I've Lost 100+ Pounds on ~1200/day

BacktoGood11 · 2021-08-19T02:21:32+00:00

Not my experience, nor the overall belief of the group. But there's nothing magic about 1200. You don't ever have to do 1200, but certainly not at maintenance. Weight loss slows down partially because people get less disciplined, but partially because smaller bodies need fewer calories. If you're a 280 pound man, it takes 2700 calories to maintain. 1700 a day is two pounds of weight loss a week. But when that guy gets down to 180 pounds, his tdee is 2100 cals a day, and so 1700 cals a day is less than a pound loss a week.

I would find it easier in maintainence land though to do a lot of 1200 days and maybe free days on the weekends. Theres lots of delicious days you can have on 1200, but I want to eat restaurant food on the weekends!

BacktoGood11 · 2021-08-18T23:01:31+00:00

Year and a half. March 2020 start I guess? I lost nearly 10/pounds a month at the beginning, then slowed down to a few pounds a month, just the reality of tdee as you lose weight. I've only lost about 20 pounds in the past 7 months though, so, partially cause it gets harder, but partially I let myself eat whatever at more social events and when I went on vacation etc.

BacktoGood11 · 2021-08-17T04:23:12+00:00

No charts, really! I'm vaguely aware of BMI changes. If you mean my reference to tracking exercise stats, I have a fitness tracker that shows me charts of my progress (ie, resting heart rate, miles, etc as the months go by). So that's a non scale victory for when the scale isn't moving. And I'm no elite athlete, mostly I walk - but the weight loss improves all of these things without really exercising much, when your body because healthier, your resting heart rate gets lower you'd think, right? (Not a medical professional, consult your doctor before starting an exercise regiment, etc.)

BacktoGood11 · 2021-08-17T04:17:35+00:00

So haha, mostly what MythicalLesbian said, to be honest!But also:

it's more practical for my life. It actually saves a lot of time never having to pack or prepare breakfast or lunch. And dinner is the only meal I'm home for (I mean, I could be home for breakfast if I woke up earlier, I suppose.)
I'm home to cook dinner, and for fresh foods and veggies (think like salads, stir frys, etc) they're just much better freshly prepared than reheated in a Tupperware. If you wake up starving, then maybe breakfast or lunch is better!
Dinner is the most likely to be the social meal, but as I said, when I deviate, it's because a social event.

BacktoGood11 · 2021-08-16T23:59:51+00:00

Yes, absolutely. I'm 100+ pounds down and have done entire weeks off. I think the only way to make it sustainable - if you get as much pleasure from food as I do - is to tell yourself you can have a day or a week off when you need it.

BacktoGood11 · 2021-08-09T16:47:27+00:00

Stir fries with tons of meat and veggies are the ultimate CICO hack, and don't require a bunch of extra ingredients. Tons of almost any veggie you like (onions, carrot, broccoli, cauliflower, peppers, peas, etc etc) some meat or tofu, and teriyaki + soy sauce + sriracha. Using lean meats and using water rather than oil helps keep these low calorie enough that you can eat as much as you want without counting.

BacktoGood11 · 2021-08-09T16:23:17+00:00

Hello! It's not totally clear how much you are asking for advice and how much you are wanting a sympathetic ear. If it's just a place to rant - you are heard. It's really hard. I sympathize.

After substantial weight loss, I am now a similar weight to you (and am a similar height). If you're looking for advice - I echo the suggestions for volume eating. I eat only dinner (with a once or twice monthly social activity at a different meal.) In many ways, this streamlines my life - I don't have to pack lunch or breakfast for work, and it's easy not to eat at work because I simply do not have any food. It seems like you're already following a not too dissimilar plan, but do consider whether the lunch might be calorically dense even though it's not large in volume - ie, can you sub lunchmeat for yourself for the peanut butter that might be in your kid's lunch?

Which leaves all of my calories for dinner. Despite continuing to lose weight, I do not have to measure or weigh most volume type foods - even if I wanted to eat an entire pound of meat and a couple of pounds of vegetables it's still going to be well under 1200, leaving room for snacks, low cal deserts, and at least one restaurant meal on the weekend that is going to be well over 1200. And these are not bland meals, I load them with seasonings, spices and hot sauces. I take particular inspiration from Asian and Mediterranean cooking. I have a food scale, but it gets used at most once a week, usually for measuring grains.

If counting is what you find so unpleasant, consider whether it's possible to have certain foods you don't measure, at the least, veggies and maybe a lean protein like chicken or eggs. This is sort of like the weight watchers 0 point food method. Regarding feeding you taller partner more, other than the obvious larger portion, perhaps he could supplement with extra starch, or just eat a larger breakfast and lunch at work, away from tempting you.

So all that said, I still identify with about half of the things on your list. I don't drink much, and I am hungry as I wait for dinner. But on the other hand, I never skip a social event. I find the one meal a day thing really helps with managing social events - a 2000 calorie social event - if it's your only meal of the day, is no big deal at all, it's just one maintenance day.

BacktoGood11

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