EviLore, you wanted me to ask this here:
How did you go about losing your weight? How much did you lose just by cutting out sugary drinks and how much by exercising? What kind of exercises do you recommend for someone just starting on the path to lose a lot of weight? Thanks. I really appreciate it.
My weight gain happened after I quit BJJ after a chronic neck injury and started working on GAF full time. Sedentary lifestyle, social isolation, and bad eating habits all caught up with me extremely quickly, and before I knew it I was around 325 lbs and barely mobile, since I had been skinny before that and my body hadn't adjusted to the added mass at all. GAF had taken off, too, so I was excited for the future and wanted to travel the world but was unable to take advantage of the freedom and opportunities. Anyway, the strain all of this put on my body really limited how much and what kind of exercise I could do.
I started with a stationary bike, putting it in front of my TV and hopping on that thing any time I was physically able to sit and pedal. I started with 15 minutes at a time and increased it from there, to one hour sessions, then eventually two hour sessions, then two hour sessions twice a day. The ass pain was real, but it can be overcome.
Nutrition wise, I cut out all caloric drinks and sugar substitute drinks, and all sugary snacks. Water or unsweetened green tea only. With that move plus the light exercise I started with, the first 20-30 lbs came off quickly.
After the first leg of the journey I got a power rack and olympic weight set and started powerlifting in addition to the exercise bike cardio. That helped with body recomposition significantly and made me better able to handle the remaining weight I had to lose without barely being able to walk around. Got way stronger as I lost weight, doing squats, deadlifts, overhead press, bench press, pullups (assisted and negatives for about 18 months until I could do full ones), dips.
In terms of overall nutrition and dieting, it was heavy caloric restriction. I'd often do 3-4 hours of cardio a day plus weightlifting on 1200-1500 calories. It was only sustainable by watching carbs, otherwise my body would scream at me too much and stay too hungry. I made all my own meals and was very strict, and stopped being picky and eating for pleasure, forcing myself to eat things that nauseated me until I was totally fine with just about everything. It was a mission to fix what was broken all around.
I told myself I'd be able to go back to training BJJ when I got to 240 lbs, and I did just that. The goal to get back to BJJ was a huge motivator.
After I got back down to a normal weight, I kept up the training and general activity levels and could eat and drink whatever I wanted within reason. The main thing that helped me keep it off, though, was always logging my weight so that I'd know on the spot if I'm letting myself go and can turn that discipline back on.
Weight loss transformation is not an easy path, but the result is absolutely priceless. If I hadn't lit a fire under my ass and gotten it done, I would've regretted it for the rest of my life and missed out on thousands of amazing experiences. Don't be that guy. Fight until it's done so that you can really live.