Weight loss: Almost two years in. 311lbs lost. I’m very proud and happy, but it’s still a struggle. |
- Almost two years in. 311lbs lost. I’m very proud and happy, but it’s still a struggle.
- I made it! I'm under 100 kg for the first time in years! Woot woot! �� Next goal: 95. Ultimate goal: 70.
- Took some "before" pictures and it felt like a kick in the teeth.
- Gotta love turning down office lunch
- Day 1? Starting your weight loss journey on Sunday, 25 July 2021? Start here!
- I'm going to visit my family for a whole month and a half and I'm so scared of gaining weight. (Lost 108 lbs so far)
- NSV: I slipped on the wet grass today but didn't wipe out and used my core to stabilize myself
- I ate pasta in moderation for the first time in years
- Guys, guys!! I'm so happy, quit my decade long soda habit and am now losing weight constantly without much of an effort
- How do you stay patient in your weight loss journey?
- The NSV I Never Expected
- I feel like I've been given a gift, but I'm wasting it
- I'm wondering if having PMDD makes it extremely unlikely for me to able maintain weight loss.
- any advice for getting waist size down or working out?
- Your mental health is as important as your physical health and do not ignore it. I ignored and learned some lessons the hard way.
- PSA: Approved Anti-Obesity Medications are a Thing That Perhaps More People Should Consider
- Daily Q&A Post for Sunday, 25 July 2021 - No question too small!
- It’s so much easier to lose weight when you are on a proper medication.
- advice/tips on staying active during the day for students?
- My oberservation of this forum
- HELP! NEED TO GET FIT BEFORE COLLEGE STARTS
- 24-Hour Pledge - Sunday, 25 July 2021 - The Plan for Today!
- SV/NSV Feats of the Day - Sunday, 25 July 2021: Today, I conquered!
- 2 years trying to lose weight
- Sharing my small win ✨
| Almost two years in. 311lbs lost. I’m very proud and happy, but it’s still a struggle. Posted: 24 Jul 2021 06:13 AM PDT I was overweight my whole life. Food got me through anxiety and depression and boredom and anger. Binge eating was the closest thing I ever had to self-care. It served a valuable purpose in my life. And it was trying to kill me. By 33, I weighed 450lbs. That year, my brother died of cancer at age 37. His death sent me into a major depression and again I turned to food to cope. When I turned 37, I weighed 520lbs. Turning that age, the same age my brother was when he'd died, woke me up. I kept thinking, "if I don't get to live another year, is this how I want to spend my time?" So I started. Again. I'd tracked calories before and exercised and gone to support groups. But I decided that, if I was going to have any chance, I needed to be smart, open and honest about it this time. So I got into weekly therapy with a great therapist and, after doing a lot of research, started vegetarian keto and intermittent fasting. I also left a relationship that had become emotionally shredding due to neglect on both our part (but that's another long long story). I started with a 16:8 fasting protocol (basically skipping dinner) and ate under 30g of carbs per day and around 2500 calories. I tracked using CarbManager and ate a mix of salads, nuts, avocados, eggs, low-carb vegan protein shakes, some tofu, vegan meat replacements and healthy oils. It was not awesome for the first week to be honest. Cutting sugar and carbs gave me headaches and chills. But I kept on with it, tracking religiously and going to therapy. After a couple weeks, I noticed that I was far more emotional when I was talking with my therapist and just generally in life. Without the binge eating, the feelings and thoughts weren't stuck in me anymore. I did a lot of hard work in that time. Grieving my brother, dealing with some past traumas, retraining myself to cope with anxiety. And all the time staying on track with food. Within a few months, I was doing 20:4 fasts, had cut my calories to around 2200 and did a couple extended fasts (around 72 hours). The weight came off quickly. I was down 100lbs within six months and the weight loss stayed steady. My fasted glucose levels, which I started measuring with a Keto-Mojo blood monitor, dropped from around 115 to the mid 80s. My blood pressure dropped significantly and I felt good enough to start some exercise, mostly just simple walking. The biggest change though was in my thoughts. I swear, sugar dictates my thinking if I let myself have it. Without sugar, compulsion was replaced by actual hunger. Compulsion isn't something I can manage effectively. But I learned, maybe for the first time in my life, what actual hunger cues felt like, ones that weren't clouded by addiction. In January of this year, I went to a doctor for the first time in years. By then I had dropped almost 300lbs. Unfortunately, my high saturated fat diet had impacted my cholesterol badly. The doc wanted to put me on statins, but I asked him for six months to try turning it around through diet and exercise. So, for the last six months, I added some healthy carbs back into my diet (berries, oatmeal, more fruits and veg), went to fully plant-based eating, added in a regular resistance training program and upped the intensity of my walking. Oh, and I added a "treat day" every week where I let myself not track and eat at restaurants if I feel like it. My weight loss has hit a plateau but I'm definitely adding muscle. I've been right around 210 for a couple months. Two weeks ago I went back to the doc for blood work and he literally said "holy shit, you absolutely turned your cholesterol around." I am now in "optimal" range across the board. Other landmarks along the way:
