My Thought Process Of Losing 40lbs In 4 Months

[Nico225]

ok What a lot of people don't understand about weight loss is that there's no magic pill, food, or exercise that's going to slim you up. The hard truth is you need to do things you don't want to do to actually lose weight (gasp). The good news is, it's 100% possible, and I believe anybody reading this can do it. (Let me tell you exactly how I did it.)

First things first, I approached my weight loss by thinking about what I needed to start doing and what I needed to stop doing. What I needed to do to lose weight was simple: I had to start going to the gym 4 times a week (weight training 4 times and cardio 2–3 times a week). I found a random workout routine online and just did that (I didn't overcomplicate this—I could always adjust later). The second thing I needed to do was reduce my calorie intake. I used a random macro calculator and saw I had to eat 1,200 calories a day to reach my goal weight. Cool, so I went and bought low-calorie groceries at the store.

Now, what I needed to stop doing was binge eating at night, so I removed all the junk food from my house straight to the trash, don't need ya. But the hardest thing for me to actually lose weight was accountability and disipline to keep going to the gym. My weakness was that I would always give up or quit after a few days and just skip workouts. So what I did to fix this was use an accountability app. The app messaged me in the morning to give some quick motivation, lay out my goals and what I needed to do. At the end of the day, an accountability coach called me to review the day, hold me accountable, and keep me going when times got tough and oh boy did they get tough. This really helped me get my butt off the couch and get to the gym.

The most important factors of losing weight are simple: 1. Consistency/discipline 2. Diet 3. Exercise. I'm sitting in my living room writing this post 40 lbs skinnier and a healthier, happier person. By no means is losing weight easy, but I promise with the right diet, exercise, and tools, you can do it too.

[Pebbles77 Visitor]

On the other hand ...

The best piece of wisdom I got from this forum was, if the way you lose weight isn't sustainable, the weight loss won't be sustainable, either. Can you see yourself living on 1200 cals and 6 days at the gym in 5 years, 10 years .....? 1200 cals for life? 'Low calorie groceries'? Do you want to tell us more about what you eat?

There are many members here who are not up to, or not interested in, 6 days a week at the gym and yet they have lost loads of weight and kept it off.

[PandQs Maintainer 3st 7lbs]

Do you pay for the accountability app and coach? Well done for losing the 40lb. I managed to lose about 50lb in 6 months but as Pebbles77 has said, maintaining that over a long period of time can be a challenge too. If I added up all the weight I’d lost over decades using different methods it sounds amazing but unfortunately the regains in between also add up. My best results so far have been based around being aware of processed food content and didn’t involve a gym. You can find friendly accountability here, peer to peer support if you want it, by joining in on various forums. I’m sure a member of the wonderful admin team will be along soon to help you get started if you want to join in. 👍

[amykp Visitor]

It's never that hard LOSING weight. What's hard--nearly impossible, actually--is keeping it off. Because it's not like once you reach your goal weight you can stop.

You have to keep it up forever, and that regimen becomes exhausting, and your body begins to fight back. When you cut calories, your metabolism slows down, and your body--desperate to get back to "normal"-- tries to tell you you're starving.

It's hard to feel so hungry all the time. It really is.

[Frenchfields 2024 January]

Hi Nico, and well done on losing 40lbs. Accountability can really help to keep you going, I agree ( for me it was weekly weigh ins at weight watchers many years ago). I actually like the gym, though for me its 3 times a week, but I get that its not for everyone as the replies above say - and its not my only exercise. The keeping it off for me is not about depriving myself at all but generally eating a healthy diet, weighing every single friday morning without fail and dealing with small gains before they get out of hand. I hope you find a good sustainable strategy going forward.