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[VOOK]

Cheers man, yeah I just look back at all the old ones and go 'Shit I was so fat' :/

 

[subversus]

I stopped eating bread and lost about 10 pounds. I think that's a good start.

 

[infiniteloop]

Alright GAF, I've lost 63kgs (138 pounds) in 12 months.... but yeah not sure if I should put pictures up :/

Or 34.4% of my total weight.

Wow! Congrats. Put some pics up.

 

[teh_pwn]

I don't entirely disagree with you on your point of view of the other makeups of our diets (i.e. not having to do with carbs) but your attack on carbs really infuriates me because I feel it promotes a sedentary lifestyle.. "don't eat carbs because sitting on your ass doesn't consume carbs and they'll be turned to fat". I know that's not exactly what you're saying, but again it's how it kind of comes off.. better to reduce your carbs than to increase your activity. and the other belief of low carbs, that fat is just as good an energy source as carbs, is just blatantly wrong. for everyday energy sure, fat will keep you going, but for intense exercise and work, fat simply takes way too long to convert to energy for it to be a satisfactory replacement for carbs.

lowering carb intake should NEVER be a substitute for lack of exercise or activity. people's goals should NOT be weight loss.. NEVER JUST weight loss. the goal should be to get healthier, and without an increase in activity and/or exercise that can't possibly happen.

Big post to reply to, I have to go to work, so I'll give a partial reply.

1. Regarding heart disease. Cholesterol doesn't cause heart disease. Small, dense LDL does. LDL is "low density lipoprotein" It's shell is made of a protein and of cholesterol. It carries triglycerides. If you have lots of triglycerides, LDL becomes small and dense. The arteries aren't like pipes, they are more like a net that allows blood to pass into tissue and supply oxygen. Small, dense LDL has a tendency to get stuck. After it is stuck, it inevitably oxidizes, creates scar tissue, the body tries to repair it resulting in plaque build up. There are studies showing this, I can post them later. Total LDL is pretty much irrelevant. HDL:LDL somewhat correlates to less small dense LDL the more HDL to LDL there is. Saturated fat makes LDL large and fluffy. Lots of triglycerides, which show up most from a high glycemic meal (carbs - particularly sugar, flour), change LDL's formation in the liver such that it can become small and dense.

2. Regarding exercise. I think exercise is important, but you must first correct the body's internal metabolism. Exercise probably does increase the rate of fat loss by increasing anabolic hormones and burning a few calories. But if insulin is high, hunger will probably go up after the exercise.

I think a lot of people become sedentary because they eat lots of carbohydrates. If they have metabolic syndrome/insulin resistance like the obese Pima adults do on 2000 calories of food a day (50% grains), they become fatigued and lethargic because internally insulin is preventing the use of body fat between meals and is stocking a way a good portion of the 2000 calories that they eat. Because of this, their muscles/organs get say 1800 calories, and the body adapts by reducing metabolism. For some people, too many sugars and grains cause the fatigue which predisposes people to sedentary lifestyles.

If you don't correct the internal metabolism and rely solely on exercise, you may cause inflammation and injury from chronic cardio. I'm more of a fan of Mark Sisson's exercise plan, which is:

1. Most of the time move frequently at a slow pace.
2. Short periods of intensive weight lifting.
3. Sprint 10-30 minutes per week with adequate rest.

as opposed to

Go on an elliptical every day for 60 minutes as fast as you can and get to 600 calories on the LED.

 

[Chaplain]

I went from 235 pounds to 167 pounds in about 8 months. I cardio 6 days a week for about 85 mins at a time (I burn about 1100 calories per work out). I want to start lifting weights again but I do not know where to start (haven't lifted weights for a couple of years now). Any help would be appreciated.

 

[teh_pwn]

Ok, here are some studies showing what I'm talking about.

Regarding heart disease.

CONCLUSION
The pros and cons of diets high in carbohydrates compared
with diets high in unsaturated fats have still not been completely
worked out; they involve considerations beyond coronary risk
and it may take another 40 y before all the effects of high-carbohydrate
diets have been clarified. However, the lowering of HDL
concentrations by low-fat, high-carbohydrate diets constitutes a
distinct disadvantage that can no longer be ignored.

http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/reprint/67/3/573S.pdf

The association of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) subclass patterns with coronary heart disease was investigated in a case-control study of nonfatal myocardial infarction. Subclasses of LDL were analyzed by gradient gel electrophoresis of plasma samples from 109 cases and 121 controls. The LDL subclass pattern characterized by a preponderance of small, dense LDL particles was significantly associated with a threefold increased risk of myocardial infarction, independent of age, sex, and relative weight. Plasma levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol were decreased, and levels of triglyceride, very low—density lipoproteins, and intermediate-density lipoproteins were increased in subjects with this LDL subclass pattern. Multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that both high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride levels contributed to the risk associated with the small, dense LDL subclass pattern. Thus, the metabolic trait responsible for this LDL subclass pattern results in a set of interrelated lipoprotein changes that lead to increased risk of coronary heart disease.

http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/260/13/1917

With high-fat diets, 87 subjects had predominantly large, buoyant LDL (pattern A), whereas the remainder had primarily smaller, denser LDL (pattern B) (low fat).
...
Compared with the 51 men with pattern A with both diets (stable A group), men in the stable B group (n = 18) had significantly greater reductions in plasma LDL cholesterol, apolipoprotein B, and mass of mid- sized (LDL II) and small (LDL III) LDL subfractions. In both the stable A and change groups, there was a shift in LDL particle mass from larger, lipid-enriched (LDL I and II) to smaller, lipid-depleted (LDL III and IV) subfractions, suggestive of change in LDL composition with minimal change in particle number, and consistent with the observation of reduced plasma LDL cholesterol without reduced apolipoprotein B.

http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abs...fbf6b2a821cbddf9972e7ddd&keytype2=tf_ipsecsha

Combining the two studies above, you can infer:

1. A type of LDL (small dense variety) triples the risk of heart disease.
2. A high carb, low fat diet increases the amount of small, dense LDL variety.

