My husband is a member of a club that meets about twice monthly, and has been going to this club for about 6 years. I usually don't go because they're all talking about eye crossingly booring stuff (electronics and stuff), but every once in a while I go if they're doing something halfway interesting, just enough so that I know most of them at least a little bit.

Last week was the monthly breakfast social at a diner that makes amazing breakfast stuff. They hadn't seen me since last summer, and some hadn't seen me since the summer before (when I was about 300lbs). My conversation with several guys I remember was oddly stilted and uncomfortable, and I couldn't figure out why.

Yesterday I found out exactly why. They had another event this weekend, and two of them cornered my husband and wanted to know WTF happened to his wife/marriage, and when did he get a new girlfriend? At first my husband thought they were teasing, then he realized they actually believed the woman with him at the breakfast a week ago was not the same person as his wife. He had to show several of my progress pictures (on his cell phone) to get them to believe it was still me!

When I stopped by to snag my husband back from them, they approached me and apologized. But it was hilarious. It's not the first time someone who hadn't seen me in a while didn't recognize me, but it was the first time it resulted in such a misunderstanding.

Edit: link to photos for those who requested them - /img/3zrn55mrq8j01.jpg

This is a throwaway account to protect my identity, my patients, and my employer. I'm willing to provide proof if mods request it.

I work as an RN in a rather densely populated suburban hospital in the Northeast US. A couple weeks ago, we started getting COVID-19 cases in my unit. All of these patients we considered "rule out", as in we literally didn't have the tests to swab them with so we were forced to assume they had the disease if they were showing symptoms. So far, the large majority of these patients were negative and sent home (Great News!). However, that doesn't mean we haven't had our share of positives. These patients can seem okay, but a smaller number of them can slowly deteriorate. I had experience with one of them. He was a rather healthy and active 40-ish year old male, slightly overweight, slightly hypertensive (high blood pressure). He was complaining of a little bit of sharp pain in his chest when breathing in. Otherwise, he was stable, we were just giving him a little oxygen. My next night with him, he was on a little more oxygen because his oxygen saturation started dropping, but otherwise stable. The next night, he couldn't breathe if he talked for more than a few sentences at a time (very bad sign), but again, still stable otherwise. In the back of my head I knew he going to deteriorate further and probably would need to be intubated and attached to a ventilator eventually. I gave him a breathing treatments with little effect, I increased his oxygen with little effect, but again, he was still stable. I informed the doctors of this so they were aware, but there was really nothing further we could do for him at that point as I had given him every appropriate medication and intervention. Close to the end of my shift his call light went off and I can hear him in the room absolutely gasping for air. Without even going in the room I called for a rapid response (the emergency team in the hospital). Mind you, it takes a solid 2 minutes just to get inside these rooms with all the PPE (e.g. gloves, gown, N95 mask, and face shield) we're required to wear. By the time I got in, his lips were blue, he's gasping for air, and absolutely begging to breathe normally. He was immediately intubated by the hospitalist and sent to the ICU. He's currently sedated, intubated, on a ventilator, and on a rotoprone bed (a bed that rotates you like a rotisserie chicken to move accumulated fluid in your lungs). I currently have no idea if he'll make it through this.

I understand this was only my first patient for this to happen to. There are going to be tens/hundreds more most likely. But, it's already completely changed me. I'm a big guy, I've always been overweight. I'm 6'2", 285lbs and have the same body type and a couple of the same co-morbidities as that patient. Hearing that COVID-19 affects people with hypertension and obesity harder than other people scares the absolute crap out of me after seeing it first hand. We're being forced to reuse PPE (only the N95 masks at this point), so I know I'm most likely going to be exposed to this disease at some point. I used to binge eat after work to calm the stress. Now, the thought of eating an entire frozen pizza or an entire bag of chips absolutely disgusts me to my core. I know that I'm at increased risk of heart attack, stroke, and other terrible diseases but COVID is a slowly progressing, agonizing disease. It has completely scared me straight. I understand it's sad that it's taken this crisis for me to care about myself but it's forced me to reevaluate what is important in life. I guess as an RN, I've always thought about others before myself, but this has made me realize I WANT TO LIVE. I want to be healthy. If I get sick, I don't want it to be because I didn't care for myself. I want it to be because it was my time, and knowing that I did everything I could do for myself.

I've been counting my calories. I've been eating way more salads, grilled chicken, rice, vegetables and I feel great. I've lost 7 lbs in the past week. With the quarantine situation, I've been taking more walks outside in the fresh air (which is great for my mental health). I know the weight loss will slow over time, but I'm in this for the long haul.

Also, younger people, YOU ARE NOT IMMUNE. Take this disease deadly serious, because it is deadly. Don't play the COVID ventilator lottery because you want to go drinking or have a night out. Your night out is not worth tying up a ventilator for 2-3 weeks to keep you alive instead of someone else.

TL;DR: Simply be happy you are able breathe because you never know when that will be taken from you.

edit: This is so cliche as a redditor since the great digg-pocalypse of 2010, but I never expected for this post to blow up so much. I need to be responsible with the platform I guess I have right now. I realize people are scared and hungry for any information at all about what is going on. I absolutely encourage you to read all the official government information on this virus. Read all the information of official sites like the FDA, NIH, and CDC. Pay attention to what your local governments are doing and recommending and PLEASE follow what they are telling you to do. Stay safe, I need to sleep.

Hello everyone. This is my first post here. I've been commenting a little but never posted before.

I started seeing my doctor in February when I was 530 pounds I had already lost 75 pounds at this point but I'm not sure if he really believed me when I told him. He asked me what my health goals were and I told him "I want to lose 100 pounds before I turn 29 in October. He told me "well, that's a lot of weight" and never said much else about it.

Today I went in and got weighed at 398 pounds. I beat my goal by 32 pounds and 2 months. When he looked at my chart he said "wow, you did it! I'm really proud of you, keep it up!"

I honestly teared up as soon as he walked out of the room, because this was the first time I can remember of anyone ever telling me they were proud of me.

It's been a struggle and I'm still fighting the 600 pound person inside of me, but it's worth it and I feel for the first time in my life that I have some control. Every day, he gets weaker, and the new me gets stronger.

