-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Weight Loss Before/After Thread! (with pics)
- Thread starter lsslave
- Start date
Drealmcc0y
Banned
infiniteloop said:
Thanks.
I just whipped up some scrambled egg with pork(or boiled bacon). Is that good to eat at 9 o clock at night, 2 hours before i go to bed?
Normally i work out at night and so between 9-12pm i usually succumb to temptation and eat crappy food because i really need to eat after the workout.
Drealmcc0y said:
Timing shouldn't matter too much so long as you don't stuff yourself just before bed. Shouldn't do that anyway.
Cook large meals and keep leftovers.
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/primal-blueprint-recipes/
jts
...hate me...
Hey guys!
I've finally reached 100kg! (220.5lb)
Now that's a milestone
It's probably not what you're thinking though. Not a new low. It's a new high (which means that it's a new low too but hey).
In the last year I was always on the 90s, sometimes 99.something but never reached 100, which was kinda bugging me out. Now I made it, and before 2011 too.
Oddly enough, I think I'll be proud to say "I reached the 3 digits" and then start working on going down on the scale and never coming back again.
Come January 1st and I'll quit cold turkey my current unhealthy habits: hogging out all the time and not doing shit except for the ocasional couple of weeks per year that I try to exercice.
At least, that's what I hope. Tried and failed too many times. But this time... it will be different. I can feel it.
Also, to anyone lacking a motivation, let's do this GAF! 2011 will be our year! YEAH
I've finally reached 100kg! (220.5lb)
Now that's a milestone
It's probably not what you're thinking though. Not a new low. It's a new high (which means that it's a new low too but hey).
In the last year I was always on the 90s, sometimes 99.something but never reached 100, which was kinda bugging me out. Now I made it, and before 2011 too.
Oddly enough, I think I'll be proud to say "I reached the 3 digits" and then start working on going down on the scale and never coming back again.
Come January 1st and I'll quit cold turkey my current unhealthy habits: hogging out all the time and not doing shit except for the ocasional couple of weeks per year that I try to exercice.
At least, that's what I hope. Tried and failed too many times. But this time... it will be different. I can feel it.
Also, to anyone lacking a motivation, let's do this GAF! 2011 will be our year! YEAH
I read Gary Taubes' new book "Why We Get Fat: And what to do about it". Basically it's a very casually written part of GCBC's insulin/fat loss parts with some of his lectures mixed in. He touches cholesterol, cancer, and dementia in just a few pages. I don't think he even mentioned Ancel Keys. If you read GCBC, there's no reason to read this one. It's really targeted for a less technical demographic.
It does a good job discrediting the caloriesIn/CaloriesOut "explanation" of obesity, but he's still only focused on insulin. I think it's possible to get fat by overeating fat/protein if you're leptin resistant which is known to be caused by a high n-6/n-3 ratio, leaky gut + bad intestinal bacteria which is independent of the fructose or lectins (carb related causes). There's probably other causes that we don't even know yet as this field of science is low priority and stuff like leptin, the gut, and the hypothalamus are just starting to be understood.
It does a good job discrediting the caloriesIn/CaloriesOut "explanation" of obesity, but he's still only focused on insulin. I think it's possible to get fat by overeating fat/protein if you're leptin resistant which is known to be caused by a high n-6/n-3 ratio, leaky gut + bad intestinal bacteria which is independent of the fructose or lectins (carb related causes). There's probably other causes that we don't even know yet as this field of science is low priority and stuff like leptin, the gut, and the hypothalamus are just starting to be understood.
betweenthewheels
Member
teh_pwn said:
Nice impressions. I'm making my way through it, as GCBC is a bit intimidating. So far it's an interesting read.
I also just finished 'The 4-Hour Body'. What is the general consensus on the 'slow-carb' diet. It's basically like Atkins Induction but with some strange additions (legumes/lentils) and subtractions (fatty meats). Though i'm quite fond of the weekly cheat day rule, heh
betweenthewheels said:
GCBC is a beast, but I think is more important because it so thoroughly debunks Ancel Keys' fat/cholesterol/heart disease hypothesis. It also goes into detail about how the obesity epidemic probably started in the 1970s when the planets aligned allowing the food pyramid and low fat dogma to become the "conventional wisdom". It's important to debunk this because if you believe fat is bad, the natural consequence is a sugary, starchy diet.
