Dear Reddit: I'm fat. I want to lose weight. Could you share some advice/success stories?

youaretherevolution

(female) I was 285 lbs about 7 years ago and have lost 100+ lbs just from exercise and diet changes. I was wearing a size 22. I had always been overweight to that point. Grossly overweight. I used to eat two pound bags of M&Ms without flinching and entire packages of cookies. I am now a size 8 and healthy.

It's 80% what you eat and 20% the exercise. Don't get really upset if you miss one day of a workout as long as you stay on track with your eating habits.

Exercise every day, even if it is just walking around a parking lot at lunch at work. Taking a 10 minute walk 3x a day is still half an hour total. Lifting weights is great and will help you lose more weight, but you need to just get in the habit of taking care of yourself in general. Lifting will make you look hoooot and burn more calories.

Going to the gym was depressing for me so I found other things to do. You have to find something you like. Yoga clears your mind of bad thoughts, running works your whole body, mountain biking is an adrenaline rush, etc.

There were a few books that I read that kind of scared me into a healthier lifestyle. When you know how dangerous it is to eat certain foods, it's a lot easier to skip them. Examples: Fast Food Nation, The Omnivore's Dilemma, Eat to Live. Read the ingredients on things you eat, if you don't know what something is, look it up. You'll mosy likely get pretty freaked out.

Drink lots of water. Start carrying a Nalgene with you everywhere you go. Nurse it all day. Often you're just thirsty when you think you're hungry.

Learn to cook, it's the only way you'll know what is in your food. "steamed" veggies at restaurants are often saturated in butter, etc. Shop the outer ring of the supermarket. Don't eat things out of a box. If you have to go out or to a party, eat beforehand so you're not tempted and starving all night.

Post something near your mirror at home, near your monitor at work that says "I deserve to be healthy." Read it out loud every morning to yourself.

When you lose weight, get new clothes and get rid of the fat clothes because it gives you something to fall back on. If you're committed to yourself, you won't need them. Being in a smaller size will also help you know if you gain a few lbs, before it becomes a problem.

Being thin is a lifestyle, not a diet.

SSChicken

My story: This is my before and current, I hate to say after because I'm not done yet. The left was my weight in August 2009, the right is myself this month (Feb. 2010). I went from 330+ lbs to my current 259lbs in just over 6 months and maintain a pretty regular 10lbs lost per month even currently.

Don't go overboard on the exercise unless you KNOW you can maintain a healthy diet. After an intense workout it's extremely tempting to pig out, your body wants it and (to an extent) needs it. Drink a protein shake before hand, and some fruit. Afterwards cook yourself 6 eggs, but take out the yolks. 6 egg whites seems like a lot, but there's only just over 100 calories and 22 grams of protein.
I'm not a fan of 0 carb, your body needs sugar, fat, and protein. Limit your caloric intake so that your at a daily deficit and the weight will come off. It helps a lot to split off into small meals, I probably eat 8 meals a day and a handful of snacks, yet I am currently only doing 1,400 calories. Diversify your foods, try for less than 100 grams of total carbs (mostly from fruit), less than 50 grams of fat, and around 100 grams of protein. Take multivitamins.
COUNT CALORIES. Only for a few weeks. This is mostly to understand how much or how few calories different foods have. Once you do this for about two weeks you will get an idea of 'Hey, this food it bad for me!' and will just know whats better to eat. Also, It's a good guilt trip, you are less likely to eat something if you have to write it down.
Don't do cardio exercises you dislike. Some people won't do cardio because they "hate running". There's eliptical, biking, swimming, stairs, HIIT, low resistance cardio, all sorts of things you can do. Find one or a few things you like and do that, switch them up every so often. I recommend biking, It's easy to bike 20 miles and there's a huge sense of accomplishment with it.
Whatever you do, stick with it. 5 minutes on an elliptical, while better than nothing, isn't going to do nearly as much as 45 minutes or an hour. Extended periods of increased heart rate are what burn calories best.

EDIT Also a disclaimer: I'm not claiming any of this as hard fact, but it's what worked (is working) for me! I'm living proof that this method CAN work.

kati8303

I have been very active for several years (running, cycling, paddling, triathlons, adventure racing, etc.) It wasn't until I changed my way of eating that I lost any weight. I recently lost ~25 pounds. Once I made the decision about what I wanted it came easily. Here are a few things I did.

In regards to food:

I began eating breakfast. Nothing big, just ~150-200 calories to get my metabolism going.
I would eat a "snack" at around 10:30. For the first few months this snack consisted of plain tuna fish. Something around 100 calories to keep from getting too hungry and eating too much at lunch time.
I literally cut my portions almost in half from what I was eating before.
I would eat a larget lunch than dinner, and try to eat dinner no later than 6:30.
My biggest problem was allowing myself to get too hungry during the day and then, when I got home, would binge on bad foods, full of sugar and calories, so the small but healthy snacks helped calm these cravings.
At first I cut out literally all sugar (this was my biggest weakness).
Don't buy these bad foods, if they're not around you can't reach for them when you're feeling weak.
Eat more slowly and stop before you are stuffed full and can barely move (I would do this constantly).
Most importantly, DO NOT consider these changes a diet. Just change your entire way of eating. If it's not an entire lifestyle change it won't last.
Definitely cut out things like soft drinks and frozen coffee's, etc. Sugary drinks are a HUGE source of empty calories. If you don't like plain water try low cal drink mixes like crystal light.
Watch the ingredients in your food. Avoid things containing HFCS, or fructose in general.

For exercise:

find an event that you think would interest you, whether it is a local 10k or a charity bike tour and sign up. The impending goal will help you stay on an exercise program, and events like this are alot of fun.
Once you establish a program you like, be it running, cycling, or just going to the gym, join a group of people who have the same interests. Having others who do the same things make it easier to keep with it.

These are just a few things I learned along the way. I hope they help, and best of luck!

Edit: formatting Edit: added something

monument

As a former fat guy, I'll keep my advice simple. I never used any gimmicks, never counted calories... it's all too confusing. Do these things and I guarantee you'll lose weight.