Now, here's the thing. It's still a struggle. Every day. Since changing my diet to address the cholesterol, I find myself having compulsive feelings around food again. It's the sugar/carbs, I swear. But now I know and I face it. I show up every day, not aiming for perfection, but working toward my physical and mental health. It's all connected. I am not perfect but I show up. That's the best I can keep doing. I'm proud of what I've achieved, regretful for the years I spent locked in un-health, and hopeful for the future. Here are pics from 10/2019 and yesterday, just for comparison. I did a thing, for sure. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 24 Jul 2021 10:26 PM PDT 32F, 173 cm, starting weight 110.6 kg, current weight 99.8 kg, goal weight 70 kg. I recorded my highest weight in October 2020, and lost the first 5kg in a month or two. Stalled for several months as I was dealing with a lot of personal turmoil and upheaval in my life. Finally got back on track about 6 weeks ago. Currently doing 16:8 IF and modified keto (avoiding all saturated fat, cheese, fatty meat, coconut oil, etc. and replacing with olive oil, avocado, nuts, etc.). Lots and lots and LOTS of water. My main reason for wanting to lose weight is basically I don't want to die young. I'm hoping this time it sticks. I want to live a healthier life going forward. I find it easier to deal with smaller goals of 5kg at a time. It's less demoralizing to focus on the smaller amount than the much larger overall amount that I need to lose. Would like to reach my goal weight by this time next year. I wonder if I can do it? I know my weight loss will slow down the closer I get to my goal. It's just so nice to see double digits on the scale again! Woohoo! [link] [comments] |
| Took some "before" pictures and it felt like a kick in the teeth. Posted: 24 Jul 2021 03:45 PM PDT Hi. I'm 41(m) currently 26st2/366lbs (down from 28st at the height of UK lockdown) I've been massive ly overweight my entire life but not this overweight. Objectively I've been doing very well on my weightloss over the past few months. 1st 12 down! So I decided to document it and asked my wife to take some "before" (okay during) pictures. I was shocked by how much larger I looked than I expected. Yes I know I avoid full length mirrors and photos fir a reason but... I'm not sure how to reconcile my objectively good start to this weightloss journey with my sudden realisation of just how large I'd got after almost a year and a half largely spent inside. I've found the whole thing demotivating because everything now seems insurmountable. I mostly just wanted to vent but if people here have any tips on how to get over this I'd appreciate it. Also, hello, hi, thanks for being here. [link] [comments] |
| Gotta love turning down office lunch Posted: 24 Jul 2021 07:53 PM PDT I mostly just want to vent because I'm having an overall frustrating day and having to say no to people a thousand times before being left alone gets on my nerves. We've had the Big Boss visiting my branch for the last few days, and today they've offered to buy lunch for all the Saturday folks. Someone decides that they're going to put in pizza orders from a local place for everyone. Gets to me, and I say I'm going to pass. Are you sure? Yes, I'm sure. They also have salads if you don't want pizza! I know what they have, but no thank you, I don't want anything. I'm given a look like I'm not being any fun then they carry on to the next person. I know they mean well and for a lot of people, turning down a free lunch probably seems really unexpected and maybe they think I'm just being shy or whatever. I hate being in situations where I feel like I need to defend myself, that I've got my calories and macros all set for the day and I'd rather save a more indulgent fun meal for the weekend when I'm out with my boyfriend, not unplanned at work. And even when I have tried to say that to people, I still get the whole "oh come on, it won't hurt you! We're all getting something, we don't want you to be left out!" I've learned in my many years of weight loss and maintenance that I don't owe anyone an explanation, but dealing with the pushiness still bothers me sometimes and I just needed to vent to people who get it. [link] [comments] |
| Day 1? Starting your weight loss journey on Sunday, 25 July 2021? Start here! Posted: 24 Jul 2021 09:31 PM PDT Today is your Day 1? Welcome to r/Loseit! So you aren't sure of how to start? Don't worry! "How do I get started?" is our most asked question. r/Loseit has helped our users lose over 1,000,000 recorded pounds and these are the steps that we've found most useful for getting started. Why you're overweight Our bodies are amazing (yes, yours too!). In order to survive before supermarkets, we had to be able to store energy to get us through lean times, we store this energy as adipose fat tissue. If you put more energy into your body than it needs, it stores it, for (potential) later use. When you put in less than it needs, it uses the stored energy. The more energy you have stored, the more overweight you are. The trick is to get your body to use the stored energy, which can only be done if you give it less energy than it needs, consistently. Before You Start The very first step is calculating your calorie needs. You can do that HERE. This will give you an approximation of your calorie needs for the day. The next step is to figure how quickly you want to lose the fat. One pound of fat is equal to 3500 calories. So to lose 1 pound of fat per week you will need to consume 500 calories less than your TDEE (daily calorie needs from the link above). 750 calories less will result in 1.5 pounds and 1000 calories is an aggressive 2 pounds per week. Tracking Here is where it begins to resemble work. The most efficient way to lose the weight you desire is to track your calorie intake. This has gotten much simpler over the years and today it can be done right from your smartphone or computer. r/loseit recommends an app like MyFitnessPal, Loseit! (unaffiliated), or Cronometer. Create an account and be honest with it about your current stats, activities, and goals. This is your tracker and no one else needs to see it so don't cheat the numbers. You'll find large user created databases that make logging and tracking your food and drinks easy with just the tap of the screen or the push of a button. We also highly recommend the use of a digital kitchen scale for accuracy. Knowing how much of what you're eating is more important than what you're eating. Why? This may explain it. Creating Your Deficit How do you create a deficit? This is up to you. r/loseit has a few recommendations but ultimately that decision is yours. There is no perfect diet for everyone. There is a perfect diet for you and you can create it. You can eat less of exactly what you eat now. If you like pizza you can have pizza. Have 2 slices instead of 4. You can try lower calorie replacements for calorie dense foods. Some of the