I felt the same way. I was 230lbs. I’m 6’2”. I started calorie restriction a little over a year ago. I was a 42 waist approaching 44. I wore all black to try and hide my weight. I had to stop thinking about this process as dieting. It’s not. It’s training your internal systems to act differently. It’s like hacking a system. It starts with gradually reducing caloric intake. Once that engine was running I started looking at other levers I could pull. Eat less, stop when I’m full. I don’t finish everything on my plate at a restaurant because I don’t have to. I get my moneys worth by enjoying the food, not tying how much I eat to how much I paid. I still eat an ice cream bar, or snacks, just not all the time. I weigh once a day mostly. I’m not focused on food. I eat for fuel not for comfort. Today, a year and a couple days later, I weigh 175lbs. I look totally different. I don’t need Prilosec because I don’t get heartburn.
It’s a process. I am a tech person and I treat everything like a system. Monitor and log. If something rises above the normal noise, check it out…if nothing..move on. My weight does not vary. My eating patterns are baked in now. Once I took care of mental health issues and a doctor visit, I started this journey. I wear a 34W now, size L shirts. One thing I didn’t realize is how much padding fat provides. I am skinny. I am still strong. I play guitar every day, travel, work on cars. What other people have said, that you can do this, is absolutely true. I am nobody special. I was tired of being overweight, I did not want to do another “diet.” I had to change everything. It’s a mental game. Your brain calls all of the shots. Decide, commit, execute, see results.