"90% of people gain it back within X years" Well, I didn't and you don't have to either.

Just sharing my experience ahead of the new year's resolutions posts:

The thing you usually hear is 5 years but it's been over 4 for me so close enough lol. In 2017 I made a conscious effort to lose weight and get healthy. I'm 184 cm (and female, stay out of my DMs please) and went from ~240lbs/32 BMI (238 highest recorded, though I'm sure I was in the 240s) to 170lbs/23.3 BMI within six months. I took a break for awhile and maintained ~170 for a while without too much effort. I did gain probably 15-20lbs during 2020 (didn't weigh myself), but easily lost it plus more in 2021 by being conscious of portions and getting more exercise. I've now been around 160 lbs/21.4 BMI (lowest 156, highest 165) for six months or so.

Things that helped:

• The happy scale app (don't weigh myself regularly anymore, but when I did it was great)
• Not cutting out entire types of foods - I still eat fast food and junk, just not for every meal
• WELLBUTRIN. Started taking it for depression this year and it's been a total godsend, plus it's wiped my appetite so maintaining my current weight is acutally sort of difficult because I never crave anything
• Finding low-calorie/more nutritious substitutes like chickpea pasta (still eat regular pasta and stuff too, I just like the other options as well)
• MyFitnessPal during the initial six months. I don't use it anymore because I can pretty well eyeball most things and keep loose track automatically in my head now
• No such thing as cheat days. I incorporated all the foods I like into my regular diet, just in smaller amounts, and days like Thanksgiving or Christmas are only a couple times a year so who cares what you eat on those days. I just found that doing a free for all on weekends quickly undid all weekly progress.
• Finding the eating schedule that worked for me - I prefer just coffee in the morning, snack during the day, and eat a heavier meal in the evening. If I tried the "don't eat after 7pm" thing I would be miserable, and eating a full breakfast either makes me feel bloated and sluggish or actually get hungrier during the day.
  
• Reasonable exercise goals - I wanted to do an easy 10 min mile (can do 7 now if I push it), proper push ups, unassisted pull ups
• Doing exercise I like - fuck yoga forever but I'll bike for hours
• Finding excuses to be active - in a new city for a weekend? Morning run or long walk to explore a bit and find my way around
• Vegetables are so good if you prepare them right! I prefer roasted cruciferous veggies to any other kind. I go through a shit ton of broccoli a week and I don't have to force myself to eat it. I hate peas and will never eat them, ever. To each their own.
• All that matters is calories in/calories out. Keto/low fat/grain free/dairy free/vegan/whatever can all be methods for doing so, but weight loss is about energy expenditure. Anyone who says otherwise is either lying, delusional, or selling something. Do what works for you, as long as you're in a defecit. You can be as keto as you want, but if you're packing away 4200 calories of bacon and cheese, y'ain't gonna lose anything. If going vegan helps you stay in a defecit, go nuts.
• Being hungry is FINE. You're not gonna die if you skip the break room muffins at 2:30. I find I enjoy my food more if I'm hungry for it.
• Listening to my cravings! Not to indulge mindlessly, but to figure out why I'm craving something. Do I want sugar and carbs as an emotional response to stress? There was a few months where all I craved was nuts (especially cashews) and cheese, and looking back it was probably because I was lacking fats in my diet.

Things that didn't help:

• Progress pics - I never took a single progress pic and don't regret it at all. Just not for me.
• Workout buddies - I hate working out with others and prefer to be accountable to myself, rather than giving myself the excuse of "oh they can't make it so I might as well not today"
• Making it public - some people find being accountable to others to be helpful, I just don't and kept it 100% to myself (even though it was visually obvious) unless people asked. Even then I just said "I'm eating better/exercising more" and left it at that.
  
• Buying into the "healthy food is expensive" thing. Eating healthier is WAY CHEAPER. People who complain about "healthy" food being expensive have never actually made an effort to shop for healthy food. Bananas are like 25 cents each, peanut butter is maybe $5 a jar, and whole wheat bread is maybe $4. Lunches for a week. If you're buying processed frozen cauliflower tots and halo top, then yeah it's going to be more expensive. Just be smart about it.
• Being gentle/kind to myself. I gained a bit in 2020 and sometimes eat too much junk. Every now and then is fine and it's all a work in progress. I lost 80lbs, I have the skills and experience to lose 5lbs here and there if I need to.

Benefits:

• WAY more energy. I don't get tired or winded or sore by doing normal things EVER.
• I am STRONG and legit have abs now lmfao (four clear upper abs, the lower ones are hidden by loose skin but it's good enough)
• I am more comfortable in my own skin and confident when meeting people
• Thin people are treated better in society. Shitty, but true.
• Shopping in any store I want and clothes actually look good
• Not as worried about my health
• Can fit comfortably in any seat
• I save tons of money by not eating junk and fast food so often
• I savour and enjoy the junky food I do eat now because it's not the norm
  
• I'm not critical about photos of myself
• After adjusting to maintaining more intuitively, I hardly ever think too much about food anymore. I just eat what I want and don't obsess about it because I've conditioned myself to eat right.
• My stomach adjusted to the food I eat and I physically cannot put away nearly as much in one sitting as I used to, which makes maintenance easier
• I don't know if this is actually true, but I swear I can focus better and perform better at work and with my household tasks now
  

Drawbacks:

• I do have some loose skin and my stomach will never be totally flat because of it (I can fully grab and stretch the skin around my midsection lol) but it honestly doesn't bother me too much. Would rather have loose skin than excess fat.
• I also have tons of stretchmarks on my stomach and hips as I gained most of it really rapidly, but it really doesn't bother me too much
• Being bonier makes it more uncomfortable to sit on hard surfaces and I had to adjust the way I sleep on my side because my knees kept knocking together
• Colder always, but I almost never overheat anymore
• I'm mad that I lost the first half of my twenties to obesity, I can never get that time back
• It's true that losing weight doesn't "fix" the problems in your life, but goddamn it makes almost everything wayyyyy easier
• Being patient is the worst part

I'm sure there are way more things in each category I'm forgetting but these are the big ones!

Overall: If some random ass obese, depressed, 23 year athletic burnout can lose 80lbs and keep it off, anyone else can too. Be patient and purposeful!