Can I come in? I'm 25, 5"5, currently 190 pound, want to get down to 140
I love food way too much and manage my stress by eating waaay much. I weighed myself and realized I was almost 200 pounds and I guess it was the reality check I needed. What got me where I am now is: I stopped my weekly dance class, got depressed, got depressed more, had a boyfriend that only ate junk food, depressed again, hypothyroidism, the end.
I want to start dancing again, but I'm ashamed of my body right now so I got a DVD and dance my butt away in my living room. As for food, I know I eat portion that are too big so I'm thinking of getting myself new *smaller* plates because otherwise it looks like I'm eating nothing. I'm also trying to eat fruits and veggies and instead of snacking on cookies, I snack on carrots or sunflower seeds.
I wanted to make a comment on a point Iowa made earlier about sort of seeing this more as a punishment for bad eating or a vanity thing, rather than doing this for our health. Speaking strictly for myself, while I definitely know this is all great for my health and I don't want to end up diabetic like my father is, I will admit that my biggest motivator for this is how others perceive me. Maybe this is more common in women (I doubt it)? I have self-esteem issues, not gonna lie. Losing weight and feeling as though other people like me better because I'm thinner will make me feel better about myself in the long run. So, even if the motivation is different, the end result is the same. I'll be healthier, even if it's not necessarily for what others perceive as the "right" reason.
You're right this is actually something i meant to put in that post. definitely as long as the getting healthier part is happening the motivation doesn't really matter. Whatever gets it done is what matters.
I thought I'd offer some other form of motivation to suggest. For me, concern over health isn't primarily emotionally or socially based, i guess. It can and perhaps should be looked at as a logical decision.
Something that keeps me motivated is the fact that losing weight let's me do things I never thought I would enjoy. Today I'm heading out for a hike and swimming at a lake, that's something the old me would not have wanted to do. Or probably been able to do for long.
And a couple of months ago I went skydiving. Again, something else I wouldn't have been able to do before do to weight limits.
Speaking of today, I'm looking at the Ihop menu(We're having breakfast there) and there's some decent stuff there. There's also some awful stuff there, and yeah I know I could treat myself one day, but the eating part is the part I always have trouble commiting to, so I'm trying to change that. I'll guess I'll decide once I'm actually seated.
Forty-five minutes on the elliptical without wanting to die after twenty minutes! WOO! I love me right now.
Iowa, I feel bad because I didn't say that I feel you did make a valid point. I apologise for that. You are absolutely right in that seeing getting in shape as a logical choice is a good way of looking at it. I sort of have thought of it that way, but not necessarily consciously. I will admit to being a (shallow) girl who wants to look like someone fit for the cover of a magazine. That is my primary motivation. Mea culpa.
Good god, last week was an absolute train wreck for my workout schedule, and yesterday topped the list. I was up and out of the house by 7:30, got home at about 3, was out again by 3:30, and then didn't get home again until about 8. Suffice to way, I was fucking exhausted, and only got one 40 minute work out in. On the plus side, I managed to hit 13 miles for the first time, so it's always nice to know I'm seeing an actual improvement. Being out of the house for 12+ hours though seriously put a damper on the kind of food I was able to eat though.
Question for people that have been doing this longer. I've got a recumbent bike that I've been doing my exercise on for the last four weeks. What I've been attempting is 3 workouts spread through the day, first thing in the morning at 6, once in the evening at 6 and once before going to bed at 9 or 10. 40 minutes for each, so I'm spending approximately 2 hours a day exercising. At my current level, I'm usually getting 12-13 miles in each exercise. Would it be better to merge these into two hour-long stints? Cut it down to an hour and a half? I intend to see my doctor about setting up a routine, but until I get around to that, I'm kind of guessing at a whole lot.
Hi, soon-to-be-former-fatties! I would love to join the challenge. I'm 31, male, 5'7", and 157.2 as of yesterday. I've gained almost 10 lbs since my girlfriend broke up with me in April... and when you're short with a thin frame and around 150 and still flabby, that's a significant gain. My gut is noticably bigger than it was and my neck is a little rounder now. My ultimate goal right now is 140 or so. That should get me to a decent level of bodyfat to where I can then focus on making my muscles more bulgy. Timeframe-wise, I want to make good progress by August. I have a few important gigs with my band and another I'm filling in for, and I want to look like a rockstar on stage, not a short chubby bass player.
Anyways, I'm well on my way to getting over the breakup and am starting to have a more positive outlook about the future again, so I'm cleaning up my diet and gonna head back to the gym soonish. I'm giving super-low-carb eating a try and I'm gonna see how it goes.
Is signing up for sparkthingie mandatory? Part of the point of ketogenic diets is that they're self-regulating (they fill you up faster and keep you not-hungry longer), so you don't have to track calories.
Oh, and for you soda addicts, try sparkling water. It has the feel of soda in your mouth and stomach, but it's water, so it's way healthier. My favorite is Topo Chico 'cause it's extra bubbly and cheaper than most of the others.
okay, it's saturday... time to fold laundry and mow the lawn. Good luck everyone!
Jimb, does Topo Chico come in flavours? I'm a fan of mineral/sparkling water as a replacement for soda, but it has to be flavoured to really do it for me.
My heaviest was more than 250 lbs. I don't know how much more, because at one point I got depressed and stopped weighing myself. I made a set of pics to show a friend my progress, here it is for you guys:
The two pics on the left were taken of me in my junior and senior years of high school, which was three or four years ago. The pic on the right was taken of me this March. I was probably around 170 in that pic. Since then I think I've gained about ten pounds. I'd like to get down to about 160.
One thing I'm excited about is going to the gym before work. Right now I start work at 8:30, but figure that I can wake up early enough, go to the gym, walk the three blocks to my work, take a shower and then start my workday. I never want to go work out after work (unless I've had a stressful day, then I like to go for a run).