communities favorites are cauliflower rice, zucchini noodles, spaghetti squash in place of their more calorie rich cousins. If it appeals to you an entire dietary change like Keto, Paleo, Vegetarian. The most important thing to remember is that this selection of foods works for you. Sustainability is the key to long term weight management success. If you hate what you're eating you won't stick to it. Exercise Is NOT mandatory. You can lose fat and create a deficit through diet alone. There is no requirement of exercise to lose weight. It has it's own benefits though. You will burn extra calories. Exercise is shown to be beneficial to mental health and creates an endorphin rush as well. It makes people feel *awesome* and has been linked to higher rates of long term success when physical activity is included in lifestyle changes. Crawl, Walk, Run It can seem like one needs to make a 180 degree course correction to find success. That isn't necessarily true. Many of our users find that creating small initial changes that build a foundation allows them to progress forward in even, sustained, increments. Acceptance You will struggle. We have all struggled. This is natural. There is no tip or trick to get through this though. We encourage you to recognize why you are struggling and forgive yourself for whatever reason that may be. If you overindulged at your last meal that is ok. You can resolve to make the next meal better. Do not let the pursuit of perfect get in the way of progress. We don't need perfect. We just want better. Additional resources Now you're ready to do this. Here are more details, that may help you refine your plan.
* Lose It Compendium - Frame it out! * FAQ - Answers to our most Frequently Asked Questions! [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 25 Jul 2021 12:09 AM PDT I'm currently 5'5 and 130ish, I normally eat around 1200 calories per day but I walk between 10-15k steps a day reason why it's easy for me to lose and maintain. I'm loving where my body is at now and I feel good. However I'm going to visit my family for a long period of time which has usually resulted in a 15 pound weight gain at least every summer. I find myself still struggling A LOT around food, here where I live I follow a very clean eating regime, no oils, no salt, no fat foods and I walk a lot everyday. I won't be able to exercise at all while there due to some reasons which I won't explain but just know that I can't. It's summer, I usually drink lots of beer and being around food that triggers my binging is going to be mentally nerve wrecking. I'm now used to see myself lean and I try to eat clean as much as I can also because my body cannot physically handle eating more and eating crap like I used to. What are some tips to handle the situation and not gain any weight without exercising? I'm really anxious and concerned. [link] [comments] |
| NSV: I slipped on the wet grass today but didn't wipe out and used my core to stabilize myself Posted: 24 Jul 2021 04:58 AM PDT Hi reddit! I have about 100 lbs to lose and I am battling some hormonal issues, making it doubly hard to lose weight. This spring I decided I just wanted my body to feel better, and I started exercising purely for the emotional and physical health I knew I would gain. In June I started kayaking at moderate intensity for 1.5 hours 3-4x a week. I have completely fallen in love with the sport and I wasn't expecting to see results so fast. Not only has my stamina improved, but most of my back, neck and shoulder pain has also disappeared which is extraordinary. I have been suffering daily migraines and pinched nerves for about 15 years. My kayaking friends said this is likely due to my increased core strength. I wasn't sure if this could be true for only having kayaked only for 2 months, however today I realized it's real! I was walking my dogs down a hill with a large incline and I slipped in the morning dew. I was positive I was going to wipe out, as I normally would, but this time I was able to stabilize myself just before hitting the ground with both my legs and my core. I one hundred percent would not have been able to do this in May. This is one of the first NSVs I've ever had related to physical fitness, and I'm so empowered. It has me wondering what else my body is capable of and what else I can do if I was even stronger. I can't wait to find out! [link] [comments] |
| I ate pasta in moderation for the first time in years Posted: 24 Jul 2021 05:28 AM PDT My mom makes the most amazing vegan mushroom pasta ever. Last night I overindulged way too much and felt quite upset over it, not to mention physically unwell. Will I keep bingeing on good foods? Will I ever be able to "enjoy in moderation". I felt hopeless. This happens every single time. What I would normally do is avoid pasta like the plague the next day, skip breakfast and lunch to "make up for it", but inevitably overeating at dinner. I'd also say to myself "only salad today, no junk foods". But then I decided I need a plan of action. Everything I've tried before has never worked well enough. So this morning when I woke up, my mom tells me that there's still pasta left over from last night and I must have some. I gathered myself for a minute and thought, "okay I need to do something different. This is my opportunity". So while I warmed the pasta up, I headed to he fridge and filled half my plate with beetroot and salad, made some tea, I ate a roll and banana too. When it was time to eat it I dished out a small portion, maybe less than 10 conchieglie pieces. Finished up, felt full and headed to my room to continue work. My dad even commented "wow look at you with the salads eating so healthy, I'm proud of you." And damn! It's 3 hours later and I don't crave the pasta, I don't feel for it, I'm still not hungry and I'm so so proud of myself. I feel like I've unlocked some special kind of trick and you bet I'm gonna use this at dinner! [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 24 Jul 2021 12:36 PM PDT Pretty much what the title said but I'm so stoked! I've still been at a normal weight but despite my not wanting to slip back into my eating disordered mindset from my teens, I'm still super happy that I'm losing weight. The best thing is, I don't have to worry about it, it happened gradually, slowly and I don't