(Part 3) Best products from r/loseit

Sorry! Long post=long reply!

Wow. First of all, You. Are. Awesome. I can imagine that was not easy to write. Congrats. You’ve taken your first step on this new journey.

Below is a list of things that can help you get organized, but first, a solution to your problem could be this: you need a why. Calorie counting, Keto, etc are difficult for sure, but that being said, any significant change in your diet will be. So you have to start with the why you want to make this change in your diet. It needs to be a mission statement for yourself. Put it somewhere you can see it. Take 5 mins each morning to write down some goals for the day. Make them small and manageable. Stave off binges by allowing yourself small portions of things you normally binge on. Better to have a small piece or two of chocolate once a week (or whatever goal you set) than to try to abstain until that stressful day happens and then you fold and eat too much. Sustainability is important in your nutrition choices, so learning to spend a few hours in your kitchen each week will help you keep on the healthier side of the food track by preparing food in advance and having healthier snacks around to bridge those times when you're hungry and dinner is still cooking! While you should do the diet that you think works for you best, I’m a big fan of just sticking to clean, whole foods. Lots of veggies, some protein, minimal to no added sugars, minimal alcohol, minimal dairy. That’s what I do though, but you have to find what works for you. Because of your level of motivation right now, I’d honestly suggest doing an elimination diet, such as Whole30. It will teach you so much about food and your relationship with it, not to mention, help you start meeting your goals with weight. At the bottom of this post is a link to a book that you should truly buy and read it through. It will give you a solid foundation to start your journey.

Sometimes when getting started, it’s best to focus on one thing at a time. While exercise is an obvious choice to assisting you to get in shape, starting the diet alone can be exhausting and if you think it will be too draining to do both, always start with diet. Once you start having a consistent diet with balanced foods and proper nutrition, you’ll have more energy for working out and you’ll be less likely for injury. Due to your knee issues, focus on low impact. Ellipticals, swimming, water aerobics, or walking even. Look up some couch to 5k run schedules. They have great measured starts, where you walk for 5 mins, run for 2. Then 4 and 3. Etc etc.

Before I get into some tips and tricks for diet below, please don’t just use the scale as your only benchmark for success. Remember, if you create a sustainable, healthy diet, weight loss is the by product of health and nutrition. The goal should be to get healthy. The result is to lose weight. When making your goals keep that in mind! Take body measurements, use before, during, after photos, take note of how your clothes are fitting. Also celebrate little things, i.e., grabbing almonds or veggies or fruit for a snack instead of sweets or junk food. The importance of journaling cannot be understated. Write down positives each day. Talk about your goals and whether they have been successful or are they now areas of opportunity (AOO)? If it’s a AOO, what can you do to tweak the goal so it becomes a success?

With regards to being healthy, below is my down and dirty quick starter list.

1. So let’s talk protein, carbohydrates, and fats for a second, which are called macronutrients. I am sure you’ve seen all sorts of advice with these online. Don’t eat too much. Make sure you get enough. ETC ETC ETC If we use the keep it simple method, this is the best advice I can give you: eat clean, whole foods. Bam. That’s seriously it. Now when you reach your initial health and fitness goals and then you want to zoom in and really get technical, you can start to break down whether you need to count macronutrients or calories or what and when you should eat.
   
2. I know this sounds counter intuitive because of the diet culture we live in, but seriously, listen to your body. Eat when you’re hungry. Eat slow enough that your body can recognize when it’s had enough nutrition. Hormones will be released while you’re eating to tell your brain, hey! I’m full!!! Then stop eating. If you’re following step 1 of clean, whole foods, you can’t eat too much anyway. Yes. I’m serious. Your body will thank you for the fresh food and it will let you know when you’ve had enough. If you have a serious wave of hunger hit you in the middle of the day, drink some water and wait 15 minutes. See if that helps. Sometimes, we're just thirsty and we're misreading the signals.
   
3. What is the difference between listening to my body and cravings? Cravings are more than likely psychological. So keep in mind, when I say, listen to your body, that doesn’t mean listen to your cravings. I hope that isn’t too confusing. Cravings can occur due to habits (see #4), due to stress (which you are definitely experiencing now), due to numerous other physiological conditions too. When I heard someone say, listen to your body, I used to think to myself, what the hell does that even mean? It sounded like a cop out. But over time, balancing out my diet, educating myself more, and experiencing an elimination diet, I am proof that one can learn how to pay attention to the signs the body gives. Food is often an after thought. A means to satisfy hunger instead of nourish our bodies. Refocus your relationship with food and that might help you immensely.
   
4. Find a way to balance cravings. As an example, one of my toughest battles is after lunch and dinner, I ALWAYS want sweets, because for the longest time, I always ate something sweet after lunch and dinner. I love ice cream, I love chocolate, I love sweets! So, to hit that sweet tooth, I will eat strawberries, bananas, or apples. You can also google lots of recipes for ‘healthy’ desserts. That doesn’t mean it has to be completely absent of sugar or taste, but it can be controlled and if it’s cooked at home, it will often be healthier than something store bought.
   
5. What is clean, whole foods? Another easy tip: When you go to the grocery store, avoid the center of the building. That’s where all the processed foods are. Clean foods are mostly in your produce section, they are single ingredient items. When I go grocery shopping now, about 80% of my cart is produce. I pick up a variety of proteins, fish, chicken, pork, and beef for example. Variety in foods is important to get all the necessary nutrients. I cook a couple different meals on Sundays for the beginning of the week and pack those up in Tupperware. So that morning of work, all I do is grab the Tupperware, throw it in the lunch bag with a few healthy snacks, and I’m ready to go.
   
6. Organic, not organic, pastured, cage free, ect ect ect…. Look, you can delve into the world as food as much as you like. The majority of foods we eat is NOT healthy. Even foods that LOOK healthy aren’t always. This is where label reading comes into play. This seems complicated and sometimes, it is. I'm not sure whether you’re just getting started or how experienced you are. At this point, focus on trying to eat cleaner foods. Try to get away from the processed and junk foods. However, it’s not worth getting stressed about all of it. Do organic if you can afford it. If you can’t buy all organic, then things you eat often, get organic. Also, foods that don’t have a peeling on them are more susceptible to pesticides than foods that do, i.e., strawberries absorb everything, get organic, however, oranges, we don’t typically eat the peeling, so if you had to choose, you can forgo the organic there. If you eat a lot of chicken, try to get the higher quality. But if you’re check book can’t stretch that far, don’t panic, it’s not the end of the world. Your body will thank you for buying anything that is freshly cooked as opposed to something like Tysons Chicken Nuggets that are highly processed.
   
7. Lastly, to save money on clean, whole foods, look for local farmer’s markets, CSA’s (https://www.localharvest.org), or talk to a local butcher/farm for buying whole animals, i.e., a whole chicken costs $15-25, and you can typically visit the farm to see where it is raised, it’s conditions, and it’s quality.
   
   Most important, keep it simple! It can be easy to get overwhelmed, but take small, measured steps that will lead to little successes. Over time, this will build up to huge successes. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Adopt the pace of nature; her secret is patience”.
   
   Remember too, you’ll have setbacks. Everyone does. Don’t get discouraged. You’re on the journey of a lifetime. You’re trying to fundamentally change your dietary habits. This is no small feat. It took you a long time to get to the point you’re at now, it’s not going to be fixed overnight. Patience and humility are great allies in this journey. And if you have or start having doubts, look back at the little victories (a journal works great for this… write down things you succeeded at each day to help on those tough days!). Believe you can do this and you can. Motivation is born from a decision. You’ve made the decision. You’ve got this!
   Check out the book It [Starts With Food] (https://www.amazon.com/Starts-Food-Discover-Whole30-Unexpected/dp/1628600543). I love this book. It is a great intro to food and its effects on the body. Educating yourself is important because it helps solidify your goals and gives you better understanding why you're not eating 'x' or add 'y' to your diet. Also, a great resource for minimizing sugar is: www.iquitsugar.com. This Aussie can give you some fantastic information on what sugar does to the body and how to minimize or quit sugar altogether.
   
