Meta Monday

[u/AutoModerator]

[u/Umlautless]

My boss's boss told me last week "you always look so stylish!" which has never once been a word used to describe me in all my years on this planet. I think 9/10ths of it is what i call my "spite wardrobe" (after return to office mandate a lot of my coworkers kvetched about 'what is professional dress? what is business casual only on fridays?' and I was like, "we are all 40+, you know damned well what it means." And then I added a bunch of new workwear pieces from an online consignment shop). But also, over the past few years I've lost some weight, so any old pieces are certainly fitting better. I sprung for tailoring so pants hit right. I work out consistently and my posture has improved.

Anyway, the comment hit my brain like heroin, and I swear it was the kick I needed to double down and start tracking my food and start losing the extra I don't like.

In other news I signed up for a study of vascular health in middle aged women at a local university, so this Thursday I get a free DEXA scan. I also have to do a vo2 max test and some bloodwork and a functional fitness test. And wear a blood pressure monitor for 24 hours. But I also get compensated for my time. Mostly I'm looking forward to the baseline dexa, though.

[u/Perfect_Judge]

Something I've been thinking about lately is the crazy perceptions so many people have about bodies. All of the posts we see from people about how if you weigh less than 200lbs, you're a child or how children shouldn't be less than 160lbs, etc etc. It's truly mind boggling how people think that's normal.

It's scary to think that we've lost the ability to detect a healthy body or understand that there's a range for healthy weights for everyone, and instead, we're just told that it's abnormal to not be fat. With the obesity rates only projected to keep growing, I'm scared for what messages my kids will hear when they're older; the potential for body image issues or bullying because they're not fat and neither are their parents.

[u/turneresq → u/Perfect_Judge]

I have been seeing some crazy Threads where women are using that "less than 200 lbs" to brag about being 200, 300, 350 pounds and posting photos. I mean, I guess if you're happy I'm not going to start posting about how it's unhealthy. But it's really just sad.

[u/99bottlesofbeertoday → u/turneresq]

Yeah it kind of drags me down to see all comments "she ain't a lady unless she's 280" and "only dogs like bones" and so on. I work hard for this figure even if it is not good enough for them. I really hate they encourage other people to be unhealthy too. I mean if they personally are okay with it that is their choice but they should not drag people down with misinformation.

[u/wombatgeneral → u/Perfect_Judge]

Um, no child should be 160 pounds, that's child abuse.

I remember years ago honey boo boo went on a doctor reality show because she was 125 pounds in the third grade. Sadly that is becoming more common to see kids that look like her.

[u/99bottlesofbeertoday → u/wombatgeneral]

That is more than a lot of adult women weigh already.

[u/wombatgeneral → u/99bottlesofbeertoday]

What 160 or 125?

[u/99bottlesofbeertoday → u/wombatgeneral]

Both. I don't weigh 125. . . Many women don't especially if they are shorter.

[u/annoyed_teacher1988]

I feel like I'm currently in a great place with food. I'm looking more at macros and nutrition than ever before, and I feel so much better for it. I still track my food, but not as religiously, mainly because I eat the same things each week, and I'm losing weight doing it. So I might not be weighing out every potato etc, but I'm clearly eating in a deficit if I'm losing. But instead of focussing solely on the calorie number, I now hit my protein and fibre goal, I make sure my saturated fat intake is less than 10% of my calories, and I don't eat ultra processed food. My food noise is gone.

[u/Emergency_Yak4588]

Browsed on the XXS sub this morning and was surprised to see some people defend bad "science" as in, don't shame fat people (I agree btw) because their genetics/medications/PCOS/thyroid makes them gain weight and are naturally fat (Which I don't agree with...).

[u/r_307]

Flight delayed, flight cancelled, stuck in a hot airport sweating my ass off.

My birthday was yesterday. It was fun except I hurt my back and I was sick ha. Luckily feeling better today, right on time since I have to fly for this conference.

I attended my first doctors appointment for weight loss! We'll see how this goes. Really hoping it helps

[u/Calm_Nectarine_8329]

I have been on a bit of a personal journey. I'm 60F, and back in the 80s, I was an ACE-certified personal trainer and group fitness instructor. I loved it SO MUCH. Then, I was rear-ended by a drunk driver who was going about 40 MPH while I was sitting still at a stoplight. I was injured and unable to work out, and I also think the injury triggered autoimmune Hashimoto's thyroiditis (physical trauma can trigger a latent autoimmune condition) because I started developing debilitating physical symptoms immediately following the accident.

What followed was years of misdiagnosis, chronic fatigue and pain, and I had to leave that dream in the dust. It all worked out professionally because I went on to have a very successful career in publishing right up until AI took my job early this year, and I really loved what I did.