Good luck to everyone! Its definitely possible, but it takes a lot of patience and hard work.
Matt, and I mean this in all seriousness; your transformation was AMAZING. It should be archived in any related P.A. Weightloss thread. I mean, you look totally different in your third pick.
You should be very proud of yourself for your accomplishments. This will be an amazing motivator for others to "stay the course" in their new lifestyle changes.
Jimb, does Topo Chico come in flavours? I'm a fan of mineral/sparkling water as a replacement for soda, but it has to be flavoured to really do it for me.
Yeah, they have a lime flavor, but otherwise it's just plain sparkling water.
egads. the fun thing about eating healthier over time is that you can almost taste the lack of nutrition in fastfood. it really does lose its appeal to at least some degree.
This is very true. We were out yesterday and hungry, so my cheap ass decided "Let's get McDonald's".
Big mistake. It was terrible. I used to like it okay, but it wasn't good at all and then looking at the nutrition info on the back of the little placement pretty much killed me.
The only things I can stand to eat at McD's are the chicken snack wraps and the pies. They are relatively inoffensive as far as fast food items are concerned.
I think... I will take a day off from exercise today. I hate to break the momentum I have going, but I want to build a plant bench today (or at least get the component pieces cut), and then I'm hanging out with friends and won't get back until late.
egads. the fun thing about eating healthier over time is that you can almost taste the lack of nutrition in fastfood. it really does lose its appeal to at least some degree.
This is very true. We were out yesterday and hungry, so my cheap ass decided "Let's get McDonald's".
Big mistake. It was terrible. I used to like it okay, but it wasn't good at all and then looking at the nutrition info on the back of the little placement pretty much killed me.
I've noticed this too. Last year, when I finally finished the last final of the last class I had to take for my undergrad, I celebrated by going out and getting a McDonald's chocolate milkshake. I hadn't had one in forever, but when I was younger and more heavier, I absolutely loved anything from McDonalds, especially their shakes. I guess its that one process - I forget its name - that they use in marketing where if you get young kids to like a certain product at a young age, they get fond memories of that product and end up being loyal customers of whatever provides that product as they get older. But anyways, I got one, and expected to be in fatty, sugar filled goodness on the first sip. Big mistake. It tasted disgusting. I couldn't even finish half of it and ended up throwing it away.
Thanks for the comments everyone. I wouldn't object to my picture being used for future weight loss threads - if it motivates people, then I'm all for it. Iowa, I would say that losing all of that weight is the best thing I have ever done. I'll write a little spiel on my weight loss, hope its not too long for anyone. I'll spoiler my personal experiences with weight loss, and then write a little more on what I've learned from it after the spoiler.
I am much more energetic - the pic you see of me on the right is right before I started a 10k run. When I was at my heaviest, I doubt I could run half a mile, let alone six. The most noticeable change was my outlook on life. I was very depressed when those two pictures on the right were taken. I felt like shit, I felt like other people thought I was some fatass, and I had pretty much resigned myself to being some lonely virgin who would never be happy. None of this was true, of course - I had friends who loved me, family who loved me, and I even had some girls who liked me - but when you have this mindset instilled in you, does it really matter whether its true or not? You think it, and therefore it is. Early last year was when I finally got to about 185 or so, and I finally started feeling comfortable in my own skin. Now I look forward to every day. I love waking up early and going for a run in the brisk morning air, or just sitting back, sipping on some coffee and hearing the birds chirping. Since I started feeling comfortable about myself, I've gone skydiving, I've gone on fun runs (as you see in the pic on the right), I've gone hiking up some of the steepest hills and mountains the Pacific Northwest has to offer, I've gone rock-climbing...life has just become one grand adventure, and I absolutely love it. Even when I did break out of my depression (and just to be clear, I don't know if I was clinically depressed, but I did have a hugely negative outlook on life. I am using depression for lack of a better term, so please don't confuse it with clinical depression), I was still overweight and just viewed each day as going through the motions - wake up, go to class, eat, do homework, go to bed, rinse and repeat. Now my outlook on life is just 100% better and I really enjoy it. That's not to say every day is rosey and peachy-keen, but for the most part, life rocks. So I would say that my outlook on life is by far the most noticeable improvement.
As far as weight loss goes, I've noticed that you are the only person who gets sick of being fat, and you are the only person who decides to lose weight. My parents were overweight too, and they tried every diet in the book. They pushed me to get weighed at Weight Watchers, and we tried South Beach Diet, Atkins diet, Body for Life (which is actually an excellent weight loss program, in my opinion, but that's not the point), but they were the ones pushing me and I never was into losing weight. I liked eating cheeseburgers and ice cream and pizza. Hell, they even got me a YMCA membership so I can work out after school was out. What did I do? I would go to Safeway, get a Lunchables, go to their lobby and eat it while I would doodle in my notebooks until they picked me up. I never got serious about losing weight until I rented Supersize Me in my senior year of high school, when I was at my heaviest. That movie got me interested in fast food and I bought "Fast Food Nation." That book got me interested in nutrition, and I ended up learning and reading about nutrition. Within the six months between this and the time I graduated, I ended up losing thirty pounds and I did my senior project on obesity. That's when I started losing all the weight.
So here is a bit of a summarized version of what I've learned about weight loss. Keep in mind that this is all personal and I don't know how much of this is supported by hard science.
- Don't beat yourself up for eating a lot on one day. The kind of weight gain that leads to obesity happens when you make eating a lot - or eating foods with high caloric content - a habit. If you fall off the bandwagon one day, get back on it the next.
- You cannot go on a diet, lose a bunch of weight, and then think that your weight problem is over and go on eating the same shit that made you fat in the first place. For myself, I've learned that maintaining a healthy body fat percentage is something I'll be working on for the rest of my life.
