When did you realize you were letting yourself go and what did you do about it?

23 comments

1. What I thought about was “Are you going to eat that? If not, I’ll have it. “

2. Age gets most of us, Medical problems take a lot, things that look easy to some are totally impossible for others. Genetics are huge, every man in my family has been overweight for like 14 generations. I consume about 2300 calories a day to maintain a portly figure.

   By the time a lot of folks realize they are no longer physically capable of getting back to weight on their own and can not afford the time or money to get the help they need. It’s vicious.

3. I spent both the UK lockdowns absolutely smashing IPAs, litrally had a fridge next to my sofa so I didn’t need to stand up, 3 days a week of 12 hr shifts then 4 days half cut the whole time.

   Hired a bike with a mate in the summer after and could hardly ride on the flat without being fuuuuuuuuked

   Was a bit of an ooops

   Running 5Ks 3 or 4 times a week now, but still not repaired the damage fully.

4. In 2019 I weighed 231 pounds. I’m 6ft1 and well built, so it didn’t look too bad. But I hated my gut and chubby face. So I cut out sugar and pop (soda), cut my calories to 1000 a day, walked 10 miles a day, and did full body weight training every 2 days. In 3 months I lost 30 pounds. I had to stop though because it wasn’t healthy. I kept getting dizzy spells and my heart was beating weirdly. Now I just eat well and walk 10k steps a day.

5. Lockdown got me too. The only pleasurable outlet was food.

   For me it was the upcoming birth of my daughter that turned a switch on for me. I didn’t want to be a bad example for her. I wanted to be fit and be able to carry her and play with her. I needed a project too, as my life was about to get more structured and oriented to my family’s needs instead of my own.

   I got really inspired and started weight training before work every day. I do full body workout each time that is manageable and keeps it interesting, like one long circuit 3 x so it has a cardio aspect to it. Its been about 6 months now and starting to get compliments on my physique.

   I also moved to exclusively standing at my desk, this seems to keep me more engaged and energized.

   Its challenging when stuck in the loop of ‘I should be doing this’. Humans tend to react poorly to this kind of language. Move towards a goal as a project instead. It took about 3 months before I was really feeling good at the gym and not hating it. It gets easier.

6. Right after my 30th birthday I ruptured my Achilles tendon running and it put my into a tailspin. Took me a year to recover from the tendon surgery and I found myself 70lbs heavier and pretty miserable. I started swimming and dieting it took me about a year to get back in shape.

7. So I graduated at about 160 lbs. I started working at a finance job where we worked ~16 hours a day usually. Here’s the thing: almost EVERYONE at the company who had been there for more than a couple years was tremendously overweight. The company paid for dinner if you were there after 8 pm, which we always were. I gained 40 lbs within nine months. I felt lethargic and my pants got a lot tighter. I just took a look around and thought that it wasn’t for me (there were other issues as well, not just the hours). Got a slightly different job in finance, typically work a 12 hour day, which is pretty average for my field. I’m able to work out, I’m able to sleep better, and I’m down to 165 lbs, give or take a few.

8. Jesus, I wish I could say that I noticed immediately and did something about it.

   I’ve recently gone from 287lbs ba k down to 214 (as of this morning). I’m 6’1″, so I look normal and healthy again.

   I just started monitoring calories out/calories in. I got as much exercise as possible, and stayed focused.

9. I go through phases of getting fat and then slimming down and getting fit.. it’s like a sin wave lol.

   Currently in the process of slimming back down, I hit 205 again and refuse to get heavier. I have cut out all alcohol, all thc, and zero added sugar to anything. Basically I’m just doing 1 meal a day (dinner) that consists of a protein, vegetable, and sometimes a carb. I only drink black coffee and water even when fat, so Its not difficult to cut out sugary drinks when slimming down.

   I think the alcohol and weed ones make the biggest difference. No weed means I eat a lot less, no alcohol means I eat healthier and don’t feel bloated.

10. I won’t recommend fasting as that still seems to be more of a fad than anything, but very much would say to cut the drinking. Especially beer, it’s essentially alcoholic soda.

    I got a set of weights I keep in my office at work. In between tickets I do a set. Not exactly back to my “wrestling weight”, but honestly at my age I’m fine with “not getting out of breath when bending over to wipe my ass” and working my way up from there.

11. Just kinda going through this now. I was very fat before and I was probably one of the few people in the UK who lost weight during the lockdowns. I dropped about 60kg in 5 months which I was proud of.

    As of last month I noticed I’m getting fluffy again, it fully hit me when I looked in the mirror and my face looked a lot bigger than last time (I don’t really look in the mirror often anymore as when I was originally losing weight I made the choice not to so I wouldnt get disheartened etc and it kinda stuck) I’m not fat and with a coat and that on I still look average but I decided it’s time to get back to it and I’ve started the gym again and hoping I stick with it.

12. Find an exercise that you enjoy, that’s half the battle. Once you’ve done this you’ll enjoy exercising, and you’ll begin to change your diet etc to help improve your performance in your activity. It really gets the ball rolling

13. I usually weigh anyhwere from 75kg to 80kg most of the time. A few years ago I went up to 85kg and my pants and even underwear were uncomfortable and my belly would stick out.
    I reduced the amount of carbs, cut out all junk food and began to do a 20 minute cardio exercise routine 5 times a week.
    I was down to 75kg in a couple of weeks and have stayed there.

