread

[OtterParty]

one cup of some cereal I buy because of the protein/fiber/iron combination, topped with half a cup of another brand I buy for additional health benefits, and half a cup of oatmeal on top if it. All of this with unsweetened almond milk.

Any brands I should look out for? Is this stuff that can be bought online or purchased on a budget? Boyfriend could use this info.

I have the solution for you. I've been doing it for a few years after a bad back injury in a competition: DDP yoga. I used at first because it wa low impact and i couldn't do much until my doctor gave me the go ahead. Also doesn't matter your level of fitness you can be a pro athlete or a guy who never worked out and you can modify the poses to make them work for you

Apparently it's really good for weight loss too a bunch of people used it and lost tons of weight. Lots of pictures online. Not that there's anything magic about it, it's just a full body workout that will make you sweat a lot. And well all you need is a yoga mat and DVDs or, you know, get them from piratebay for free.

All it's gonna cost you is like $10-15 for a yoga mat and then just jump in and do as much as you can until you get better and do more and shit.

I don't do it as much, but I use some of it's stretches daily in the morning and try to squeeze in 2-3 workouts a week (on top of the gym, running and boxing)

Boyfriend has arthritis. Can he use this too?

 

[Internet War Criminal]

Any brands I should look out for? Is this stuff that can be bought online or purchased on a budget? Boyfriend could use this info.

Personally I'm a yuuuge Kashi and Nature's path fan. That's pretty much the only cereals I buy. Some of their cereals have imo the best ratio of proteins/iron/vitamins you can find on the market, and that's what most people I train with eat as well. That's the main cereal I eat, one of the other ones I'll add on top is usually stuff like Fiber 1 original, packs a ton of fiber with very little calories and its important for men to get 30-38 grams a day, and that's almost half of your daily requirements right there.

Kashi and Fiber 1 can be a bit more expensive, but Nature's Path can be pretty cheap if you can find a place that sells the 'bulk' versions. They are just a bag, not in a carton box. You pay like $10 and you have about 12-14 servings. They are really good, too.

Boyfriend has arthritis. Can he use this too?

I am not a doctor, so it's always something he should check out with his physician, but I know that DDP has helped people who suffered from arthritis (including himself) and others whose bodies were in really bad shape. Just to give you an idea:

This is him like two years after he first started ddp yoga:

Spoiler

I met him once and I didn't even recognized him because I had only seen the video of him after 18 months. Even in that extra 6 months it changed him further like that.

So yeah get your boyfriend to verify with his doctor first due to him knowing the specifics of his condition, but afaik he should be ok to do it since it can be modified for every level of fitness/types of injuries you are recuperating from. Keep me updated btw!

 

[Cheeseburger Picnic]

Any brands I should look out for? Is this stuff that can be bought online or purchased on a budget? Boyfriend could use this info.

Personally I'm a yuuuge Kashi and Nature's path fan. That's pretty much the only cereals I buy. Some of their cereals have imo the best ratio of proteins/iron/vitamins you can find on the market, and that's what most people I train with eat as well. That's the main cereal I eat, one of the other ones I'll add on top is usually stuff like Fiber 1 original, packs a ton of fiber with very little calories and its important for men to get 30-38 grams a day, and that's almost half of your daily requirements right there.

Kashi and Fiber 1 can be a bit more expensive, but Nature's Path can be pretty cheap if you can find a place that sells the 'bulk' versions. They are just a bag, not in a carton box. You pay like $10 and you have about 12-14 servings. They are really good, too.

Not sure where either of you live but if you're in the US I see these brands for cheap all the time at Grocery Outlet. Aldi seems to be the equivalent elsewhere in the country and I imagine you could find it there as well.

 

[Internet War Criminal]

Yeah I'm talking about America I have no idea about other countries

I mean nor should I have to know, their fault for not being American IMO

 

[shartnado]

I guess this is pretty minor in comparison to a lot of people who are seeking to lose weight-- at the moment, I'm about 135, looking to drop 15-20 pounds (5'4" so just getting to the lower side of average/healthy weight).

