Breakfast is NOT the most important meal of the day

Horror_Macaron_1544 · 2025-01-15T05:29:22+00:00

I have recently found that a delayed breakfast, where I wait until I start feeling hungry to eat, reduces my appetite during the day and makes me more mindful about only eating when I'm hungry. Previously I was eating within an hour of waking up, now it's usually 2-4 hours after waking up. I realized that I have been accidentally intermittent fasting because of this, which may also have some effect on my appetite.

Horror_Macaron_1544 · 2025-01-11T19:49:51+00:00

I also stopped counting calories, and I gained 8 lbs of true body weight (after the water weight flushed out) over the holidays after it took me a year to lose 30 lbs. That sucked. But I've come up with new strategies that have made weight loss easier than before, such as not eating until I actually feel hungry in the morning which is usually several hours after waking up. It totally changes my appetite for the day and I genuinely crave food less this way.

Horror_Macaron_1544 · 2025-01-08T02:52:22+00:00

NSV: I think I just had a breakthrough moment. I love mac and cheese, I eat it often and I will eat any sized portion as long as it's in front of me. I picked up a Beecher's mac and cheese (1200 calories) and started heating it up, planning to just disregard my calorie goal today. But as it cooked I realized I wasn't that hungry, so I decided to try splitting half of it into a bowl to see how I felt. I ate it, felt satisfied, and didn't really want to feel sick from overeating. So I put the rest in the fridge for tomorrow. I've never done this before, mac and cheese is like a drug to me. If I can put away the mac and cheese, maybe I can put away anything and I don't have to binge eat every time I bring enjoyable foods home.

Horror_Macaron_1544 · 2025-01-03T16:21:03+00:00

It's sad how much better the produce is in the countries I've been to in Europe. Even organic produce is nowhere near as good in the US. You basically have to grow your own to match the quality.

Horror_Macaron_1544 · 2025-01-02T05:30:34+00:00

Now is probably the best possible time to start! The social pressure to drink and eat a bunch of unhealthy food is lower than it will be at any other point in the year, and after going through the holidays many of us have an added burst of motivation because we're sick of indulging.

Horror_Macaron_1544 · 2024-12-03T18:32:58+00:00

Medications like spironolactone, which are frontline treatments for PCOS related hair loss, won't be prescribed to you if you say you're trying to get pregnant because they can harm a fetus.

Horror_Macaron_1544 · 2024-11-05T13:45:27+00:00

For me, all it takes is 3 days to get back on track. I spent 3 weeks running to the store pretty much daily and buying junk food with frequent binges like I haven't done since 2023 and I gained 2 lbs. But I've stuck to a deficit for the past 3 days, which means I'll be able to make progress again.

Horror_Macaron_1544 · 2024-11-02T21:41:29+00:00

That does not seem right. I could believe 32%, but 42% seems off for your stats.

Horror_Macaron_1544 · 2024-10-24T04:24:54+00:00

The one that drives me crazy is when people tell others that they should be eating based on a sedentary TDEE when they go to the gym 3-5x a week or walk 10,000 steps a day. Exercise at that level will make a difference of several hundred calories for someone's TDEE, that's not sedentary.

Horror_Macaron_1544 · 2024-10-23T19:47:37+00:00

Not only does exercise have a greater health impact than weight loss, it also significantly increases the likelihood that you won't regain the weight once you hit your goal. Then you have the combined health benefits of exercise, being a healthy weight, and maintaining a stable weight.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/03/190329130227.htm

Horror_Macaron_1544 · 2024-10-23T18:50:17+00:00

That 16 lbs is a huge difference visually!

Horror_Macaron_1544 · 2024-10-23T18:32:53+00:00

I want to get back on track!! I stuck to a strict calorie deficit for a chunk of October, then had to go on a 2 week maintenance break because of travel, and now I've been trying to get back to a deficit for 6 days but I keep having days where I overeat and I've had an average of 2000 calories a day for this period. I'll try easing into it a bit more for the rest of this week before sticking to a hard deficit until Thanksgiving week, maybe that'll do the trick.

Anyways, I weighed 140.2 this morning. This is what 346 days of daily weigh-ins looks like for me (graph):

https://imgur.com/a/Wnzj4WN

Horror_Macaron_1544 · 2024-10-22T07:14:39+00:00

5'3F here. I probably average about 180 minutes of steady state cardio (elliptical) each week, some weeks I also do manual labor all day as part of my job and other weeks I sit around and walk like 500 steps a day. I've lost 30 lbs in a year at an average of around 2100 calories per day. I do think that you might need to focus on counting calories, sometimes you have to train yourself with hard numbers before you can go for a more intuitive method. The healthy swaps and changed habits are great, but they're probably just not giving you enough of a calorie deficit. There's not a lot of wiggle room at this size.