Stop drinking soda, diet soda too, it's all bad for you, just stop. Learn to love water, drink lots of it.
Stop eating at fast food restaurants, make your own meals.
When you go shopping, stick to the outside isles. Buy fruit, vegetables, nuts, whole grain bread. Basically avoid anything that is pre-packaged or processed.
Lay off the sugar. If you have a sweet tooth, try eating fruit instead. Frozen green grapes are an awesome substitute.
Go for a walk for at least 30 minutes each day. Give yourself a destination, make it part of your day. Walk to a coffee shop, walk to a friends house, go walking with a friend and have a conversation. Exercise doesn't have to feel like punishment.
Oh yeah, eat less food, don't snack so much. The first week will be tough, your stomach will be growling. But after a few days you'll find that your body has adjusted. It doesn't want so much food because it never needed so much to begin with.

Losing weight requires a lifestyle change that silly diets and gimmicks just can't offer. You can read all the books, go to all the websites, count your calories, eat pure protein, but it will never stick; we just aren't made to live that way. Enjoy life, get out more, eat less but eat healthy, you'll lose weight.

Beamandtrout

Go to the gym BEFORE work. It sucks getting up early but at the end of the work day you'll realize that you've already worked out so you don't have to worry about it. Plus it wake's you up and I feel ready for the day after. I can't stress exercising enough. Cardio. Cardio. Cardio. Work hard and you'll be rewarded.

kewidogg

Look into weight lifting. Going out on a limb (and without reading through all the comments) I am assuming you are female, based on your user name. Do not be intimidated by lifting weights. It is a common misconception that lifting weight builds muscle/bulk. This is true for males mostly.

If you lift weights in low amount of sets, high reps (for example, do squats but with low or no weight, and 12 - 14 repititions), you will actually burn more calories in less time than doing cardio. Check it out

Most women have the misconception that if they lift they will get bulky or become a she-woman. This is not the case, as women do not naturally produce enough testosterone to build that kind of muscle without adding it to their diets (re: supplements). By lifting weight in a high-rep low-set (or even high-set) environment, with a lower weight, you will build muscle endurance, which leads to toning and weight loss.

Weight lifting can be intimidating but check out this website for GREAT videos on exercises, tips and tricks, proper form. There are a lot of other sites out there so look around as well. BodyBuilding.com

deadwisdom

Alton Brown had a very interesting episode of Good Eats lately, Live and Let Diet. He explained how in 9 months he went from (quite overweight)[http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/ss187/livinlowcarbman/2448149929_b98e3b3cd9.jpg?t=1262804109] to (down right skinny)[http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/ss187/livinlowcarbman/AB_demo03.jpg?t=1262804412] by eating what he calls "nutritionally dense" foods.

He divides foods into two groups, calorie dense (like white bread, potatoes, sugary drinks), and nutritionally dense (like whole grain foods, nuts, vegetables). And then he gives a break down of kinds of foods and how often to eat them (added below).

He also gives a few recipes, one in particular is a smoothie to drink every day for breakfast; it's tasty, healthy and includes about 1lb of fruit.

The idea is to not starve yourself, but just stick to the good foods. I started following his guidelines, mostly, three weeks ago and have lost about 5 lbs. I hope to get better at cooking for myself and going to the gym to increase the rate of loss.

His diet:

Daily

Fruits
Whole Grains
Leafy Greens
Nuts
Carrots
Green Tea

3 times a week

Oily Fish
Yogurt
Broccoli
Sweet Potato
Avocado

Once a week

Red meat
Pasta
Dessert
Alcohol

NEVER!

Fast Food
Soda
Processed meals/frozen dinners
Canned soup (too much sodium)
"Diet" anything

And finally: Eat breakfast every day, no exceptions.

I started working out in September. I was 6'0" and 182. Today I'm still 6'0" but I weigh 165. It's been five months and I am well on my way to being rock solid. My body fat is way down, my stamina is way up, I look a thousand times better. My muscles are pretty well defined, my stomach is flat, and my abs are just now starting to show.

I lift weights five days a week before work. Chest/arms Monday and Thursday. Shoulders/neck/back Tuesday and Friday. Lower body on Wednesday. Abs on Mon, Tue, Thur, Fri. I run every day after lifting weights. It's much easier for me to go before work. I get to the gym around 5:20 and leave about 7:30. I also run on the weekends.

I always keep a mental image of what I'm going to look like next September (after one year). This is my main motivation. Last August I went to the beach and was embarrassed to take my shirt off. Not this year!

I set a special goal for myself each month. For February I'm not drinking any beer and I'm running 100 miles. So far we are five days in and I have 19 miles (9 min/mile pace).

Another thing is you need to vary your workout. My workout has changed three times since I started. Your body will get used to whatever you are doing. That's when you need to switch it up. Keep your body guessing.

Other than that, just like the Nike slogan, just do it. Seriously. Get your lazy ass out of bed and do it. That's what I tell myself when my legs hurt, when I'm too tired, when my shoulders ache. And when you get there, don't fake it. If you body isn't stressed you aren't working. If you can carry on a conversation with the person next to you, you aren't working.

We have all these fat people at the gym that do the same thing every day for months on end. Walk forever on the treadmill at 2.5 mph with no incline. Hell, they barely even break a sweat. Then they complain to the staff that they aren't losing any weight. No pain, no gain. Cliche but true.

bookist

If you have a dog, start taking walks. If not, get one and start walking. Just start small. It's easier to walk with a reason, plus it's good for both of you! Sometimes that's all the motivation you need. Or maybe you could just find a neighbor who needs a dog walker and do that. Benefit - puppy love!