14. It’s important to start with baby steps.

    Many people start their fitness journeys too hard and too fast. They can’t meet their own expectations, they fail, become discouraged, and give up.

    Don’t start thinking you’ll go to the gym everyday, cut out alcohol entirely, and follow intermittent fasting perfectly right off the bat. Cause you won’t.

    Start doing something you KNOW you can achieve, and ramp it up once you have it down to a routine.

    Go for a walk once a day, only buy one six pack a week, start eating healthy foods that you like more. Etc.

15. Started making my own lunch, 1 sandwich and a couple snack sticks. Slowly but surly going back down just until I can make it back to the gym

16. Right after graduating college, I started working as a full time flight instructor. I had no time to eat, no time to workout, let myself go to 180-190lbs. Lunch break was 30 min so the closest food I could get was DQ. Coming home, I didn’t have the energy to cook so either instant ramen or take outs.

    This year I changed my lifestyle for good. Started meal prepping, sleep early & wake up at 5 to go to the gym 3 times a week before 0700-1800 shift. I feel great eating healthier food, feel refreshed after going to the gym. I don’t go there to get “ripped” or anything, just to stay fit. That mindset made it easier for me to go to the gym regularly.

    It’s easy to be lazy and let yourself go. But small changes everyday can benefit you later in life. Already lost ~25lbs and now keeping a healthy 160lb. Trust the process – the best day to start changing is today.

17. November/December of last year I realized I was repeatedly wearing the only XL tshirts in my closet, and my pants were getting a little too tight on my belly. Went and bought some new clothes, thought no big deal. Assumed I was high 190s as I have been for a while. GF eventually blight me a bunch of XL shirts and started talking about my “dad bod.” I don’t have kids.

    Finally stepped on the scale a few weeks ago and holy shit, 215. BMI of fatty fatty boombalatty (that’s a medical term).

    Been tracking calories and exercising since then. Down a few pounds. Should be back to a reasonable weight in about two-three months.

18. It’s cyclical for me, but I most recently crapped out from scrambling around to deal with my dad’s cancer and my mom’s laundry list of illnesses. I noticed it when my weekly 5k group became a serious challenge. Turned out I had put on at least 60 pounds, probably 70+ (as I had been actively losing weight for a bit before I first checked).

    Needless to say I’m not blaming myself too hard under the circumstances, but I’m annoyed because I hate this whole process. I’m gonna be losing weight for months. Makes me very cranky. I think I’m going to be yo-yoing for the rest of my life.

    Mom’s issues were so much worse – and by extension rolled down to me – because she got heavy and stopped trying. I can’t do that. But I’m so fucking tired of rolling this damn boulder up the hill. I’m spent when I’m done and I don’t have the willpower left to try and pack on muscle or anything for looks, because I have to exhaust myself just to be normal.

19. When I put on 40 lbs in 4 months . Took me 2.5 yrs to lose it after weight oscillations

20. About 87 days ago corresponding to how many days sober I am. The rest is pretty self exploratory

21. Warning Spoiler: for down in deep depression hanging on a thread.

    Realized I was playing games a unhealthy amount for a escape I did not to face that took a sprial down on my mental health. I was eating takis as dinnner or slim jims. But I really hated eating so I would only eat one meal or nothing a day.

    I was in washington state, I went to this place pho lewis all the time to eat my one meal. >!Probably why I didn’t decide to off myself!<, they always treated my like family when I went to the shop. I loved having nice bowl of pho all the time, so I made that my only one meal I would eat.

    The owners were always nice and comforting that they like to talk to me and I loved to talk to them. It dawned on me a small nice bowl of soup and looking at it of how much I did not want to deal with my own issues and just wanted to play games. I decided to go to therapy for a lot of my issues I was facing and got my diagnosis.

    After I left JBLM I had one more meal at pho lewis, I was planning on tipping around 450$ for the great service I had during the 2 years I was there. I told them this will be my last time eating here, they gave me the usual and gave me a free drink on the house :3.

    It was sad to go and I did tip about 500$ and they did not want to accept it but I insisted and had a good hug between us. Little did he know that bowl of Pho, shop, and social interaction was enough to get me to keep going.

    I am doing a lot better now than I was a few years ago. I got the helped I needed and now working a nice relaxing job I enjoy.

22. I started letting myself go but was in denial about it. Then one day I got into a small accident and got multiple fractures in my elbow. I had never fractured anything before in my entire life, and I grew up taking much harder knocks than that. Anyways, that was kind of the start of me realizing I needed to get my shit together. My girlfriend and I broke up fairly soon after (yay!) I started exercising again (a few years later and I’m now training for my first ironman), I got a series of better jobs, I finished school.. things have been pretty great since, they’re not perfect but there is room for improvement and for the first time in my life anything feels possible.

23. When I hit 397 lb, mind you I’m 6’4 but I was still way too big! I’m down to 320 lb, I got rid of mountain dew started eating less more times a day, and joined a gym! Another 60lbs to go!!