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Weight Loss Before/After Thread! (with pics)

H

harSon

Banned
Gary Whitta said:
I got my cholesterol test back today and the numbers are not great. I am kinda bummed as I have been on the low-carb diet and exercising well for quite a while now. Had hoped for better :(
Click to expand...

Are they at least an improvement over your previous numbers?
 
G

Gary Whitta

Member
Zefah said:
Did you get a detailed blood test or just an overall cholesterol number
Click to expand...
I got overall plus HDL, LDL, and Triglycerides. Some of my numbers are actually UP from the last time I got tested.

My triglycerides and HDL are both good, but LDL and overall #s suck.
 
C

chicko1983

Member
Gary Whitta said:
I got my cholesterol test back today and the numbers are not great. I am kinda bummed as I have been on the low-carb diet and exercising well for quite a while now. Had hoped for better :(
Click to expand...

If it was just a total cholesterol reading, then you could be high but have a good ratio of HDL:LDL.

Are you also taking plenty of fish oil caps or other sources of Omega-3?
 
D

DragonKnight

Member
Zefah said:
Did you get a detailed blood test or just an overall cholesterol number?

It does take a while for stuff to improve after a lifetime of eating garbage.
Click to expand...

Yeah. How overweight were you before eating low carb and what were you eating?

Edit: and yeah...fast lol
 
G

Gary Whitta

Member
LOL I hope the fact that I'm an idiot and didn't fast means the numbers are out of whack. Because I feel like I've been doing everything right with diet and exercise, lost a lot of weight and my blood pressure is better than it has ever been.
 
D

DragonKnight

Member
Gary Whitta said:
LOL I hope the fact that I'm an idiot and didn't fast means the numbers are out of whack. Because I feel like I've been doing everything right with diet and exercise, lost a lot of weight and my blood pressure is better than it has ever been.
Click to expand...


It doesn't make sense for half your health to be trending up and the other to be trending down. As to why you have to fast, I don't know but I'm sure another poster can tell you.
 
N

NomarTyme

Member
Gary Whitta said:
LOL I hope the fact that I'm an idiot and didn't fast means the numbers are out of whack. Because I feel like I've been doing everything right with diet and exercise, lost a lot of weight and my blood pressure is better than it has ever been.
Click to expand...
Read this!
 
G

Gary Whitta

Member
I just called the lab and the lady on the phone was shocked that I hadn't fasted, she said that almost certainly messed with my results. So maybe it's a false alarm! I'll go back and get them re-done properly this time :p
 
D

DragonKnight

Member
Gary Whitta said:
I just called the lab and the lady on the phone was shocked that I hadn't fasted, she said that almost certainly messed with my results. So maybe it's a false alarm! I'll go back and get them re-done properly this time :p
Click to expand...

Yeah. With every major test you want to fast. No worries!
 
H

harSon

Banned
Yeah, you're definitely supposed to fast with those type of tests. Hopefully your numbers are where you want them after a proper test!
 
S

Shogmaster

Member
Gary Whitta said:
I got overall plus HDL, LDL, and Triglycerides. Some of my numbers are actually UP from the last time I got tested.

My triglycerides and HDL are both good, but LDL and overall #s suck.
Click to expand...
Overall LDL number is meaningless since it reports both large buoyant and small dense LDL types together. Expect your overall Cholesterol number to be high because of LDL. The real important figure is HDL and more so, the Triglycerides. You want HDL to be higher than 39, and Triglycerides to be well below 150.

And the Triglycerides number will give you clues to what type of LDL you have (60 or lower, you will have little or no small dense LDL, unless you have rare genetic disposition for the dense type).
 
D

Domino Theory

Crystal Dynamics
Gary Whitta said:
LOL I hope the fact that I'm an idiot and didn't fast means the numbers are out of whack. Because I feel like I've been doing everything right with diet and exercise, lost a lot of weight and my blood pressure is better than it has ever been.
Click to expand...

Yeah it's most definitely because you didn't fast. But honestly, you might want to cut back on a lot of "low carb" foods that are tortillas, ice cream, etc.