   I wish you the best of luck!

Welcome!

Don't worry too much about macros at this point. Total calories are way more important. You burn at least 2,600 calories per day so something like 2,000 calories per day would be a great goal for 1-2 pounds per week fat loss.

If you find a high protein/fat,low carb diet helps you keep to your calorie goal, that's fine. If you prefer a higher carb, more plant based diet, that's fine too. Feel free to experiment to see what works best for you.

As far as sugar cravings after meals, there's a couple ways you could go. You could cut out added sugar completely to go cold turkey. Or, you could fit small portions of sweets (like 100 calories worth of ice cream or a small piece of chocolate) into your calorie budget.

Another thing I do is experiment to replace a lot of the sugar-filled desserts that I love with no-added-sugar "healthy" versions. Some examples:

• Plain Greek yogurt mixed with peanut butter powder (I use PB&Me No Sugar Added)
  
  
• Cacao powder mixed with canned pumpkin, either microwaved or eaten cold
  
  
• Sugar free, fat free jello pudding. I like using almond milk to save calories then amping up the flavour by adding peanut butter powder or cacao powder
  
  
• Oatmeal replaces a lot of desserts for me. I'll do mix ins like chopped apples with cinnamon, sliced bananas with almond butter or canned pumpkin with almond butter or peanut butter
  
  
• Sugar free jello. I make my own with beef gelatin and then water enhancers like these Kool Aid ones for flavour
  
  Overall, good quality cocoa/cacao powder and peanut powder are key ingredients for me to help to satisfy that dessert craving without sugar.

The troupe of food you eat is very important.
Get rid of all flour and sugar and processed products.

Eating only whole foods- mainly plant based is shown to be the best for health and weight loss. Beans make you feel full. The calorie counts on beans is inaccurate due to fibre making a lot of the bean undigestible- true calorie count is estimated to be 2/3rds that is shown.
High fibre foods encourage gut bacteria that helps you lose weight. It’s good to eat quality organic meat but eat it sparingly. We really are not made to eat a lot of animal meat and dairy is definitely not at all necessary or advisable.

Having a good kitchen food scale really helps. Buy this oxo one it is expensive but fantastic. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000WJMTNA

If you are still on Prozac you may no longer need it when you replace the dairy and bread calories with highly nutrient dense foods like more greens and veggies and beans. Studies are showing that gut bacteria have a huge influence on mood. Seratonin is produced by the kind that loves fibre. So eating high fibre food will increase the number of good ‘happy-making’ bacteria.
http://m.caltech.edu/news/microbes-help-produce-serotonin-gut-46495
It’s interesting to note that pharmaceuticals always have an effect on our microbiome. The very drug you take to feel better could be killing the awesome bacteria that naturally produces the seratonin that will make you feel better. Who would have imagined that the right food is actually the antidepressant we need!

Hey man, when I started this I had roughly the same stats as you. A few months later, I'm at about 50 pounds lost and far fitter.

I hope you're a reader because my suggested first step is to read Why We Get Fat by Gary Taubes. It helped me immensely to understand why, scientifically, I was the way I am. Once I knew, I made the appropriate changes.

For me, the first 30 pounds was diet change alone. No more sugary sodas or processed foods; I typically don't eat anything that comes in a box. My meals consist of grass-fed or free-range meats and organic fruits and vegetables; I don't count calories or fat or anything, I just make sure I know what I'm putting in my body. This goes a long way in making you healthier overall.

Once I dropped the 30 pounds, I started Couch to 5K (C25K) but I truly could've started at the beginning of my journey, I was just lazy. I'm in the forth week of the C25K program, which is about 15 minutes of running separated by small walking breaks, and it's an amazing high when I finish. Just today when I started the first run, I was about a minute in before I had to start breathing heavier. I couldn't go up five steps without wheezing; now I can sprint and it's a piece of cake. IT FEELS AWESOME.

That combined with the consistent, sensible eating has got me to 50 pounds lost and still dropping.

To sum up, STUDY why you're the way you are. CHANGE YOUR DIET and a great subreddit is /r/paleo to help you make wiser eating choices. START RUNNING NOW with C25K and guess what, another great subreddit for that at /r/c25k.

Power through that first week and trust me, it becomes an addiction and a joy, not a struggle.

While there is some really fantastic advice already being posted - I have to say, as a fellow compulsive eater, I wholeheartedly understand what you are saying. I bet you're sitting at your computer, reading these tips and saying "Yeah, that's all fine and dandy but I feel like you guys aren't really getting it..." I get it. I do.

Breaking through compulsive eating is all mental. It sucks to hear but you will not get better until you want to. It really is true. The only thing is... it's not your eating that you need to fix. It is your mental state. Everything else will follow. Start eating healthier and start moving more but your real focus right now needs to be on your mind -- reverse the cycle.

Use the tips others have posted to start your daily journey. Take every single day and every single meal one step at a time. Do not think about your next meal until you are physically in the kitchen to prepare it. If you do slip and eat three cupcakes instead of the apple you had planned for a snack, take a step back. Take a deep breath. Let. It. Go. Move on. The next meal is something you are in control of - always.

My compulsive eating problems are exactly like yours - it feels like a switch. Just one little thing. Like you're constantly teetering on "healthy" or "fuck it". You know it is a conscious decision. But sometimes it feels like you physically cannot escape the lingering need to eat - but not just eat... eat foods that you forbid yourself every "diet" day, to eat the foods that you love but hate at the same time. As if they'll fill up some void in your life and make you feel whole. I get it.

Some really great resources I have found support and understanding in:

• Can You Stay For Dinner Blog: "What I miss from 135 pounds go"
  
• How to Have Your Cake and Your Skinny Jeans Too: Stop Binge Eating, Overeating and Dieting For Good Get the Naturally Thin Body You Crave From the Inside Out by Josie Spinardi (This book offers some really great insight into why compulsive eaters feel the way they do)
  
• Reclaiming Yourself From Binge Eating: A Step-By-Step Guide to Healing by Leora Fulvio
  
  
  I am in the beginning stages of recovery from compulsive eating. I also am seeking help from a counselor. If you think you are at a stage where you could benefit from talking to someone, I urge you to seek help, as well.

See a therapist. They can help you not only sort out some of the shit in your life, or at least help you learn how to deal with it, but help you learn to separate food from your emotions and develop a healthy relationship with food. Seeing one who specializes in eating disorders/weight issues may be particularly helpful. If you can't afford a therapist, try checking with your city council for programs that provide these types of services for no or low-cost. Other options include support groups and self-help books designed to teach you about healthy eating in a mental health context, such as this one.

You know what you need to do, but it seems like other things going on in your life are (rightfully) taking more attention than slimming down. I think it's really, really important that you deal with those issues first or at the same time as dealing with your weight.

Good luck to you!

Ha, I'm definitely not upset! I'm mostly just concerned, I'm just sensing you feel frustrated maybe a little bit like we're all fucking with you with this bruh, just create a calorie deficit mantra we keep repeating.

You're right that cooking at home can be as elaborate or as simple as you want it to be. You might start out just trying to recreate your favorite restaurant dishes at home. Just making something at home can often be lower calorie, restaurants add a lot of sneaky stuff in there. Their stuff has to be shelf stable for X number of months, so it needs a preservative (like salt), so then they add sugar to counteract the extra salt so it tastes right, etc.

