DIS Dads How have you lost weight?

[cush1]

I’m almost at the 30 lbs lost point. Slowly, but surely. 9 months. Using the Lose It app to keep track of calories. Set it to .5 lb. a week. And starts walking every day. Doctor told me to start walking five minutes. Then increase it to 10, etc. Now I do 10,000 steps a day (5 miles) and will hit my 100 day streak of that in a few days. I am 41 and weighed 240 at my last doctor visit. I told him I had to get in shape and those were the tips he gave. I want to get to 199 so I can say I weight one hundred something

 

[The WDW 3]

I’m almost at the 30 lbs lost point. Slowly, but surely. 9 months. Using the Lose It app to keep track of calories. Set it to .5 lb. a week. And starts walking every day. Doctor told me to start walking five minutes. Then increase it to 10, etc. Now I do 10,000 steps a day (5 miles) and will hit my 100 day streak of that in a few days. I am 41 and weighed 240 at my last doctor visit. I told him I had to get in shape and those were the tips he gave. I want to get to 199 so I can say I weight one hundred something

awesome

 

[Psymonds]

how have I lost weight? slowly with diet and exercise. Bought a peloton, no excuses to exercise: excercised a ton and didn't lose weight. started eating better too: lost weight.

I've used both noom and WW to track but ultimately I need to establish healthy eating patterns and habits over time to be successful. If I'm measuring and weighing, it's not going to last.

 

[Carol_]

Keto + intermittent fasting = 23 lbs in last few months. I didn’t want to exercise until I lost the weight… I have to start exercising now so I’m not “skinny fat”. I hate exercising.
Try the bulletproof coffee. Only use 1 teaspoon of MCT oil to start or suffer the consequences.
Calories still count, but they taste better.

 

[The WDW 3]

Keto + intermittent fasting = 23 lbs in last few months. I didn’t want to exercise until I lost the weight… I have to start exercising now so I’m not “skinny fat”. I hate exercising.
Try the bulletproof coffee. Only use 1 teaspoon of MCT oil to start or suffer the consequences.
Calories still count, but they taste better.

What is your cycle of intermediate fasting?

 

[Carol_]

What is your cycle of intermediate fasting?

I’ve tried OMAD but I can’t sustain it. I usually eat at noon then 4pm. Also, after a few months I cycle in carbs, have some pasta. Ever measured a “serving” of pasta before? It’s insulting and makes me stabby. Anyway, I have friends that eat at 4 then 8. My way works better for me as I can have the bulletproof coffee earlier with very little insulin spike and it sustains me until my first real insulin-spiking meal.

 

[Farro]

whoops! Sorry it's for dads!

 

[lelew]

Funny I am only motivated to lose weight a few months before my vacation lol. I track my calories through an app. I start a walking routine that slighty progress into light jogging. I start a weight lifting program. I cut all sugar and booze. I take fish oil and drink lots of water and green tea. I drop the pounds and my skin be looking fabulous. but then when vacation is over I go into eating and drinking the same crap again smh. I know how to lose weight just cant figure out how to do it long term.

 

[Karin1984]

First 30lbs by just paying attention again over a few years. Second 30lbs with weightwatchers in 1 year (about 7 months, first 5 months were really slow) + walking 10.000 steps a day.

Now I use the free myfitnesspal app to track my calories.

Some of the things you can do to help:
1. Learn to read labels, learn the 539 names for sugar and where it stand in the list of ingredients (the higher on the list, the higher the % of sugar)
2. Know where it goes wrong, do you eat when you are tired, frustrated, bored. Is it about eating the wrong thing. Or is it about portion control?
3. Learn to listen to your body and learn to determine when you are full. This is hard. Some people never master it (or don't put effort in to learn it ;-) ) They say it takes over 20 minutes before the brains get enough signals that you are full. So stop earlier, wait half an hour and see if you are still hungry for the other half.

Have a clear goal in mind, not a number in the scale, but WHY you want this. First determine the why, keep that in mind, then determine the how.
There are more things to measure than the number on the scale: The size of your clothes (take your measurements before you start), being able to run up a flight of stairs. Look for non-scale victories.

