Discussion How to lose weight?

[Istanbulite]

I really should cut on eating bread. Thankfully I don't have too much of a sweet tooth, only once in a while. Bread (and all things carbohydrate/salty) though is a problem, when I don't consume it, it feels like I am not going to be full.

What are the tricks you can share when it comes to losing weight?

I'm 172cm and 78kg, should really be 70/71kg. I don't feel like an obese or anything but it would be good to lose some weight in the near future

 

[lostautist]

Just small changes to your eating habits should suffice. Stop instead of eating an extra portion of starches or pastas, maybe have some fruit or a salad instead. It's ok to feel a little hungry, don't fully satiate your appetite. Don't eliminate or fast... just cut down on your intake a little, and yeah, get used to that feeling of not being full and that'll go a long way. You don't need to lose much and it's best if you only lose a little every week. Of course you'll fluctuate, but you shouldn't really notice any immediate effect. You want to lose it gradually. Hope that helps.

 

[Istanbulite]

Just small changes to your eating habits should suffice. Stop instead of eating an extra portion of starches or pastas, maybe have some fruit or a salad instead. It's ok to feel a little hungry, don't fully satiate your appetite. Don't eliminate or fast... just cut down on your intake a little, and yeah, get used to that feeling of not being full and that'll go a long way. You don't need to lose much and it's best if you only lose a little every week. Of course you'll fluctuate, but you shouldn't really notice any immediate effect. You want to lose it gradually. Hope that helps.

Much appreciated

 

[lostautist]

Once you get used to that feeling of not being full, it doesn't really become an issue, at least for me. It just feels normal. Like you could eat more but don't need to.

 

[Smart No More]

Not sure if you're familiar with p90 excersise and diet plan. It's available to download from pirate/torrent site or you can buy it legitimately from various places. Amazon has it I think. Its a really adaptable plan and includes a video for each day of the week for exercising along to. It's really effective and adaptable to your requirements. Fast results are achievable but you can create a good healthy maintenence plan from it too. You don't have to follow the diet plan if you eat moderately and healthily already. I never like these kind of things personally but this one has real merit I have to say. Its basic principles just set out in a very usable format. You just have to look past the annoying guy that hosts it lol. Worth a search if it sounds like something that might suit you.
Just as an aside, muscle is heavier than fat so in that respect the scale can be deceiving.

 

[TheHatedOne]

What kind of bread do you eat? Some types have less calories than others. Avoid white bread at all costs.

Almost 7 years ago I managed to lose 7kgs in a whole summer. I exercised daily to the point I was doing 2-3 full workouts a day. Of course, you don't have to go insane like I did + there are more fun ways to move like walking, dancing or cleaning.
But indeed the most important part is eating. I was eating all kinds of junk food so I started to cut on them. Slowly, with baby steps. Let's take chips for example. I used to eat chips like 3 times a week, but with small steps, I'd eat only once a week, then once every two weeks, then once a month and so on. Of course it's really difficult and I admit I barely resisted not to eat chips or other kind of sweets but I liked to push myself and with some ambition I managed to pull through it.
I started to eat more vegetables and realized that I actually like them (I still don't really like fruits). Many salads, soups, natural cooked food. The only sweet I kept eating was dark chocolate (75% or more).
If you also drink soda consider to cut that too.

The thing is that small steps are the key to achieve the goal. It won't happen overnight and losing weight is a continuous process, and you'd like to continue this kind of lifestyle even after you achieve your goal, otherwise you'll regain weight fast. It's really satisfying to see one, two or even three kilograms down when you use the scale and see the progress. It's also essential to not be hard on yourself.

+ For working out there is a Youtube channel called Fitness Blender, they have a lot of full workout videos of various types (cardio, HIIT, strength) and those actually work. I mostly used this channel when I was on my journey.

 

[ikadasui]

I went from 208 down to my current weight of 155. I never touched a gym or really changed my diet either. I just control my portions and spend at least 1-2 hours walking outside everyday. I've used the lg health app to track what I've burned and it hasn't failed me yet. Do cut out junk food and alcohol if you drink though that stuff adds up fucking fast

 

[WoAiGou]

Look into meal replacement shakes, soylent, huel, jimmyjoy are all really good. The powder version are pretty cheap (approx 1.50 USD per 400 calorie meal) they're super filling, very healthy and it's extremely easy to measure out a daily amount that will put you at a calorie deficit. I've used these shakes to both gain and lose weight, and they've always helped. Plus they're vegan!

 

[Julgran]

This may cut many kilos from your over-all weight:


1. Walk briskly for two hours every day.

2. Eat only one meal a day - this means no snacking.

3. Eat food that's high in proteins and low in carbohydrates. Good options are red lentils and meats.

4. Stay away from sugar.

 

[NumbItAll]

Repost, maybe could help:

Try to eat enough lean protein so you can avoid overeating: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein_leverage_hypothesis

I think some more research is needed on this but it certainly lines up with my experience. Ever since I prioritized eating enough protein several years ago it became easy not to consume any excess calories. I've never done any emotional eating though so not sure if this would help but it's worth a try. At least it will help you preserve muscle while losing weight. :)

Protein shakes are my fav source for cheap/convenient protein.

