The "I wanna shop in a normal clothes store" Journey

[VoxExMachina]

Thanks, I dint realize that Hammer Strength is a brand, he just wants me to do machines until the vertigo goes away. I know this sounds dumb but can you do ok on machines?

Yes, you can do fine on machines. There should be no problem at all using them instead of free weights for the time being.

The main point for now is to utilize strength training to burn calories and build up your fitness. Strength training will also help you to retain/build muscle mass as your cardio & nutrition help drive fat loss.

[janzbot71]

I have done it everyday except for today cause of rain.

I don't want this to sound patronizing ...but I bet I'm not the only one surprised you're walking that much. Assuming you're working full-time, that's 20 miles of walking per week!

Oh, and we will all agree that machines are fine for now. If you decide to get more serious later on, free weights are the way to go. But for the time-being the machines work fine. (In case you're wondering about the difference, machines usually just allow someone to train without having to stabilize the weight, whereas lifitng free weights (eg. heavy barbell exercises) requires the person to use other muscles to stabilize the weight. This means that a squat or a deadlift or a press (using free weights) can effectively work more muscles simultaneously than say a leg press, back extension, or shoulder press machine. (Not that you asked for a tutorial, but what the heck...)

[wallyworldfatty]

I don't want this to sound patronizing ...but I bet I'm not the only one surprised you're walking that much. Assuming you're working full-time, that's 20 miles of walking per week!

Thanks but it takes me about 40 minutes to walk those two miles. I will get faster in time

[janzbot71]

Thanks but it takes me about 40 minutes to walk those two miles.

That doesn't matter. It matters that you're walking 20 miles per week -- which is admirable for someone of just about any fitness level. That you are doing it on a consistent basis is the key to making progress.

[tmonkey]

get to the gym, check it out and sign up if is seems ok.

starting to build some muscle will be the best thing you can do.
and don't go crazy right away - 20 to 30 minutes and start very light - take breaks. I would say start with the bar but i am not sure how that would relate to the machines.

[Marius_Ursus]

That doesn't matter. It matters that you're walking 20 miles per week -- which is admirable for someone of just about any fitness level. That you are doing it on a consistent basis is the key to making progress.

Absolutely! I'm really impressed you're going that far regardless of how long it takes.

[wallyworldfatty]

Was at the doc todays and he told me that if I dont lose the weight then he wants me me to have Gastric Bypass surgery. I just made it thru brain surgery 2 years ago and I do not want to do gastric bypass at all so Iam kinda sad.

Came home and got rid of all the junk in the house and bought few items at the store. Got some whole wheat wraps, eggs, a box of Harvestland chicken breasts, almonds and such. Still dont have an actual diet plan as Iam so confused with all the options out there.

Thinking about taking some pics but its so hard to do it and post them.

[VoxExMachina]

Was at the doc todays and he told me that if I dont lose the weight then he wants me me to have Gastric Bypass surgery. I just made it thru brain surgery 2 years ago and I do not want to do gastric bypass at all so Iam kinda sad.

Came home and got rid of all the junk in the house and bought few items at the store. Got some whole wheat wraps, eggs, a box of Harvestland chicken breasts, almonds and such. Still dont have an actual diet plan as Iam so confused with all the options out there.

Thinking about taking some pics but its so hard to do it and post them.

I'm not a doctor, and wouldn't counsel someone to go against what their doc tells them.

HOWEVER...

There are people on "The Biggest Loser" this season that have had the surgery and it doesn't seem to have done them any good. In the end of the day, I'm sure it would be better if you could lose the weight on your own. I firmly believe that you can do it. In any event, I'd consider that option a last resort. I haven't been in your position, though, so perhaps others who have might also weigh in here.

As for the diet, don't over-think things. As a starting point determine your caloric needs per day. Maybe around 2,500 calories per day. Try to get 40% of your calories from protein, 40% from carbs, and 20% from fat. You can use www.myfitnesspal.com to set goals and track your calories.

