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[ant_]

My progress.

March 11, 2011 - July 24 2011

My diet was low-calorie. Not low-fat, low-carb, or low-protein. I just limited my caloric intake. Worked out a lot, started running, and lifting weights. Now that I'm getting closer to my goal weight I track my calories/dietary intake pretty accurately.

I drink diet soda all the time. It's my lifesaver. Also love sugar-free red bulls.

"Diets" don't have to take away everything good from your food.

Before (March 11, 2011)

http://i.imgur.com/fOMHRl.jpg

Current (July 24, 2011)

http://i.imgur.com/WGTSol.jpg

(I didn't embed the images because it's me in my underwear, for those @ work)

 

[Bomber Bob]

congratz man!

 

[Ninja Beagle]

Damn, K2Valor. Congrats.

 

[JB1981]

holy shit k2valor lost a ton of weight. Now you are read to get big as hell. do it!

 

[Escape Goat]

nice progress, K2

 

[ant_]

Thanks everyone for the comments/congrats. Back in March I never dreamed this day would come.

holy shit k2valor lost a ton of weight. Now you are read to get big as hell. do it!

Yep, thats my next goal. I'm going to lose a little more weight and then start doing a clean bulk, trying to gain as little fat as possible

 

[ep85]

"Diets" don't have to take away everything good from your food.

Co-signed to the fullest. Congrats on the progress, man.

 

[Ninja Beagle]

I've been running about 6 miles a week for the last few weeks. Just now am extending my limit to 1.5 miles per run. I hope I have similar results without having to lift weights, too lazy for that shit at the moment.

 

[Sethos]

So over the last two months I've been trying to lose weight by cutting down on portion sizes and do a very half-arsed low-carb diet by just cutting away carb rich foods ( White bread, pasta, raisins etc. ) completely but still splurge on other products on some days. Also did daily / bi-daily exercise on an exercise bike after dinner, that's pretty much it - Still sit down all day on the job and at home so I barely ever move. That has netted me a loss of 12.5 pounds and now I've kinda hit a wall, it seems like it hasn't moved for some time but I still gain a lot of muscle and my leg muscles are getting really defined and bulgy from all that biking on high tension.

So now I'm ready to move into the next stage, by being aggressive with the carbs, the golden 100g a day and still maintaining the daily exercise - Planning on investing in a real bike when I go to work and some weekend recreation.

It's going to be hard with the 100g considering Danes go-to food is basically rye bread which is usually loaded with carbs, something like 40-50g per 100g, so it's going to be hard to find a lunch substitute ...

Oh and K2Valor, very nice work

 

[harSon]

This low-carb diet isn't working all that well at the moment, I've lost maybe a few pounds in the last three weeks, which is comparable, if not significantly worse to what I was losing on my low caloric/low fat diet directly before this.

I'm going to try cutting a few things from my diet, mainly diet coke and splenda, to see if they're inhibiting weight loss for some reason. Otherwise, I have no clue why my low-carb diet wouldn't be working. I've been restricting myself to around 20 carbs for the last week. I'm 6' 1 1/2" and in my mid to high 220s, so I definitely have plenty of weight to lose.

My days typically consist of:

Breakfast: 2 Eggs, 2 Bacon and 3 Sausage. Sometimes I work Chorizo into the eggs which have 0 Net Carbs (1 Carb, 1 Fiber)

but recently I've had the low-carb Pancakes that Gary Whitta has posted (https://plus.google.com/112157588278319557323/posts/ESBQJ6U8cgy?hl=en), and I even used the same syrup, except that I'm not much of a fan of syrup so I use maybe 2-3 TBS at the most.

Lunch: 2 Hamburger Patties w/ a slice of Colby Cheese or 2 Sweet Chicken Italian Sausage from Trader Joes (1 carb each) and a Salad with Spring Mix Lettuce, 4-5 grape tomatoes, Bacon Bits, Parmesan Cheese and Tuscan Italian Dressing from Trader Joes (2 carbs per serving)

Dinner: Dinner is anything from Baked Chicken, Hamburgers on the Grill, Grilled Steak, Pork Chops or Salmon, and some type of vegetable, which is usually Zuchinni or Broccoli.