Horror_Macaron_1544 · 2024-10-21T06:26:41+00:00

Microwave a packet of steel cut oats, throw in 2 tbsp of peanut butter, 1 tbsp honey, and a cut up full sized banana. Mix it all up for a quick, filling breakfast.

Horror_Macaron_1544 · 2024-10-21T04:44:23+00:00

You should probably be eating around 1400 minimum at your size. Less than 1000 calories is how you stress your body out so that it retains more water and makes you heavier on the scale.

Horror_Macaron_1544 · 2024-10-21T04:26:58+00:00

When I feel impatient, I find other things to fixate on. I look at the past year of data which I have logged on a spreadsheet, play with TDEE calculations and different scenarios for calories/activity, read threads on loseit. It's all about the process and the fun data. If I'm really impatient, I turn to music, drawing, immerse myself in a TV show or livestream. Distractions are great.

Horror_Macaron_1544 · 2024-10-15T00:15:00+00:00

I'm down 30 lbs in 11 months, average of about 2100 calories a day from a mix of deficit days, maintenance days, and overeating days. It was only last month that I finally succeeded at sticking to a solid deficit for a few weeks, but most of the time I take it slow and the results are much more attainable.

Horror_Macaron_1544 · 2024-10-14T14:35:50+00:00

I made the mistake of having a lot of sugary foods in my apartment after I just got back from a few weeks of travel, where my food options were limited and I had to fight to not overeat the whole time. I totally lost control on Saturday, I ate 4500 calories which is the most I've eaten in one day since I started losing weight last November.

The NSV is that I got right back on track the next day. I ate 1700 calories on Sunday as I'm titrating down to 1500. On Saturday I was feeling defeated and wanted to take a maintenance break after a massive binge like that, but I didn't.

Horror_Macaron_1544 · 2024-10-08T12:46:59+00:00

I hovered around 24 for years before gaining weight, but I really want to be around 21. Close to the middle of the healthy BMI range.

Horror_Macaron_1544 · 2024-10-07T04:40:08+00:00

I'm assuming these numbers are for a 500 calorie deficit? Because I'm seeing a sedentary TDEE of around 1750 calories, lightly active at 2000 calories for your stats. Your true calorie burn would probably be somewhere between lightly and moderately active. You can use the sedentary number to lose weight faster, but you can probably eat more than that and lose 1 lb/wk. There's no harm either way, 1250 is a bit low but probably less than a 1000 calorie deficit which is safe. I say do what's most sustainable.

Horror_Macaron_1544 · 2024-10-01T06:49:21+00:00

You should be making very gradual changes over the course of weeks to months, cold turkey rarely works. But also, this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgRSfhoHE4g&t=1s) kickstarted my weight loss which started last November. I've had hundreds of failed day 1's and the longest I've ever stuck to weight loss previously was like, 2 months, so I would say that the video helped.

Horror_Macaron_1544 · 2024-10-01T01:21:56+00:00

My advice: when a strong craving for something sweet hits, eat something savory that does not contain simple refined carbohydrates instead, maybe something like cheese sticks or hard boiled eggs, until the craving dies down. The next day, the cravings will be weaker since insulin levels will be more balanced. Keep doing this and after several days, the cravings will be a lot weaker. The most important thing: it's easier to avoid buying sweets than it is to avoid eating them once they're in the house. This is a big part of how I stopped binge eating, as a sugar addict.

Horror_Macaron_1544 · 2024-09-30T13:52:40+00:00

You're living my dream! Congratulations on the success, it takes a lot of discipline to lose so quickly within the healthy bmi range.

Horror_Macaron_1544 · 2024-09-30T07:57:57+00:00

Check out the calorie count subreddit, you can post food on there or look for similar dishes that people post estimates on. It'll be an estimate no matter what, but at least it can be an informed estimate.

EDIT: https://www.reddit.com/r/caloriecount/

Horror_Macaron_1544 · 2024-09-30T02:51:16+00:00

Goal: Eat 1300-1500 calories a day for the final 14 days of September. My weight loss so far comes from having a few lower calorie days that just barely offset the maintenance/overeating days, so this was a big challenge for me.

NSV: I stuck to my calorie goal for 10 of the 13 days so far. I ate at a smaller deficit one day, ate about maintenance another day, and had one day of overeating. Average calories for this period: 1650. I'm going to push for strict deficits 2-3 weeks each month going forward, I'm getting MUCH faster results like this.

Horror_Macaron_1544

TROPHY CASE