[SV] Reached my target!

Sorry for a long post, got a little longer than originally planned...

Finally, after 2 weeks of effectively plateauing, 0.2 kg up each week, I finally managed to break it and the scale dropped 2 kg! So now I am down to 83.8 kg, with 84 being my goal, and a 67 cm waist. Feels good! Now I just need to learn how to maintain.

So, my weight loss journey started long ago, but I gave myself the tools and the will to commit in august. Then I weighed in on 104 kg (I have been up to 115 kg but stayed at around 105 for a long time) with a 110 cm waist. I had wanted to lose weight for a long time but struggled to get going. Often, I would stop losing weight at about 105 and then not do anything more. What I did different this time was that I signed up for a diet tool which included calorie tracker, cooking recipes with calories calculated, weight tracking and more. This helped immensely, and I think a big part of my success is because of the ready recipes, makes planning meals etc. a lot easier! And the constant tracking, as well as NOT STRESSING (seriously don't stress!).

I set myself a goal weight of 90 at first because this would push me below 25 BMI (24,7). It would also make the entire process not look too long, I had a clearly defined goal and worked towards that without that goal being too far off. I reached this goal in mid-November which meant that I had lost 14 kilos in 12 weeks. After this I continued to lose weight at about the same pace, and today, 6 weeks later, I am down another 6 kilos. If you only have a long term goal make sure you set short term goals as well, this will make the entire journey seem shorter!

Going forward I want to maintain this weight. I will slowly ramp up my calorie intake and make sure I don’t increase too much at once, still using the same tool I used when losing weight and use that to help me maintain weight. It says I should eat around 2500 kCal to maintain but for my first week I will probably increase to about 2000-2100 (up from 1600) and slowly get a feel for how my body reacts. In the long run I want to replace some body fat for muscles but without changing my weight too much, but for now I will start with learning to settle and maintain the current weight.

So, what helped me the most? My calorie counter with recipes and weight tracking helped a lot! Being able to do weekly meal plans and get the calories counted automatically is gold! I also never fell for the fad diets, like the 5:2 or LCHF, I feel that they will only help me lose the weight but what one needs is a lifestyle change, losing the weight is only a small part of the battle. Which brings me to my final point: I started a habit of exercising, and stuck with it since day one! Now I want to exercise and get moving! In the summer, I did a lot of running, which incidentally only got easier the less I weighed :). When snow is available I am doing cross country and downhill skiing, which is just awesome whole-body workouts! Eating habits may be about 90% of the actual weight loss, but exercise and working out will be what gives you the quality of life! If you’re not doing it, the next time you feel restless, maybe feel like a snack or feel tired/down, go out for a walk, or run or whatever! Go to the park or just do something to get moving! It will help and as I said, with weight loss it will only get easier :)!

Submitted January 13, 2017 at 02:17AM by Shakti213 http://ift.tt/2jDcvzX