Weight Loss....

[Merritt]

God damn it's hard.

Started doing a little bit of diet and light exercise lately. Replaced my usual dinners with a salad, and started hitting the treadmill in my apartment's fitness room. Haven't looked at a scale yet, as I prefer to measure my weight by how my pants fit XD

Anyway, anybody have any little tricks they have to keep from snacking and keeping on track with fitness stuff? While I want to lose some weight, I seriously have very little motivation.

Blah

/rant

 

[nedar]

Theres the usual motivational booster of buying a new outfit/jeans/pants in your desired size;hanging it up and looking at it to see your goal.

I've personally had success with a low carb diet, where you cut the carb portion of every meal in half (rice, pasta, bread etc). Unfortunately that was an imposed lifestyle change so once it finished I reverted back to my old diet (and weight !).

Its a little narcissistic, but taking pictures in the mirror or looking in one does help. When starting out you probably won't see much change. As you keep going, the weight loss gets more visible and its a big encouragement.

 

[Quietlife]

I used to work as a professional sports instructor, coach and psychologist in a sport that is suited to people being as light as possible and as strong as possible.

As you know, diet, nutrition and exercise are complicated by the enormous amount of conflicting information and advice out there. For someone who wants to lose weight, it can be done, but to keep the weight off permanently requires a change in lifestyle without following fad diets.

The big questions for me would be, why do you want to lose weight? How strongly do you really want to lose weight? Enough to change your habits and even give up things you enjoy?

Please pm me if you need support. It's free! One of my Japanese friends lost 25kg and ran his first marathon for his 50th birthday. He needed his friends and coaches around him to constantly keep him on track through the self-doubt.

Good luck!

 

[User#16452]

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[Jack Hammer]

Im actually in the process of doing the opposite, im trying to gain weight. In terms of motivation what is working for me is...
1. Make small obtainable goals, it just makes it feel as though you are improving a little bit at a time.
2. Make cheat days, I try to eat as clean as possible, but once a week I binge on fast food and sweets.
3. Eating lots of fruit, if i ever crave something sweet I try to eat lots of fruit.
These things have helped me to keep going with my weight gain process, and its working out for myself.

 

[veryniceguy]

When you wake up in the morning...... drink a LOT of water....... and during the day, drink at least one liter of water........ reduce how much rice/bread you eat...... and start the day with fruits or a fruit smoothie....... and walk a lot!

 

[TAG Manager]

I stopped eating rice with most meals, lost about 6kg.
reduced sweet drinks, lost another 2kg
stopped eating heavy food after 10pm before sleeping (if I sleep), at least 1.5kg down.

Moderate exercise with a lot of walking everyday.

I came to Japan at 63'ish Kg and had gained 20kg.... such a disaster.

 

[User#6517]

I really recommend intermittent fasting, if you want to burn fat very fast.

I've done it back in December and January, losing about 20 pounds during those two months.. but I failed to keep the weight off due to new meds and combini temptations I seriously have to get back on it, though.

Basically, it's a very flexible and quick way to lose fat. You can eat whatever the hell you want, as long as you're staying in a caloric deficit, and lose weight.. but you have to eat during a specific time frame everyday. I chose the 20:4 regimen (20 hours of fasting, 4 hours eating window).. and ate my calorie goals between 2~6PM.. but there are other regimens that you can use, including 14:10, 16:8, 18;6, etc.

You can drink zero-calorie liquids.. such as water, black coffee, tea, and even Coke Zero.. to control the hunger pangs during your fasting hours (or cravings in general if you're not interested in this method)

As for fitness motivation, I suggest finding a workout buddy and/or getting on social media, especially Instagram, and following a bunch of fitness accounts that upload new workout videos and before-and-after weight loss pictures on a daily or regular basis.

Even if you're not interested in IF or my advice in general, I do cheer you on & hope that you will be able to reach your goal weight someday! Best of luck!

 

[scorpioni6ths]

Not an expert but IMHO with any weight loss program first you got to know your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure, there are many calculators on the Net) then you have to eat at a deficit (caloric deficit). You should have at least 500 (numbers vary depending on which site you read) calorie deficit everyday to start loosing weight.