The only issues here are motivational, which is simultaneously great and awful. I work a desk job, which, while not the end of the world, is often extremely stressful and has me working well past a 40-hour week, including occasional weekends. Because of that, when I get home, I'm often too exhausted to even consider exercising, as much as I know it's a good thing to do.

On the other hand, I've cut out drinking soda and pretty much only drink water and tea, I'd say I eat healthy with occasional slipups, but it's just a matter of finding the time and the willpower to really work on this shit. Any tips for kicking myself into doing something? Or should I just replace my desk chair with an exercise ball?

(Note: I am not going to actually replace my desk chair with an exercise ball, sorry.)

 

[Internet War Criminal]

The only issues here are motivational, which is simultaneously great and awful. I work a desk job, which, while not the end of the world, is often extremely stressful and has me working well past a 40-hour week, including occasional weekends. Because of that, when I get home, I'm often too exhausted to even consider exercising, as much as I know it's a good thing to do.

On the other hand, I've cut out drinking soda and pretty much only drink water and tea, I'd say I eat healthy with occasional slipups, but it's just a matter of finding the time and the willpower to really work on this shit. Any tips for kicking myself into doing something? Or should I just replace my desk chair with an exercise ball?

Do you know what you can do to be less tired when you come back from work? Exercise. Yes, it looks counter-intuitive. You're tired, and working out would just make you more tired, no? No. It's actually the opposite. It will boost your energy levels, will make you less stressed and better equipped to deal with the stress that comes your way. Losing the weight will also help with confidence, which is also gonna help with the stress/dealing with.

So the first step toward getting motivated is to realize why you need to be motivated. It's not (just) to lose the 15-20 pounds, it's about making your life much better by looking better, feeling better and doing your job better.

Second step? Find what you enjoy doing, then do it. If you lack motivation and start doing something you enjoy, it's gonna be really hard to bootstrap yourself into regularly exercising and seeing the benefits. Start a couch to 5k program to start running, join a spin class, life heavy weights, even join a jazz-kwondo class, whatever will get your heart pumping and make you sweat.

Third step is stick with it. Even if you are tired, kick your own ass and go to your class or do whatever you were supposed to do, you do that long enough and you'll realize how much better you feel after versus before you did (dopamine is pretty amazing).

On top of that, start counting calories and making sensible food choices.

 

[shartnado]

Thanks for the reminder-- I do actually have a calorie counter app, these are the results from today. It's probably not...too awful? I'm still trying to remind myself that calorie counting doesn't have to be overly extreme, since the last time I actually really counted calories, it was to keep myself under 700 per day.

And as easy as it is-- and as much as I'd like to say it-- I won't say "I'll start tomorrow," I'll commit to something tonight exercise-wise.

 

[Internet War Criminal]

Actually you are rating the exact amount of calories if you want to maintain your current weight. As far as 700 calories I hope you mean deficit and not what you were actually eating because that's entering dangerous territory.

What you should be going for if you want fast result for the summer is about 1,000 calories on days you don't work and 1,250 on days you do work out (30-50 minutes, breaking a serious sweat) . I would advise against it though.

You definitely shouldn't eat less than that. If you did go down that road, you will lose the weight and get stronger and fitter within a like two or three of months. It will probably be hard and make it harder for you to stick with it and make it likely you will gain the weight back after reaching your goal.

What you need is to change your lifestyle:

For a 5'4" girl who weighs 110lbs and exercises 3-4 times a weak 30-50 minutes breaking a good sweat, you need to eat 1,950 to maintain.

You are probably waaay better off eating at 1250 on days off and 1,500 on days you work out but look forward to eat more healthy and nutritious food rather than eating less food.

I mean your biggest problems is probably too many carbs and it might make you feel bloated. Concentrate on being active and the extra weight should melt right off.



By the way congrats on doing something tonight. Most people say "I'll start tomorrow" and tomorrow never comes

 

[shartnado]

It was what I was actually eating-- I've had a really unhealthy relationship with food since I was a kid, but that's more of an issue for the therapist couch than it is for this thread.

Thanks for the tips though, it's really good to have an...I guess, idea of how to do all this, what's healthy and all. I'll probably go with the slower change since I'd like to keep working on my health and the like after I lose the weight, ideally.