They're just empty calories filled with artificial sweetners and other junk. True low-carb dieting is one where you simply eat meat, some fruit, nuts, veggies, some fish and water. At least, that's how I see it and I"m sure it's echoed across other places whe discussing Paleo/low carb eating.

I actually have a helpful PDF about EVERYTHING you could possibly eat on a Paleo/low-carb lifestyle, I just don't know how to give PDFs via GAF, haha.
 
G

Gary Whitta

Member
Shogmaster said:
Overall LDL number is meaningless since it reports both large buoyant and small dense LDL types together. Expect your overall Cholesterol number to be high because of LDL. The real important figure is HDL and more so, the Triglycerides. You want HDL to be higher than 39, and Triglycerides to be well below 150.

And the Triglycerides number will give you clues to what type of LDL you have (60 or lower, you will have little or no small dense LDL, unless you have rare genetic disposition for the dense type).
Click to expand...
My HDL was 55 and my triglycerides were 131.

What's interesting is that I'm reading that failing to fast before a test impacts your triglycerides the most, but that's one of my better numbers!
 
H

harSon

Banned
Domino Theory said:
I actually have a helpful PDF about EVERYTHING you could possibly eat on a Paleo/low-carb lifestyle, I just don't know how to give PDFs via GAF, haha.
Click to expand...

Upload it to mediafire and then post the mediafire link
 
Y

Yasae

Banned
Zefah said:
$100 a month is tough, but I imagine you could get by on frozen veggies, chicken and eggs for that amount. Maybe a few cheap round steaks here and there.
Click to expand...
Not bad ideas there.

I get food stamps so yeah.. I'm way beyond "poor college student" poverty. $100, maybe $125 is all that'll work right now.
 
P

parrotbeak

Member
A while ago I posted that my bp was borderline high but my blood test was good and my cardio is very good, so I didn't know what to do. Well the doctor suggested testing myself randomly at the store. I did so and got a 125/78, compared to 135/90 or so at the doctor's. I guess maybe I was nervous for some reason when I took it at the doctor's. It was a new doctor and I had bad experiences with my previous doctor so maybe that's why.

As for not fasting before blood test, I had never had to fast before this last time. Previous times, I got the blood test at regular physicals and didn't know I would get it done, so no preparation at all.
 
A

AceBandage

Banned
parrotbeak said:
A while ago I posted that my bp was borderline high but my blood test was good and my cardio is very good, so I didn't know what to do. Well the doctor suggested testing myself randomly at the store. I did so and got a 125/78, compared to 135/90 or so at the doctor's. I guess maybe I was nervous for some reason when I took it at the doctor's. It was a new doctor and I had bad experiences with my previous doctor so maybe that's why.

As for not fasting before blood test, I had never had to fast before this last time. Previous times, I got the blood test at regular physicals and didn't know I would get it done, so no preparation at all.
Click to expand...


White Coat Phobia is pretty common.
I know it screws up my BP teasts.
 
P

parrotbeak

Member
AceBandage said:
White Coat Phobia is pretty common.
I know it screws up my BP teasts.
Click to expand...
It never did before and I hated my old doctor; would usually be kinda pissed when I went in. Oh well. The nurse at this office is hot also, so that might have an effect.

DragonKnight said:
Anybody else's multivitamin making their urine bright yellow?
Click to expand...
Recycle
 
P

Prologue

Member
Looking for a bit of feedback. 5'6, was 164 in june and weighed in at 146 on monday. I'm going to the gym and all that jazz. I personally want to cut to 130 and have a nice slate to bulk up from, having around 30-40 lbs to play with for the next year. I started cutting to begin with due to my belly, was getting a bit out there. Still there but not as much.

Good idea or bad?

Thanks for your time.
 
A

AceBandage

Banned
parrotbeak said:
It never did before and I hated my old doctor; would usually be kinda pissed when I went in. Oh well. The nurse at this office is hot also, so that might have an effect.


Recycle
Click to expand...


He's not Bear Grylls...

Prologue said:
Looking for a bit of feedback. 5'6, was 164 in june and weighed in at 146 on monday. I'm going to the gym and all that jazz. I personally want to cut to 130 and have a nice slate to bulk up from, having around 30-40 lbs to play with for the next year. I started cutting to begin with due to my belly, was getting a bit out there. Still there but not as much.

