Weight Loss Success Stories: What worked and Didn’t

When it comes to losing weight, there is no one way fix it all solution for everyone. What works for you might be different from what works for me and viceversa. Just one month into my journey I had lost between 7 to 10kg of fat. One question I often got asked was “How did you do it?”

Friends I shared my tips with often complained that it doesn’t work for them. My approach to burning fat is simple (Intermittent fasting and healthy eating plus 2 to 3 times workout in a week).

Read Also: Healthy Fat Weight Loss with Intermittent Fasting and Exercise: My Journey

If it worked for me then why didn’t it work for them? Well, the simple answer is Metabolism. We all have that friend in our circle who eats so much but never gains even a gram of weight. This is because they have higher metabolism. Metabolism is how your body burns available food in your system to produce energy. Sadly, you dont have such a body that is why you are reading this post.

In today’s post I want to share with you the success stories of those who tried different approaches and how it worked for them. Hopefully one of them would work for your body type and metabolism rate.

1. Using My Fitness Pal.

This was shared by a reddit user who suggested using an app to count the calories you consume. The name of the app is My fitness app and it can be downloaded from the play store or app store.

Basically, you are monitoring your food intake to ensure you are not eating more calories than you are actually burning. This is to ensure that you stay in a calorie deficit.

In addition to counting your calories you can add weight exercise to see effective and faster results. The app isn’t just limited to dieting but can also track your step count and calories burnt engaging in physical activities when pared with a fitness band or watch.

2. Using a Smaller Plate.

It may sound very simple but using a smaller plate really helps to minimize the quantity of food you eat. A smaller plate when full tricks the brain to believe you are eating a huge amount of food.

SO you end up feeling fuller when you actually didn’t eat much. This works the same way as limiting your calorie in take and staying in a deficit.

3. Walking

This is something i practiced myself and saw tremendous improvement in my weight loss. Walking is often underestimated but compared to running I would always recommend walking for the following reasons:

1. You dont get tired easily even though your heart rate is high just like how it would be if you were running.
2. Because you dont get or feel tired quickly you are able to go at it for a longer period of time (between 45 to 1 hour)
3. You feel less sore compared to running and it puts less strain on your knees and joints.
4. It is very therapeutic especially when done during the early morning hours.

When walking try to hit an hour or two session and as much as possible try to make it very brisk. Aim for 6 to 7 km.

4. Cutting out any sugary drinks; soda, juice, gatorade, etc.

Sugary drinks cause blood sugar spikes, which can make you feel hungry soon after drinking them. This leads to cravings and might make you reach for snacks or more sugary drinks to keep your energy up.

By cutting out these drinks, your body avoids these energy spikes and dips, helping you feel more balanced and making it easier to eat only when you’re actually hungry. Instead, drinking water, tea, or other low-calorie beverages can help keep you hydrated and satisfied without the extra calories.

5.  Eating slower and drinking water in between bites.

Eating slower improves your digestion and also makes you feel fuller even after eating less. This goes a long way to help you consume less calories and lose weight.

A 2017 study out of Kyushu University in Japan found that people who take time to chew slowly have better digestion and feel fuller, faster. Researchers also found that, on average, slower eaters had a smaller waist circumference and lower body mass index.

6. CICO – Calorie In, Calorie Out.

The only ‘diet’ that works is CICO. Calories In, Calories Out. You have to burn more calories than you eat.

You can achieve that with any diet you want. It’s possible to be calorie deficient with a vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, keto, paleo, carbs only, bacon only, or fast food only diet. It’s also possible to have a calorie surplus with any of those diets.

Count your calories with myFitnessPal. Most people eat more calories than they think they are. Find a balance between calorie restriction and exercise that keeps you at a calorie deficit and is sustainable over the long term (think years, not weeks).

There is no secret solution to weight loss. CICO!

You can read more on this Reddit Thread.

[Serious] Which weight loss tricks actually worked for you?
byu/full_time_princess inAskReddit

Conclusion

Celebrate your small wins and let them motivate you to push yourself until you reach your goals. This is something we often ignore but burning even 1 pound a week is work celebrating because they are others who have to work ten times harder to achieve that result.

It is also important to note that adapting a certain lifestyle to lose weight will not be sustainable if you do not intend to keep it up. After a few weeks you are likely going to gain back the weight you lost in three folds. Such approaches may help you see results faster, but they are not sustainable.

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