ShawnaNana

Put a towel on your pillow case. Change every day... Oh wait....

dubyabinlyin

Pedometer. 10,000 steps a day. Walk in the morning, walk at lunch, walk at night. Cut out sugar, high fructose corn syrup, trans fats/hydrogenated oils and artificial sweeteners. Shop around the perimeter of the grocery store and try to avoid processed foods as much as possible. Use spices and make sure your food has some flavor. Don't eat after 6 pm..water only. Eat breakfast, lunch and dinner, and try to keep dinner your lightest meal.

patook

Here's what you do:

Quit your job, and drive to South America. Bring only a Bowie knife and some Tevas. Hop on some lorries, then some boats, then hitch with some guerrillas until you're good and lost in the jungle: fighting jaguars for monkey carcasses, eating a variety of leaves - you don't know anything about leaves, it's okay, you'll probably live, building a tolerance to the native's blow-darts and snake poison, building a living tree fort all Robinson-Curose-style, and learning which mushrooms to avoid. Once the dysentery lets up, the malaria goes down, you learn to feed the tapeworms, the hallucinations subside, and the local jaguars have either given up, or started worshipping you as their king, then the pure zen of the jungle will imbue you with martial arts skills. Spend what time you are not killing wild boar with your bare hands (your bowie knife is at this point embedded in the neck vertebrae of a giant meat-eating bird/dinosaur thing unknown to science) with punching through trees, tossing around boulders, doing that kung-fu flying thing, and training the piranhas to give you a good shave. By this time your physique has reached godly perfection, your senses are near-supernatural, and you may have developed superpowers. Even if you haven't, people will think you have because they've never seen a man so full of physical deliberation and presence of consciousness.

That sir is how you lose weight.

NinjaCow

May be this will help: Hackers Diet

Also, 5'5" and 156lbs is not fat. May be SLIGHTLY overweight but not fat. Normal BMI is 18.5 to 24.9. Your's is 26.0

krutonz

Well I'm not sure if this helps but here is my story. Last year at this time I was 218 lb (I'm 5'8) and am currently around 180. Last year in June I started carefully monitoring my diet. I would eat several meals a day and eat healthier. While I did not do this every single day I did do it for most of the time. I lost about 5 lb within 2 weeks and decided to complement my progress with some running.

After losing 5 lb the first two weeks I decided to complement my diet with running, so I consistently started running every few days. First I started with .7 miles and every week I would add about .7 miles until I was up to 3.5 miles. I started eating more but with moderation at this time. Within three weeks I lost another 8 lb, but then my weight stabilized and I stopped losing weight. After taking a break for a week (bachelor party) I decided to change my game plan a bit.

Having seen a lot of progress through my diet and running, I had new found vigor and conviction to do a hardcore workout like p90x. So I picked up some weights and a pull up bar and started.

Worst part of the deal was starting. At first, I could not even do more than a few real pushups and these people did pushups for half an hour! So it was humiliating but I had to start with my knees, and even my stomach. Is doing a pushup off your stomach even a workout? Barely, but when you can literally do no more pushups off your knees yes it is. Of course, being in the private confines of my room, it wasn't like there was anyone watching.

After 7 weeks, I had lost another 27 pounds. That was 6 months ago. I am currently 180-182 lb and I injured my shoulder a while ago so have not been able to work out. Instead, I keep in shape by training in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu 2-6 times a week. Its fun and its challenging, in a body-chess like way. I also eat whatever I like, just moderate it a bit. The good news is that while I lost almost 40 lb, I actually lost even more fat than that. As my muscle mass grew and my weight shrank, something had to give, and that was a whole lot of fat.

Hope this helps!

TL;DR: Ate more meals and watched what I ate, rn, did p90x, now do Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, lost a total of 38 lb and put on quite a bit of muscle.

Droffats

Put a clean towel on your pillow before you go to sleep each night.

Ivebeenstimulated

I would recommend the paleolithic diet along with exercise.

areyouforscuba

you may want to restructure your thinking first. 5'5" and 155lbs, while not super lean, is really not that bad. there are people in far worse shape than you that managed to get their weight and life under control. so you should use that for some good motivation!

as to diet/exercise it really depends on yr goals. i was in similar shape as you, at 21 when i graduated i was 5'7" @ 150 lbs... after 3 years of office jobs + wow combo, i was 5'7" @ 190lbs... then much like you i decided that my life was turning into something i didnt want it to be so i took some action. i found some sports that i really enjoy playing (cycling, skiing, volleyball, tennis) so that it's more of a fun thing to do with friends than a chore that i dread doing. btw if you have trouble getting friends to do it with you, meetup is a great site that i use to find tennis and cycling groups all the time! also going to the gym regularly helps, but also with a buddy. i couldnt bear going alone it's pretty repetitive and boring.

diet wise - i believe it's the quality not the quantity that counts. get a healthy diet together , lots of greens, fish (omega3s are yr friend), antibiotic-free meats, multivitamins. i think if you eat better quality food, you start actually enjoying every bite and you don't eat just for the sake of getting full. it becomes an experience. don't go for those silly radical hollywood diets, while they may work short term who has the willpower to keep them up longterm?

jkaska

Not eat less, but eat right... eat as many fresh fruit & veg dishes - cut the crap...

I lost all my excess weight (about 12kg) when I went vegan -- I am now super healthy (not "skinny" and under-fed looking), have no deficiencies, awesome energy levels, sex drive etc. And why? cos i eat mostly plants... check out numerous vegan blogs and vegan reciple websites to get really yummy, really healthy food.

professionalstudent

Crossfit and the Paleo diet.

LBayA

Eat the Paleo Diet. Pounds will come off easily. 80% of body composition is diet but also get into some sort of muscle resistance exercise (boosts your metabolism) and get into walking. This website is all about living Paleo/Primal http://www.marksdailyapple.com/about-2/marks-daily-apple/

bowling4meth

Read this. It will change your life. I lost over 40 kilos (almost 90 pounds, roughly) using this and became fitter than I had been for years. People like Beamandtrout have good ideas but you don't need to do two hours in the Gym before work, the Hacker Diet routines take about 15-20 minutes and can be done in a hotel room.

drc500free

Try to keep your blood sugar pretty constant throughout the day. If you're aiming for a 1500 calorie diet, see if five 300 calorie meals works for you. I found it much easier to lose weight once I started eating more often, but only until I wasn't hungry. Something like a turkey burger on toasted sandwich bread with a sprinkle of mozzarella and bbq sauce is a comfortable 300 calorie meal.

cdwillis

Eat healthier (more fruits and veggies, cut back on bread and pasta)
Eat several small meals throughout the day rather than a couple big meals
Drink lots of water
Get a few minutes of exercise everyday, something to keep your heart rate up for around 20 minutes

AtticusFynch

1) Cut ALL refined sugar, corn syrup, trans fats, and white flour from your diet.