 

[Internet War Criminal]

Having a healthy relationship with food (and quality of), exercise and your body is the key. The more you work on all of these fronts the better you will get

And yeah your problem seems to lie with inactivity and possibly the food you are eating, not the quantity. Work out, eat healthier food and you won't believe how drastically your life quality improved even in a few week. And please post updates!

 

[Cheeseburger Picnic]

I ate 2 bunches of kale last night in one go so am I good on veggies for a few days or is that not how nutrition works

 

[shartnado]

And yeah your problem seems to lie with inactivity and possibly the food you are eating, not the quantity. Work out, eat healthier food and you won't believe how drastically your life quality improved even in a few week. And please post updates!

Yeah, I think it'd help if I made my lunch (and maybe breakfast) earlier in the evenings instead of going "eh, fuck it" and throwing something together before I leave for work in the mornings/grabbing breakfast on the way (since what I get is bound to be so unhealthy!). And I'll do my best to keep track of stuff, as well-- I've always been the sort of person who misses a day of food journaling and goes "welp, guess that's it for me" and then I don't go back for another month, but hopefully, knowing I owe people that information will help.

I ate 2 bunches of kale last night in one go so am I good on veggies for a few days or is that not how nutrition works

Why stop there? Eat two bunches every day! That way, you'll have a bunch of extra vegetable time saved up for when you go on a vacation or run out of kale, or whatever!

 

[Internet War Criminal]

Yeah, I think it'd help if I made my lunch (and maybe breakfast) earlier in the evenings instead of going "eh, fuck it" and throwing something together before I leave for work in the mornings/grabbing breakfast on the way (since what I get is bound to be so unhealthy!). And I'll do my best to keep track of stuff, as well-- I've always been the sort of person who misses a day of food journaling and goes "welp, guess that's it for me" and then I don't go back for another month, but hopefully, knowing I owe people that information will help.

Yeah it's all about discipline and planning but by the end of like, month 2 it turns into a habit you just gotta stick with it. Good luck!

 

[OtterParty]

Personally I'm a yuuuge Kashi and Nature's path fan. That's pretty much the only cereals I buy. Some of their cereals have imo the best ratio of proteins/iron/vitamins you can find on the market, and that's what most people I train with eat as well. That's the main cereal I eat, one of the other ones I'll add on top is usually stuff like Fiber 1 original, packs a ton of fiber with very little calories and its important for men to get 30-38 grams a day, and that's almost half of your daily requirements right there.

Kashi and Fiber 1 can be a bit more expensive, but Nature's Path can be pretty cheap if you can find a place that sells the 'bulk' versions. They are just a bag, not in a carton box. You pay like $10 and you have about 12-14 servings. They are really good, too.



I am not a doctor, so it's always something he should check out with his physician, but I know that DDP has helped people who suffered from arthritis (including himself) and others whose bodies were in really bad shape. Just to give you an idea:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=bIXOo8D9Qsc
This is him like two years after he first started ddp yoga:

Spoiler

I met him once and I didn't even recognized him because I had only seen the video of him after 18 months. Even in that extra 6 months it changed him further like that.

So yeah get your boyfriend to verify with his doctor first due to him knowing the specifics of his condition, but afaik he should be ok to do it since it can be modified for every level of fitness/types of injuries you are recuperating from. Keep me updated btw!

Thanks a lot! I'll let you know when we've gotten more info.

 

[shartnado]

Alright, day two almost done, so-- the good and the bad, let's add this up.

The good: did better about carbs and protein than I did yesterday, and very carefully making sure of what I ate worked out well on all fronts!

The bad: uh...I didn't exactly hit 1000 calories today, which I probably should have done. Especially since, due to my tendency to schedule things for every other day and then drop them after day one, I had planned on exercise every day rather than every other day (about 20 minutes each day).

The "you really should have seen this coming": due to a few injuries when I was younger, I have a wrist bone that didn't grow all the way (and a wrist that can't support much weight) and a fucked up knee. I always seem to forget that exercise is not something that they are used to, so today I got to wear a knee brace around the office. I'm hoping that with regular exercise, my knee won't be so awful about things like this, though it's been about 8 years, and I'm not a doctor, so I sure don't know. I got no hope for the wrist, though-- I wear a brace when I exercise, but unless there's a cool way to make my bone grow in, it's probably fucked for good.