Losing weight is rarely a graph that goes down in a linear line. Accept that things will go wrong, no one is 100% perfect. Losing weight and maintaining weight is a skill.

 

[Timandalicia]

I’m looking to drop 25 in 3 months.

I like all the replies that have no idea of the situation. Heck, you could be 380- in that case, piece of cake (not actual cake). You could be 240 of pure muscle. Also piece of cake. You could be 23 years old. Also piece of cake.
But if you are like me- 49 and 3/4years old and was once in perfect shape, and currently 25 lbs. over weight, I’ll tell you what I’m going to do and have done several times before. HIIT with massive calorie decrease for 6 weeks, then keto with maintenance workouts.

 

[Carol_]

Losing weight is rarely a graph that goes down in a linear line. Accept that things will go wrong, no one is 100% perfect. Losing weight and maintaining weight is a skill.

Sing it, sister!

 

[Hohlraum]

Eating a lot less is the only way for me. I can undo murdering myself 5 days a week at the gym and eating 1600 cal (6'6") a day just by screwing around on saturday and a bit on sunday. I used to weight 500lbs and my lowest, once decided to do something about it, was 215 (diet and gym). I'm in the low 230s right now and had gotten up to almost 250 last year. My metabolism is complete crap. I have to work at it constantly and the older I get the harder it is. Wish all of you the best of luck.

 

[Jack Kerouac]

From April to November last year, I lost 20 lbs. I know it's not as much nor as fast, but I did several easy things. I cut down on the amount of meat I ate (nearly vegetarian and nearly no beef), I ate plain fat free Greek yogurt for protein, I rode my bike 50+ miles a week during the warmer months, and I ate a lot more fruits and vegetables (cucumbers + hummus became a favorite snack of mine, whereas I used to eat a lot of chips and dip). Since I'm in my late 30s, most summers are my weight loss time and winter and spring I put on weight due to being more sedentary (cold outside in IL and then tax season). But eating more fruits and veggies and less meat actually allowed me to keep off the 20 lbs. I lost over the six months after last tax season. Now I just have to get back on the bike and hit the trail.

 

[Jpack207]

Change up your eating plan drastically and exercise regularly with a combo of cardio and weight lifting

 

[DisneyQuestLover]

Cutting sugary drinks out of your diet is a good way to start! Water will be one of your best friends in a weight loss journey

 

[Simba's Mom]

Someone here mentioned Noom, and my DH swears by it. In 4 months, he's lost 23 pounds (not quite your goal though, OP).

 

[weather_lady]

After getting cast in a community theater musical role that required me to wear some slinky dresses in front of hundreds of people, I (a 48-year-old woman with PCOS and an underactive thyroid) lost 30 pounds in 10 weeks last summer, going from 180 pounds to 150, which on my huge-boned and muscular frame, looks positively skinny.

I was already exercising daily (30-60 minutes of brisk hiking or elliptical training every day). What I changed was my diet -- how much I ate, what I ate, and when I ate. I used the Samsung Health app on my phone to start counting calories, which based on my past experience (I gain if I eat more than 1500 calories, hold steady at 1500, and lose only if I'm consistently eating well below 1500) I limited to 1250 per day. I also practiced intermittent fasting by limiting my meals to between 6am and 4pm. Then I rearranged what I was eating to focus on nutrient-rich meals, with adequate protein, vitamins, and minerals, and a minimum of processed foods.

Breakfast around 6am was oatmeal with fresh fruit, or a 1-egg spinach and mushroom omelet with a slice of whole grain toast, or Greek yogurt. Lunch around 11am and dinner around 4pm were things like a tossed salad with light balsamic dressing and some chicken or turkey breast, zucchini "pizza boats," roasted chickpeas with quinoa and cucumber salad, cabbage steaks with a drizzle of olive oil and parmesan, or a quesadilla made with Carb Balance tortillas. I specifically chose foods I already liked, and knew I wouldn't get tired of eating, which helped me stay motivated and not feel deprived. If there were calories left for snacks, I stuck with fresh fruit or veggies or a handful of nuts -- nothing too processed, nothing fried. I also abstained from alcohol. My one big "cheat" was that I still allowed myself a splash of my favorite flavored creamer (pure sugar and chemicals!) in my coffee every morning.

