Trying to lose weight healthily

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I'm 5' 7", 155 pounds, and am trying to lose weight in a healthy manner. Ideally, I'd like to reach 120 pounds, because that's the weight I used to be and felt good at. I'm trying to eat just three meals a day, and exercise daily.

I need to be patient with my weight loss, because otherwise I'll restrict too much and lose muscle mass as well as fat. Has anyone had much success losing weight healthily and keeping it off?

I am also 155 lbl although in terms of height I used to be 5'9 but now I am 5'8, so probably I became shorter due to scoliosis. My high school weight used to be 120 lbl, but from college onward I became 140 lbl, which was at first a shocker but eventually I got used to it. But then when I was 33 years old I became 155, and then I did biggest loser which brought me down to 123 but shortly thereafter I gained all the weight back. Between then and now (right now I am 39) I was going up and down between 155 and 170. Right now I am 155. But yeah I would also love to lose weight. Even if I could lose it down to 240 it would be great provided that I keep it that way, but getting it down to 120 would be the ideal. So if you figure out how to do it please let me know!

I don't know what type of exercise you do, but actively trying to build muscle with resistance training while making sure you have a decent* amount of protein in your diet is probably the best way to go. If you lift weights and provide your body with enough protein to build muscle, you won't have to worry about losing muscle mass. Muscle also burns more calories than fat, so building muscle should boost your metabolism. Try googling 'body recomposition' if you haven't already. If you do take this route though, it might be better to track your progress using measurements or the way your clothes fit as opposed to stepping on the scale, as muscle weighs more than fat.

*Opinions vary on how much you need, but typically you'll see people advise anywhere from 0.75g-1.25g per pound of body weight. I eat around 0.8-0.9g per pound and it's enough to have built me some nice muscles

I highly recommend intermittent fasting, which is just restricting the hours in a day you eat to an 8 hour window. The easiest way is to skip breakfast, and eat a larger lunch and dinner. Putting yourself in a fasted state aids weight loss and promotes the body in breaking down old cells.

Make sure to eat lots of nutrient dense foods, but limit overall calories. A salad with nuts, cheese, multiple different types of leafy greens (spinach, lettuce, arugula), and a variety of different veggies (carrots, onions, peppers), and ideally a hefty protein source like steak, chicken, or eggs, can get you a ton of vitamins and minerals while still allowing you to maintain a calorie deficit. This is the trick to maintain health. Restrict your calories, not your macro-nutrients.

Avoid carbs if you can, especially refined carbs (white bread, potato chips, french fries, pizza. etc). Sweet potatoes and brown rice are good sources of carbs if you insist on having them.

A good tip to maintain this as a healthy lifestyle is to give yourself one day a week to cheat. This can be helpful socially as well, as many social events revolve around eating junk food and sweets.

I stopped drinking, and after 9 months, lost 15% of my body weight. Maintaining. The only thing I watch is sugar, which tends to be in everything.

I’m a pescatarian and have lost 8 or 9 pounds. There is no one way diet but I recommend monk fruit and stevia instead of actual sugar. It’s really helped me wean off of sugary drinks. Do you eat meat? Pescatarian can have fish but you cut out higher calorie meats like chicken, beef and pork.

I can't accurately give you the weight I was when I was overweight because while lighter than I am now, it was several years ago and as a teenager there is a huge difference in height and weight between a 12 year old and a near 17 year old. However I can tell you I was quite overweight for years firstly due to meds and then still dealing with the side effects of them after I stopped taking them (They made me STARVING 24/7 so even though I stopped, I had bad eating habits by that point). Luckily, I have slowly and steadily have been losing it for the the past few years. The most helpful part has been my diet, I started slowly reducing the amount of treats I had, which was as many as 3 or 4 a day to one a day currently and hopefully less in future. A slow decrease helps it become manageable without you binging later which I did a lot when I tried to drastically change it.

