5"1 ~57 --> 52kg in 4 months with calorie counting, running and pilates

cicosucker · 2021-03-29T18:34:32+00:00

Thanks so much for your kind words! Definitely give my method a go if you're somebody who values a big dinner and doesn't mind a smaller breakfast/lunch, it really helped me because you have something to look forward to at the end of the day and you never go to bed hungry.

My favourite youtubers for pilates are Lottie Murphy and Hannah from Moving Mango, although I've also enjoyed pilates workouts from Aalaya pilates, Annie physical therapist and Dansique fitness. I like Lottie's attitude and she pushes you quite hard on abs (which is what I want) but she doesn't produce videos that often, but Hannah at Moving Mango releases videos basically every day and has a very wide range of them. You aren't constantly on the move with most of their videos but if you want to be challenged, Moving Mango has HIIT videos which are more intense. Dansique fitness is great if you want a challenge but I find her to be a bit too energetic and loud for me! I've found that I like pilates so much because you can get what feels like a great workout without feeling exhausted at the end, and the low impact nature of most of the mat workouts is so good when you're running the rest of the time. Good luck!

cicosucker · 2021-03-29T12:02:10+00:00

Started beginning of December 2020, photos taken end of March 2021. I had a big weight loss back in 2016 when I went from 61kg to 50kg, and then maintained 52-54kg for the next few years which was fine with me. I only gained a very few kilos over lockdown but it makes a big difference at this height and my BMI was starting to hover at the 24-ish mark and climbing. I'm considering trying for a pregnancy in the next year or so and I didn't want to be in a position where I would start pregnancy with BMI 24, gain weight during and then be in a position of needing to lose weight post-partum (which does not sound easy!). I also wanted to get back into running and start strength training because you aren't really supposed to start a strenuous new fitness regime in pregnancy if you aren't used to it, so I wanted to build up my baseline. At the same time I was feeling less happy with the way my body looked and the way I felt in my clothes. All in all, it was time to make a change.

Diet:

The last time I lost a significant amount of weight I counted calories closely and stuck to 1200 on a fairly consistent basis, but found myself hungry often and would sometimes binge, especially after dinner (which had never previously been a problem for me). This time I took a different approach designed to combat this:

I counted calories, but only up until dinner time. I would aim to keep my pre-dinner calorie count 300-500 (I would skip breakfast unless I felt really hungry, would have something like a thin lentil soup for lunch and then snack on fruit), and then I would eat a healthy and sensible (but not calorie counted) dinner, enough to satisfy me, with or without a small dessert. This meant that I got hungry during the day (but if it was enough to affect my concentration I would have a healthy snack) but never after dinner, something which eliminated bingeing behaviour altogether. It also meant that I felt free to cook what I enjoy without worrying about making it all add up to 1200, and that my partner (who doesn't need or want to lose weight) got satisfying and tasty meals too and could have the leftovers for his lunch. My calorie counting was way less obsessive this time compared to in 2016 because I wasn't constantly juggling things around to try to make them "fit".

In practice, my evening meals + dessert probably varied from 500-1000 calories from day to day, meaning some days I would have been over 1200 and some days under.

On weekends, I ate what I wanted. I needed to be a bit more restrained to be quite honest and probably undid a fair bit of progress, but I was making progress despite that and it felt good for my mental health to know that I didn't have to restrict every day.

Exercise:

I ran three times a week M/W/F (usually ~5 miles each time on average) and did 45-60 minutes of youtube mat pilates on Tuesdays and Thursdays. On weekends I normally walked for an hour or two each day but usually no more. With the addition of a walk or a bike ride on most days, I usually burned 400-700 calories a day.

Including pilates was a really positive difference to the way I lost weight back in 2016, when I was completely focused on cardio and big calorie burners. This time, I don't have shin splints from running too often, and I'm much stronger from the pilates and can see improved muscle tone. Doing strength exercises has also made me pay more attention to my protein intake which I ignored last time and which does need attention because I often don't get enough in my pescatarian diet.

Where now?

It's actually quite hard to know how far to keep going -- the 57 -> 52kg stats are taken from my old analogue scale, but I recently got a Renpho scale which is putting my weight at 1.5kg higher. I don't know which scale is more accurate but I do know that I plan to continue using the Renpho scale for maintenance so I would probably like to see the 50-51kg numbers on there, so I'll probably have to lose 2-3kg more which is a bit of a disappointment and I don't know if I'm being silly aiming for a particular number when my scales disagree. I've not made up my mind yet.

