I am 5’7, 23 year old woman that is sick of being over 230 LBS.
Majority of the woman in my family are also overweight, and I feel like I’ve gotten trapped into a family curse.
There was a time in my life from 15-17 y/o where I lost a good amount of weight. I was active, and went on WW with my mom. Borderline had 11 abs at one point. Even when I was in early college, I was decently thin, had a jawline, and a flat enough tummy.
Ever since my father passed away, and I got into a serious relationship at the same time (2021) I’ve gained at least 60 lbs. and I’m disgusted by myself. Looking in the mirror less and less, wearing the same oversized safe clothes, just feeling like crap. Taking less photos, feeling insecure around my friends.
I’ve been trying to make health changes, of meal prepping, drinking my water, eating more nutrient dense foods, and committing to the gym/getting 10,000+ steps a day. I’ve made some good progress, and now lost at least 10 lbs. but I feel insaltiable. It’s not enough. I wanna chop off my b belly and the wings on my arms.
I could really use some advice for some good fat loss habits. And I’m talking about the deep cuts. I hate feeling stuck in my own body.
Comments
Best to speak to a dietician but most weight loss diets start with cutting calories to a safe amount but still caloric deficit. A dietician can help with that
It took years to get to be 230 lbs. it’s going to be years before it all comes off. Hating yourself isn’t going to make the process easier or more effective. You need permanent lifestyle changes and need to be consistent. Be kind to yourself, but in a way that doesn’t involve food.
Learn to make taste salads and healthy meals that are colorful and full of flavor.
Tik tok is great with that. I try to make a different salad each week ,so I don’t get bored, and focus o high protein.
I used to be 225LBS. I am now 165-170.
This is what I did
Vegan
Stop eating after 6;30 pm
Exercise ( Cardio) 30 minutes per day. I run 4 miles daily. Pick something that you will do.
Dinner is a smaller meal
Eat breakfast and lunch
Avoid bad foods
Eat good food such as FIBER…
Dont drink calories (drink water)
Talk to your doctor.
I’m not a fan of “dieting”. Anything you do short term to lose weight won’t last long-term. And usually the quicker you lose weight the quicker you will gain it back.
But your doctor can help you come up with a sustainable plan. There likely won’t be any quick weight loss “tricks”, but long term changes you will have to make. The good news is there are plenty of very effective medications now that can help you – and a doctor can talk you through the pros and cons of using them. Still not a quick and easy fix but for many people they are life changing.
Lift weights. Not the little pink ones, not the machines. Barbells or kettlebells.
Do what my friends GF did. She was overweight. She went on a Smoothie/ diet and in less than a year she was skinny.
I want to celebrate your progress. You are back on track, and that is what is important here. The weight loss will come over time and in DUE time. You just have to trust the process. I got tired of having a pregnancy belly. I got So tired of it! I now have a STRICT no carb diet unless the carbs come from fruit. I also stopped drinking and now I drink water when I would have drank wine. It made a world of difference. So many people complement my progress. I go to yoga twice a day. I feel SO much better. I get how you feel. I thought it would never get my break thru either, but nothing beats persistence. Just be persistent and consistent. You are only 23. You have a lot of time to work on and improve your body. Be sure you work on your self concept too while you are at it. Self love is so important. Best of luck. You got this! Stay strong and keep going.
I am a F 30 I too have been thin most of my life, however during my first pregnancy I gained 75 pounds. Bringing me to 210 I am also 5’7. My dad’s side of the family has a few heavy people and my dad is heavy set. I lost only 10 pounds after having my son and I put it back on a few months later. I confided in my doctor that I wanted to lose weight and she suggested I started taking my adderall again instead of one of those GLP1s. She put me on a higher dosage than I was taken previously. The weight loss was slow I will not lie I was losing only 5-7 pounds a month at first but eventually I got to the point where I could clearly tell in my clothes that I was losing weight and it started to fall of a little faster some months verses others. I started in January and kept at it and by July I was back down to my pre pregnancy weight losing a total of 70 pounds in 7 months. I didn’t restrict myself dieting wise i ate what I normally would I just simply ate a lot less than I normally would because I felt full all of the time. I also started walking a lot more and being a lot more active when I started losing weight and feeling better. Hope this helps!
Munjaro. Life saver. Spend less on food.
I was around 200 lbs for a majority of my life (my largest at 220lbs)- we’re talking junior year and on. This past year, I decided I didn’t want to do that anymore and if I was going to be unhappy with my body, it was at least going to be a healthy body. I’m down to 180-170 and the biggest change is consistency. I needed to listen to my body to know what it needed and I needed to set attainable goals for myself. These changes need to be gradual and sort of set into place like you would a habit.
