Weight Loss - Tips & Daily Check-in

[The GIGGAS]

Re: Weight Loss - Tips & Daily Check-in

Thanks Giggas, I know one thing, no matter what happens my relationship with food is never going to be the same. I really resent it now and I particularly hate fast food, junk food etc...so I honestly don't believe i'll backslide there. I'm just worried I am feeling like, in my head, that i've tried so hard and done just about everything and it's simply not possible. I'm a logical person and when I apply strict dietary standards and exercise to my life its simply illogical that i'd not lose weight. That's what really makes me so freakin' angry about all of this.

Keep pushing man. I'm pretty logical too, and that's why my massive dip in weight is a bit puzzling to me. But I know for both of us, after time, we'll drop pounds by sticking to the same plan of eating less (and better) and working out. You're not alone, man. I promise you.

[ODogg]

Re: Weight Loss - Tips & Daily Check-in

I'm at 400 calories today. I planned on fasting today but I figured I'd do breakfast and see how things went since breakfast is considered crucial to metabolism and all. I had egg whites, onions, lowfast cheese and turkey sausage with salsa.

[Sting]

Re: Weight Loss - Tips & Daily Check-in

Thanks Giggas, I know one thing, no matter what happens my relationship with food is never going to be the same. I really resent it now and I particularly hate fast food, junk food etc...so I honestly don't believe i'll backslide there. I'm just worried I am feeling like, in my head, that i've tried so hard and done just about everything and it's simply not possible. I'm a logical person and when I apply strict dietary standards and exercise to my life its simply illogical that i'd not lose weight. That's what really makes me so freakin' angry about all of this.

OD, I would suggest tightening up on your calorie counting. Make SURE all your measurements are 100% accurate. I've also found that the "cheat day" absolutely kills all momentum that I may have gained so I'm trying to cut that out as well. Don't give up, just tighten the reigns. I know it's hard as hell, I'm tightening mine this week. Low cal plus low carb at the same time, and atleast a half hour of cardio 5 days/wk is what I'm shooting for this week.

Stay in it man, don't give up. Show some fight.

"Don't give up, don't ever give up." - Jim Valvano

[ODogg]

Yeah, I'm moving cheat day Saturday (usually pizza) to every other week now.

[ODogg]

Re: Weight Loss - Tips & Daily Check-in

thanks all for the encouragement. i'm not giving up, but I'm just very frustrated at how impossible my body is reacting to this stuff. it's one stubborn piece of **** that's for sure, LOL

it seems 100% stuck on my weight being 260 no matter what I do. I just can't seem to get by 250 at all.

[Stu]

Re: Weight Loss - Tips & Daily Check-in

My advice is start small and work your way up both in your diet and your expectations for results. Don't get on the scale every day because you're just going to get discouraged. Cut down your weigh ins to once a week maximum to start off (once every couple weeks would be better).

I think part of the problem is you're weighing yourself too often and it's causing you to get discouraged and give up on a program that would work if you stuck with it.

I'd also cut out the starvation type diets because they're just going to put you into a cycle where you starve yourself and then binge which isn't going to lead to weight loss.

Instead of trying these drastic diets, counting every calorie I think you need to start smaller. Just start trying to make good eating decisions vs bad ones. Order an extra helping of vegetables or salad with dinner instead of french fries or potato, only eat 2 slices of pizza instead of 3-4, measure out snacks like crackers and chips into a small cup instead of eating from the bag/box, eat on a small plate instead of a large dinner plate. If you start making these good decisions and control your portion sizes I guarantee you will see results.

I have this printout on my fridge at home:

http://www.webmd.com/diet/printable/portion-control-size-guide

I look at it before I eat anything now. It amazed me at first how much I was overeating but now that I understand what a proper portion is, it's much easier to control what I eat and lose weight as a result. The other great benefit is it's not nearly as tedious as counting calories every day.

[ODogg]

Re: Weight Loss - Tips & Daily Check-in

Stu, your advice is all good for someone who is new at this but i've been doing this for a couple of years now. I've started off small and gotten to where I am, the point of near overwhelming obsession. Honestly I not only know my calories, I agonize over them. I obsess with food. When I go to the store I'm looking in people's carts and then looking at them to see what "normal" people eat.. I seriously think it's starting to become my life. I can almost think of nothing else than losing weight. And when I look in the mirror I don't see someone who's 35-40 pounds overweight, I see someone who is a huge, fat obese person. Frankly I disgust myself and I try to avoid mirrors. Yes it's that bad.

As for starvation, I don't ever binge so that's not an issue. I keep hearing folks say "well if you're working out and you gained weight it's probably muscle". No it's not muscle. Do you have any idea how much work it takes to add 2 pounds of muscle? If I hear one more person say that to me I just might punch them in their face.

Like I said, I see results...until I get to about 255, then it not only will stall but sometimes go back the other way. I'm just going to have to keep eating less, eating better and working out harder I think. That's all I know of to try at this point. Starting this week I am no longer eating in the evenings at all. Once I get home I'll have about a 200 calorie snack, dinner whatever you want to call it and then I'm done. It's just ridiculous man.

