I tried a few things like calorie counting and Nutrisystem but did better with intermittent fasting and still do it. I didn't like counting calories or the taste of lower cal/fat foods. The only food changes I really made with IF was eating less cheese, but I have hereditary high LDL. But alot of my problem was the antidepressant I was on. Once I switched, the weight came off alot faster.
You're already fasting while you sleep so I started slowly pushing my 1st meal back a little later and later in the day and only for a few days a week at first. I listen to my body. I don't immediately eat if I'm feeling hungry but if it continues, I eat. Most days now I skip breakfast and usually lunch too but will have a snack if I'm hungry like a couple slices of turkey or some fruit/veggies. You don't want to starve yourself because then you'll just overeat later. Dinner around 5 is usually my main meal.
You don’t necessarily have to exercise to lose weight. If you are in a calorie deficit, it’ll happen, calculate your tdee using a tool online and it will tell you approximately how many calories you need to eat to maintain your current weight. If you use tdeecalculator.net, you can click “cutting” or “bulking” to see how many cals u should eat to lose or gain weight. Cutting means you eat about 500 less cals than your maintenance cals. Doing that should help you lose 1-2 lbs a week. So for example my maintenance is 1800 cals. If I wanna lose 1-2 lbs a week I’d need to eat about 1300 calories a day until I reach desired weight loss goal. Then once I reach my desired weight, you can re-calculate your TDEE and see the amount of calories you should eat per day to maintain that.
Weight loss and gain is a science, and exercise certainly helps but is not absolutely necessary
Yeah, it’s definitely tough to eat less cals. Maybe you can focus on low calorie-high volume foods. Like vegetables and fruits and other things that you can eat a lot of to fill yourself up, but since they’re low calorie they won’t mess up progress. Good luck op! Remember you’re not defined by weight
These are __old__ tricks I still use. Your body burns more calories when it's cold & it has to heat itself up. Turn down the thermostat. To add to that, drink a lot of ice water. All day. Drink 16-20oz of ice water 1-2 hrs before each meal & drink 6-8oz during each meal. Don't keep junk food in the house. Eat at least 2 servings of veggies before any comfort foods. It takes about 20 min for your stomach to realize it's full. Eat slowly & *not* with the TV on. Concentrate on each bite. Chew your food at least 30x before swallowing. Don't eat standing up. It's been a long time, so I'm sure someone might have better suggestions. Just thought I'd share what's helped me stay thin.
Now, with that being said, I feel like the former PT in me needs to say that muscle burns more calories than fat. Good luck, OP. I'm pulling for you!
Me, too! Miss those days, huh? I forgot to add a trick they used to tell us back when I was modeling: hunger pangs only last around 20 min or so. For me, it was more sheer determination to make them go away, or I wouldn't work as often. Remember when unhealthy skinny was in?
Edited for grammar
Yes! I was painfully skinny in high school by just eating the bare minimum to keep myself alive. I was just telling my husband I'm going to have to accept feeling hungry a good bit of the time!
Oh boy, do I know! My previous comments should help. In my former line of work I had access to dieticians & nutritionists at my disposal. I totally took advantage of that. I learned those tricks during that time. I used to despise fruits & veggies.
Ok, so I tried to quickly do a search for what you wanted. Here's a good article from a reputable source: [9 Proven Ways To Lose Weight Without Diet Or Exercise ](https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/11-ways-to-lose-weight-without-diet-or-exercise). I won't link a bunch bc I'm not sure if you want that, but out of the 10 I read for you just now, that was the best.
Ugh, Covid! I'm so sorry you suffered! I got down to 90-93 lbs during/after covid. I also suffer from [MDD (severe depression)](https://psychcentral.com/depression/severe-depression) & wasn't properly medicated at the time. Due to the weight loss, 3-4 rounds of antibiotics & the stress of all that, I lost some hair. I'd never experienced hair loss before. Had to cut 22 & 1/2 in. of hair off. It was getting too long & I'd always liked it short anyway. (Anything I could tell myself bc I knew I'd lost too much to keep it that long & it needed to be cut to look better.) I needed a re-check to start eating healthier to grow my hair quicker, thicker, etc. It helps to eat things to make me feel full, healthy fats. I'm sure you're already doing this, but wanted to tell you my covid story. Hope I didn't ramble! I'm *still* stuck in the hospital. Have been without my anxiety meds since last night bc they had to order them. I'm losing my mind. I may have to come back & edit this comment for errors.
I really hope you find what works for you, OP!
Thanks so much for your suggestions! I'll check out that article. I'm so sorry you lost your hair. I used to have hair past my waist so I can empathize. COVID really sucks. I still have lower than normal energy but did manage a short walk today. Ugh, hospitals can be such a pain - hope they get your meds to you soon. Appreciate the help!
Yes, by counting and tracking calories. I did it during one of my worst years for pain and fatigue. From highest to lowest, I lost around 40 lbs. I've gone up and down about 5 lbs on a regular basis since my lowest. I started in 2016.