Don't get me wrong, "Why We Get Fat" is a good book because it steers the conversation out of the "we eat more calories because we eat more calories" dead end and gets people thinking about real cause/effect. It's a vitally important thing we need to do as a society. The United States is going to go bankrupt on medical expenses if we don't reverse this metabolic syndrome trend. People somehow think it's normal for hunger to be excessive and everyone to get diabetes. Just look at photos of people from your grandparents photo albums to see the surreal state of American health before the 1960s. Fat people then would only be mildly overweight by today's standards, and there were very few of them.
Domino Theory
Crystal Dynamics
After much research and sifting through leangains.com as much as I could (runs like shit on IE), I've decided to do IF everyday. I feel great after my first day and now I'm actually able to tell between when my body says I'm hungry and when my emotions say I'm hungry.
I also can't believe all the shit about your metabolism slowing down when not eating, your body eating away at your muscles and breakfast being an important, must-have meal are all total bullshit. I grew up on the fact that breakfast was important (I HATE eating breakfast) and now I can eat when I really want to eat/when I'm actually hungry.
IF + Low carb = unstoppable.
I also can't believe all the shit about your metabolism slowing down when not eating, your body eating away at your muscles and breakfast being an important, must-have meal are all total bullshit. I grew up on the fact that breakfast was important (I HATE eating breakfast) and now I can eat when I really want to eat/when I'm actually hungry.
IF + Low carb = unstoppable.
Okay, I've been meaning to post here for a long time, since the stories in this thread were one of the primary things that convinced me that I COULD lose weight and get in shape.
Here's the "Before" and "After" pictures. The first is me, about 3 years ago, the second is me today;
In the first picture, I think I was about 280 (to be fair, the beard probably accounted for 10 pounds by itself), currently I'm at 150, and I've been maintaining that weight for about two years now.
I'd been heavy for many years when I started this, and had previously tried a couple of approaches to weight loss including rice cakes, slim fast, atkins diet, etc. But many of the posts in this thread convinced me that I could, in fact, lose weight through the bizarre approach of eating less and exercising, something I had understandably scoffed at for years...
So, long story short; I started out with a stationary bike, doing 5-10 minutes a day while watching TV, and cut back on the quantity of food I ate, though I was still eating the same food. This had such a big impact that I quickly expanded my efforts. I added a couple more types of exercise, started diligently tracking my calories, and continued to lose weight.
Currently, I try to exercise every day (half an hour on the bike, or swimming laps, supplemented by sit-ups and/or arm weights for 10 minutes or so), and maintain a net of roughly 1600-1700 calories per day (seems to be the sweet spot for me).
I do eat more healthy food than I used to, like apples, bananas, granola bars, 'healthy choice' meals, and such, but I also still eat the same foods I've always eaten, PB&J, pizza, White Castle, candy bars, etc., though not in the amounts I used to. The only significant change I've made to my diet is the near removal of non-diet sodas. Frankly, I'd rather invest that 150 calories in solid food like a Twinkie or something similar...
Anyway, thanks to everyone in this thread for sharing their stories and advice, it definitely helped me get to where I am today.
In closing, here's the stereotypical weight loss picture where the 'after' me is holding up clothing worn by the 'before' me... enjoy!
Here's the "Before" and "After" pictures. The first is me, about 3 years ago, the second is me today;
In the first picture, I think I was about 280 (to be fair, the beard probably accounted for 10 pounds by itself), currently I'm at 150, and I've been maintaining that weight for about two years now.
I'd been heavy for many years when I started this, and had previously tried a couple of approaches to weight loss including rice cakes, slim fast, atkins diet, etc. But many of the posts in this thread convinced me that I could, in fact, lose weight through the bizarre approach of eating less and exercising, something I had understandably scoffed at for years...
So, long story short; I started out with a stationary bike, doing 5-10 minutes a day while watching TV, and cut back on the quantity of food I ate, though I was still eating the same food. This had such a big impact that I quickly expanded my efforts. I added a couple more types of exercise, started diligently tracking my calories, and continued to lose weight.
Currently, I try to exercise every day (half an hour on the bike, or swimming laps, supplemented by sit-ups and/or arm weights for 10 minutes or so), and maintain a net of roughly 1600-1700 calories per day (seems to be the sweet spot for me).
