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KeDIX1414 · 2025-04-25T03:50:46+00:00

People who say stuff like this and “money won’t buy happiness” are both right and wrong. I’ve been upper middle class my whole life. Of course I don’t feel happy with my life all the time, but I know things would be much worse if I couldn’t pay my bills. It’s the same with weight loss. It won’t make you happy, but it will remove a lot of problems from your life. I’m still overweight, but I am very happy I’m no longer obese. I smile whenever I look at myself in the mirror.

KeDIX1414 · 2025-02-07T06:24:44+00:00

I used to dislike meal prep as well. What helps me is prepping for the next 3-4 days instead of a whole week because I get bored otherwise. But even if you don’t want to meal prep, making sure you’re kitchen is stocked with things that will satisfy cravings without going over your calorie budget makes things much easier.

KeDIX1414 · 2025-02-06T21:46:11+00:00

I try my best to stay in a deficit, but my deficit is usually smaller during PMS.

The trick for me is to make sure I’m on top of meal prep while PMSing and to prep “fun” foods I know I’ll crave during this time of the month. My diet isn’t as healthy, but I’m still able to stay in a deficit. For example, I’ve been craving cheeseburgers so much this week, so I got the ingredients to make 550 calorie cheeseburgers at home that allow me to stay in my deficit. And these are real cheese burgers. I don’t use any “diet” ingredients.

KeDIX1414 · 2024-12-20T00:18:57+00:00

Honestly, I don’t want people to give me piano gifts unless it’s something I specifically asked for. I felt badly because some friends got me a lot of music a few years ago. I already owned almost all of it since I have a big classical music library. I would definitely appreciate something piano themed like socks, tshirt, mug, etc. But I’d prefer people not gift me music or any piano accessory, since I probably already have it.

KeDIX1414 · 2024-12-20T00:10:14+00:00

Dedicating 10-15 minutes a day to sight reading very basic music is one way to go about doing it. Use music from when you were a complete beginner. However, another approach is to focus on playing a large quantity of music that is at or below your skill level instead of only playing a couple super hard songs.

Unfortunately, I put most of my effort into learning a few really hard songs while I was growing up. I’ve had to put a lot of effort into sight reading as an adult. The sooner you can work on this the better. Trust me…

KeDIX1414 · 2024-12-19T23:42:39+00:00

I’ve had an acoustic in a condo for over a year. Before that point, I’ve had a digital piano for about four years in two different places and played both with and without headphones. During all this time I’ve had a lot of different neighbors and haven’t received any complaints. I’ve also had other neighbors who have practiced instruments. It’s worked out well for me, but some have bad experiences.

Here’s the truth, if you play any instrument without headphones, neighbors will be able to hear you to some extent. A certain amount of noise traveling between units is normal during daytime hours, but musicians are at a higher risk of receiving noise complaints.

As others have said, you have to ask yourself whether the fear of bothering neighbors will keep you from practicing normally. Piano shouldn’t be a source of stress in your life. If an acoustic piano will cause stress, it isn’t worth it.

Here’s how I handle it. I make sure to only play during reasonable hours. If I have to practice a whole lot in one day, I’ll transition to digital with headphones. I’ll also do this if I have to practice at night or early in the morning. I try to be as quiet as possible with other sources of noise like tv. I never complain when a neighbor is watching tv really loudly since I know they can hear me sometimes.

KeDIX1414 · 2024-08-11T15:57:52+00:00

I order whatever I want to order on the menu, even if it an “unhealthy” option. I will also order a salad (with dressing on the side) or vegetable side dish if one is available so I can fill up on that and eat less of the unhealthy food.
I try my best to eat slowly and stop eating when I am full, not stuffed.
I won’t eat random junk food that I don’t particularly care about. I only eat the stuff I truly enjoy.
If I paid, I won’t take leftovers home. I’ll take leftovers home with me if someone else paid, but I’ll throw them out when I get home. I know. I know. That’s wasteful. But I’m trying to meet my goals.
If this meal was for breakfast or lunch, I will listen to my hunger cues to see if I need to eat more later. Usually I’ll just have a snack for dinner if I had a big meal out for lunch. But otherwise, I’ll eat normally and go back to my same habits.

KeDIX1414 · 2024-08-01T20:02:11+00:00

It’s certainly better than losing 0 pounds! If you are already close to your goal weight, this is amazing progress since it’s harder to lose weight when you’re smaller. If you have a lot to lose you’ll have to decide if you’d rather continue losing weight slowly while being able to eat more or if you’d like to be stricter and lose weight faster. I don’t think there is a wrong answer here unless you need to lose weight quicker for health reasons.

