Former 300lb crew please bless me with your strength,focus and determination

[Brandon85c]

**********SIGH***************



Dear all former 300lbers im getting my ass kicked with this healthy living situation. Im not hitting the right mark and I don't know why.


I try to stay at the 2500 cal mark most days and if I go a little bit over according to fitnesspal.com calculations I get it back to my mark with the cardio. but the 4lb a week weight is not working for me I did my TEE again yesterday and its 2040 but since im so desperate and sad I want to cut 1000 calories from that because even when I eat a steady 2500 calorie diet and do moderate walks a day on the treadmill nothing happens. I try to stretch real good before I do it and bump it to 3.5 I can only sustain that for 3-4 minutes at a time and I have to bump it down to 3.0 and bump it up to 3.2 3.3 for 40-50 minutes, but clearly cardio isn't the magic bullet for me because im not making steady progress. and my limbs start to hurt.


When it comes to lifting I ran all pros for 3 weeks with very very low weight, I am very weak in my arms so I was benching 40lbs with dumbbells, rowing 82, squatting 82,over head press 64lbs, sl dead lifting was a problem I was doing 135 but with crappy form so I dropped it to 50lbs but I have nothing to get the right sldl height, and curls I just used the bar. on rows, ohp , curls I was always failing at the last set ***sigh***.


And my next hurdle my main issue is destroying hunger in the late morning I do good through the day but at 4-5-6 am I eat oatmeal, cereal, eggs, rice, frozen veggies not at the same time but just eating one of those is not enough to cure the cravings so I usually double up. To kill the hunger I tried drinking tons of water glucomanan which is a load of crap.im looking to try hoodia next but I heard that sucks dexaprine almost killed me also it did nothing for my hunger, im not supposed to take stimulants anyway I take psych medicine for certain conditions ,that might interact or add to my anxiety or depression. most guys said they lifted heavy to achieve their goals im to weak to lift heavy.


My diet is lean steak, fast food grilled chicken sandwich, grilled chicken salads, deli lean turkey, chicken, pastrami, baked chicken, turkey burgers, peanut butter and jelly ,oatmeal. eggs grits ,some corn, sun chips, baked lays, tuna

supplments I take trying to get an energy burst are iron, vitamin b-complex, vitamin d and caffeine tablets at night to get me through cardio.



im going to college hopefully sometime in 2013 and I have to get down to at least 240,so I can lay pipe while im there lol, so former 300lb crew bless me with your magic barbell get me straight please im losing it down here. and when you guys say burn more than you take in if I eat 1500 calories I have to burn 1500 calories with cardio or lifting? Im starting over how do i get ready?


my plea for help
Brandon85c

[rjmwx81]

Are you measuring what you eat? Eating healthier foods doesn't make a damn bit of difference if you eat too much of it. Weigh EVERYTHING.

[Brandon85c]

Are you measuring what you eat? Eating healthier foods doesn't make a damn bit of difference if you eat too much of it. Weigh EVERYTHING.

I weigh every thing except side dishes because it's usually a few spoonfuls of veggies

[matman1813]

You burn calories by just existing if you eat 1500 you don't need to burn 1500 with cardio. It is 100% diet, how much weight are you losing per week on 2500 calories?

[Brandon85c]

You burn calories by just existing if you eat 1500 you don't need to burn 1500 with cardio. It is 100% diet, how much weight are you losing per week on 2500 calories?

It seems it takes 3 weeks to lose a pound maybe 2 then it jumps up again a week later water fluctuations idk. the scale is crushing my soul but im addicted to it, my cardio sessions seems useless at this point

[Deadthrone]

youre full of excuses bs youre eating 2.5k a day + exercising at 300+ lbs. and not losing lmao you're overeating get out of the fatty mentality and this cheating sh*t... calculate your macros measure everything and eaat that, i guarantee if u eat 2.5k and exercise ur losing a **** load of weight at 300+...

[matman1813]

It seems it takes 3 weeks to lose a pound maybe 2 then it jumps up again a week later water fluctuations idk. the scale is crushing my soul but im addicted to it

I think there has to be a tracking issue somewhere, you really should be losing on 2500 calories. Try taking it down to 2000, see what happens.

[rjmwx81]

I weigh every thing except side dishes because it's usually a few spoonfuls of veggies

Ok. I'd weigh them, too.

Secondly, you say your TEE is 2040, but you're eating 2500 calories? Unless I'm misunderstanding what you mean by TEE that means that you're eating 500 calories more than you ought to, not counting calories burned by exercise. 40 minutes of light cardio isn't going to make up that 500 calories. I wouldn't do anything as drastic as cutting back to 1500 like you suggested, but try 2000 for awhile and see what happens.