2) Eat NOTHING that comes out of a package.

3) Eat less, exercise more.

4) If still fat, repeat #3 until you aren't

That's it.

Retromingent

Calories burned > calories in

gtlogic

Not all calories are considered equal. Carbs increase insulin, which is used to store fat. Without carbs, you can't make fat. Period, there is no big secret behind this.

Read 'Good Calories, Bad Calories' by Gary Taubes. Cut out the carbs in your diet and you'll lose weight with very little effort. Most people just need to cut out the bad carbs, but whatever.

I did p90x and lost about 15 lbs, although I probably gained about 10 lbs of muscle in doing as well (so probably 25lbs of fat). Stick to something like a routine, otherwise you'll cheat yourself. Do it with someone and it's easy to stick to it. Make a goal for yourself -- at the end of the 90 days, go to the beach. Or plan a trip at the end of the 90 days with friends, so that'll motivate you even more. Basically, if you don't have internal motivation, find external motivation to drive you until you get enough internal motivation yourself.

dufus

1) The Shangri-La Diet. I found out about it on Reddit, it was cheap and safe so I tried it. Lost 40 pounds since last summer, about two pounds a week. (Went off the diet when I was recovering from an auto accident.) I never let myself be hungry; if I'm hungry I eat.

2) There's a difference between "hungry" and "munchy". Sometimes I eat just because I want to be crunching something, not because I'm really hungry. My solution to that is corn cakes: if I'm munchy, I let myself have one.

3) I have a hard time leaving the apartment to go to the gym. But once I get out the door with my bag of stuff, the rest is easy. The hardest part is getting out the door without making an excuse. Once I figured that out, it became a lot easier to control my innate laziness.

PressPlayOnTape

I'm 36, so my metabolism is slowing a bit, but I went from 280 to 235 in about 5 months (6 foot 4). My rules:

1) Stop eating sugar in any of its forms. Sugar spikes your insulin which then converts food to fat very rapidly. No chocolate bars, no orange juice (8 times the sugar in one glass as 1 orange). This is seriously the number one piece of advice I can give you. Be very cautious with any packaged foods - high fructose corn syrup is poured into everything.

2) Stop eating fried foods. While fat in and of itself is not the problem it's the shitload of calories that come in the form of fried foods that cause the problem.

3) Eat salads. Lots of them. Every day have a salad.

4) Stop drinking booze. Not forever, and I had probably a few drinks over the 5 months here and there, but again the problem was the raw amount of empty calories in booze.

5) Make sure to have fiber and protein with every meal. This helps slow the conversion of food to sugar, insulin response, etc.

6) Cut back on carbohydrates and make sure they are complex. Refined simple carbs (white bread, white pasta, etc.) are converted very fast, spike your insulin, get converted to fat. I still ate carbs, in fact a fair amount of carbs, but they were in the form of heavy multigrain bread, whole wheat pasta, etc. Carbohydrates are important to eat, just make sure they are the right type.

7) Exercise every day. Not too much, because that will make you hungry... I bought a stationary bike attachment for my bicycle and put in an hour a day on it while playing on my ps3. Made the exercise easier to swallow. :)

8) Do some weights. Building muscle is much harder when you're in a calorie deprivation scenario, but it is very important to make sure you are not atrophying entirely. Do very easy weights, just enough to keep them in use and not getting cannibalized for calories.

Fundamentally losing weight is easy. Make sure you burn more calories than you take in. Period. That is all it comes down to. That's why the sugar part of rule 1 is so important. Sugar does nothing other than damage your pancreas and make you fat. It is vile crap that people shove into processed food to trigger your animal brain. All the rest of it, the protein shakes, the fiber supplements, salads, exercise... all that does is help assist the number one thing which is to stop filling your body with calories, and sugar (along with simple carbohydrates) is the number one issue.

It's no wonder the US (and Canada) has such a problem with obesity and diabetes. They are the same problem: We are being force fed sugar.

tl;dr: Don't eat sugar, burn more calories than you eat.

feeman_4_life

Not sure if you are a guy or a girl, but I too, am 5'5" and fluctuate anywhere from 145lbs to 160 depending on what I eat. I'm a guy and right now I am hovering at 150. In fact, I've always been around that weight, but I basically shed body fat and replaced that with muscle. I was pudgy and now I have more or less an outline of a 4 pack.

All I did was bought The Abs Diet (I highly recommend this book), learnt about the importance of good foods, nutrition, what to eat, what to avoid, and ate regularly about 6 meals a day.

I joined Crossfit end August 2009, exercised 3 days a week and just ate healthy. That's all it really takes. And that's what I recommend. I went from being chubby, lazy, non athletic... to my friends saying that I look great... and even to the point where they say I am hardcore. Keep in mind I ONLY crossfit 3-4 times a week. One average workout is about 15-20 minutes long. That's it.

I should add I was in the situation of working in an office job as well. I sat all day long. But I made sure I kept with my eating routine at least 6 days of the week, and made sure I went to Crossfit 3 days a week.

I cannot stress the importance of high intensity training and building muscle, and most importantly... what you eat. Bodies are built in the kitchen.

You absolutely must have discipline in the foods you eat, go to the gym and exercise!

You also say you lack motivation... again, I know I am extremely biased, but... Crossfit worked for me because

a) I paid 100 dollars per month for only 3 classes per week. Every single class I missed was money down the drain. So it forced me to continue going.

b) the community aspect of it is so strong, you end up making many friends and everytime you go - there's the working out and the social aspect. It became a lifestyle and you always have about 5-10 gym buddies going to the gym with you everytime you go.

c) you surround yourself with very like minded invididuals and are eager to offer up advice. You see people older than you, more worse shape than you etc... and you just realize that you really don't have it all that bad. You see extremely fit people and cannot help but be inspired - they started somewhere too.

d) It's impossible to crossfit eating crappy food. It naturally curbs you to more nutritious meals and eating habits. You simply cannot sustain the intensity on beer, burgers and pizza.