Good idea or bad?

Thanks for your time.
Click to expand...


Worry less about overall weight and more about appearance.
But yeah, getting back onto a low carb regimen certainly can't hurt.
 
D

dejay

Banned
Yasae said:
Not bad ideas there.

I get food stamps so yeah.. I'm way beyond "poor college student" poverty. $100, maybe $125 is all that'll work right now.
Click to expand...

I just bought 12 large chicken wings from my butcher for $3.30. That's Australian - from memory US food is cheaper. I have 4 cooking in the oven for lunch as I type this.

I only remembered today that I loved chicken wings before but didn't indulge much in them because they were so full of fat. Chicken thighs are also quite cheap and will give you a higher protein/fat ratio if you're looking for that. They were much cheaper at the butcher's compared to the supermarket - glad I looked.

I just put rub some paprika, cumin, salt and pepper on them, arrange them in an oven dish, and cook on 180c until golden.
 
C

cuevas. PhD.

Member
Gary Whitta said:
Just looked at my food diary, I had three eggs and sausage for breakfast and cajun salmon for lunch before my cholesterol test. Oops!
Click to expand...

Aren't you supposed to not eat for at least 12 hours before you take a blood test?
 
S

suffah

Does maths and stuff
Gary Whitta said:
Just looked at my food diary, I had three eggs and sausage for breakfast and cajun salmon for lunch before my cholesterol test. Oops!
Click to expand...

I did something similar and my numbers were so alarming my doctor straight up called me and asked if I ate that morning.

Went in for another test (fasted this time) and numbers were fine.
 
S

Shaneus

Member
Gary Whitta said:
Yes. I'm an idiot.
Click to expand...
Not necessarily... I had a blood test done at work, fasted (basically skipped breakfast, test was in the morning) and they were all "Wow, you have a REALLY low blood sugar!". Was then told that I didn't need to fast for that test. Fuckers.
 
D

DragonKnight

Member
Not too bad. 3 slices brings me up to 145 carbs for the day. No wonder people get really fat. I can easily put away a pie from PJ, or any pie for that matter.

Edit: But i'm really paranoid about things like this so I'll look in the mirror tomorrow and swear to myself that i've gotten fatter in the face or something like that
 
J

Jamesfrom818

Banned
cuevas said:
Aren't you supposed to not eat for at least 12 hours before you take a blood test?
Click to expand...

At my old job, we had people come in and do blood tests once a year. I forgot about it last year and ate McDonalds for breakfast. Surprisingly, everything was within the appropriate levels except my good cholesterol and thats probably because I had just started exercising.
 
P

Price Dalton

Member
cryptic said:
Your cholesterol levels don't matter. I would walk in and waltz out with levels through the roof and go home and eat more lard.

http://thehealthyskeptic.org/the-healthy-skeptic-podcast-episode-11

Also, look into John Briffa.

Cholesterol lowering drugs, statins, etc. are a big money pull, that's all there is to it.
Click to expand...
I think you missed Masterjohn's point.

Cholesterol might not matter, but we can't say for sure. Elevated LDL may indicate poor LDL receptor activity. If that's the case, LDL remains in the blood longer, increasing the chance of oxidation. Oxidized LDL is definitely bad.

Masterjohn's point is that elevated cholesterol may be a sign of something amiss, or it may be noise. It's worth checking out, though. Might be a sign of hypothyroid, as thyroid hormone increases LDL receptor activity.

If one is still losing weight, elevated cholesterol doesn't tell you much. After weight loss has slowed or you're at a target weight, recheck.
 
Zoe

Zoe

Member
Shaneus said:
Not necessarily... I had a blood test done at work, fasted (basically skipped breakfast, test was in the morning) and they were all "Wow, you have a REALLY low blood sugar!". Was then told that I didn't need to fast for that test. Fuckers.
Click to expand...

It depends on the test. You need to fast for cholesterol tests.
 
M

MTE

Member
Hey guys.
I've not been following this thread much, but I thought I'd post my progress.
It's been a long road, but I'm still working at it.

Unfortunately, I can only find a face shot for before, right now, so I'll post both face shots.