have to restrict my eating at all. I've been drinking coke with sugar since forever and I mean, STRICTLY only coke, no water, no tea, nothing else. (I know I know..) And I've always been drinking a lot, 3liters+ per day. So by my calculations that should've been 1290 kcal ON TOP of all the stuff I'm usually eating, and I eat a lot (apparently, my mum says so but I'm not sure, I can't really cook here so it's usually garbage food and I'm constantly hungry). So I was assuming that I'm ingesting way too many calories and it finally showed when I quit all my walking/biking during Corona, I've been steadily putting on weight to where it was still at the medium normal BMI but I felt so disgusting in my skin. Then I quit the coke, it was because I had a bad toothache (unsurprisingly, huh..) and I couldn't eat/drink/do anything for a couple of days.. and I used that chance to let it go, took some ibuprofen against the headache and it went well. I always wanted to quit, the 3 main reasons being: Wanna lose weight and not poison my body with all this sugar, wanna save the money, don't wanna carry all those damned bottles home anymore. I guess it was in January/February when I quit and I'd say I lost maybe 5-7kgs by now. (I don' t weigh myself anymore so can't say for sure. And I know it doesn't sound like a lot but it has huge visible effects.). I think summer also plays a huge role, I have less hunger, i eat less and am more into salads and stuff. Anyhow I'm just so happy. Just wanted to share this, also maybe it inspires someone in a similar situation to also make the switch! [link] [comments] |
| How do you stay patient in your weight loss journey? Posted: 24 Jul 2021 07:21 PM PDT Little background: My last semester of college was piss easy and I was depressed from a breakup so I did nothing but eat food and drink most days for a whole semester. I was always pretty fit but I put on about twenty pounds in four months!!! Before I knew it I was 10 pounds overweight which I hadn't even been in the overweight category since I was a kid. Moving back out of my dorm after graduation was hugely beneficial to change my mindset and kickstart the motivation I needed to lose weight. And I have a lot! I've lost sixteen pounds in a bit over two months! It's been a combination of basically cutting alcohol with rare exceptions, somewhat adhering to intermittent fasting, working out regularly, and watching what I eat. Not drinking every day was the big god send though. Nevertheless I feel like even though I've made such incredible progress and shouldn't beat myself up I'm tired of the hustle every day and not being at the goal weight I want to after months. How do you guys stay patient with yourself through your weight loss? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 24 Jul 2021 09:51 AM PDT I just took my most recent progress photos and as I was comparing them to my 'before' photos I was initially disappointed. I need to lose at least one hundred pounds to get to the upper end of a healthy BMI and I'm about twenty-five percent of the way there. Because of the paper towel effect I'm only seeing very minor changes to my body. Except in one way. For some background, I was a licensed massage therapist for nearly a decade and part of my training is looking at a body, either in person or in photos, and seeing how different areas were out of alignment. As I was looking at my before photos, I noticed for the first time that my hips had a severe posterior tilt. Simply put my hips were tilted back, compressing my spine, and stretching out my abdomen. But in my most recent photos the tilt is completely gone! My hips are level, my spine is nice and elongated, and my abdomen is as it should be. Why? Strength training. I don't have a membership to a gym but three days a week I do weightless strength training exercises via YouTube videos. Over the last two months, as I've been strengthening my core, my abdominal muscles have strengthened and tightened and pulled my hips back into alignment. This has significantly reduced back pain, too. In past weight loss attempts, I never bothered with strength training in favor of cardio only. I've seen the error in my ways and I'm seeing progress in my body I never expected! [link] [comments] |
| I feel like I've been given a gift, but I'm wasting it Posted: 24 Jul 2021 10:52 PM PDT CW: vomiting I've struggled with binge eating disorder since I was about 12 (I'm 23 now). About a month and a half ago, I started getting weirdly sick and vomiting every day. It came out of nowhere, and a trip to the ER as well as a follow up with my doctor have told me that aside from my weight, I'm in pretty much perfect health. My organs, blood pressure, everything, you name it are all fine. Then, when I started actually paying attention to my hunger, I've noticed I just... Have a smaller appetite now. When I space out my meals and wait till I'm REALLY, TRULY hungry, I don't puke. But then my old habits kick in, I overeat, and I vomit. I guess as I've aged, my body has decided it's time for me to have a smaller (as I might imagine a "normal") appetite, I'm just so used to eating the way I have been for years, that I'm not adjusting, I'm just continuing to eat like I'm used to, and it's making me sick. I've tried so many times to lose weight, but I gain it all back and more every single time. I'm the heaviest I've ever been and I want to make that change, and I feel like the universe is setting weightloss to easy mode for me, but I still can't seem to do it. Is there any way I can beat my binge eating habits and make the most of my new appetite? [link] [comments] |
| I'm wondering if having PMDD makes it extremely unlikely for me to able maintain weight loss. Posted: 24 Jul 2021 05:30 PM PDT I'm alone and I need to vent. I would like to lose weight. I have been doing some workouts and counting calories lately. I'm a short lady in my 30s, mostly plant based diet, in a long term relationship. I'm currently 5'2 195lbs, so I would like to lose 75lbs and be in the 120-130 range. I've lost a lot of weight before. Twice now I've reached 145lbs, first with CICO and second with being active and cutting meat and dairy. The first time I gained the weight back because of drinking/toxic relationship, and the second time was because I quit my job/covid gym closures.