Taubes has a chapter in "Good Calories, Bad Calories" explaining how elevating triglycerides changes the way LDL forms in the liver ultimately resulting in small, dense LDL.



A recently conducted diet comparison at Stanford concluded that pseudo-Atkins (subjects ate too many carbs) resulted in the greatest fat loss, greatest adherence, and beat all other diets in every health metric after a year of the subjects on a diet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eREuZEdMAVo


While I agree that carbohydrates are probably superior at high intensity, high duration athletics, the difference in performance isn't that great on carb restriction after you allow 3 weeks of adaption. I also don't think that high intensity, high duration athletics is healthy because it stresses the body too much...leads to lifetime injuries the athletes have to deal with for the rest of their lives.

Both observational and prospectively designed studies support the conclusion that submaximal endurance performance can be sustained despite the virtual exclusion of carbohydrate from the human diet. Clearly this result does not automatically follow the casual implementation of dietary carbohydrate restriction, however, as careful attention to time for keto-adaptation, mineral nutriture, and constraint of the daily protein dose is required. Contradictory results in the scientific literature can be explained by the lack of attention to these lessons learned (and for the most part now forgotten) by the cultures that traditionally lived by hunting. Therapeutic use of ketogenic diets should not require constraint of most forms of physical labor or recreational activity, with the one caveat that anaerobic (ie, weight lifting or sprint) performance is limited by the low muscle glycogen levels induced by a ketogenic diet, and this would strongly discourage its use under most conditions of competitive athletics.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC524027/


Another:

Conclusion: Low-carbohydrate, high-protein diets favorably affect body mass and composition independent of energy intake, which in part supports the proposed metabolic advantage of these diets.

http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/83/2/260

 

[pubba]

teh_pwn - I just want to add my thanks to the others who have benefited from your posts in this thread. This subject fascinates me and I am reading every link that you have shared.

Currently watching the Sugar: bitter truth doco and it's amazing stuff.

I'm a fat bastard and am absolutely miserable. It is constantly on my mind and really brings me down every day. I know that my life will be much better if I can lose 20 or 30 kgs.

My weight now is 121kgs and I'm going to start the low-carb lifestyle tomorrow. I've bought a whole bunch of digestive enzymes, probiotics and some keto-sticks to check if my body is in ketosis each day.

I'll post my progress on here to encourage porkers that may be hiding in the wings.

 

[borghe]

2. Regarding exercise. I think exercise is important, but you must first correct the body's internal metabolism. Exercise probably does increase the rate of fat loss by increasing anabolic hormones and burning a few calories. But if insulin is high, hunger will probably go up after the exercise.

I think a lot of people become sedentary because they eat lots of carbohydrates. If they have metabolic syndrome/insulin resistance like the obese Pima adults do on 2000 calories of food a day (50% grains), they become fatigued and lethargic because internally insulin is preventing the use of body fat between meals and is stocking a way a good portion of the 2000 calories that they eat. Because of this, their muscles/organs get say 1800 calories, and the body adapts by reducing metabolism. For some people, too many sugars and grains cause the fatigue which predisposes people to sedentary lifestyles.

umm.. you are missing a big important problem here with your ideas... insulin isn't generated non-stop just because you have simple carbs to break down. insulin is only used to move excess/unneeded carbs to fat reserves. too many sugars/grains lead people to fatigue because they cause massive insulin surges which is basically the sugar crash.. you're absolutely right. BUT, by being active, you mitigate the need for insulin release. I am certainly not an expert on it, but a good friend's daughter is diabetic and I've had long discussions with him on insulin and sugars. basically they have to keep track of every calorie of sugar she takes in, but doesn't concern himself at all with insulin injections if she is remaining active (she's 12 years old). it's when she is on down time that they have to make sure what she's eating, and getting injections if sugar gets too high.

If you don't correct the internal metabolism and rely solely on exercise, you may cause inflammation and injury from chronic cardio./

your metabolism is based on your diet, your body's expectancy of that diet (stability), AND your body makeup!!!! More muscle, higher metabolism, lowered fat, higher metabolism. More fat and/or less muscle, lowered metabolism. The thought that metabolism is controlled solely or majority through diet is a horrible conception. Your metabolism is your body's ability to metabolize food of which your actual body composition plays just as important a part in that as the food you're eating. You even said it yourself "If you're the type of person to [blank]". Well, only some of that [blank] is heredity and genetics. A lot of that [blank] is overall physical health and fitness. I'll use myself as an example. I said previously that I've had my share of bacon egg and cheese biscuits from McDonald's over the last six months.. not a ton, but that's not the point here. The point is even just a regular breakfast value meal from mcdonalds before was enough to "sedate" me before.. give me a BEC and hashbrowns and I would be full, and REALLY interested in just sitting there doing my work. Nowadays if I decide to cheat and grab a BEC meal, I am still able to (and most definitely have) go out and run 5-7 milse immediately afterward.

I'm more of a fan of Mark Sisson's exercise plan, which is:

1. Most of the time move frequently at a slow pace.
2. Short periods of intensive weight lifting.
3. Sprint 10-30 minutes per week with adequate rest.

as opposed to

Go on an elliptical every day for 60 minutes as fast as you can and get to 600 calories on the LED.

