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Weight Loss Before/After Thread! (with pics)

Tashi

343i Lead Esports Producer
^^ From what I understand, the body and mind runs better in ketosis. I don't necessarily feel a more mental sharpness but I certainly do have more energy throughout the day. I also never really get sleepy for a nap. I wake up refreshed and ready to go. I love it.
 

Karak

Member
I understand that this has basically become the "Low-Carb/Keto" thread, but have any of you considered that a large part of low carb weight loss is the lack of water weight?

Now I know the merits of going low carb having done it before myself (and technically doing it right now, not going over 140g). But before anyone dispels it for being from Bodybuilding.com, this article does make a good argument that low carb is good for weight loss but not necessarily for fat loss. Meaning without hitting the weights, you're going to also lose a lot of muscle along with your fat, as opposed to just a cut.

I'm not trying to incite anything, because I think if people find something that works for them then that's what they should do. But it has sort of become sort of a low carb cult on Gaf, and I was just wanting to provoke some discussion. :)

Thats good discussion. Nothing wrong with that. But he does have some fundamental misses as posted by posters above me.

The lack of water weight does come into it, at first. But I have a bevy of tests monthly, for a hereditary issue, and my water retention is exactly where it should be.
I also can only speak for myself but Keto was the ONLY way I lost a ton and didn't lose muscle. Gained it. Maybe thats rare, but it seems like it isn't. Personal gains for me are always higher by a few percent while on low carb. I have been doing it since 93. And came over a couple times, less than a dozen, since that first time starting it. For me its not even a diet its just how I eat now. And just like anyone who has to control what they intake I make sure that I control any holiday intake and so forth in a measured way. I know lots of people view food as a reward but I am pretty uninterested in food as a whole and even moreso low carb. So perhaps that mindset is also a little rare.
 

Wiktor

Member
Meaning without hitting the weights, you're going to also lose a lot of muscle along with your fat, as opposed to just a cut.
)

No matter what you eat you will loose muscle without weight lifting. But no matter if you do lift weights or not, you will loose the least ammount of muscle on low-card (especially keto) diet.
 

jonremedy

Member
Low-carb isn't the only way to weight loss. Pretty much any method someone uses will help them lose weight. Low-carb, primal, calorie restriction, intermittent fasting, shake diets (i still wouldn't recommend those). The key is finding a diet that you can sustain and won't fall off the wagon after a month. For me, I find low-carb to be easier than calorie restriction.

I think the reason Weight Loss-GAF seems like "low-carb GAF" is that many of us have had huge successes with low-carb, some after trying other methods and falling off the wagon, so when we give advice about weight loss we recommend the method that worked best for us.

Yeah. I had a couple of tries with low-carb, but the problem for me was always that I like carb-rich foods too much... Rice, pasta, pizza... it's all really good.

Since I started calorie deficit dieting I've lost 38 lbs, and hoping to push past 40 within the next week. And... it's been really easy for me. I cheat quite a lot, and I still see good progress. The most important thing REALLY is to find out what works for you. This may take a while, but when you find it losing weight becomes so much easier than forcing yourself to follow diets that isn't livable for you.
 

Tashi

343i Lead Esports Producer
No matter what you eat you will loose muscle without weight lifting. But no matter if you do lift weights or not, you will loose the least ammount of muscle on low-card (especially keto) diet.

If your workout regimen doesn't change and you still get the required protein from a keto diet why would you lose muscle? Just an honest question.
 
I found it hard to take him seriously when he wrote this in the article:

The brain can function perfectly fine using ketones (which is what the body using for energy when in a state of ketosis) for energy instead of glucose from carbs. Saying that the brain can't function normally without carbs is false.

While it's true that the brain can use ketone bodies for around 50-75% of its energy needs, it does still require glucose (whether obtained dietarily or from amino acids via gluconeogenesis).
 

