this post was submitted on 12 Jul 2023
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Here's a couple free ones:
Quit drinking alcohol
When I quit drinking I lost about 50 pounds in 6 months with no other diet changes.
Basically stop drinking your calories.
Another one:
Only buy foods you have to prepare, no snacks.
That way you can prevent yourself from idly eating when bored.
Some people also eat from boredom or habit; sit in front to the TV, get a snack. Turn on the Xbox, get a snack.
It's me, I'm people. And I'm not even out of shape, just bad habits.
I'm real close to trading in my gaming chair for a recumbent bike. I've done it before, but sold it in a move. I don't even sweat; I just keep moving. Works well.
Ideally, I'd be able to hook up whatever to it and use it as like...supplemental power, but honestly, I'm about as little work as possible. I'm working on my exercise bike rn, I run, I have a water rower and am planning on buying a nicer one soon cause my Amazon Special one is lacking now after using a nice one. But the recumbent bike in front of a TV is just unbeatable. I can play Xbox and just mindlessly pedal on it, and unlike the exercise bike, I don't feel it in my taint (sorry for the imagery) for 2 days afterwards. Lol
I also try the water stuff, just doesn't help. I have a camelback on my chair I fill with water I drink out of lmao
Same I think? Idk when metric users round up, but I'm ~1.85m. I just don't fit comfortably lol.
Sounds like a breeze 🌬️💨
My parents fucked up a lot of things but I'm lucky they gave me pretty good food habits. There was no idle eating from boredom. You don't have a snack if it's almost dinner time. Chips are rare. Candy is basically holidays.
The only feeling I feel in life are sleep tired and hunger. Let me at least enjoy it :(
What do you replace alcohol with? Hiking through nature? Meditation? Cocaine?
Smoking weed is fat free, sugar free, and zero calories! Just watch out for those munchies!
I have photos of what munchies can make you do.
It was delicious tho. No regrets.
Pro tip (but that works for me, that may not work for you) when you smoke weed, prepare a huge bowl of salad beforehand, an enormous one, when I'm stoned I don't care about what I'm eating as long as it's food, a huge bowl of salad is totally fine and if you don't stuff it with seasonings is pretty low on calories and actually good for your health. You can stuff yourself to stop the hunger plus eat something good and low calorie.
I go for air popped popcorn with flavocol on top. Not the healthiest but not too bad all considered. And a shitload of fiber.
Celery is great too, lots of cronch and helps with cotton mouth
Great tips! We are fans of making veggie trays!
When I stopped drinking I found myself with a lot of free time I could dedicate to things, and also a lot of free time that I could dedicate to working on my mental health.
I was drinking about a fifth of alcohol every night (except Saturday, those were more) and none of it was less than 50% alcohol as anything less was a waste of time for me.
How did you stop? I was in the same boat, like 7 days ago. I decided in want to stop buying alcohol for the house. So maybe 5 days ago I finished the last bottle and can at home. Since then I've had a beer at lunch at a restaurant and 3 beers yesterday at a friend's house. I was verrrry tempted to go buy some last night.
It wasn't easy and over the time I was drinking I had made 4 attempts to quit. This last one was the successful attempt.
I realized I couldn't drink in moderation, I couldn't slowly drink less, I had to quit cold turkey. And that was painful. Both physically and mentally.
I basically had to quit because I had come to the conclusion that I was drinking myself to death and if I didn't stop I was going to succeed.
It was really hard, honestly the hardest thing I've done. I started drinking when I was 12 and I quit drinking at 24. I was drinking to run away from myself and my memories.
When I quit drinking I had to get all of the alcohol out of my apartment because as long as it was there I could hear the siren's song to drink again and smash my life on the rocks.
It was months before I could say that I had succeeded and gotten sober. In the process I lost most of my friend group because they didn't want to be around a "sober buzzkill" but I'd say that needed to happen.
I felt physically like crap for the first couple months and mentally like crap for basically 5 months.
Since then though my life has gotten so much better it's amazing.
I'd say the secret to quiting is believing in yourself. It's hard but it can be done. You will have moments where you feel like you are going to fail but they will pass.
I've been sober now for 5 years and I will still occasionally crave alcohol. I still don't feel comfortable being around people who are drinking. I still can't walk into a bar without my hands shaking. But I won't drink, I don't want to because I know why I used to and I know what will happen if I start again.
Not the guy you asked but maybe try to find the root of your habit. When I'm continuously doing something I want to stop, I find there's a reason. Like for me, I drink more often than I mean to because I'm bored and feeling like my life has no meaning, but alcohol helps me relax and enjoy the little day to day things. So then that gives me a path forward: find things I'm more passionate about, do more fulfilling things instead of going straight to video games and tv, go back to therapy, etc.
So maybe your drinking is because you're just bored, maybe you have an underlying issue like depression or anxiety, maybe you're medicating your stress or avoiding addressing something. Idk it's up to you.
But remember that you typically do things for a reason, and you're not alone in struggling with this issue. It's a lot of us man
Edibles/weed helps take the edge off.