- However, once you get in the habit of eating good and wholesome foods, it becomes a lot easier. Breaking the habit is always the hurdle that you need to clear. But eventually, you start to like the healthier foods more than the unhealthy ones. If I was given the choice between the chana masala I make, or the vegetable lentil chili I like, and a couple slices of pizza, I would gladly have the former. I avoid food that is greasy, or high in fat or sugar. Half of the reason is because I know it's not good for me. The other reason is because I simply don't really like it that much anymore.
- Learn to cook. Learn what's in your food, how ingredients work together. You really learn a lot about food and nutrition this way. Eat healthy, fresh foods. I'm much more passionate about food than I was when I ate shit constantly that was prepared in advance for me and that had little nutritive value.
- Be patient. You're not going to lose all your weight in a fortnight, unless you are only four pounds overweight. Lack of patience is the reason that a lot of people who are trying to lose weight eventually give up on eating healthy. Results will come, but after your body is accustomed to eating shit, it's going to take a while for it to switch gears.
- Buy a scale if you don't have one, but don't feel the need to weigh yourself everyday. Once a week, or even once every two weeks, will do. Checking yourself every day or two will only lead you to become obsessive over weight loss, and that is not good.
- That being said, weight is not everything. If you're lifting weights, your scale will not take into account how much muscle you've gained and how much fat you have lost. I think that if you're lifting and trying to lose weight, a pound or two loss per week is the ideal? Someone correct me if I'm mistaken.
- Exercise. Don't be intimidated by the BIG MEN in the gym. Yes, it is a bit intimidating working out around of BIG MEN who are squatting twice your body weight while you're only putting up a weight that is a fraction of that, but most BIG MEN (at least the ones I know) have a lot of respect for people who are overweight and are actively trying to get fitter. A lot of these BIG MEN may have been in your shoes before, and a lot of them know a lot about nutrition and exercise and can really help you. I suggest consulting the threads in both H&A and SE++ for more information.
- Make exercise a high priority for your day, and find a time that you feel is the best time to do it. I work out best in the mornings, because I tend to work overtime a lot and after work, I don't feel like doing anything but crashing on the couch and watching The Simpsons reruns. That's why I'm changing my routine to the morning - it's easy for me to do it in the morning and I feel awesome the rest of the day. Which really helps with your confidence when you're talking to the hot girl at work, too. Ahem.
- I'm sure there is a lot more I can think of, but I'm cutting it here for now because I have stuff to do today: Make it fun. Every workout doesn't have to be in the gym or on the treadmill. Go hiking on the weekend, or for a bicycle ride, or go for a run. Hiking and backpacking is my favorite form of exercise because I get to breathe some of that fresh mountain air and really see some beautiful scenery.
Anyways, hope I don't come across as overly preachy, and I hope this helps some people.
My understanding is that barring crash diets, a pound or two of weight loss per week is normal and healthy when changing to a better way of eating.
If you're pumping iron and dieting, you're lucky to get even that (which has been my problem, and it was pretty discouraging for a while until I learned to stop caring about the number).
Although, I still can't help but feel like I may have some additional issue (with my thyroid, most likely, given it runs in my family) that is making losing weight harder than it should be.
By my calculations, I simply do not take in enough calories in a given day to not be losing at least a pound or two a week, yet my weight has stayed pretty steady ever since hitting about 350.
bravo, matt! really really good, inspiring anecdotes and tips. i had a bad eating day today mainly due to being in a car for nearly 13 hours and being overtired. at least i swam in the ocean for a solid 2 hours or so, i'm definitely feeling it now. back on the healthier eating wagon tomorrow!
I lost about 50 pounds of fat myself, and unless I'm not wearing a shirt I don't look like I need to lose anymore (but that damn gut is a major source of insecurity, so out it goes!).
I tried like 4 different times to start losing weight, and my mom was my coach. I think we both approached it the wrong way the first few times - I wanted it to be easy and fast, and she pushed me harder than I was willing to go. But finally I was completely and utterly tired of being overweight, and we found some middleground. That summer, I spent at least 3 months at the YMCA with my mom, 5 days a week, working out. I don't recall my diet significantly changing (didn't drink a lot of soda, but I don't think my diet was a huge issue beforehand), but I lost at least 25-30lbs from cardio/lifting weights. Along with looking better, I felt better, physically and mentally. It remains to this day my favorite summer, even though (actually because) 90% of it was spent at the gym.
From what I've experienced:
- Working out is a habit-forming behavior. Going into the gym the first few weeks can be awkward, but when it becomes a habit you will begin to want to go to the gym, and it will bother you when you don't.
- I lost around 3-4 pounds on average a week, and gained some back from muscle.
- Switch it up! The body (supposedly) adjusts to a workout regimen after about one month, and then you will plateau. Make sure you do different exercises in different orders after a week or two to continue to see results.
- You're gonna eat shit now and then, but believe it or not, all of it has nutritional value of some kind (well, maybe not all of it). Everything is okay in moderation, so don't jump off of a cliff because you had a milkshake. In fact, I think it's healthy to "cheat" once in awhile, because it satiates the desire for junk food instead of letting it build up into a horrific display of binge eating.
- Eat good food and your body will crave good food. Our taste buds like just about anything that's food, but it might take some time to adjust to those tastes. However, once you establish a habit of eating good food, you will begin to want it more than junk food. Variety is the spice of life, so don't eat the same things every week!
- Get to bed early. Two things: A) you'll sleep better after working out, and you'll be more willing to workout after a good night's rest. If I stay up late (like right now for example! ), the workout the next day is usually terrible.
- Muscles need rest, and time to rebuild broken-down muscle tissue. Important fact: you gain muscle because you're breaking it down while exercising, so to adapt, your body begins to build more of it. But if you don't give yourself off days, your body doesn't get time to rebuild it and eventually you will shut down. Also, cold showers help break down muscle fibers.