IMHO, and I sincerely mean IMHO, both of those plans are awful. the one is essentially maintaining a sedentary lifestyle trying to shock your body.metabolism into reaction... it may work at a chemical level for losing weight, but aside from weight loss there seriously can't be a benefit to your overall health with it. There's not going to be a whole lot of cardiovascular improvement, not a ton of strength improvement... it seems like the goal is to just shock your metabolism to adapt to a low carb diet to eat off fat a few times a week.

likewise, your goal on an elliptical should never be to "get to 600 calories as fast as you can". Stay at 60-70% of your max heartrate for 30-40 minutes a day three or four times a week and your cardiovascular health will shoot through the roof.. and trust me, 60-70% of your max heart rate for most people will be a mild jog even at their healthiest, and for someone incredibly unhealthy to start with, you're looking at not even a brisk walk to start with. When I started my program at 50lbs overweight, I couldn't even maintain more than 4mph for over an hour. I'd get 30 minutes under my belt and wouldn't have even burned 250 calories. No way in shit I was planning on doing that for another hour just to get over 600 calories burned. staying with it for 40 minutes 4 times a week I slowly went from 4mph, to 5mph, to 6mph, to 7mph, etc. I am currently at 7.7mph for 40 minutes on my short days and 70-90 minutes on my long days. It seems intense, but I do this 4 times a week max, sometimes only 3 times a week. There's weightlifting in there also, but because of my running very little of my lifting right now works on my legs.

people are sedentary today because of our lifestyles and society. Everyone owns a car, everyone would rather drive around the parking lot for an extra 5 minutes finding a closer spot rather than parking in the back and walking for an 2 minutes. The supermarket is 10 blocks away and you have to run and grab a couple of things, drive there, don't walk. Our parents do this, it's how we are brought up as kids, and it's how we behave as adults. It's not about carbs, fats, or proteins. It's about the way we are raised and society in general. Blaming it on carbs misses the fact that most people behave the exact way I pointed out just now. cutting out that spaghetti from dinner might burn off a pound of fat or so in the long run, but that someone would drive around for 5 minutes to save themselves 2 minutes of walking is the REAL problem here that needs addressing. That is definitely more of a contributing factor to their mental and physical health than 50g of carbs.

edit - in regards to the studies you posted, again you bypass the point that for the carbs to be converted to LDL, they have to be processed by insulin and converted to fat to begin with. I am NOT saying that carbs turned to fat are better than fat stored as fat. Of course that would be ridiculous (and incorrect) to argue. My argument is that in a healthy individual who consumes a reasonable number of balanced calories, those carbs will rarely be converted to fat to begin with.

as for your insistence that one your body adapts to the low carb lifestyle that the energy generated from fat will be sufficient... yes, your body will adapt to survive.. but having talked to a TON of people who have no intention on promoting one lifestyle over the other, low fat wins out over low carb every time in terms of stored energy and how energized you feel over the course of the day. even people who insist on continuing low carb have admitted that they have more energy doing low fat, but do low carb simply, asI've been getting at, because they don't have the time in their schedule to maintain a regular exercise pattern. I mean if you are looking to keep fat off I suppose.... but it's just as easy for someone to be incredibly unhealthy at 160 pounds and 12% body fat as it is for someone to be unhealthy at 38% body fat and 290 pounds. That's why I always say.. healthy is NOT just being at a healthy weight. Healthy is being able to go out and sprint for 10 minutes as fast as you possibly can and not hitting your max heartrate, and then being at your resting heartrate within 2-3 minutes tops. If you can't do that, I don't care how little you weigh or how much fat you've lost, you're still looking at a pretty compromised and unhealthy lifestyle that will likely be filled with minor-to-major health problems down the road.

anyway, it's a subjective argument in a weight loss thread. IMHO it sucks that in many cases people only care about the weight and not really about the actual health, but it's their body and their right to care about what they want.. so I'll drop it. I just wanted to provide the counterpoints to your low carb information. Yes it has validity in weight loss and fat reduction, but studies have most definitely shown that it is potentially inferior and an unnecessary dietary method in an active lifestyle. Yes going low carb will prevent insulin from turning sugars to fat, but so will a very modest amount of exercise. I guess I'll leave it at that. peace.

 

[scitek]

I went from 235 pounds to 167 pounds in about 8 months. I cardio 6 days a week for about 85 mins at a time (I burn about 1100 calories per work out). I want to start lifting weights again but I do not know where to start (haven't lifted weights for a couple of years now). Any help would be appreciated.

Dunno about lifting, but I wanna say your workout sounds awesome. What cardio do you do? I jog for ~40 minutes a day and couldn't imagine going twice that.

 

[borghe]

Dunno about lifting, but I wanna say your workout sounds awesome. What cardio do you do? I jog for ~40 minutes a day and couldn't imagine going twice that.

to be honest, he really isn't losing a ton more weight by going 85 minutes, though I have to say his cardiovascular health is likely through the freaking roof. 40-60 minutes at 60-70% max heartrate is the sweet spot for weight loss. anything beyond that and you are looking at a ton of water loss and extreme energy burning, both of which HAVE TO be replaced at some point and time, and your body will ensure that they are. 40-60 minutes is enough to force your body to fully consume the existing carbs present in your muscles and blood and move onto that fat stores. Much more than that and your body begins to panic about starvation and malnourishment. Even overweight people in marathons are strongly encouraged to consume gel and gatorade during the event so as not to panic their bodies into starvation..