For a whole week, track everything and hit your calorie and nutrient goals. Work out on your "normal" workout plan (which in my opinion should probably be 3 days of weight training and cardio at least 4-5 days a week). If you lose weight, you're on the right track. If you don't lose weight, then try reducing the calories by 300 per day. If that doesn't work, then up your cardio. It's not rocket science, you just have to measure what you're doing, then tweak your plan based on how it's working for you.

You can do this!! You just gotta be determined, and bust your butt.

The WORST thing you can do is to NOT START. You don't need a perfect plan, just one you can begin with.

[Marius_Ursus]

Try to keep things simple, so you don't get overwhelmed, wallyworld. I like how Mike Huckabee explained his weight loss. His advice was, "If my grandfather wouldn't recognize it as food, I didn't eat it." You can worry about diet plans and strategies a little later. Right now, you're off to a great start of keeping it simple with at least identifying foods that have good nutrition in them.

As long as you keep eating whole muscle meats and vegetables and fruits and avoiding processed meats (pepperoni, sausage, salami) and French fries and fruit with sugar or corn syrup added, you won't go wrong.

[janzbot71]

Try to keep things simple, so you don't get overwhelmed, wallyworld.

^^^I agree with this completely.^^^

I don't disagree with what Vox wrote above, because he's right about the numbers. But if you're not quite ready to figure out the percentages, etc., then just keep a journal of what you eat. Write it down even if it's a handful of peanuts.

Remember that at first you just need to worry about the broad strokes. And look, you're making progress. You're walking, you're thinking about food choices, omitting some things, you'll soon join a gym and stare at hotties...

This is all progress from a couple weeks ago when you posted your plea for help.

I can't really comment on the surgery either. But FWIW, I would echo that I've known a couple of people who had the surgery, lost a ton of weight, and then gained it all back within a couple of years.

[VoxExMachina]

I'll continue to say that the most important thing is to GET GOING and then BE CONSISTENT.

Personally, I feel that tracking my calories is important to me because it helps me feel "in control" of what I am doing. It gives me something to focus on, gets me more involved with the process, and helps give me data to make decisions. But that's not to say you should get hung up on it either, Wally.

I know you saw the 80/20 thread, so keep that in mind. You don't have to over-analyze or get hung up on anything. You just have to start getting the most important 20% of things right, and you'll see 80% of the results.

[batteryrequired]

In to watch the win! Fight the good fight wally

[janzbot71]

I'll continue to say that the most important thing is to GET GOING and then BE CONSISTENT.

Best advice possible.

[tmonkey]

get your ass to the gym and start. worry about the food later. quit putting it off, do it.

[wallyworldfatty]

get your ass to the gym and start. worry about the food later. quit putting it off, do it.

I have an Appt at 2:15 on Thursday to checkout my local gym

[wallyworldfatty]

Ok so I feel like I can do this with proper planning and just thinking things through. I also know that I need to take my lunches to work and only take 2 bucks with me or I will graze or eat out. Another bad spot for me is getting gas, instead of paying at the pump go inside and come out with soda and candy. GRRRR

I think I want to do one of the following diets.

Warrior Diet
Keto
Palumbos Diet for cutting

any suggestions?

[tmonkey]

I have an Appt at 2:15 on Thursday to checkout my local gym

Good thing i didn't want to waste my vaction time coming there and dragging you in

Ok so I feel like I can do this with proper planning and just thinking things through. I also know that I need to take my lunches to work and only take 2 bucks with me or I will graze or eat out. Another bad spot for me is getting gas, instead of paying at the pump go inside and come out with soda and candy. GRRRR

I think I want to do one of the following diets.

Warrior Diet
Keto
Palumbos Diet for cutting

any suggestions?

would't even worry about it yet.
Start by just cutting out the pop (and candy) - i still have a diet pop from time to time. dr. pepper and mt. dew are not bad for diet pop. regular pop is a disaster for someone on a diet.

[VoxExMachina]

Ok so I feel like I can do this with proper planning and just thinking things through. I also know that I need to take my lunches to work and only take 2 bucks with me or I will graze or eat out. Another bad spot for me is getting gas, instead of paying at the pump go inside and come out with soda and candy. GRRRR

I think I want to do one of the following diets.

Warrior Diet
Keto
Palumbos Diet for cutting

any suggestions?