- Protein is optimally absorbed within 30 minutes of exercising. If you're going to eat meat or down a protein shake, do it within this time period if possible.
I don't know what else, other than exercise gradually becoming less of a chore and more of an exciting activity (maybe not in the gym, but you'll start to desire moving around more and more). It's not rewarding just because of the end result, I really did think the journey was tons of fun.
I lost about 50 pounds of fat myself, and unless I'm not wearing a shirt I don't look like I need to lose anymore (but that damn gut is a major source of insecurity, so out it goes!).
Bingbingbing. This, exactly. People talk like I don't need to lose any more weight because it hides well on me, and then I show them my gut and they're like oh okay, yeah that needs to go. NEITHER OF THESE RESPONSES ARE OPTIMAL. It is, as you say, a pretty big source of insecurity.
i lost 118 lbs; i went from size 46 pants to running a marathon in under 3 hours
i struggled recently after a rough breakup and shot back up quite a bit, but now i'm back down to the high 190s (6'1"), and i'll probably run the philly half
my advice to everyone is that exercise is great- resistance training is challenging and fun and promotes muscular growth, and cardio can be great stress relief (for me) and beating your times or distances can be addictive, and heart healthiness is awesome
but all that aside, diet diet diet
what goes into your body will, for most people, be the major determinant w.r.t. success or failure in any sort of rapid fat loss ambition
i lost 118 lbs; i went from size 46 pants to running a marathon in under 3 hours
At first, I thought you were being sarcastic and saying that in less than three hours, you lost 118 pounds and became a marathon runner. I so clearly don't have all the pistons firing this morning.
To the rest, though, thank you for sharing with us. I find that after six consecutive days of exercise, I'm totally itching to get into the gym. I'm debating going twice a day because I'm enjoying it so much!
Ugh, did bad yesterday. I was actually doing pretty decent until the end of the day. Got a DQ blizzard on the way home from the hike(550 calories!) then later that night was some more chicken strips and drinks.
Oh the upside, it's awesome how I was able to last through the hike without feeling like I was going to die at any moment. That even included a bit of rock climbing. And now I'm up getting ready for the gym.
i lost 118 lbs; i went from size 46 pants to running a marathon in under 3 hours
i struggled recently after a rough breakup and shot back up quite a bit, but now i'm back down to the high 190s (6'1"), and i'll probably run the philly half
my advice to everyone is that exercise is great- resistance training is challenging and fun and promotes muscular growth, and cardio can be great stress relief (for me) and beating your times or distances can be addictive, and heart healthiness is awesome
but all that aside, diet diet diet
what goes into your body will, for most people, be the major determinant w.r.t. success or failure in any sort of rapid fat loss ambition
I couldn't fall asleep until 3:00 AM-ish last night (that's what I get for drinking a latte at 8:00 PM...grr) but I got up at 7:30, so I'm somewhat early. I'm actually a little happy that I'm short on sleep - that way I'll be tired enough to fall asleep around 9 or 10:00 PM tonight, so I can wake up at 5:30 AM tomorrow and hit the gym before work.
Gonna have a cup of coffee and hit the gym. It's a beautiful day! All the hungover folks are really missing out :P
I always have bad saturdays because that's when my dad picks up the week's supply of fresh bagels. Mmmmmmm.
My big problem going to the gym this last year has been that my school shut down the little satellite gym where people turned up the volume and picked the channel on the TV, so I couldn't watch the Daily Show and Colbert Report on the elliptical any more.
Weight is down to 171, just shy of my target goal of 165.
My workouts generally consist of running between 3-5 miles, 6x of pyramid push-ups (1 set of 20, 1 set of 25, 1 set of 30, and so on) and 6x sets of abdominals consisting of between 50 - 75 reps each depending on the muscles I'm trying to isolate (my ab totals by the end are somewhere near 400 reps).
Later this week I'm going to start constructing a weight routine and getting into that. I PT test in September and while the USAF's new PT standards are nowhere near as stringent as those for, say, the Marines or Army, there are still going to be a ton of failures.
Got a DQ blizzard on the way home from the hike(550 calories!) then later that night was some more chicken strips and drinks.
Oh the upside, it's awesome how I was able to last through the hike without feeling like I was going to die at any moment. That even included a bit of rock climbing. And now I'm up getting ready for the gym.
Hey, there's protein in that meal ^_^
And yay for better stamina on hikes!
____
6th day of exercise out of seven! Woo!
I'm thinking that I might need to add resistance to the arm movements that I do while I'm on the treadmill. I'm not quite sure how best to do that, but I have a couple different types of resistance bands laying around that I could use. Just need to figure out how to attach them to the treadmill, I guess?
And! I got a scale yesterday - my current weight is 190.4 lbs (about 10 lbs less than I estimated at the beginning) so I'm changing my goal weight to 175.
Figuring out calories for a buffet is a pain in the ass.
Luckily, I did pretty good. First it was a sushi/japanese food buffet. First plate was a big chunk of salad and greens. Stayed away from anything that was fried. No dessert. Stuck to mainly crab and salmon sushi pieces (probably around 10). So I didn't do too bad.
And Matt, thumbs up on the skydiving group. Getting ready to go on my second jump in a few weeks.
I'm jealous of all of you people running and going to the gym. I got hit hard with a cold starting Saturday. Hopefully it goes away soon so I can get back to running!
I'm just trying to total 100 crunches every weeknight and a couple foot-raised push-ups. Besides that, I'm working 9-5 and the gym closes at 7, making gym time impractical.
I've gained a bit of chubbiness since ive been unemployed for a month. Hitting the gym to begin my weight loss program tomorrow. Riding my bike around town will probably help as well.