I do eat more healthy food than I used to, like apples, bananas, granola bars, 'healthy choice' meals, and such, but I also still eat the same foods I've always eaten, PB&J, pizza, White Castle, candy bars, etc., though not in the amounts I used to. The only significant change I've made to my diet is the near removal of non-diet sodas. Frankly, I'd rather invest that 150 calories in solid food like a Twinkie or something similar...
Anyway, thanks to everyone in this thread for sharing their stories and advice, it definitely helped me get to where I am today.
In closing, here's the stereotypical weight loss picture where the 'after' me is holding up clothing worn by the 'before' me... enjoy!
Nice job on the weight loss! Great results. You seem like a very thin guy now, it's quite the difference. It's funny how some people seem to need to manage what kinds of food they eat so tightly to be able to control their intake, and how others are fine eating whatever and can limit portions regardless. Me, so long as I eat my protein and keep junk food intake moderate, I can eat whatever as well.
ItAintEasyBeinCheesy
it's 4th of July in my asshole
Nice work!
I sorta had an epiphany today. I was looking at my driver's license pic (need to renew it soon) and remembered how thin/in shape I was in High School (used to run Cross Country & Track) & how I never really lost the Freshman 15/20/30/etc. So my dad "borrowed" the P90X dvds from someone at work & the program did wonders for him. Looks like I'm gonna start my 90 days tomorrow. If everything goes according to plan, I'll post some before/after photos in about 3 months
sundrenched
Neo Member
Hey just a update, it's been 3 weeks since I started my fitness+ diet regime and so far I have lost...0kg. The weighing scale is pretty up and down but I haven't consistenly kept a strict low carb diet, no sugar diet. On the plus side, my friends commented that my arms are more defined so hopefully I'll have a clean week!
For the IFing people, do you exercise in the morning? Early morning is the best time for me to exercise due to time constraints but I can't do a proper workout if I don't have something light, like a banana. After that, I have to drink a whey protein isolate to build some muscles and flax seed powder for recovery. I'm thinking whether I should do IF once a week on my rest day instead, or is that not enough?
For those who drink whey protein, I noticed that my newly arrived bottle has something called sucralose. Since the protein taste like chocolate powder, I was naturally suspicious and googled what sucralose is. Is it even possible to get whey protein without sucralose or is it just a poison you have to live with, like air pollution? Is having whey isolate once a day good enough, I'm not looking to bulk up dramatically, just trying to have a toned body that can burn more fat!
For the IFing people, do you exercise in the morning? Early morning is the best time for me to exercise due to time constraints but I can't do a proper workout if I don't have something light, like a banana. After that, I have to drink a whey protein isolate to build some muscles and flax seed powder for recovery. I'm thinking whether I should do IF once a week on my rest day instead, or is that not enough?
For those who drink whey protein, I noticed that my newly arrived bottle has something called sucralose. Since the protein taste like chocolate powder, I was naturally suspicious and googled what sucralose is. Is it even possible to get whey protein without sucralose or is it just a poison you have to live with, like air pollution? Is having whey isolate once a day good enough, I'm not looking to bulk up dramatically, just trying to have a toned body that can burn more fat!
reggieandTFE
Member
Great job Steencock! I can't believe calorie counting and card exercise worked for you and youve been able to keep it off for so long. According to the experts in this thread only low-carb diets and lifting heavy weights help people lose weight.
reggieandTFE said:
I don't think anyone said that. We're saying that a disregulation of hypothalamus & leptin signaling causes elevated hunger, which causes overeating and subsequent fat gain. You can lose fat calorie counting and exercising, but without fixing the cause you'll have to fight hunger every day of your life. It isn't sustainable for most people, as the annual influx of January gym rats will show us.
B.K. said:
It gave advice on fixing leptin resistance. Healthy leptin function is key to fixing obesity for many people. It is the primary hormone that the body uses to determine caloric intake (hunger) and caloric expenditure (energy, body heat).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leptin
Here are instructions to follow if you just want to skip understanding the cause (the last couple are optional):
http://www.paleonu.com/get-started/
Examples of foods that fit this criteria:
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/primal-blueprint-recipes/
Weights and sprints are good ideas too.