I would only worry yourself with those kind of lengths of time if you are genuinely interested in just being able to run like that. I'm training for a marathon this fall so I'll do a run like that (currently longer actually) for my long run on Saturday. but my runs during the week are usually 3, 5, or 8 miles tops. Long run is currently just over 13 miles (a bit over 90 minutes)

edit - in response to the teh_pwn on high intensity workouts being bad and leading to injury, that is entirely myth. You can have a lifetime of injury from a car accident, from typing on a keyboard, genetics, etc. Sure sitting on the couch is safer than getting out there and running everyday, but getting out there and running everyday doesn't inherently mean you are going to blow your knee out, break your foot, etc. Intense weight lifting doesn't mean you are going to scar up your rotator cuff, rip your pec, etc. Accidents/injuries happen, and they suck, but they happen and suck at ANY point in life, and avoiding a lot of exercise doesn't prevent you from having an accident or injury anymore than you having them in day to day life. I see just as many broken arms in any given grade at my daughter's school as I do at her competitive gymnastics academy. I'm not saying everyone needs to train for a marathon, but I am a firm believer in government recommendations of 3-4 times a week of 30 minutes of exercise. that's the length of one movie over the course of a week, and your health, all other things eqaul, will improve dramatically with it.

 

[Truant]

I'm not a big guy, I'm roughly 1,74, 68kg. I'd love to lose those eight kilos, but I guess that will be tough. I've weighed roughly the same the last five-seven years, though. What bothers me is that I've got a fat-face. I look pretty decent body wise, but my face looks kinda fat at times, which bothers me a lot. I'd mainly like to lose that, as well as some extra chunk around my waist.

I eat what I want, never exercise besides the ten minute walk to work every day.

I did get a dog, though. Requires a lot of excercise, but I feel my eating is what's preventing me from losing.

However, this thread is confusing as hell. One person is saying eat this this, one is saying eat that. I eat a lot of bread for breakfast and lunch, and I guess I could switch that out for some fruit and low-fat yoghurt. What else?

This is pretty much what I look like. Bloated fucking head. I feel like I could be a somewhat handsome guy if I lost those chubby cheeks.

 

[Guileless]

Mr. Sisson advises against what he calls chronic cardio: "long stretches at a sustained heart rate in the 80+% range." He's down with 30-40 minutes at 60-70% heart rate a few times a week. Most people don't need to consume carbs to sustain that. Committed distance athletes and bodybuilders who regularly surpass that would.

The fact is, our hunter-gatherer ancestors didn’t ramp up their heart rates significantly for over an hour every day, and I don’t think we should either. They walked at a very low level of exertion, burning almost entirely stored fats. Once you get into the zones where less fat is burned and where there’s a big dependency on glucose to fuel muscles, your body goes into a less efficient mode of fuel oxidation. There are biochemical costs associated with this shift. Your muscles and liver can only hold 500-600 grams of precious glycogen (stored glucose) at any one time, which means about 2 hours’ worth for the best trained individuals and less for most people. That means that to come back and work out hard the next day requires at least 600 more grams of carbs every day. That’s just too much glucose and insulin to deal with every day.

I don’t recommend pushing this limit or even approaching it. Why bother? This kind of training (and diet) raises cortisol levels, increases oxidative damage, systemic inflammation, depresses the immune system and decreases fat metabolism. About the only thing good it does is improve cardiac muscle strength – and even then you get too the point of diminishing returns fairly quickly.

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/chronic-cardio/

Sisson was a competitive marathoner and triathlete who was chronically injured and sick while he was competing.

 

[MeLe]

Really enjoying the exchange between borghe and teh_pwn. It's very interesting to have both types of healthy living approaches displayed so eloquenty. I feel the information is very useful even if you're at a good bodyweight and relatively fit, so I hope you keep up the debate.

 

[borghe]

Mr. Sisson advises against what he calls chronic cardio: "long stretches at a sustained heart rate in the 80+% range." He's down with 30-40 minutes at 60-70% heart rate a few times a week. Most people don't need to consume carbs to sustain that. Committed distance athletes and bodybuilders who regularly surpass that would.

I fully agree that 80%+ for 40+ minutes more than once or twice a week is really really really bad for you. your heart simply isn't designed to handle that kind of strain.

I also agree that most people don't "need" to sustain a high level of carbs for that, but in most people's experience (that I've come across) you will feel better toward the end of a 40 minute cardio workout on a non-low carb diet and will also recover after the workout much faster, all while burning all of the carbs (i.e. no insulin or fat storage) and around the same amount of fat.

anyway, WITH EXERCISE INCLUDED, we are talking about matters of opinion at this point.. so to each their own on that.. I am just looking for agreement that in overall health, moderate (not low) levels of exercise need to be included. If you want to do low carb and exercise I'm not going to tell you you're doing it wrong. the fact that you're doing it at all is a step above most other people in our society. Good for you.

 

[EzLink]

I took the weekend off from low carb dieting. Unfortunately that weekend extended up until today (wednesday) and I ended up gaining back about 4 lbs :lol

Still though, weighed myself on Wii Fit today for the first time since starting, and I am FINALLY overweight as opposed to obese. It's the small victories in life

Anyway, back on the wagon today, and ain't no stoppin me till I drop this last 25-30 lbs

 

[RiskyChris]

Damn I guess my heart is gonna explode at age 27 with the way I used to exercise when I was younger =/

 

[borghe]

Damn I guess my heart is gonna explode at age 27 with the way I used to exercise when I was younger =/

max heart rate is generally believed to be around 220 - current age. The younger you are, the more your heart can handle. At 16 years old you could probably realistically train at 180bpm and be back at resting heart rate in 2-3 minutes.

Man, youth is wasted on the young!!!! :lol

 

[The_Inquisitor]

Mr. Sisson advises against what he calls chronic cardio: "long stretches at a sustained heart rate in the 80+% range." He's down with 30-40 minutes at 60-70% heart rate a few times a week. Most people don't need to consume carbs to sustain that. Committed distance athletes and bodybuilders who regularly surpass that would.



http://www.marksdailyapple.com/chronic-cardio/

Sisson was a competitive marathoner and triathlete who was chronically injured and sick while he was competing.