Not great for weight loss though IMO
And replacing one potentially-abused substance with another
It's a hell of a lot better for you than alcohol though. It would be a net benefit to anyone who drinks regularly to replace it thusly.
Yeah, it's better, but it's not great if you're doing it every day like the user above (edit: the original one who posed the question) was suggesting. I just don't think the advice should end at "switch to weed" because it's just changing the problem instead of offering advice for fixing it
Jeez that's a shitload of liquor, glad you were able to kick that habit. I feel bad like I drink too much when my lady and I drink a whole liter bottle on a weekend together. I like to drink sometimes but other times it just feels worthless and I wonder why I'm doing it. Fortunately I can get medical flowers legally and they help me feel a lot better than liquor does.
Cocaine is great for weight-loss..
Your second recommendation won't work for everyone. For me, when I don't have the time or energy to cook I am more likely to order unhealthy food or get take out. It helped me a lot to have easy fast healthy options at home. Frozen veggies can be thrown in the oven and then dusted with a really good spice mix. Sandwich with good whole grain bread and lean meats. Once I learned to expect at least 2 "I give up" nights a week, I was able to finally lose a few pounds.
I struggled with this for awhile my solution was literally to go hungry I might skip one or two meals but eventually the hunger pains will beat away the laziness and make it a higher priority. Once I felt the pain enough I got a positive hit from cooking I didn’t get before.
You don't need to cook every day, just cook a large meal once at weekends and freeze it. I always cook about 8 to 12 servings, so I can skip cooking about every other weekend. I'm lazy, so I mostly make stews, soups, lasagnas or sauces for which i just need to add a fresh portion of rice or pasta I boil the day before. These meals take 2 hours to make (max) and I'm prepared for at least a week. The excess servings of each week add up fast, so I already had some variety after a few weeks. I eat those for lunch when I'm at work and started to make whatever-salads in the evening about a week ago (vinegar-oil dressing, whatever spices/herbs, whatever veggies, whatever proteins). Best decision I made, I'm eating far less crap, less meat and the urge to order food is getting rarer. Hoping I'm gonna lose some of my fat ass in the long run, too :)
This is the way! Make extra food and freeze it. Some things do better than others but it's worth exploring this option
When I was trying to lost weight I was also broke as hell, so for me ordering unhealthy food or eating take out wasn't really an option.
Frozen veggies are a great option, and fall under the purview of stuff needing cooked.
Assuming you are in good health other than wanting to lose weight the best thing you can do is buy a food scale and portion out your food and eat 1500 calories a day and no more. Eat what you want when you want just no more than 1500 and you will lose weight like crazy. That's how I did it and I lost a full person's worth of weight, like a full 50% of my body weight.
This is basically the only thing that's been successful for me. I track my calorie intake with an app and shoot for net 1500 (with exercise).
Eating back exercise calories is not recommended.
I’ve never heard a compelling reason for this.
Look. I really hate to be harsh here, but this is terrible advice.
Yes you'll lose weight because eating only 1500 calories a day is definitional malnutrition. Any "diet" which claims that is healthy is very literally encouraging people to develop eating disorders. You absurdly absolutely can't do it by "eating anything you want."
Unless you are doing this under strict super vision from a dietician and your doctor, for a specific medical reason, it is extremely dangerous and more likely to cause other problems with your overall health in the long run. You will almost certainly not get the nutrie ta your body needs to function correctly if you are not carefully monitoring what you are eating with professional help. You're also significantly more likely to end up with an eating disorder. These diets are extremely harmful, I hate seeing them literally everywhere.
You may have seen results in losing weight in such a "diet" because you were very literally starving your body of the calories it needs to function. That just isn't a healthy way to lose weight.
If your doctor is telling you that you are in good health and the only reason you want to lose weight is cosmetic, don't do it. Unless it is directly impacting your health and your doctor is recommending it and supervising it, forcing yourself to eat significantly less than what you need to function is not safe.
I did what my doctor told me to do. So idk wtf you are talking about but ok I guess you know more than my doctor does. I'll make sure to let them know I'm canceling my next appointment and I'll be going to you from now on. So im gonna need your office hours and a good address and phone number I can reach you at. Please hit me up with all those details asap.
Literally in my post I said "to do this safely you need to work with your doctor"
This was less directed and you, and more at the large number of people who will read a post like yours and go "I can totally do that!" and just cold turkey start eating only 1500 calories a day, without any consultation with doctors or nutritionists.
Thats extremely common. Literally googling "1500 calorie diet" comes up with pages of unsafe recommendation, most of which do not begin with "consult with your doctor and don't take advice from strangers on the internet about your diet."
Er, having calorie deficit is, by definition, the only way to lose weight. I agree that 1500 specifically as a flat target regardless of starting weight, gender, and height, though, could be outright dangerously low, not to mention unrealistic. Fortunately, calorie counting apps are good at setting target intakes given the above parameters.
That doesn't count for fruits and stuff like carrots