I started doing squats. At first I literally could only do ten a day. At my highest I could do 60 at a time and now- I do 65 throughout the day. I made changes based off of what my body was telling me. What I’m saying is so much easier said than done- I know. Just- please remember that this isn’t a race to look a certain way. Or it shouldn’t be. This is you devoting your time and energy to being a healthier and happier person. Future you will love you for choosing you and present you should too. You’re doing a hard thing! You’re doing it!!! ❤️
You’ve overcome the first step, which is to realise there’s an issue that you want to resolve, so well done for you for that.
Unfortunately there’s no secret to losing weight, and that’s to restrict the calories you’re eating. It will be difficult as at your weight you’re probably used to eating a certain amount of calories, so it’s taking small steps which are actually actionable. So this could be intermittent fasting, meaning that you only eat in an 8 hour window, or missing out a meal, such as breakfast for example.
You’re on the right steps with walking and getting your steps in, in terms of exercise I would get yourself to a stage where you feel okay and then look at going some gym work, such as weight training. That will help blast the fat better than cardio will do (such as running) and the muscle you gain will help make any fat you have look less, if that makes sense.
The most important thing is consistency. Take on these good habits, and do them every single day, even when you don’t feel like it.
Try the keto or high protein diet with no carbs. It’s a whole new way to eat but it does work provided you really watch it & stay with it. Good luck 🍀.
You may want to check it with your primary physician like they say, I started a month ago & have already lost 15 pounds (I’m male in my 60’s) & my doctor wasn’t saying anything about me gaining weight even though I was complaining to her about it every time that I saw her so I just did it on my own.
Keto Works 100% if you really follow it. And that doesn’t mean having one high carb thing every two days you really have to stick to the net carbs! But it literally shrinks your body down. Seriously.
And in the beginning stay away from the processed low-carb things like the aunt Millies 2 carb bread, and all of that.. once you get closer to your goal weight, just use those as your every day things.
And weight loss injections. I know several people who have been taking them and they are not having problems. I know some have a side effect though but don’t let it dissuade you from at least trying it….like liquid gold.
Slow and steady wins this. A healthier relationship with food is sustainable. I was 275 August two years ago. I ended up in the bariatric surgery program for bypass surgery but when I got down to 230 I no longer qualified for the surgery my insurance approved so I stopped seeing the dietician. I kept going. I had to quit binging and eating large lunches and dinners I didn’t usually eat breakfast. Dietician said to have something for breakfast so I did either Greek yogurt or protein powder blended with milk. I lowered my portions as well first in half then a little more at a time. High protein low carb and sugar was helpful because enough protein curbs hunger. I used moderation mostly I still like snacks and chocolate but I only have a small amount and I have some low calorie snacks to help the sweet tooth. I have some serious back pain and I cannot walk very well so I haven’t exercised consistently here I am and I just weighed in today at 160 pounds. This took a lot of time and patience. I had fluctuations stops stalls and starts it was all thrown at me. Right now I’ve been in the 160s since February 160’is the lowest I’ve been. My goal is 150-155 but if it doesn’t happen I’m fine with that.
Ozempic is the cheat code.
I feel you. I’m in a similar situation and I have done everything to lose weight and this is what I learned:
There’s no other way to lose weight in a healthy way that’s not a diet and exercise and the bad thing about it is that you have to make it a lifestyle and not stop the diet and exercising when you hit your goal or else you will gain all the weight back and more.
So you have to change your lifestyle.
Start by going to the gym every other day at least for one hour. 1. Cut off rice, bread, pasta. 2. Cut off junk food. 3. Cut off sodas.
If you like sweets like ice cream and candy, cut those off too.
When you want to eat something sweet, eat fruits. Eat protein with veggies and greens (like broccoli, kale, spinach etc). If you like rice you can substitute it with other grains like quinoa. Make salads and drink water only (no fruit drinks like orange juice).
And fast. You can research about intermediate fasting. I fast for 3 days (no food) or every other day.
We are all different but that’s what worked for me. Also walking helps a lot.
Good luck! You got this!
I spent quite a bit of the last 20 years being significantly overweight. For the longest time I thought it was due to health problems.
It was actually due to mental health. There was something broken inside of me. Something that compelled me to eat to comfort myself.
It took YEARS of therapy to get to the point where I realized that when my (now ex) husband cheated on me 15 years ago that it wasn’t my fault. Consciously, I knew that. But in the back of my mind, in my soul, I still blamed myself. There was a switch that flipped in my brain last summer when I realized that my ex husband was going to cheat on me no matter what I had done. I could’ve been perfect and he still would’ve cheated because that is just who he is.
And now I don’t feel compelled to eat to comfort myself. I only eat when I am hungry, and I only get hungry 2 or 3 times a day. (Part of this is due to having ADHD and being on adderall).