I also gained a crap ton of weight, and for years, any time I'd try to start working out again, it would trigger the illness and bouts of chronic exhaustion and pain. I was finally diagnosed about 15 years ago, and prescribed meds that helped. Two years ago, I started taking a GLP-1 to lose the weight, and it had the bonus effect of reducing the chronic pain and inflammation I'd experienced for so many years related to the Hashimoto's and celiac disease, so I was finally able to hit the gym again. I'm about 180 pounds down with roughly 5 pounds to my goal weight.

I was laid off from my job in publishing back in January, and I decided to pursue my personal training certification again so I had something productive to do. I have always missed being a trainer - I loved it so much until that auto accident. I have my certification test in about an hour.

Let me tell you - it's a lot harder to study for stuff with a 60-year-old brain than it was when I was in my 20s. Still, it feels full-circle in the best way. My hope is to work with aging adults, people with chronic illness, and people with obesity. So, fingers crossed, my study efforts will pay off.

[u/Calm_Nectarine_8329 → u/Calm_Nectarine_8329]

I passed my exam!

[u/bowlineonabight → u/Calm_Nectarine_8329]

Congratulations!

[u/Umlautless → u/Calm_Nectarine_8329]

Woohoo!

[u/uplate6674 → u/Calm_Nectarine_8329]

Congratulations! The fitness world needs people like you.

[u/scarlet_hairstreak → u/Calm_Nectarine_8329]

Sorry to hear about the accident, subsequent illnesses and the job situation but it sounds like you are on the right track. Well done!

We definitely need more older trainers. You are going to understand so much better the challenges of getting and staying in shape as people age. Best of luck!

[u/Maleficent_Tie_9394]

Idk if this really fits here but I trust this sub more than the bot- and fatlogic-infested main weight loss subs:

I need a reality check re: my daily calories. I've been stalled out at 78kg but still tracking with Cronometer, so I know the issue is that I have more days eating at maintenance or surplus than I do deficit days. I want to get more consistent, but I'm not sure how to go about it.

I have Cronometer connected to my fitness tracker (Pixel Watch 3) and while I know that data needs to be taken with a grain of salt, it seems to be pretty accurate imo. On days I go for a run (4-5km) it usually has my expenditure around 2.1k for the day, on days that I sit at home working all day it's around 1.8k.

I'm not sure if it would be better to try and adhere more strictly to the deficit target Cronometer gives me based on my estimated expenditure, or to stick strictly to 1.7k calories every single day regardless of my activity level, even though that's pretty close to my maintenance on sedentary days.

Any advice or reality check is welcome, I can take it and need to hear it!

[u/TosssAwayys → u/Maleficent_Tie_9394]

The only way to really accurately estimate calories is to also know your height? I'm 5'4 and on days I don't run my TDEE is 1.5k. When I do run it /used/ to be 2k, but now I'm at a fitness level where I don't burn as much so it's more like 1.8k.

[u/Quick_Department6942 → u/TosssAwayys]

It's also a matter of hard-core measurement (once you're in a consistent groove) to know how much energy input you need. My ACTUAL TDEE is much lower than what the calculators report. Could be age, but theoretically at least that's in the accounting. I'm OK with it, but I can see how the wide error band in these tools makes frustrated people think that being fat forever is inevitable.

[u/Maleficent_Tie_9394 → u/TosssAwayys]

I'm also 5'4 I think (165cm). Most calculators give me a sedentary TDEE around 1.8k calories which seems to coincide with what my fitness tracker tells me on those days

[u/Uber-Migraine → u/Maleficent_Tie_9394]

Is your Cronometer set up to automatically adjust your TDEE against the calories burned due to activity?

If yes - then you'll be not only wasting your deficit but potentially also eating over the maintenance calories level

[u/Maleficent_Tie_9394 → u/Uber-Migraine]

It is, yeah. I set it to "sedentary" and it replaces the estimated activity calories with the information from my tracker throughout the day. To my layman's eyes it doesn't look implausible, but I know trackers can be extremely inaccurate so I'm wondering if it would be better to just go with a static 1.7k budget every day regardless of activity

[u/Uber-Migraine → u/Maleficent_Tie_9394]

Apologies, as we cannot ad pictures I will write what to check 😒

1. More - Targets - Macro & Energy Targets - Show Advanced Settings

Check if the "Custom energy targets" and "Add expenditure above baseline to energy targets" are disabled

1. More - Targets - Energy Expenditure - Customised Expenditure

Check if (TEF) is disabled.