Snacks: I ate Pork skins within the first week of my diet but haven't since, same goes for Almonds. I have been eating one of those One-Minute Muffins on a daily basis for the last week (Two packets of Splenda and a tsp of cinnamon per muffin) because I really need the fiber. I also have a can of tuna in between meals occasionally, adding nothing but mayonnaise or Eggs if I'm not feeling lazy. I also might grab a few slices of Salami if I'm feeling hungry.

I also chew some Orbit come whenever I have a craving for something sweet, it has 1 Carb and 1 Sugar Alcohol. I have a few a day at the most.

Drinks: A LOT of Water, but I do drink a considerable amount of Diet Coke and Crystal Light Lemonade as well.

This has literally been my diet for the last three weeks, and outside of the Diet Coke, Crystal Light and Orbit gum, I've no clue why it isn't working all that well. I'm going to remove these from my diet and see how things go within the next two weeks or so, and if they're similar, I might switch back to my old diet unless anyone has some suggestions :/

 

[Sethos]

You don't exercise whatsoever?

 

[harSon]

You don't exercise whatsoever?

I did exercise fairly regularly (jogging, basketball and baseball with friends, walking to any place I needed to go that was within a reasonable distance, etc) until about a 8-9 days ago. But due to the low-carb diet, my stool got harder to get out and I developed Hemorrhoids because of it, which brought all that to a complete stop. And my low-caloric/low-fat diet before this didn't require any excercise for me to shed at the very least, 2 pounds a week :/ I'm not getting anything near that at the moment.

 

[AceBandage]

I've been running about 6 miles a week for the last few weeks. Just now am extending my limit to 1.5 miles per run. I hope I have similar results without having to lift weights, too lazy for that shit at the moment.

You'll lose weight, but you won't gain definition or muscle in your upper body/core.

Also, just made a roast beef spinach wrap. Spinich, roast beef, flax seed, chipotle mayo (home made), alfalfa sprouts on a low carb tortilla.
7 total net carbs and FUCKING DELICIOUS.

 

[Sethos]

I did exercise fairly regularly (jogging, basketball and baseball with friends, walking to any place I needed to go that was within a reasonable distance, etc) until about a 8-9 days ago. But due to the low-carb diet, my stool got harder to get out and I developed Hemorrhoids because of it, which brought all that to a complete stop. And my low-caloric/low-fat diet before this didn't require any excercise for me to shed at the very least, 2 pounds a week :/ I'm not getting anything near that at the moment.

Hmm, that is puzzling - Sounds a bit like the wall where I'm at now, eating all the 'right stuff', keeping at a nice, low carb intake and the weight is really not shifting very much and the stool thing is exactly the same. Not exactly getting hemorrhoids but there's days between visiting the bathroom and I do feel constipated most days, it's really starting to annoy the hell out of me. I am contemplating going back to my old low calorie diet and just enjoy all the foods I like because that seemed to work so much better honestly. There's tons of carbs in a lot of food items that I love and are considered really healthy - Some times I doubt a low-carb diet is for everyone.

 

[AceBandage]

Everyone's body is different and needs different things. Low carb probably is best for the biggest amount of people, but there are lots of ways to lose weight than just low carb.

 

[harSon]

Hmm, that is puzzling - Sounds a bit like the wall where I'm at now, eating all the 'right stuff', keeping at a nice, low carb intake and the weight is really not shifting very much and the stool thing is exactly the same. Not exactly getting hemorrhoids but there's days between visiting the bathroom and I do feel constipated most days, it's really starting to annoy the hell out of me. I am contemplating going back to my old low calorie diet and just enjoy all the foods I like because that seemed to work so much better honestly. There's tons of carbs in a lot of food items that I love and are considered really healthy - Some times I doubt a low-carb diet is for everyone.

Yeah, the hemorrhoids thing sucks. I used to struggle within chronic constipation on a regular basis a few years back, and I never developed hemorrhoids. But 1-2 weeks of hard stools here and they pop up

 

[DCharlie]

Hmm - i forgot to take any pictures before so somewhat pointless.

around 70 days back , i decided on a fair few life changes :

Alcohol - stopped, ceased, finished
+
Paleo

I've always exercised - i walk everywhere. If i'm meeting in , say, Akihabara for instance, i'll walk the 16km there and the 16km back, walk to work each day (13km) and play futsal 2 times a week pretty much and go for the odd 10km run.