That's actually what I do now.

20-30 minutes running @ around 7 minutes a mile, then 20-30 minutes of machines.

Running is going to ramp up as I return back to better running shape. Good to know.

 

[oldschoolpinball]

I started working out in the middle of march because i was tired of always being a fatass. I saw a doctor before starting my routine and I was very surprised to find out i was 431 lbs. I stopped all fast foods and on weekends I may "cheat" by having subway or having some kind of fast food as long as its not fried. No more sodas and is topped smoking weed and that was a huge part of my weight loss. I am now down to 375 lbs. by doing an hour to an hour and a half of cardio 5 days a week and boy has it changed my life

 

[BronzeWolf]

I'm not a big guy, I'm roughly 1,74, 68kg. I'd love to lose those eight kilos, but I guess that will be tough. I've weighed roughly the same the last five-seven years, though. What bothers me is that I've got a fat-face. I look pretty decent body wise, but my face looks kinda fat at times, which bothers me a lot. I'd mainly like to lose that, as well as some extra chunk around my waist.

I eat what I want, never exercise besides the ten minute walk to work every day.

I did get a dog, though. Requires a lot of excercise, but I feel my eating is what's preventing me from losing.

However, this thread is confusing as hell. One person is saying eat this this, one is saying eat that. I eat a lot of bread for breakfast and lunch, and I guess I could switch that out for some fruit and low-fat yoghurt. What else?

This is pretty much what I look like. Bloated fucking head. I feel like I could be a somewhat handsome guy if I lost those chubby cheeks.

You don't need to lose weight, you need to pack on muscle. You are 64 Kg, which is low enough, so head to the fitness thread and start lifting heavy shit from the floor. Your bloated head won't go anywhere either, that's genetics and you are mostly stuck with it. Muscularity could give you a different profile, so maybe that's what you need, but as far as losing weight, it won't slim your cheeks.

Switching bread for fruit and low-fat yoghurt is switching like switching from Coke to Pepsi. Breakfast should consist of Eggs, Milk, Bacon, Ham and beans. Just a little fruit (one apple), no low-fat products AT ALL (they are all pretty much bullshit), and absolutely no bread.

but yeah, you are stuck with your head, sorry bud

I took the weekend off from low carb dieting. Unfortunately that weekend extended up until today (wednesday) and I ended up gaining back about 4 lbs :lol

Still though, weighed myself on Wii Fit today for the first time since starting, and I am FINALLY overweight as opposed to obese. It's the small victories in life

Anyway, back on the wagon today, and ain't no stoppin me till I drop this last 25-30 lbs

It probably just bloating, 4 lbs can be gained from morning to night. Just stick with your diet :O

 

[borghe]

That's actually what I do now.

20-30 minutes running @ around 7 minutes a mile, then 20-30 minutes of machines.

Running is going to ramp up as I return back to better running shape. Good to know.

IMHO, that IS excellent running shape!! I am doing just under 8 minute miles right now for 40+ minutes and am finishing with, well, what I'm happy with, in 5Ks and 8Ks. Sprinting at under 6 minute miles for a mile, maybe two if needed.

goal is to qualify for boston this fall which is basically a 7:45 minute mile for my age. getting close on sustained speed, and then just have to extend that to 26.2 miles :lol

 

[RiskyChris]

I started working out in the middle of march because i was tired of always being a fatass. I saw a doctor before starting my routine and I was very surprised to find out i was 431 lbs. I stopped all fast foods and on weekends I may "cheat" by having subway or having some kind of fast food as long as its not fried. No more sodas and is topped smoking weed and that was a huge part of my weight loss. I am now down to 375 lbs. by doing an hour to an hour and a half of cardio 5 days a week and boy has it changed my life

Fuck yes! Once you're peddling it only gets easier. Keep us posted <3

 

[BronzeWolf]

Injuries in sports training are moot points.

If you train, you ARE going to get injured

 

[Zoe]

Switching bread for fruit and low-fat yoghurt is switching like switching from Coke to Pepsi. Breakfast should consist of Eggs, Milk, Bacon, Ham and beans. Just a little fruit (one apple), no low-fat products AT ALL (they are all pretty much bullshit), and absolutely no bread.

What kind of beans?

 

[RiskyChris]

Low-fat products aren't all bullshit. Some are just low-fat variants on otherwise already pretty healthy items. Tho this requires a measure of nuance which if you had maybe you wouldn't need rules on what to eat, =)

 

[BronzeWolf]

What kind of beans?

or chili-beans

Low-fat products aren't all bullshit. Some are just low-fat variants on otherwise already pretty healthy items. Tho this requires a measure of nuance which if you had maybe you wouldn't need rules on what to eat, =)

No.

In order for these products to achieve some amount of taste without the fat content, they crank up the carbohydrates tenfold. Show me a prepackaged low-fat product and I´ll show you how it makes you fat. The exceptions would be low-fat milk and low fat-milk derivatives.

 

[RiskyChris]

In order for these products to achieve some amount of taste without the fat content, they crank up the carbohydrates tenfold. Show me a prepackaged low-fat product and I´ll show you how it makes you fat. The exceptions would be low-fat milk and low fat-milk derivatives.

I'm talking about dairy products, I guess those are probably less than 1% of low-fat items :lol

 

[borghe]

Injuries in sports training are moot points.

In the course of your life, you ARE going to get injured

fixed for correctness.