How am I supposed to maintain weight loss if my body is sabotaging me every month??? One day I was tracking calories and had around 1400 but I felt so hungry and like I could barely function. I can't workout. I've binged two days in a row now. Even I do great for half my cycle, I can't make up for it during the other half (I usually have symptoms starting from when I ovulate, so about 2 weeks a month). An old B/A photo to appease the photo gods: https://i.imgur.com/Z8YXN84.jpeg [link] [comments] |
| any advice for getting waist size down or working out? Posted: 24 Jul 2021 07:16 PM PDT hey everyone, i have post about my journey so far, but people are saying i need to try more actionable things and asking for actionable advice instead of just looking for support. i feel good about my weight loss journey and have lost 60 lbs so far and am 15 lbs away from a healthy bmi but a lot of people are saying i need to do body recomp to get my body looking normal cause i look big for my height weight. ive been doing pilates for over 15 years and yoga for a little over 10 years. I've been learning more body weight exercises and have been doing those too. i do a little cardio mostly walking, sometimes running. i cant do weights cause my back is messed up so i can only do 5 lbs weights according to my doctor. i need to lower my waist size cause its 40 inches and people are telling me thats not healthy at all even if im at my goal weight. i know you cant lose weight in specific areas, but im hoping someone will have some ideas i can try instead of just asking for emotional support. thank you. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 24 Jul 2021 03:58 AM PDT [TW: Suicide and Self-Harm] My stats: 21M Height: 168cm; SW: 92kg, CW: 82kg, GW: 70kg. Background: I am an Indian international student studying Bachelor's degree in Canada. I have had severe body-image issues since I was 6 due to bullying. I was overweight since I was 8. My weight kept fluctuating in the last three years. Before the pandemic, I went down to 72kg and had lightly visible abs. After the pandemic, my life changed due to loneliness and depression, which made me gain around 20kg weight. I used to binge eat till about a three months ago. Once one of my closest friends,who is also my crush, started to date a guy, I got jealous and got extremely motivated to lose weight. From May to around two weeks ago, I used to eat 1100 calories a day, and sometimes not eat for two to three days. I think I got a little too jealous and wasn't able to sleep as well. She stopped seeing him, but that's another story. Because of the extreme restriction, I lost 10kg is 6 weeks. I developed some health problems like fatigue, confusion, lack of sex drive, lack of motivation etc. I even developed anxiety due to my body-image issues, and have heart palpitations and a sick stomach. I lost my sanity and started to snap easily at people. My body-image issues are so bad that I attempted suicide multiple times during March-May period. My friend observed this and started to spend more time with me talking me out of my unhealthy mindset. She started to tell me to eat more and exercise more rather than doing what I was doing. My roommate, who is a model, recommended me to go for a lower deficit and workout harder. Over the last two weeks, I am eating at a lower deficit and doing a decently intense workout. While it is just two weeks, I feel like regaining my sanity. I am making great progress at the gym and start to feel small changes in my body. I feel better, and the progress motivates me to work harder at the gym. These are things I started to realize from my journey and not want others to make the same mistake:
I am not sure if you guys might agree with these advice. And I might sound very fat-logicy. But trust me, your mental health is as important as your physical health. It is easy to develop eating disorders and body dysmorphia when you are trying to lose weight. Remember that losing weight is not just about weight, it is about building a healthy lifestyle. Eating nutritious food, drinking enough water, moving enough in a day, sleeping enough, these are all a part of weight loss and a healthy lifestyle. And hating your body is like living in a personal hell. Please do not hate your body, it is damaging you. I faced the damage, and I don't want anyone else to face those. Especially teenagers, who are younger and more vulnerable. I also want to mention another important thing that weight loss is a discipline. If you are not in a position to build that discipline and make changes in lifestyle, deal with the roadblockers first. Your mental health is very important, please do not ignore it. [link] [comments] |
| PSA: Approved Anti-Obesity Medications are a Thing That Perhaps More People Should Consider Posted: 24 Jul 2021 07:52 PM PDT This is a followup to https://www.reddit.com/r/slatestarcodex/comments/m83g60/in_defense_of_fdaapproved_weight_loss_medications/ . Note that I'm not a doctor. Please speak to a doctor before doing any of this stuff. IntroductionJudging by posts in r/loseit, the existence of effective anti-obesity medications is not particularly well-known (and to the degree it is, it's disapproved of.) I am attempting to remedy this! Quantifying Life-Years Saved by Losing A Certain Amount Of WeightAccording to Genome-wide meta-analysis associates HLA-DQA1/DRB1 and LPA and lifestyle factors with human longevity | Nature Communications , losing a single unit of BMI roughly corresponds to a 7-month gain in life expectancy in the overweight and obese. This seems basically in line with what I hear from other popular sources. This is consistent with: [https://www.bbc.com/news/health-46031332] "[L]ife expectancy for obese men and women was 4.2 and 3.5 years shorter" than people in the healthy BMI range. But really, I'm talking to r/loseit, to whom this won't count as a revelation. Obesity is unhealthy, news at eleven. My goal here is just to