11 months ago I was in more pain than my grandparents because of my weight. Started at 372 and now sitting at 201.

So I (man, 6'2", 360 lbs to 200 lbs in roughly 300 days, though I have been intentionally slowing down a lot since January as I have been getting close to my target) lost weight at about the same speed. I think it might be close to the upper limit. During my best months I lost 8kg, that’s roughly 0.6lbs per day. I’m not sure any of this was healthy but hey, if I had done this the slow way I would have lost motivation so quickly.

Doing it the slow way – losing a lb or so per week – is super satisfying right now, when I’m so close to my target, mostly because I can get a great feel right now for what’s my equilibrium state and what I should plan to eat and how much I should exercise. Basically, it’s a great way to plan how you will control your weight the rest of your life with nearly no discomfort. I never feel hungry now and I always feel like I can eat a lot and I don’t even have to forgo things. I can still enjoy food. I just know how to do it in a much more controlled way and I know which foods will make me hungry and which will not. That’s great – but it’s not a way to start out with 160 lbs to go. I’m sorry, but 160 weeks if you go at 1 lb per week? That’s nearly three years, most of it without seeing any progress? That would just kill it.

I was eating 1500 calories, walking 10,000 steps per day (6 to 7 km), and was on the ergometer bike for half an hour every day (increasing resistance as I got more fit so I was sweating like crazy in the beginning and I am still sweating like crazy right now, but the resistance is much higher). No cheat days ever. I think one day I ate about 2,500 calories but for all other days I think I definitely was below 2,000.

In the beginning I’m estimating my burn rate at around 3,000 plus 600 from the walking and biking. That would about make the math work out. Now I’m eating 2,800 calories per day, still walking and biking and still losing weight. That’s a lot of food. I think my equilibrium will end up at 3,000 or so. I think by default I’m roughly burning 2,300 calories plus 700 from sports, though I will see whether I will keep up the walking or convert that to more biking or maybe running or something. Walking 6 to 7 km every day does take time. (Though I do like walking independently from using it to lose weight. It clears my head and helps me think. I can recommend it to anyone.)

/r/pics Thread Parent Link - imgur.com