You are going to suffer injuries no matter what. Injury in exercise and athletics however is not a guaranteed result unless you happen to be in a physical contact sport. Even in a high intensity sport without contact serious or chronic injury isn't a forgone conclusion.

besides that, we aren't even talking about sports training in here. I mean it's being talked about that just exercising 3-4 times a week can lead to problems.. that's being pretty extreme IMHO.

Trying to avoid injury in your life is like trying to avoid a cold. You can setup your life to put it off for a while, but eventually you are in fact going to get it. It might be a burn, it might be a paper cut, it might be a broken leg. It might have come from running 7 days a week or might have happened because a tree branch fell on you. Structuring your lifestyle to avoid injury is like structuring it to avoid the cold. You are going to be majorly inconvenienced and at some point and time you're still going to get it.

In order for these products to achieve some amount of taste without the fat content, they crank up the carbohydrates tenfold. Show me a prepackaged low-fat product and I´ll show you how it makes you fat. The exceptions would be low-fat milk and low fat-milk derivatives.

actually this isn't true.. the most common low fat trick is so simple most people don't even realize it... lower serving sizes or increase water/filler. I was looking at low fat margarine one time and wondering how they did it.. I mean 14g of oil is 14g of fat. You can't get around it.. Easy really.. they jacked up the water content. Another time I was looking at these low fat chips and they weren't bad... a serving was around 4g of fat (compared to normal chips, not bad). Catch? Serving size was around 10 chips!!!! :O

low fat is a meaningless statement. Calories from fat compared to total calories is a bit more meaningful, but even then, like teh_pwn gets into, calories from fat can be kind of stupid also.. obviously 100% of the calories are from fat in olive oil or coconut oil, but they're insanely healthy for you.

 

[oldschoolpinball]

Fuck yes! Once you're peddling it only gets easier. Keep us posted <3

i shall The hardest part for me was drinking the water(yeah i know i know) I was really fooling myself thinking that when I was drinking soda I was drinking water...now that I actually WANT to drink water I find myself drinking it a lot lot more. As a hardcore gamer you find yourself drinking more empty calories than you realize

 

[BronzeWolf]

I know this is derailing but you are mistaken. Injuries in sports with no contact are very much present. Running, weight lifting, athletics, gymnastics, golf, peddle shooting, keg lifting... all those involve injuries. Now, most injuries are pretty damn small. A hamstring pull can put you out for a week only, but it's an injury nonetheless.

IT's not about the injuries but how you recover from them. Having a good physio is paramount

But yeah, don't buy fad products like this

They are bullshit and a waste of time.

Fix your own meals

 

[BitchTits]

This is pretty much what I look like. Bloated fucking head. I feel like I could be a somewhat handsome guy if I lost those chubby cheeks.

I think this is just what you see, because you don't have bloated cheeks, that's just the shape of your face. And you're handsome as you are (this is not a come on, just sayin'!)

If you eat better than you say you do, and took regular exercise, you would tone up and your face would probably thin out a little sure, but you don't look like you need to lose weight.

 

[TheRagnCajun]

I went from 235 pounds to 167 pounds in about 8 months. I cardio 6 days a week for about 85 mins at a time (I burn about 1100 calories per work out). I want to start lifting weights again but I do not know where to start (haven't lifted weights for a couple of years now). Any help would be appreciated.

This will get you started

 

[The Orange]

But yeah, don't buy fad products like this

[MG]http://s.ecrater.com/stores/87779/4a4483fa8b9cf_87779n.jpg[/IMG]

They are bullshit and a waste of time.

Fix your own meals

What about these cereals without the fruit? Any tips on good types of cereals?

 

[BronzeWolf]

What about these cereals without the fruit? Any tips on good types of cereals?

I am on the no-cereal needed bandwagon. I would rather have a bacon omelette's personally. Fiber cereals are ok I guess

 

[RiskyChris]

Having a huge head is not a liability it's a fucking gift I tell ya. Makes your body proportions look much better in comparison!

Unless you're fat in which case you're fat with a fat head.

 

[BrassMonkey1010]

I am on the no-cereal needed bandwagon. I would rather have a bacon omelette's personally. Fiber cereals are ok I guess

I basically lived off cereal when I lost my 100 lbs. Ate blueberry morning and banana nut crunch almost every morning. Eggs taste so good, but I never found time to make them before I had to leave in the mourning.

 

[talisayNon]

ow fat wins out over low carb every time in terms of stored energy and how energized you feel over the course of the day. even people who insist on continuing low carb have admitted that they have more energy doing low fat

:lol

sure bro. I was on weight watchers (low-fat) for awhile (1-2 years) and I'd have insane cravings, be generally hungry all the time, and lightheaded trying to adhere to their point system.

With low carb I do not have the same problems. Some days I eat 1000 calories because I maintain fullness all day and have no cravings to eat more. Generally I hover around 1500 calories, and I have no desire to eat more. None.

Right now I'm ketogenic (around 30 gs of carbs a day), but I'm trying to get at least 70 from more greens.

Low carb is how we were meant to live and sustain. I can't explain it, but there's something innately natural to my energy levels are all the time. Must be the lack of glucose spikes from all the white rice/cereal/bread I consumed before.

 

[LaneDS]

Any recommendations on a healthy number of eggs and strips of bacon to start a day with? I successfully did the low-carb thing yesterday (the day prior to that I had posted about doing great for 80% of the day then giving up totally) but man I feel odd about eating three eggs and six strips of bacon in the mornings (I had some raw green beans too). It's too delicious for me to believe it's good for me.

 

[Brera]

This thread has been an inspiration!

I've lost half a stone in 3 weeks from pure running! 4.5 miles mix of walking and running for 6 days a week plus Gym sessions as much as I can. I look great, feel great! Another stone and I will be happy!