BronzeWolf
Banned
B.K. said:
well you've got to do your research too dood
Mr.Squirrel
Tom
Steenbock said:Okay, I've been meaning to post here for a long time, since the stories in this thread were one of the primary things that convinced me that I COULD lose weight and get in shape.
Here's the "Before" and "After" pictures. The first is me, about 3 years ago, the second is me today;
In the first picture, I think I was about 280 (to be fair, the beard probably accounted for 10 pounds by itself), currently I'm at 150, and I've been maintaining that weight for about two years now.
I'd been heavy for many years when I started this, and had previously tried a couple of approaches to weight loss including rice cakes, slim fast, atkins diet, etc. But many of the posts in this thread convinced me that I could, in fact, lose weight through the bizarre approach of eating less and exercising, something I had understandably scoffed at for years...
So, long story short; I started out with a stationary bike, doing 5-10 minutes a day while watching TV, and cut back on the quantity of food I ate, though I was still eating the same food. This had such a big impact that I quickly expanded my efforts. I added a couple more types of exercise, started diligently tracking my calories, and continued to lose weight.
Currently, I try to exercise every day (half an hour on the bike, or swimming laps, supplemented by sit-ups and/or arm weights for 10 minutes or so), and maintain a net of roughly 1600-1700 calories per day (seems to be the sweet spot for me).
I do eat more healthy food than I used to, like apples, bananas, granola bars, 'healthy choice' meals, and such, but I also still eat the same foods I've always eaten, PB&J, pizza, White Castle, candy bars, etc., though not in the amounts I used to. The only significant change I've made to my diet is the near removal of non-diet sodas. Frankly, I'd rather invest that 150 calories in solid food like a Twinkie or something similar...
Anyway, thanks to everyone in this thread for sharing their stories and advice, it definitely helped me get to where I am today.
In closing, here's the stereotypical weight loss picture where the 'after' me is holding up clothing worn by the 'before' me... enjoy!
Obviously you're on the crystal meth diet. good job man
ArachosiA 78
Member
sundrenched said:
Sucralose is just an artifical sweetner. It's a hell of a lot better for you than real sugar. I'm sure there are protein powders out there without any sweetners, but I'm guessing they would taste like pure ass. I wouldn't worry about a little bit of sucralose. One protein shake a day is enough...just drink it after your workout.
I need to get in on this. I definitely over eat probably daily, and my schedule is not regular at all. I might not have my first meal until 4 or 5 pm at night (I usually start work at 11 am and wake up at 10:50 am though).
I'm around 230 at the moment, and 5'10". So definitely over weight. No transportation, so I can't get to the gym. I don't have a bike either, and I have a tender right knee from a ACL reconstruction surgery I had in february of last year (it's OK, but still weaker and it pops sometimes).
The obvious thing for me is not eating. I tend to be one of those people that eats when they're bored, or eats to keep their hands busy when they're watching a movie or something. I have a hard time sitting still long enough to watch a movie, but it's bearable if I've got a bowl of raisin bran in front of me, or a couple of pb&j sandwiches.
I haven't been working out, and I don't really know where to start on that. I have no equipment and no gym, so everything I'd have to do would be body weight type exercises. I also don't think I'm anywhere near ready for something like p90x.
So, where do I start? Obviously, controlling my eating habits is a top priority, but I'm not sure how to not give in. I've lost weight before, but always gained it back because eventually I got tired of exercising and wanted some chocolate or something. I'd really like to keep myself on the program this time and get back down to 170 or so.
I'm around 230 at the moment, and 5'10". So definitely over weight. No transportation, so I can't get to the gym. I don't have a bike either, and I have a tender right knee from a ACL reconstruction surgery I had in february of last year (it's OK, but still weaker and it pops sometimes).
The obvious thing for me is not eating. I tend to be one of those people that eats when they're bored, or eats to keep their hands busy when they're watching a movie or something. I have a hard time sitting still long enough to watch a movie, but it's bearable if I've got a bowl of raisin bran in front of me, or a couple of pb&j sandwiches.
I haven't been working out, and I don't really know where to start on that. I have no equipment and no gym, so everything I'd have to do would be body weight type exercises. I also don't think I'm anywhere near ready for something like p90x.
