So, I watch a lot of YouTube videos and have recently stumbled upon a YouTube channel called “Luke Narwhal”. He has really good weight loss videos “that don’t suck”. No, but seriously!

So he uses subreddits that have threads involved with weight loss. I watched a lot to see if I could find some helpful tips for you guys and myself. Recently, I have been kind of falling off because of my stress and amount of school work I’ve been doing.

So with these Reddit’s, they are usually from formerly obese people that lost over 100 pounds or even 20 pounds. You know these tips work if they used to be chubby people. I will probably do some more Reddit weight lost posts too because they are so helpful.

Some of the most commonalities I found will be listed in this blog post today. Okay let’s get started with the best tips proven to weight loss from formerly obese people that I noticed.

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weight loss hacks from former fat people

CICO: Calories in, Calories out

skinny girl counting calories

Many, and I mean MANY formerly obese Reddit users claim this is what is the main attribute to their weight loss success. This is for good reason. Many of us don’t get up and move around a lot with sedentary jobs. America now eats more than they move making it difficult to lose weight. Once you calculate your TDEE you can see how much you need to eat to either maintain, lose or gain weight.

These Reddit users used their TDEE to see what their maintenance calories were. Once they figured this, they subtract 250-500 calories from that. This will help you lose weight.

1 pound of fat= 3,500 calories.

7 Days a week x 500 calories= 3500 calories.

So in order for you to lose 1 lb of fat a week you need to be in a caloric deficit of 500. HOWEVER, I recommend starting small and slow and moving up to the 500 cals. It’s not a race so doing this slow and steady is going to help you STICK to it and create a lifestyle for you. If you go from 0-100 it will be too hard and you will want to give up. This is why many diets fail. I usually go into a 250 calorie deficit at first to lose .5lb a week and then increase it every week or just stay at 250 because that is what works for me 😊

DO STUFF:

Use a calorie tracker to measure this! No guesses and using a food scale is also very helpful for accuracy. I have this scale and use fitness pal for my food tracking.

Drink lots of water

Reddit users claim a lot of their success came from drinking lots of water. Usually people underestimate the amount of water needed for hydration. If you are hydrated, YOU WILL be less likely to snack and less likely to go for junk. You will also feel fuller after and in between meals making you eat less.

Remember, calories in vs calories out. This helps you stick to your deficit and keep your organs hydrated and make your digestion run smoothly.

Check this out: 6 Fat Burning Drinks to Help You with Weight Loss

Stop drinking soda

sugary soda bad for you stop drinking soda tips

Reddit users claim they had no idea how much soda and sugary drinks they were actually drinking once they cut soda out of their diet. Sodas high in sugar add empty unnecessary calories to your day! These can add up quickly when you drink 3-4. You’re looking at about 500 calories right there.

To stop drinking these sodas, Reddit users replaced it with soda water, water, unsweet iced tea, and diet soda on occasion. One drink I love to have on occasion is a Zevia soda. This is made with stevia but still tastes great.

Once eliminating this from their diet, formerly obese people lost about 25 lbs in about 3 weeks!! That is insane but it makes sense. That’s 500 calories. Remember? 500 calories a day= 3500 calories and that’s 1 pound of fat!

This is perhaps the easiest on the list. It may take some time to stop but once you do, you will be SO HAPPY.

Intermittent fasting

intermittent fasting for weight loss

Many people claim that there are several benefits to fasting. While fasting alone will not make you lose weight, restricting the time frame for food may be helpful for many people. But, like with anything, everyone is different. You can try this for a week by doing an easy fast of spacing your food intake 12 hours.

DO STUFF:

Try this: stop eating food after dinner around 630 pm and then sleep. Don’t eat again until 630 am. Done! This can help you feel like you are in control of your food intake but also help you to not overeat and snack a lot. I like to typically end eating at 7ish but then sometimes don’t eat until 10 or whatever. I try to at least make it 12 hours in between.

Users claim to lose 20-40 pounds using this method because they are eating a lot less.

Remember, calories in vs calories out. This still matters when you are fasting.

Get exercise (start slow)

workout at home fitness plan

Lots of Reddit users claim that even just walking 20 minutes a day has helped them shed over 40 pounds within time. This will strengthen your heart, relieve your brain, strengthen your bones, and boost your mood. It also relieves stress (which also causes weight gain) and helps you sleep (which can cause weight gain if you don’t get enough).

This will help you to walk upstairs, play with your kids, walk your dog and make you happier to be able to do things out with other people.

Not only this, remember how I keep going back to CICO? Well, this accounts for calories out. Just a 40-minute slow walk outside can burn up to 150 calories which can take out half of the calories you had for lunch. This can make it easier to lose weight because you will be burning off more calories.

DO STUFF:

Starting slow by walking on a treadmill uphill for 30 minutes can increase your fitness levels and help you lose weight fast with a good diet.

I love doing an 1 hr-30 minutes incline walk on the treadmill while watching YouTube videos, a tv show or movie and it makes the time go fast!

Check this out: 6 Lazy Ways to Build a Booty

Don’t engage in fad dieting

weight loss diets keto atkins paleo vegan diets recipes ideas weight loss

Reddit users claim these can work for some but do not work for long term weight loss. Many users that have lost 20-100 pounds say that they have lost the weight slowly but felt better doing it. They also say that because doing it with CICO, they have a better relationship with food and can keep the pounds off!

Fad diets can be unsustainable for the long term. If we want to create a lifestyle, skipping out on the fad diets will help you in the long term KEEP OFF the weight you lose!