How I've lost the 200+ pounds in less than a year, about 0.66 pounds a day:

I started at just counting calories and limiting myself to under 3800 calories per day. I lost a pound a day for a month. I weighed myself every day and if the scale stopped moving, I lowered my calories a bit until they did, and the scale would start moving again. I was down to 3000 calories per day after a month and I was still losing a pound a day. Then I went to about 2500, and eventually now I'm at about 1800-2200 per day.

I started intermittent fasting about a month and a half ago. I eat during an 6 to 8 hour window and fast the rest of the day. This has gotten me out of my last plateau and I really like how it makes me feel during the day.

I eat a huge salad every single day, and I mean huge. I use an 8 quart mixing bowl for my salad bowl. I usually eat 2 or 3 heads of lettuce a day, or spinach. Greens are my friend. I am definitely a volume eater. I also eat a ton of beans. Legumes are my main protein source. The more beans I eat, the more weight I seem to lose.

I eat lots of fruits. Pretty much any and all kinds of fruits. I don't limit myself on any fruits or vegetables, except avocados. I keep those to 1 per day, max.

I have a smoothie every evening, usually with about a quarter pound of kale, some ice, a banana, and some almond milk and a table spoon of flax seeds and two packets of stevia. Its under 300 calories and it makes about 2 quarts. I think it's delicious too. It keeps me full all night and I'm not really hungry until about 4 to 5 hours after waking up the next morning.

But all of that is just minutea.

The real way I lost this weight was by being honest with myself and finding a reason, a "why" to live. Neitzche said "He who has a why to live can bear almost any how" and this has rung true for me. I've known how to lose weight for years. You consume less calories than you expend. It's basic physics. But it wasn't until I had a good enough why to live that I actually changed my life.

It was almost a year ago. I was sitting in an abandoned shed, homeless, nothing to live for, no one that loved me, no friends, nothing. I decided that I was going to kill myself. I was a burden on society and I was worthless. When I decided to kill myself, something changed. I though "well, if I'm already dead, maybe I should just try as hard as I can to change this if I'm just going to die anyways". When I think back to that day now, my thought process doesn't make that much sense to me now, but I was in a bad place.

But in a way, I did die that night. The victim in me died. The person that made excuses died. The person that never gave a shit about anything, and just blamed his troubles on everything around him died. I had to completely transform who I was, what my self talk was, the way I carried myself, everything. All of this took time and I didn't change overnight, but what I did do was make that decision to change.

The absolute biggest thing was that mindset change. I journal a lot about my weight loss and my life. Writing helps me think, and it lets me see in writing some times the faulty logic that I'm running through my head, but I'd never second guess it if I didn't see it written out in front of me. This is absolutely critical for me. When I started my weight loss journey, I wrote about how I got to this weight, and why I weigh 600 pounds, and then I wrote about where I want to be in 5 years.

If you want to transform your life, you need a good enough "why". A reason that keeps you going in the hardest times when you're tapped out of motivation and will power. You need to have something to run towards, and something to run away from.

For me, I want a family. I want to be a dad. What is what I'm running towards. I want to have someone that loves me as much as I love them. I have daydreams of playing with my kids, and teaching them things my father never taught me.

And what I'm running from is being a bed ridden 30 something, dying alone in an apartment with no one to even check on me until they smell the death in the hallways. And then no one left to mourn me. No funeral, nothing. Just a dead fat guy that probably took a crane and a few dozen firefighters to remove the body.

Every time I feel weak, or depressed, or unmotivated or feel like quitting, I revisit my journal and it reminds me why I'm fighting this war on my own obesity. And it doesn't matter if i lose a few battles as long as i get back up and keep fighting. This has been the most powerful tool for me and really is the only reason I'm still going today. I highly recommend you start journaling I'd you're not already.

Anyways.. I just wanted to share with you guys.

Thanks for listening to me ramble!

Edit: Here is a progress photo. Not sure if this might be considered NSFW, but it shows my gut when I was really fat. Progress pic

I still have a long way to go, but I know I'll get there.

Edit2: Wow you guys are incredible! I didn't expect this thread to blow up so much! I'm already up way too late reading all of your comments! I have to get up at 5 AM! I promise to read every one of your comments tomorrow! Thank you guys so much.

Edit 3: I'm still reading all of your comments! Thank you guys so much for all of the kind words. A lot of people have asked me if I will post updates and keep writing. I have been posting life updates for about 6 months in my subreddit at r/lifestartsnow - if you guys want to keep up to date with me I post updates about once a month or so over there! Thank you guys so much for all the love! I'm blown away by all the support!

Edit: I got married!

For the past year or so, every time I've had to show my driver's license, I get one of two reactions: quizzical, skeptical looks, followed by a raised eyebrow; or a (usually) friendly comment about how I look nothing like my photo anymore.

But in the last few months especially, my ID has started to be more of a hindrance than anything else. It culminated in December when I very nearly wasn't allowed to board a flight to Texas because the agent at the security checkpoint couldn't verify the ID was mine.

So I finally bit the bullet last week and went to the DMV to take a new photo. In DC, you can't simply request a new photo to be taken if you don't like yours, so on the application the employee had to make a note about why I was getting a new photo while my license is still current. And on the form she wrote "New ID required. Reason: weight loss."

The new ID arrived in the mail today. It's a little thing, but holding the two photos side by side was a good reminder of how far I've come on this journey. Also: holy hell, my hair back then....

Pics: https://imgur.com/a/0jO47HP

Edit: Thanks for the bling, stranger! And thanks to everyone for the comments, y'all are too kind. :) My eternal gratitude goes out to this entire subreddit. The inspiration found here daily played no small part in my own weight loss journey.

Hello! My name is Erika, I'm 26 years old, and I have lost 252 pounds. I'm writing this on the last night of my family's annual vacation to Lava Hot Springs, Idaho. This is our 16th year and I can finally say that I have truly and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of this vacation. Lava Hot Springs is a tiny, wonderful tourist town with a huge swimming pool, natural hot springs, a fun river for tubing, and a bunch of cute shops. It's super small - everything is in walking distance! We come up every year and rent out a house for a week and have tons of fun just vegging out.

