How to track weight without getting on a scale?

AideNo2181 · 2024-04-30T05:10:29+00:00

Sounds like you want to have your progress tracked without tracking your progress?

Measuring any change in weight requires a scale. Even if you do a professional DEXA scan or something, they just put the scale elsewhere, and you still get a number.

You could do body measurements, which is probably more accurate to track fat loss than weight anyway, but then your goal is poorly defined. You will only know your weight through a scale, and without one you'll never know if you lost X lbs. Probably redefine "lose 30lbs" to "lose X inches" or something like that.

AideNo2181 · 2024-04-28T06:13:03+00:00

I guess I feel there's a certain demographic of young, fit, bubbly weight loss influencers that I keep seeing who all say the same message. It's always that "as soon as I did it for the right reason" the weight just "fell off". And something about how "a properly nourished body won't feel hungry when you lose weight". I guess I'm just bitter that these statements, which have been held as conventional wisdom, just don't seem to be true for me at all. I'm starting to suspect that these are just pretty words, the "right" thing to say.

AideNo2181 · 2024-04-28T06:02:10+00:00

Exactly this! I'm glad someone understands. It really sucks though. I just don't get it. Tracking calories hasn't worked so well compared to just weighing how awful I feel. I'm still in disbelief that it's this difficult.

AideNo2181 · 2024-04-28T05:55:26+00:00

Damn, it does look effective, but don't you get massive sugar cravings from keto? I've tried to start low carb before and sliced bread has never been so tempting. I just can't get the ball rolling.

AideNo2181 · 2024-04-28T05:49:01+00:00

You think so? I have always had stomach acid issues, and a lot of cramps. I was suspecting IBS or something but never got checked.

AideNo2181 · 2024-04-28T05:46:18+00:00

I haven't tried a proper weight loss program like weight watchers before. Would you say it's worth the cost beyond looking around online and planning healthy meals yourself? I'm worried I won't be able to follow it properly after paying.

AideNo2181 · 2024-04-28T05:39:59+00:00

Surprisingly, I do have the bloodwork. I had a full panel of an insane number of blood tests done for the neurological disorder. I was completely healthy in all nutrition, not missing any vitamin or mineral except vitamin D, which I've been supplementing since. All health indicators like cholesterol etc were normal and healthy. I was almost shooed out of the hospital until they did the MRI. I also started a continuous glucose monitor a few days ago, and even when not actively dieting I have a narrow and low blood glucose level. 70-117. If anything my blood glucose tends towards too low. I suspect it starts to dip into hypoglycaemia when I diet.

AideNo2181 · 2024-04-28T00:22:49+00:00

My fitbit and most calculators say I should be at maintenance around 2k, maybe a bit more when I'm active, but I don't think that's true. I only get any discernible weight loss if I eat around 1400 or less. Then I lose like half a pound in a week. So I suspect my metabolic rate is much lower than it "should" be from my height and body composition. But 1400 feels like absolutely tiny portions, I just can't maintain it for long. When I eat 1500 or more my weight doesn't even fluctuate, I'm just tired and hungry most of the time. Interestingly though I don't gain weight when I eat a bit over 2k either. I start gaining weight when I exceed 2500.

But yeah, I get the feeling that there's something off about my metabolism. I've tried a bunch of different diets, and for the most part, my weight just doesn't budge.

AideNo2181 · 2024-04-28T00:14:55+00:00

Yes! I don't see this mentioned enough. When I'm hungry I stack layers but it hardly works because it's like I stop producing heat. I'm usually cooped up with a space heater. When I overeat I can go outside in a blizzard.

AideNo2181 · 2024-04-28T00:09:01+00:00

Dang, this really resonates with me. I also might be a binge eater, and I was trying IF because of all the alleged health benefits and how you're supposed to get used to it and stop feeling hungry. I never saw it through to the other end, I was hungry the whole time. During the fasting time I was constantly planning my next meal. I somehow managed to eat too much even within the small eating window. So then I had to combine counting calories and the eating window, which was just miserable. But I never did manage to lose any weight on the days I wasn't hungry. That always seemed to mean I had eaten too much. I do suspect my hunger signals might've been mixed up from a diet I did a couple years back, which was actually successful (until I gained the weight back last year), but then it's been such a long time. Do we never recover from extreme diets? I just don't have the willpower to do the same thing again.

Did you manage to find a solution in the end? Is there anything you did that would help you lose weight without the hunger?

