★OFFICIAL WEEKLY★ Day 1 Monday: Start here! September 09, 2024

[u/AutoModerator]

Is today is your Day 1?

​Welcome to r/Loseit!

​So you aren’t sure of how to start? Don’t worry! “How do I get started?” is our most asked question. r/Loseit has helped our users lose over 1,000,000 recorded pounds and these are the steps that we’ve found most useful for getting started.

Why You’re Overweight

Our bodies are amazing (yes, yours too!). In order to survive before supermarkets, we had to be able to store energy to get us through lean times, we store this energy as adipose fat tissue. If you put more energy into your body than it needs, it stores it, for (potential) later use. When you put in less than it needs, it uses the stored energy. The more energy you have stored, the more overweight you are. The trick is to get your body to use the stored energy, which can only be done if you give it less energy than it needs, consistently.

Before You Start

The very first step is calculating your calorie needs. You can do that HERE. This will give you an approximation of your calorie needs for the day. The next step is to figure how quickly you want to lose the fat. One pound of fat is equal to 3500 calories. So to lose 1 pound of fat per week you will need to consume 500 calories less than your TDEE (daily calorie needs from the link above). 750 calories less will result in 1.5 pounds and 1000 calories is an aggressive 2 pounds per week.

Tracking

Here is where it begins to resemble work. The most efficient way to lose the weight you desire is to track your calorie intake. This has gotten much simpler over the years and today it can be done right from your smartphone or computer. r/loseit recommends (unaffiliated) apps like MyFitnessPal, Loseit or Cronometer. Create an account and be honest with it about your current stats, activities, and goals. This is your tracker and no one else needs to see it so don’t cheat the numbers. You’ll find large user created databases that make logging and tracking your food and drinks easy with just the tap of the screen or the push of a button. We also highly recommend the use of a digital kitchen scale for accuracy. Knowing how much of what you're eating is more important than what you're eating. Why? This may explain it.

Creating Your Deficit

How do you create a deficit? This is up to you. r/loseit has a few recommendations but ultimately that decision is yours. There is no perfect diet for everyone. There is a perfect diet for you and you can create it. You can eat less of exactly what you eat now. If you like pizza you can have pizza. Have 2 slices instead of 4. You can try lower calorie replacements for calorie dense foods. Some of the communities favorites are cauliflower rice, zucchini noodles, spaghetti squash in place of their more calorie rich cousins. If it appeals to you an entire dietary change like Keto, Paleo, Vegetarian.

The most important thing to remember is that this selection of foods works for you. Sustainability is the key to long term weight management success. If you hate what you’re eating you won’t stick to it.

Exercise

...is NOT mandatory. You can lose fat and create a deficit through diet alone. There is no requirement of exercise to lose weight.

It has it’s own benefits though. You will burn extra calories. Exercise is shown to be beneficial to mental health and creates an endorphin rush as well. It makes people feel *awesome* and has been linked to higher rates of long term success when physical activity is included in lifestyle changes.

Crawl, Walk, Run

It can seem like one needs to make a 180 degree course correction to find success. That isn’t necessarily true. Many of our users find that creating small initial changes that build a foundation allows them to progress forward in even, sustained, increments.

Acceptance

You will struggle. We have all struggled. This is natural. There is no tip or trick to get through this though. We encourage you to recognize why you are struggling and forgive yourself for whatever reason that may be. If you overindulged at your last meal that is ok. You can resolve to make the next meal better.

Do not let the pursuit of perfect get in the way of progress. We don’t need perfect. We just want better.

Additional resources

Now you’re ready to do this. Here are more details, that may help you refine your plan.

• Quick Start Guide - Build your foundation!
• Lose It Compendium - Frame it out!
• FAQ - Answers to our most Frequently Asked Questions!

Share your Day 1 story below!

Due to space limitations, this may be a sticky only occasionally. Please find it using the sidebar if needed.

Don't forget to comment and interact with other posters here, let's keep the good vibes going!

Daily Threads

• US Accountability Challenge: Stay accountable with friends from North America.
• EU Accountability Challenge: Stay accountable with friends from the EU.
• Daily Q&A Thread: Post your questions, receive answers.
• SV/NSV Feats of the Day: Share your scale victories and non-scale victories.

