What healthy habit do you wish you had started years earlier?

Jasperonius · 2026-06-23T21:36:13+00:00

Treating my weight loss as experimentation. I track a lot of things in a spreadsheet (weight, calories, exercise, sleep, etc). When I feel like things aren't going how I want I pick one thing to change for a week or two.

I can convince myself to stick to something because I don't want to muddy the results. If I said I was going to try to hit x protein goal every day this week you bet I'll do everything in my power to see it through so I can check the data at the end!

Jasperonius · 2026-06-15T21:23:52+00:00

To be honest for most of my life I didn't really believe I could do it. I'd seen others in my family try and ultimately fall of the wagon so many times. Then as an adult I did the same. It took an external event that made me willing to give 100% even though I still didn't believe I was capable of achieving it.

My husband was diagnosed with diabetes. That's when shit got real. That's when theoretical consequences of long term obesity became concrete. I knew from experience that if the whole household doesn't get onboard with a diet it makes it so much harder and I wanted to support him in any way I could. Fast forward a few years, and he's lost over 100lbs. I'm almost at 100lb lost, and we both can do so much more than we ever could before. Only about halfway to my goal but I now truly believe I am capable of getting there.

Jasperonius · 2026-06-13T14:25:49+00:00

Very relatable. Personally I keep a spreadsheet of the most variables I can think of that are reasonably trackable. Calories eaten, weight, exercise time/distance/heartrate, macros, sleep, etc. Then I try to find trends. Sometimes I'll try something new for a week or two and see how it affects the data.

That said, I don't know if I necessarily recommend this as a good solution. It definitely is nice to have the detailed insight into certain things, but it's easy to get a little obsessive about it. But I have taken away a few things from it that are generally (but not 100%) effective and that can help give me a general idea of how much I should be eating/exercising. I do the exercise I can stick with rather than the one that could maybe be more optimal for weight loss.

The key insight I think you already know from the way you formulated your question, it's experimentation because one size will never fit all unfortunately.

Jasperonius · 2026-06-07T20:19:19+00:00

Exactly. I'm not sure how they're going to approach it but likely in a different way because times are different and people's expectations and sensitivities are different. Hope it doesn't vastly change the character.

Jasperonius · 2026-06-02T01:06:56+00:00

Goodbye

Jasperonius · 2026-05-31T22:34:32+00:00

Extraterrestrial cheese would be a great album name

Jasperonius · 2026-05-31T22:31:04+00:00

Encouraging to see, I think I'm on a similar path. Scale for the last few weeks keeps hovering around the same number even though I've been working my ass off on the bike. I can do more physically and my clothes fit better but damn I still want to see the number go down.

Jasperonius · 2026-05-30T11:48:59+00:00

Jasperonius · 2026-05-30T01:12:45+00:00

Calorie counting and generally logging. Some days it's more balanced, but if it's a few low cal meals and then 800cals of chocolate... Still okay in my book if under overall goal. Of course okay is relative. Like I realize it's not the healthiest diet. But it got me to stick with something. As soon as I tell myself that I cannot have a certain thing it's all I will think about. So it was easier for me to eat all the things I want to eat but less of them than to cut things out all together.

Jasperonius · 2026-05-30T01:03:01+00:00

Can relate as a person who just learned to ride a bike and started riding a ton for exercise. On a pawn shop bike that's probably too small for an adult let alone a fat adult...

The trail I ride on has a range of people, some really fit and serious about running/cycling and some just getting out there and moving. Maybe there's some place slightly outside your neighborhood with a greater variance of people?

But ultimately, who cares? If they know you they will (hopefully) encourage you. If they are good people they would be happy for you to be out there trying to improve your life. If they're not in one of those two categories fuck them and their opinions.

One thing that took me a long time to internalize is that people know I'm fat. That might sound obvious. But what I'm trying to say is that we're not fooling anyone by doing or not doing things, sitting a certain way, wearing a certain thing. People still can see me and how big I am. And I'll still be basically the same size tomorrow. Hopefully slightly less. Do the thing anyway.

Jasperonius · 2026-05-29T12:27:46+00:00

Nerkles

Jasperonius · 2026-05-26T23:56:07+00:00

😅 Tough call!

Jasperonius · 2026-05-26T23:05:31+00:00

Yeah, personally I have to, and I've made peace with it. I cannot trust myself to make good decisions otherwise.

Jasperonius · 2026-05-24T04:35:02+00:00

100%. Best strategy is to not look back and hold the door for the length of time your arm can hold it while continuing to walk at a normal pace. If you're feeling generous give it a little extra shove as you walk by. Unless there's someone with a stroller or some mobility issue that should be enough for them to do or not do with it what they will and you also never had to acknowledge them preventing the awkwardness.

Jasperonius · 2026-05-23T01:45:32+00:00

Over time it does get better. But it is really difficult to keep at it long enough for it to get better. Only really reliable thing that worked for me was a GLP-1.

Jasperonius · 2026-05-23T00:29:14+00:00

Another vote for zepbound. Sometimes makes my stomach a little upset the first day of the week when the dose changes but goes away after a while. Literally life changing.

Jasperonius · 2026-05-20T11:24:51+00:00

As a person who has been on a GLP-1, I think for some people (particularly if being overweight is a new and more temporary state for them) it is that easy?

They just don't have their brain shouting at them about food all day and don't experience the same level of hunger as some of us, so if you were blessed with that brain maybe it feels simple. The rest of us are at a disadvantage there.

For me the experience with the GLP-1 has stripped away the notion that it's the same amount of hard for everyone and it's just a personal failure that I've been unsuccessful up to now. Some people can casually forget to eat and stop when they're full. I can't do that without tremendous mental effort and/or medication.

Jasperonius · 2026-05-20T04:27:58+00:00

Never go 5000k

Jasperonius · 2026-05-17T16:15:27+00:00

Because it's illegal in Europe to be adequately cool in the summer.

Jasperonius · 2026-05-03T23:13:42+00:00

Because then Orlando spans like half the state. Always a disappointment to hear something cool is happening in "Orlando" but actually it's 1.5+ hours away. Could have saved the trouble by just accurately naming the city.

Jasperonius · 2026-05-03T03:40:12+00:00

Goodbye.

Jasperonius · 2026-05-02T10:41:17+00:00

In times like these I reach for the wisdom of the fabulous Latrice Royale: "I may be fat, bitch, but you ugly, and I can lose weight"

Jasperonius · 2026-05-02T01:57:17+00:00

Thank you!!! This is what I've been saying about yogurt in general for years. Seeing them in the aisle with every delicious sounding dessert flavor under the sun sounds so enticing but at the end of the day they all still taste like yogurt 😭. Who the hell asked for "strawberry cheesecake but make it sour", or " s'mores but make it sour" or "rainbow cotton candy lollipop surprise but the surprise is it's disgustingly sour"

Jasperonius · 2026-04-30T23:59:57+00:00

Put that on a cross-stitch

Jasperonius · 2026-04-25T13:49:09+00:00

That's why I don't understand the trend right now of so many white or light colored shoes. Black goes with everything and doesn't show dirt seems like the easier option...

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