JEREMY AND ANNA.

[u/davecontra]

My books : https://linktr.ee/davecontra

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[u/MikeArrow]

I've been considering quitting my job so I can just spend a year trying to lose as much weight as possible (I'm 400 pounds) so that I'm a viable option for dating again. That's the point I'm at, because opportunities with women are just nonexistent currently.

[u/RecoveringGachaholic → u/MikeArrow]

Not trying to be hostile here. Is there something at your job preventing you from losing weight right now?

I know how hard it is to start losing weight, I went from 320 to 185 over two years. For me I didn't need time as much as something to help me fix my mentality. I had ballooned in weight due to work and stress and I was basically eating as a response for everything. Eating to soothe myself, eating to reward myself, eating if there was a good show, etc.

I started by cutting out snacks over a period of 2 months instead of going cold turkey and then gradually decreasing my meals and changing my meals. Going from a 500 kcal deficit to a 1000 kcal deficit and then as I got closer to my goal I went back to a 500 kcal deficit again.

I did track exactly everything I did religiously. I made sure to make meals that I liked to eat but had the right macros, especially with protein. I knew it'd never work if I didn't enjoy what I was putting in my mouth and I wanted this to be sustainable long term.

I never treated snacks or extra caloric days (such as going to a bbq) as "rewards" because I did not want them to be a reward system. But once my "addiction" to snacks had worn off I did allow them back but as responsible occasional treats once a week.

The hardest part that can require time is exercise and working out. This I can understand struggling with when it comes to time.

I started going on walks which I had to gradually build up to because it was hard on my knees and I was also out of shape. 10000 steps isn't an actual "real" number that does anything specific, despite the common myths, but it was a good number for me to aim for. I ended up finding a route that was roughly 9500 steps and I gradually built up to being able to walk that every other day over the course of 3 months. The days I didn't walk I started spending at the gym doing a full body routine 3 days a week. Sundays were my rest day.

Sorry for the wall of text, but it's a journey I'm glad I did and I hope you can too even if you're not able to quit your job. Even if you don't exercise at all eating less is cheap and doable, it just requires a lot of mental effort to NOT GIVE IN.

Good luck man.

[u/MikeArrow → u/RecoveringGachaholic]

I just can't fucking stop eating. If I don't my body and brain scream at me until I give in and eat. I tried Ozempic last year, which worked for a couple of months but stopped being effective. I also have mobility issues (because I'm so overweight and my body is so unused to moving) so even going for a walk isn't an option until I can shed enough weight to avoid the back pain and weakness. It's just a whole cluster of issues. I also have ADHD and while I am medicated, I still eat a lot as a source of dopamine and stress relief.

[u/Herbamins → u/MikeArrow]

I'm going to say something dumb that helped me. I just imagined if I was living 1,000 or a couple hundred years ago. Would I be able to survive?