I agree that permanent change would be grim if you assume you'll be hungry and hating everything you eat. If that was the case I wouldn't be doing it and neither would anyone else! You should enjoy everything you eat (I do) and shouldn't feel hungry (I don't).

Is there anything else you're resistant to? Many people balk at the idea of counting calories in the beginning, so it would not surprise me in the least if you were anxious about that. It can take a little bit to get the hang of it, but once you're in the groove, you realize the magic of this approach - you can eat ANYTHING you want! No special diets, IF, keto, paleo, vegan, etc. Forget it all. You can lose weight eating only foods you enjoy, provided they fit in your calorie goals for the day. I ate homemade double chocolate chip muffins all week! One per day, as my afternoon snack, and I still lost a 1/2 pound ... because I didn't go over my calorie goal. Most of us use an app to track our calories (MyFitnessPal is a popular option) and I strongly recommend purchasing a food scale, it makes tracking a bajillion times easier.

This is a video of someone tracking her calories, it's a great real-world example of using the food scale. It's what my day usually looks like minus the commentary.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOAfP857Q3o

This is my food scale, there are so many options, just pick your favorite one:

https://www.amazon.com/Ozeri-Professional-Digital-Kitchen-Tempered/dp/B003MSZBSI/ref=sr_1_5?crid=1K3ZDJUOW6HYG&keywords=ozeri+food+scale&qid=1557364020&s=gateway&sprefix=ozeri+food+scale%2Caps%2C156&sr=8-5

You'll find that this sub is extremely supportive - no berating or humiliating here at all, just encouragement and sometimes tough love.

Others have said this, but it can't be stressed enough that food should be your #1 priority. What you're doing in MFP is absolutely the right thing - if you keep eating at a deficit, you will 100% lose weight. (And the fact that you already have a MFP account and have been logging what you're eating shows that you are past the point of "literally no concept of health or weight loss!" You know what to do, the trick is making yourself do it, which is why we're all here, haha.)

Once you get the ball rolling, you can start to add in exercise, but that's not the priority upfront. By all means start walking a little more, but really focus on your calories and don't try to jump immediately into intense workouts - it's not necessary right now.

Ultimately, as everyone will tell you, this needs to be about a complete lifestyle change - you can't think of it as dieting. What helps me is reminding myself what's literally happening in my body when I eat certain foods. I really recommend the book It Starts With Food - regardless of whether you actually want to do a Whole 30 (30 days of eliminating a bunch of foods that tend to give people issues), the book is an excellent overview of how what you eat effects all of the organs in your body, both positively and negatively. Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food is another great choice.

You can do it! Good luck!

Kev, we all try different paths to get us to where we want to go. If this works for you that's great, but for me it wouldn't be sustainable long-term. HcG just seems a little scammy to me, however if you're committed to it, I would throw in some vitamin D too. Breaking 500 is a great first step (it is nice to see the numbers drop!). I do worry that you're not getting enough real food with this diet.

I started well above where you are now so I know where you're coming from in wanting to get it done with (I still don't like to tell others how bad I got). I've tried most of the diets and fads out there, but what finally turned me around was reading Tim Ferris' 4hr body, Gary Taubes' Good Calories, Bad Calories, Rob Wolff's Paleo Solution, Loren Cordain's Paleo Diet and Mark Sisson's Primal Blueprint. I've culled what works for me from these and have been eating pretty much Paleo/Keto since November. I've dropped over 50lbs since then at about 2000-2200 cals day. I know it's not biggest loser territory, but slow and steady wins the race. Most of all, it's something I can live with long term. So far my only exercise has been walking and some stationary bike.

What made the change easier for me was I found a lifestyle rather than a diet to follow. That's not to say I haven't had the occasional setbacks (god I miss pizza and beer), but I'm getting there and you will too. Best of luck on your quest...

tl/dr - Plan's not for me, don't be afraid to try something else. Knock em dead kid!

Make your body straight and stiff as a board (or plank) and hold yourself up off the ground.
Here is a great explanation: http://www.abs-exercise-advice.com/plank.html

You could get one of these pull-up bars to work those lats, arms, and back better at home. You can even hang and get some core workouts in by lifting your legs. Cheap and very useful.

You absolutely can bike for 30 minutes instead of walking daily! That's probably better than my 2 x 1mile walks, actually. Keeping that heart rate up for 30 minutes daily will REALLY help your metabolism.

Be very strict about your diet and workouts. Force yourself to hit that bike daily and get those workouts in. Also, try to stay active at least one day on the weekend. You can do this shit, man! You don't have to eat like a rabbit on keto, just NO CARBS. You are the only one you can count on to shed that weight... nobody else will help you. STAY DISCIPLINED! Even when the office has donuts, pizza, etc... don't give in with "just one".

YOU GOT THIS!

Sounds to me like you may need to do some research until you find the right doctor. You could always find someone to see for therapy first (At least in my area it's pretty common for people who administer therapy to have a masters in social work and they aren't authorized to prescribe meds) and then once you find someone you jive with have them recommend a psychiatrist who fits with the treatment approach if you/they feel like you need meds. As someone who's gone to therapy for awhile (7 years? I've lost count) I can definitely agree that all mental health professionals aren't created equal. And it's definitely true that there are people out there who seem to be catering to patients who just want to take a pill and get it fixed. But my current therapist and a past therapist I had before I moved are amazing and I definitely wouldn't be here without them. I do take anti-anxiety meds at times since I find it helps moderate things so I emotionally don't fall as far, but most of my hard work has been in therapy. Some of the techniques they use are replicated in books if you wanted to work through it on your own. (The Food and Feelings Workbook is the best one I've found.) But I do find that my therapist can be helpful in introducing new perspectives I might not have thought through on my own. You also may like the book Starting Monday because it deals with some of the thought patterns you mention above and how to reverse those thoughts.

Hey,

I weighted 257 lbs back in February 2011. I've lost approx. 50 lbs since on a low carb diet, while doing absolutely no exercise for the first three months or so due to a sciatica. It is not an easy transition, but it's easily the best thing I've ever done diet wise. It's not a matter of losing weight anymore, but living better overall. I can't tell you how many advantages there are to cutting carbs, but apart from the weight loss, the energy levels always stay constant. No more feeling drowsy or tired after a meal. No more heartburns (which was a daily occurrence for me). No more cravings for sugar before or after a workout or long bike run, or a long day at work. No more feeling bloated.

I've never counted calories during this period. Not a single instant. But I watch the carbs I'm eating very carefully. Still, not to the point of obsession. Most carbs are easily discarded: sugar, bread, starchy vegetables, pasta, etc. Mayonnaise is now my main condiment (not proud or anything, just saying).

I've started biking again recently. I do approx. 250 to 300 km a week with a friend of mine over the course of three, sometimes four rides. During these rides is the only time I "carb-up" (eat a significant amount of carbs). I've literally struggled to keep losing weight since I started biking. Why? Because exercise makes me hungry. I compensate before/during rides, but I'm not doing it to LOSE weight. I'm doing it because I love it and I feel better doing it. Exercise does not help weight loss. It helps build lean mass and make you feel better, but the energy spent will be "asked" for by your body -- hunger, cravings, etc. Exercise is a zero-sum game. Energy spent will come back in. If not, you'll just be suffering for no reason!

When I do fall off the low-carb diet (special occasions, sometimes just for fun), I do end up gaining some pounds very rapidly. Eating pizza one night does often result in seeing a huge increase on the scale (2 lbs easily), but it's temporary. The weight goes away just as fast when going back on the low-carb diet.