Then balancing what you eat so that you don't feel lethargic during the day. Eating at a deficit will only get you so far. That's where burning the calories come in. What are your goals? Stay strong but get lean? Just get lean? Most people do just cardio. No doubt they get lean but they their strength does not change or it goes down. Some people lift (bodybuilding or powerlifting) with the aim of muscle hypertrophy, they get lean and get stronger.

Anyway, anybody have any little tricks they have to keep from snacking and keeping on track with fitness stuff? While I want to lose some weight, I seriously have very little motivation.

Go out and walk more. Track your calories with an app. Seriously if your motivation is **low** ... don't expect to one day wake up lean and slim.

I came to Japan at 63'ish Kg and had gained 20kg.... such a disaster.

The reverse actually happened to me. Came here 72kg, went down to 65kg during my heavy cycling days (maybe I was just dehydrated for 2 years). Major shift to hiking and now I'm back at 70kg. I hope it was muscle but I still do see blubber around my waist. But the most important thing is ... I'm happy with this weight and I don't feel lethargic because I'm eating too little or overweight, I still fit my pants, I still got soft parts that can be used as a pillow if needed.

 

[namae]

While I want to lose some weight, I seriously have very little motivation.

/rant

I think "motivation" may be a key ingredient in the program.

TAG may not be the obvious place to look for tips on weight loss. The internet is overflowing with "advice" on the subject - some of it may be relevant to you - a person of your age, size, weight, lifestyle and existing diet.

I am fairly cynical about the weigh loss industry and the latest fads and trends....but one thing is certain, you won't lose weight without some motivation, discipline and determination to break old habits and form new ones.

I am in the process of breaking my addiction to instant coffee. I used to have two strong horrible nescafe "coffees" to start me up in the morning. Four weeks ago I went "cold turkey". It wasn't much fun. Still the half empty coffee jar whispers to me when I open the cupboard door in a sleep deprived state. I haven't cracked yet....but it takes willpower.

 

[Vulkan]

I stopped eating rice with most meals, lost about 6kg.
reduced sweet drinks, lost another 2kg
stopped eating heavy food after 10pm before sleeping (if I sleep), at least 1.5kg down.

Moderate exercise with a lot of walking everyday.

I came to Japan at 63'ish Kg and had gained 20kg.... such a disaster.

This is what you should do. Also drink water...a lot

 

[Quietlife]

When you wake up in the morning...... drink a LOT of water....... and during the day, drink at least one liter of water........ reduce how much rice/bread you eat...... and start the day with fruits or a fruit smoothie....... and walk a lot!

This is my usual regime, minus the daily training. It's awful at first, but after a while becomes normal and then enjoyable.

Incremental changes do add up to better health. If you go all out at the beginning, it is so difficult to maintain. And then feel guilty or feel a failure. Rapid results look good, but long-term health is more important. Sustainable change that suits your schedule.

 

[Smart]

Get "7-minute workout" and "mynetdiary" or similar apps. They are free. The workout one helps to motivate for some light exercise..but even without the app just try to do 100 jumping jacks, and as many squats, situps and pushups as you can manage in under 10 mins total. Do that 3 or 4 days a week...every day if you are able.

Mynetdiary or others like it let you keep track of what you are eating and calories. I recommend using that for a few weeks just to get a sense of what you can cut down on easily. In my case I realised that breakfast was usually bread or rice eaten in a rush and not enjoyed and lunch was typically high-fat fried food. So, I changed those habits and added a bit of exercise, really minimal actually, and lost over 20kg in around 6 months. I also cut down on drinking during the week...beer is carbs. To keep my quality of life I relaxed my rules on the weekend but made sure not overdue multiple bad things. For example, if I wanted to drink a lot of booze, I would stay away from fried food.What a lot of people do on cheat days is they take an attitude of "fuck it, I broke the diet with this margarita so I may as well get the deep-fried mozzarella sticks as well". Don't do that. Enjoy the margarita but leave it at that.

Good luck. It's really not so hard once you get started.