... Crossfit really truly provided me all the motivation I needed.

Not sure if you are a guy or girl, either or... take the plunge. I know it worked for me.

TJ700

Here is a cutting-edge, scientifically based strategy for bodyfat reduction posted br Dr. Stephan Guyenet. These are “snips” from a 4 part series on the subject. The full post and details are at the link.

http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/

The Bodyfat Setpoint, Part IV Changing the Setpoint

Fat Loss: a New Approach

If there's one thing that's consistent in the medical literature, it's that telling people to eat fewer calories does not help them lose weight in the long term. Gary Taubes has written about this at length in his book Good Calories, Bad Calories, and in his upcoming book on body fat. Many people who use this strategy see transient fat loss, followed by fat regain and a feeling of defeat. There's a simple reason for it: the body doesn't want to lose weight.

SNIP

Therefore, what we need for sustainable fat loss is not starvation; we need a treatment that lowers the fat mass setpoint. There are several criteria that this treatment will have to meet to qualify:

It must cause fat loss
It must not involve deliberate calorie restriction
It must maintain fat loss over a long period of time
It must not be harmful to overall health

I also prefer strategies that make sense from the perspective of human evolution.

SNIP

Strategies: Diet Pattern

The most obvious treatment that fits all of my criteria is low-carbohydrate dieting. Overweight people eating low-carbohydrate diets generally lose fat and spontaneously reduce their calorie intake. In fact, in several diet studies, investigators compared an all-you-can-eat low-carbohydrate diet with a calorie-restricted low-fat diet.

SNIP

Another strategy that appears effective is the "paleolithic" diet. In Dr. Staffan Lindeberg's 2007 diet study, overweight volunteers with heart disease lost fat and reduced their calorie intake to a remarkable degree while eating a diet consistent with our hunter-gatherer heritage

SNIP

Strategies: Gastrointestinal Health

Since the gastrointestinal (GI) tract is so intimately involved in body fat metabolism and overall health (see the former post), the next strategy is to improve GI health. There are a number of ways to do this, but they all center around four things:

Don't eat food that encourages the growth of harmful bacteria
Eat food that encourages the growth of good bacteria
Don't eat food that impairs gut barrier function
Eat food that promotes gut barrier health

SNIP

Strategies: Micronutrients

As I discussed in the last post, micronutrient deficiency probably plays a role in obesity, both in ways that we understand and ways that we (or I) don't. Eating a diet that has a high nutrient density and ensuring a good vitamin D status will help any sustainable fat loss strategy.

SNIP

Strategies: Miscellaneous

In general, exercise isn't necessarily helpful for fat loss. However, there is one type of exercise that clearly is: high-intensity intermittent training (HIIT).

SNIP

Insufficient sleep has been strongly and repeatedly linked to obesity. Whether it's a cause or consequence of obesity I can't say for sure, but in any case it's important for health to sleep until you feel rested. If your sleep quality is poor due to psychological stress, meditating before bedtime may help.

END SNIPS

Don’t forget to read the comments, they’re useful to, and Dr. Guyenet participates.

Let me add that "weight loss" and fat reduction are 2 different things - you want the latter. Don't just weigh yourself to check results, but measure waist, bodyfat as well etc. You should probably check your temperature on a regular basis too. If it drops, you know your metabolism is in trouble. Ideally on a health program of the right exercise and unprocessed foods, you should see it rise.

vonralls

Eat frequent meals. (Every 2-3 hours). Try to have whole foods, Meat/Vegetables/Fruit at every meal, Drink only water/unsweet tea/plain coffee.

Find a crossfit affiliate in your area, and join.

That's what I am doing, and so far I'm down 20 lbs in 3.5 months.

Izminko

Spend a whole day going through these pictures of transformations. If this doesn't motivate you. I don't know what to say.

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=108359701

vafnord

I read and was impressed with The Hacker's Diet. There's no new information in there, because of course, everybody already knows how to lose weight--eat fewer calories than you burn. The book provides an interesting perspective, however, and it reveals a fact that is very counter-intuitive: the human body is a water pump.

Yangoose

Don't be too strict with your diet. If you force yourself to eat nothing but broccoli for 2 weeks you'll go insane.

There are good things to eat that are really easy to prepare. A Foster Farm skinless chicken breast is quite filling at a tiny 120 calories and it's very easy to prepare.

Find things you actually like to eat that work on your diet instead of forcing yourself to eat things you hate.

Treats can be OK. A McDonalds soft server ice cream cone is 150 calories. One of those as a reward for being good all week can be a great motivator that is a very small impact on your weight. I bought some thin pretzel sticks of amazon. A serving is 88 sticks for 102 calories. Eating them one at a time they can last you quite some time for a low caloric impact.

Create-A-New-Account

my_boobs_say to AskReddit

You have very wise boobs indeed.

steamynachos

I know this is just an anecdote, but I once dated a girl who was 5'3" and 150 lbs. She could still run 3 miles non-stop at a decent clip, yet her BMI was higher than yours. She didn't even look fat. Unless you have absolutely zero muscle, you're probably not as bad off as you think.

JoshSN

Do not eat until you feel hunger and the hunger gets distracting.

The human ability to feel thirsty is broken. You might feel hungry when you are actually thirsty. Each time you feel hungry, have a glass of water. If you are still hungry 15-30 minutes later, then consider eating.

The trick is that food tastes good, eating is fun, feeling full is a drug. To get thin you need to pull yourself off the fun roller-coaster.

FYI, exercise is good for you, and a good cardio regime will help you avoid any 100,000$+ operations when you are 60+, but a non-stop, heavy sweat workout for 1 hour burns about 3 slices of pizza, and you will always find "not eating pizza" is going to be easier than heavy duty workouts.

illusio

My wife lost 50 pounds in about a year doing weight watchers and exercise. WW was the big key. What it taught her was to be aware of what she's putting into her body and portion control. She used to go to McDonalds and get a Big Mac. Now if she goes, she gets a hamburger happy meal. If you really want to loose weight, it's going to take a lifestyle change, not a diet.

silvrswt

I was 317 last year at this time, now I am down 70 pounds; all I did was replace simple carbohydrates (white flour, polished rice, pasta) with complex carbohydrate foods, eliminated high fructose corn syrup, completely stopped drinking soda, and generally limited my (only complex) carbohydrates to 150 grams a day (600 calories; 30% of my total caloric intake).