Two years ago, July of 2018, was the most miserable year yet. I was at my heaviest of 425 pounds. I was wearing a 6X one piece swimsuit that was so tight that I had to have my mother help me squeeze into it every time I wanted to put it on. Going to the pool and the hot springs was absolutely miserable - it was embarrassing and I was uncomfortable and hot. The walk from the car to the pool was so hard. There's a ramp you have to walk down to get to the hot springs - walking up that ramp was too hard. I couldn't walk down tiny Main Street without having to stop every few feet for a break. The house we rent is at the top of a hill and I absolutely refused to walk up and down it. The town is tiny but I made us drive everywhere because I could not handle the walking. I opted out of several family activities (such as tubing down the river) because I just couldn't do it. I couldn't fit into the chairs out on the deck - the sides of the chairs squeezed into my thighs and left marks. I needed help getting out of them most of the time. I was hot and sweaty and I wanted to have fun and relax but I just couldn't. This wonderful vacation that I was supposed to be enjoying made me hate myself and my life even more.

This year, August of 2020, I weigh 173 pounds. This vacation is everything I ever wanted it to be and more. We've had to make adjustments due to the current world situation (we did not go to the pool, spent a lot of time in our rented house, and wore masks and social distanced when going out) but I have had the time of my life. I am now in a size 10/medium swimsuit and I don't need any help getting into it. We have walked EVERYWHERE, largely at my insistence. I've taken walks every day, up and down some pretty steep hills that I never would have been able to manage before. The chairs out on the deck are perfectly comfortable and I need no help getting in and out. It's been in the upper 90s all week but I haven't been the slightest bit uncomfortable. I've had no worries about missing out, no worries about over exerting myself, no worries about people seeing me and laughing at me. I've just been... happy. Content. Relaxed. And that is not something I'm used to.

I feel free. I think that's the best way to describe it; I feel free. I'm coming up on my two year anniversary of my gastric bypass surgery and I'm grateful every day that I made the decision to take my life back. I've made some serious life changes. I follow a very healthy diet - 1600 calories, 100g of protein, 100-125g of carbs, less than 60g of fat, less than 30g of sugar, lots of water, yoga every day, 10,000 steps five days a week. Surgery has been a tool but it's me who has made the changes and taken my life back.

We head back tomorrow and I'm so excited to come back next year, hopefully at my goal weight of 150 pounds. I am grateful and happy and feel so lucky to be living the life I'm living now!

Just for fun - here and here are some before and after pictures I recreated this year.

Thank you for reading! I am more than happy and willing to answer any and all questions!

Inspiring sentence I read yesterday on Askreddit from /u/ThzeGerman.

It's true that christmas holidays are the most difficult part of the year for us: a lot of great food, usually high in calories, and more than once in the week..

But we do not have to feel guilty because we got over our calories once or twice (or more) this week. The point is to stay on the road all year long. To change our eating habits forever. So we can have pleasure during this week eating with our families, our friends etc, and come back on the road to reach our goal weight.

Happy holidays losers

Edit: damn did not expect tis to blow up ! I am happy that it helped you ! (and thanks for the gold !)

https://imgur.com/a/9VE5lHC

On April 1st of, 2017 I weighed in at 418 lbs., after much hard work and dedication on December 18th, of 2018 I dropped below my goal weight of 173 lbs. hitting 171.4 lbs. I am 5'10''.

I used to wear a size 68 portly suit jacket, size 68' waist dress pants, size 24' neck 37/38' sleeve dress shirts, and size 7XLT tee shirts. Today I rock a 42 R slim fit suit jacket, size 32'-34' waist dress pants, size 15' neck 34/35'' sleeve dress shirts, and size XS-M tee shirts depending on the cut and manufacturer.

I didn’t have any weight loss surgery, I have not had any loose skin removed yet (yes there is a lot of loose skin), I didn't follow some crazy fad diet. I utilized CICO (calories in, calories out), and exercise.

Some other statistics for those who LOVE math; Year 1: Daily average calories1408.46, weekly average calories consumed 9847.53, calories burned via exercise per week 7639.64, average lost per week 4.9 lbs. Year 2: Daily average calories1509.13, weekly average calories consumed 10,567, calories burned via exercise per week 5628.08, average lost per week 2.19 lbs.

It wasn't always easy, I tried to stay positive for a majority of the weight loss journey, I stumbled a few times, but now I have crossed the finish line and begin a new chapter in my life by maintaining what I have achieved.

I hope that others in this sub who are about to give up, or who just need a little push to help them across their own finish line can take some motivation from this post. If I can do it at age 44, just about anyone can do it!

The last time I posted on this sub I got a lot of questions so just to recap from that previous post:

TL; DR: Calories in, calories out, exercise, tracking.

First, I use quite a few apps:

1. MyFitnessPal for calorie, nutrition, and exercise tracking.

2. C25K, to learn to run over an eight-week period.

3. Map My Run, to track my running calories burned and distance.

4. Map My Ride, to track my biking distance and calorie burn.

I made a spreadsheet in Excel. Once a week, on weigh-in day (which is typically Monday or Tuesday) I enter data from my apps to track trends including: Starting weight, current weight, amount of weight lost or gained for the week, daily calorie average for the week, weekly calorie total, weekly total of calories burned via exercise, starting BMI, current BMI, current weight BMR, and weekly calorie deficit.

With formulas in place it is a snap to enter data and see trends so that I can make adjustments to CICO (calorie in and calories out), to ensure I am on the right path.

Since I do a lot of VR based cardio on the Oculus Rift, I use data from the VR institute of Health to calculate calorie burn when playing certain exercise-based games such as Beat Saber, Thrill of the Fight, Holopoint, Audio Shield, Gorn, Fruit Ninja VR, Space Pirate Trainer, etc.

My current favorite Oculus game for cardio is Sound Boxing, I typically do 60-90-minute straight sessions on Sound Boxing a few days a week.

Last, I use a website called WebMD which has calculators to determine calorie burn for other activities, such as doing squats, swimming, playing an instrument while standing etc.

With all of this data available to me, I was able to start making smarter choices every week and it shows in my overall trends.

Final bits of advice are learning what an actual serving size is by utilizing a digital scale to record the food you eat down to the gram so that you have accurate data on CICO, you will be shocked at how small a serving size really is once you start weighing food out.

Another thing you can do is learn to read labels. Look for things like serving size, calories per serving, servings per container. If you have certain nutrition goals in mind read the labels for that info, I personally like to limit salt intake as it makes my weight spike due to water retention and I previously had high blood pressure (which is now cured via weight loss).