Schlep

Member
Yeah. I had a couple of tries with low-carb, but the problem for me was always that I like carb-rich foods too much... Rice, pasta, pizza... it's all really good.
Pizza is a hard one to escape, especially when it's such an easy go to for friends/family/co-workers. I never order or buy any and somehow I still end up eating it two or three times a month.

On the other hand, my dinner tonight will be grilled ribeye sauced with a mix of butter and cajun seasoning and jalapeños stuffed with cream cheese and wrapped in bacon. I'd rather have that than pasta, lol.
 

LaneDS

Member
Good shit. I think another round of p90x/continuing with workout and you will look on point, sir. Not saying you look bad now, you loook great, but why stop right? Might as well take it as far as you can.

Thank you sir. I have every intention of continuing to work hard, and will be starting P90X2 as soon as I finish out P90X in a week.
 
Anyone have experience with DDP Yoga?. Pretty much all of the reviews for it I've seen have been really good. I'm looking to it as a possible regimen to take up at home since it seems to not involve things that would upset my downstairs neighbor (I live on the second floor and have loud floors).

Someone posted this video in another thread, which is what turned me onto it.
 

Bealost

Member
Just for you Neogaff. Keep your nose down and chin up!
And thank you, I took a lot of motivations from this and the fitness threads.
Progress.jpeg
 

Bealost

Member
You missed a spot shaving.


Grats, broham. How many miles is a warrior dash?

Just three, and it was an 11pm the night before kind of thing, we weren't completely sober..... I already hit the barber to fix it up.

Edit:: O it was a mud joke, I'm a bit tired. I thought you were commenting on my hack-job of a mow-hawk.
 

SS4Gogita

Henshin!
I'm almost down to a low enough weight to want to share pictures, but not quite yet. I'm up to almost 50 pounds lost this year, but I need to lose at least another 20. Damn you, belly fat!
 

OG Kush

Member
What's the body fat percentage for someone who only has one ab visible (top right)?

12% or lower is what you need for good abs. so i'd say you're probably between 13-15%? Post a pic if you're comfortable, or search body fat percentages on google and check out some of the results and judge yourself accordingly.
 

Tashi

343i Lead Esports Producer
Had a wedding yesterday in the morning and at night so I didn't even bother to try to keep my Keto diet going. I just decided to take a day off from the diet. I didn't even really eat much, and didn't have anything to eat during the night part but I did kick back a whole lot of beer. Hungover today and I'm not sure if I got kicked out of ketosis. Oh well, doesn't make a difference.
 

Chris R

Member
Had a wedding yesterday in the morning and at night so I didn't even bother to try to keep my Keto diet going. I just decided to take a day off from the diet. I didn't even really eat much, and didn't have anything to eat during the night part but I did kick back a whole lot of beer. Hungover today and I'm not sure if I got kicked out of ketosis. Oh well, doesn't make a difference.

Only takes a few days to get back into the swing of things. Funny enough when I dropped out of ketosis after my birthday I did get the "keto-flu" where I didn't get it the first time I started.

Also, it kinda sucks that WiiFit doesn't scale very well :| http://minus.com/lBEzaSjrroTik Have to scale the thing to 1 year to get enough vertical stuff to grab my first weigh in. Just 11 pounds now to go (according to WiiFit) to be under 200!
 

Tashi

343i Lead Esports Producer
Only takes a few days to get back into the swing of things. Funny enough when I dropped out of ketosis after my birthday I did get the "keto-flu" where I didn't get it the first time I started.

Also, it kinda sucks that WiiFit doesn't scale very well :| http://minus.com/lBEzaSjrroTik Have to scale the thing to 1 year to get enough vertical stuff to grab my first weigh in. Just 11 pounds now to go (according to WiiFit) to be under 200!

Eww I hope I don't get that. What are the symptoms?

Feeling better now that I've had some water and food. Not 100% though. I think I might still be in ketosis. I guess I'll find out soon enough. Yesterday set me back about 1.5lbs so not bad. I'm sure I'll lose it and then some by next Monday, the 11 week mark.
 

grumble

Member
I understand that this has basically become the "Low-Carb/Keto" thread, but have any of you considered that a large part of low carb weight loss is the lack of water weight?