I aim to eat less than 20 grams of carbs (except fiber) a day. This is typically called a ketogenic diet, as it results in your body going into ketogenesis. I'm just human, so I'd guess that my average was closer to 30-35 grams a days. I've tested for ketogenesis a few times during the last few months. It was obvious I was in keto after bike rides, but not before.

Oh, and my blood pressure was significantly lowered. My cholesterol levels are better than they were, but not yet perfect. I still have a lot to lose.

Anyways, do you have any time to read? If so, PM me. I'd like to send you a copy of Gary Taubes' Why we get fat. Got the Kindle edition recently, and I have no more use for the printed edition.

Hey man,

great job making this first step! Now you just need a concise plan. Personally, eating paleo style has been GREAT for me. I feel healthier, I've lost weight, and think sharper.

It's pretty much a lifestyle in which you eat in the most evolutionary advantageous way. That means lots of vegetables & meat. A little fruit as well. NO BREAD, legumes, or dairy.
I recommend reading The Primal Blueprint if you want to just learn the barebones
otherwise, this is the book: Paleo Solution (it's much more scientific)

It will discuss why eating right will increase your insulin sensitivity & probably even get rid of the sleep apnea.

/r/paleo is a great resource. If you have any questions feel free to comment or PM me.


edit: btw the 30lbs has only been in the last couple months. You would probably lose a lot faster in the beginning.

another edit: Eating a paleo style will help you with determining when to stop eating. What is happening to you right now is that the massive quantities of crap you are consuming messes with the satiety signals. Over the next month of eating paleo, that would probably get better quickly.

http://www.amazon.com/Iron-Total-Upper-Body-Workout/dp/B001EJMS6K/ref=sr_1_1?s=exercise-and-fitness&ie=UTF8&qid=1312761810&sr=1-1

Someone posted pictures of it damaging parts of the doorframe. I've had no issues with mine, and I see almost nothing but positive reviews so idk. Maybe extra padding like a washcloth to be safe? Either way that looks to be one of the best and most portable on Amazon. Good luck!

Diet Soda that doesn't taste like shit. In particular, consider:

• Coke Zero, any of the flavors
  
  
• Diet Cheerwine, tastes like a cherry tootsie pop without the tootsie roll in the middle
  
  
• Canfield's Dief Chocolate Fudge Soda, tastes like a tootsie roll
  
  
• Diet 7-up, Sprite, and other "white" diet sodas I've tried taste pretty good
  
  
• A&W 10 has ten calories per can and tastes much better than 0 calorie diet root beers
  
  
• Diet Dr. Pepper isn't bad either
  
  Source: I like soda a lot :)

I can't believe nobody else has said this yet (though maybe they did and I missed it):

Low-carb. Go low-carb.

Do you eat sugar and starches compulsively? Does it feel as though, no matter how much you eat, you still need more food? An hour or two after a meal, do you already want another one? Does trying to just "cut back" or count calories make your body scream at you to eat?

You need low-carb.

To put it as simply as possible, if you eat a lot of carbs, your body has likely been thrown completely out of whack. You eat flour or sugar, and your insulin levels go rocketing upward; a while later, they drop precipitously, making your body cry out for more in an attempt to stabilize the situation. But eating more only makes them rocket up again, and around and around you go. After years/decades of this, your body is pumping out vast amounts of insulin on a routine basis, leaving you with far too much in your system; however, your tissues have become numbed to it (ie, have become insulin resistant), meaning that it continually takes more to keep your blood sugar under control. Eventually the system begins to break down, leading to pre-diabetes, and later on full-blown Type II. Additionally, all the insulin coursing through your veins is the primary cause of your body's over-enthusiasm to store fat.

That's all terribly over-simplified, but for a more in-depth explanation, read this, and for an even more in-depth explanation, read this. To get you started for now, read this.

I am not shitting you: if you have carb issues (and as a pre-diabetic, you almost certainly do), going low-carb can change EVERYTHING. It can be a little bit of a challenge at first, but after a week or so it gets much easier -- it was far easier for me than any of the standard calorie-restricted, low-fat diets I've done, and I've done more than my share of them. Once you're on track, the compulsive eating vanishes. Your appetite drops off, your energy levels go way up, a surprising number of assorted physical complaints diminish. And most importantly, your weight starts to drop, quickly and without struggle.

I can vouch for this, because this is what happened to me. I've been obese for my entire adult life, and have made so many long, grinding efforts at standard diets -- always failing in the end -- that I was convinced there was just something inherently wrong with me. Then someone right here in r/loseit told me about low-carb dieting, and I decided, what the fuck? Why not give it a try? The worst that happens is that in two weeks, I'm still fat, which was going to happen anyway. So I tried a two-week "experiment," just to see what would happen.

That was nearly seven months ago. Since then, I've dropped roughly 80 lbs (of roughly 150 total that I need to drop) and feel for the first time in my life that I can be whatever size I want to be. Hell, a lot of the time I don't even feel as though I'm "on a diet"... it's more like, in soviet russia, diet goes on you. As long as I don't eat more than a certain number of carbs per day, the weight and everything that goes along with it, that all just takes care of itself.

Low-carb diets aren't a fad, they're not a crash diet, they're not unhealthy, though people will tell you all of these things. What a low-carb diet does is allow your body to regain its equilibrium and begin to correct all of the problems that have accumulated from a lifetime of eating refined carbohydrates. There are a lot of ways to go about it -- it's not all Atkins, although that's a perfectly valid place to start. But even just getting the major sources of carbs out of your diet -- the flour, sugar, and starch -- will almost certainly make an enormous, rapid difference in how you feel and what you weigh. It does require some effort, and it does require some sacrifice. Changing how you live your life is never easy. But compared to the tortures of a carb-based, low-fat, calorie-restricted diet (that doesn't work to address the real problem anyway), it's a walk in the fucking park.

If nothing else, it's worth a try. It's worth considering. For me, it literally changed my entire world. And I'm an Oregonian, too -- would I lead you astray? :)

Good luck, girl. I hear you so loud and clear my ears are bleeding. Think about this, and please, please ask if you have questions.

Definitely if you mean USD. You can get one for cheaper and with free shipping on Amazon. So if you do get one don't pay 150 for it. :)

It's not a bad scale at all, it just has a not-super-useful bell as part of its bells and whistles, so I'd take a more simple scale if I were to make the choice again. Though I did also get a Fitbit Flex at teh same time and I'm loving the Flex, so I will say I'm glad I now have s Fitbit scale just to keep my products all using the same app!

I actually can recommend my spiralizer; I've been pretty happy with it. I bought my mom one and a few of my friends have it. It's the paderno spiralizer. I bet the one that the blogger of inspiralized sells is good, too (but it's more expensive).

Edit to add: I recently decided to quit drinking. It does me no favors, and it's way too hard to plan to have just one because after you have one, you want another one. It's easier to just abstain.

Lol that's a good question. I haven't worked out at all in like 2 weeks (feels ashamed) for several reasons (knee injury more than anything) but today I'm starting Jillian Michaels videos again seeing I don't have a chance to go out to run :( I'll be doing this and this at home. That's a 1 hour workout, sounds pretty good to me... what do you think?

I'll definitely stick to eating 1500-1700 calories. The things I eat are: Breakfast: toast with peanut butter, a fruit (banana or mango), and a 198 calorie yoghurt. Dinner: I have salads, chicken, tuna, red meat twice a week max, veggies, beans etc. The rest of the day I eat only fruits like plums, kiwi and mango. and I only drink water.

I also noticed having a food and workout diary helps me a lot, I should restart that asap too.