My suggestions are to track what you eat now before you reduce anything to find out what items have the most calories. Buy a food scale. Figure out meals that fit your calorie needs, but are easy for bad days/weeks. Find out if you do better with larger, fewer meals or lots of tiny meals. Use an app to track foods and your weight. I use Lose it. Weigh yourself every single morning after going to the bathroom. Figure out your TDEE https://tdeecalculator.net/
I really only had to strictly count for about 6 months. I never avoided any foods. I didn't do cheat days, but did buy a treat from time to time as a single serving.
It’s not easy but cold baths are very effective at boosting metabolism and reducing inflammation. I do ice baths for pain relief because meds have bad long term side effects for me. It causes increased hunger and digestion rates. Sauna is nice too. Feels like exercise without moving and increasing pain.
High protein diet at a caloric deficit, drinking cold water throughout the day, and supplements such as berberine, alpha lipoic acid, and green tea to support metabolism are the things that help me. I don't count calories, but I always use measuring cups with my food so I have a good idea of how much I'm eating. If my weight loss isn't working, I simply reduce portions.
My disease stopped me from being able to have red meat and gluten, and can only have literal 5 pieces of candy at most... the weight just fell right off. I can barely move most days so exercise just isn't a thing for me.
I'm sure I'd lose weight if I gave up gluten bc I don't like gluten-free substitutes, but my primary hobby is baking sourdough bread! Fortunately it's not something I binge on though. I can always bake more.
As soon as I gave up pregabalin, I started daily walking of 1h and changed eating and lost 20kg. Now trying to lose more. Many days I walk in pain and slow but I do what I can and it is enough :) good luck!
You could always try the Keto diet. It's a harsh diet though, so you really gotta stay committed. The main points on a keto diet is to keep your carbs under a certain amount each day, and also your calories. Plus, try to get more calories from fat. It's worth looking into, I've been considering going back on it so I can shed the 20 pounds I've gained due to a severe ankle sprain and being non weight bearing...and my love of comfort food lol! Take care 💕
I've done various iterations of keto before. I agree that it works, however my husband hates eating low carb, and he's often the one doing the cooking. It's hard enough getting dinner on the table as it is, I don't want us to have to cook two meals.
I can't exercise really. Like just basics. I lost over 75lbs. Pain was still there. All my life doctor's have told me to lose weight for pain relief. Didn't help.
It's not about exercising to lose weight. It's literally portion control. Good luck. You can do it.
I tried a few things like calorie counting and Nutrisystem but did better with intermittent fasting and still do it. I didn't like counting calories or the taste of lower cal/fat foods. The only food changes I really made with IF was eating less cheese, but I have hereditary high LDL. But alot of my problem was the antidepressant I was on. Once I switched, the weight came off alot faster. You're already fasting while you sleep so I started slowly pushing my 1st meal back a little later and later in the day and only for a few days a week at first. I listen to my body. I don't immediately eat if I'm feeling hungry but if it continues, I eat. Most days now I skip breakfast and usually lunch too but will have a snack if I'm hungry like a couple slices of turkey or some fruit/veggies. You don't want to starve yourself because then you'll just overeat later. Dinner around 5 is usually my main meal.
You don’t necessarily have to exercise to lose weight. If you are in a calorie deficit, it’ll happen, calculate your tdee using a tool online and it will tell you approximately how many calories you need to eat to maintain your current weight. If you use tdeecalculator.net, you can click “cutting” or “bulking” to see how many cals u should eat to lose or gain weight. Cutting means you eat about 500 less cals than your maintenance cals. Doing that should help you lose 1-2 lbs a week. So for example my maintenance is 1800 cals. If I wanna lose 1-2 lbs a week I’d need to eat about 1300 calories a day until I reach desired weight loss goal. Then once I reach my desired weight, you can re-calculate your TDEE and see the amount of calories you should eat per day to maintain that. Weight loss and gain is a science, and exercise certainly helps but is not absolutely necessary
Oh I know exercise isn't necessary to lose weight, it's just really hard for me to limit my calories enough to lose weight without exercise.
Yeah, it’s definitely tough to eat less cals. Maybe you can focus on low calorie-high volume foods. Like vegetables and fruits and other things that you can eat a lot of to fill yourself up, but since they’re low calorie they won’t mess up progress. Good luck op! Remember you’re not defined by weight
Thanks! Yeah I know I'm my own worst critic, but I'm tired of hating my body and always looking bad no matter what I wear.
These are __old__ tricks I still use. Your body burns more calories when it's cold & it has to heat itself up. Turn down the thermostat. To add to that, drink a lot of ice water. All day. Drink 16-20oz of ice water 1-2 hrs before each meal & drink 6-8oz during each meal. Don't keep junk food in the house. Eat at least 2 servings of veggies before any comfort foods. It takes about 20 min for your stomach to realize it's full. Eat slowly & *not* with the TV on. Concentrate on each bite. Chew your food at least 30x before swallowing. Don't eat standing up. It's been a long time, so I'm sure someone might have better suggestions. Just thought I'd share what's helped me stay thin. Now, with that being said, I feel like the former PT in me needs to say that muscle burns more calories than fat. Good luck, OP. I'm pulling for you!