 

[Merritt]

Oof, haven't been able to get any free time for a while, feels good to be back in the real world again. So, here's how things are looking right now-

I'm 35, 6ft/182cm, and somewhere in the 275-280 range (damn near 130kg). I do IT for a living, so I'm sitting a looooot. I've got severe sleep apnea, which feels like it's been getting a bit worse lately. I get minimal exercise, and my diet isn't usually the best. I'm very much a stress/boredom eater, and I'm almost always stressed or bored. Summer is the worst time of year for me because I'm REALLY sensitive to the heat/humidity, so I'm probably not going to get out much. I actually lost about 7kg shortly after I moved here, but I think that was when I didn't know the bus schedules or really how to cook many things, so I'd walk everywhere and have very simple and small meals.

Now some good things/changes I've made- As far as exercise goes, it's about a 15-20min walk from my apt to the station, then another 5-10min walk from station to my office (I'm a slow walker some days). My apartment building has an exercise room, and I've been doing a walk/jog combo about three times a week for 35 mins each session. I'm pushing for an extra minute or two each time I get on the treadmill, and have started doing some pushups/situps/squats/etc. I used to guzzle red bull all day, but I've cut it back to a single can of sugar/calorie free monster in the morning, and I'm working on replacing that with water. Dinners have gone from going out all the time or eating not so healthy bentos to making salad almost nightly. Lettuce, cucumber, brocolli, red/yellow peppers, and some small pieces of chicken, all mixed up with a tiny bit of sesame dressing. I've never been a salad guy, but damn, I'm actually enjoying eating these. I've cut back my delivery pizza to about once every 3-4 weeks. Breakfast and lunch really aren't all that good, so I'm in the process of finding something different to have instead.

For me, my changes may be really small, but that's how I have to do it. I can't just go cold turkey and expect it to work. First it was the salads, then it was some light walking, and now I'm looking for more. My goal is to get back down to about 100kg/220lb, and reevaluate things. Perhaps I'll decide to try and drop another 5-10, maybe I'll decide to do more weight training and pick up another 5lbs of muscle and tone things up. I'll figure that out when I get there.

Why do I want to lose weight? Lots of reasons. Body image is definitely a big one. I just don't like the way I look. Hell, had some company over the other week and while we were going at it in the shower, I saw my gut kind of jiggling around in the mirror, and didn't like how that looked. That aside, I just want to get healthier. I'm tired of being tired from walking up a flight of stairs. I'm tired of having a gut that gets in the way. I do remember being lighter. I do remember losing a few pounds here and there throughout my life. I know how much more energy I have, I know how good I feel, both physically and mentally.


Edit- so it's Monday and I've already rescheduled workouts for this week. I was going to hit the treadmill today, but I've been a bit lazy around the house and things have piled up. So today I'm going to knock out all this stuff I have here (bills, cleaning, paperwork, hiring somebody to do painting at my house in the US, laundry, etc etc), so that tomorrow I can get back to working out with a clear mind. I've come to realize that while being physically healthy is big, mental health is equally important.

 

[Smart]

Sounds like you are heading in the right direction...keep it up with everything you are doing and you will see results soon. I actually found that weighing myself every morning helped motivate me, but I know a lot of people advocate for not weighing so frequently. The things is to not reward yourself every time it goes down.

Regarding breakfast...I got some boxes of crunchy oat granola bars at Costco and eat those every day. Every day. They are filling and only 200 cals. And give up the soft drinks! Soda water is refreshing and better than those diet drinks.

Keep it up, Man! You are going to feel great soon. Your energy levels will shoot way up with less weight...probably find that the sleep apnea gets better too.

If you eat at convenience stores....try to do a no carbs meal. They have chicken breasts and salads. A soft boiled egg or some oden are options too.

 

[Quietlife]

Well done for sharing with us. Regular updates - both positive and negative will help keep you on track. Support is important, especially as it's going to take time. All those small changes will add up, so keep chipping away.