Honestly, pick whichever diet plan you think you can stick to best. But in any event cut out regular soda and candy!! That stuff will grenade any plan faster than a German Panzer division.

All you really need to do is:

1. Eat sensibly: good food, not too many calories, get your protein, and cut the junk.
2. Cardio: keep doing your walks (or whatever) every day or at least 4-5 days a week.
3. Lift: get to that gym and get in 3 good weight workouts a week.
4. Adjust: modify things as you go based on the results you're seeing.

[arsene]

Ok so I feel like I can do this with proper planning and just thinking things through. I also know that I need to take my lunches to work and only take 2 bucks with me or I will graze or eat out. Another bad spot for me is getting gas, instead of paying at the pump go inside and come out with soda and candy. GRRRR

I think I want to do one of the following diets.

Warrior Diet
Keto
Palumbos Diet for cutting

any suggestions?

Have you started tracking what you are and how much you are eating everyday? As tmonkey said, I'd recommend taking baby steps.

You might be thinking that you'll start tracking your diet once you start your "diet plan." But, let's think of it this way. What if you have been eating like 3500 cals filled with junk food everyday, and all of a sudden you want to go on Warrior Diet with 2200 cals of clean foods?
That's going to be a major, major change for anybody, and there's a high likelihood that it won't last long.

Tracking your "current diet" - and I mean "real numbers" logged, not eyeballing and guesstimating - is going to be a huge eye opener, if you haven't done so already. This log will put those regular sodas and candy into context. You'll actually see how much of bad stuff you can cut out of your diet before you start eating clean.

For me, bringing good foods into my diet wasn't hard. But it was (and still is sometimes) very, very hard to cut the bad foods out. Once you keep diet logs and see how much "empty calories" these bad foods bring to your body, it'll be easier to cut them out.

If you happen to go into a gas station tomorrow and grab a 12-oz soda and a bar of Snickers, don't just look at the nutrition information and feel bad about eating them. Write them down or log them online and put them into context.

That's how I did it in the beginning.

I'm glad you are keeping up with your journal here. Some people here seem to think you are not moving fast enough, but I believe you'll get there as long as you stick with your journal keeping.

I know you are thinking things through, which may seem like rocrastinating to some, but thinking is a very important part of this, I think.

[tmonkey]

how was the gym?

did you work out while you were there? i know this will be a yes.

[wallyworldfatty]

how was the gym?

did you work out while you were there? i know this will be a yes.

Yesterday went to the gym, looked around and its not huge or nice like a commercial gym but it has more than my apartment. Here is the gym http://www.shippensburgfitness.com/index.asp

So signed up for the free days, no contract or any money down, did a circuit and felt good. Came home starving and eat dinner and came on BB.com and read around in the MISC. Watched Pens game and went to bed.

When I woke up this morning I felt like somebody beat me with a sledgehammer while I was sleeping. Good God I am sore, just barely got through the day.

[VoxExMachina]

Yesterday went to the gym, looked around and its not huge or nice like a commercial gym but it has more than my apartment. Here is the gym http://www.shippensburgfitness.com/index.asp

So signed up for the free days, no contract or any money down, did a circuit and felt good. Came home starving and eat dinner and came on BB.com and read around in the MISC. Watched Pens game and went to bed.

When I woke up this morning I felt like somebody beat me with a sledgehammer while I was sleeping. Good God I am sore, just barely got through the day.

Good deal on getting signed up, and getting a workout in!

Don't worry too much about the soreness. It will get better as you continue to work our regularly.

[janzbot71]

Good God I am sore, just barely got through the day.

Great news. (The workout -- not the soreness!) As Vox mentioned, that will go away after a couple of weeks.

So for record-keeping purposes:

1) Walking regularly to work - 4 miles total per workday.
2) Starting to get smart about food - watching portions/omitting junk
3) Joined gym and got in a DOMS-induced workout

I'd say you're on your way.

What are your thoughts on the surgery?