However, without the diet and with boozing my weight was going the wrong side of up. So i'd managed to get to around 75kg (for someone who is 5ft 6)

70 days in i'm back at 67kg - now i'm not particularly advocating that i want to be weight X rather i want to feel good and get a bit more toned. So far so good though.

 

[AceBandage]

Hmm - i forgot to take any pictures before so somewhat pointless.

around 70 days back , i decided on a fair few life changes :

Alcohol - stopped, ceased, finished
+
Paleo

I've always exercised - i walk everywhere. If i'm meeting in , say, Akihabara for instance, i'll walk the 16km there and the 16km back, walk to work each day (13km) and play futsal 2 times a week pretty much and go for the odd 10km run.

However, without the diet and with boozing my weight was going the wrong side of up. So i'd managed to get to around 75kg (for someone who is 5ft 6)

70 days in i'm back at 67kg - now i'm not particularly advocating that i want to be weight X rather i want to feel good and get a bit more toned. So far so good though.

Good job! Yes, it's not always just about losing weight, it's about getting healthy.
And yeah, cutting alcohol was a good choice. It's pure energy.

 

[sasimirobot]

lets not just say alcohol = bad

from what I have read in this thread there might be some people in Asia where this is just a given. drink. job.

drinking beers and bonding with co-workers might be better than a super size sprite/coke drive thru.

the no rice, no noodle diet is very hard here, but it really works. stick with it. drink more and eat less

 

[Ninja Beagle]

lets not just say alcohol = bad

Alcohol has to be the main culprit to my slightly visible man tits.

 

[Ettie]

Well, figured I would drop in on my one year anniversary. When I started this journey I was extremely overweight with a 7cm disc herniation at the center of my L5. I was sore everyday, unhappy and I fell into depression. I started to get heart palpitations with numbness in my hands and feet. After an eye opening visit to the doctor I decided to take my life back.

I started off simple going to the park to jog and changing my diet, but I pushed myself too hard and got a stress fracture in my left foot. I wasn't going to give up, the next day I got a gym membership and used an elliptical until my foot recovered. I started going to the gym six days a week, highly motivated and angry.

Eventually my new lifestyle became a routine and the anger was replaced by happiness as I started to repair other things in my life as well.


One year ago: 295 pounds
This morning: 202 pounds

Way to go dude. Don't let up until you're completely happy.

 

[Farooq]

I have a question about low carb diets.

I eat about 400-500g of vegetable greens a day. Romaine lettuce, cucumber, celery etc... I don't eat bread, or any sugary foods. How does this factor into a low carb diet?

Can it still be a low carb diet if I eat that many greens a day?

 

[EviLore]

Yeah, the hemorrhoids thing sucks. I used to struggle within chronic constipation on a regular basis a few years back, and I never developed hemorrhoids. But 1-2 weeks of hard stools here and they pop up

You need to be mindful of your fiber intake when on ultra low carb. I missed fiber for a day once and almost had to go to the emergency room. I recommend taking a fiber supplement to be sure.

 

[NomarTyme]

I have a question about low carb diets.

I eat about 400-500g of vegetable greens a day. Roman lettuce, cucumber, celery etc... I don't eat bread, or any sugary foods. How does this factor into a low carb diet?

Can it still be a low carb diet if I eat that many greens a day?

Yeah its just greens.

 

[AceBandage]

Greens, for the most part, are just fiber and water. They don't boost your insulin.

 

[Speedymanic]

Would dried fruit, namely prunes and or apricots, impact a low carb/low calorie diet?

 

[elrechazado]

Would dried fruit, namely prunes and or apricots, impact a low carb/low calorie diet?

Yes, those will have a lot of sugar. Not saying don't eat them, but they do go against the spirit of low carb. Obviously they are better than eating chips, or candy, or other crappy food.

 

[Admiral Bone to Pick]

When you're trying to lose weight, I think it's best to just stick with "berry" fruits (mainly blueberries and raspberries). When you've reached a good weight, you can introduce more of the fruit you like into your diet. Because let's be honest: No one ever got to 250+ pounds eating too many dried prunes.