I do all of my own meal prep and will typically go to a restaurant supply store and buy disposable microwave food trays that have three sections (protein, veggie, and veggie is what I put into them), and will normally make two meals for myself and my girl at a time so that we can just come home and reheat the trays while I prepare our evening salads.

A typical dinner for me is: 150 grams of spring mix salad (30 calories), with Greek yogurt blue cheese dressing (60 calories), a diced plum tomato (11 calories), and 3 oz. of radish coins (12 calories), seasoned with Nu-Salt, and crushed red pepper flakes.

8 oz of Shady brook farms boneless turkey breast cutlets baked in a 375-degree oven for 12-15 minutes (220 calories and 50 grams of protein)

2 cups of steamed broccoli florets (40 calories). 1 3/4 serving of steamed ShopRite brand baby carrots 61 calories.

After dinner, I peel and dice up a Fuji Apple (63 calories), and combine it with 15 red seedless grapes (34 calories) a light and fit Greek yogurt (80 calories 12 grams of protein) and a serving of pumpkin spice Cheerios dry cereal for crunch (110 calories).

For dessert, I will have a pint of Bryers Delight chocolate ice cream (270 calories 21 grams of protein)

Later after dinner, I will have a toasted Best Pita 80 calories with 16 grams of Smucker’s natural peanut butter (95 calories 4 grams of protein).

That’s a total of 1116 calories for a pretty substantial meal and leaves me with around 400 calories to play around with for the rest of the day (I still typically only eat dinner and my evening snack).

I might use those calories to have oatmeal or eggs before work 100-143 calories or broil up an entire sliced and peeled eggplant for lunch (454 grams 115 calories) drizzled with wasabi sauce (15-30 calories).

I hope this information can help others in their weight loss journey.

TL; DR: Calories in, calories out, exercise, tracking.

I know 4000 steps isn’t much at all, but compared to the 200 I do everyday without leaving my house, it’s quite a lot. I just went grocery shopping and that was 4000 steps or at least my phone tells me that.

I actually ate below my maintenance calories today! I ate about 1500 today, my TDEE is 1800 (or 1900 but I try to not eat more than 1800). I ate a 9piece mcnugget and I was kinda surprised to find out that’s only 435 cals. Thought it would be more. But yeah, I ate at a calorie deficit for like literally the first time in my life. I will keep going and I will get better and stronger with time.

I also did my first 16:8 fast today (I started 6pm yesterday, finished today 10am). Honestly, it was much easier than I thought it would be, and I felt surprisingly good afterwards. I thought I’d be starving but I wasn’t, I was just a bit hungry for a few hours, but it was perfectly manageable. I’m starting my second ever 16:8 fast in half an hour, but this time I’m doing 10pm to 12am because I feel like that fits my lifestyle much better (I go to sleep really late etc. so this way it’s more fitting)

Just wanted to get this out there. I’m super proud of myself. Here’s to a fucking healthier and happier life I guess!!!!!!

edit: thanks for all the replies and awards, def wasn’t expecting that many lol. I’m almost 2.5 hours into my 16hr fast right now, you guys are definitely giving me motivation. You are extremely supportive

Around 9 o’clock this morning the CEO of my company called me into his office. I was scared. A guy was just fired from our already tiny 4-person department. What could he want to tell me in a private setting?

“How are you TokenBlackGirlfriend?”

I tell him about my family happenings and job happenings. All the while trying to decipher my reason for meeting him.

But he said the last thing I thought he would.

“Well I called you in hear to just tell you that you have been absolutely just crushing it in the gym lately. I notice you are here after work everyday. Keep up the good work.”

“If there is anything that (the company) can do to support you, let us know”

See, we have a gym in our basement and I’ve been in there every workday (and some weekends) trying to build strength and lose this stubborn weight.

I would have cried if I wasn’t in shock. I type this after finishing another workout. I can’t quit if I have so much support and love behind me.

Edit: um. Holy moly I didn’t expect this little unusual NSV to get me silver and all this feedback.

I’m feeling super blessed right now because I’m at this company now because I got laid off from the one that made me miserable. I honestly couldn’t have dreamt of having such a supportive group of coworkers who genuinely care about my personal efforts.

Other people have commented on my working out (because I’m the only one who does it after work) but my CEO is the cherry on top. Since I’ve laid my goals out there, people can support me the best.

I have to keep going for my coworkers, you all and myself.

Thanks everybody!

Another edit: Wow! Platinum?!?! Sheesh. I’m lost for words actually.

So about 3 years ago I lost about 60 Lbs over an 8 month period, and for unimportant reasons I spent the next 3 years putting it back on.

I was in bed with my wife and we were about to get down to it and when I positioned myself on top she tried to move me into a different position. I asked what was wrong and she ummed and ahhhed a bit, I know what it was, I was too heavy. she tried to apologise but there was no need, I know I got back up to my heaviest, if not heavier. We put the lamp on and had a long chat and if that wasn't a rocket up the ass I don't know what is.

We got back up out of bed, put our PJs back on and went looking for my old weight loss books and recipe books, picked out 3 meals, made a shopping list and went back to bed.

We went to the shops and bought the ingredients and we spent the rest of the day batch cooking and portioning meals, while chatting in the kitchen, looking up snack ideas on the phone and making notes of recipes that sound tasty.

I work in an office that has boxes of chocolate bars and crisps that I used to have 2 or more items a day. I have now cleaned out an old coffee jar and everytime I want a snack I take the money I would of spent on chocolate and put it in the jar.

I am just over a week in, and I know my first weight loss is going to be my largest, but I lost 6 lbs and I am so happy that I am doing this, I have a reason to do this, and my wife is supporting me

EDIT 1 - woah this kinda blew up a bit. Thank you everyone for the kind words. I will reply to messages soon as I just woke up. Yes my wife is great, yes I will post some recipes, no I won’t ‘just do doggie’, haha supporting me joke

EDIT 2 - most of the recipes I am using are from Slimming world, 2 Chubby Cubs, and Pinch of nom, its just me losing weight, not my wife

EDIT 3 - relationship has taken a nosedive for various reasons so I stopped trying. I am starting again as at right now (1530pm 27 June 18) this time im not losing it for her, im losing it for me

How It Started

The date is June 30th, 2017. My name is Amanda and I weigh 331lbs. I just finished up an appointment at the gynecologist to get a mirena put in. My gynecologist, a sweet asian-american in her early 30s with a healthy body and kind face, tells me that the procedure is finished and I am good to go, but...

