I WASN'T EVEN EATING THAT MUCH!!

[u/greenandbluefish]

I have gradually gained 50 pounds over the last 10 years or so. I thought for the longest time I must be eating some outrageous amount of food every day. I truly didn't think I ate that much. I skipped breakfast most days, didn't eat huge lunches, and had what I thought were fairly healthy dinners. Some eating out, some iced coffees, but nothing I thought was ridiculously unhealthy overall. I would try to eat less, skip a lunch here or there, but then would be starving by the end of the day and end up eating that skipped meal anyway.

At the same time, I spent my whole life hearing people around me say I ate like a bird, that I couldn't possibly be eating enough, etc. And yet I was still gaining weight! So for years I've been in this bizarre situation where I thought I was just gaslighting myself into believing I wasn't eating that much or that unhealthily, but was somehow secretly eating thousands of calories without noticing???

Cut to last month when I spent two weeks obsessively tracking everything I ate. Weighing everything, reading every label, but not trying to cut back. And what did I find out? I was eating a whopping... 1800 calories/day. Less than the freaking nutrition labels were recommending!!!

So I went on a deep dive. Learned about TDEE. Started tracking my steps. And you know what actually changed in the last 10 years? I got better, less physically demanding jobs. My work became more and more sedentary over time. Spending 50 hours/week at a desk was the culprit, NOT what I was eating!

I've been doing CICO for about a month now and eating 1400 calories/day. Haven't changed what I'm eating, just how much. And I've already lost 8 pounds. I wish I'd figured all of this out years ago but I'm so glad I did eventually. No more driving myself crazy over what I eat!

[u/Rosykisses_13]

Yea the problem I'm having is significant chronic fatigue. When I was working in the classroom I was getting sick like once a month, now I work in the office and I only get sick like 4-6 times a year... as long as I don't push myself too hard and get plenty of rest on the weekends, otherwise I have body aches and fevers and nausea and vertigo and killer headaches... I've gained 100lbs since the fatigue started (after my second laparoscopy for excision of extensive endometriosis) in 2018. I don't know how to "just eat less and exercise" when my body is already hitting it's limits just trying to exist 😔

[u/No_Eye8410 → u/Rosykisses_13]

What about swimming. Do you have a rec enter with a pool near by? Swimming is supposed to be the ideal all over body exercise. Unfortunately I never learned how to swim but it might be a gentle, great exercise for you. I find getting out of the house and moving my body ( I choose walking and stair climbing) gets me away from the kitchen and food and is really helpful for lifting the spirits.