 

[Speedymanic]

Yes, those will have a lot of sugar. Not saying don't eat them, but they do go against the spirit of low carb. Obviously they are better than eating chips, or candy, or other crappy food.

Thanks. I tend to go through a bag of dried apricots and prunes every week. Guess I'll stop buying them until I've dropped a few pounds.

And I just wanted to say thanks to everyone for all the advice. I hardly ever post in here, but everyone's advice/knowledge has helped me considerably over the past few months.

 

[elrechazado]

Thanks. I tend to go through a bag of dried apricots and prunes every week. Guess I'll stop buying them until I've dropped a few pounds.

And I just wanted to say thanks to everyone for all the advice. I hardly ever post in here, but everyone's advice/knowledge has helped me considerably over the past few months.

Substitute some dried blueberries. I've found bags of those before, they're good. Just make sure with any store bought dried fruits that they don't have added sugar. Or better yet, fresh ones

 

[AceBandage]

Dried Dates are awesome. I can never get enough of those.

 

[ipukespiders]

Constipated on low carb? Eat more fat. Nevermind taking fiber supplements.
Fry up half a pound of ground beef (don't drain the fat), add a generous amount of cheddar and mozzarella cheese. Top with a few tablespoons of hot salsa (make sure no sugar added). Then have a flax muffin and drink a quarter cup of whipping cream.
You'll be going to the bathroom in no time.

 

[harSon]

You need to be mindful of your fiber intake when on ultra low carb. I missed fiber for a day once and almost had to go to the emergency room. I recommend taking a fiber supplement to be sure.

I've been eating a flax seed muffin a day, which has about 20 grams of fiber in itself. The rest I get from the various foods, vegetables and fruit I eat through out the day.

 

[Domino Theory]

This low-carb diet isn't working all that well at the moment, I've lost maybe a few pounds in the last three weeks, which is comparable, if not significantly worse to what I was losing on my low caloric/low fat diet directly before this.

I'm going to try cutting a few things from my diet, mainly diet coke and splenda, to see if they're inhibiting weight loss for some reason. Otherwise, I have no clue why my low-carb diet wouldn't be working. I've been restricting myself to around 20 carbs for the last week. I'm 6' 1 1/2" and in my mid to high 220s, so I definitely have plenty of weight to lose.

My days typically consist of:

Breakfast: 2 Eggs, 2 Bacon and 3 Sausage. Sometimes I work Chorizo into the eggs which have 0 Net Carbs (1 Carb, 1 Fiber)

but recently I've had the low-carb Pancakes that Gary Whitta has posted (https://plus.google.com/112157588278319557323/posts/ESBQJ6U8cgy?hl=en), and I even used the same syrup, except that I'm not much of a fan of syrup so I use maybe 2-3 TBS at the most.

Lunch: 2 Hamburger Patties w/ a slice of Colby Cheese or 2 Sweet Chicken Italian Sausage from Trader Joes (1 carb each) and a Salad with Spring Mix Lettuce, 4-5 grape tomatoes, Bacon Bits, Parmesan Cheese and Tuscan Italian Dressing from Trader Joes (2 carbs per serving)

Dinner: Dinner is anything from Baked Chicken, Hamburgers on the Grill, Grilled Steak, Pork Chops or Salmon, and some type of vegetable, which is usually Zuchinni or Broccoli.

Snacks: I ate Pork skins within the first week of my diet but haven't since, same goes for Almonds. I have been eating one of those One-Minute Muffins on a daily basis for the last week (Two packets of Splenda and a tsp of cinnamon per muffin) because I really need the fiber. I also have a can of tuna in between meals occasionally, adding nothing but mayonnaise or Eggs if I'm not feeling lazy. I also might grab a few slices of Salami if I'm feeling hungry.

I also chew some Orbit come whenever I have a craving for something sweet, it has 1 Carb and 1 Sugar Alcohol. I have a few a day at the most.

Drinks: A LOT of Water, but I do drink a considerable amount of Diet Coke and Crystal Light Lemonade as well.