quantify what you're getting relative to the risks involved. Accordingly: So: let's talk about weight loss drugs! Weight Loss Drug StudiesWeigh loss drug studies are always composed of two groups of patients: a group attempting guided diet and exercise along with a placebo pill, and a group doing the diet and exercise plus the drug. That's important here, since it means we can't unequivocally recommend drugs as a replacement for diet and exercise, only as a secondary treatment. These studies are saying, in effect: if you can get X pounds lost from diet and exercise alone, adding pharmaceuticals to these efforts can get you X+Y pounds lost. That being the case, I'm going to now list the three or so good (as judged by me, a random asshole with a laptop) FDA-approved anti-obesity drugs currently on the market right now; their measured diet-and-exercise-subtracted weight loss; and finally, the amount of life-years you can expect to gain over the long term by losing that much weight. I'll be linking to studies for each. Note on drugs I'm not talking about here: I'm not going into liraglutide since it seems basically like worse semaglutide at similar cost, and I'm not going into phentermine+topiramate (Qsymia) because in spite of its greater efficacy than phentermine alone, it seems that topiramate has a substantial likelihood of giving people kidney stones, which is… not great. Links provided on request, but that's a bit far afield of my purposes here, so I'll move on. The DrugsPrice: 1300ish dollars per month for Wegovy. I've heard insurance has a… spotty… record of covering this. You might have better luck with insurance (provided you have T2D, or at least are at risk for it) with Ozempic, which is the same semaglutide, just at a different dose and with labeling for T2D treatment. Average Diet/Exercise-Subtracted weight loss: 12% based on its phase-3 trial. This is the most potent anti-obesity drug on the market. Common Side Effects: Transient nausea and GI upset at treatment onset. Other Notes: This seems to be the by-far most effective weight loss drug that currently exists. Approximate BMI drop for a 5'6 female at 200 pounds: In weight, 12% weight loss equates to about 24 pounds. This is a drop in BMI of 32.28 to 28.4 units. Approximate # of life-years saved based on drop: About 28 months, or about 2.3 years. Contrave [Bupropion + Naltrexone] Price: If you get it generic (and why wouldn't you?) about 40 bucks a month as naltrexone + bupropion. Average Diet/Exercise-Subtracted weight loss: 3-7% (varies by study) Common Side Effects: Amped up sex drive and improved focus (sometimes used off-label for ADHD); on the other hand, anxiety and insomnia, plus transient nausea at treatment onset. [My own bias: I'm on bupropion and it's mostly kickass. Insomnia's no fun, though.] Other Notes: Both parts of this drug have been in common use for several decades. If there was some godawful long-term side effect we'd know about it by now. Approximate BMI drop for a 5'6 female at 200 pounds: For lower estimates, this is a drop in BMI of 32.28 to 31.31 units (so about 1 unit of BMI); for higher (7%) estimates, this is about 2 units of BMI. Approximate # of life-years saved based on drop: About 7-14 months of life. Price: 23 dollars/month Average Diet/Exercise-Subtracted weight loss: 3-7% (varies by study) Common Side Effects: This is a mild stimulant, so... pretty much what you'd expect. Other Notes: Technically any use of this longer than 6 months is off-label (the FDA hates stimulants), but several long-term studies of phentermine use find no evidence of addiction or other side-effects when taken for years. Anecdotally this is sometimes taken with Contrave, but this is an off-label combination on which there is little data. Approximate BMI drop for a 5'6 female at 200 pounds: For lower estimates, this is a drop in BMI of 32.28 to 31.31 units (so about 1 unit of BMI); for higher (7%) estimates, this is about 2 units of BMI. Approximate # of life-years saved based on drop: About 7-14 months of life. ConclusionObesity causes a lot of misery! I've lurked r/loseit! And the quest to stop being obese is the cause of even more misery for lots of people, judging by the posts on here. If you're in that group, you might be well-served by discussing medication-assisted options with a doctor. FAQsGiving a life-years-saved measurement based on bare BMI differences implies that the person will be on this drug forever. But what about the unquantified risks of being on some drug for the rest of your life? Especially semaglutide, which hasn't been around very long?This is a fair concern! It is, however, worth pointing out that the FDA is quite vigorous about pulling drugs that have been shown to have even small risks of causing life-threatening conditions; a recent example of this is lorcaserin (aka Belviq). Think about the implications! If you're on X drug for your whole life, then by assumption you'll have also gone your whole life without the FDA having observed any statistical increases in cancer incidence or heart attacks or whatever for people on the drug. That's a very high bar of safety. Ultimately, the quantifiable life-years lost by obesity (in the form of statistical heart attacks and various other comorbidities) must be weighed against the mere uncertain prospect of an imperfect drug making it through the FDA approval process. Besides which, nobody says once you're done losing weight that you have to continue taking the appetite suppressants. I mean, I probably would? But diff'rent strokes. If you're concerned regardless-- semaglutide is the only particularly new treatment on that list (and even that's been around a few years in the form of Ozempic). The others have multi-decade histories of usage, with reams of literature on their effects. Google Scholar: your friend and mine. Isn't this just a way of letting lazy people off the hook? Aren't most people better served by putting in the effort and