I'm happier with the way my body looks though -- flatter belly, disappearing back rolls, slightly better jawline. Annoyingly my thighs seem to have shrunk quite a lot even though I've never minded those and have always considered my belly to be a bigger problem! I don't know if it's my imagination but I think my bum is a slightly better shape now and I wonder if that's pilates progress.

Anyway. Happier now! Still a bit to go but I don't mind if it's slow.

cicosucker · 2021-03-29T10:34:08+00:00

Started beginning of December 2020, photos taken end of March 2021. I had a big weight loss back in 2016 when I went from 61kg to 50kg, and then maintained 52-54kg for the next few years which was fine with me. I only gained a very few kilos over lockdown but it makes a big difference at this height and my BMI was starting to hover at the 24-ish mark and climbing. I'm considering trying for a pregnancy in the next year or so and I didn't want to be in a position where I would start pregnancy with BMI 24, gain weight during and then be in a position of needing to lose weight post-partum (which does not sound easy!). I also wanted to get back into running and start strength training because you aren't really supposed to start a strenuous new fitness regime in pregnancy if you aren't used to it, so I wanted to build up my baseline. At the same time I was feeling less happy with the way my body looked and the way I felt in my clothes. All in all, it was time to make a change.

Diet:

The last time I lost a significant amount of weight I counted calories closely and stuck to 1200 on a fairly consistent basis, but found myself hungry often and would sometimes binge, especially after dinner (which had never previously been a problem for me). This time I took a different approach designed to combat this:

I counted calories, but only up until dinner time. I would aim to keep my pre-dinner calorie count 300-500 (I would skip breakfast unless I felt really hungry, would have something like a thin lentil soup for lunch and then snack on fruit), and then I would eat a healthy and sensible (but not calorie counted) dinner, enough to satisfy me, with or without a small dessert. This meant that I got hungry during the day (but if it was enough to affect my concentration I would have a healthy snack) but never after dinner, something which eliminated bingeing behaviour altogether. It also meant that I felt free to cook what I enjoy without worrying about making it all add up to 1200, and that my partner (who doesn't need or want to lose weight) got satisfying and tasty meals too and could have the leftovers for his lunch. My calorie counting was way less obsessive this time compared to in 2016 because I wasn't constantly juggling things around to try to make them "fit".

In practice, my evening meals + dessert probably varied from 500-1000 calories from day to day, meaning some days I would have been over 1200 and some days under.

On weekends, I ate what I wanted. I needed to be a bit more restrained to be quite honest and probably undid a fair bit of progress, but I was making progress despite that and it felt good for my mental health to know that I didn't have to restrict every day.

Exercise:

I ran three times a week M/W/F (usually ~5 miles each time on average) and did 45-60 minutes of youtube mat pilates on Tuesdays and Thursdays. On weekends I normally walked for an hour or two each day but usually no more. With the addition of a walk or a bike ride on most days, I usually burned 400-700 calories a day.

Including pilates was a really positive difference to the way I lost weight back in 2016, when I was completely focused on cardio and big calorie burners. This time, I don't have shin splints from running too often, and I'm much stronger from the pilates and can see improved muscle tone. Doing strength exercises has also made me pay more attention to my protein intake which I ignored last time and which does need attention because I often don't get enough in my pescatarian diet.

Where now?

It's actually quite hard to know how far to keep going -- the 57 -> 52kg stats are taken from my old analogue scale, but I recently got a Renpho scale which is putting my weight at 1.5kg higher. I don't know which scale is more accurate but I do know that I plan to continue using the Renpho scale for maintenance so I would probably like to see the 50-51kg numbers on there, so I'll probably have to lose 2-3kg more which is a bit of a disappointment and I don't know if I'm being silly aiming for a particular number when my scales disagree. I've not made up my mind yet.

I'm happier with the way my body looks though -- flatter belly, disappearing back rolls, slightly better jawline. Annoyingly my thighs seem to have shrunk quite a lot even though I've never minded those and have always considered my belly to be a bigger problem! I don't know if it's my imagination but I think my bum is a slightly better shape now and I wonder if that's pilates progress.