No worries. I suggest putting your My Fitness Pal Goals at 'sedentary' and 'lose 1/2 pound a week' and then not eating the calories you earn exercising. You do have to be meticulous in your calorie tracking though! Expect to tweak your diet a lot - some people do better just having a cup of tea for breakfast, some people do better eating their biggest meal in the morning; just keep trying until you find a way that works for you. Some people love keto, but I love toast so that doesn't do it for me (though I envy their big losses!).

30 Day Shred is really good IMO. I found the jumping and running on the spot a bit hard on my knees so I swapped it for pretend running where you don't take your toes off the ground. Have a look at pilates or yoga for flexibility and balance.

Take before pics in short and a tee or jeans and a top and then take them again in a month wearing exactly the same outfit. Take measurements too.

It doesn't snow here (it barely gets cold!) so I have no idea how to function in it! More jumpers!? Build snowmen?

Another treadmill is an option, or a stationary bike (I have this one and I like it, it's nothing fancy though), an elliptical, or a set of dumbbells that you can use for both strength and for added weight when doing an aerobic workout.

Of course there are others, but those are my suggestions. Look on Craigslist or something similar and see if you can get something for free or cheap, then you might be able to get more than one! Unless you're well off, then go straight for more than one from Amazon. ;)

I recently purchased this Smart Weigh scale and love it. It's accurate, simple, and is slim and easy to store. I've been using this OXO kitchen scale for a couple years now and have zero complaints. It's kind of pricey (I found mine half price at an outlet store), but I've definitely gotten my money's worth out of it because I bake a lot (including breads) and it's never failed me. If you're looking for cheaper, my mom seems to get by just fine with this little guy. I wouldn't use it for big jobs or things that you need accuracy to the gram, but it works for casual use.

This is the one I have, and it works like a charm :) Amazon is your friend!

Cups/spoons are not accurate unfortunately... for exact calorie intake anyway.

Healthy snacks.... CLEMENTINES which are in season. Seriously 35 cal a piece! Chips aren't a big deal or any junk, if it fits in your daily limit - don't sweat it!! In my opinion anyway.

Spiral vegetable slicer. This thing is freaking awesome. I love noodles and pasta, and we use these "noodles" in paleo pad thai and pasta dishes. For the pasta, i just heat olive oil, throw in garlic and red pepper flakes to infuse it, toss in the noodles and cook through quickly...serve meat and veggies and sauce over it or eat as is, the bomb! We also use it to shred all the cabbage, and will probaby use it to make sweet potato fries soon...stay tuned.

Advice: do some minor resistance/endurance stuff even at home. Pushups, situps, and pullups using a bar like the one I have.

Your head, neck, and shoulders will have angles you never knew existed in a few weeks, not to mention the benefits to your arms, back, and core.

Good luck, and congrats!

If you would like to do this with other vegetables like Zucchini instead of Shirataki, I highly recommend a spiralizer. We finally got one of these after reading about it on the /r/keto forums and it's pretty remarkable how close to noodles many vegetables can be when spiralized.

hahah I was the only gaijin in my town for three years. I know that feel.

Keep up the good work, and remember, sometimes its just best to succeed more days than not. don't beat yourself up too much.

Here's the link if you'd like it to the book! https://www.amazon.com/Have-Your-Cake-Skinny-Jeans-ebook/dp/B00B9JKNBC

> I have a Misto oil sprayer (https://www.amazon.com/Misto-Brushed-Aluminum-Olive-Sprayer/dp/B00004SPZV?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0) and it works great with any fine oil. But I support your brush-on idea.

How well does it work at actually misting the oil? I have an oil sprayer that looks like a knockoff of the Misto, and it'd be more accurate to call it a "squirter" than a "sprayer".

thank you!! i’m so much happier. I never realized how hard it was on me (both physically AND mentally) to be overweight.

I bought this bike here.

my quick and honest review - it was easy to assemble, the seat is super comfy, and it’s quiet. i’m a little too short for it, so I had to put some pedal extenders on (I was doing a number on my knees by hyperextending them every rotation). also, the console died after like a week. they sent me a replacement one for free within a couple days but I never installed it as I track the workouts on my apple watch. oh, also, it’s light, folds up tiny, and is really easy to move around (and hide!)

http://www.amazon.com/Why-We-Get-Fat-Borzoi/dp/0307272702/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1299642695&sr=8-1

I really liked this book for explaining exactly why low-carb works and why eating lots of fat is healthy

http://www.amazon.com/Paleo-Solution-Original-Human-Diet/dp/0982565844/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1299642745&sr=1-1

This book is really good for applying what Taubes says to your life and has a nice plan.

Yup spiralizer...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0007Y9WHQ/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?qid=1458328303&sr=8-3&pi=SX200_QL40&keywords=paderno+spiralizer&dpPl=1&dpID=51ozEgFtqdL&ref=plSrch

Drain or Pat dry before using. My favorite way to cook them is to warm a tbsp of olive oil then add fresh minced garlic let heat for a min then toss in the zoodles for about 3 mins to warm through. You don't want to "cook" them they get limp and mushy.

After this you can use them in anything you'd typically use spaghetti for. I love alfedo sauce on them.

*edit sorry for unformatted link... Mobile

I HIGHLY recommend this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Have-Your-Skinny-Jeans-ebook/dp/B00B9JKNBC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367611635&sr=8-1&keywords=skinny+eating

It goes over why we overeat and has effective steps for stopping it. I struggled with overeating so much that I thought I was addicted to food! I wasn't, it was because I had been trying to diet myself my entire life, so by limiting the things I loved, I thought about them that much more. The book teaches you how to eat what you want in moderation and track how it makes you FEEL so that you're able to make 'inside-out' decisions and change your will power into want power. It seriously, changed my life and my waist line :)

I got this one and it's worked really well so far. It's really easily transportable and lets you measure things in a variety of units. But honestly I think pretty much any scale with decent reviews will work!

There are a lot of good workout videos out there.
I'm currently doing the 30 Day Shred. I've also heard great things about Insanity and P90X, although those are well out of my price range.

I used to be really horrified by the prospect of running outside. I think I thought people would judge me for not running long enough, or being too jiggly or something. This summer though, I downloaded an app for Couch to 5K, put some music on my phone and just started going! For some reason, when I had something telling me exactly when to start and stop running, I felt WAY better about running in public.

Keep in mind that the most important part of losing weight is changing your diet! Good luck!

I have two. This was the first one I bought last year. It still works great. It's scuffed up a bit, though.

I bought this to keep at work. It works pretty well too.

1. I have been very happy with this model for $20.
   
2. It takes time.
   The longer you stick with this the more you will respect yourself. You just need to accept the fact that the past can no longer be affected- you've done what you've done and there's no going back. But you can affect your future and by doing so again and again your self esteem will gradually improve.
   Measure yourself!
   Often we cannot see changes in the mirror but a tape measurer will not lie and that can force you to understand that you are doing it and for that you can be very proud.

I have this FitIndex scale I bought on sale from Amazon in July and I really like it. I think I've just changed the batteries once (from the ones that it came with) and I've never had any issues with it. I enjoy the look of the app and the product has a lot of good reviews.

May 8th I weighed 186.2lbs and stepped onto this scale below. Last year I reached my highest weight at 196 lbs. I'm getting married in September and decided that the most important thing is to be healthy inside and out regardless of my size. So I started tracking my habits and moods with the app Daylio. The scale and the app track your weight. I saw that one soda would consistently make me add 1 lb. or my depressed days I would binge eat and gain weight. I've switched to diet soda or sparkling water and had to listen to pod casts and other people's stories. I decided that it was a privilege to feel hunger and that I can't eat my negative feelings away. If I deal with them that very second my binge urge goes away. I've made my calorie intake reflect my activity amount and on Friday I weighed 176.6 lbs.