[tmonkey]

glad you got going. hope you didn't over do it. start slow, slowly work up.

sore is good - but you don't want to much of a good thing

when are you going back? how many free days?


don't worry about eating more and being hungry after your workout. try to start cutting the crap and you will lose the weight. You will burn more cals. then you will make up with the hungry feeling you get after woring out (just don't push it or eat crap)

drink your protein right after your workout this should help the hunger and the soreness (a little)

[dartol]

Great news. (The workout -- not the soreness!) As Vox mentioned, that will go away after a couple of weeks.

So for record-keeping purposes:

1) Walking regularly to work - 4 miles total per workday.
2) Starting to get smart about food - watching portions/omitting junk
3) Joined gym and got in a DOMS-induced workout

I'd say you're on your way.

What are your thoughts on the surgery?

Yes that is excellent progress! You are definitely on the right track, just take it one step at a time and keep moving forward. Even if things happen and you get moved backwards from time to time, just keep pressing forward.

I have maintained a 60+lb loss for more than 11 years now... I'm happy to share the things I have learned in my journey. I hope they help you as well.

I'll disagree with those that rank exercise above fixing your food intake. Even now I exercise a lot but only see loss numbers when I watch my food. Calorie tracking is the best but when you are first starting, you will probably do great just by moving to healthier foods that you have been eating. Sounds like you are already getting portion control in check as well, that is perfect!

When I started out, I just tried to make a healthier choice at every meal I sat down to. Skip the buttered roll and eat more veggies... don't put cheese on the salad but more egg whites, things like that. Trading out bad eating habits for good will get you a long way. I'd skip the cereal and go for egg whites and maybe a piece of dry whole wheat toast. Maybe one egg yolk. Can't go wrong with just lean meat and microwaved veggies for dinner! Chicken and tuna are your friends.

I wouldn't worry about supplements until you get all of these other things on track. Ignore any ads you see with big wight loss claims, its just a good way to waste your money. Go spend it on a big pack of chicken breasts to broil up for the week and a giant frozen bag of broccoli instead.

Here's a little writeup I did a while back on some tips to get going, I hope you find them useful! http://darrensfitquest.blogspot.com/...loss-tips.html

On the exercise, just so you are doing something consider that an awesome start. Yes, you are burning calories. I am more of a fan of lifting than cardio when dieting. Why? If the dieting is the key to losing weight, then lifting is the key to making most of that weight loss come from fat instead of muscle. I saw some study results recently that confirmed that, I will try to find that article.

On the surgery, I'd postpone that until you really follow the recommendations you already have in your journal here. You will probably find you don't need it. But even if you do end up with it, all of these things still apply. It's no magic bullet. That's why people gain back, they don't exercise or eat healthy after having it. I know a couple of people that have had one form or another. It's just a tool and nothing more, it's often a very misused tool.

Best of luck to ya, keep it going man!

Darren

[wallyworldfatty]

What are your thoughts on the surgery?

Iam willing to do it, but I need to make the effort the right way first.

when are you going back? how many free days?

I went back today and did another circuit, and my free days are 30

[tmonkey]

Iam willing to do it, but I need to make the effort the right way first.




I went back today and did another circuit, and my free days are 30

f'n great to hear.

[NuclearArms]

Noted the title of this one, and wish you well on our journey.

I'd say my journey is just the opposite of yours, I don't want normal clothes. Rather have more muscle to fill out those XXL items. I'll wait til I'm old to get back to normal.

[janzbot71]

I went back today and did another circuit, and my free days are 30

Wally,
Congratulations. At this point, take stock of things and remember that if you do no more than what you are currently doing, you will still see dramatic results over time. That should be enough motivation to (AT LEAST) continue with your current efforts. (Very important that you don't feel overwhelmed; you should feel empowered!) So if this is all you can handle right now, just do this. But JUST DO THIS, y'know.

As you feel like you can ingest more info, there's a ton of stuff out there to read -- lots on this site as well. Whatever you do, DO NOT get discouraged and quit.

BTW, I'm sure it will come if it already hasn't, but have you lost any weight from all your efforts yet?

[wallyworldfatty]

Did another circuit today and the guy at the gym wanted me to go to a spin class. I was like Iam way too heavy for that and he said it would be eaiser on my knees. IDK those Zumba woman look like they would have me puking on the bike