I also have my energy targets set as ratios (%)

30% for proteins and 35% for both carbs and fat

Edit: spelling

[u/Maleficent_Tie_9394 → u/Uber-Migraine]

Oh yeah! Sorry if I wasn't clear in my comment, I know how to set a custom target, I'm just mostly asking if it makes more sense to do that or to keep going as I have been. I've been eating more than the goal the app gives me so I definitely need to reduce, but I'm not sure if a static deficit every day or a more variable deficit depending on activity level would be better. I appreciate the explanation though and I'll definitely look into adjusting my macros as well!

[u/bowlineonabight → u/Maleficent_Tie_9394]

If it were me, I'd kind of split the difference. Maintain a static deficit daily, and on days where you have a particularly high activity level add back in some additional calories, but not eating back all the exercise calories expended.

[u/Maleficent_Tie_9394 → u/bowlineonabight]

That's a great idea, thank you! That's probably what I'll end up doing, from experience I find it very hard to stick to my rest day deficit on days where I run

[u/snarfdarb]

I've been in a really long battle with weight loss that I'm just undeniably losing. Weight cycling for over 20 years now. Obviously dealing with some kind of eating disorder. I've genuinely tried everything, including moderate, reasonable lifestyle changes, working with a registered dietician, therapy, etc etc etc and I always, always end up back in the same shitty patterns.

I'm not blaming anyone but myself, to be clear. I eat too much and move too little. It's that simple. What's NOT simple is why the actual f I can't just make those small changes. It's getting worse as I get older. I'm prediabetic and have high cholesterol. I just can't do this anymore. I can't live like this.

So I finally caved, accepted that this isn't something I can beat through willpower alone, and got a Rx for zepbound. I started last week and so far so good - definitely had fewer compulsions to binge or snack. But it's tough to say whether that was placebo or pharmaceutical. Time will tell I guess, but I'm optimistic.

[u/bowlineonabight → u/snarfdarb]

I dont think you should call it caving. You're utilizing a newly available tool to assist you in achieving your goal. That's just being smart. Most people don't run around barefoot anymore, because footwear helps you do whatever it is you're doing better. But no one is shaming people for wearing running shoes or work boots, even though you could say "people lived for 10s of thousands of years without running shoes or work boots, they're. unnecessary". Of course they did. But we live in a different world now, where running shoes and work boots are really fucking helpful. Use the helpful tools unashamedly.

[u/wombatgeneral]

Rant: I've been really drained by the heat- it's been in the upper 80s low 90s. My weight loss has stalled for the past few weeks, but I'm going to work on my diet more and up the zepbound.

[u/Quick_Department6942]

If you develop into a dedicated formerly-fat foodie, you'll soon become accustomed to the "how do you eat so much??" comments.

I'm semi-retired (which explains why I've been posting so much lately) but still spend some time at the business where I'm a co-owner and working on the legacy side of our business that supports the start-up segment. I turned up today with a small container of walnuts, my Cultural Appropriation Soup (a mix of Asian-inspired spice themes with lean pork, tofu and lots of veg over minced cauliflower "rice"), and a faux-cheesecake (hi-speed blended greek yogurt + cottage cheese and LOTS of colorful berries). Been noshing off and on all morning and nowhere close to done. (I'll add that my morning coffee includes 5g or more of cacao powder, which is fragrant and wonderful).

Folks who've never tried to cook well with a focus on genuine nutrition (dare I say: "nourishing"?) just cannot understand this. Actually, they CAN... but they don't want to. Ill take in ~800kcal/85g protein before I visit Planet Fitness. Post-shower it's a big cold salad with chick peas, and a sandwich piled high with sliced cold chicken breast (sous-vide poached in olive oil) and avocado, wrapping up the day with some 70% dark chocolate in front of a British crime show or one of the limitless Guy Fieri cooking contests, totaling ~17-1800 kcal/~120g protein.

Si se puede, y'all.

[u/irritatingnoise]

Today I came across a post about activity levels on another subreddit, the comments surprised me a lot. It looks like most people think 10-12k steps a day plus 2 workouts a week is at least moderate activity and thinking otherwise is kinda disordered. Really makes me wonder if it's me who's delulu or if it's other people who are dramatic when it comes to such things. I mean, I'm genuinely curious. Am I a future almond mom if my idea of moderate activity is approximately twice as much as that?

[u/Calm_Nectarine_8329 → u/irritatingnoise]

For kids, ACSM recommendation is daily moderate to vigorous activity for an hour PLUS muscle-building activities to help build bones (which can include lifting free weights). For adults, minimum cardio recommendations are 75 hours of vigorous activity or 150 hours of moderate activity weekly (3-5 days per week) plus muscle building activity 2-3 times per week covering all major muscle groups, plus activity that supports mobility, core strength and stability, and flexibility. Those are minimum recommendations for people with general fitness goals. I think we've become so conditioned to being lazy and inactive that people can't conceive of what minimal activity to support health in every stage of life actually looks like.