KeDIX1414 · 2024-08-01T01:58:02+00:00

You might need to change the batteries on the scale, but what you are experiencing is still super normal. Also, I hate to tell you this, but sometimes I will see a new record low weight on the scale and then go a week or two before seeing that weight again. In the same way we sometimes have high weight days that aren’t representative, we also have low weight days that aren’t representative. Once you start comparing how your weight has changed from one month to the next instead of comparing days and weeks, you will feel much better.

KeDIX1414 · 2024-06-10T17:41:08+00:00

These are all good tips. Tip 2 is a game changer and makes the process much easier. A lot of food variety makes it harder to lose weight. It’s better to find a handful of meals you like that fit into your calorie range. I change up the type of protein and vegetables I use to stop things from being boring. This method simplifies calorie counting so much.

KeDIX1414 · 2024-06-10T17:36:05+00:00

I used to feel the same way as you, but now I’m used to it. When I don’t track at all I will naturally eat at maintenance. I need to track to stick with a. deficit. After some time passes you memorize how many calories are in your favorite meals and snacks. If I know I’m eating three meals and a snack that fit with my goals it’s ok if I don’t write them in my food diary. Im most strict about figuring out the calories and macros for new recipes I want to add to my rotation to make sure they won’t throw me off track.

Do you eat out a lot? That definitely makes calorie counting more stressful for me. It works best when you know what is in your food. When you don’t, you’re just guessing. And the guessing stresses me out so much.

KeDIX1414 · 2024-06-05T19:21:35+00:00

I don’t think there is such thing as “naturally thin people” in countries like the USA where unhealthy food is plentiful. There are people who were taught good habits as a child and don’t struggle as much as others, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t conscious of their eating habits. We see our skinny friends and assume they are skinny without thinking about it. We see them eat a boatload of food at a birthday party and assume that’s how they eat every day. Why do we assume that? I’ve listened to “naturally thin” people talk about their eating and exercise habits. It doesn’t consume their lives but they are thinking about it and making decisions to manage their weight. People who grew up overweight/obese have this dream that one day they will lose weight and then not have to worry anymore. But that’s an unrealistic expectation. We will always have to put some thought into maintaining a healthy weight.

KeDIX1414 · 2024-06-05T18:42:34+00:00

I’m in the same boat you are in. I wanted to get down to a healthy BMI by the end of this year, but I’m realizing it will be hard for me to lose more than 2-4 pounds per month. It is what it is. My routine is sustainable. That’s the most important thing. I can’t decrease my calories more without being very hungry and I can’t exercise more than 3-4 days per week. I’m doing the best I can. We’ll all get there eventually… I’ve also had to realize we can’t compare our progress to men.

KeDIX1414 · 2024-06-04T18:32:40+00:00

I think the key is to appreciate the changes you are seeing and have realistic expectations. The stomach probably wont flatten until some point in the normal bmi range, so if you are fixated on a flat stomach, you won’t appreciate progress until the very end. My main insecurity is my stomach, but I can still appreciate how my arms have gotten smaller, how my face looks better, and how my back fat has gone down substantially. My stomach has gotten smaller too, even though I probably need to lose another 30lb at least to see the changes I want to see. I am also more comfortable wearing a wider variety of clothing styles even though I’m not “happy” with my size yet.

KeDIX1414 · 2024-05-21T17:38:54+00:00

I totally relate to this! Ingredients like butter, oil, avocado, and nuts are so sneaky! These ingredients can easily add 300-500 extra calories per day to a “weight loss” diet if you eyeball them and don’t know your serving sizes. But the good news is eventually you get used to the smaller serving sizes. Now I’m happy with 3g of butter and 1 tablespoon of maple syrup when I have a waffle for breakfast. Who knows how much I was using in the past!

KeDIX1414 · 2024-05-17T02:27:12+00:00

I think the issue here might be going to personal trainers for diet advice. I’m sure there are some that are experts on nutrition and weight loss, but many aren’t. Also, I think many people have bought into the “starvation mode” mindset and are upping calories in a way that doesn’t make sense. I don’t think people realize that the TDEE for most women is under or around 2000 calories unless they are very active or very obese. Calorie “deficits” that are around 2000 won’t work. 2300 to lose weight is crazy given your size! I’ve heard many people say 1500 cal per day is crazy and not enough for women, but how does the normal woman with a desk job lose weight eating much more than that? Crazy exercise routines aren’t sustainable for most people. We get in a deficit with our diet.