Finally, a word about lifting heavy: remember, "heavy" is a relative term. You say you're too weak to lift heavy. I say bulls---. Sure, your definition of "heavy" and mine may differ, but if you're lifting to failure (or, preferably setting your weights and sets/reps so that the last couple of reps are hard as hell, but do-able), you're doing it right. Just keep working at it.

[Brandon85c]

youre full of excuses bs youre eating 2.5k a day + exercising at 300+ lbs. and not losing lmao you're overeating get out of the fatty mentality and this cheating sh*t... calculate your macros measure everything and eaat that, i guarantee if u eat 2.5k and exercise ur losing a **** load of weight at 300+...

im not going to lie I do cheat every once in a while but when I do im sure its not 4000 cals worth I don't go crazy , my cheat days are bbq ribs or chicken wings for dinner on a empty stomach maybe 700 of my 2000 cals and I eat healthy after that!

[rjmwx81]

im not going to lie I do cheat every once in a while but when I do im sure its not 4000 cals worth I don't go crazy , my cheat days are bbq ribs or chicken wings for dinner on a empty stomach maybe 700 of my 2000 cals and I eat healthy after that!

"Maybe" 700 calories? How many wings do you eat? How many ribs do you eat? You told me you're weighing your food but if you think a big ol' plate of wings is 700 calories you're deluding yourself.

Edit: We're not saying this stuff to make you feel bad; we're genuinely trying to help. But it sounds like you're saying "I religiously stick to my macros, count every calorie, and bust my ass in the gym...except when I don't." Consistency is HUGE my friend.

[Deadthrone]

i think everyone in this thread should stop sugarcoating it, OP you obviously are looking for a magic way out, the groundwork is provided, if you reallly followed it you would see results, coming from a guy who weighed 265 in july 2011 and now 175

[curjo]

i think everyone in this thread should stop sugarcoating it, OP you obviously are looking for a magic way out, the groundwork is provided, if you reallly followed it you would see results, coming from a guy who weighed 265 in july 2011 and now 175

This. It's hard work and its annoying sometimes but you must account for everything that you eat. At 2500 cals you would be losing. I'm cutting at 3300 right now but I make it easy on myself and eat the same thing every day. I even weigh my protein shakes. I'm not saying you have to do that but it makes it easier for me at least. I also pre package everything the night before and take it with me. If its not in my lunchbox, it doesn't get eaten period. Oh ya and this time last year I was 354.

[Ziellos]

I was 380 at my highest, I'm now 202. I didn't start exercising until I dropped down to 280 from 380 through simply dieting.. 280 to 202 took me 4 months but I do have some saggy skin on my arms and stomach. I started counting calories and stayed under 2200. Once I eventually hit 300 I knocked it down to always being under 1900 with 100-200g protein. That coupled with ACTUAL EXERCISE, walk then run as much as you can then switch back to walking, repeat and do 2 hours a day or more.. Add in 4-6 days a week of weight lifting, which you increase the weights bi-weekly, doing low weights is pointless, I could only do 60-100 starting, however you have to keep increasing it.. I'm not going to lie, my back and feet had so many issues, you really need a full stretching and or yoga program added into this or you're going to feel like absolute ****. I have maybe 2 cheat days a month which only gets up to 2200 calories max.. I only buy groceries too, such as lean meats, veggies, and fruits; coupled with items I enjoy, eggs, nut milk, potatoes, etc. (Try to cut dairy and bread; also you have WAY too many snacks/chips in there..) It's down to preference on that front, you just have to calculate everything regarding food.

Supplements I take:
Vitamin D (mine was super low..)
Multivitamin
Androgel (My test was 126 at the age of 22..)
Fish oil
Whey Protein & Creatine

Other than that, make sure you have shoes for running/walking that fit your feet properly, and once you lose weight you'll need another pair. Everything in life comes down to will-power though..

I've also now switched to doing p90x and it's a great program if you can fully do it; along with planks, various pushups, various pull ups, running, and full body weight lifting. My BF% is 7.

One thing I wanted to add, to avoid hunger you must avoid empty calories, you can eat a surprisingly large amount of food and stay well within a 1-2kcal limit.

[Brandon85c]

"Maybe" 700 calories? How many wings do you eat? How many ribs do you eat? You told me you're weighing your food but if you think a big ol' plate of wings is 700 calories you're deluding yourself.

Edit: We're not saying this stuff to make you feel bad; we're genuinely trying to help. But it sounds like you're saying "I religiously stick to my macros, count every calorie, and bust my ass in the gym...except when I don't." Consistency is HUGE my friend.

