Tools For Weight Loss

Weight loss is a daunting prospect, no matter how many pounds you need to lose to reach a healthy weight. This is why the diet industry makes mad cheddar (low-fat cheddar, that is); it takes advantage of overwhelmed people and sells them plans and products that they don't actually need. I am fully a CICO (calories in, calories out) convert. I don't believe in completely cutting out certain foods or flashy gimmicks (diet teas I'm looking at you!). I don't like "diets" and I also don't like the term "life-style change" (it makes me cringe).

Since September 2018, I have lost 76.6 lbs and I am currently 2.6 lbs away from my goal weight of 130 lbs. Here are the tools I use that will hopefully help you get started (how I got started losing weight post is coming soon):

• TDEE calculator. You can simply Google TDEE calculator (total daily energy expenditure) or use this TDEE calculator. Input your stats (gender, age, height, current weight and activity level) and the website will calculate how many calories you need to eat daily to maintain your weight. Once you get this number, you subtract 500 calories from amount and aim to eat that much daily. That equals a 3500 calorie deficit per week, which is a weight loss rate of 1 lbs per week. A "healthy" rate of loss is anywhere between 1-2 lbs per week. You can change your deficit amount at anytime, but I'd recommend starting out with a 500 calorie deficit to see how it works for you first before you cut anymore.
• Calorie counting app like MyFitnessPal or LoseIt. These are both free apps that can be downloaded on the Apple Store or Google Play. Both have paid options, but I've gotten along fine using MyFitnessPal's free version. I find MFP has the largest food database. You simply add in all the food in you eat in the day (plus how much of it you eat) and it does the math for you. At first it seems like a lot of work, but once you input your common foods, it becomes quick to use. You can even scan the barcodes to pull up the exact food! These apps will also ask for your stats and give you their own version of a TDEE, but I'd recommend going with the TDEE calculator amount instead. In MFP this can be changed in the settings. 
• Food scale. Trust me, don't trust your eyes! When I first used the scale to measure out a portion of oatmeal, I was shook. It barely covered the bottom of my bowl and here I was adding in three or four times that amount! I just bought a cheap Starfrit one from Wal-Mart and it's been ticking along just fine. Seriously, don't pass on this.
• Bathroom scale. Again, doesn't need to be a fancy one. I will say that I have recently bought a Renpho smart scale from Amazon (was only $37.99 CDN) that takes all sorts of measurements besides just weight like body fat percentage, visceral fat, bone mass, protein, etc. and I wish I had used it from the beginning so I could have more data to compare as I lost weight. If you don't want all that fancy smancy stuff, any scale will do. I recommend picking one day a week to weigh yourself, first thing in the morning after using the restroom. Also, in addition to measuring your weight, you can use a measuring tape to monitor inches lost every week.
• Journal/scribbler. Use this to record your weekly weigh-ins and progress. I also treat mine like a diary/journal. I use it as an outlet for me to write down how I'm feeling or what I'm struggling with that day or week. I also use it to write out my lists, which I will talk about in another post 
• FitBit or Apple Watch (totally optional). I had originally got a FitBit to monitor my heart rate (as my weight increased, so did my resting heart rate) before I started to lose weight, so I didn't need to outlay any more money at the beginning of my weight loss journey. I am glad I used it because I now have quantifiable proof that losing the weight improved my health. Almost daily I could see my resting heart rate go down. It started out in the 90s and now has stabilized at 65. It's quite satisfying to scroll up on my FitBit app and watch that number drop! If you can't afford a new one, maybe buy an used one or borrow a friend's that they aren't using.  
• Meal Prep containers. I sing the gospel of meal prep far and wide. I am lazy by nature and this was part of my food problem and why I got to the weight I did. Meal prep doesn't have to take up your entire Sunday either. There are plenty of easy one pan meals to pop in the oven or croc-pot dump and go recipes.  

Why I Decided to Get Healthy

I'm at that awkward millennial age where I no longer belong to the "young crowd", but don't belong to the "old one" either. Hit my late twenties like a spinning compass; no idea what direction I should go in or where I belonged. Not only did I hit my late twenties essentially lost, I hit them obese. At 5'6 and 209 pounds, I had a BMI of 33.7 which put me at risk for a myriad of issues. My blood pressure was high enough to concern any doctor that took it. The gallstones I was diagnosed with in my early twenties acted up regularly. My resting heart rate was too high for someone my age. Was having blood sugar crashes more often than I liked to admit. Got a fat tissue lipoma on my left leg that visibly stuck out. Anxiety about my health was a constant battle (anxiety is it's own issue that I'll talk about in another post). Digestive issues up the wazoo (pun intended?). 

But the final sharp elbow in the ribs I needed came on September 5th, 2018. I had been eating like crap for a long time at this point and this day was no different; except for the chest pains that followed. [DISCLAIMER: If you ever experience chest pains or pains down your left arm, please seek immediate medical attention!] I started to get pains in my chest and they extended down my left arm. I did not have a shortness of breath or any other symptoms (except for major panic and anxiety). I paced my apartment, freaking out while enduring the pain and willing it to stop. It slightly reminded me of a gallbladder attack, so I hesitated in seeking any medical attention. 

Instead, I grabbed a garbage bag and rounded up all the junk food in my house. I cleaned out all the half-eaten bags of chips, candy and chocolate out of my cupboards (of which there weren't many because I generally eat the entire bag of something if I liked it), frozen treats and the new items I had bought the night before. Soon, I had an entire bulging garbage bag full of junk food. I took it out to the communal trash bin and heaved the bag over the edge and into the smelly abyss. 

I spent the rest of the day downing apple cider vinegar (I know, I know - I swear I'm not one of those hokey people claiming ACV cures all. It's the only thing that helps when I have a gallbladder attack), using the heating pad and scrounging up anything that could pass for a semi-healthy food. Thankfully the pains stopped and I was "fine" by that evening. Technically more than fine because I had a new purpose. I was going to lose the weight and get healthy. I had lost weight before (a couple of times), but I was determined to make it stick this time. This time I wasn't doing it to look skinny in my grad dress or to look better to others or because I was told to lose weight; I was going to do it for me and my health. I was going to do it to help control the anxiety that was starting to take bigger and bigger pieces from me. 

The compass started to slow and bounce, rather than spin uncontrollably. It may not have pointed decidedly north, but I had a rough idea of where to go. One foot forward and I was on my way.