Was 12.5st from a high of 13.5st!

Now under 12st

Target is 11st and then build more muscle!

 

[Escape Goat]

This thread has been an inspiration!

I've lost half a stone in 3 weeks from pure running! 4.5 miles mix of walking and running for 6 days a week plus Gym sessions as much as I can. I look great, feel great! Another stone and I will be happy!

Was 12.5st from a high of 13.5st!

Now under 12st

Target is 11st and then build more muscle!

wtf is a stone

wtf is 12.5st

 

[borghe]

I know this is derailing but you are mistaken. Injuries in sports with no contact are very much present. Running, weight lifting, athletics, gymnastics, golf, peddle shooting, keg lifting... all those involve injuries. Now, most injuries are pretty damn small. A hamstring pull can put you out for a week only, but it's an injury nonetheless.

That's why I specificaully said "serious or chronic" injury. In gymnastics my daughter had a sprained hip ligament.. sidelined her from practice for a month. However I wouldn't consider that serious (nor did she) and the PT straight out said that at her age (9) her body won't even "remember" that injury even a month later. granted it was soft tissue, but she's been doing this for four years now and that's the worst she's faced. will it get worse? It can.... pretty eye opening moment as a parent the first "death indemnity waiver" you have to sign..... but there's also plenty of girls there who have been there since toddlers and are now competing level 10 and elite as teenagers without so much as even a broken toe.

my differentiation between contact and no contact is that to a degree I do agree that injury, serious injury, is a pretty likely event in contact sports. I mean in contact sports to some degree injury is what's sort of intended. but in non-contact sports, serious or chronic injuries are a reality, but not a guaranteed result. some people will break there arm the first month of practice, others will participate in them for 15 years with nothing more serious than a pulled hammy or a sprained wrist. I mean shit, I don't think any of those girls think that crotching the beam is a "nothing" at the moment i happens but 2-3 hours later their bodies are still going to perform like it never even happened.

sure bro. I was on weight watchers (low-fat) for awhile (1-2 years) and I'd have insane cravings, be generally hungry all the time, and lightheaded trying to adhere to their point system.

weight watchers is a calorie restricted diet. any sort of large calorie restriction is going to lead to your body wanting to load. I notice you say "some days" you are at 1000.. no kidding, because that is massively restricted also. but not on all days, where you say 1500 calories, which for some won't even be that much of a restriction.

weight watchers is not a great example. it's starvation. not extreme starvation, but most people go to it with little to no exercise and try to essentially survive on 800-1000 calories a day, EVERY day, and then like you are saying can't stand on the days that they are just starving and feeling the need to eat more. This as opposed to eating 1200-1400 calories a day and just getting 30 minutes of exercise instead.

low carb was most definitely not the way our bodies were meant to survive. I do agree that our bodies weren't designed to handle the insane amounts of processed and refined grains and sugars that we have now. but the fact is that our bodies process carbs with considerably more efficiency than fat as energy is a good indication as to how our bodies work. just the combination of refined/processed grains growing in our everyday eating combined with fewer and fewer reasons to remain active and it's gotten us to where we are today. low carb came about for one reason and one reason only. because if you do not maintain an active lifestyle, there is no way to diet on a low fat diet and lose weight without serious calorie restrictions.

anyway, let's stop. I'm glad you feel great and it's working for you. just please also recognize that I consume around 150-180g of carbs a day and have managed to lose 50lbs on it.

 

[RiskyChris]

I basically lived off cereal when I lost my 100 lbs. Ate blueberry morning and banana nut crunch almost every morning. Eggs taste so good, but I never found time to make them before I had to leave in the mourning.

There's this CRAAAAAAAZY method for cooking eggs ahead of time, you can even take them with you on the go w/ no mess!

Also you can make egg-salad, the greatest achievement of the culinary arts. Don't use mayo fatty.

 

[msdstc]

I'm not a big guy, I'm roughly 1,74, 68kg. I'd love to lose those eight kilos, but I guess that will be tough. I've weighed roughly the same the last five-seven years, though. What bothers me is that I've got a fat-face. I look pretty decent body wise, but my face looks kinda fat at times, which bothers me a lot. I'd mainly like to lose that, as well as some extra chunk around my waist.

I eat what I want, never exercise besides the ten minute walk to work every day.

I did get a dog, though. Requires a lot of excercise, but I feel my eating is what's preventing me from losing.

However, this thread is confusing as hell. One person is saying eat this this, one is saying eat that. I eat a lot of bread for breakfast and lunch, and I guess I could switch that out for some fruit and low-fat yoghurt. What else?

This is pretty much what I look like. Bloated fucking head. I feel like I could be a somewhat handsome guy if I lost those chubby cheeks.

[IM]http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs152.snc3/17944_379130575463_828890463_10143673_6023526_n.jpg[/IMG]

[IM]http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs395.snc3/24055_380000697370_558177370_4256766_3559476_n.jpg[/IMG]

People will harp on me for this, but it always has worked for me, so maybe I'm just different. The key is exercise, and routine. Doing things like playing with the dog and walking to work, maybe they can qualify, but you actually have to jog, or do machines like the ellitpical or the cardio bike. My weight fluctuates so much based on what I'm doing over a certain period of time, but my eating habbits aren't so much what causes that, but mostly the change in my routine.

Don't get me wrong though, dieting can help in a huge way. I usually diet for the first few weeks of my weight loss. Some advice to give you. If you drink soda at all, cut that out completely and replace it with water. I promise you, this will make you drop a ton of water weight and calories a day. Try eating tuna with light mayo in wraps not bread. A good alternative to tuna, which is low in calories high in protein, is turkey or grilled chicken. If you can eat like that on top of a good exercise routine, you will lose a lot of weight fast.