I get the rest of my calories from lean protein and some fat. 75g of fat covers 30% of my daily caloric needs. The other 40% comes from 200 grams of protein.

An easy way to lose weight without thinking about it is just go on a diabetic diet. Get a bit more exercise too, but don't go hit the gym for two hours a day all of a sudden.

youcanteatbullets

www.nutritiondata.com. I found it useful.

bubbal

Sure. Right before my senior year of high school, about a decade ago, I weighed in at 290lbs (as a 5'11" male). Enough was enough - for the next 5 months, I ate completely cleanly 3 small meals, about 1500cal/day. For the 5 months after that, I did the same, and added weight training and cardio to my routine. By graduation, I was 180lbs.

A couple times in college, I put on a bit of weight, but losing any extra 10lbs or so was easy. Recently, I realized that I felt too small for my frame, and decided to gain some muscle - I've gone from 180lbs to about 195lbs in the past 4 months, of which maybe 3lbs or so of that was fat. I also went from bench pressing 155lb to 235lb, and squatting 185lb to 265lb.

Any fitness goals you have are within your reach if you:

Do plenty of research to understand exactly how best to accomplish them.
Put your mind to it, trust the plan, and execute it.

JimmyDThing

I weighed 300 pounds and got down to 150.... which was actually too far and I've stabilized around 180/190. I'm not bragging, I just am trying to explain that I've gone through what you're going through.

My best advice. Don't start a diet, change your diet. You have to look at it is a lifestyle change. Decide what kinds of things you can do for your diet that you can stay with for the foreseeable future. Small goals are good, but short term diets don't.

Exercise more and eat less. To tell you the truth, one good way to get on track is to fast for a day and do NOT binge the next day. It helps your stomach shrink down so you won't be so hungry. It's not fun and it's not easy, but once you get your body used to eating less it won't feel like a chore, it'll feel normal.

[deleted]

philosarapter

My friend lost like 15lbs doing ecstasy every week. Make sure you drink water and do plenty of push-ups. Also, cocaine seems to work for many women around here.

theylive

There's already been lots of good advice here, so i'm just going to add this:

You should definitively try the Shangri-La Diet. I am trying it right now. All you have to do is drink a few tablespoons of tasteless oil per day. This is supposed to decrease your body's set-point (the weight it tries to keep at), which decreases you're appetite. I've been on it about 2 weeks, so I can't say anything about how much if any weight I've lost yet, but it has definitively reduced my appetite. I'm eating less than half of what used to eat, and it seems to work a lot of people.

And it doesn't matter if it doesn't work for you! It's extremely easy to try and completely harmless, so there is absolutely no reason to try it!

Check out the link and read about it. There's a book, but there's really no need to buy it, it's very simple. Check out the wikipedia article too.

Edit: formatting

not_a_temp_account

Good night sleep. Why? Two reasons: (1) When you are tired the next day, it will feel like you need energy and your body will crave chili dogs to get energy. (2) When you are not rested, you will not exercise as much. Both of those are from personal experience - was completely stunned when I discovered that.
Lots of water.
Cut all portions in half except for salad where you should double what you normally eat.
Don't eat Low Fat salad dressing. Eat something that tastes good instead. If you are miserable, you won't stay on the diet. Work an extra 5 minutes at the gym so that you can afford the luxury of the good salad dressing.

Personal experience - not just making this stuff up. Lost 50 lbs in the last 4 months.

Nefarious-

I am assuming you are a woman. I am a powerlifter. I am a self-proclaimed genius when it comes to exercising and weight control :). To give you an example, December of 2008, I decided it was time to bulk. I put on a fairly clean 60 pounds through 2009. I am now 6'1 260, with a BF% of about 14%. Which is minimal for someone weighing 260. I am in no way an Abercrombie model. I have a lean stomach, but do not have individual abs, it is not what I am shooting for.

Now, that being said, back to your diet. First thing you need to do is only drink water. Right off the bat, that will be 5lbs, gone.

A while ago, my ma asked me to put her on a diet (she is 5'4, and was 125, she wanted to lose 10lbs and that is what we did). I put her on a modification of the anabolic diet. Do not let the name fool you, or scare you into thinking it is only for body builders, it is not. It is a low carb diet on crack, but the one I put my mom on was tweaked for a woman that does not lift.

Basically, all you need to do is create a "carb ceiling." Carbs are important when dealing with weight. They are your body's number one source of energy. When there are no carbs for your body to take energy from, it moves to your fat deposits. This is how you lose weight on low/no carb. Your body feeds off fat for energy. Now, you're probably asking, "WTF, this is complicated." It is not. Here is what you need to do. Create a carb ceiling. Choose a number of carbs you want to take in per day. Let's go with 30 carbs per day. Once you reach 30 carbs for the day, that is it. No more carbs for the day. I suggest taking in complex carbs such as fruit and grains/oats and staying away from starches like chips as you will get more out of the complex carbs.

To take this a step further, eat these carbs before 3pm. By eating all of your carbs for the day before 3pm, you burn them off as you go through the day, meaning you force your body to eat off its fat storage.

Now, what can you eat? Well, anything without carbs once you have used them for the day. Any meats, vegetables, cheese, etc.

As for working in an office, that is no excuse. I work in business too, it is not an excuse. It sucks you have to exercise after a full work day when you are tired; that is why there are B-12 and B-6 vitamins you can buy.

Losing weight is 90% diet and 10% exercise. If you are looking to exercise do some cardio, or light weight lifting for tone.

edit: I forgot to add, once a week, pick a day to have double your normal carbs and also a cheat meal

edit 2: Do not skip meals. Breakfast is EXTREMELY important

Mesca

You don't need a diet.