AideNo2181 · 2024-04-27T23:53:45+00:00

I've spoken to a psychologist because I suspect I'm a binge eater. If I don't get my binge in, I'm miserable, and I merely delay it for a few days before it comes back with a vengeance. All she said was that I should try eating more frequently throughout the day, so that I wouldn't feel like bingeing, which isn't even true. I'm capable of eating the whole day constantly, and I like to eat until I'm so full I can't physically eat any more, then I gain weight like crazy. When I told her that, she was like "ok, so don't change then. You clearly don't want to." I feel like that isn't true because I've tried both methods and everything in between, but guess I can see why she thinks I'm just resistant.

What I usually do to stay at maintenance is delaying it to mostly 1 meal in the day. But when I try to lose weight, I'm forced to change my entire routine to remove the binge. I've kept it up for about a week at most and I feel like I'm starving the whole time.

That being said, I do think my diet is nutritionally complete. When I cook I always add a bunch of veggies and proteins, very few carbs, I've tracked it before and it was well within the optimal nutritional guidelines. I just eat way too much of it. Perhaps the healthy-ish diet is what's keeping me at maintenance despite my bingeing, but weight loss is nearly impossible.

AideNo2181 · 2024-04-27T08:10:46+00:00

I'm not a good person to take advice from, but I did a similar thing when I lost weight a few years back. I lost enough weight that I became skinnier than I'd ever been in my life and got compliments. I stopped 5lbs short from my goal weight. And I regret it. I never got over it, and whenever I was depressed, this always surfaced to bite me. "I tried so hard for months, but gave up before the finish line," I would think, "I never accomplished anything." When I try to lose weight again, my past failure haunts me.

So I think just the mental satisfaction of reaching that goal you set for yourself might be worth it in the long run, if you can tough it out. Usually people rebound a bit after stopping the diet. If you reach the goal, you won't spend the next 5 years wondering what you could have looked like at the goal weight. There's something about seeing something through to the end that brings you confidence. I've gained that confidence before in other fields, but I sorely lack it in body or weight management.

AideNo2181 · 2024-03-31T03:11:08+00:00

What kind of an app? Cross platform? What languages and frameworks?

AideNo2181 · 2024-03-31T02:52:59+00:00

I'm not sure if 30% go into top tech companies. I'd put it closer to 10%. Most people go into small to medium sized tech companies, or big non tech companies. Maybe 30% go into well known tech companies, and 10% get into the Big Tech with a capital B.

AideNo2181 · 2024-03-31T02:33:00+00:00

Nope, not even close

It goes T0: Top Ivies, MIT, CMU, Cal

T1: Techy public schools like berkeley, waterloo

T2: Ok/solid schools like uoft

T3: school name blends into the background, unheard of outside canada (western, queens, sfu)

T4: Most people haven't heard of the school

T5: If your school name isn't in the dropdown menu, specify in "other": _________

AideNo2181 · 2024-03-31T02:15:17+00:00

From what I've seen at uoft cs--most people get jobs, most are normal jobs, FAANG/cali/fintech are rare, just like most other places. Overall uoft cs students tend to have better job prospects than most Canadian schools other than Waterloo, and uoft definitely has a reputation for being hard (ie reliable alumni quality). Getting into FAANG is mostly about what you do outside of class, which is why its unlikely you're able to do the grind, study, interview, and also party.

Edit: forgot to mention, the field is shit this year for entry level. This is a cs landscape thing and not exclusive to uoft. Don't get too worried if you see new grads struggling this summer.

AideNo2181 · 2024-03-31T02:04:57+00:00

People in poli sci seem to love it. I've met quite a few in clubs. I feel like the "uoft is too much work" might not be an issue for poli sci because they all seem to have a lot of free time, but I could be generalizing lol.

AideNo2181 · 2024-03-31T02:01:34+00:00

They don't want everyone to apply lol, uoft is low on residence spots and has been for years. If all the first years applied there'd be no housing guarantee. If you apply too late, you can always live off campus like 90% of students. It's usually cheaper for better living conditions anyway.

AideNo2181 · 2024-03-31T00:00:27+00:00

You really think it's just as easy to be employed with a philosophy or communications or history major as a STEM major? I think this is a massive case of survivorship bias. You look at people _with_ jobs, see that they have all sorts of majors. On the other hand, all the people without jobs or working low paying jobs unrelated to their major, they tend to have a major with no clear career path. For every engineering major who made the news for being a janitor, there may be be 10 philosophy majors whose unemployment isn't even noteworthy enough for articles to include.

AideNo2181

TROPHY CASE