This is me, circa 2006:
PlDfW.jpg

Approximately 190kg (418 lbs), I first weighed in just under 2 months after I started losing, and came in at 178kg (392 lbs).

And me, last week.
FvSOx.jpg

Approximately 125kg (275 lbs)

For reference, I'm 6'4".
 
M

MTE

Member
Dommel said:
125kg in the last picture? Looks more like 80/90 to me. Amazing progress!
Click to expand...
Hey, thanks!

Yeah, I think it's my unshavenness that's creating that, perhaps. I don't have that much of a chin yet :) Maybe I should post a body shot :p

Just for a bit of background, I'm not doing the seemingly super-popular low carb diet. In fact, I'm not really dieting at all. When I started losing weight in August 2006, I started "dieting" severely limiting my calorie intake. By August 2007 I'd gotten down to 133kg (293lbs) but it wasn't sustainable. I slowly climbed back up to 165kg (363lbs) until mid 2009, when I joined a gym. This went quite well, although not as quickly was I'd hoped. In may last year, I started riding my bike to work, 9km, every day. This really helped my weight loss, when combined with a general improvement of my diet.

These days, I do boot camp 3 times a week in the early morning, boxing (for fitness) on saturdays and I'm trying to ramp back up to riding each day (Stopped when I started boot camp in may-june)

Oh, and just because I can:
DLQ7e.png

October 17th, 2006 - August 6th, 2011. I love data :D
 
C

cryptic

Member
Price Dalton said:
I think you missed Masterjohn's point.

Cholesterol might not matter, but we can't say for sure. Elevated LDL may indicate poor LDL receptor activity. If that's the case, LDL remains in the blood longer, increasing the chance of oxidation. Oxidized LDL is definitely bad.

Masterjohn's point is that elevated cholesterol may be a sign of something amiss, or it may be noise. It's worth checking out, though. Might be a sign of hypothyroid, as thyroid hormone increases LDL receptor activity.

If one is still losing weight, elevated cholesterol doesn't tell you much. After weight loss has slowed or you're at a target weight, recheck.
Click to expand...


That podcast I linked goes into that to some degree but a lot of it I didn't quite understand as I couldn't hear everything while I was riding the bus and listening to it. Thanks for clarifying that, and overall for the friendly advice.
 
J

Jintor

Member
I'm looking forward to moving out so I can start dictating my own meals properly. :)

Gary while you're here, I listened to the Tested podcast for the first time today, latest episode. It was fantastic! Different to the Bombcast, obviously, but still great. Good dynamics all around. Definitely going to be on my 45-minute power-walk playlist. :D
 
N

Nekofrog

Banned
Hey guys, I'm currently deployed somewhere in the middle east and as I've said in the workout thread, I'm taking advantage of my downtime to get into better shape (it's got nothing to do with the PT test I'll have to take when I get back... ... :/ )

I know next to shit about how I should be eating and calorie intake and all that shit. I do have a basic food guide I wrote up based on the advise of other people who have done/are doing similar plans to me. Can someone vet it and give me the low down?

Breakfast (3AM): 1 Grilled chicken wrap (sometimes just grilled chicken). Approx. 300-400 calories? Not sure. It's always plain, nothing on it.

Post-workout protein shake (5AM): 200 calories

Post-workout meal (lifting weighs, 7AM): Scrambled eggs (whites only, about 100 calories maybe?), banana (or orange, depending on whats available in the chow hall, about 50-70 calories), 2 packs of 4OZ beef jerky (yeah, two bites, 100 calories). 270 calories total estimate

Lunch (11AM): Veggie medley (no idea how many), 2-3 grilled chicken breasts (not sure how many cals)

Dinner (5PM): Casein shake (200 calories)


TOTAL: Anywhere from 1300 to 1500 a day, but I don't know shit about some of this stuff so I may be wrong.

I haven't actually weighed myself since my baseline weight recording, but in two days it will have been two weeks since I started this program, then I'll be able to weigh myself.

Any advice on whether or not to cut or add some things in this list?

Edit: should mention there is a HUGE streak of time between 11AM and 5PM when I have absolutely nothing. Is that good or bad?
 
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