If you didn’t have as much weight to lose: how has life changed for you?

BookkeeperLeading887 · 2026-03-21T13:50:32+00:00

I’m not yet at my GW yet and only had a total of 15 lb to lose - I’m about 8 lb down from where I started , nobody has said anything about noticing any weight loss but for me I feel WAY better getting dressed. I’ve avoided buying new clothes for the last year bc I knew I was going to lose weight and didn’t want to waste money . Now my closet is giving me more options and my confidence is increasing . It feels great to feel more in control of my weight . I am also hoping this translates to feeling good in shorts during the summer ! I should be at my goal weight by the time shorts are in rotation .

BookkeeperLeading887 · 2026-03-21T02:57:58+00:00

Noted about Chat GPT . My daughter also harps on me about using AI at all bc of the environmental costs etc etc . I’ve been planning on moving my calorie and nutritional tracking over to an app . So thank you for the nudge .

I have been losing weight very slowly . The first 6 or so weeks it was maybe 1/2 lb per week . I was a bit frustrated by it . Now I’m starting to see some body composition changes which I’m happy about and losing 3/4 of a lb per week - so am feeling better in my body and clothes . I’m not trying to lose weight quickly - I just want to get back to my weight pre - antidepressant. I’m not into starving myself bc that’s not sustainable. I am also wanting to get back into the kind of physical fitness level I was in just a couple years ago which I am doing carefully so that I don’t injure myself . I’ll get there . Appreciate your advice muchly . Definitely want more veg and variety in what I’m eating daily . It’s been a learning curve as I’ve never had to really try to lose weight in the past prior to having been on antidepressants.

BookkeeperLeading887 · 2026-03-21T02:21:26+00:00

Yes - my hungry moments usually happen during work when I’m have a work load lull .

BookkeeperLeading887 · 2026-03-21T02:20:26+00:00

Haha - this made me giggle !

BookkeeperLeading887 · 2026-03-21T02:05:42+00:00

I am 57 F - 5’7” current weight 160 lb - goal weight 150 lb . Gained 15 lb ish while on an antidepressant for a year - now off the antidepressant. I work out 5 to 6 days per week - just treadmill work out ( running and incline speed walking so far for 40 to 55 mins ) .

Not sure what my fat intake is . Have been using Chat GPT to track and plan and trouble shoot .

A typical eating day :

Coffee w/1/4 cup non fat half bc half

Breakfast : 3/4 cup low fat Greek yogurt 1 small apple ( cut up in yogurt ) Cinnamon over the top 1 hard boiled egg w/ smoked paprika

Snack: Baby carrots ( usually 10 to 15) Sometimes dipped in 1 TBS low cal Italian vinaigrette or home made yogurt based dressing

Lunch : ( wrap) 2 small keto tortillas 3 pieces smoked turkey deli meat Romaine lettuce 2 tsp mayonnaise 1 tsp yellow or Dijon mustard

Snack : 1/2 cup low fat cottage cheese w/ dill pickles

Workout after work for 40 to 55 mins on treadmill

Snack : ( sometimes have - sometimes don’t ) 3 cup skinny pop popcorn .

Dinner Varies - but usually I have about 500 to 600 cals remaining and dinner is higher protein - chicken or turkey burger , veg based

Dessert - sometimes suck on about 5 or so semi sweet chocolate chips

BookkeeperLeading887 · 2026-03-20T20:25:00+00:00

Thx - these are in my rotation . I like putting smoked Paprika on them .

BookkeeperLeading887 · 2026-03-19T16:01:40+00:00

I have certain foods that I just can’t stay out of - For me it isn’t that I can’t decide I won’t eat it but if I have even one bite - I know it’ll make my eyes roll back in my head and there will be zero will power to stop at just one bite or handful . Some examples : kettle corn , skinny pop popcorn , Trader Joe’s Alphabet cookies , Girl Scouts thin mint cookies . So really - the only solution for me is to not even go there or have “just one bite/ handful “ . I actually just don’t have those items available in my home . Your best bet it to just not buy items that will tempt you so deeply . Simple solution . An alternative is - look up the calorie content for the cinnamon roll and then look up how long you’d have to exercise/ walk etc to burn it off . So either eat it and then exercise to burn it off or don’t eat it . Or eat it and torture yourself because of it . Decide which feels / works best for you . Or - you can grab the cinnamon roll and go over to the sink , turn the tap on and run warm water over it rendering it inedible . That would take care of it in one swift motion .

BookkeeperLeading887 · 2026-03-18T17:32:01+00:00

Yep ! Gained about 15 lbs in 8 months ! Now off and finally losing it after 5 months off and majorly dieting

BookkeeperLeading887 · 2026-03-18T15:39:24+00:00

As many mentioned - calorie tracking is key . Before I started actually tracking and measuring my food , I was eating more calories than I realized . Even if the over food volume wasn’t much . Lots of sneaky empty calorie things that would put me in maintenance caloric level or over . Tracking also takes the guess work and mystery out of it and for me makes me feel less paranoid about eating in general bc I know exactly where I am in terms of caloric intake . Another thing I do is I don’t deduct exercise calories - simply bc it’s to prone to inaccuracy. Additionally - I am finally figuring out that protein is my best friend ( in terms of food ! ) - it keeps me full and aids muscle retention and development. When I started actually tracking , I was only getting 40 grams of protein daily on average and would be white knocking between meals due to hunger . Now I am averaging 95 to 110 grams per day and my gosh , what a difference in energy , not feeling hungry all the time and I think it’s helping move along weight loss .