I found a dress that made me look past my insecurities because I look beautiful. I went in looking for something with sleeves because I wanted to hide my arms. I bought a v-neck, sleeveless dress and didn't even consider hiding any part of myself in that dress.

You will have all kinds of feelings through this process. My experience taught me that you don't have to do the standard weight loss practices or wear the standard dress. Everyone has their own personal journey and you can use other people's experiences to try new things and find what will work for you.




FITINDEX Bluetooth Body Fat Scale, Smart Wireless Digital Bathroom Weight Scale Body Composition Monitor Health Analyzer with Smartphone App for Body Weight, Fat, Water, BMI, Muscle Mass - White https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078HW8BPY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_19onDbB2F705Z

(I'm not sure that all the other body stats are accurate but it makes it really easy to track your progress)

I use this OXO and it is perfect because it has a metric conversion. They do make one for $30. And I use MFP as well and save the ingredients I use most often.

I've just discovered zoodles and it's been life-altering.

Zucchini noodles are a super-tasty substitute for pasta. You can get a spiralizer like the one I have link or use a julienne peeler. With the spiralizer basically you cut off the ends of a zucchini, plug it into the machine and turn the handle and in like 30sec you have zucchini noodles!

I put them in a skillet, toss with salt and about 1tsp olive oil per zucchini, cook on maybe a little above medium with some garlic till soft, then add a little parmesan cheese. Delicious, filling, comes out around 141cal per zucchini. Mmm.

Obviously you can cook them with spaghetti sauce, etc. I'm excited to try a pesto recipe I found recently!

So true! I bought this sleek one and have loved it. Been surprised at amounts sometimes.

i have a ton of books from the editors of Cooking Light magazine. They're awesome recipes and also include some side dish ideas as well. Once a year they come out with a compilation of all the recipes from the magazine and they have a few special editions. I highly recommend them. I've never been disappointed. My first and still favourite although it doesn't give the calories for the side dishes it recommends. However, the majority of their recipes are available online you can import them to MFP

I also recently picked up a couple of interesting cookbooks:
Betty Crockers' 1500 calories a day - it allows you to mix and match recipes to come up to 1500 calories (more or less depending how you choose) per day including dessert

Calories In Calories Out cookbook - this one not only tells you the calories, but how much walking/jogging it would take to burn off the calories from the meal

Good luck on your journey. This is a good book for working on your relationship with food. https://www.amazon.com/Food-Feelings-Workbook-Course-Emotional/dp/0936077204/ref=zg_bs_282911_28?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=XDKGNFRQYP1DPHZMJ7FA

I have a Misto oil sprayer (https://www.amazon.com/Misto-Brushed-Aluminum-Olive-Sprayer/dp/B00004SPZV?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0) and it works great with any fine oil. But I support your brush-on idea.

I find a lot of things don't need oil at all. If I am (for example) going to brown some onions, I'll lubricate a non-stick pan with a little chicken or vegetable stock. Adds flavor and achieves the goal without adding oil calories at all.

Exeurpedic,

http://www.amazon.com/Exerpeutic-Folding-Magnetic-Upright-Pulse/dp/B007595TKU/

Sturdy as hell, very easy to assemble, very easy to use. The two problems I have with it: the non-standard saddle mount, and the seat post angle is fixed (it feels like a cruiser, I would like it a bit more steep). It folds to use about half as much floor space as in its working configuration, it has two casters that can be used to drag it around, they are not in contact with the floor when the bike is setup for use. It is light enough that we can fold it and carry it around the house to wherever we want to work out, so for example I'll do my workouts at my home office, my wife will do them in front of her TV and my son will do them in the living room.

Strange feature: instead of a water bottle cage it has a plastic pocket sized perfectly for a smart phone or maybe an MP3 player.

Thanks! I used the FITINDEX scale and app that I purchased from amazon.

It is not the most absolutely accurate but it is consistent with itself to track changes over time.

Bluetooth Body Fat Scale, FITINDEX Smart Wireless Digital Bathroom Weight Scale Body Composition Monitor Health Analyzer with Smartphone App for Body Weight, Fat, Water, BMI, BMR, Muscle Mass https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078HW8BPY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_5yEmDbFRYJS81


I also forgot on my how I did it is to weigh yourself daily in the morning after using the restroom. Get in the habit of doing this. It’s hard to see the scale go up 3-6 pounds some mornings but you get good trends and your weigh in day isn’t a fluke that is high or low.

I used to have this one and I liked it mostly. It broke after about four years. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000P1PJL4

Now I have this one and I can't speak to its longevity since I've only had it for about a month, but I like it better than the old one (and it's cheaper). http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00F3J9EGO

It really depends on the type of food you like. There are many health books out there - I really like Cooking Light The Essential Dinner Tonight Cookbook.

I also use a relatively new cookbook [Assyrian Cookbook] (http://www.amazon.com/dp/0957589204/). While it doesn't fit the "healthy cooking" driven market (it's middle eastern style cooking), it does have caloric information for every recipe (per serving size), and the recipes use plenty of vegetables, herbs, grains, legumes (and as a bonus, the food is tasty!). Its pretty economical cooking as well.

One of the problems I have with dieting books or health books is that the food is pretty much the same and not something that you can use long term (becomes boring after a while). It's really about eating food you like but keeping the portion size down.

Sending good thoughts your way, mate.

A couple things:

• Check out The Paleo Solution
  
• The Food Matters DVD I recently purchased was full of win.

The app is called FitIndex and works well with this scale from amazon. I purchased it and it has been very helpful. It syncs with apple health and all of the major apps like MFP.

No problem. If you are into reading I highly recommend Robb Wolf's book it changed my life for sure.
His blog and podcast are educational, entertaining and free.

You should be able to find it in a can at the grocery store. I'm a bit of a purist though, and I like really good olive oil that you'll never find in a spray can.

Anyway, Amazon has tons of options. It doesn't have to be specifically for oil, most food-grade sprayers will work:

http://www.amazon.com/Misto-Brushed-Aluminum-Olive-Sprayer/dp/B00004SPZV

http://www.amazon.com/Lifetime-Brands-Misto-Oil-Sprayer/dp/B008C9UA9W

http://www.amazon.com/Norpro-Stainless-Steel-Sprayer-Mister/dp/B000SSW6TM

http://www.amazon.com/Trigger-Spray-Bottle-Cooking-18-Ounce/dp/B00FMXG8XI

http://www.amazon.com/Misto-Gourmet-Olive-Sprayer-Silver/dp/B009I5U3GY

http://www.amazon.com/Steven-Raichlen-Barbecue-Marinade-Bottle/dp/B003FZAVWO

http://www.amazon.com/24-Oz-Sprayer-Bottles-Pack/dp/B00008VXNE

http://www.amazon.com/Honey-Can-Do-KCH-01085-Stainless-Bottle-14-Ounce/dp/B007ZSJ3X0

I was thinking about this today too! I'm mulling over getting the Fitbit Aria, can't quite justify the price to myself though. Very interested to see what everyone else suggests. :)

I love cheese, so I have to weigh it or I go crazy. In law school, I had a habit of buying a block of cheese, sitting down to study, and eating all of it. Then I'd get sad when the cheese was gone and go buy more. (It's probable that about 20 of the pounds I have to lose are cheese pounds....)

I have (and love) this OXO scale, but there's no reason to spend that much on a kitchen scale. Just a basic cheap one will do - make sure to check out the max weighing capacity. Mine maxes out at 11 pounds/5000 grams and that's about perfect for me. (I bought it ages ago for baking and even when doing a huge multi-loaf batch of bread have never hit the max capacity.)

Old one
New one

The new one looks nice, and the light-up display is nice, but I get different weights depending on if I put items towards the front or back of the scale. I ordered another of the original this morning, haven't decided if I'm going to return the fancier one or keep it for a back-up.