[larrygiterdone]

Re: Weight Loss - Tips & Daily Check-in

Stu, your advice is all good for someone who is new at this but i've been doing this for a couple of years now. I've started off small and gotten to where I am, the point of near overwhelming obsession. Honestly I not only know my calories, I agonize over them. I obsess with food. When I go to the store I'm looking in people's carts and then looking at them to see what "normal" people eat.. I seriously think it's starting to become my life. I can almost think of nothing else than losing weight. And when I look in the mirror I don't see someone who's 35-40 pounds overweight, I see someone who is a huge, fat obese person. Frankly I disgust myself and I try to avoid mirrors. Yes it's that bad.

As for starvation, I don't ever binge so that's not an issue. I keep hearing folks say "well if you're working out and you gained weight it's probably muscle". No it's not muscle. Do you have any idea how much work it takes to add 2 pounds of muscle? If I hear one more person say that to me I just might punch them in their face.

Like I said, I see results...until I get to about 255, then it not only will stall but sometimes go back the other way. I'm just going to have to keep eating less, eating better and working out harder I think. That's all I know of to try at this point. Starting this week I am no longer eating in the evenings at all. Once I get home I'll have about a 200 calorie snack, dinner whatever you want to call it and then I'm done. It's just ridiculous man.

you are either taking in too many calories or not burning enough it is that simple, it is a simple math formula that determines whether you gain or lose weight, there are no secrets

since you feel that you are not overeating, then you need to burn more calories

try this out: do not sit down AT ALL at any point for the next week except for sleep obviously, stay on your feet and move around all day

see if that helps you burn more calories

[Stu]

Re: Weight Loss - Tips & Daily Check-in

ODogg, I apologize if you already posted this but what are you doing for workouts? how often, how long, etc?

[Tha_Kid]

Re: Weight Loss - Tips & Daily Check-in

LOL. No. You won't be losing 1-2lbs of just FAT a week. 1-2lbs of water/muscle/fat ok, of just FAT? No, not unless you're genetics are freakishly good.

1-2 lbs of just fat is optimal, but you're right, it will be fat/water/muscle. I said it will be fat because the ratio is going to lean heavily towards fat, which isn't always the case with the 7000 weekly calorie deficit you'd need for two pounds. If you do resistance work (lifting) then you'll retain your muscle/strength with fasting. Take a look at Martin Beltran. Here is an interview where he explains his approach to fasting called Leangains .

There isn't a written out program yet but he has a blog where he gives updates on the people he's coaching and discusses fasting, diets, etc. That plan is daily 16hfast/8houreat windows, with overfeeding on training days and underfeeding on off days. It's a lot more thought out with calorie cycling and protein/carb/fat ratios for meals depending on goals. Depending on one's schedule, a daily 8 hour window might not even feel like you do fasting (i.e. Noon-8 eat window, 8p-noon fast while working a 9-5). I think alot of people that have tried to diet can agree with dealing better with three large meals instead of 5-6 400-500 calorie meals a day.

[ODogg]

Re: Weight Loss - Tips & Daily Check-in

larrygiterdone - I work at a sit down job but I'm already fairly active in regards to taking walks etc. The trainers at the gym believe it's my food, not the workouts.

Stu - I'm doing 35 to 40 minutes of intense cardio a day, 5 times a week and usually taking about 1 to 2 20 minute walks a day for my dog. Starting this week I'm doing weights (15 reps x 3 sets) twice a week and on those days reducing cardio to 20-25 minutes.

The week before last I actually doubled my workout time to two sessions of 35-40 minutes of intense cardio a day and saw no difference at all in the results. In fact that was the first week I went from losing to nothing. I don't mind putting in the time but I'm not going to be going to the gym for an hour and a half a day and getting the same or lesser results so it just didn't seem worth it.

[Sting]

Re: Weight Loss - Tips & Daily Check-in

ODogg, I think you should push yourself more in the cardio department. I remember last week you posted that your "calories burned total" for your day on the eliptical and I remember thinking that it was a bit low. All I would recommend is to up the cardio, if you're at a high intensity now, take it up another notch. Don't kill yourself though It sounds like you're eating well and doing cardio so you should be losing weight. This one's a head scratcher. All I know to do is do more cardio and harder cardio.

[ODogg]

Re: Weight Loss - Tips & Daily Check-in

Well i've been pushing my heart rate to about 160-170 for the majority of that 35-40 minutes and the trainers told me I could have heart attack at about 180-185. But I agree, it's a head scratcher. All I really know to do is maybe go a little longer but who the hell knows really.

Oh yeah and no one say it's sodium-water retention either as i doubt it, i don't eat salt at all anymore.

[ODogg]

Re: Weight Loss - Tips & Daily Check-in

I had some lightly salted nuts as a snack. For lunch I had a piece of fish, okra w/tomatoes, a slice of cheese and an orange. I'm not going into the calorie counting hardcore today but it's somewhere about 1,000.

[UNC_Pete]

Re: Weight Loss - Tips & Daily Check-in

ODogg, It could be sodium-water retention.