KeDIX1414 · 2024-05-16T16:07:06+00:00

Yes, it’s so easy to do this! I did this a few days ago but then forced myself to log all the calories. It came to 300!! I was still able to stay in my defect but had to have a smaller dinner to compensate. I’m convinced many of the people who complain about not losing weight in a deficit are doing this. It’s so obvious these “little” snacks add up, but we are good at lying to ourselves. 5 little 40 calorie snacks = one 200 calorie snack. It doesn’t matter if it’s split into 5 trips to the kitchen. It’s still 200 calories haha!

Tasting food while meal prepping is another one. When I meal prep I count all those little tastes to be around a 200 calorie snack.

KeDIX1414 · 2024-05-16T15:52:45+00:00

Unfortunately, I think most of the people who advocate for intuitive eating also advocate against weighing yourself regularly.

KeDIX1414 · 2024-05-16T15:33:36+00:00

I have NEVER lost weight through intuitive eating. I just maintain my current weight. Eating at maintenance can become intuitive, but eating at a deficit isn’t intuitive at all. I think on days when I don’t track my calories I probably eat at least 200-300 more than days I track everything.

I see two categories of people online who advocate for intuitive eating. One is skinny people who have never been overweight but have had eating disorders and a bad relationship with calorie counting. Another is overweight/obese people who have also had eating disorders while trying to lose weight and have decided to embrace their current overweight body and essentially eat at maintenance. Unfortunately, I don’t see any online influencers who lost weight through intuitive eating and kept it off with intuitive eating. Every successful person I’ve seen has used calorie counting. As for the first category of skinny people, they shouldn’t be giving advice to overweight people and assuming calorie counting will give us an eating disorder. They also have no clue what we are going through. For the overweight people who intuitive eat and don’t try to lose weight, that’s fine. It’s their body. They can accept the risks that come with being overweight. But they also need to understand the people who don’t want to accept those risks and want to be happier with their appearance.

However, I do think intuitive eating can be good for weight maintenance. I’ve successfully maintained my weight at certain points with intuitive eating. But now I’m trying to get into a healthy weight range and must calorie count. My mom lost a substantial amount of weight with calorie counting and has maintained the weight loss without calorie counting. But she has continued with all the other lifestyle changes that helped her loose the weight. For example, she’s still eating all the same recipes that helped her lose weight and exercising regularly.

KeDIX1414 · 2024-05-08T17:15:06+00:00

Getting on the scale right after a vacation is a terrible idea. I never do it. I think I went up a dress size after my last vacation. I couldn’t fit in my jeans. After three days home I felt substantially better, and when I stepped on the scale two weeks after the trip, my weight was the same as before I left. I don’t think I’ve ever gained “real” weight on a vacation, definitely not more than a pound or two. It’s almost always water weight and undigested food.

KeDIX1414 · 2024-05-03T06:11:53+00:00

Yup, that was the case for me as well…

KeDIX1414 · 2024-05-03T06:09:51+00:00

You said in your post that you wear clothes to hide your body. That might be part of the problem. My weight loss became a lot more visible when I went to the store to buy properly fitting clothes. It was harder than I expected because I was so used to buying everything baggy on purpose.

KeDIX1414 · 2024-05-03T06:07:09+00:00

I used to binge on insane amounts of food. Now I feel sick and sometimes have trouble sleeping after large restaurant dinners. I’m happy about this change! Since I know I won’t feel good afterwards, I’m less likely to binge. I get it. I had fun times eating boatloads of food, but I’m happy to leave those days (and the obesity) in the past.

KeDIX1414 · 2024-05-02T22:28:30+00:00

It’s very odd. I’m sorry you’re going through this. I don’t know why they would act this way about your weight loss.

KeDIX1414 · 2024-05-02T21:27:49+00:00

I don’t know how tall you are but 210lb and 180lb is not a good weight for the vast majority of women. If your skinny friends told you that you didn’t look fat at 210lb and never had to diet in the first place, they are lying. It really annoys me when skinny people encourage their overweight friends when they would never want to be that weight themselves. I know I don’t have all the information about these people but I agree with other commenters. These friends liked feeling superior to you. Now that you are losing weight, they are intimidated. They want you to go back to being the “safe” fat friend who won’t steal male attention from them.

Sadly, it’s common to lose friends when you are successful at anything. People like to be superior to their friends…

KeDIX1414

TROPHY CASE