Board 8 > Oh I hit my goal weight today ask me anything

(+) Yeah! (+)

went from 190 about two years ago to 165 today. This is officially the skinniest I've ever been since the year wii fit came out, and it looks like I still can go down a little bit while staying a healthy weight, so I might do that naturally, as my weight just keeps going down without me trying very hard.

It was a hard road, but I did it without exercise routines and did it without calorie counting, which you may have heard me post about before, but those two weight loss methods have the scientific merit of the flat earth society, please PLEASE don't listen to someone who advises you using this method, instead, try to learn about nutrition yourself so you can make yourself healthier. Dogmatic institutions like the American Heart Association, USDA, FDA, and others have created a country of obese individuals trying their hardest to stay thin and failing, while in other countries people are eating whatever the hell they want and not gaining a pound. If you're fat, it's probably not your fault. No amount of "self-control' or "willpower" can make you undereat enough to get thin and stay thin.

I urge everyone who is interested in losing weigh to pick up 5 or so books about nutrition. The more the better. Read about fad diets like Atkins, Mediterranean, Ice Cream, Paleo and so on, as well as pick up some more traditional diet books so you can see the entire picture of the American food culture we've created. Why do people think Olive oil is healthy but butter isn't? Why do people think butter is healthy but lard isn't? Why do people think Fructose is healthy but Glucose isn't? Why do people think Glucose is healthy but fructose isn't? Why do people think that cholesterol clogs our arteries? Research and find definitive answers to these questions, and you're start to shed pounds just because you'll understand a little bit of how your body works.

I'll do tips and tricks in my next post
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Tips:

-While it seems hunger is your worst enemy, it's actually cravings that get you. Eating anything that contains a substantial amount of sugar (any amount really) will make you crave more sugar. So if you're hungry and you see an endless box of cookies, no amount eaten will ever make you feel full, so best to avoid sweets when you're hungry entirely if you can.

-Black Tea will counter sugar's craving effect, it is by far the most useful trick I've learned through this whole experience. If you have sugarless black tea with every meal, I would probably say you could get by eating 25% (number pulled out of my ass) of what you normally eat.

-Putting Coconut oil in coffee or tea is a great way to fill you up in a hurry or when you're low on supplies. It's basically works the way our culture would consider a "0 calorie drink" should work.
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Calorie counting can definitely work
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Easiest diet to follow is eat pre packaged stuff as little as possible. Obviously there's plenty of stuff out there that's pre packaged and completely fine, but if you restrict most of your purchasing to singular food items you should be good. Fruits, vegetables, meats, milk, nuts, etc. etc. Easiest way to turn your brain off when it comes to shopping and maintain a healthy diet.
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also congrats dude !
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haloiscoolisbak posted...

Calorie counting can definitely work

It can't! Sorry. It can, however, inadvertently work if the calories you cut out of your diet are sugars or heavy carbohydrates. Ultimately though, a healthy diet will make you consume less calories, but a low calorie diet isn't necessarily going to make you lose weight (in the long term)
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Well I've lost 40 lbs earlier this year via calorie counting and have kept it off for many months now. Still want to lose another 20 but yeah counting calories (or rather, planning out a set of meals that will land you at a lower calorie intake while not making you suffer from malnutrition and sticking to that) definitely can work.

Maybe it didn't for you in the past. Portion control as an idea has merit though. Ultimately to not be malourished while controlling portions you will need to change what you eat and it's not as simple as "eat what you eat now but less" but yeah.
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SantaRPidgey posted...

It can't! Sorry. It can, however, inadvertently work if the calories you cut out of your diet are sugars or heavy carbohydrates. Ultimately though, a healthy diet will make you consume less calories, but a low calorie diet isn't necessarily going to make you lose weight (in the long term)

no one is saying calorie counting means "eat candy all day as long as it's below your TDEE and you'll be fine"

people generally know that calorie counting still means "try to eat get the daily recommended amounts of protein/carbs/fat/etc"

Dels posted...

no one is saying calorie counting means "eat candy all day as long as it's below your TDEE and you'll be fine"

people generally know that calorie counting still means "try to eat get the daily recommended amounts of protein/carbs/fat/etc"

The second statement is definitely not calorie counting, there's nothing that relates to calories or keeping track of amount of calories eaten. If you want to make the argument that saying "calorie counting" is the same as saying "eating healthy meals" than sure, I could buy that that works (even if "eating healthy meals" is too vague to be considered an actual health plan) but the truth is in my country we have entire sections of grocery stores dedicated to selling products that cater to the first mindset and not the second.
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calorie counting is, literally, the act of counting calories because you know that if your body takes in less calories than it burns, you will lose weight.

if you're aiming to also hit your macros within that, then yes, that's technically not "calorie counting" but is generally done alongside it. even if people don't know the actual numbers, anyone who is serious about weight loss and has done at least a bit of research understands that you'll generally try to reach your calorie goal with a good balance of stuff, and with only a moderate amount of junk food.

calories in calories out is just the framework that anything else works within, whether you're specifically counting them or not. you'll still go broke if you buy 10 new AAA video games a week, even if you're not counting your budget in a spreadsheet.

Also if you want my advice as someone who has lost a lot there are basically only three things you need to do imo

1. Like HotDogButts said remove prepackaged foods in general if you can.

2. Plan a meal set that gets you to less calories while not sacrificing protein calories (or stuff like vegetables/fruits and fiber sources) or being too ambitious with the actual cut. This doesn't mean going Atkins or anything so extreme, as things like changing your choices of proteins can actually drop that a ton without even reducing carbs by reducing fats. Me I started putting protein powder in my coffee in the morning (this is doubly useful in that it will make your breakfast more filling and make you less inclined to snacking during the day), added cottage cheese, beans, tuna and salmon as regulars, limiting less efficient protein sources like other cheeses and other meats.

3. You can have some limited snack food but don't ever leave it somewhere close to where you can mindlessly eat it. Always make it a thing you have to go out of your way to eat, and always portion control that explicitly (like if you really want chips get those party packs that have small bags of chips) so you don't exceed the calorie target by much. It's easiest to just not have any in the house though if you can. But if you're aiming for like 1600 calories a bag of chips getting you to 1770 isn't going to kill you once in a while.
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It took you two years to lose 25 lbs. You're the last person anyone should listen to.

codman4 posted...

It took you two years to lose 25 lbs. You're the last person anyone should listen to.

Well it's still a good accomplishment either way !
Seriously though congrats but please dont bash the CICO framework. I get your point, it is a basic framework and it's not the foundation for weight loss but it's a damn good starting point if someone is just starting their weight loss journey. Same as stating it's about eating healthier

I knew a guy who dropped like 80lbs in less than a year. He ate 1 meal a day (lunch), and smoked cigs and drank like a fish. He was a damn skeleton before rehab. He was killing himself pretty fast, his caloric intake was 100% unhealthy, he never counted calories yet he lost triple your weight in 20% the time Santa. All his booze was straight Gin. No mix. Straight non flavored liquor has no carbs. The guy was basically on the Keto diet.
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Yeah I dropped 40 lbs in 5 months for the record, January to June. Had I kept pace I could've dropped all 65-70 I wanted to by now but I decided to take it easy for a while as I no longer felt terribly overweight at 205 (which I am now)

Think I'm gonna get back into it soon though, working harder on putting some muscle mass while losing this time.

Still though if 25lbs sticks it's a good accomplishment-- especially if you're going down to 165 which seems like a pretty good weight unless you're super short.
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attagirl, keep it up
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