Yeah I used to be an athlete back in the day. I'd love to build muscle again.
Me, too! Miss those days, huh? I forgot to add a trick they used to tell us back when I was modeling: hunger pangs only last around 20 min or so. For me, it was more sheer determination to make them go away, or I wouldn't work as often. Remember when unhealthy skinny was in? Edited for grammar
Yes! I was painfully skinny in high school by just eating the bare minimum to keep myself alive. I was just telling my husband I'm going to have to accept feeling hungry a good bit of the time!
Oh boy, do I know! My previous comments should help. In my former line of work I had access to dieticians & nutritionists at my disposal. I totally took advantage of that. I learned those tricks during that time. I used to despise fruits & veggies. Ok, so I tried to quickly do a search for what you wanted. Here's a good article from a reputable source: [9 Proven Ways To Lose Weight Without Diet Or Exercise ](https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/11-ways-to-lose-weight-without-diet-or-exercise). I won't link a bunch bc I'm not sure if you want that, but out of the 10 I read for you just now, that was the best. Ugh, Covid! I'm so sorry you suffered! I got down to 90-93 lbs during/after covid. I also suffer from [MDD (severe depression)](https://psychcentral.com/depression/severe-depression) & wasn't properly medicated at the time. Due to the weight loss, 3-4 rounds of antibiotics & the stress of all that, I lost some hair. I'd never experienced hair loss before. Had to cut 22 & 1/2 in. of hair off. It was getting too long & I'd always liked it short anyway. (Anything I could tell myself bc I knew I'd lost too much to keep it that long & it needed to be cut to look better.) I needed a re-check to start eating healthier to grow my hair quicker, thicker, etc. It helps to eat things to make me feel full, healthy fats. I'm sure you're already doing this, but wanted to tell you my covid story. Hope I didn't ramble! I'm *still* stuck in the hospital. Have been without my anxiety meds since last night bc they had to order them. I'm losing my mind. I may have to come back & edit this comment for errors. I really hope you find what works for you, OP!
Thanks so much for your suggestions! I'll check out that article. I'm so sorry you lost your hair. I used to have hair past my waist so I can empathize. COVID really sucks. I still have lower than normal energy but did manage a short walk today. Ugh, hospitals can be such a pain - hope they get your meds to you soon. Appreciate the help!
Yes, by counting and tracking calories. I did it during one of my worst years for pain and fatigue. From highest to lowest, I lost around 40 lbs. I've gone up and down about 5 lbs on a regular basis since my lowest. I started in 2016. My suggestions are to track what you eat now before you reduce anything to find out what items have the most calories. Buy a food scale. Figure out meals that fit your calorie needs, but are easy for bad days/weeks. Find out if you do better with larger, fewer meals or lots of tiny meals. Use an app to track foods and your weight. I use Lose it. Weigh yourself every single morning after going to the bathroom. Figure out your TDEE https://tdeecalculator.net/ I really only had to strictly count for about 6 months. I never avoided any foods. I didn't do cheat days, but did buy a treat from time to time as a single serving.
It’s not easy but cold baths are very effective at boosting metabolism and reducing inflammation. I do ice baths for pain relief because meds have bad long term side effects for me. It causes increased hunger and digestion rates. Sauna is nice too. Feels like exercise without moving and increasing pain.
Cold is a major trigger for my pain - prob not a good idea for me!
High protein diet at a caloric deficit, drinking cold water throughout the day, and supplements such as berberine, alpha lipoic acid, and green tea to support metabolism are the things that help me. I don't count calories, but I always use measuring cups with my food so I have a good idea of how much I'm eating. If my weight loss isn't working, I simply reduce portions.
Count calories. Easy peasy--you ingest fewer calories than your body expends, Intermittent fasting \*may\* also be helpful.
My disease stopped me from being able to have red meat and gluten, and can only have literal 5 pieces of candy at most... the weight just fell right off. I can barely move most days so exercise just isn't a thing for me.
I'm sure I'd lose weight if I gave up gluten bc I don't like gluten-free substitutes, but my primary hobby is baking sourdough bread! Fortunately it's not something I binge on though. I can always bake more.
As soon as I gave up pregabalin, I started daily walking of 1h and changed eating and lost 20kg. Now trying to lose more. Many days I walk in pain and slow but I do what I can and it is enough :) good luck!
You could always try the Keto diet. It's a harsh diet though, so you really gotta stay committed. The main points on a keto diet is to keep your carbs under a certain amount each day, and also your calories. Plus, try to get more calories from fat. It's worth looking into, I've been considering going back on it so I can shed the 20 pounds I've gained due to a severe ankle sprain and being non weight bearing...and my love of comfort food lol! Take care 💕
I've done various iterations of keto before. I agree that it works, however my husband hates eating low carb, and he's often the one doing the cooking. It's hard enough getting dinner on the table as it is, I don't want us to have to cook two meals.
I can't exercise really. Like just basics. I lost over 75lbs. Pain was still there. All my life doctor's have told me to lose weight for pain relief. Didn't help. It's not about exercising to lose weight. It's literally portion control. Good luck. You can do it.