 

[meiji]

I'm 35, 6ft/182cm, and somewhere in the 275-280 range (damn near 130kg). I do IT for a living, so I'm sitting a looooot. I've got severe sleep apnea, which feels like it's been getting a bit worse lately. I get minimal exercise, and my diet isn't usually the best. I'm very much a stress/boredom eater, and I'm almost always stressed or bored. Summer is the worst time of year for me because I'm REALLY sensitive to the heat/humidity, so I'm probably not going to get out much. I actually lost about 7kg shortly after I moved here, but I think that was when I didn't know the bus schedules or really how to cook many things, so I'd walk everywhere and have very simple and small meals.

- Do you have/can you get a sit/stand desk? Standing part of the day will burn some calories, even if you start small.

-I haven't looked into it in Japan, but maybe you can get a CPAP machine if you don't have one already? Getting real sleep will really help with energy levels and alertness.

 

[shafu]

Lack of sleep also contributes to eating binges. So getting that checked out could help.

One thing I'd recommend for breakfast is something full of protein and not empty carbs or sugar. Will keep you fuller longer and not have that blood sugar spike.

The other thing I would also consider is not be afraid of fats. It's the simple carbs that can lead to blood sugar spikes and additional calories.

But at the end of the day, exercise can only do you good as well. Simple strength training can also help. And you'd be surprised how quickly you can advance as soon as you get over the initial hurdle. For example push ups. I started out doing 3 sets of ten push ups, focused on form. Before you know it, your browser able to do 12, 15, 20 push ups in your sets. Building muscle mass will help with increasing your metabolism.

Good luck! Reddit fitness is a great resource as well.

 

[shafu]

One more note. As I get older, the more important it is to stretch after a work out. But simply walking around should help quite a bit.

And embrace the humidity! That heat will 1) in inhibit your appetite (don't eat ice cream) And 2) encourage you to loose some weight to avoid sweaty so much.

 

[Merritt]

Can't really get a standing desk. If I have a documented necessary medical need for something, the will have to buy it (ie- desk chairs with super back support for people who have documented disc issues, etc). Some days I sit at my desk a lot, some days I am up walking around my small building fixing stuff, so at least I'm not on my ass for 8 hours straight.

I do have a CPAP machine. From what my doc told me ages ago, 'normal' people have about 5 or less events per hour. 5-14 is light/mild, 15-29 is moderate, over 30 events per hour is severe. When I was 19 and in the best shape of my life (180lbs, jogging daily, working construction, generally in super shape), I was diagnosed with moderate sleep apnea. At the time I didn't really do anything about it. Fast forward into my mid/late 20's, I talked to my doc, did all the testing again, and boom, I'm severe sleep apnea, averaging over 60 events per hour (that means at least once a minute, I stop breathing). My test spiked at 185 events/hr. So I got a CPAP. Made a huge difference. Been using it something like 6 or 7 years? While I feel like lately it's not cutting it, I still can't sleep without it.....literally.

The two main kinds of sleep apnea are obstructive- where the airway gets blocked, usually by soft tissues around the airway. There is also central sleep apnea, where basically your brain just forgets to breath. I've got the third main kind- mixed. I've got a mix of obstructive and central. So while losing weight will help my sleep apnea get better, and maybe surgery could help even further, it's something I'll be dealing with forever.

I do have carbs (bread usually) at breakfast and lunch, and I'm cutting back a bit on them. Not afraid of fats, because just like carbs, everything is alright in moderation.

F humidity. Even when I was skinny, I would always sweat a lot. Now I just sweat more XD

Well, off to the fitness room!

 

[Curacao]

If you want to lose weight you just gotta stop eating so much. unfortunately that is the long and the short of it. Exercise can help create an additional calorie deficit but your number one priority should be cutting back your calorific intake. All the stuff about low carb or paleo or whatever is basically just away of making the calorie deficit more bearable. You will obviously need to find your own coping strategies, because one mans meat is another mans poison, but I would recommend setting yourself a daily calorie target and recording your calories every day. Skip breakfast and/or dinner, cut out any drink that has calories in it (except possibly milk), eat lots of veg to fill you up on fewer calories. Go to IIFYM.com if you need to see how many calories you need. Take a vitamin supplement if you need to. And bear in mind that weight loss will get slower the closer you get to a healthy weight. When you are at a healthy weight you can think about transitioning to a more healthy diet in the long term. And you should do exercise just for all of the other benefits beyond just weight loss. But the number one priority should be getting down to a healthy weight because that has all sorts of benefits on your overall health and energy levels.