I haven't worked out since last Wednesday because I've had some lower back problems flaring up. Luckily, the only truly bad thing I had the entire weekend was a cheeseburger from Sonic today. Other than that, I had homemade shrimp, steak and baked potato (certainly not the healthiest meal, but better than going out for the same items) and some sushi yesterday.
Hopefully my back will feel better tomorrow and I can get back into my regular schedule. I hate feeling lazy due to silly injuries.
ChillyWilly on
PAFC Top 10 Finisher in Seasons 1 and 3. 2nd in Seasons 4 and 5. Final 4 in Season 6.
I haven't worked out since last Wednesday because I've had some lower back problems flaring up. Luckily, the only truly bad thing I had the entire weekend was a cheeseburger from Sonic today. Other than that, I had homemade shrimp, steak and baked potato (certainly not the healthiest meal, but better than going out for the same items) and some sushi yesterday.
Hopefully my back will feel better tomorrow and I can get back into my regular schedule. I hate feeling lazy due to silly injuries.
This happened to me on my spring break. I was all set up to get back into working out, first day I hurt my back and spend the rest of the week barely able to move. I was pissed and it took me another month or so to get back to the point where I felt ready to do it again.
900 more meters today! Also I think my ab muscles are developing a little more Swimming is hard, but I think it's working (it takes about 2-3 weeks before you body starts to react...this is my rule for just about everything, actually), and I'm impatient and kind of really ready to just be rid of the weight forever, but that's not possible so onward I press.
And Matt, thumbs up on the skydiving group. Getting ready to go on my second jump in a few weeks.
It's a blast, isn't it? I'm probably doing my second jump in early to mid August before the season ends. Then I'm going to be saving up my money all year long and getting my certification in it next summer. It's really helpful that skydiving has a weight limit...extra motivation to watch the calories and get some exercise done.
So I've been doing low-carb (< 30g/day) for about 2 weeks now, I haven't been really exercising at all and I'm losing weight and body fat %......I feel like I'm cheating the system.
Is there a weight gain challenge? I'm 5'11" and I weigh only 129 pounds. I'm trying to gain some muscle.
Any tips on what kind of food I should be eating? My friend's helping me get the right exercises at the gym down.
My friend went through this. Skinny as a rail, tried to gain weight. If you can stand it (And don't have bad kidneys) start on a protein supplement. My suggestion is to get small sizes of some different ones until you find one you like/won't throw up. Good times for chugging the supplement are right after a workout or a little while before going to bed.
Eggs are another great help here. The training montage in Rocky didn't have Stallone sucking back raw eggs for no reason.
Is there a weight gain challenge? I'm 5'11" and I weigh only 129 pounds. I'm trying to gain some muscle.
Any tips on what kind of food I should be eating? My friend's helping me get the right exercises at the gym down.
My friend went through this. Skinny as a rail, tried to gain weight. If you can stand it (And don't have bad kidneys) start on a protein supplement. My suggestion is to get small sizes of some different ones until you find one you like/won't throw up. Good times for chugging the supplement are right after a workout or a little while before going to bed.
Eggs are another great help here. The training montage in Rocky didn't have Stallone sucking back raw eggs for no reason.
Yeah usually the window for getting tons of nutrients to your muscles after a workout is about an hour to two hours. You want to make sure to eat right after working out so that your muscles get the supplies they need to repair and grow.
Last summer, I got down to about 8% fat, but my first year of college destroyed that. Now i'm six feet tall, built like a toothpick, but weigh at least 160. I'd love to get back down to 8% and push down to 4 or 6 if possible.
My biggest motivator was a friend of mine. He had charisma and positiveness in amounts most personal trainers could only dream of. Unfortunately he is in Guatamala right now building homes for poor folks (the bastard.) So i'm left to trying and do anything by myself.
I have no gym nearby, no car, and no weights/workout equipment at all in my home. My family eats like most American families with two working parents, i.e. shit. I work 8-5+ menial labour, which involves about 7 hours a day on my feet, but not strenuously. The results are me coming home and veg-ing out.
Now to stop being a pile of crap and do something.
Ugh. I had to totally vent this frustration. The only thing that sucks more about the fact that my boyfriend has decided that 40 minutes is too far to drive to come work out with me (which is somewhat understandable, but I end up driving 45 minutes [with traffic] to watch him play Xbox), is that he's trying to gain weight. Completely opposite goals. Dude can have some of what I've got. There should be an exchange program for this.
Ugh. I had to totally vent this frustration. The only thing that sucks more about the fact that my boyfriend has decided that 40 minutes is too far to drive to come work out with me (which is somewhat understandable, but I end up driving 45 minutes [with traffic] to watch him play Xbox), is that he's trying to gain weight. Completely opposite goals. Dude can have some of what I've got. There should be an exchange program for this.
I would so love this idea. I'll happily donate a hundred pounds to anyone who needs it.
Vincent Grayson on
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HerrCronIt that wickedly supports taxationRegistered Userregular
edited June 2010
oh dear, this weekend was nothing but crazy over indulgence.
I'm only halfway through adding the food from Saturday and i can feel the sparkpoints website glowering at me with contempt.
oh well, I'll just have to work harder this week to make up for it.
Is there a weight gain challenge? I'm 5'11" and I weigh only 129 pounds. I'm trying to gain some muscle.
Any tips on what kind of food I should be eating? My friend's helping me get the right exercises at the gym down.
My friend went through this. Skinny as a rail, tried to gain weight. If you can stand it (And don't have bad kidneys) start on a protein supplement. My suggestion is to get small sizes of some different ones until you find one you like/won't throw up. Good times for chugging the supplement are right after a workout or a little while before going to bed.
Eggs are another great help here. The training montage in Rocky didn't have Stallone sucking back raw eggs for no reason.
You heard it here first, folks: Salmonella builds muscle.
