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Today I hit my goal weight. I have lost 42 pounds and I feel great! I weighed in at 177.4 lbs today so slightly below my goal of 178 lbs.
My starting weight was 220 lbs. I lost 28 pounds before beginning to use this fabulous app. The last 14 pounds were with the assistance of the app which I found invaluable not only to track my calories but for the information and support posted by everyone else here.
Since I did benefit greatly from the stories and meal pics of others I want to share a few of the things I did in my personal plan that I strictly followed to get me to my goal weight. I realize everyone's situation is different and I'm not recommending any of this but these things are what worked for me...
1. This seems obvious but the number one thing was to limit my daily intake of calories. I never followed any specific diets just simply counted daily calories and kept them low enough to lose the weight.
When I loaded the app, the first thing I did (and probably everyone else did) was to generate an RDI (Recommended Daily Intake) of calories for me to maintain my body weight at the time based on my personal data. That was the weight I did not want to be and that RDI number was 2,500 calories per day. I had already reduced my daily calories to something much lower to lose the first 28 lbs but now with the benefit of the app I was able to track it. So for the month of October my average daily calorie intake was 1,297 (52% of RDI). For the month of November to date my average daily calorie intake is 1,207 (48% of RDI).
2. Related to item 1, here are a few of the specific things I did to get my daily calories down...
+ Reduced sugar and fat by going cold turkey on many of my favourite things and greatly reduced others, specifically;
- Deserts and chocolate bars ..... cheese cake, snickers....NONE
- Potato chips ... mmmm Old Dutch! ... NONE
- Bread - love bread but reduced to approx 2 slices per day of whole wheat
- Alcohol, beer, red wine, G&T - ok I had 2 Corona and 2 G&T in 5 months
- Pizza - had every 3 weeks or so but limited all other eating that day
- Ice Cream - 1/2 cup once per week or so
- Diet drinks only, except reduced sugar Orange juice once per day
- Sparse use of healthy oils- Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Becel Olive Oil Marg
3. Planned my meals to ensure I stayed within daily calorie limit...
+ Every single day I had same breakfast and lunch.
Breakfast - 3 cups of coffee with half&half. (65 calories)... that is all !
Lunch - 2 eggs, 1 pce brown toast & ketchup!! (301 cal)
OR Toasted tomato sandwich (228 cal)
Dinner - Ate tons of chicken breast, vegetables and fruit of all kinds,
some extra lean ground beef and some lean pork and beef on BBQ
occasionally, Homemade soups
Snack before bed - Another 1/2 toasted tomato sandwich or fruit and yogurt
+ My wife also eats healthy but my extreme calorie counting meant we mostly planned, prepared and ate separate meals. This was necessary for me but when the kids were at home this would have been a challenge so I know not easy for all. My wife has been very supportive. She misses my big belly but enjoys the two hours of peace she gets when I am out riding my bike. :)
+ When my weight loss stalled I began to reduce carbs by limiting bread and stopped eating an apple a day (keeps the Dr away but actually high carbs). But I never did any serious carb counting. Just serious daily calorie counting!!
4. Exercise. I know depending on health factors that some are limited in what exercise they can do but for me any weight loss program has to include exercise. I love cycling and am lucky to be able to enjoy many trails around my neighborhood.
I cycled outside on average 4-5 times per week and averaged 16km (10 miles) per ride. A 16km ride burns about 700 calories. Not sure how to calculate exactly but this contributed greatly to my weight loss and is also an excellent stress reliever.
My plan going forward:
According to the app my RDI for my goal weight that I am now at is 2,400 calories per day to maintain that weight (no gain or loss).
I will still use the app to track my calories because I am going to make a serious effort to maintain my goal weight. But I am now looking forward to doubling my daily calorie intake and curious to see if at that rate my weight will be maintained or will I gain?!?! If so I will dial it back again. And I will keep exercising! The Winnipeg winter is forcing me indoors so I'll retreat to the exercise bike in my basement. No gyms!
Anyway, I wish everyone good luck and good health! And above all, stay safe!!!
The not so round-mound from the dog pound!
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