So, where do I start? Obviously, controlling my eating habits is a top priority, but I'm not sure how to not give in. I've lost weight before, but always gained it back because eventually I got tired of exercising and wanted some chocolate or something. I'd really like to keep myself on the program this time and get back down to 170 or so.
akachan ningen
Member
Steenbock said:
This is my problem. I was denying myself sugar and all types of bad food, limiting calories through less quantity per meal, carb cycling, etc. but I then started eating the bad foods I grew up loving again and I'm really in a hamster-esque cycle now of binging followed by intense workouts. This is causing both psychological and physical problems for me including sleep deprivation and depression flare-ups mixed with anxiety. If I could get any advice before I end up coupling my extraneous problems(parental cheating issue by my mother leaving my best friend father miserable and depressed confiding, venting, and raging at me in regards to that problem and money problems coupled with guilt because of my desire to eat expensive meals and not eat bland home cooked food, plus my work being too much physically for me but my only option, loss of brother through DCF by way of his anxiety preventing him from attending school which coupled with my lack of friends and the majority of my family having died or being distant make's me very lonely)with my personal struggles and ending it all though I hope I don't have it in me I'd very much appreciate it.
Any help, any books, anything at all would be great. I'm currently seeing a specialist about my condition but have yet to see any results. I also used to eat meals every 3 to four hours 6 times a day but with the inclusion of carbs into my calculations I've found that low fat and low carb options(don't want too many nuts) as far as I know are too limited in terms of what I find satisfying and not leaving me thinking about what I'm going to eat for the 3 to 4 hours I wait between meals so sometimes I end up eating eight hours between meals just because I'm afraid of eating something unsatisfying that will later trigger a binge. I also feel as though every time I eat something I have to work out soon after so I can't relax and focus on much else, this has eliminated all my hobbie and my ability to relax.
I haven't been happy for a year since I started exercising and dieting despite finding happiness for some time at results but an inability to sustain progress is really bothering me.
Thanks.
Any help, any books, anything at all would be great. I'm currently seeing a specialist about my condition but have yet to see any results. I also used to eat meals every 3 to four hours 6 times a day but with the inclusion of carbs into my calculations I've found that low fat and low carb options(don't want too many nuts) as far as I know are too limited in terms of what I find satisfying and not leaving me thinking about what I'm going to eat for the 3 to 4 hours I wait between meals so sometimes I end up eating eight hours between meals just because I'm afraid of eating something unsatisfying that will later trigger a binge. I also feel as though every time I eat something I have to work out soon after so I can't relax and focus on much else, this has eliminated all my hobbie and my ability to relax.
I haven't been happy for a year since I started exercising and dieting despite finding happiness for some time at results but an inability to sustain progress is really bothering me.
Thanks.
sundrenched
Neo Member
Any help, any books, anything at all would be great. I'm currently seeing a specialist about my condition but have yet to see any results. I also used to eat meals every 3 to four hours 6 times a day but with the inclusion of carbs into my calculations I've found that low fat and low carb options(don't want too many nuts) as far as I know are too limited in terms of what I find satisfying and not leaving me thinking about what I'm going to eat for the 3 to 4 hours I wait between meals so sometimes I end up eating eight hours between meals just because I'm afraid of eating something unsatisfying that will later trigger a binge. I also feel as though every time I eat something I have to work out soon after so I can't relax and focus on much else, this has eliminated all my hobbie and my ability to relax.
I haven't been happy for a year since I started exercising and dieting despite finding happiness for some time at results but an inability to sustain progress is really bothering me.
Thanks.[/QUOTE]
hey I'm not too sure about your other problems but eating 6 (!!) meals a day is not very sustainable. There was a time when I tried a 5 meal a day diet but I do believe research does not show it is any better than 3 meals or less. What's worse for me is the time spent cooking, preparing or even thinking about what I'm going to eat next, it's almost like your entire day revolves around food, even when you go out, you have to time when to eat! Plus thinking about salad after salad just makes me want to eat chocolate and stuff.
Perhaps you can just eat lots of protein, veg and fruits instead? Home cooked food is bland I agree but it is occasionally quite exciting. I made poached chicken for the first time, and I used white wine and I can't wait to try it out tomorrow! alternatively you get someone to cook for you. I have a lot of leftovers from new year parties!
I haven't been happy for a year since I started exercising and dieting despite finding happiness for some time at results but an inability to sustain progress is really bothering me.