You need something that involves movement, that you enjoy. Then the motivation ceases to be an issue. If you like to take pictures, go on nature hikes and take photos. If you like the snow, take up skiing. If you like to cycle, get a bike and find some trails. If you like to run, do that. Tennis, racqetball, Basketball. (Even golf can contribute to fitness, but you have to play a lot of golf.) Swim. Triathlons. Steeplechase.

If there is something you really like to do, you will find ways to do it, regardless of the obstacles. Motivation is no longer a hurdle. People run or ride bikes at night, in the winter, in the rain - because they enjoy it.

Find something you like to do, that involves major body movements.

vampiricrogu3

The biggest thing is portion control. Take what you currently think is a portion and cut it almost in half.

deadowl

You're slightly overweight, as in lose 6 lbs and you're not. That isn't a far off goal. I bet you're gorgeous even without losing the weight.

dl_man_71

Over the past year I've lost about 50lbs following a few simple rules.

If you can walk or ride a bike everywhere you go. Its easy exercise and saves you gas money. I ride my bike all the time unless its physically impossible to do so. (I live in a college town though, so its not hard)
Don't buy junk food. Simply put, don't put anything into your body that doesn't have any value other than taste. Find things that you like that have real nutritional value. I personally don't keep junk food around for the simple reason that its too tempting to eat it.

Really its all about keeping an active lifestyle. I've never once stepped foot into a gym or spent a dime on exercise equipment. Take the stairs, take the long way home, walk/play with a dog, get on a team of some kind. No reason being active has to be a chore...

bumblingmumbling

Even if you lose weight stay sweet.

bananaspl1t

Here are a few things that really help me:

Add low-calorie veggies to everything! Broccoli and zucchini are my two favorites. When you're cooking pasta, just add in a handful of chopped veggies to the water towards the end (not starchy ones like potatoes, nothing calorie dense, high in water content). It'll bulk up whatever you are eating without adding calories while adding nutritional value. I even steam and add broccoli to canned veggie soups. Oh, and when you go out to eat, split the meal in half immediately and package it up. It'll be dinner tomorrow. If you think that won't be enough food for you, drink plenty of water and order a salad with VERY LITTLE salad dressing and no meat/nuts/calorie-dense add-ons. I sometimes pre-game dinner out with an apple or something.
Calorie count for a few weeks until you get an idea of what a good 'portion' is and exactly how much you've been eating. I'd say whatever calories you calculate the first day will be lower by ~20% than whatever you actually ate. When you know you're going to write it down in a little notebook, you think more about whether or not you actually want to eat it. Also, look at WHAT you ate. This is really important - are most of your calories from desserts? From coffee drinks? From cheese? When you know exactly what your weak points are, they are easier to fix. Also note if there are certain times of the day when you are more likely to eat - late night, ~4pm are my two worst ones. You are more likely to eat when food is close by and at times when you are tired. If you have the munchies at 4pm everyday, it could be that you're dehydrated or need a nap more than you're hungry.
Just walking for thirty minutes a day is good enough, but no matter what exercise you do, eat some fruit and drink lots of water afterward. This will keep your blood sugar in check so you won't feel ravenous later.
Eat out of slightly smaller bowls and plates. If you have 12" plates, go for 10" ones. You won't notice the difference in size but you will eat less.
Stay hydrated! Pure water and unsweetened herbal and low-caffeine teas are best. Then green and black tea. Coffee if you must (I frickin' love coffee...). Stay away from any drinks with calories, unless you really like some milk with your cereal for some reason. Juice is glorified sugar water, just go for the fruit itself.Even artificially flavored and sweetened water I would stay away from, because it's far less hydrating. After awhile, those sorts of drinks will taste unbelievably artificial and too sweet - give them up for a month and you won't want them anymore.
How often do you drink? One shot of vodka has 60-80 calories. Just one shot, without mixers. Cheap beer has ~100 a can, good beer can have up to 200 calories. Mixed drinks, combined with drunken munchies, are possibly the easiest and fastest way to gain weight.
This is mostly my opinion BUT: go for low-fat items, but not non-fat items. Usually, low-fat, fat-free and sugar-free mean 'chemical shit-show', but low-fat is probably the best of the three because it just means skim milk instead of whole half the time. A little bit of fat, like a drizzle of live oil on salad or a little fat in your yogurt or whatever, will actually help keep you feeling full and satisfied.
The less processed the food is, the better it is for you. This is probably the best advice I could give anyone. Apply it to everything you eat and it's hard to go wrong. Remember, any diet change you make is a lifestyle change. You need to stick with it. Even if it sucks a little in the beginning, you end up embracing it and wondering how you ever ate differently. I love studying nutrition and have sooo many more tips and ideas, but I think these are some of the best.

duxup

Honestly I think all I can offer you is time travel. In the past I was thin. I am sure of that.

odd-socks

ok ctrl+f told me that no one has mentioned before, either way definitely deserves a(nother) mention. www.reddit.com/r/healthproject

I've started whilst using the support on healthproject because i find my long term determination suffers quite a bit. I find it's helping me because i feel commited to lose weight with the other people on their. collectively in the first month we've lost about 78lbs I believe.

dont diet. as soon as you come off the diet you'll go back to before. you ahve to realise that the only way to do it properly is to change your lifestyle. eat sensibly. I find tracking what I eat is good as I eat when Im bored and dont realise how much I eat. try www.livestrong.com/myplate to track foods. try to eat equal amounts of carbs and proteins (myplate has a little pie chart at the botttom right to show your daily values of each) and little amounts of fatty foods.

im 21, and very fat (like 250lbs ish). i cant give you success story (yet!!!! I aim to be about 200lbs by december) but if you wana talk more about things feel free to pm, even if its just for support or nagging to get to the gym :p on heathproject they've put people into groups/partners for support.

oo erm if you want to loose the weight long term, look to loose about 2lbs per week (immediately after changing lifestyle will be more but will settle to 2lbs per week which is safe and sustainable).

all in all, good luck!! (p.s. im female too)

mlerin

run.

away from your dinner.

summernot

Some books:

Eat To Live- Joel Fuhrman

Eat for Health- Joel Fuhrman

Engine2 Diet- Rip Esselstyn

These books all talk about eating nutrient-dense foods. I heard Rip speak at work last night (I work at the Whole Foods corporate HQ). One thing I didn't know that he mentioned is that animal protein leaches calcium from our bodies. Because of that, along with the fact that it is high in fats and cholesterol, he recommends avoiding animal proteins. In fact, most plant-based food has more protein than meat and fish anyway.