Another thing that helps is trying to fulfil a craving in the healthy way first. Craving something sweet? Eat fruit first and then if you still are eat it afterwards and so on. Eating fruit or veg with all meals/snacks in general is a good idea and from my experience has really helped me lose weight. I actually gained some recently which I think I've lost now by not doing that.

Calories matter but don't make them go down by restricting to the point you are in starvation mode. A large amount of veggies or even fruit with a meal will fill you up for a lot less calories than if they weren't there. You don't want to keep yourself hungry.

In terms of exercise Hiit is supposed to be a good way to lose weight. I'm over simplifying it but it's when you work out as hard as you can for a short burst then have a short recovery and continue. Also muscle burns a lot so building muscle is usually more important than cardio even though cardio is also important.

Managing your sleep and stress is also so important! When I have a good schedule and do my mindfulness, I definitely see the changes faster.

Hope the advice from a kid like me is helpful.

Yes. You need to keep your new lifestyle and diet permanent to keep the weight off or else it will come back on again. The less you weigh, the less calorie intake your body will need to maintain its weight. So it will seem like your metabolism slows down when really it's because it doesn't need to use as much energy to maintain its size.

The reason why I gained weight in the first place was because I ate too much sugar and ate too much at meal times. Plus I would snack a lot so I actually put on weight between 6th and 7th grade. Then when I laid off the snacking and having seconds at meal times and started doing walks, I lost 20 lbs and by 8th grade I was 20 lbs lighter but despite that I had stopped walking, I kept the weight off. I lost more weight again at age 15 and this time I had smaller portions and counted calories and paid attention to my calorie intake and I was in PE and softball so that attributed to my weight loss and by the end of the school year I was down to 128 and stayed there until my sophomore year and I went back up to 140 because I would snack again and I was in cooking class. I lost weight again when I started to walk on the treadmill everyday and I stayed in the 130's until my mid twenties when I got pregnant and had my first child and I was down to 120 because of breastfeeding and because I followed the pregnancy diet like a bible.

I am working on keeping my weight maintained around 120 lbs and that is eating sweets in moderation and eating small portions and exercise 5 times a week and doing some Hollywood workouts to keep my thighs smaller because that is where my stubborn body fat likes to be and no other walks and exercise will make them smaller and toned unless I do the right work outs like crunches and lunges.

To keep muscle while losing weight, you need to work out too that builds muscle.

Chicken is generally very low calorie.

Drink more water Its very important to help flush the body out. I would recommend drinking water first thing in the morning before you eat breakfast even.

I've found a routine and pattern of walk/run/jog on a treadmill 6 days a week for 90-120 minutes a day. I was over 16st 5'8", had to change fundamentally the diet due to developing an unusual habit of eating that caused liver and blood issues. The treadmill exercises where gradual, doing and able to do slightly more week by week as long as time allowed/not needing to be elsewhere or not ill with a fever/infection and not too hot /not too high in humid air.

This along with a medication to treat depression/migraine, has helped me cope a bit better with life.

I second the recommendation of intermittent fast although I don't find using an eating window enough to lose or even maintain weight. I lost 120lbs using every other day fasting but put some of it back on this year and so I am just starting the more serious fasting again. I eat very healthily but too much. I am a good vegan cook but I am not good at stopping once I start eating. That is why fasting suits me, if I don't start I don't have to worry about stopping. Every other day works well as one day I can eat as much as I want one day and the next day I can tell myself I can eat tomorrow. That is so much less depressing than fighting to control yourself every day! But you do need to cut out sugar and processed carbs entirely or the cravings will make it much too difficult.

You should check out Superherojacked. It's a website that makes free workout based on superheroes. You can pick ones based on what you are looking for. Aside from the consistent routine, I like being able to chart growth in strength and repetition.

They also have a dieting section. I eat the same thing everyday, so it doesn't matter much to me. My only variation is an increase in almond butter or protein depending on my workout.