Honestly, after the first couple of weeks, I didn't feel hungry between meals or in the evening, and I was already feeling more energetic. While I've "slipped" a little in the 9 months since (regaining about 10 of the 30 pounds I lost), that's mostly due to difficulties getting out to exercise in the colder months. I expect to lose those pounds again now that the weather is suitable for me to hit the trails -- and now that I have the looming motivation of a couple of summer vacation trips.

I wish you luck!

 

[David G Farr]

Cut out all refined carbs and exercise. I’m a fan of carnivore personally, unit anything that is a bread, pasta, starch, sweet in general should be avoided. I’ve lost 25 lbs since the beginning of the year.

 

[buzlite]

I don’t think losing that amount of weight that quickly is sustainable. I am doing a three part weight loss program and it’s going well.
1)increase fat burning ability. I’ve been trying to increase my aerobic fitness by doing zone 2 training. I actually haven’t limited my diet too much. I’ve been trying to do 4 low intensity runs per week. I started at 2 and worked myself up over a series of months.
2)But my goal is to be able to do 4 runs of 4-10k per week easily. I do these at low intensity. This has gone quite well and I’m already losing weight. It really does change your metabolism if you read the research.
3)After Jan I plan to drop my exercise back about 5-10% but also slowly reducing unhealthy calories. This should allow my to maximize my weight loss and minimize and fatigue.
My biggest issue with normal weight loss plans is that starting exercise while cutting calories can cause a lot of fatigue and burning fat when you are out of shape is not very effective.

 

[kathy884]

I joined Weight Watchers seven weeks ago and am doing the non-drug regular program. I am staying within the point recommendations for the program and that really works. I've changed my eating habits (will need to follow the program forever not just as a diet) and so far in seven weeks have dropped 10.5 pounds. And in those seven weeks that even includes 15 days that I was traveling when I did go over points, but not by that much. I (if in town or if I don't have a tennis game at the time of the meeting) am attending the weekly meetings that have great tips and give me great motivation to keep it up.

I think this is a really healthy way to go. This program is designed for slow steady weight loss like 1-2 pounds a week. Some helpful things for me are that I am eating eggs and drinking Premier Protein chocolate shakes if I am feeling hungry. If I feel like eating lots of food in front of the TV at night frozen grapes work great for me and I can eat as much as I want. There are lots of zero point foods so there is always something you can eat.

It's teaching me to plan my day for eating so I stay at my daily points and don't feel hungry. I am even plan ahead of time when I go to restaurants. I have almost 30 more pounds that I want to take off, but I am very pleased with the program so far. I am cautiously optimistic that I will be able to reach this goal and keep the weight off forever too (maintain a healthy weight). It's a long game for me, so I am not in any rush, just want to stick to the program and see slow / steady progress. I started at 180, am at 169 now, and a good weight for me and a weight that I maintained for over a decade prior to hitting menopause is 140 and that is my goal. I am 64 years old.

For exercise I play tennis doubles three times a week and just do a 1/2 hour of walking on days I don't play tennis. I was doing this before I joined the program and haven't changed this, so I have all along been getting some moderate exercise.

The change are the foods and portion sizes I am eating (eating less - using dressings, sauces sparingly, opting for grilled chicken and turkey more, etc. I already was eating lots of fruits and veggies). With the program though I notice I am eating more fruits, less bread, and doing smaller portion sizes. What to eat to feel full is what has been the key for me and that is protein. Before it wasn't that I was eating bad foods per se, but that I was eating too much of foods to feel satisfied that did not fill me up that actually had quite a bit of fat (low calorie cereal with two percent milk, yogurt, popcorn with butter on occasion and those never stopped the hunger craving).

I would recommend if you want to keep the weight off permanently to do a slow / steady program and make it a lifestyle change not a diet. To maintain a lower weight you have to eat less than you do to maintain a high weight which might be eating the same way you were when you were taking the weight off.