Now I know the merits of going low carb having done it before myself (and technically doing it right now, not going over 140g). But before anyone dispels it for being from Bodybuilding.com, this article does make a good argument that low carb is good for weight loss but not necessarily for fat loss. Meaning without hitting the weights, you're going to also lose a lot of muscle along with your fat, as opposed to just a cut.

I'm not trying to incite anything, because I think if people find something that works for them then that's what they should do. But it has sort of become sort of a low carb cult on Gaf, and I was just wanting to provoke some discussion. :)

There's been a lot of research on this, and the story ends up being that keto diets look slightly more effective, especially over short periods of time, but when you look at the weight loss graphs the difference is entirely due to water loss in the first two weeks. After that the rate is the same as a standard diet with matched calories.

That isn't why keto diets are good to me though; their higher protein intake and eliminating the most pervasive and most convenient source of calories mean people tend to stick to it more than a standard diet. The best diet is the one people stick to, and stick to for life ideally.
 

DSN2K

Member
checked the scales today GAF, 300lb, this shit has gone to far...I'm on anti Depressants and I've put on good 50lb in the last year.

Where do I start ? I do have WiiFit in the house and a rowing machine.
 

Piecake

Member
checked the scales today GAF, 300lb, this shit has gone to far...I'm on anti Depressants and I've put on good 50lb in the last year.

Where do I start ? I do have WiiFit in the house and a rowing machine.

Its all (mostly) about your diet. You need to change that if you want to see significant results. Well, i guess you could see results if you went insane on the exercise, but thats just ton of work

read this

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/primal-blueprint-101/#axzz1xXKYa117
 

Blondie

Neo Member
Ugh, about a little over a week ago I had my first cheat meal in forever: Pho with beef, beef flank, beef tripe, lots of veggies, and of course the rice noodles and who knows what kinda starch in the broth. No biggie right? NOPE! I gained 9 lbs overnight! Went from 166 to 175!!! I've lost 4 lbs of it in the last week but I've kinda stalled @ 171 lbs over the weekend. Set me back a month or more in my fat-loss.

Started doing HIIT Sunday & taking 600 mcg of GTF chromium to improve insulin resistance and get back to fat burning ASAP.

I realized when eating the noodles why I don't miss carbs at all. They don't taste like anything on their own! You gotta flavor them up! The best part of the pho was all the meat and veggies, the noodles where just this flavorless thing in the way. Fuck that, back to eating just yummy meat!
 

grumble

Member
checked the scales today GAF, 300lb, this shit has gone to far...I'm on anti Depressants and I've put on good 50lb in the last year.

Where do I start ? I do have WiiFit in the house and a rowing machine.

Well, start with some simple changes to your diet. No need to go crazy all at once.

1. Only drink diet soft drinks.
2. Drink coffee and tea black or with sweetener
3. No desserts
4. No chips
5. No french fries at fast food restaurants
6. Chew food thoroughly
7. Lots of protein
8. Use smaller plates if you have some
9. Always choose the vinaigrette dressings

That will last for the rest of your life.

Once you've gotten used to that for a few weeks, then look into a little more control over your diet. Cutting calories, slashing carbs, etc.
 
Did anyone else see the woman on Extreme Makeover Weight Loss this week? Wow, amazing! From 355lbs to 148lbs. She looked like a totally different person.
 

zam

Member
Well, start with some simple changes to your diet. No need to go crazy all at once.

1. Only drink diet soft drinks.
2. Drink coffee and tea black or with sweetener
3. No desserts
4. No chips
5. No french fries at fast food restaurants
6. Chew food thoroughly
7. Lots of protein
8. Use smaller plates if you have some
9. Always choose the vinaigrette dressings

That will last for the rest of your life.

Once you've gotten used to that for a few weeks, then look into a little more control over your diet. Cutting calories, slashing carbs, etc.