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I love food way too much and manage my stress by eating waaay much. I weighed myself and realized I was almost 200 pounds and I guess it was the reality check I needed. What got me where I am now is: I stopped my weekly dance class, got depressed, got depressed more, had a boyfriend that only ate junk food, depressed again, hypothyroidism, the end.
I want to start dancing again, but I'm ashamed of my body right now so I got a DVD and dance my butt away in my living room. As for food, I know I eat portion that are too big so I'm thinking of getting myself new *smaller* plates because otherwise it looks like I'm eating nothing. I'm also trying to eat fruits and veggies and instead of snacking on cookies, I snack on carrots or sunflower seeds.
I thought I'd offer some other form of motivation to suggest. For me, concern over health isn't primarily emotionally or socially based, i guess. It can and perhaps should be looked at as a logical decision.
And a couple of months ago I went skydiving. Again, something else I wouldn't have been able to do before do to weight limits.
Speaking of today, I'm looking at the Ihop menu(We're having breakfast there) and there's some decent stuff there. There's also some awful stuff there, and yeah I know I could treat myself one day, but the eating part is the part I always have trouble commiting to, so I'm trying to change that. I'll guess I'll decide once I'm actually seated.
Iowa, I feel bad because I didn't say that I feel you did make a valid point. I apologise for that. You are absolutely right in that seeing getting in shape as a logical choice is a good way of looking at it. I sort of have thought of it that way, but not necessarily consciously. I will admit to being a (shallow) girl who wants to look like someone fit for the cover of a magazine. That is my primary motivation. Mea culpa.
Question for people that have been doing this longer. I've got a recumbent bike that I've been doing my exercise on for the last four weeks. What I've been attempting is 3 workouts spread through the day, first thing in the morning at 6, once in the evening at 6 and once before going to bed at 9 or 10. 40 minutes for each, so I'm spending approximately 2 hours a day exercising. At my current level, I'm usually getting 12-13 miles in each exercise. Would it be better to merge these into two hour-long stints? Cut it down to an hour and a half? I intend to see my doctor about setting up a routine, but until I get around to that, I'm kind of guessing at a whole lot.
Anyways, I'm well on my way to getting over the breakup and am starting to have a more positive outlook about the future again, so I'm cleaning up my diet and gonna head back to the gym soonish. I'm giving super-low-carb eating a try and I'm gonna see how it goes.
Is signing up for sparkthingie mandatory? Part of the point of ketogenic diets is that they're self-regulating (they fill you up faster and keep you not-hungry longer), so you don't have to track calories.
Oh, and for you soda addicts, try sparkling water. It has the feel of soda in your mouth and stomach, but it's water, so it's way healthier. My favorite is Topo Chico 'cause it's extra bubbly and cheaper than most of the others.
okay, it's saturday... time to fold laundry and mow the lawn. Good luck everyone!
Matt, and I mean this in all seriousness; your transformation was AMAZING. It should be archived in any related P.A. Weightloss thread. I mean, you look totally different in your third pick.
You should be very proud of yourself for your accomplishments. This will be an amazing motivator for others to "stay the course" in their new lifestyle changes.
Kudos to you good sir.:^:
Yeah, they have a lime flavor, but otherwise it's just plain sparkling water.
This is very true. We were out yesterday and hungry, so my cheap ass decided "Let's get McDonald's".
Big mistake. It was terrible. I used to like it okay, but it wasn't good at all and then looking at the nutrition info on the back of the little placement pretty much killed me.
I think... I will take a day off from exercise today. I hate to break the momentum I have going, but I want to build a plant bench today (or at least get the component pieces cut), and then I'm hanging out with friends and won't get back until late.
Hopefully my legs won't get restless. ^_^
I've noticed this too. Last year, when I finally finished the last final of the last class I had to take for my undergrad, I celebrated by going out and getting a McDonald's chocolate milkshake. I hadn't had one in forever, but when I was younger and more heavier, I absolutely loved anything from McDonalds, especially their shakes. I guess its that one process - I forget its name - that they use in marketing where if you get young kids to like a certain product at a young age, they get fond memories of that product and end up being loyal customers of whatever provides that product as they get older. But anyways, I got one, and expected to be in fatty, sugar filled goodness on the first sip. Big mistake. It tasted disgusting. I couldn't even finish half of it and ended up throwing it away.
Thanks for the comments everyone. I wouldn't object to my picture being used for future weight loss threads - if it motivates people, then I'm all for it. Iowa, I would say that losing all of that weight is the best thing I have ever done. I'll write a little spiel on my weight loss, hope its not too long for anyone. I'll spoiler my personal experiences with weight loss, and then write a little more on what I've learned from it after the spoiler.
As far as weight loss goes, I've noticed that you are the only person who gets sick of being fat, and you are the only person who decides to lose weight. My parents were overweight too, and they tried every diet in the book. They pushed me to get weighed at Weight Watchers, and we tried South Beach Diet, Atkins diet, Body for Life (which is actually an excellent weight loss program, in my opinion, but that's not the point), but they were the ones pushing me and I never was into losing weight. I liked eating cheeseburgers and ice cream and pizza. Hell, they even got me a YMCA membership so I can work out after school was out. What did I do? I would go to Safeway, get a Lunchables, go to their lobby and eat it while I would doodle in my notebooks until they picked me up. I never got serious about losing weight until I rented Supersize Me in my senior year of high school, when I was at my heaviest. That movie got me interested in fast food and I bought "Fast Food Nation." That book got me interested in nutrition, and I ended up learning and reading about nutrition. Within the six months between this and the time I graduated, I ended up losing thirty pounds and I did my senior project on obesity. That's when I started losing all the weight.
So here is a bit of a summarized version of what I've learned about weight loss. Keep in mind that this is all personal and I don't know how much of this is supported by hard science.