"Your blood pressure is awfully high, I am worried about you," she adds quickly. "It was high last time, too. You should really see a doctor, there is one here, I can give you a recommendation. He's very business-oriented and scientific, you'll like him."

Hesitantly, I agree. This is not the first time someone has spoken to me about my blood pressure, but it will be the first time I have visited a doctor in almost 8 years.

Thyroid issues, blood pressure issues, and diabetes run in my family. I go home, my stomach balled into a disagreeable knot, to contemplate my upcoming appointment. I am still thinking about it the next day when I wake up hungry. I am thinking about it as I eat my ice cream later that night, googling symptoms for diabetes. On July the 3rd, I am still thinking about it as we stock up on BBQ sauce, potatoes, corn, and meat to celebrate the 4th of July.

I've thought about it so much, dreaded it so much, that it finally dawns on me: no one should have to be this stressed about a doctor's appointment... A simple checkup. Then the thoughts quickly cascade through my mind? "Why are you stressed?" Because I am fat. "Whose fault is it you are fat?" Mine. I did this. "If you made yourself fat, who makes you not fat?" Me.

Then: "Is there a subreddit for weightloss?"

There was. That night, I spent hours browsing /r/loseit. I didn't want to waste the food we'd bought, so with a lot of trepidation, I told my boyfriend I wanted to start losing weight on 7/5/2017.

What Happened Next

In the days that followed, I downloaded MyFitnessPal. I took progress photos. I calculated my TDEE for the first time. I bought a new lunchbox so I was forced to bring my lunch to work. I tracked every calorie. I stopped buying soda. I stopped eating out. I spent an embarrassing amount of time pinning "healthy" recipes.

The first month, I lost 19lbs. When I went to the doctor, I was in perfect health: not even pre-diabetic. I told my new doctor enthusiastically that I had lost weight and couldn't wait to come back next year. From his casual, dismissive nod it was clear he wasn't optimistic about my chances. I vowed to myself I'd prove him wrong.

The second month, I created an Instagram account and began sharing the food I ate. By that point, I found I could replace ice cream with Halo Top and Protein Smoothies (which totally counted as breakfast), so I started coming up with complex and delicious protein shake recipes. I transitioned from MFP's initial calorie estimate of 1850 calories a day down to 1500 calories a day. It was working. I learned that carb-heavy foods left my hungry and read that protein was very important to healthy weightloss, so I began minimizing carbs and maximizing protein.

Months passed. I began eating 1200 calories a day. I continued cooking. I signed up for the gym, but only went sometimes. I kept tracking, I kept losing. It was working. I found the unofficial discord linked in the sidebar and began spending a lot of time there. At Thanksgiving and Christmas, everyone told me I looked amazing. In January, I started a new job with a bright future and twice the pay. In March, I completed C25K and ran my first 5K: my local Color Run. I had the most fun I've had in public all year and my boyfriend and I promised each other we'd do it again next year.

Then, suddenly, a year had passed. I was well over 100lbs down. I took my final selfie in the mirror at Lane Bryant, a tear in my eye as their smallest tanktop sagged and bunched around my hips. I silently promised the woman in the mirror that I'd never be back. I began shopping at regular clothing stores. My new coworkers began to notice my weightloss. I made friends with other healthy people: the company gym trainers, our security guards, the new girl on my team that brings mealprep for lunch every day. I proudly became a moderator for the discord community that offered me so much support throughout my journey.

Right Now

The past few days, I have -- for the first time in my journey -- had multiple people tell me that everything I know and everything I've learned is wrong. I had another redditor tell me I don't understand what it's like to be obese. One told me how healthy you can be despite morbid obesity. Another told me bodies don't respond to calories. Huffington Post told me that I'm biologically destined to fail at weightloss and that I'll never keep the weight off.

I'm standing here today as living proof that you can do this. I am here to tell you that every bit of negativity you hear, every person that tells you you can't succeed, every poorly-conducted study that talks about starvation mode, set weight points, metabolic damage from weightloss, and every former friend that tells you you don't really love yourself if you lose weight...

Every single one of them is wrong.

I weighed 300Lbs yesterday. Just jogging and drinking water lost me an automatic 5Lbs from the get go (although I suspect this was largely fluid weight). I skipped Taco Bell for lunch and didn't eat the 3 quesaritos and 2 tacos like usual; I instead went to a local market and bought a couple grapefruits (and gotdayum do I love grapefruits and oranges!) and I will be jogging again tomorrow.

I honestly couldn't believe it. I can't believe I am tackling this battle, but here I am. My workplace has a gym free to employees, which I will be visiting soon. I never seen myself doing this, and I really never believed in myself to do something like this, but progress was made today.

Progress was made.

At first, they were so impressed. Then I lost more. And more. And it became old news for them. I can understand why, but now that I finally reached my goal weight (32F, 5'4'', SW 187 lbs / 85kg, GW 121 lbs / 55 kg). I need someone to acknowledge it, so I figured you guys could replace my friends.

I wasn't always a big girl. I was quite thin, even. After I left home at 19, I began putting on weight. Very slowly at first, but then it ended up being almost exponential. In December of 2017, my BMI reached 32 and my body horrified me. Some people are beautiful when they're big, but I'm not one of these. I found an old message where I told a friend that I would love to lose 25kg (55 lbs), but that it was like hoping to win the lottery.

Last December, my sister told me that as a new year's resolution she would cut out completely added from her diet during a month, and asked me to do it with her, as a support. I was torn. I was very addicted to sugar, drinking 3 sodas everyday, the first one 5 minutes after waking up. But man, stopping sugar completely ? That was mad. But without really believing in myself, I agreed.

January came and it was agony. Sugar withdrawal is no joke. But hey, I suffered this day, so why not make it worth it by continuing one more day ? I suffered this week, so why not make it worth it by continuing one more week ? Two weeks on, my sister gives up. I don't. It's beginning to be more and more manageable.