This is more or less how I started my weight loss journey (except for black coffee, gotta have some milk in my coffee). I cut out all junk food and sugary sodas,, and I would take a 20-30 min walk every day for about 2 months. I even made a rule for myself that I didn't allow myself to play videogames that day until after I had my walk. After about 1-1.5 months of just doing those simple things (cutting out junk food and taking a walk each day) I joined a gym. I was lucky that I had a gym that was only 5 minutes by foot from my apartment (granted now that I've gotten more serious about lifting weights I've switched gyms since the first gym's equipment was pretty bad).

After 2 months I started getting my diet in better shape. Even without junk foods and sodas and exercising I was still not losing much weight, and it would spike up and down a lot. Don't weigh yourself everday unless you are ready to see your weight go up and down a little and can handle that. It's easier to weigh yourself at the same time of day, same day once a week. Nowadays I weigh myself every day but I'm able to handle it now.

In hindsight I maybe should've gotten a better handle on my diet before starting working out, at the time I didn't know that weight loss is 90% diet, but whatever path you take stick with it. I eased myself into a healthier lifestyle gradually, by first just cutting out junk food and taking a short walk each day, then joining a gym, then getting more serious about what I eat.

I started January 2011 at 165.5kg (365lbs) and was fed up with being obese and seriously out of shape (walking 15min into town would leave me really out of breath and sweating a lot), today I'm at 117.8kg (260lbs).

There were times when I fell off the wagon, sometimes day, sometimes a week, and once a whole month. The important thing is to stick with it long term, it's a lifstyle change that should last your whole life. It's not a quick fix that will only last a couple months and once you've lost the wight you go back to your old habits. My old habits are what got me to a fat sack of lard weighing 165.5kg, and I don't ever want to go back there again.

Sorry for the wall of text :p Just felt like sharing my weight-loss journey so far.

Pics!
IBqRG.png

Don't have many pics of me from that time, this one is from January 2011 when I was 165.5kg


GFDTu.jpg

(ignore the clothes on the bathroom floor, my roomate left them piled in front of the mirror so I threw them down to take that pic)
qQq2H.jpg

Today at 117.8kg

Still got a way to go (my goal is to get below 100kg for the first time in almost 8-10 years), but I know that I'll get there eventually.
 

Hackbert

Member
I started January 2011 at 165.5kg (365lbs) and was fed up with being obese and seriously out of shape (walking 15min into town would leave me really out of breath and sweating a lot), today I'm at 117.8kg (260lbs).


Sorry for the wall of text :p Just felt like sharing my weight-loss journey so far.

Still got a way to go (my goal is to get below 100kg for the first time in almost 8-10 years), but I know that I'll get there eventually.

respect - thumbs up.. keep up the great work. I totally fell of the wagon this last weekend lol. had a meeting of online friends. booze and meat allll day long ^^".

After this month i will take new pictures. Hopefully down to 75kg until then (started 1.1.12 at 121kg)
 

zam

Member
respect - thumbs up.. keep up the great work. I totally fell of the wagon this last weekend lol. had a meeting of online friends. booze and meat allll day long ^^".

After this month i will take new pictures. Hopefully down to 75kg until then (started 1.1.12 at 121kg)

I do this too, I just try to keep it to one day (or one weekend) and get back on track the next day. It's fun to drink some booze and eat unhealthy now and then, no point in changing your lifestyle if you can't have a little fun now and then.
 
Starting a keto diet in earnest on thursday (shopping day). Currently at about 180, no clue about bodyfat, doing stronglifts 5x5 or maybe 5/3/1. My ultimate goal is to see at least two abs. Give me recipes!
 

Fireye

Member
After 2 months I started getting my diet in better shape. Even without junk foods and sodas and exercising I was still not losing much weight, and it would spike up and down a lot. Don't weigh yourself everday unless you are ready to see your weight go up and down a little and can handle that. It's easier to weigh yourself at the same time of day, same day once a week. Nowadays I weigh myself every day but I'm able to handle it now.