I can try to fit in some kind of snack tonight to get past 1000 calories so that I don't fall out of the workout trend super early, so hopefully that'll do it. If not...well, I'll just have to eat more tomorrow? That feels like a weird goal, but eh.

 

[Internet War Criminal]

Yeah macros look much better than yesterday, 110g of Carbs and 81g of proteins is pretty much spot on. A bit more proteins maybe, usually the recommended average for you should be between 66 and 135 grams a day, and since you're going to be building some muscle due to exercise you should try and aim for 100g a day (don't worry you won't end up having too much or looking like a mannish East German athlete, you'd need to be on steroids and various supplements for that).

20 minutes of exercise a day is good, it's 140 minutes a week which is basically the 150 minutes people should be going for (as long as those are 20 actual minutes of working out not 10 minutes of working out with 5 minutes of stretching and 5 minutes of faffing about and checking your phone). As far as your bodily injuries, I'd suggest checking out the post I made earlier about DDP Yoga, it seems like it could be right within your wheelhouse and most sets take about 20-30 minutes and you would be able to do them at home so harder to find excuses when all you need is a mat. It could also really help with your knee and hopefully with your wrist as well. Be very careful not to put too much weight on your wrist, but there are plenty of ways to modify them so you don't hurt yourself. Certain sets, like Stand-Up, wouldn't really require any strain on your wrist at all

Working out and eating a snack seems like a good way to finish this day, and eating more might seem like a weird goal, but remember it's about you becoming more active, not about you dieting so that way it makes more sense.

 

[shartnado]

That's a good tip-- I'll try to fit more into my diet.

Since 150 is the goal for most people, I think I'll go for 30 on weekends instead of the normal 20. I'm using an app that has 5 minute periods of exercise: 30 seconds on followed by 5 seconds off, so I just loaded up three of those last night and got to work.

I'll check out that post of yours on DDP yoga as well, that sounds like it could work out well! As for the wrist, it seems to be okay if I put weight on it while I'm wearing the brace, but I'm still careful with it, since it's my dominant hand and I kind of need it.

Thanks for the feedback, I really appreciate it since I've never really had guidance on this sort of thing before!

 

[Internet War Criminal]

@69 cis men, It's a good idea but keep something in mind: if you train the same muscles too much you might get injured. Your body is used to inactivity, so pushing yourself too hard is a bad idea. And also, rest days are very important.

So one way you could get your 150 minutes a week could be for example 3 x 20 sessions of moderate to intense exercise and alternate those with 3 x 30 sessions of (I hate the term) power walking, then take one day off and start again.

If you go with too hard at first you might also end up discourage or disgusted or give up. Which is why walking at a decent pace (3 miles to 3.5 an hour say) for half an hour is a good thing. It still counts as exercise. You still register it as a physical activity but it also lets the l rest of your muscles time to recuperate.

Basically when you work out you rip your muscles and when you are resting you build them back up. That's why I do what is called a three day split, I divide areas of my body and work them on three different days twice a week, so they rest 5 days overall (more or less)

So do 3/3 for a couple of weeks then to up to 4/2 and feel when you are ready to go 5/1 and eventually 6 days of moderate to intense exercise every week.

Again it's all about changing your lifestyle, so slowly and steadily building up is the best way to do that. And definitely check out DDP (I think I'm gonna start charging him a commission lol I got like 15 hooked irl too)

 

[KatsuKitty]

I'm altering my weight loss plan again. This was after a doctor informed me that losing over three pounds a week puts you at risk for gallstones. Looks like two per week is the upper limit on that and you still assume some risk there so I will recommend and now personally do 1.5 lbs a week.

 

[Internet War Criminal]

Have you considered the fact that maybe since you've had to revise your diet half a dozen time literally everyone in chat told you it was terrible and doctors are now telling you about the illness it will lead to a sign that maybe you should consider just stop doing whatever you think is best and instead follow a plan from your physician or professionals who have studied that stuff?

Just saying