Here you go! Definitely one of my better recent purchases.

This is my current body scale, this is my current food scale. I can't see a reason to upgrade from this food scale, but the body scale tends to stick at certain even-digit numbers so it's not suuuuppppeeer accurate. I'm fine with that, but if I'd upgrade it would be either to this, this, or this if Fitbit is involved.

I'm reposting an answer I gave to someone else with a similar issue:
This may be an unconventional answer, but I would suggest looking into Hunger Directed Eating. It's a good way to break the cycle of dieting followed by soothing with binges. a really good book I enjoyed was The Rules Of Normal Eating
and I'm currently working through
Thin: How to have your cake and skinny jeans too

It is informed by cognitive behavioral therapy strategies to help people overcome the psychological barriers to eating normally, in a way that will not make you gain weight. Much like the way people who are naturally thin eat.

This is the only thing that has led to stable change for me, over time. I was struggling with managing my eating since I was a teenager. I had a tendency to eat rebelliously when my mother wasn't looking, and it was a way to make myself feel in control when my mother was overcontrolling. We have a way of building up bad habits with food--eating when we're stressed out, eating to make ourselves feel better, eating to solve our problems. . . when the only problem food can really solve is to help us be not hungry.

. . . and I've lost about 7 pounds (over the span of a few months) just following my hunger signals that I'd gotten out of touch with over the years.

Take a look at the samples and see if these are for you. they won't solve all your problems, but it might help give you a way to destroy the self-hatred and replace your eating habits with better ones.

You've just totally inspired me to buy this. (Psst- It's only $6.99 on Amazon! http://www.amazon.com/Jillian-Michaels-30-Day-Shred/dp/B00127RAJY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1332274118&sr=8-1)

If you want a slightyl cheaper model, this one has been great to me for years now.

FWIW, I bought this stationary bike several years ago from Amazon, and I like it well enough. The weight limit is 300lbs.

If you can, get some pull-up assist bands like the ones here and pick up a pull-up bar for your door frame like this one

Lat pulls will help, but since they aren't really training the exact movement, you will still struggle with pull-ups. Getting the first pull-up is the hardest as you are trying to figure out the motion and the coordination. Also, training negative pull-ups will help. Use a chair or jump up and then slowly lower yourself down.

Good luck on your quest for pull-ups!

I use this one, just because I had a fitbit wrist strap

I love it..

https://www.amazon.com/Fitbit-Wi-Fi-Smart-Scale-Black/dp/B0077L8YOO

Read this! I just started reading it on another loseiter's recommendation and it is fantastic!

I'm not a great writer and I have no need in trying to convince to do something that is against your believing or whatever. We were all told in recent years that getting fit is about keeping calorie deficit because it's what first law of thermodynamics suggest and it would be right when speaking about engine and power plants but our bodies were not made by humans and this law doesn't apply as well as when it comes to any power plant. (couldn't thing of anything better you can blame it on my field of studies)

http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/13464859-423/is-a-calorie-just-a-calorie.html

http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1199154

this are some articles (first is "interpretation" of second - second is a paper released after research).

Trust me I wasn't convinced at any of it in the first place because I knowledge of biology and chemistry was on high school level and I didn't really thought about how getting fat might work. But after reading http://www.amazon.co.uk/Why-We-Get-Fat-about/dp/0307272702/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1341526534&sr=8-1 it all actually had more sense that what I was thought to believe.

tl;dr: don't want to write a wall of text explaining why you're 100% correct - just read through links before judging anything

I recommend a digital kitchen scale. I like this one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003MSZBSI/

When I started losing weight I didn't go out to restaurants much at first. Once I got the hang of it, I kept to national chains that publish their nutrition data. McDonald's has a southwest chicken salad that's under 400 calories and a grilled snack wrap is under 300. Bob Evans has a wildfire chicken salad that is under 400 calories if you get the grilled chicken, and less if you sub light ranch for the wildfire ranch. Panera has great salad options. Applebee's has a lower calorie menu. Even the Cheesecake Factory has a menu where everything is 590 calories or under. Look ahead on the menu and be prepared. Google [restaurant name] nutrition. It's kind of soul crushing IMO to go to chains all the time, but it's easier for the purposes of counting calories.

After I had been measuring my own food at home for a long time (4-5 months) I felt more confident about estimating at local places. Get dressings on the side, ask them to go light on the cheese, etc. You just have to be smart about making good choices. If worst comes to worst you can put in a similar dish from a national chain (I use Red Robin burgers all the time) but I find it causes less anxiety if I limit how much I do this.

First read this book Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It.
Learn about low, slow, no carb diets and try them until you find one that will work for you. Exercise is good for you but diet is what will determine your weight loss. It sucks but the sodas will have to go, switch to diet if you need something carbonated. Good Luck!

I have this one. Just make sure it's on level floor and you always weight yourself in the same spot, in the morning after your morning wee. Make sure the floor is level where you place it...or you might throw yourself back into bed and bawl. Not that I've done that or anything.

I struggle with binge eating. This book changed my life. It's really simple. :) http://www.amazon.com/Have-Your-Skinny-Jeans-ebook/dp/B00B9JKNBC

I love this bad boy. So convenient and you can do a lot with it.

For roasting, I don't use anything, but for pan stuff I use an oil sprayer. One quick spray, I count it as a 1/4 teaspoon oil and it's enough to coat the pan.

http://www.amazon.com/Why-We-Get-Fat-About/dp/0307272702

Or listen to the audio book.

I have this one. You can get from Bed Bath and Beyond with 20% coupon, assuming there's one near you.

https://www.amazon.com/OXO-Stainless-Pull-Out-Display-11-Pound/dp/B000WJMTNA

Amazon

Non-mobile: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003MSZBSI/

^That's ^why ^I'm ^here, ^I ^don't ^judge ^you. ^PM ^/u/xl0 ^if ^I'm ^causing ^any ^trouble. ^WUT?

You could get an elliptical or a bike machine for a home machine.

You're asking for help, here it is. You can ignore this or take a chance that I, someone who is bothering to respond to your post, is steering you in the right direction. You have to learn why you get fat, learning the why behind the what will help keep you on the right track. This is not a diet book--because as you know diet books are crap.

This is the real thing, and though you may have heard it before you didn't really learn it, try again because it could mean your life:

http://www.amazon.com/Why-We-Get-Fat-Borzoi/dp/0307272702

Your link doesn't work. Is it this?

edit: also, I know it's definitely an emotional thing I'm working past. Whenever I go home and I'm around my family my hunger cravings are insane. I have to snack constantly. It's a stress thing.

OXO 11lb scale. I've owned two Taylors and a Star Frit and both brands suck - they drained battery within a few weeks. This OXO lasts a good year before needing to change the batteries, and when my first one stopped working (spilled ACV on it), they replaced it for free.

ETA this is why I can't justify buying a cheap ass scale.

Carbohydrates cause water retention. If you are moderating your intake, it is likely that you will lose a lot of water weight in the first week. I also lost 7 lbs in about 1 week, after which my weight loss slowed down a little. Source.

Yup, it's killer. Even level 1 left me drenched in sweat and sore for a day or two, in spite of the fact that I jog quite a bit.

It's definitely a video for which you need a lot of open space. And it probably won't work if you live in an apartment with people underneath you because it involves lots of jumping jacks.

Here's the link, by the way

Hey Fitness96,

I remember being 17 years old and wanting to lose a substantial amount of weight, I just wanted to be like everyone else my age. Sadly, genetics play a significant factor in how our bodies process different macronutrients (fats, protein, and carbs), and it sounds like you got the short end of the genetic stick (just as I did). The bad news is that you can’t just eat whatever you want and look fit (past the age of 30 almost no one can, the American obesity rate is proof of that), the good news is that you’re not destined to be overweight.

