Damn. Awesome to read about everyone's progress. After injuries caused me to give up running last fall, I jumped from 158 to 182 lbs. About 3 months ago, I got frustrated of being fatter and started cycling more. After seeing no results on the scale after a few weeks, I realized, like many on this thread, that I had to change my diet. I ate fairly well, but certainly didn't pass up candy or carbs or my kids' fries when offered. So I gave up all added sugars but didn't change much else, which helped with the first 6-8 pounds. Then I resumed eating gluten free and started cycling a bit more, which helped with a few more pounds and then hit a plateau 2-3 weeks ago around 171 lbs.
So I downloaded one of those fitness apps that had recommended numbers of carbs, protein, etc. to see whether my diet was causing any issues. And sure enough, the diet that I thought was pretty good contained a shit-ton of sodium and too little protein and other minerals, most days i was eating over 2000 mg more than the recommended amount (which the app says is ~2300 mg/day for me). Anyhow, I've now learned which foods have less sodium and, sure enough, have dropped 3 more lbs and feel so much better.
So I downloaded one of those fitness apps that had recommended numbers of carbs, protein, etc. to see whether my diet was causing any issues. And sure enough, the diet that I thought was pretty good contained a shit-ton of sodium and too little protein and other minerals, most days i was eating over 2000 mg more than the recommended amount (which the app says is ~2300 mg/day for me). Anyhow, I've now learned which foods have less sodium and, sure enough, have dropped 3 more lbs and feel so much better.