 

[Angi]

Do you know this feeling in the evening, when you feel you are still hungry and have not eaten enough today? Ignore it ;) For me that makes all the difference. I eat healthily all day, and then in the evening I would fill up all my calorie deficit. I start losig weight as soon as I manage to stop that.

 

[ncmxm]

Count calories. The only way to lose weight is through a caloric deficit. You can eat only sugar (you shouldn't of course) and if you're at a deficit, you'll lose weight

 

[attempt2]

MyFitnessPal is amazing for calorie counting. Calculate your calories via https://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html where they list various calorie goals depending on how much you want to lose. they normally say do your maintenance calories -300 to lose weight and +300 to gain.

Along with this, exercise. Cardio is best for weight lot but if you want muscles too lift stuff too. At the moment I'm doing 6 days a week weight training in the gym, focusing on one part of my body each day, with Sundays off and a 15-20 min cardio at the end of each session. This with the -300 calorie plan has helped me not quite lose weight but lose fat while gain a little muscle.

Finally food. I'm lazy and live with family so 7am porridge with peanut butter and a scoop of protein, 10am Greek yogurt, 1pm Chicken, 4pm smoothie with protein powder and creatine in, 7pm whatever family make, 10pm more Greek yogurt. Loads of protein and not too much carbs or fats. Again to can adjust and track on MyFitnessPal pretty easily.

 

[Konjac]

If you calculate your BMR and try to stay around that then you'll lose weight healthily, diets aren't important. It's all down to calories in vs. calories out.

 

[Remember-Me-Not]

I used to intermittent fast, meaning I only ate during a 6 hour window. I think it worked for me because it eliminated the chances of me snacking.

And I stopped doing intermittent fasting because of societal commitments (aka getting lunch with coworkers, dinner with acquaintances, etc). So I tried to be more mindful about my eating, which I did by writing down everything I was eating. I didn't count any calories, just wrote down things like, "A bowl of spaghetti w/ pasta sauce. 2 cups of orange juice. A handful of popcorn." This just gave me perspective of how much and often I ate. It also helped me realize that I stress eat right before bed for some reason.

Obviously this won't work for everyone, and my goal is to lose weight very slowly or maintain it. Good luck!

 

[Nevsky69]

I got to lose 65 kg. Eating much less but in a balanced way. Eliminated junk food, sugar, carbohydrates. On weekends I always allowed me some caprice. As an exercise I walked a lot, several hours a day.

Everything without counting the calories and without obsessing the speed of weight loss. Also notes that the more weight you lose, it costs more to continue losing it. I compensated with more exercise.

It's all about changing food and physical activity habits and keeping them over time. Without obsessing.

 

[Sherri]

Have you tried brown bread? I didn't use to like it, but then I used to it. . But maybe change a big plate by a smaller one. See how you feel. About the salt there us Himalayan salt that You can replace instead of white table salt. But some physical activity even a small walk a day like 40mn helps. Hope you can reach your ideal weight, I'm not an expert just things I've read and read.

 

[Luchs]

I have the opposite problem. I'm 185cm tall and weigh only 55kg. I just physically eat enough to gain weight without getting sick and overfed. I always see people talking about how being skinny is supposedly better and more acceptable than being fat, but in my personal experience I've often been ridiculed for my body type.

 

[Kristicide]

What you eat is just as important as working out. I look at working out as a job - you may not want to go sometimes but you just suck it up and do it or you pay the price. I do 5x a week for an hour each day and take the weekends off.
Eat everything in moderation. If you completely ban specific foods (whatever your favorite ones are) eventually you'll splurge. So make sure you're eating a healthy well balanced diet overall. Keep portions realistic. Be mindful when eating and enjoy it instead of just shoving it fast into your mouth. Slow eating helps too because it takes roughly 20min for your body to tell you when you're full. You'll be less likely to overeat. If you crave that cookie or whatever allow yourself to have it. Just don't go eating half a box of them at once.

 

[Istanbulite]

Thanks for all the replies, fellas.

 

[ColorlessTrees]

In case you're still looking for responses, I'll add mine: the best way to start is to cut sugary drinks if that's applicable. If you find this difficult, sugar free sodas and the like aren't best, but they tend to be >5 calories. Calories are the most important thing for total weight loss, cardio is good for increasing your deficit, and resistance/weight training can come later to tone up.

Protein tends to be more satiating, so I'd focus on incorporating one source where you can, and more veggies. The volume is high for little calories, and that can help with fullness as well. This is all abstract advice, but there are plenty of recipes online; if you find intuitive eating this way to be unsuccessful, there is always calorie tracking.

Start small and work your way up. Good luck.

 

[Myl]

There's many ways to go about it, it's just finding out what works for you.
I used to do OMAD (One Meal A Day) mixed with fasting for 2-3 days at a time but that won't work for everyone.

You could start off by logging the calories in everything you eat in a day and gradually decreasing them down until you are somewhere that is sustainable for you without any binging or anything.

Exercise is good but unless you plan on walking for several hours every day it won't make a huge difference towards losing weight
The problem with exercise is it makes you more hungry obviously so it's harder to stick to your diet and most people overestimate how many calories it burns.