February: Wow, I did it ! And what's that odd number on my scale ? I've lost 6 kg (13 lbs), holy fuck ! Well, since it's beginning to almost being easy, why not doing it for one more month ? And this time, I will go easy on calories as a whole, so I can continue to lose weight.

March: Well, now that I know that it's working, let's do it all the way. I'm beginning to use myfitnesspal, but having stopped sugar, I don't have to force myself to eating better, I naturally don't crave junk food anymore, and I don't feel the need to snack. I stop using myfitnesspal, I'm too lazy for all that logging, and I'm managing without. Let's set an arbitrary goal weight: 30kg sounds nice. I will never be able to reach it, but one can dream.

April: Vacations away, I allow myself one dessert and one soda. I was so worried, but it's no big deal, I didn't fall back into addiction.

June: Sugar is now okay from time to time, but very rarely.

August: I can consume sugar 2-3 times a week and it's okay. I have to be carefull, but if I maintain a bit of self-control, it will be fine.

And this is the story of how I lost 30kg.

Now, I feel so much better in my body. I have loose skin everywhere, but I don't really care. For the first time in my life, I have managed to set a goal and reach it. I did it, guys ! I didn't quit, this time. My self-esteem got a huge boost and it was very much needed.

Thank you all for this wonderful subreddit, where I've found support, positivity and answers to my questions.
Now let's maintenance begin !

I like to travel.

Around 2.5 weeks ago I started my workday like any other day. I was cleaning up my office and all of a sudden I became extremely tired. I started sweating, became pale, and was out of breath and felt like I just ran a marathon. I gave it a few minutes and sat down in my office, and as time went by it was getting worse so I asked my associate to call 911.

Within 10 minutes of arriving at the hospital I was in the OR and getting a stent put in. Now, I was always on the fat side, but far from what I consider "Heart Attack at 30 years old" fat. A blood test later revealed my triglyceride levels were almost 3,000.

If this happened in my sleep, or if I was home I would have tried to sleep this off and I would be dead. I would have left behind my wife and infant son. I have had plenty of "wake up calls" throughout the years....from being diagnosed with pre-diabetes and getting my appendix removed all within a span of 12 months, but nothing says "What the hell have I done?" like a literal heart attack.

As I laid in the hospital bed looking through pictures on my phone, looking at my 7 month old son, it finally hit me. There is no flavor or texture on this earth that is worth missing out on life. I was so close to never seeing my son grow up, and the thought of him saying "My dad died when I was a baby, I never knew him." absolutely devastated me.

I always thought I had time. My mother had a heart attack in her early 40s so I thought I had 10 years to get my shit together. You think this kind of shit will never happen to you. You tell yourself things like "I'll start Monday!" or "It's already December, I'll start next year, new year new me." or "One cheat day won't hurt". I told myself those things for years and well...they added up.

Don't wait until Monday, the new year, or until you're naked sitting in the OR with a tube being fed through an artery in your groin to manually clear the 10 years of shit you've been eating out of your veins.

I promised myself that in a year from now I'll be stronger than I ever have been and at the healthiest weight I can be.

Get healthy people.

I remember when I was a kid, whining to my parents "I'm huuuungry."

"No, you're bored. Go find something to do."

"But I'm actually huuuungry." (Narrator: she was not, indeed, actually hungry.)

"Go eat an apple. There's some on the counter."

"I don't want an apple, I want a fun snack."

"If you're not hungry enough to eat an apple, you're not really hungry."

Those words used to infuriate me as a kid. I didn't want an apple, I wanted chips. Or cookies. Or some other junk food. I thought that saying was the stupidest thing I'd ever heard. I didn't want an apple, and I wasn't bored.

Now, at 31, I've found myself following that advice. When the cravings come and I feel those bingey feelings coming on, I tell myself to eat an apple. If that doesn't sound appealing, I'm probably just bored. And if it does sound appealing, I eat the apple. Sometimes it's sweet enough to curb my cravings. Most of the time, by the time I've worked my way through the apple, the urges have gone.

Dammit mom. You were right.

If you see someone at the gym snapping your photo or laughing at you in any way please report them to the gym staff/management!

This is something that happened to me. When I was new at the gym I had no idea how to use some machines, and rather than help me someone filmed me while snickering to their friend. I felt mortified about my weight, my performance, everything. It was uncomfortable to "tattle" but the next day I said that I was thinking about leaving the gym and explained what happened. The staff was mortified for me. They not only figured out who that person was and banned them from the gym, but they had a trainer work with me for free to show me the machines and even introduced me to some regulars there who were beyond friendly. They could not believe that someone did that to me, and all said the same thing, "We are ALL here for self improvement!". Too bad, I don't think that includes bad attitudes. :-P

So my point is, please don't give up because of the shitty people! Unfortunately, there are always a few out there no matter where you go. I promise that there are still good people out there.

So far I've shed 125 lbs since July 2016, and I'm about 180 lbs, give or take two pounds (water weight fluctuations). I have about 30 lbs to go to my target weight, and I'm taking a break and doing maintenance for a while. I learned that there are things that they don't tell you. They say you'll be healthier, you'll have more energy, you'll look better and feel better. They don't talk about the downside of weight loss.

1. Your hair may fall out. It's called "telogen effluvium." If you lose weight fast enough, the body goes into panic mode and shuts down "unnecessary functions." One of these is hair growth. So when you lose those 100 hairs per day (normal hair cycle) they don't grow back until your weight is stabilized for about four months. I lost so much of my hair it ended up looking thin and scraggly. I cut it short (pixie). Now it's just starting to grow back, and I'm keeping it short until the new baby hairs reach the length of my longer hair sections. Perhaps next autumn.

2. Clothing budgets get expensive as you change sizes and you're going to have to give up pretty much everything you love. I found I can go down about 3 sizes before clothes get ridiculous and can no longer be altered. I started at 26/28, and had a very expensive office work wardrobe I spent a decade assembling. I LOVED those clothes. When I finally gave up on wearing these favorites and went shopping, my my new size was a (snug) 20.

I also learned that when a person normally shops for clothing you buy one or maybe two of each item, stuff that really speaks to you, and you love everything you buy. They become new favorites. But when you're trying to replace a whole wardrobe (weight loss, fire, other damage/loss) you end up with the same basic items in five colors each, with little variation because all the stores carry essentially the same colors each year, so the variation is further reduced (last year the whole world was burgundy, and so was I). And seasonal! Everything I own is for a single season. I have a whole closet of winter sweaters and mock-turtlenecks, and nothing for summer, because last summer I was in a 20/XL. Now I'm a 14/M.