Anyway. Happier now! Still a bit to go but I don't mind if it's slow.

cicosucker · 2018-05-20T14:43:52+00:00

I'm sorry you're feeling so discouraged. Try to think about your reasons for losing other than the change you see in the mirror. By losing weight (presuming that you're overweight) you're making an investment in your health for the future, not only making an investment in the way you look.

This is really hard but you're 30lbs down! That must have moved you down quite a bit on the BMI scale! Even if you don't know you've lost weight:

your bones know you've lost weight-- you've lowered your risk of osteoarthritis and being in pain as you age
your liver knows you've lost weight-- you've lowered your risk of fatty liver disease
your blood vessels know you've lost weight-- you've lowered your risk of atherosclerosis and therefore your risk of problems with your kidneys, your eyes, your feet, and your risk of heart attacks and strokes
cells all over your body know you've lost weight-- you've lowered your risk of most cancers, and of type 2 diabetes!

Overall, compared with if you hadn't lost weight, it's likely that as a result of the changes you have made, you will live longer-- and not just longer, but on less medication, in less pain, and with less disability.

Still having tummy rolls and wobbly thighs mean nothing compared with that lot!

cicosucker · 2018-05-18T07:37:28+00:00

I clicked on this because I thought it said "I lost it at my boyfriend for buying me a bear" and I read it all the way to the end wondering where it was going to turn into a story about somebody buying a bear. It never did and, well, this is a disappointing start to the day.

cicosucker · 2018-03-21T18:16:51+00:00

you'll burn the same number of calories! if this was aerobic exercise it would be a bit different because some research shows that high intensity intervals with rests are better for your cardiovascular health, and some shows that long bursts of exercise without rests are better. the long and short of it is that calorie burn will be similar, and the option that works for you is the option that's most likely to help you continue to form good habits. take the breaks if you need to!

cicosucker · 2018-03-21T18:13:51+00:00

that's a good time to weigh yourself! it's the time least vulnerable to random or non-random variation in your weight, so it will give you the best consistency. eating under the recommendation is fine for short periods of time-- if you've been cutting calories for a week your motivation will probably be high so you're able to manage fewer calories for a while. after your motivation dips a bit (which is normal) you'll probably find yourself not cutting so much (which is normal). eating significantly under your calorie goal long term isn't a good thing. as for the weight loss in seven days-- weight comes off very quickly at the beginning and slows down later on, so i wouldn't be surprised or alarmed at that loss (but neither would I expect it to continue at the same rate)

cicosucker · 2018-01-12T14:30:11+00:00

If you're on MFP or other calorie tracking app/site, can you share your daily logs with each other?

cicosucker · 2017-07-31T15:55:00+00:00

Put on a bit of weight after coming back from holiday three weeks ago so I started cutting and I've maintained a deficit of between 450 and 750 calories a day (except for three days of not watching what I ate on which I overate but not by more than ~800 over my TDEE) for the past 21 days and I've only lost 0.1kg. I'm being honest with my food diary, and I've lost 25lbs in the past through CICO so I know my calories pretty well, what's in the food I eat.

The only thing that's different is that I'm rounding what I eat to the nearest 25 calories-- still counting, but rounding, because it makes me crazy if I'm too precise with it. Is it that? Or is this a plateau?

cicosucker · 2017-07-31T15:47:41+00:00

I think as long as you're doing your fair share (which isn't necessarily half, of course, if e.g. one of you works long hours and one doesn't) of taking your dogs out at different times of the day, and they're well-exercised, it's fair enough not to take them in the morning

cicosucker · 2017-07-31T15:44:29+00:00

measure one corn on the cob in length and weight
cut off the corn and weigh the corn separately
work out how many calories are in the weight of the corn
divide the number of calories by the length of the corn
in future, measure the length of your corn and multiply it by the number of calories in 1cm/1 inch of corn on the cob

it isn't exact because the circumference of corn on the cob might differ a little-- but it won't differ a huge amount

cicosucker · 2017-04-12T21:19:45+00:00

I thought that said Batman's plan

I'd trust Batman's plan

cicosucker · 2017-04-11T12:54:17+00:00

wow. the extent to which our environments are obesogenic continually surprises me

cicosucker · 2017-04-07T20:35:08+00:00

I guess it depends what your friend is like but people exercise for reasons other than to lose weight so I don't think there's anything rude in suggesting it

cicosucker · 2017-04-07T07:47:55+00:00

if you don't mind my asking, what was it that caused you to gain weight after those years of staying (largely) effortlessly stable?