- Don't beat yourself up for eating a lot on one day. The kind of weight gain that leads to obesity happens when you make eating a lot - or eating foods with high caloric content - a habit. If you fall off the bandwagon one day, get back on it the next.
- You cannot go on a diet, lose a bunch of weight, and then think that your weight problem is over and go on eating the same shit that made you fat in the first place. For myself, I've learned that maintaining a healthy body fat percentage is something I'll be working on for the rest of my life.
- However, once you get in the habit of eating good and wholesome foods, it becomes a lot easier. Breaking the habit is always the hurdle that you need to clear. But eventually, you start to like the healthier foods more than the unhealthy ones. If I was given the choice between the chana masala I make, or the vegetable lentil chili I like, and a couple slices of pizza, I would gladly have the former. I avoid food that is greasy, or high in fat or sugar. Half of the reason is because I know it's not good for me. The other reason is because I simply don't really like it that much anymore.
- Learn to cook. Learn what's in your food, how ingredients work together. You really learn a lot about food and nutrition this way. Eat healthy, fresh foods. I'm much more passionate about food than I was when I ate shit constantly that was prepared in advance for me and that had little nutritive value.
- Be patient. You're not going to lose all your weight in a fortnight, unless you are only four pounds overweight. Lack of patience is the reason that a lot of people who are trying to lose weight eventually give up on eating healthy. Results will come, but after your body is accustomed to eating shit, it's going to take a while for it to switch gears.
- Buy a scale if you don't have one, but don't feel the need to weigh yourself everyday. Once a week, or even once every two weeks, will do. Checking yourself every day or two will only lead you to become obsessive over weight loss, and that is not good.
- That being said, weight is not everything. If you're lifting weights, your scale will not take into account how much muscle you've gained and how much fat you have lost. I think that if you're lifting and trying to lose weight, a pound or two loss per week is the ideal? Someone correct me if I'm mistaken.
- Exercise. Don't be intimidated by the BIG MEN in the gym. Yes, it is a bit intimidating working out around of BIG MEN who are squatting twice your body weight while you're only putting up a weight that is a fraction of that, but most BIG MEN (at least the ones I know) have a lot of respect for people who are overweight and are actively trying to get fitter. A lot of these BIG MEN may have been in your shoes before, and a lot of them know a lot about nutrition and exercise and can really help you. I suggest consulting the threads in both H&A and SE++ for more information.
- Make exercise a high priority for your day, and find a time that you feel is the best time to do it. I work out best in the mornings, because I tend to work overtime a lot and after work, I don't feel like doing anything but crashing on the couch and watching The Simpsons reruns. That's why I'm changing my routine to the morning - it's easy for me to do it in the morning and I feel awesome the rest of the day. Which really helps with your confidence when you're talking to the hot girl at work, too. Ahem.
- I'm sure there is a lot more I can think of, but I'm cutting it here for now because I have stuff to do today: Make it fun. Every workout doesn't have to be in the gym or on the treadmill. Go hiking on the weekend, or for a bicycle ride, or go for a run. Hiking and backpacking is my favorite form of exercise because I get to breathe some of that fresh mountain air and really see some beautiful scenery.
Anyways, hope I don't come across as overly preachy, and I hope this helps some people.
If you're pumping iron and dieting, you're lucky to get even that (which has been my problem, and it was pretty discouraging for a while until I learned to stop caring about the number).
Although, I still can't help but feel like I may have some additional issue (with my thyroid, most likely, given it runs in my family) that is making losing weight harder than it should be.
By my calculations, I simply do not take in enough calories in a given day to not be losing at least a pound or two a week, yet my weight has stayed pretty steady ever since hitting about 350.
I tried like 4 different times to start losing weight, and my mom was my coach. I think we both approached it the wrong way the first few times - I wanted it to be easy and fast, and she pushed me harder than I was willing to go. But finally I was completely and utterly tired of being overweight, and we found some middleground. That summer, I spent at least 3 months at the YMCA with my mom, 5 days a week, working out. I don't recall my diet significantly changing (didn't drink a lot of soda, but I don't think my diet was a huge issue beforehand), but I lost at least 25-30lbs from cardio/lifting weights. Along with looking better, I felt better, physically and mentally. It remains to this day my favorite summer, even though (actually because) 90% of it was spent at the gym.
From what I've experienced:
- Working out is a habit-forming behavior. Going into the gym the first few weeks can be awkward, but when it becomes a habit you will begin to want to go to the gym, and it will bother you when you don't.
- I lost around 3-4 pounds on average a week, and gained some back from muscle.
- Switch it up! The body (supposedly) adjusts to a workout regimen after about one month, and then you will plateau. Make sure you do different exercises in different orders after a week or two to continue to see results.
- You're gonna eat shit now and then, but believe it or not, all of it has nutritional value of some kind (well, maybe not all of it). Everything is okay in moderation, so don't jump off of a cliff because you had a milkshake. In fact, I think it's healthy to "cheat" once in awhile, because it satiates the desire for junk food instead of letting it build up into a horrific display of binge eating.
- Eat good food and your body will crave good food. Our taste buds like just about anything that's food, but it might take some time to adjust to those tastes. However, once you establish a habit of eating good food, you will begin to want it more than junk food. Variety is the spice of life, so don't eat the same things every week!
- Get to bed early. Two things: A) you'll sleep better after working out, and
- Muscles need rest, and time to rebuild broken-down muscle tissue. Important fact: you gain muscle because you're breaking it down while exercising, so to adapt, your body begins to build more of it. But if you don't give yourself off days, your body doesn't get time to rebuild it and eventually you will shut down. Also, cold showers help break down muscle fibers.
- Protein is optimally absorbed within 30 minutes of exercising. If you're going to eat meat or down a protein shake, do it within this time period if possible.
I don't know what else, other than exercise gradually becoming less of a chore and more of an exciting activity (maybe not in the gym, but you'll start to desire moving around more and more). It's not rewarding just because of the end result, I really did think the journey was tons of fun.