CICO'ing, instead of putting strange chemicals into their body?Eh. If you've tried it and straightforward dieting makes you miserable, you are under no obligation to power through without assistance just because some randos on the internet implied you're supposed to. You don't win points for avoiding medication that makes your life easier! Aren't you just a lazy trash-person?Absolutely. But that's unrelated. I found a factual error in this post.Leave a comment telling me this (including a source for the info) and I'll correct it! Are you a doctor? You're a doctor, right?Jesus Christ no. If you take any medication on here without talking to a doctor about it you'll definitely swell up and die. Good luck! Disclaimer: I've spliced into this post some chunks of posts I've written elsewhere, like https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMotte/comments/n1xnth/weight_loss_drugs_part_v_drugalug/ . None of those are on r/loseit, though. [link] [comments] |
| Daily Q&A Post for Sunday, 25 July 2021 - No question too small! Posted: 24 Jul 2021 10:31 PM PDT Got a question? We've got answers! Do you have question but don't want to make a whole post? That's fine. Ask right here! What is on your mind? Everyone is welcome to ask questions or provide answers. No question is too minor or small. TIPS: * Include your stats if appropriate/relevant (or better yet, update your flair!) * Check the FAQ and other resources in the sidebar! [link] [comments] |
| It’s so much easier to lose weight when you are on a proper medication. Posted: 24 Jul 2021 04:59 PM PDT I have almost type 2 diabetes(borderline) with PCOS, non alcoholic fatty liver disease. I have been struggling to lose weight for the last 3 years after I had son. I was on metformin once a day and it didn't do much. I read an article about Wegovy (semaglutide) and figured about Ozempic. Basically it's the same medication but on a lower dose. I asked my NP about this med and she said I can be on it since I have been struggling to lose weight and my A1C and liver enzymes were getting worse. My SW was 233lbs, I'm on week 3 on Ozempic and I lost 15lbs in a month and a half. My appetite is suppressed and I have been eating 1200-1000 calories. Im so happy that I have come down to 218lbs, I am also working out 3-4 times a week. I have bunch of lose saggy skin and hanging belly(due to pregnancy) and also have diastasis recti. I plan to get tummy tuck once I reach my GW of 160lbs. It's been pretty easy to control what I eat and work out consistently. Medication makes whole lotta difference for sure when you have health issues. [link] [comments] |
| advice/tips on staying active during the day for students? Posted: 24 Jul 2021 09:14 PM PDT I am a student and restrictions in my area are lifting soon. During the lockdown, I found the following ways to stay active during the day:
Now that classes are starting soon, I will be confined to a set space during the day. My campus is pretty large and my classes are on different floors of the same building. I realize that the transition from class to class will be an excellent time to get my steps in but are there more opportunities for activity during the day that I'm missing? Essentially, I'm wondering how to keep my NEAT levels up. I love my routine and being less sedentary aided my weight loss goals immensely. I am determined to keep my active lifestyle. Any tips on being active during a school/workday would be appreciated! [link] [comments] |
| My oberservation of this forum Posted: 24 Jul 2021 04:09 AM PDT There is a lot of good support to be found here, but there is also dangerous advice (and encouragement!) for people who clearly need help for disordered eating at a minimum and possibly for an eating disorder. If you restrict and then binge, if you believe that you as an adult are just fine off of less than 1500 calories per day and you exercise a lot, if you eat one meal per day, if you cut out entire food groups, it would be a good idea to reach out to your therapist and doctor to make sure you are doing things in a healthy way. Weight loss doesn't have to be restricrive or unhealthy or unsustainable or painful. I've lost almost 120 pounds in just over 11 months. I'm a 5'5" woman in my early 40s sitting at about 167 pounds. I did lose too quickly, although my doctor didn't seem concerned, I could have a ticking time bomb for a gallbladder. I didn't go below 1500 a day--I probably averaged 1650 to 1800 in the beginning. I should have been eating more. The last several months I've been hitting about 2400 a day. Yes, I exercise. My weight loss has slowed greatly and that's a good thing. Please remember, this is a change for life, it is not a race. Good luck. ETA: Whew, the OMAD folks are mad at me! How can you possibly recommend one meal a day to an internet stranger when you don't know what their medical conditons are? If you are eating one meal a day and it's at least 1500 calories, that is an enormous amount of food to eat at one time and it looks to be very similar to binging behavior. Also, there seems to be confusion about what I wrote. Let me make this clear--if you are eating below 1500 a day, I strongly encourage you to talk to your doctor. It's actually good practice for everyone, myself included, to consult with one's doctor when doing any intentional weight loss (and if it's unintentional, get to the doctor ASAP). Last edit: When I read about these extremes here, I begin doubting myself and thinking that there's something wrong with me or that I'm doing something wrong....and I'm not because my own experience is telling me otherwise. Yes, I really have been averaging at least 2400 a day the whole month of May, June, and now July. I've managed to slow my average loss to 5 lbs. a month. That is a safe rate of loss and I'm proud of myself for that. Please consult with your doctor on your weight loss journey, I cannot emphasize this nearly enough. You don't have to listen to me, and you certainly don't have to listen to people here posting "the gospel truth". Go to your doctor. Be well and safe, everyone. [link] [comments] |