Thanks.[/QUOTE]
hey I'm not too sure about your other problems but eating 6 (!!) meals a day is not very sustainable. There was a time when I tried a 5 meal a day diet but I do believe research does not show it is any better than 3 meals or less. What's worse for me is the time spent cooking, preparing or even thinking about what I'm going to eat next, it's almost like your entire day revolves around food, even when you go out, you have to time when to eat! Plus thinking about salad after salad just makes me want to eat chocolate and stuff.
Perhaps you can just eat lots of protein, veg and fruits instead? Home cooked food is bland I agree but it is occasionally quite exciting. I made poached chicken for the first time, and I used white wine and I can't wait to try it out tomorrow!
alternatively you get someone to cook for you. I have a lot of leftovers from new year parties!infiniteloop
Member
starting Whole30 today, woop.
Neuromancer
Member
Well I'm back on the diet and exercise routine. I lost 20 pounds around the midpoint of last year and then gained them all back. Wish me luck GAF.
cryptic said:
You may have some psychological conditions, but there's a good chance that your overeating isn't psychological. It's probably physiological. If simply telling yourself at a conscious level to undereat worked long term, most people wouldn't be overweight in the United States. People certainly try as the booming fitness industry and commercials this time of year tell us. They just can't sustain it for reasons similar that sexual abstinence isn't sustainable for most people. Lots of people instead get transient fat loss followed by rapid fat gain as soon as they return to their old ways. It's because they're body fat setpoint in the hypothalamus is high. That's what you should work on correcting.
It's also possible there are other causes of fat gain as funding for this sort of science is low because the government is so damn sure people overeat for the sake of overeating, despite all of aspects of obesity that reduce the quality of life and deter people from wanting to overeat.
Here are some recipes:
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/primal-blueprint-recipes/
They aren't necessarily low carb. They're sort of a hybrid of paleo and low carb. Potatoes are probably fine though.
As far as missing some of the foods we grew up with, I agree with you on pizza. I'm going to try this in the next couple of days.
The Primal Blueprint Cookbook by Mark Sisson has some good stuff. I like the Transylvanian Stockpot, Bison chili, and 5 spice broccoli beef. Tons more I'll probably like but I just haven't tried them yet.
If you're one of those people that sees food in TV ads and gets cravings, I would recommend a DVR and netflix. There is actually some research showing some people get addicted to sugar and wheat in the reward pathways of the prefrontal cortex. As soon as they see the food, insulin starts releasing. These sorts of people will constantly think about leftovers in the fridge and eat it until it's gone. Only when it's gone will the cravings stop. So you may want to clear out your fridge when you've decided to do whatever diet you end up with.
Some resources:
Gary Taubes Web Seminar (refutes lack of calorie counting as causation, talks about insulin)
Sugar: The Bitter Truth (Talks about fructose induced leptin resistance, hypertension, fatty liver)
Lectins & Leptin resistance:
http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2008/04/leptin-and-lectins.html
http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2008/04/leptin-and-lectins-part-ii.html
http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2008/04/leptin-and-lectins-part-iii.html
I think this science paper is what Stephan started with:
http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6823/5/10
infiniteloop
Member
teh_pwn said:
I tried that a little while ago, didn't come out great :lol probably messed something up, let me know how it comes out for you and I might give it a go again.
spindashing
Banned
Steenbock said:Okay, I've been meaning to post here for a long time, since the stories in this thread were one of the primary things that convinced me that I COULD lose weight and get in shape.
Here's the "Before" and "After" pictures. The first is me, about 3 years ago, the second is me today;
In the first picture, I think I was about 280 (to be fair, the beard probably accounted for 10 pounds by itself), currently I'm at 150, and I've been maintaining that weight for about two years now.
I'd been heavy for many years when I started this, and had previously tried a couple of approaches to weight loss including rice cakes, slim fast, atkins diet, etc. But many of the posts in this thread convinced me that I could, in fact, lose weight through the bizarre approach of eating less and exercising, something I had understandably scoffed at for years...
So, long story short; I started out with a stationary bike, doing 5-10 minutes a day while watching TV, and cut back on the quantity of food I ate, though I was still eating the same food. This had such a big impact that I quickly expanded my efforts. I added a couple more types of exercise, started diligently tracking my calories, and continued to lose weight.
