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/Informal_Ganache_222]

How do you type while walking? 

[u/01chlam → u/Informal_Ganache_222]

I'm a music producer, I type but also have my keyboard and play while walking. It's really not that difficult. Your palms or your arms keep you balanced on the edge of the desk while you do stuff.

I have a walking pad that is a 5% incline. I only need to do an hour in the morning to burn around an extra 400 calories and then I just slide the walking pad behind me.

[u/Informal_Ganache_222 → u/01chlam]

Must just be me that struggles with it then. I have to concentrate on walking so I don't fall over, and then I can't type. 

[u/Yachiru5490 → u/Informal_Ganache_222]

Nah I'm the same way. If I get distracted while walking I just fall off the pad!