This has literally been my diet for the last three weeks, and outside of the Diet Coke, Crystal Light and Orbit gum, I've no clue why it isn't working all that well. I'm going to remove these from my diet and see how things go within the next two weeks or so, and if they're similar, I might switch back to my old diet unless anyone has some suggestions :/

In my opinion, it most definitely is the diet soda and crystal light lemonade that's inhibiting your weight loss. Same goes for controlling how much gum you're chewing. They're fantastic for curving cravings, but I got to a point where I could go through a pack a day only to figure out that the more I chewed, the more sweets I craved.

 

[The_Inquisitor]

I'm kind of in a slight rut GAF. I am 5'9" and about 170 lbs. I am running about 18 miles (indoors, too hot in Texas atm) a week atm with some machines and plyometrics mixed in. I have been about the same amount of weight for about 3 weeks, though I believe my waist is starting to shrink.

Usually for breakfast I will have a bagel and some cream cheese, or some turkey from the fridge. Lunch is usually a sandwhich, cheesestick, assorted fruit, and some carrots. Dinner is whatever is cooked. (Very spoiled lol)

Am I just in a phase of gaining some muscle right now? I want to drop to around 155, because I feel this is a good weight for building on when I start running 5k's this September. Thanks!

 

[Einbroch]

I was about to get all over this until I discovered that Carbquik must be made with elephant tusks and gold powder.

I'm not a millionaire.

$12 for a three pound box is a lot? That's like seven batches of biscuits without adding extra cheese (which I advise since it tastes better and gets you more CarbQuik for the buck). ~75 biscuits for $12. Add extra cheese and you can easily push it to 90 or 100. If you don't add any extra and simply follow the recipe it's around $0.16 a biscuit, and they're pretty dang filling. Butter costs nothing, garlic salt costs nothing, you barely add any heavy cream, and the only thing that costs anything really is the cheese, which you'd probably get anyway being on low carb.

It's really not that expensive. Don't look at Amazon, look here. Flat rate shipping so you can get other things or more boxes at once. I used it for pizza dough last night and it turned out awesome. Loaded my pizza with veggies and meat.

 

[Schlep]

What do you do for cardio good sir?

Usually just walking with my dog, sometimes I'll hop on the bike for 5 miles or so (less frequent recently).

I would go with diet and strength training primarily. If you must do cardio, then do something like sprints instead of sustained running for 30-60m. There's a reason long distance runners look like they could be snapped in half.

 

[Admiral Bone to Pick]

I'm kind of in a slight rut GAF. I am 5'9" and about 170 lbs. I am running about 18 miles (indoors, too hot in Texas atm) a week atm with some machines and plyometrics mixed in. I have been about the same amount of weight for about 3 weeks, though I believe my waist is starting to shrink.

Usually for breakfast I will have a bagel and some cream cheese, or some turkey from the fridge. Lunch is usually a sandwhich, cheesestick, assorted fruit, and some carrots. Dinner is whatever is cooked. (Very spoiled lol)

Am I just in a phase of gaining some muscle right now? I want to drop to around 155, because I feel this is a good weight for building on when I start running 5k's this September. Thanks!

I would say your biggest problem (although there are several) is your breakfast. A bagel is just an empty heap of carbs. It's one of the worst things you can eat at the start of the day. Considering how much you exercise, you should be eating a breakfast heavy in protein (sausage and eggs is a better choice).

Also, I've always found that repetitive cardio never makes me feel fitter or healthier. But if you're looking to run a 5k, just make sure to gets tons of protein.

 

[teh_pwn]

I'm kind of in a slight rut GAF. I am 5'9" and about 170 lbs. I am running about 18 miles (indoors, too hot in Texas atm) a week atm with some machines and plyometrics mixed in. I have been about the same amount of weight for about 3 weeks, though I believe my waist is starting to shrink.

Usually for breakfast I will have a bagel and some cream cheese, or some turkey from the fridge. Lunch is usually a sandwhich, cheesestick, assorted fruit, and some carrots. Dinner is whatever is cooked. (Very spoiled lol)

Am I just in a phase of gaining some muscle right now? I want to drop to around 155, because I feel this is a good weight for building on when I start running 5k's this September. Thanks!

Eat less bread, eat more meat/vegetables and plain rice. Track how many calories you're consuming in order to see if your hunger is off. Get 8 hours of sleep, make sure you can recover. If you just keep running without recovery cortisol is going to go up and make those last 15 pounds very difficult to lose, particularly fat around the waist.