Currently, I try to exercise every day (half an hour on the bike, or swimming laps, supplemented by sit-ups and/or arm weights for 10 minutes or so), and maintain a net of roughly 1600-1700 calories per day (seems to be the sweet spot for me).
I do eat more healthy food than I used to, like apples, bananas, granola bars, 'healthy choice' meals, and such, but I also still eat the same foods I've always eaten, PB&J, pizza, White Castle, candy bars, etc., though not in the amounts I used to. The only significant change I've made to my diet is the near removal of non-diet sodas. Frankly, I'd rather invest that 150 calories in solid food like a Twinkie or something similar...
Anyway, thanks to everyone in this thread for sharing their stories and advice, it definitely helped me get to where I am today.
In closing, here's the stereotypical weight loss picture where the 'after' me is holding up clothing worn by the 'before' me... enjoy!
HOLY shit. Good work, bro.
B.K. said:
Depending on how overweight you are, simply not eating shit will work wonders. I went from 210>170 + a shit ton of muscle (I'm 5'9") in ten months. I didn't count a single calorie.
1. Don't make losing weight about food. If you spend all your days resenting your diet because you can't have an Oh Henry, you're going to hate your life. Food is a means to keeping yourself alive. Does an Oh Henry really give you nutrition? Losing weight is a lifestyle choice, not something you do an hour a day.
2. Don't starve yourself. If you're hungry, eat. But learn to tell the difference between legitimately hungry and bored. A good rule of thumbif you're not hungry enough to eat an apple, you're not hungry.
3. Significantly decrease shit sugar intakechips, pop, candy. Throw all that shit out. You don't need it and after a week you won't even want it. Guess what? After a while, fruit will taste like absolute nirvana.
4. Drink water. When you feel like you're hungry, half the time you're just thirsty. If you think you drink enough water, drink more. Whizzing every hour to 90 minutes is a good thing.
5. Eat breakfast. For fuck's sake eat breakfast. I don't care if you aren't a breakfast person, force something down. You'll eat less throughout the day.
6. Do something. Anything. Again, depending on how overweight you are. If you are morbidly obese, doing any physical activity will help. As you get stronger, you'll want to do more.
7. Macronutrientsso there are three major nutrients: protein, fat, and carbs. Protein builds muscle and makes you feel full. Fat (healthy fats in fish and nuts) lubricate your joints. Carbs give you instantaneous energy. Increase your protein intake and decrease the carbs as much as feasible. Healthy fats are not a bad thing.
Bonus, most important pointhave a good attitude. You don't go to the gym because you have to lose weight. You go the gym because you want to look good, enjoy it, and it's just something you do. Incorporate it into your lifestyle and it will be orders of magnitude easier. And do things you want to do. Don't do spin classes if you cannot stand them. Don't do yoga just because fit people do yoga. Do something because you want to do it.
tl;drYou don't need some fancy, pretty-lady diet to lose weight. Just cut the shit and make a consistent effort. If you need someone to push you to do it, I whole heartedly recommend P90X (I did a round two years ago and it was fantastic). But losing weight is a lifestyle choice if you want it to stick.
Also another point I just thought ofthere will probably be weeks where you do everything right and still don't lose a pound.
Don't worry about it.
Weight loss is not a science because there are way too many variables. Maybe you're retaining an extra bit of water. Maybe you haven't taken a shit yet. Don't worry about it. Keep doing what you're doing and it will come off.
Don't worry about it.
Weight loss is not a science because there are way too many variables. Maybe you're retaining an extra bit of water. Maybe you haven't taken a shit yet. Don't worry about it. Keep doing what you're doing and it will come off.
betweenthewheels
Member
That's too little. Have some eggs1stStrike said:
betweenthewheels said:
I don't have any eggs. I do have stuff for dinner and lunch - fish in the freezer, salad, chicken, etc. Just not much on the breakfast side aside from cereal. I'll look into picking some stuff up when I go shopping.
I need to put together a decent shopping list though.
betweenthewheels
Member
Breakfast is usually the toughest meal to change up since cereals are so easy. I microwave eggs some mornings for the convenience (tastes pretty good too) and throw on some cheese and salsa to change things up. I can get sick of eggs pretty quickly so it helps to change it up every so often.