| HELP! NEED TO GET FIT BEFORE COLLEGE STARTS Posted: 24 Jul 2021 11:43 PM PDT my stats : 17F height: 163cm SW: 53 KG CW: 56KG GW:50KG So I'm starting college by mid august and I really wanna tone up before I attend . I finished chloe ting's get fit challenge last month , but I was also super stressed out so I had zero control over my diet ( around 3,000+ calories a day ) , so while i felt stronger I don't think there was a lot of difference I've gotten my calories to around 1500ish in the past one week and will be working to around 1200 over the course of the next few weeks I really don't know where to start , I don't mind a hard workout , but I really wanna see results . I have had issues with my body image for years now , but I feel like I'm finally making progress with the way I see myself now which is why I feel ready to take this step to losing weight , before I could barely look at myself in the mirror , but atleast now im starting to accept my body for what it is I've been trying to lose weight for a while now and sometime I go all in and it gets really unhealthy ( Lost 8 kgs in the span of two months ) and then went on to regain all that weight and more . I wanna lose weight in a way that's sustainable and also tone up , my measurements are : chest : 87cm , waist : 66cm , upper hips: 88cm and hips : 97 cm . I know spot reducing isn't a thing but I really want to lose the fat at my hips , and want to tone up the rest of my body so well i guess im looking for any and all advice :) [link] [comments] |
| 24-Hour Pledge - Sunday, 25 July 2021 - The Plan for Today! Posted: 24 Jul 2021 10:01 PM PDT Wake up with determination; go to bed with satisfaction! This is our daily check-in, to help keep us accountable over the long haul. Feel free to post whatever goals will help keep you on track. Here's the regular text on behalf of this thread's originator, kingoftheeyesores, taken with his blessing
Thanks to /u/nofollowthrough who made the 24-Hour Pledge an ongoing /r/loseit institution. Due to space limitations, this may be a sticky only occasionally. Please find it daily using the sidebar or top message. --- On reddit, your *vote* means, *"I found this interesting"* (...read more about [**voting on reddit**](https://www.reddit.com/wiki/voting)) --- [link] [comments] |
| SV/NSV Feats of the Day - Sunday, 25 July 2021: Today, I conquered! Posted: 24 Jul 2021 10:01 PM PDT The habit of persistence is the habit of victory! Celebrating something great? Scale Victory, Non-Scale Victory, Progress, Milestones -- this is the place! Big or small, long or short, please post here and help us focus all of today's awesomeness into an inspiring and informative mega-dose of greatness! (Details are appreciated!! How are you losing your weight?) * Did you just change your flair? pass a milestone? reach a goal? * Did you log for an entire week? or year? * Did you take the stairs? walk a mile? jog for 3? set a new personal record? * Fit into your old pair of jeans? throw away your fat clothes? fit into your college outfit? Post it here! This is the new, improved place for recording your acts of awesomeness! Due to space limitations, this may be an announcement (sticky) only occasionally. Please find it daily and keep it the hottest thing on /r/loseit! --- On Reddit your vote means, "I found this interesting!" Help us make this daily most the most read, most used, most interesting post on r/loseit by redding, commenting, and participating often! --- [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 24 Jul 2021 06:37 PM PDT Hey everybody my senior year of highschool i was 270, like wow fat boy. I did play offensive line in football and i was pretty good, so i kept the weight on for my sport.Now i am M20 years old, weighing 185-190 i have the best physique ive ever had and im honestly really proud and everyone who sees me after a period of time (lets say we dont see eachother for a month, or 2 weeks even ) I usually get comments from people how good im looking and they usually seem shocked how i just keep losing weight. Its been such a struggle, food & drugs are kinda my comfort cuz i had a messed up childhood. Been pretty clean off of drugs, eating very well, working out everyday, but mann i cant lose these fuckin titties and belly.im just worn out and tired of how long it is taking. Idk I guess I just needed to vent, ive been on this ride myself the whole time, buying my own food,figuring out my meals,working out alone mostly, can you guys share some of your weight loss stories or something? Just feeling down how hard I been working and not much change recently. Appreciate all of you❤️❤️ [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 24 Jul 2021 10:22 PM PDT I woke up earlier than usual thanks to all who commented on my last post 💗💗 Since I have extra time today, I decided to do a quick 10 min workout and a 10 min stretch afterwards. Although it's not much, I'm still proud of myself for pushing through. My family teased me a little but I don't mind, I'm used to it but I guess it'll be better if they just leave me alone lol. For those curious, I followed Emi Wong's Slim Leg workout, and Minasees' stretching routine on YouTube. I also started counting calories and allowed 1,200 calories for myself everyday so I hope I can be a little healthier this year. I also want to share my dilemma a few days ago. The thing is, I want to eat a cookie. However, if I do eat one, I'll feel bad about it for the rest of the night. If I don't, I will think about it until I fall asleep. I ended up eating not one, but four pieces of cookies. But I'm not going to let that discourage me (again) from trying. That's all I wanted to share today. Thank you for all you kind and encouraging words everyone!! [link] [comments] |
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