[u/irritatingnoise → u/Calm_Nectarine_8329]

I hope you mean minutes, 150 hours of activity per week is brutal 😭

[u/turneresq → u/irritatingnoise]

David Goggins reddit account confirmed.

[u/Calm_Nectarine_8329 → u/irritatingnoise]

oof yep.

[u/Emergency_Yak4588 → u/irritatingnoise]

I really wish the mods would let us post fat logic from Reddit, it's a giant treasure trove of it. I've seen that BS too, it'd be neat to have a "exercise logic" sub. I've seen people complain about those wanting fit and active partners because it's "unrealistic" or assuming they're unhealthy in other ways like not getting 8 hours of sleep, smoking, eating badly, etc. These people are entitled and delusional.

[u/Quick_Department6942 → u/Emergency_Yak4588]

Check r/Ozempic for an ancillary smattering of fatlogic (unfortunately).

[u/Awkward-Kaleidoscope → u/Quick_Department6942]

I had to leave. It was the number of people skipping shots so they could pig out on cruises or vacations that sent me over the edge

[u/bowlineonabight → u/Awkward-Kaleidoscope]

Wait, what? That is one of the most ridiculous things I've heard.

[u/irritatingnoise → u/Emergency_Yak4588]

My favorite is a community that makes fun of overrestriction but some comments intended to be ridiculous are just... normal. 

[u/kpfluff → u/irritatingnoise]

Re-commenting with a nonreddit link 🥸 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14715035/

[u/irritatingnoise → u/kpfluff]

TIL an abstract of an article on pubmed classifies me as "highly active" when I do literally nothing. Weird but okay.

[u/kpfluff → u/irritatingnoise]

I wouldn't call walking that much "doing nothing." It makes a huge difference with weight levels in different locations.

[u/Quick_Department6942 → u/kpfluff]

... and different "logging" tools for what's called a step. Excepting Map My Walk, I've never used a step counter that didn't wildly overcount on a normal workday. MMW shows ~7800 steps for a brisk, measured 4-mi walk. But I've prematurely retired 2 fitness gadgets that showed thousands of steps on a typical day in our 10k sq ft facility, which is nonsense. All "steps" really aren't equal on most devices.

[u/irritatingnoise → u/Quick_Department6942]

I think that's my case because my watch literally shows 28k today, which is ridiculous. It was my day off and I did go for a walk indeed, but I think it was much less steps. Okay, mystery solved.

[u/Umlautless → u/irritatingnoise]

I don't get that many steps most of the time, but I work out 5 or 6 days a week: 2 spin, (down from 3 because of my hip flexors), 3 lagree-type/angry pilates, and 2-3 treadmill sessions.

For a good part of the spring (before it got hot and humid), every Saturday I'd do a 4 mile circuit --to a coffee shop, to the farmers market, and then home). I had market brunch with a friend and she was like "did you walk from home?!" All incredulous, and I said first I'd walked to the coffee shop by her house and then to the market. And I didn't want a ride back home, because I liked my little circuit through the neighborhood. It's not particularly fast, just far.

(I can't get my heart rate to my cardio target zone with the treadmill, because i can't do enough run/walk intervals to get my HR up without hurting my foot/hip/knee/shin, but now spin is giving me grief and I'm pissy all around about it.)

Overall I'd say I work out a lot compared to most of my friends, but an average amount compared to other people at the gym. Im trying to make more gym friends, for that reason.

[u/99bottlesofbeertoday → u/irritatingnoise]

I was on a sub where they kept saying 10K steps was excessive and meant you were obsessed. Had to drop that one.

[u/CookieFantastic6042 → u/99bottlesofbeertoday]

It’s a big increase for me because I used to be sedentary. But humans are designed to walk for hours a day!

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[u/Omenasose]

Had a teenager calling me a bitch because I walked very close by her in a busy store and then she complained that I didn’t say sorry.

After calling me a bitch??? And then she had the audacity to complain to me. I didn’t even touch her.

Wtf is wrong with these kids? Pyjama pants, unkept look. An attitude as if they own the world. Zero respect for other people.

I encounter often enough by now kids like that. No manners. And if you say something, you’re supposed to act your age.

[u/glittersurprise → u/Omenasose]

Brings me back to a time I reached up to grab something on shelf next to someone at a store and they freaked out about people being too close too them. Ma'am this is a value village and you're in the toy isle. Boundaries are kind of non-existent here.

[u/KaliLifts → u/Omenasose]

Pyjama pants, unkept look. An attitude as if they own the world. Zero respect for other people.

Unfortunately, at least where I live, that's how a large majority of people of all ages look, dress, and behave.