Basically, in order to lose weight you need to burn more calories in a 24 hour period than you consume. Start by taking walks. If you haven’t gone on a walk in a while, start out with like a half mile walk and work up to a longer walk. Once you become accustomed to going on walks, then you can work up to other things like strength training exercises.
Over the last year I have lost 40 pounds. Because I ate less and increased the amount of movement I was doing every day.
I suggest also speaking to a counselor to get to the root of why you have gained weight. Talking to a nutritionist also probably wouldn’t be a bad idea.
Look into seeing if you qualify for Ozempic or other weight loss injections through your insurance. Losing weight when you’re fat is way harder than keeping weight off when you’re skinny.
Hi
There is a non diabetic version of Ozempic that works very well for shedding pounds.
Downside…expensive. right now the first shot is 500 and follow up shots are 350 (insurance won’t cover it unless you are prediabetic)
That’s per month. My step mother dropped a total of 84 pounds in about 8 months…maybe a year. I can’t recall when she started having the shots.
Honestly if you think you have depression at all you might want to consider getting treatment. I didn’t know I was depressed but once I was medicated I discovered I was trying to comfort myself. I’m not saying this is everyone but I find it easier now to listen to my appetite instead of myfeelings.
Alcohol . It’s full of sugar which messes up your metabolism. I have been on metformin since I was 55. Take out alcohol and any White food. Good luck! I lost 70 pounds after getting pregnant in my late 30s. Thankfully I have always worked out but it took a Year after my son was born to get it off.
I Cut out sugar and I dropped over 2 stone in a few months. I still have it now and then but honestly one of the best things I did.
Lots of not great advice in here from people who sound like they are struggling with overly restrictive habits. I am f26 and went from 270 to my current weight of 160 in a little over a year with a similar family background as you. The first thing that helped me was creating a goal that was not purely about a number on a scale. For me, I wanted my plantar fasciitis to go away. It is totally fine to want your body to look different, but to keep weight off, you need to ground your weight loss in a bigger “why”.
Second, you need to be realistic about what dieting + exercise looks like. When you lose weight and keep it off, you are completely overhauling your relationship to food. For me, that means I don’t do protein powders, keto, artificial sweeteners because I don’t like those things, and including them in a diet is setting me up to fail since I don’t want to keep eating that way. You might like those things and not have an issue with them being in your diet long-term.
Personally, I don’t have an issue with calorie tracking and in combination with meal prepping, I eat an amount of food that leaves me satisfied + comfortable every day. I focus on getting my fiber in from whole food sources and it really helps.
This is going to sound hokey, but you need to love yourself and be curious about yourself. When I do things like seriously crave takeout + eat more of it than is comfortable, I ask myself why that is happening–oftentimes, it is because my meals don’t have enough volume, protein or fiber, so I adjust.
So much of diet culture is about restriction and treating yourself like a problem, but you need to work with your body to have sustained weight loss that feels good.
Good luck!
Zepbound or other GLP-1 meds will control your appetite and make your stomach empty slower. You can get Ozempic covered by insurance if you have a high A1C indicating diabetes. Zepbound can get covered if you have sleep apnea. Good luck!
Fill up on protein. No carbs til you lose more weight. Exercise 60m a day with 30m being cardio, 30m strength training—you need to be pushing yourself, you need to be sweating
I’m on Wegovy and have lost 40 pounds since November. I’ve also been mixing up what I eat, like breakfast for dinner, or traditional dinner foods for breakfast. I still eat what I want, but I find I’m not hungry at lunchtime and i want smaller portions. I drink about 64 ounces of water a day and eat lots of vegetables and lean meat.
Remember you didn’t gain the weight overnight so don’t expect a quick weight loss. WW has a good program and the weekly weigh-ins help to keep you on track. They have a great online support and recipes to try.
Good luck to you and I wish you success!!
Measure your calorie intake for a week or so to get a feel for what you’re taking in. All of it. Condiments, cooking oils, drinks included. Use a weight loss calculator to figure out what your ideal calorie intake is for steady sustainable weight loss. For this week keep consuming as you normally do.
After that week, take a look at the numbers. How many calories do you need to shave off? What is the most sustainable way you can do that? Maybe it’s not having milk and sugar in your coffee, or using less oil when you cook, or eating out less often etc.
Hard as fuck, but that will do it
Cut out the carbs. I stopped eating sugar and most carbs and lost 60lbs immediately. I will occasionally eat pizza and pastries now and I’ve kept it off.
My girlfriend lost 100lbs walking and cutting carbs.
Seriously I ate bacon cheeseburgers and bacon and eggs for breakfast for 3 months and lost that weight. Carbs are your enemy and it’s easy to enjoy food and avoid them.