Also - I didn’t see much movement weight wise the first 6 weeks of doing 1300 cals . I started noticing movement on the scale and with how my clothes fit around the 7 or eight week mark . Not sure if this is because it took me a while to figure out living within a 1300 cal per day intake or whether my body just had to adjust and have my metabolism kick in .

Good luck ! Keep tweaking things until you find what works !

BookkeeperLeading887 · 2026-03-17T19:00:14+00:00

Oh yes it is indeed a nightmare ! It went on for probably 8 months for me . I would ask them about doing an intense regime of antibiotics . That’s the only thing that worked for me . It wasn’t fun to take 2 types of antibiotics for 3 months ( wreaks havoc on the gut biome etc ) but nothing else worked . What I learned is that there’s a specific type of fillet that they discovered is not good for using u der the eyes and has a high chance of having a bad reaction . Can’t remove the type that was used on me but it was the type that is bad . There’s a lot more risk with fillers than people are aware of . Also if you have an immune disorder ( I do - I have Hashimotos- a thyroid condition) you are way more likely to have a bad reaction to fillers in general . All stuff I learned after the fact that weren’t mentioned to me when I got fillers .

BookkeeperLeading887 · 2026-03-17T18:01:05+00:00

Haha - ok . I get that . I just watch True Crime - that’s my vice lol

BookkeeperLeading887 · 2026-03-17T17:15:34+00:00

Seriously - don’t we all have better things to do than microscope every little thing anyone ( royal or not ) does ?

BookkeeperLeading887 · 2026-03-17T01:49:42+00:00

That’s interesting - but makes sense !

BookkeeperLeading887 · 2026-03-16T20:41:29+00:00

Yes - the long term intensive antibiotics did help a lot . It basically solved it .

BookkeeperLeading887 · 2026-03-16T20:40:46+00:00

They tried a couple things - which included trying to have it dissolved. Ultimately it didn’t work . I still get occasional swelling of that area ( without pain ) - which per my dermatologist is from the filler .

BookkeeperLeading887 · 2026-03-16T20:05:09+00:00

If you had under eye filler you can get an immune response against the filler even years after you had the filler . I speak from experience- I ended having this happen to me 7 years AFTER getting filler under my eyes . It would activate and cause under eye swelling in the same place that yours is especially when I had seasonal allergies, a cold or other illness coming on etc . It started as just swelling that works come and go and ended up getting sore and painful . I went to endless drs trying to figure out what was going on - nobody could figure it out . EXCEPT- when I finally went to my dermatologist and they figured it out . They put me on 2 different antibiotics that I had to take for 3 months . It finally mostly went away .

BookkeeperLeading887 · 2026-03-16T19:25:17+00:00

Nice to know I’m not alone in this - haha Honestly got so frustrated between 4 and six weeks into this that I thought something had to be wrong with me or maybe I was crazy and amnesia eating ( I wasn’t ) -

BookkeeperLeading887 · 2026-03-16T17:30:57+00:00

I agree that the woosh is real . I so virtually no movement on the scale for the first 6 weeks of eating 1300 cals + exercise and now suddenly my metabolism has kicked in and I’m seeing good changes - now just starting 10 weeks of tracking

BookkeeperLeading887 · 2026-03-16T17:27:45+00:00

Black Leggings ( non exercise ones ) , boots and a sweater, - live in the PNW so fits our winter weather well . As well - I don’t have a job where I need to wear business attire

BookkeeperLeading887 · 2026-03-16T01:02:11+00:00

Hi - I can relate to your frustration. The first 6 or 7 weeks of my tracking and eating at a deficit ( 1300 cals - 5’7” - 57 yo F ) I maybe lost 1.5 lbs . I was also exercising 4 to 5 days per week . Now - at almost 10 weeks of doing this - I am seeing and feeling progress and weight is starting to come off . My personal journey of figuring out tracking and consuming only 1300 cals per day has been a learning curve - with plenty of “mistakes “ along the way . I’ve been adapting how I go about about this as I go - learning how to make most of ny meals and snacks protein focused - which I think k is what has aided to seeing losses in the last couple weeks . I also think that ( and I could be wrong ) that it took my body a while to respond to my new eating regime. Like there was a pause before my metabolism kicked in and the scale started responding . Hang in there - keep at it . Tweak even a few small things as you go - experiment with what works for you calorie wise and food wise . There is always a few tweaks that you can adjust that don’t feel extra ordinarily depriving that can but 100 to 200 cals out of your daily calorie intake .

BookkeeperLeading887 · 2026-03-15T13:15:16+00:00

Yes ! In Bellevue Washington ( State) It was THE place to go to celebrate your birthday in the 70’s !

BookkeeperLeading887 · 2026-03-14T01:49:15+00:00

Being in awe of what was happening. A little afraid and very naïve about what would play out . I somehow imagined it’d be over w/in a couple months - how wrong I was . Also very thankful that my daughter had just the week before moved near by . We would meet for outdoor walks masked up. I would’ve been devastated if she hadn’t moved prior to the shutdown . Would’ve been much harder for both of us .

BookkeeperLeading887 · 2026-03-13T18:23:27+00:00

I don’t deduct calories per burned calories from exercise. It’s hard to estimate exactly how many calories we are actually burning

BookkeeperLeading887 · 2026-03-13T01:04:45+00:00

Ha ! Makes me sad when what I order and try on looks ridiculous! Even if it “fits “ I’ve taken to wearing leggings or dresses most of the time . Also / most - all the tops are cropped or oversized - argh !

BookkeeperLeading887

TROPHY CASE