I’ve made so many mistakes over the years, I literally yo-yo dieted for 12 years before finally losing and keeping off 40 lbs of fat after I found the RIGHT diet and the RIGHT exercise.

I remember running for miles and miles, then trying to restrict my calories to lose weight, only to become starving and binge eat followed by feeling exhausted and sleeping for days.

No matter who you ask, you’re going to get a different opinion, but based on my experience (and mistakes) these are some general rules of thumb to follow (disclaimer: I am not a doctor, the suggestions below are based solely off of my personal experience).

At the bottom of the post I provide resources for you to read, best of luck to you and shoot me a message if you have any questions / need some help!

1. Calorie Counting Misses the Boat – It is true that if you eat fewer calories than you burn you will lose weight, but what I didn’t understand at 17 years old was WHY do some people naturally eat the same amount as they burn and why do others eat MORE than they burn (and thus become fat). From day to day your body burns roughly the same amount of calories, there are really only two sources for those calories: food you eat that day and stores of energy contained within your body (that is, body fat, muscle, and glycogen). The reason why some people overeat (and thus are overweight) is that they cannot easily access their stores of energy. Why? There are a number of reasons, but the primary contributor of this energy imbalance (and that’s really what obesity is), is elevated levels of the hormone insulin. When you digest food it spikes your blood sugar. When your blood sugar goes up, your body has to secrete insulin in order for your fat/muscle to absorb that blood sugar. The more insulin that your body secretes, the more nutrients that will be shoved into fat (and at the same time, the harder it will be for your fat stores to release energy). You’d think that people who have tons of fat to lose wouldn’t feel hungry because of all their fat, but because they have elevated insulin levels their bodies can’t actually ACCESS those fat stores, so their body tells send a signal to eat more food because that’s the only energy it can access. The question is, what do you do about it? All foods spike your blood sugar (and thus your insulin levels), but carbohydrates spike them the most, protein a distant second, and fats a very distant third. So in order to keep your blood sugar lower (and thus lose excess fat), you need to drastically reduce the amount of carbs you eat (that is, eliminate bread, rice, pasta). You should be eating primarily meat and vegetables. Back on calorie counting, it’s not that it DOESN’T work, it’s that it’s UNSUSTAINABLE. If you’ve ever met someone who’s lost weight counting calories, ask them how long they kept the weight off for. Inevitably people who count calories become too hungry or too tired. It should be common sense to people that 2,000 calories of pure sugar is not identical to 2,000 calories of grass-fed organic beef, but it’s not. Sadly, the calorie is a calorie myth lives on. Don’t fall for it.
   
   
2. Aerobic Exercise – I used to think hours of long, slow cardio was great for weight loss. It’s not. Short-intervals (e.g. 30 second all out sprint followed by 2 min walk, repeat 4 to 8 times per session, 2x per week) is MUCH better for fat loss. If you’re 75 lbs overweight, I wouldn’t recommend anything but walking 20 minutes per session 2 - 3x a week until you’ve lost most of the excess fat through proper diet. If you start running with a lot of excess fat you risk tearing up your knees and hurting your back. If you have access to a swimming pool, that’s an acceptable low-impact way to exercise as well.
   
   
3. Weight Training – I used to think that tons of sets, tons of reps, and light to moderately heavy weights were the way to go. Big mistake. If you’re spending hours and hours a week in the gym, you’re wasting time. You only need to master three lifts: the bench press, the squat, and the deadlift. Focus on perfecting your form and for every week that you meet your goals, increase the amount you lift the next week.
   
   
4. Organic Meat and Vegetables – I’m not going to go into detail here, but it should be obvious that it’s unnatural to inject animals with hormones/antibiotics and cover vegetables in pesticides. Anything that’s injected into an animal or sprayed onto a vegetable ultimately goes inside you when you eat it. Opt for pasture raised animals and organic vegetables. Whole Foods is expensive, but the quality of their food is worth it.
   
   
5. Lifestyle – Lots of people have the “I’ll just lose the weight, and then go back to eating what I want.” This mindset is, in a word, INSANE. If you’re overweight, it’s because you’re eating the wrong foods. You can’t lose weight and then go back to eating the wrong foods again. Well, you can, but you’ll become overweight again. It may be hard to stomach this idea right now, but you need to view this as a CHANGE FOR LIFE. That can sound intimidating, so I want to elaborate on it briefly. People typically react, “Does that mean I can NEVER eat pizza again?!” Obviously not. I personally eat “healthy” foods 6 days a week, and on day 7 I eat whatever I want (cheat day). Lots of people sustain their weight loss by following a 6 day on, 1 day off system. Something else that may be hard to believe right now is that even though you can’t imagine living without bread/rice/pasta/pizza/sugar right now, you won’t always want those foods as much as you do now. As you lose weight, not only will your progress will serve as ongoing motivation to eat healthy foods, but also your desire for unhealthy foods will go away (I experienced this first hand, but it took 2-3 months for it to happen). Unhealthy food is not the only source of enjoyment in life.
   
   
6. Other People – No matter what your goal is or what system you use for weight loss, SOMEONE IS GOING TO CRITICIZE YOU. You need to be prepared for this. Friends, family members, other students, the list is endless. What’s amazing is even overweight people will tell you you’re doing it wrong! When someone criticizes your system, you can say, “You might be right, it might not work, but I’m going to try it for a month and see how it works, couldn’t hurt to try right?” When someone criticizes your goal, perhaps they’ll be concerned that it’s unrealistic, you can say, “You might be right, maybe my goal is too ambitious, but other people like me have lost weight before, so I figure I can do it too. What do you think?” Even though people are criticizing your diet / goals, what they REALLY want is to just be listened to, people want to know their opinion matters. So let them know you value their opinion, listen to what they have to say, but you don’t have follow what they say just because they say it!
   
   
7. Goals & Systems – Regardless of what system you try for weight loss, you need to stick to it for AT LEAST 6 WEEKS before you can say whether or not it’s working. Don’t keep switching from one plan to another and claiming, “Nothing works, and I’ve tried everything!!” You may have tried everything, but you have to try it for LONG ENOUGH to know that it works or doesn’t.
   
   RESOURCES
   
   
8. DIET
   Book – The Four Hour Body by Tim Ferriss – http://www.amazon.com/The-4-Hour-Body-Incredible-Superhuman/dp/030746363X
   
   Book – The Paleo Solution by Robb Wolf – http://www.amazon.com/Paleo-Solution-Original-Human-Diet/dp/0982565844/ref=la_B003Z4MQVY_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1406053434&sr=1-1
   
   Blog – Ben Greenfield – http://www.bengreenfieldfitness.com/
   
   Blog – Mark Sisson – http://www.marksdailyapple.com/
   
   
9. WEIGHT TRAINING – Check out the Strong Lifts 5x5 system. It’s more important to follow the program consistently, week after week, than to stress about taking one day off. Focus on steady progress, nothing happens overnight.
   
   http://stronglifts.com/5x5/
   
   Bench Press (proper form) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaOwz6DNdjw
   Deadlift (proper form) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1H1VG9Uh50
   Squats (proper form) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDPy_i_Wbuo
   
   
10. Psychology of Success – One of my favorite bloggers is Ramit Sethi. He doesn’t write about weight loss specifically, but he writes endlessly about the mindset of successful people. You can apply his material immediately to whatever goal you’re trying to reach in life, but you actually have to APPLY the material, you can’t just read it and expect things to fall in place by themselves.
    
    http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/
    
    Best of luck to you, and feel free to shoot me a message with any questions!