Basically what I'm getting at is high level things to change the way your body partitions energy so it's more liberal with body fat, and clingy with lean tissue. What you're describing looks risky for the opposite scenario which leads to skinny fat.

 

[suffah]

Another week...and another 2 pounds gone!

My GF noticed my abs (I've never had abs my entire life) which shocked me. Never done a crunch in my life.

I think I'm at my goal now but going to stick to this lowcarb lifestyle....ill probably up the sub 30g per day to double and see if I can maintain.

 

[AceBandage]

Another week...and another 2 pounds gone!

My GF noticed my abs (I've never had abs my entire life) which shocked me. Never done a crunch in my life.

I think I'm at my goal now but going to stick to this lowcarb lifestyle....ill probably up the sub 30g per day to double and see if I can maintain.

Once people start noticing, it does become addictive!

 

[Shaneus]

If you go up from 30g, I think the consensus is that you choose wisely where they come from. Rather than get it from sugar, it's far more beneficial to get carbs from vegetables (correct me if I'm wrong, experts).

 

[BertramCooper]

Usually just walking with my dog, sometimes I'll hop on the bike for 5 miles or so (less frequent recently).

I would go with diet and strength training primarily. If you must do cardio, then do something like sprints instead of sustained running for 30-60m. There's a reason long distance runners look like they could be snapped in half.

This is the weight loss thread. If you want to lose a substantial amount of weight, you need cardio.

Any successful regimen needs both cardio and strength training.

 

[suffah]

If you go up from 30g, I think the consensus is that you choose wisely where they come from. Rather than get it from sugar, it's far more beneficial to get carbs from vegetables (correct me if I'm wrong, experts).

I'll definitely keep that in mind.

Id be happy to just eat a banana now and then without thinking about it.

 

[Shaneus]

I have a feeling that bananas don't fall into the "good carbs" category. But like I said, I'm not as knowledgeable as some of the other folks on here... wait for them to chime in

 

[bengraven]

You need to be mindful of your fiber intake when on ultra low carb. I missed fiber for a day once and almost had to go to the emergency room. I recommend taking a fiber supplement to be sure.

Um, story behind this? I've been on the fence about going low low carb for a year now, but this worries me.

 

[AceBandage]

I have a feeling that bananas don't fall into the "good carbs" category. But like I said, I'm not as knowledgeable as some of the other folks on here... wait for them to chime in

They're full of a lot more sugar than most fruits, and have less nutrients and fiber.
As has been said a few times, the best is berries (specifically blueberries and raspberries).
Most green apples are fine, as well (though, some variations are far sweeter and have more sugar than others).

Um, story behind this? I've been on the fence about going low low carb for a year now, but this worries me.

Fiber is basically what your body uses to cleanse your system. If you don't get enough, then... well things won't move, so to speak.
If you're going low carb, then be sure to get some good forms of fiber like flax seed or eat high fiber veggies.
It's really very rare that one day will send you to the hospital, it would just be a bit uncomfortable.

 

[Deleted member 8095]

My softball team had a double header today and it was 85-90 degrees out. I lost 3lbs in this span. I'm assuming mostly water weight though and it's probably back on since rehydrating. Diet and exercise are both going very well so far!

 

[teh_pwn]

This is the weight loss thread. If you want to lose a substantial amount of weight, you need cardio.

Any successful regimen needs both cardio and strength training.

It can be used to lose weight or optimize fat loss, but I don't think it's necessary. The food reward trial was controlled and asked for no changes in exercise that I recall, and consistently the more excess fat people had the less they ate until their fat mass reduced to a healthy level. The hypothesis is that for these people their satiety system was oversaturated by food reward, so no matter how many calories would have been burned the setpoint wouldn't be any different - so burn 500 calories jogging, eat 500 more calories of high reward food than normal.

Sure exercise can probably help things with GLUT4 to improve insulin sensitivity and improving adrogen levels and other aspects of health. But I don't know of any controlled experiments showing that it's a requirement or even a significant factor.

 

[Srsly]

This is the weight loss thread. If you want to lose a substantial amount of weight, you need cardio.

Any successful regimen needs both cardio and strength training.

I've lost tons of weight without cardio. In previous weight loss attempts, cardio has only served to derail me.