For the same reason, I learned to sew. While I can alter a shirt or pants/skirt one or two sizes down. three sizes was too much and the overall cut looks weird. Taking in waistbands, altering arm holes, shoulder straps, button locations and seams is a skill I always had; now I'm a lot better at it due to practice.

Even jewelry fits differently. When you wear a necklace and you like the pendant to fall in a certain place on your chest, you're going to need a shorter chain. The 16" chain that used to put the pendant just below the hollow of my throat, is now halfway down my chest. Rings will need to be resized. I went from a size 11 ring, to a current 7.5 ring. Some rings can't be resized that much without damage to the design. :(

Shoes too. I had no idea feet shrink with weight loss!

3) You're going to lose friends. Especially those who are also overweight/obese. It's their own insecurity. I get the questions, "Did you get bariatric surgery," frequently, and when I tell them I use CICO (and explain - strict calorie tracking, strict calorie limits, and exercise), and 3-5x weekly cardio workouts, the response is similar from both friends and strangers - usually a withering look, as if I somehow betrayed them. And sometimes they tell me how "counting calories is dangerous" and they'd never do that. They congratulate me on my achievement, then they begin ignoring my existance. Somehow it triggers passive-aggressive responses even in non-passive-aggressive people.

4) People won't recognize you. I was a well known person in my community before I lost weight, due to a very publicly visible job. I quit that job just before my weight loss began, and now no one recognizes me. Not just the "man on the street" kind of lack of recognition, but the last time I went in to my old office, the people whom I worked with for five years straight up had no idea who I was. As soon as I realized they had no clue, I spent several minutes giving hints as to who I was. I even told them, "I worked right there, that was my desk." This weekend I went to a picnic social, and saw someone there who observed my work for several years, and I commented on the work I did during a conversation. "No, I know that person, it was X. X did that." No matter how much I insisted I am that person, she wouldn't believe me. Finally I had to pull out a comparison picture I keep on my phone, AND my ID to prove my identity. It's both funny and annoying.

5) It's going to hurt. No, not the dieting (though my sometimes growling stomach may disagree), but new pressure in new places. The extra padding over bones is gone! I can't sit on a wooden kitchen chair without a thick pad or it hurts my ischium (lower butt bones). I can't sleep on my side without a pillow between my knees, to cushion the bones. Sometimes one knee will knock into the other during "normal" movements, and it hurts!

6) Praise from friends, family, or even strangers, can feel bad, and that's okay. When people praise your efforts, not only are they saying they're noticing your efforts and changes in your body, but it can also feel like they're commenting on how bad you looked before, even if they never said anything when you were at your high weight. And if you're not done losing weight, even as their words feel like success and validation, it can also feel like the praise is too early. You have more to do.

7) You may look older. As you lose fat, the skin loosens, which makes your face and skin look older. Depending on your age and luck in genetics, your skin may tighten up again, or it may remain loose. Regular skin care routines and massage may help, but in the end, you may end up having to either live with the saggy skin, or see a surgeon to tighten it up.

This includes a possible pannona, commonly known as a pannus or panniculus - a heavy flap of loose skin and fat that hangs down from your abdomen. Depending on how much weight you've lost, and how much your skin bounces back, it may be a mere bulge across your abdomen, or it can hang down like a purse to the thigh or, in some severe cases, to the knee. This can only be removed surgically, and typically insurance companies won't pay for a panniculectomy unless you're getting severe infections in that area.

8) You may not be shaped or look quite how you were before you gained weight, even at the same weight. I found an old picture of me at 18, at 170 lbs, and compared it to me at 48, 180 lbs, and I look much leaner now, even though I'm 10 lbs heavier. It's fat to muscle ratios, and simple maturity.

9) You can never quit. Maintenance can be as difficult as weight loss. Once all that extra weight is gone, if you return to your old eating habits, the weight will return. Whatever habits you developed for weight loss, use those, and make them part of your lifetime routine. For me, that means I'll be weighing and logging my food for the rest of my life, because I can't estimate calories and serving sizes. My brain doesn't go there, it wants to believe that piece of cake is only 100 calories. So, my kitchen scale is my friend.

I’m not sure how to start this, but I hope it reaches someone who needs it.

I used to be a college soccer player. I was 160 lbs, strong, disciplined, and driven. But life doesn’t always care about your plans.

At 21, I stopped working out to focus on work. Over the years I lost my life savings to a bad investment. I got fired from multiple jobs. I watched my grandparents pass. I started driving Lyft just to survive. I gained over 100 lbs from 160 to 270. And I ended an 8-year relationship with someone I thought I’d marry.

I’m now 31. I lost more than just weight or money I lost myself.

A few days ago, I decided I was done. The kind of done where you don’t make plans for tomorrow. I had made peace with not being here. But right before that moment… something cracked open inside me. A voice said: “Run the pain out.”

So I did.

At 270 lbs, carrying depression, regret, and shame I ran 9 miles. No music. No destination. Just rage, grief, and desperation pounding the pavement.

It hurt. Bad. But I didn’t stop. And that run it saved my life.

I’m not okay. But I’m still here about to run another 9 miles at 6am.

I live in New York and grabbed dinner with a friend last night. We ate a ton of food and afterwards I ask her which train would be quickest back to our respective neighborhoods (we live at least 3 miles from this restaurant). To my surprise, she goes "I'm so full, I think we should just walk home".

In my head is was like "What? Is this how naturally thin people stay thin? When they feel full they do more activity instead of taking a nap?"

Lucky for me, I've lost 130 pounds and counting. Plus I regularly walk 6 miles a day as my only form of exercise. There's no way in hell the previous me would've spent an hour and a half walking home after a huge meal.

We had a great convo on our walk and I didn't even notice how far we'd walked by the time I made it home.

It's not a big deal. I didn't climb a mountain or run a marathon. But I'm so proud of myself for becoming the kind of person that can do these kinds of things.

I happened to briefly tell this story in a comment earlier today. And I thought I might as well share with everyone, lol....