Oh and the last thing. I recently lost 25 pounds, and gained 5 in muscle, which is one thing I've done different this time is weights. Try slowly building a routine of weight lifiting. Building muscle requires calories to maintain and can help your physique overall. Hope some of this helps.

 

[StoOgE]

goal is to qualify for boston this fall which is basically a 7:45 minute mile for my age. getting close on sustained speed, and then just have to extend that to 26.2 miles :lol

I don't want to be Debbie downer, but it is extremely hard to qualify for that race. I know people who were college track athletes that can't hit those times. You have to be in insanely good shape to run a 4:00 time in a Marathon.

Plus, even if you do qualify, you get thrown in a lotto to actually get in the race.

NYC is a better bet, they allow like 3x the particpants... but that's still a very tough time to hit.

 

[StoOgE]

I went from 235 pounds to 167 pounds in about 8 months. I cardio 6 days a week for about 85 mins at a time (I burn about 1100 calories per work out). I want to start lifting weights again but I do not know where to start (haven't lifted weights for a couple of years now). Any help would be appreciated.

http://startingstrength.com/

 

[Guileless]

I fully agree that 80%+ for 40+ minutes more than once or twice a week is really really really bad for you. your heart simply isn't designed to handle that kind of strain.

I also agree that most people don't "need" to sustain a high level of carbs for that, but in most people's experience (that I've come across) you will feel better toward the end of a 40 minute cardio workout on a non-low carb diet and will also recover after the workout much faster, all while burning all of the carbs (i.e. no insulin or fat storage) and around the same amount of fat.

anyway, WITH EXERCISE INCLUDED, we are talking about matters of opinion at this point.. so to each their own on that.. I am just looking for agreement that in overall health, moderate (not low) levels of exercise need to be included. If you want to do low carb and exercise I'm not going to tell you you're doing it wrong. the fact that you're doing it at all is a step above most other people in our society. Good for you.

I agree we are somewhat splitting hairs. And everyone is different and I'm sure some people who are genetically predisposed to handle insulin well genuinely benefit from consuming a lot of carbs to fuel their workouts. Certainly, if you are training for a triathlon and bike for 40 miles one day and have to get up at 6 the next morning for your 2,000 yard swim, you have to quickly recover from your workout by consuming enough carbs to replace glycogen stores.

It's possible some people (non-serious distance athletes) feel better by consuming carbs (e.g. Gatorade) following a workout because they are simply used to it and their body has adapted to expect it. I also think there's a placebo effect that comes after decades of absorbing Gatorade commercials where Michael Jordan does amazing shit while sweating Gatorade.

Certainly, the great athletic feats of the age would be impossible without abundant carbs. My favorite sport of (American) college football would be drastically different without abundant carbs. A 225 lb linebacker who can run a 4.5 and bench press 350 pounds is an amazing physical specimen. But the only way to attain that level is to regularly consume a ton of carbs, and in the long run it's very stressful on the body.

 

[BronzeWolf]

Any recommendations on a healthy number of eggs and strips of bacon to start a day with? I successfully did the low-carb thing yesterday (the day prior to that I had posted about doing great for 80% of the day then giving up totally) but man I feel odd about eating three eggs and six strips of bacon in the mornings (I had some raw green beans too). It's too delicious for me to believe it's good for me.

As many as you want.

Seriously

 

[Calantus]

I'm not a big guy, I'm roughly 1,74, 68kg. I'd love to lose those eight kilos, but I guess that will be tough. I've weighed roughly the same the last five-seven years, though. What bothers me is that I've got a fat-face. I look pretty decent body wise, but my face looks kinda fat at times, which bothers me a lot. I'd mainly like to lose that, as well as some extra chunk around my waist.

I eat what I want, never exercise besides the ten minute walk to work every day.

I did get a dog, though. Requires a lot of excercise, but I feel my eating is what's preventing me from losing.

However, this thread is confusing as hell. One person is saying eat this this, one is saying eat that. I eat a lot of bread for breakfast and lunch, and I guess I could switch that out for some fruit and low-fat yoghurt. What else?

This is pretty much what I look like. Bloated fucking head. I feel like I could be a somewhat handsome guy if I lost those chubby cheeks.

IMG]http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs152.snc3/17944_379130575463_828890463_10143673_6023526_n.jpg[/IMG]

IMG]http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs395.snc3/24055_380000697370_558177370_4256766_3559476_n.jpg[/IMG]

It's very hard to lose the slightly chubby cheeks that you have, i have the same ones. It's much easier to get rid of a 'fat' face rather than a chubby face. I've been trying and i can't find anything that works.

I'm pretty skinny myself (5'11, 150 lbs), i think it's just genetics.

 

[BronzeWolf]

It's very hard to lose the slightly chubby cheeks that you have, i have the same ones. It's much easier to get rid of a 'fat' face rather than a chubby face. I've been trying and i can't find anything that works.

I'm pretty skinny myself (5'11, 150 lbs), i think it's just genetics.

Holy shit you are skinny

 

[talisayNon]

anyway, let's stop. I'm glad you feel great and it's working for you. just please also recognize that I consume around 150-180g of carbs a day and have managed to lose 50lbs on it.

150-180g's of carbs is carb-restricted and ideal according to those links teh_pwn posted.


"low carb came about for one reason and one reason only. because if you do not maintain an active lifestyle, there is no way to diet on a low fat diet and lose weight without serious calorie restrictions."

Umm...so that means a low-carb diet would be ideal? I don't understand why one would want it to be so much harder on themselves when trying to lose weight.

As for the Boston Marathon...do the Turkey Trot in Rhode Island to qualify..that's the easiest way and how my friends did it.