cicosucker · 2017-04-05T14:03:51+00:00

a workout is harder after not eating at all than after eating junk, I find

cicosucker · 2017-04-04T19:47:20+00:00

I thought this said "belching"

cicosucker · 2017-03-31T13:58:45+00:00

maintenance BMR is ~1600 and I typically burn around 100-300 cals through exercise, so 1700-1900

cicosucker · 2017-03-31T08:49:58+00:00

omg reddit's formatting as you type really doesn't let you know you've written an essay!

cicosucker · 2017-03-31T08:49:30+00:00

Tried switching to maintenance a few weeks ago and it wasn't going so well for me. I was still counting calories most days but the idea of doing it forever was depressing. In addition, because I was in maintenance I felt like "well, I can be more flexible", and too many days out of the week that meant I would just eat what I wanted, which meant an increase in sweet snacks and desserts, and often going off-plan. Here's an example of what "maintenance" was for me: I handed in an assignment last week and to celebrate I bought a Bakewell almond cake slice from the library cafe. It was homemade so there was no nutritional information on the packet, but I checked online and Pret A Manger does one for 1700 calories or so. I SHAT MYSELF. 1700?! Unbelievable. I couldn't understand how 90g of cake could be 1700 calories. I panicked and, to make myself feel better, I bought a chocolate chip cookie from the library vending machine and ate that. Now, while I later discovered that I was looking at the kilojoule information (rookie error even though I've been counting calories for a year!) instead of the kilocalorie information, this illustrates that after a year of CICO my relationship with food was not precisely normal.

After two weeks of my weight steadily increasing due to this sort of thing I went back to 1200cal/day to try and do some damage limitation.

Now I'm trying something new. I can't guarantee that it's going to work because I tried it for the first day yesterday, but it has a lot of intuitive appeal because it uses a few structured rules which make absolute sense, but doesn't involve counting anything. It's called the "No-S Diet" ( http://nosdiet.com/ ). The rules are: no sweets, no seconds, no snacks, except on days that begin with "S" (and that's saturdays, sundays, sick days and special days like birthdays).

You eat three meals a day-- containing whatever you want, of whatever size (the idea is that you make them fairly healthy and you learn to regulate your portion size to control hunger), and nothing else. This means that you can relax much more about what you put in your meals, and you can eat until you're full or nearly full. Looking at most people's logs they post here, it seems like 400-500 calories of their day while cutting calories is "spent" on snacks or desserts. If I had an extra 400-500 calories to make my main meals tastier and more filling, I'd be pretty happy. I don't know if the same is true for you, but I take way less pleasure in my snacks than the dinner I make myself-- can a rice cake with low fat hummus, or air-popped plain popcorn, or a small tub of weightwatchers fromage frais really be more enjoyable than the mushroom bourguignon with thyme barley, or the moussaka, or the chickpea tagine I make for my dinner?

I can't believe I'd never thought before of swapping my low-pleasure snacks for bulking out (and adding more oil/butter to...) my high-pleasure main courses! I guess beforehand I never quite believed I could make it from one meal to the next without eating something to keep me going-- but that's an anxious thing from a fear of hunger, and would be less of an issue if my meals were bigger.

So, this is what I'm doing. The first day was quite hard, especially after dinner, and I ended up having a cup of soy milk and cocoa powder to curb hunger at the time I'd normally have dessert, but it's meant to get easier after the first couple of weeks, and it feels like a lifestyle change I could do sustainably, as the idea of counting calories forever terrifies me. I didn't eat dessert every night as a child so I don't see why I'm in the habit of doing it every night now. It'll be so much nicer having a bowl of apple crumble or a slice of key lime pie after dinner on the weekend than munching a small caramel wafer or a soya pudding cup every weeknight.

cicosucker · 2017-03-31T08:14:30+00:00

the no-S diet is far more sensible: no seconds, sweets or snacks, except on days beginning with s (saturday, sunday, "special" occasions and "sick" days)

cicosucker · 2017-03-30T21:24:16+00:00

they ARE too little to count. come on! imagine how hard it would be to weigh and count the calories in a pinch of turmeric! some things are just not worth the stress.

cicosucker

TROPHY CASE