I recently (from June 2016 to January 2017) lost 70 plus pounds. I didn't tell my husband I was trying to lose weight....and he plain didn't notice for a bit.

He didn't notice I didn't eat any chips from the bowl we usually shared at night!

He didn't notice I ordered salads with the dressing on the side at restaurants!

He didn't notice I was suddenly wearing clothes that hadn't fit for years!

He didn't notice me logging and scanning my food in My Fitness Pal!

He didn't notice the fitness class schedule posted on our fridge!

He didn't notice anything...

Then one night (when I'd lost about 30 pounds so far,) we were having sex and the room was about half lit from the light on in the hallway. (And no, it wasn't the first time we'd had sex in awhile. We do have sex regularly.)

So we were having sex, and I was on top ('cause I know you are trying to picture this,) and he suddenly yelled, "WWHHAATT???" And reached over to turn the light on. I seriously almost fell over! And he yells, "WWHHAATT!?!?" again at me. Which was seriously unnerving! Because a man screaming in shock at your naked body is a bit scary.

And that was when I realized that he finally NOTICED!!! LOL

After many failed weight loss attempts and with the stress of law school behind me, I decided to take another shot at getting healthy on June 1, 2017. At the time I weighed around 450 pounds. Now, 18 months later I have been maintaining in the 190's for the past couple of months.

Progress Photos

I started with small changes to my diet, like removing fast food, and just kept eating less and less as my weight dropped. I went from drinking soda, to low calorie lemonade, to just water. A typical day includes a breakfast sandwich or wrap, a protein shake for lunch, and then chicken and vegetables for dinner. I don't count calories but I eat things that are lower in calories and low in carbs.

When I started I would walk a lot, 2-3 hours on workdays and 5-8 hours a day on the weekends. Over the past 4 or 5 months, I transitioned from just walking to running and I ran my first half marathon on November 11.

I am now just working to maintain my weight, and after I have shoulder surgery next week, I hope to add some muscle.

Ok so please don't upvote this it is extremely embarrassing. I've started my weight loss journey and I have been eating a lot of leafy greens like Spinach and things like that. And I mean a lot. I woke up this morning and immediately ran to the bathroom and let loose a torrent of Satan's tar. After about ten minutes of this I went to go flush and noticed undigested pieces of Spinach and lettuce in the bowl. I do not know if this is bad but I cannot stop going to the bathroom today. In 3 hours I've gone at least 5 times. Is this because I have been eating too much Spinach and greens? I do not want to have to go through that again.

Edit: FFS Reddit I go to work and come home to this shit....

Edit 2 : Its happening again brb https://youtu.be/tbhgbSHcgZw?t=17s

Her before and after

At the beginning of the year she noticed me logging daily into MyFitnessPal and she decided to be accommodating for me and start cooking lighter meals and having some left over to take to work with me. Since she's a stay at home mom she cooks most of the time for all of us. She did a great job and she decided it was time for her to get in shape some. She wanted to look as good for me as she did when we first got together. I honestly thought she looked fine but she didn't like what she was seeing in the mirror I think. So she set a goal for herself. We got a membership at the YMCA and started going a time or two a week.

She decided on a calorie goal for herself (1700 cals a day). She figured 1200 is enough because of being a woman and said she googled it and 1200 is what it told her. She also breastfeeds so she added 500 calories a day to allow for that.

She started going to the gym 3-5 times a week depending on what she felt like doing or what we had planned that week or weekend. They had a fitness challenge that had a goal of doing like 15 fitness classes in the month. She knocked that out in 2 weeks. Then did another challenge doing 15 more just because she could. At that point she was pretty into it anyways and enjoying the classes she was taking. She is very active and rarely sits down anyways and that hasn't changed from before the weight loss to after the weight loss and really helped with burning calories.

Once she had decided on a calorie goal and going to group fitness classes she just trucked along. She has the discipline of a...something with a lot of discipline. She rarely "cheated" and when she did she made sure it didn't blow out her calories for the day too much (if at all).

People often ask me "Wow! She looks awesome! How did she lose the weight! What diet is she doing?" And they're all disappointed whenever I say "Eat less, move more". They want me to give them specifically "Eat cabbage soup from 5am-11am" or "Keto is the way to go!" or any other brand name diet. But unfortunately the only advice I can give them about how she lost the weight is to simply say "She eats the same stuff she did before...just less of it. She goes to the gym a few days a week too." People immediately have excuses like "I don't have time to go to the gym!" (barring the fact that we have several 24 hour gyms around here) or "I can't give up X food!" (duh. You shouldn't have to and she certainly didn't)

She has lost 70lbs. She looks amazing and she has looked amazing since the day we met. She's definitely an inspiration to me and to other people. She has told me about people saying things to her at work and in public about how good she looks. It's amazing and I'm sure it has helped her to stay motivated. She even has taken days off just like everyone else. She even gained a few pounds here and there. But she always ended up lower. She is constantly amazing at buying new clothes and how the older clothes don't fit any more. She isn't done and she knows this is just the beginning of a lifelong change in how she eats and lives.

I feel like I'm starting over every day with relation to diet and exercise and here she is...less than 10 months later and 70lbs lighter and she's every bit as awesome as I wish I can be.

I love her reddit and want you to see how amazing she has been this year. She's always been awesome but especially this year.

If you need help on your journey there are a ton of resources out there. Some people (like her) can do it almost on their own with just support from friends and family. Some people need an entire support group. Some people need constant reinforcement. Whatever your need is...there is someone somewhere that can help you get to where you need to be. Just ask.

Before/After: https://imgur.com/8GUJffa

I've posted here before, but I figured I would post again to show if anything whats possible if you tough it out from day 1. I found my reason to lose weight 3/14/18 and I'm glad I started when I did, because I often think to myself if I had to start today I don't know if I could do it.

It'll take longer than you think, it'll be harder than you think, but it'll also be more worth it than you think.

For reference I started at 478.6, and now sit below 277. I'm trying to reach 240 by September, and 220 by October if I'm lucky.

There's no secret to this, you know what you need to do. Eat better, eat less, and move more. It'll seem like a chore at first, but trust me, you'll learn to love it.

EDIT: sorry I haven't responded to any comments yet, I didn't expect this post to explode! I've been out hiking all day, I'll respond as soon as I can 🥰