 

[Ethereal Knight]

I have the opposite problem. I'm 185cm tall and weigh only 55kg. I just physically eat enough to gain weight without getting sick and overfed. I always see people talking about how being skinny is supposedly better and more acceptable than being fat, but in my personal experience I've often been ridiculed for my body type.

I've seen people who want to gain weight use supplements they call "mass gainers" or "hypercaloric shakes" or things like that (the name depends on the country), but they're usually made of basically maltodextrin, dextrose etc, especially the cheap ones. the person beats them on the mixer with either water or milk, and then drinks one or twice a day. with two shakes, you get an extra easy ~240g of pure fast-absorption carbohydrate in your diet. they're basically liquid candy. they're delicious because they usually also have artificial flavoring and sucralose, despite being almost pure maltodextrin.
huge bodybuilders use these "mass gainers" shakes to try to reach very high calorie goals (sometimes 6000+ calories) without having to getting sick from eating or to stuff themselves. drinking liquid calories is different from eating solid calories. they're super easy to digest, convenient and you don't really get any satiety from them. it's often the opposite: they make you more hungry a couple of hours later when you get the "sugar crash", despite having just drank all those calories.
the cheap ones do the job, because the more expensive ones have extra protein and amino acids, but who cares about protein when you're trying to gain weight? to gain weight you don't need the extrar whey protein / casein calories, the pure carbohydrate from maltodextrin with flavoring does the job and does it very well.

in other words, people who want to gain weight and have a common mixer in their homes and some extra cash to buy cheap maltodextrin mass gainers, they have all at their hands to do it if they really want it.

the bad side: this makes people gain fat. and the more fat they gain, the closer they get to their personal fat threshold, and the more insulin resistant they become. unless the person were dangerously overweight, there's no reason to do that.
many people who wanna gain weight, actually wanna gain muscle, but they don't know it. gaining weight by gaining muscle is way more healthy. it's achieved by resistance training (gym, calisthenics etc), lifting heavy stuff and having a high protein diet. and the ultra-caloric mass gainers shakes can be a help too if the person has a hard time eating enough food.

What are the tricks you can share when it comes to losing weight?

Maybe focusing on lean protein and fiber on most meals? like fish and salad for example.
some people do 3 meals a day, with basically fiber and protein on the first two, and on the third they also eat protein and fiber but add some extra carbs and fats.

sources of salad could be any plant that is low-carb, for example leafy greens, vegetables in general, broccoli, kale etc...
sources of lean protein could be any animal that is low-fat, like salmon, 90% lean ground beef, chicken breast, tilapia, whole egg plus egg whites etc...
sources of fat could be avocados, eggs, nuts, ground beef, ribeye, etc...
sources of carbs could be blueberries, strawberries, boiled potatoes etc...

the less proccessing, the better. choosing fresh, whole foods helps a lot.
the only proccessing that is okay is cooking and seasoning.
extra proccessing after that, and tasty recipes tend to lower satiety-per-calorie.

sugar, flour and oil are the ingredients of most cheap processed food-like products that are available on supermarkets. by avoiding these three things and avoiding food-like products in general (which are not real food, but... products), you avoid a big source of weight gain in the first place. yes they can be consumed in moderation, but in real life people tend to overconsume them due to their high energy density, low nutrient density, texture, high palatability and high hedonistic potential.

also consider increasing your daily step count. your dog will love it if you take her for a walk.

I'll post some pictures with suggestions of low calorie foods...

 

[y0dha]

It's a matter of calories in vs out and managing the effect that it has on your metabolism (hormones)

Inactive tactics :

- use smaller plates to make smaller portion
- don't eat a second portion
- avoid processing foods
- eat high protein diet (it's the most satiating and it helps you build muscle)
- cut down carbohydrate or fat (both strategies work since both are usable as source of energy) going the route with fat as source of energy is called keto (it works but i'd say it can be a bit harder to adjust).
- make the time between meal longer ( intermittent fasting works)

Active tactics :
- go for walk
- try doing workout or sport (if you have no motivation start giving your really small goal like maybe doing 5 min running, or just doing a set of pushup) This would be almost like a warmup and you'll probably want to do even more after warming up (not always work but often
- choose a sport of exercices you like, you're more likely to stick to it if you enjoy it
- take the stairs when you can, carry the groceries, clean your room
- find a friend to go to sport together, it can be more motivating for you if you don't have social anxiety
- get a dog so you'll have to make him walk everyday :P


I probably forgot some tactics but you see the point. The comment before mine has really good advice about nutrition, you should follow it.

 

[Ethereal Knight]

great post by @y0dha

one thing I forgot to mention in my other post is:

be careful with diets

I don't remember the official statistics, but it's something like this:

90% of people who go on a diet, regain all the weight within 1 year after ending the diet.

of these people that regained the weight, 66% end up fatter than before they started the diet.

that's why it's often said that most diets fail. and it's a true statement that was backed by research.

that's why people like dr. Ted Naiman say:
"Don't go on a diet. Instead, start to eat now the way you plan to be eating forever."