CICO and basic exercise will help you lose weight and keep weight off for the long time. Not only that, but you can still eat your favorite foods. Reddit users say that eating your fave foods is still possible, you just have to track them and eat them less often.

Eat when you’re hungry- stop when you’re full

weight loss tips how to say no to sugar

Wow, I saw this one a lot! This is a really good tip for those that can practice self-control and are mindful when eating. I used to not be able to tell when I am full so I would keep eating! Leading me to overeat and then feel awful afterward.

Reddit users say that eating slowly and taking your time with meals while undistracted is something that helped them feel fuller quicker. Not only that, but it takes 20 minutes before feeling full.

DO STUFF:

Make your meal, eat half of it slowly and mindfully. Pay attention to the smell, the looks, and the tastes. Take your time chewing the meal savoring every bit. Once you think you have eaten half of it, step away, put it in the fridge, and drink some water. Then evaluate if you are truly hungry anymore AFTER 15-20 MINS. I tried this and I noticed I wasn’t hungry after waiting a while. In fact, I ate half my lunch then worked out, came back and still wasn’t hungry! I had this lunch for dinner and I ended up really cutting my calories quite a bit!

Don’t buy snack foods or processed food

no junk foods no processed foods

Reddit users say they had identified what foods were their triggers and stopped buying them. This allowed them to lose tons of weight within time and they felt they had more control over food choices.

Not only this, but the packaged food was replaced with healthier WHOLE FOODS. This is important because eating whole foods provide LOADS of benefits to your body. If you skip out on processed foods, you will have more energy throughout the day, feel lighter, and will lose weight Like that! This tip also is helpful for those who do not have control over portioning out their snacks.

If you are like me and just love crunchy crackers or something similar and just grab a handful, these can add up to 300 calories! Make sure if you do eat snacks that you are eating only the serving size and tracking it in your fitness pal!

Check this out: Foods that Help You with Your Weight Loss Goals

Include more fruits and vegetables

smoothie bowl aesthetics yummy fresh foods

When adding more fruits and veggies to their diet, users say that they felt better and also did not crave as many processed foods as before and felt fuller faster in meals. Not only that but fruits and veggies are LOW in calories but have a better payoff. Meaning they are nutritionally dense and they are a volume food. You can eat a lot of these and feel fuller faster because of the water and fiber content in them.

Eating a lot of veggies in a meal will bulk them up and trick your brain, and you will feel fuller on fewer calories.

DO STUFF:

Add your protein, whole grains and fats AFTER you pick your veggies. Get a bowl and fill it with colorful veggies, then pick a 3oz portion of protein, a serving of whole grains (rice, oats, lentils etc), and then a small serving of fat( olive oil/vinegar, avocado, seeds, nuts). And then do the tip mentioned in #5 (above).

Stop eating/ buying white foods

white foods lose weight fast no carbs

Only one Reddit user mentioned this tip but it was too good not to use because of the success. This person lost 25 pounds eliminating white breads, flour, tortillas, baked goods, and white potatoes. A user commented on this and said they too that they lost about 7 lbs from doing this trick.

Don’t fantasize about eating how you used too before once you hit your goal.

This goes back to it being a new lifestyle shift and change. This is also why keto and fad diets are not sustainable or healthy. You are trying to change how you are eating now and get to a healthy body, mentally, and physically!

Why you would you continue to eat the foods that got you in bad shape in the first place?

Focus on creating healthy habits you can maintain in your lifestyle.

“Say goodbye to your old, bad habits-eating dessert or sweets every day, having a big order of fries with your burger, eating your salads in to much dressing, taking a bag of Doritos to the TV and plowing through it while you watch. You will miss these comforts and rituals for a while, but work on making new ones, and don’t think of your diet as just a temporary break” – Reddit user, zazzlekdazzle

Thinking this way will make the ‘diet’ miserable and means you may not be ready for change. You are in control of the change you make. If you aren’t ready, you probably need to reevaluate and think about the reasons why you want to lose weight. The reasons may vary but typically disease, kids, relationships and intrinsic value goals are better than extrinsic (wanting to fit in clothes etc). this depends on you!

Don’t obsess about food

Reddit user okay_wait_what says they stopped ‘dieting’ and stopped obsessing over the food she ate. When they did this, they stopped craving it. They also say that focusing on more fun activities in day to day like is better than just focusing on weight loss or obsessing over food. Its just food or ‘energy’ as I have learned in class.

We need to be neutralizing all foods and making the foods we eat matter for our energy expenditure or health needs. For example, eating walnuts are great for brain health, eating apples are great for digestion, oranges are great for the immune system, and bell peppers are good for eye health.

DO STUFF:

When you start thinking about food as energy and as something you need to sustain you instead of pleasure, you will be more grateful for healthier foods and you will stop obsessing.

Processed sugary foods try to make it addicting for people who eat them because they want you to keep coming back for more!

What are ultra-processed foods and are they bad for our health?

Start small

hiit workouts for abs and fat loss

Starting small is another thing that many people need to realize. Its also something I like to implement as well. Starting small can create long-lasting habits that you will grow to love.

For example, drinking water with meals is a small habit you can focus on.

When you have less to focus on, it will be easier for you to stick too and do! Something I did was focus on stop eating so many sugary foods. Sugar is my weakness and I kept buying it. So I decided to stop buying it and buy fruit instead.

I now crave fruit for my ‘sweet’ fix instead of something sugary. This has helped me maintain weight and not eat sweets every day.