If you live near a Whole Foods Market, call them up and ask them if they have any special programs or experts who work with customers as part of their Healthy Eating Initiative. The Austin flagship store, for example, has a Healthy Eating expert on site every day who will give tours of the store pointing out the healthiest options available and how to shop for them. The flagship store also has a nutritionist on site who offers complimentary consultation customized just for you. She is seen by appointment. Other stores have been getting nutritionists and healthy eating experts, as well. You can see them as often as you'd like for advice and inspiration.

Before starting the change in your eating and activity habits, you might want to consider having your blood drawn to have a baseline on where your cholesterol, glucose, iron, etc levels are. You may also want to check your blood pressure.

Rip encourages people to make the switch to plant-based foods for 4 weeks and then check their numbers a second time to see how they've changed.

Here are some of the most nutrient-dense foods:

Kale

Spinach

Collard Greens

Chard

Bok Choy

Those are the superstars. But some of the more appealing foods that are great are:

Strawberries (if you get anything organic, this would be it... conventional strawberries are sprayed like crazy)

Blueberries

Romaine

Carrots

Pomegranate Juice

Orange

Cantaloupe

Lentils

Kidney Beans

Here are some quick meal options to get the ideas going:

Breakfast

Oatmeal with all kinds of yummy fruit and dried cranberries and/or raisins
Whole grain cereal with all kinds of cut up fruit and rice milk (kiwis, bananas, strawberries, raisins, apple, peach, etc)
Smoothie: apple juice, banana, frozen strawberries and blueberries yummy!

Lunch

Salad with romaine, kale and spinach, chickpeas, tomatoes, carrots, sunflower seeds, walnuts, edamame, etc. Oil-free dressing (I'll usually just drizzle on a ton of balsamic vinegar)
Ezekiel whole grain tortillas loaded with sliced bell pepper, hummus, sundried tomato, lentils or beans, brown rice, and maybe some romaine, all drizzled with lemon juice.
Lentil Soup: throw in carrots, kale, onions, tomato, whatever. Eat with a slice of whole grain bread spread with almond butter and honey.

Dinner

Black Bean and Oats Burger on a whole grain bun spread with hummus and dressed as desired. Baked sweet potato wedges and green beans on the side
Tofu/Vegetable stir fry served on brown rice
Portabello fajitas served on corn tortillas. Served with avocado, bell pepper slices, fresh salsa, brown rice, etc.
Butternut Squash soup served in a whole grain bread bowl and salad or maybe steamed kale sprinkled with sesame seeds and a little tamari

Three cheers for setting out to get healthier! That's awesome! All the best to you!

smokeythebandit

Don't eat less! Eat better, eat smaller portions throughout the day. I eat breakfast at 8 get to work at 9 have some nuts at 11 eat a sandwich at 1.30 eat again at 4 and workout in the evenings. Eat small portions, tell yourself you'll be eating again in 3 hours.

Sasquatch6860

Stop eating deep-fried foods. In one year I lost 45 pounds. Period.

piankeshaw

I went from being 60 pounds overweight and in poor shape to a 3x Ironman triathlon finisher. As far as diet, I gave up sugar, white flour, potatoes, and anything that would spike the insulin. I started running two telephone poles and adding two telephone poles every week. Once I got my runs up to 2 miles, it seemed that the weight came off quickly. I added biking and swimming after about a year and decided it would be fun to do a triathlon. That was 8 years ago and I have kept the weight off because I really enjoy the triathlon lifestyle. Very best wishes in your success. (and, oh, I exercise in the mornings and sometimes in the evenings....doesn't matter which.)

sikumiku

The best motivation you could have is to pick a role model - a body type that you would like to have. It can be a celebrity whose body you admire. Acknowledge that you can achieve that level with healthy eating habits and active exercise. Get a big poster of that role model. Put it on your wall where you would see it every day. It might seem foolish at first but in time you will see that if you have a goal in front of you, it's much easier to achieve it.

moscowramada

Er, well. Your title begins I'M FAT. So, I read you description and thought, wait a minute. Just how fat, exactly, is 5'5'', 156 pounds? So I looked it up, and this is what I got.

Overweight, sure (although the mother in the second link, at the bottom, doesn't even look that). But fat? No. Because of that, I think most of the advice in this thread is misdirected; you are probably already doing most of those things, and you are trying to drop a few pounds more, not totally transform your life and eating habits.

tl;dr I'm not trying to flatter you, just pointing out that 'fat' is a misnomer in this case

phrekus

Started dieting in Feb 09 at 252 pounds and I hit my goal of 180 in December the same year. I did my best to lower my calorie intake to around 1200 a day while I discovered a love for road biking. My advice is to join a site like fatsecret.com to keep track of your goals to stay motivated. Find something you enjoy or always have wanted to do that is a form of exercise and DO IT. If you really need to have soda make sure it is diet and try to eat dinner as early as possible to make sure you have time to get some exercise in before you go to sleep. I followed these rules and replaced everything I ate with a lower calorie version. Using this I just kept the pace and enjoyed watching the weight drop off.

Pete3

always eat clean, no exceptions

dc4m3a

Lay off the sugars, processed breads and pastas and vinegar for a month. Then eat a diet of whole foods you prepare mostly for yourself. No more processed foods or junk/fast food. Look at ingredients if you can't understand what they are or there's more than 10 listed put it back. Eat balanced meals of green vegtables, proteins, and carbs (yes you need these). But you want to have a ratio of like 55% vegies/greens 20% whole wheat carbs 5-10% Fruits 15% of meats/proteins. Vegtables are good and with a little creativity can be transformed into gangsta meals. I'm not saying its going to be easy, but being fat ain't a walk in the park.

tl;dr-eat real food, mostly vegtables, not too much, treat meat like a condiment

dasamps

Healthy eating habits. Daily exercise.

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