Jump to content

The weight loss struggle begins anew...


PNWguy
 Share

Recommended Posts

Last year, I was on graveyard shift working 6pm to 6am.  I worked out 2-3 times a week with weights and cardio.  I tried to limit my diet but didn't get real serious and still drank beer on the weekends.

I went from 315lbs to 285lbs.  I'm 6'2" with lots of muscle.  My ideal weight is around 220.

Then I went to Day shift.  6am to 6pm in November last year.  No more working out during lunch due to a packed gym and crazy workload during the day.  Then I quit smoking.  Quit preparing meals.  Gained all the weight back.  Then started smoking again after 7 months.

Went to Japan and was totally ashamed of my weight.  No way to hide it; too hot and humid.  Plus everywhere I went I was the fattest person.  I ate pretty much mostly Asian food and we walked every day.  Every night I was exhausted and my knees and feet were killing me.  It really took away from enjoying my vacation.  But I figured after all that walking and better diet, I would have lost a few pounds.  Nope.  Gained ten pounds.  

It really pissed me off.  I was now officially the heaviest I've ever been in my life.

So I started back on graveyard shift yesterday and will be on it for the next six months.  I promised my daughter I would return to Japan in a year and I plan on being significantly healthier and lighter by then.

Don't need any advice; I know how to work out and what to eat.  I know what diet plan my body responds to.  It's all mental at this point and being motivated.  I am motivated.  I turn 50 in two months and I swear I'm going to be a hot 50yr old by next Summer.

Me last week near the suicide forest in Japan...

yrD3T_HGQWqA1bzobL2LHL850xyBIHVWfN4V6yRIX1kpX92IB.jpg.4b6c15144c64c3681043d5994155919b.jpg

 

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Administrators

Good luck.  I have struggled with the same issues.  No matter what my weight, I have always worked out....and that helps.  If you are fat, at least you are strong and blocky.  If you want to lean out, it happens faster.   For me the problem has always been food.  

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Rabbi said:

Good luck.  I have struggled with the same issues.  No matter what my weight, I have always worked out....and that helps.  If you are fat, at least you are strong and blocky.  If you want to lean out, it happens faster.   For me the problem has always been food.  

Yep.  I LOVE pizza and the local grocery store by my work sells the absolute best frozen pizza I have ever had.  Culinary Circle Chicken Bacon Ranch on flatbread.  2 for $10.  I can eat an entire pizza in one sitting.  1400 calories and 160 grams of carbs, 68 grams of fat.  It's a widowmaker...

See the source image

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Administrators
5 minutes ago, PNWguy said:

Yep.  I LOVE pizza and the local grocery store by my work sells the absolute best frozen pizza I have ever had.  Culinary Circle Chicken Bacon Ranch on flatbread.  2 for $10.  I can eat an entire pizza in one sitting.  1400 calories and 160 grams of carbs, 68 grams of fat.  It's a widowmaker...

See the source image

 

 

 

Yep.  I can eat a large pizza, breadsticks and a soda and then have desert.   When 2000 calories is a common meal, you are going to pack on pounds.  Buffets, Donut shops, double portions, always eating out, always getting desert, always getting a bag of chips and snack cakes every time you stop at a gas station, eating all the bread in the basket and asking for more twice, same with the chips and salsa.... Snacking between meals and all night long

 

1800-2200 calories a day is what I have to eat to lose weight safely.   It is a shockingly small amount when you can maintain on 3200-3500 and think nothing of eating 7000 or more. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cut all grains and all refined sugar out of your diet for good and replace with veggies / salad / healthy proteins, and you WILL get to 220.

It is much easier to go through the withdrawal symptoms for 2 to 3 weeks, than trying to reduce sugar intake by counting calories. You just keep reminding your body and your mind of what it craves, making you fall back eventually. And yes, sugar comes in many forms, and is highly addictive. It is on the same level as many drugs.

I lost 30 pounds within 2 months, no workout.

 

 

Edited by crockett
  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Rabbi said:

 

 

1800-2200 calories a day is what I have to eat to lose weight safely.   It is a shockingly small amount when you can maintain on 3200-3500 and think nothing of eating 7000 or more. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2300 is my threshold, and I have the fit tracker app on my phone to keep track.  Luckily I only like soda with mixed drinks and chips and snacks really aren't tempting.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

48 minutes ago, crockett said:

Cut all grains and all refined sugar out of your diet for good and replace with veggies / salad / healthy proteins, and you WILL get to 220.

It is much easier to go through the withdrawal symptoms for 2 to 3 weeks, than trying to reduce sugar intake by counting calories. You just keep reminding your body and your mind of what it craves, making you fall back eventually. And yes, sugar comes in many forms, and is highly addictive. It is on the same level as many drugs.

I lost 30 pounds within 2 months, no workout.

 

 

Yeah, I cut out carbs and sugar and still had a couple glasses of red wine every night and lost 15 pounds in three weeks.  Now I'm cutting out all alcohol.  I've been doing this for the last 48 hours and lost 4lbs.  

It's amazing how bad processed foods are in regards to weight loss.  