...

There were times when I fell off the wagon, sometimes day, sometimes a week, and once a whole month. The important thing is to stick with it long term, it's a lifstyle change that should last your whole life. It's not a quick fix that will only last a couple months and once you've lost the wight you go back to your old habits. My old habits are what got me to a fat sack of lard weighing 165.5kg, and I don't ever want to go back there again.

Inspirational story! I absolutely agree with your experiences and outlook. It is a lifestyle change. I went from 308lbs to 262lbs fairly quickly (May '11 - Aug/Sep '11), but then I plateaued. I stopped worry so much about counting calories and exercise. When I started thinking about losing weight again in Mar '12, I was 273lbs. That's pretty damn close to where I left off, which made me extremely happy.

Now that I'm back actively counting calories and exercising, I've broken past my earlier low, and am now the lightest I've weighed in probably 8 years.

On a side-note, how tall are you? Our body types are very similar, though you're a few lbs above me at the moment.
 
It's been about 10 months and I am 155lbs from 200lbs. Now the real goal is reducing my body fat %. I could care less about pounds anymore because I think I'm in a good place. Currently my body fat is 14.6% and the next goal is to get it down to 10%.
 

Chris R

Member
Eww I hope I don't get that. What are the symptoms?

Feeling better now that I've had some water and food. Not 100% though. I think I might still be in ketosis. I guess I'll find out soon enough. Yesterday set me back about 1.5lbs so not bad. I'm sure I'll lose it and then some by next Monday, the 11 week mark.

Symptoms are just like a mild bout of the flu, hence "keto-flu".

Losing weight is nice, but I just wish the damn "beer belly" (well not really caused by beer since I was never really a huge drinker of it) would start to disappear.
 

Domino Theory

Crystal Dynamics
Started Primal bulking yesterday. So excited to eventually get big! I'm going to bulk to 220, then cut, rinse and repeat until desired look is achieved.
 

Tashi

343i Lead Esports Producer
Symptoms are just like a mild bout of the flu, hence "keto-flu".

Losing weight is nice, but I just wish the damn "beer belly" (well not really caused by beer since I was never really a huge drinker of it) would start to disappear.

Ahh ok, I thought there were symptoms specific to Keto Flu because of Ketosis.

Started Primal bulking yesterday. So excited to eventually get big! I'm going to bulk to 220, then cut, rinse and repeat until desired look is achieved.

What does it consist of?
 

zam

Member
Inspirational story! I absolutely agree with your experiences and outlook. It is a lifestyle change. I went from 308lbs to 262lbs fairly quickly (May '11 - Aug/Sep '11), but then I plateaued. I stopped worry so much about counting calories and exercise. When I started thinking about losing weight again in Mar '12, I was 273lbs. That's pretty damn close to where I left off, which made me extremely happy.

Now that I'm back actively counting calories and exercising, I've broken past my earlier low, and am now the lightest I've weighed in probably 8 years.

On a side-note, how tall are you? Our body types are very similar, though you're a few lbs above me at the moment.
I'm 190cm (6'3"). Plateaus can be really frustrating, especially when they last a while, but as long as I'm not gaining weight (or rather, gaining fat weight) I just try my best to keep on going and power through the plateau.

feel awful had a slice of pizza and a tiny amount of pasta. That must have fucked up the 2 hours I did at the gym.
2 hour workout seems way too long. What are you doing in the gym that you are there for 2 hours?
 

Domino Theory

Crystal Dynamics
I meant the lifting but that was probably my next question anyway lol

Oh, my lifting routine is currently:

Monday - Bench Press, Deadlift, Pull Ups

Wednesday - Chin Ups, Power Clean, Lying Tricep Extension

Friday - Overhead Press, Squats, Pull Ups

As heavy as I can possibly go for 4-8 reps per set for 3 sets each exercise (except Deadlift which is 2x3-5).
 
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