Weekly Threads

• Day 1 Monday: Introduce yourself and share your goals and strategies.
• Tantrum Tuesday: Share your complaints, vents and gripes.
• Weigh-In Wednesday: Share your weigh-in progress and graphs.
• Track with Me Thursday: Make new friends and find accountability buddies.
• Foodie Friday: Share your favorite recipes and meal pics.
• Century Club: For those who have lost or would like to lose 100lb+.

[u/softhardmeridian]

Day 1, at least day 1 of "finally mentally ready!"

To keep it simple- which it is not lol- I am someone who had a gastric sleeve in 2017, did amazing with it, then gained it all back almost immediately. In trying to understand how that happened, I stumbled into a handful of (professionally made) diagnoses: depression, ptsd, adhd, sleep apnea, pcos, and whatever you want to call people like me who are incapable of "runner's high" and only experience "unspeakable agony"- probably the adhd honestly. After treating and working on these conditions for over 5 years, by the end of 2022 I could not have been mentally further from where I had started. However, weight does not like to come off me, and my situation had me on nightmare mode when it came to weight loss as it was- it was just about impossible, so I was lucky enough to get a second chance in medical assistance with a revision surgery in Jan last year.

By the one year mark I had lost just under 100 lbs, and this time with no muscle loss! Since then, I've gained about 10 lbs and been on a plateau in the 240 lb zone. I did see this coming! This is what happened last time; it's my accumulated acronyms getting at me again now that the main benefits of the surgery are past. So when it started, I decided I was going to stay calm and just observe it for half a year, tops.

In that half a year I've learned and healed a ton about myself, and my mental health has improved further, so drastically and in ways I never thought possible for me! I began to feel motivated to exercise sometimes, which says a lot. And I have exercised this summer! Whenever it seemed fun, and only for as long as it stayed fun. The desire to do it keeps increasing, and while my eating keeps leaning towards too-large portions (1 cup vs 3/4) I am still in control. I somehow stumbled into the right answer- never deprive myself, make it enjoyable or it's not worth the effort. I feel like for the first time in my life I am capable of truly losing this weight and keeping it off.

That being said, I still have a lot stacked against me. I am always exhausted, under-stimulated, and my body hits hard with hormones to make me crave and gain as soon as I dip under the 240 zone like it thinks I'm training for an indefinite journey into the Siberian wilderness or something? I'm working on fixing these problems one at a time to transition into my first real (a.k.a. has a hope of success) weight loss and new lifestyle.

THE PLAN: I've been working on getting more sleep; I sleep great but maybe I just need more these days. I got a tracker watch, I have a scale I'm going to try to use every morning instead of once every month. My adhd makes it just about impossible to track my food but I'm going to try my VERY BEST using the barcode feature on Baritastic app to make it fast and effortless. I want to try to exercise (I do like weight training but can't get my brain to engage it yet- again, adhd) but I'm not going to force it. My plan is a 500 calorie deficit and some kind of movement every other day, even if it's stretching or dancing around for 15 minutes. I already keep fat and sugar under 10 grams per meal or the dumping syndrome demon will come for me and I would literally rather be stabbed in the leg. I already take vitamins and about 130g of protein every day (cause that's just necessary daily medication for life after bariatric surgery) and I drink a good amount of fluids (about 1.25 L, mostly water, nothing with sugar). I think I need to keep it as effortless and rewarding as possible, never restrictive, never forced.

MOST IMPORTANTLY I'm here to get help, which I have NEVER been good at/capable of asking for. I have to stop that if I'm going to make this happen. I especially need accountability, I need people who can hold me to the fire because it's way too easy for me to make excuses to myself. Also, being held accountable and being challenged a bit activates my adhd brain, which is my biggest obstacle! :)

For the record, I started at 360 lbs, but I think I want to start where I am now.

SW: 248 lbs | GW: 150 lbs | height 5'10

Thanks for reading! I'm really going to try to be active here!

[u/thedoodely → u/[deleted]]

No worries about the final goal weight. A lot of us here have adjusted out goal weights during the process at one point or another (or multiple points). Heck, I'm still undecided on mine and I'm really close to being done!

Just concentrate on the next milestone, whether that be 5, 10 or 150lbs and when you get there, choose the next one. It doesn't even have to be a weight, you could pick a waist size and body fat% or the ability to fit in a particular item of clothing. They're all valid goals.