Right now I'm defrosting some moose burger and making meatloaf.  Replacing the brown sugar glaze with a sugar-free barbecue sauce glaze.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm on the weight loss train too. I feel ya, Vart. It's hard as hell to eat right, not drink to excess, maybe even exercise a little bit. I've found that I get RAVENOUSLY hungry when I ramp up the exercise, but not so much when I just cut calories. Therefore, I've totally changed my eating habits. Some days, it's a struggle to get to 2000 calories, when most of what you eat is fruits, vegetables, hard-boiled eggs, chicken breast, and cheese. Alcohol was the thing that got me losing good weight. A handle of bourbon is about 5,000 calories (roughly a pound and a half of fat). I was drinking one of those a week. I don't even have any bourbon for drinking recreationally in the house (there's a few bottles of special-occasion stuff in the safe). I started August 1, 2018 at 330#. I weighed in last night at 299#.

You gotta change your habits. Funny thing is, when we go out to eat, as often as not, I'll grab a salad, hold the dressing. I don't really want to eat the bad stuff anymore. And I always remember what a friend once said- "You can't outrun your fork." I despise the idea of running, and again the exercise just makes me hungrier. So, to avoid the dreaded large amounts of cardio, I'll forgo the fries and pizza 9 times out of 10.

 

Good luck, dude. It ain't easy bein' the big fella. Like you, I think I'm finally tired of it.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Administrators
4 minutes ago, tadbart said:

Oh, and once you figure out what your base metabolic rate is, it's all a numbers game.

If you burn 3000 calories a day just breathing and moving about, and you cut back to 2500 calories intake a day, you'll lose about a pound of fat a week.

 

Just for the record, you will burn about a pound a week....and it will not be just fat.  It will also be lean muscle.  

 

It is a bitch....but it is what it is.  If you lose weight and do not exercise, you will end up "skinny fat"  If you start losing weight and exercise at the same time, you will (if you are lucky and get that lean) end up ottermode.  If you were already fairly beefy from lifting and start losing weight (technically a cut) that is when you end up looking like a lean buff guy.   But you lose lean muscle no matter what you do if you have real weight to lose (say more than 30 pounds)    Only an untrained person can lose weight and gain muscle....but it requires a wicked clean diet and that phase will not last that long. Again, if you are 30ish or more pounds over weight, lean muscle will start getting lost.   

 

Of course, most people do not realize how much they really have to lose to get down to 10% BF.   (you have soft abs but a 6 pack is visible)     An untrained average guy that is 6 feet tall is going to be 160-175 pounds to look like that.    That same guy will look leanish at 200....but will still have 25 or more pounds to go till he looks the part shirtless. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm 6'3" and I now weigh 220. At my heaviest I weighed 285 but was in pretty good shape from doing construction work full time,  then I made up my mind to lose weight and also stopped drinking,  I alos discovered that I had diabetes and stopped rating any sugar and got down to 220 but then went back up to 240 and stayed there for a number of years.

Then the nutritionist at the VA told me I needed to lose about 20 pounds an she suggested that I eat only green vegetables, no corn or corn chips and no potatoes or potato chips, no bread, no beans, no rice, no pasta. I did these things and now I've been holding steady at 220. and wear pants with a 36 inch waist instead of 38, When I cut out all the bread and rice and starches I lost the 20 pounds in 5 weeks.

The only bread I eat is whole grain high fiber bread and only eat it on occasion.  I also allow myself to have a pizza once a month and a beer on occasion even though when I first stopped drinking I didn't drink anything for about ten years. for snacks I like peanuts and occasionally I will eat sugar-free ice cream with walnuts on top. I also like the plain Greek yoghurt that only has 8 grams of sugar. Even Low-fat yogurt still has a lot of sugar. And even if you aren't diabetic sugar is fattening and ifyou want to get thin and stay thin you  have to learn to not to eat deserts. When I'm at friends house or go out to dinner with people I don't feel out of place not having desert.

Edited by Borg warner
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Take a look at KETO (very low carb).

If your body responds to it and you are capable of committing to it you will be amazed.

#1 feature for me was the hunger suppressing effect of ketosis.

It allowed me to wait for real/healthy food when my job makes meet late for a meal. I no longer have to scarf crap/bad food to sate a raging hunger.

One site full of great information, including recipes: dietdoctor.com

The KETO bread recipe there is awesome.

All the best

Sent from my Jack boot using Copatalk

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, PNWguy said:

Yeah, I cut out carbs and sugar and still had a couple glasses of red wine every night and lost 15 pounds in three weeks.  Now I'm cutting out all alcohol.  I've been doing this for the last 48 hours and lost 4lbs.  

It's amazing how bad processed foods are in regards to weight loss.  

Right now I'm defrosting some moose burger and making meatloaf.  Replacing the brown sugar glaze with a sugar-free barbecue sauce glaze.

I use Stevia extract to substitute sugar in tea, coffee, etc. 30 times sweeter, zero calories and no synthetic crap.

 

81dPXeswWgL._SY679_.jpg

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Last year I went from 246 to 185. Not much exercising, simply watching what I ate. We went away for an anniversary trip and I fell off the wagon and ate it. I’m back up to about 235 and I’m pissed at myself. I really felt great at 185, no knee pains and slept well. I’m trying to get back at it but I can’t get in the right mindset. Maybe your post will spark it. Good luck!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Start an ez route by replacing one to two meals with a protein shake a day...  Multivitamins to cut cravings. Simple small things like if ya Oder a burger leave the mayo and dressing off (mustard and ketchup are fine). Chicken noodle soup is a good between meal and real meal way of getting good food in ya.

 

do this now, cause if you get a damaged part such as a foot or knee, losing weight will be really hard due to lack of movement. Good luck bro!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

  • Please Donate To TBS

    Please donate to TBS.
    Your support is needed and it is greatly appreciated.
×
×
  • Create New...