Bingbingbing. This, exactly. People talk like I don't need to lose any more weight because it hides well on me, and then I show them my gut and they're like oh okay, yeah that needs to go. NEITHER OF THESE RESPONSES ARE OPTIMAL. It is, as you say, a pretty big source of insecurity.
i struggled recently after a rough breakup and shot back up quite a bit, but now i'm back down to the high 190s (6'1"), and i'll probably run the philly half
my advice to everyone is that exercise is great- resistance training is challenging and fun and promotes muscular growth, and cardio can be great stress relief (for me) and beating your times or distances can be addictive, and heart healthiness is awesome
but all that aside, diet diet diet
what goes into your body will, for most people, be the major determinant w.r.t. success or failure in any sort of rapid fat loss ambition
At first, I thought you were being sarcastic and saying that in less than three hours, you lost 118 pounds and became a marathon runner. I so clearly don't have all the pistons firing this morning.
To the rest, though, thank you for sharing with us. I find that after six consecutive days of exercise, I'm totally itching to get into the gym. I'm debating going twice a day because I'm enjoying it so much!
Oh the upside, it's awesome how I was able to last through the hike without feeling like I was going to die at any moment. That even included a bit of rock climbing. And now I'm up getting ready for the gym.
That's awesome, Organichu.
Reminds me a bit of this story: http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-243-297--13500-0,00.html
I couldn't fall asleep until 3:00 AM-ish last night (that's what I get for drinking a latte at 8:00 PM...grr) but I got up at 7:30, so I'm somewhat early. I'm actually a little happy that I'm short on sleep - that way I'll be tired enough to fall asleep around 9 or 10:00 PM tonight, so I can wake up at 5:30 AM tomorrow and hit the gym before work.
Gonna have a cup of coffee and hit the gym. It's a beautiful day! All the hungover folks are really missing out :P
My big problem going to the gym this last year has been that my school shut down the little satellite gym where people turned up the volume and picked the channel on the TV, so I couldn't watch the Daily Show and Colbert Report on the elliptical any more.
Weight is down to 171, just shy of my target goal of 165.
My workouts generally consist of running between 3-5 miles, 6x of pyramid push-ups (1 set of 20, 1 set of 25, 1 set of 30, and so on) and 6x sets of abdominals consisting of between 50 - 75 reps each depending on the muscles I'm trying to isolate (my ab totals by the end are somewhere near 400 reps).
Later this week I'm going to start constructing a weight routine and getting into that. I PT test in September and while the USAF's new PT standards are nowhere near as stringent as those for, say, the Marines or Army, there are still going to be a ton of failures.
I'm not going to be one of them.
Hey, there's protein in that meal ^_^
And yay for better stamina on hikes!
____
6th day of exercise out of seven! Woo!
I'm thinking that I might need to add resistance to the arm movements that I do while I'm on the treadmill. I'm not quite sure how best to do that, but I have a couple different types of resistance bands laying around that I could use. Just need to figure out how to attach them to the treadmill, I guess?
And! I got a scale yesterday - my current weight is 190.4 lbs (about 10 lbs less than I estimated at the beginning) so I'm changing my goal weight to 175.
Luckily, I did pretty good. First it was a sushi/japanese food buffet. First plate was a big chunk of salad and greens. Stayed away from anything that was fried. No dessert. Stuck to mainly crab and salmon sushi pieces (probably around 10). So I didn't do too bad.
And Matt, thumbs up on the skydiving group. Getting ready to go on my second jump in a few weeks.
Optimism!
XBLGT:Banzeye SC2: Apollo.394
Hopefully my back will feel better tomorrow and I can get back into my regular schedule. I hate feeling lazy due to silly injuries.
This happened to me on my spring break. I was all set up to get back into working out, first day I hurt my back and spend the rest of the week barely able to move. I was pissed and it took me another month or so to get back to the point where I felt ready to do it again.
It's a blast, isn't it? I'm probably doing my second jump in early to mid August before the season ends. Then I'm going to be saving up my money all year long and getting my certification in it next summer. It's really helpful that skydiving has a weight limit...extra motivation to watch the calories and get some exercise done.
Good god I love low-carb.
Any tips on what kind of food I should be eating? My friend's helping me get the right exercises at the gym down.
Steam: CavilatRest
My friend went through this. Skinny as a rail, tried to gain weight. If you can stand it (And don't have bad kidneys) start on a protein supplement. My suggestion is to get small sizes of some different ones until you find one you like/won't throw up. Good times for chugging the supplement are right after a workout or a little while before going to bed.
Eggs are another great help here. The training montage in Rocky didn't have Stallone sucking back raw eggs for no reason.
Yeah usually the window for getting tons of nutrients to your muscles after a workout is about an hour to two hours. You want to make sure to eat right after working out so that your muscles get the supplies they need to repair and grow.
XBLGT:Banzeye SC2: Apollo.394
My biggest motivator was a friend of mine. He had charisma and positiveness in amounts most personal trainers could only dream of. Unfortunately he is in Guatamala right now building homes for poor folks (the bastard.) So i'm left to trying and do anything by myself.
I have no gym nearby, no car, and no weights/workout equipment at all in my home. My family eats like most American families with two working parents, i.e. shit. I work 8-5+ menial labour, which involves about 7 hours a day on my feet, but not strenuously. The results are me coming home and veg-ing out.
Now to stop being a pile of crap and do something.
I would so love this idea. I'll happily donate a hundred pounds to anyone who needs it.
I'm only halfway through adding the food from Saturday and i can feel the sparkpoints website glowering at me with contempt.
oh well, I'll just have to work harder this week to make up for it.
You heard it here first, folks: Salmonella builds muscle.
Sorry, couldn't resist.