 

[scorpioni6ths]

Given that you have a sleeping disorder, how many hours of sleep do you usually get?

I've been reading some articles. Studies show that insufficient sleep can have an effect on people dieting. Dieting means they have a caloric deficit of about 500 calories. The gist is that people getting ~8 hours sleep lost 50/50 fat/lean mass. Participants getting ~5H sleep lost 20/80 fat/lean mass.

http://strengtheory.com/sleep-pt-1/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2951287/

A good diet plan and getting enough sleep seems to be key to loosing fat efficiently.

 

[Merritt]

Ah, sleep. I wish I got more, but it's hard. I probably average 5-6 hours of total sleep, but even with my CPAP mask, I've been waking up a lot lately. Some nights I'll go to bed early because I'm super tired, just to wake up after 3 hours and feel like I got a full night's rest, just to crash out soon after. Other nights I do get enough sleep, but it's not often. Some of the things I've changed to try and sleep better- I normally don't drink booze during the week. If a friend invites me out for dinner, I'll have only one or two drinks. I've been cutting off my electronics a bit earlier, and trying to read for a while before bed (supposedly the blue lights in our screens mess with our sleep hormones (melatonin?)).

It's a long road, but I feel like I've gotten myself off to a good start. Just need to keep at it now.

 

[RandomTokyoGuy]

I can speak a bit of experience lately. I had a terrible work period from January till April when I gained quite some weight due to stress, tons of extra hours always working late etc.
Since end of April I lost 13kg again. The most significant change was to abandon all diet drinks and replace that with water/tea. Those may have no calories, but I noticed that I have a significantly bigger appetite drinking those. Just stopping that made me eat a lot less.

I also started to hit the gym for 1h every day (in reality 5-6times) a week. I mostly do cycling cause that allows me to watch TV, read news etc. and therefore doesn't cut so much into my time. I don't allow myself to slack, which in the beginning is a bit of a fight, but I got used to it very quickly. If I have a real tough day, I shorten the exercise a bit, but don't skip it.
Except from those late night delivery pizzas, which I already hated (but what choice do you have if you work that long), I didn't change my diet much. I cook a bit more myself and use lots of fresh veggies. At work I always have some fruits / veggies around if I need a snack.

So as a sum up
1) drink mainly water ( drinking more helps with appetite as well)
2) integrate physical activity in your day, if possible in a way that it also becomes relaxation for you, so you don't feel like you sacrifice something
3) if you are a boredom / stress eater, try to replace the sweets with something healthier

I weight myself every day, but that's up to you. Helps me, cause I see a promising trend
I tend to eat a lot of stuff if it's there, but don't miss it, if it isn't. So control your environment a bit.
I'm sure one can have a more scientific approach to the diet, but I still like to have fun in life

 

[roots reggae]

All the folks above offer good advice, however you need solid research-based information.

I've studied the topic for decades and consider the Harvard School of Public Health's Nutrition Source
to be the best place to find reliable information. They are not trying to sell you a product, just giving the facts.

https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/

It will take time to educate yourself, so read a bit every day and make a plan.

Here are a few bits of advice to get you started:

Take it slowly. It took you awhile to get to your present condition and will take awhile to break bad habits.

Eliminate processed foods as much as possible.

Salads are great, but you need healthy fats for satiety and to keep you from getting hungry all the time. Add avocados, olive oil to your salads, as well as seeds and nuts.

Eliminate sugar from your diet. Sounds radical, but it's poison for you.

Get up and walk around. Take a break while working. Go to the toilet, slowly climb to the next floor on the stairs. Do this at least once an hour.

Eat yogurt that has live culture. Research proves the essential role of gut bacteria, not only to weight loss, but also to over health.

Along the same lines, include fermented foods such as miso, sauerkraut, Kim Chee (oh no, not Kim Chee), see evidence below:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-gut-bacteria-help-make-us-fat-and-thin/

Celebrate your small successes and don't let guilt sidetrack you.

Best of luck, my friend.