[u/Questin_28]

Today is my Day One! I'm 5'6", 170 pounds. My goal is to lose 25 pounds and weigh 145lb by January 1. Until age 27, I always weighed in the 120 to 135 range, but it took a ton of effort. In recent years I've stopped caring about my health, which has caused a lot of weight gain. My plan is to stop drinking alcohol (I currently have a drink before bed most nights) and to track calories. Ideally I'll eat 1,800 kCal per day and burn a couple hundred calories through exercise. I'll check back weekly to share my progress. Good luck out there, everybody!

[u/Raissa_L]

Hi! It's my first day. I'm 162cm and 100kg. I was always overweight but last 2 years IT Got totally out of control. I have been always on a diet, trying to lose weight but never succsessfully. Right now im atending therapy, it helps me find a cause of my weight and we study my eating patterns. One of my ideas is to find a support group and a community with People going through the same struggle as me. Im very afraid to tell People who are close to me that I am on a weightloss Journey. I am scared of judgement and them confronting me with unnecessary advice and comments. Well, what can i Say more. I love looking at your progress and i hope i will be the next to share good news with you :)

[u/lastofthe_timeladies]

Technically my first day was Friday. I've just had an absolutely shit mental health year and I just need a bit of control back. I fell off the wagon at the start of last year at 183 (I lost 60 pounds) and Thursday night, I weighed 217. Sadly, that's a lot of ground to retread but honestly, considering the habits of the past two years, it could be worse. I had my initial water weight whoosh and my "official" weigh in (I only count Sunday mornings for consistency) was 212. Right now, I'm really just focused on getting back into the 100s which I can certainly do this year, possibly by Thanksgiving.

As usual, my approach is calorie tracking, accountability apps/forums, and I'm still plant-based. I can't be fussed with an exercise routine but I'm really going to try to get out and get moving as time goes on. I'm putting my all into fighting this depression and I know it will help, but I also know that if I change too much overnight, I'll get overwhelmed and collapse. So for now, the entire plan is bare bones CICO with a few apps with tools and social support.

[u/Quiet-Beast]

Today is my day 1. The only time I've had success losing weight in the past was when I paid for a service that had a nutritionist review my meals every single day. That was during the pandemic. Now I've gained that weight back. I keep thinking I can do it again on my own and then just...not. I'm hoping that posting here will help me commit to really doing this!

I'm starting at 167 pounds and I want to lose at least 20 pounds. That's my goal for the next year, if I can keep it up. I work out quite a bit so it's all about food intake for me.

Hello everyone!

[u/Muted-Law-1809]

Today is sorta my first day, sorta not. By the end of the summer I was 210 pounds. I lost 10 pounds once the academic year started and now I weight 200 pounds. I'm in this awful space where I was so afraid of buying clothes, and hadn't bought any for so long, that every single pair of jeans I own now has really obvious holes in unflattering areas. I don't have a single pair of jeans now. My goal is to get to 175 pounds, but I will try to buy a pair of jeans around 180 pounds.

I need to try to mix this goal with running and going to the gym...these activities make me feel really good but I feel so exhausted after work that I just don't do them.

[u/thefivehole]

Today is a new Day 1. Previously went from 122kg to 87kg, back up at 125 after losing my gallbladder and getting a child. Dr started me on wegovy and I restarted tracking and C25k. Just need to trust the process again.

[u/theladyastrid]

I know today is Thursday, but today is also my day one! I have the Lose It app to count my calories, I have a strategy to move more when I feel like mindlessly munching. I'm excited to see what I can accomplish between now and the end of the year!

[u/weightlosswalter]

I’m ready to restart. Earlier during lockdown, I went from 93kg to 80kg, kept it at that till start of 2024. Let myself relax a bit and went into bad food choices over the year. Now I am at 86.2kg (190lbs). I am planning to lose 12kg (approx 27lbs) (will be 74kg/163lbs) for my brother’s wedding in the last week of June (having targets help right? - I am not going to beat myself up if I do not reach, as long as I am healthy and happy).

I started working out (cardio today, including strength training and some yoga in the coming weeks) and planning to go into calorie deficit (tracking using LoseIt app).

From past experience, I know it is not a straight line, I am planning to lose 2lbs per week, but realized that even if I lose a minimum of at least 1lb per week it should be sufficient (considering the plateaus I might hit).

Cheer me up people!