No I don't want you guys to suger coat it but 5 wings for dinner and on another being a loser day 5 ribs, as someone said with my maintenance being 2040 I should cut that by 500 in the past my maintenance probably were miscalculated because I used to have it around 3500,but in the beginning how I got to this weight 50lbs lighter than 8 months ago I only ate twice a day and was not hungry I don't know why that was it just was.

but I understand I have the groundwork but I thought I was hitting the target but some were im not,and an above poster said light weight is pointless but most people stress lifting so ill go with the person with the most rep points.

but I might be being a fatty ass but late night hunger is really a killer for me I have tried sucking it up but I think a good proven suppressant would really do the trick,but that might be the puzzy way out but Im trying my damndest not to screw up.


so ill suck all this up and go hard at it again I must lose this weight

[Ziellos]

I meant staying at low weights and not increasing it is pointless, you have to keep increasing it. Also read what I said regarding food choices and hunger.. If you want to fight hunger, eat a SMALL meal before you sleep; but also avoid empty calories like chips, drinks, high calorie foods, etc..

[Brandon85c]

I meant staying at low weights and not increasing it is pointless, you have to keep increasing it. Also read what I said regarding food choices and hunger.. If you want to fight hunger, eat a SMALL meal before you sleep; but also avoid empty calories like chips, drinks, high calorie foods, etc..

but how do I know when to increase im failing at the last set at the 8th 9th rep for almost all lifts and curls sheese im failing with the 45lb bar

[Ziellos]

How many sets do you do? I started out doing 4 sets and 8 reps for everything, then increasing it every week to 2 weeks by whatever I was able to lift. The better method I found was to simply do as many at the highest weight I could possibly do, say 200 lbs at 2 sets of 4 reps? Then you increase the weight along with the sets and reps slowly. It differs per individual, I found the best way to increase your muscles while being overweight was doing the highest weight and lower sets and reps, it didn't overexert me from simply moving to the point I lost my strength and couldn't push my muscles, then I built it up overtime. (edit - the 200 lbs would be for example a curve bar/bar bell related exercises) Doing 20-60 with dumbbells is fine, just increase as previously mentioned and do as much as you can while increasing the sets and reps to a stabilized number, then increasing the weight further with it too.

[RRJ]

Cheating more than once every month or so slowed down my progress when I started. I just had to suck it up and stop making excuses if I wanted to make decent progress. Really, you're going to have to do the same.

[Brandon85c]

How many sets do you do? I started out doing 4 sets and 8 reps for everything, then increasing it every week to 2 weeks by whatever I was able to lift. The better method I found was to simply do as many at the highest weight I could possibly do, say 200 lbs at 2 sets of 4 reps? Then you increase the weight along with the sets and reps slowly. It differs per individual, I found the best way to increase your muscles while being overweight was doing the highest weight and lower sets and reps, it didn't overexert me from simply moving to the point I lost my strength and couldn't push my muscles, then I built it up overtime. (edit - the 200 lbs would be for example a curve bar/bar bell related exercises) Doing 20-60 with dumbbells is fine, just increase as previously mentioned and do as much as you can while increasing the sets and reps to a stabilized number, then increasing the weight further with it too.

the first week I did 4x8 with 2 warm-up sets with the bar for squats rows ohp just two work sets with sldl and curls I failed a couple times on the last sets for the first week the second and third week I could count an a fail around the 8th or 9th reps on last sets.

[Brandon85c]

Cheating more than once every month or so slowed down my progress when I started. I just had to suck it up and stop making excuses if I wanted to make decent progress. Really, you're going to have to do the same.

Ok guys what should be my intake be? Starting Saturday new day new beginning should I shoot for 2000 cals or cut 500 from 2040,cardio how long, all pros every other day yay or nay no more bbq ribs and wings I just will eat egg whites when that's available, late night cravings hoodia or something of that nature ?Drink water till I puke how Do I fight this Eat a small meal before bed, ill try but my bed time is 6am in the morning I sleep most of the day and im up most of the night.and this might be like a mute question at this time but stretching so my shins and legs will not burn as much because sometime I can go for an hour and feel like a king afterwards. How would a personal trainer stretch a fat boy before cardio also I have addidas super novas it was ranked one of the best running shoes for flat feet

And guys don't think im being lazy I just want the best available plan from the people who have done it!

[tazui1982]

I don't have anything else to say that other posters already said, why don't you give P90X a try than, Tony Horton's funny, It helped me to lose weight in the beginning, might work for you too.

[Brandon85c]

I don't have anything else to say that other posters already said, why don't you give P90X a try than, Tony Horton's funny, It helped me to lose weight in the beginning, might work for you too.

you need equipment for p90x don't you? I will evaluate this thread and form an attack,thanks to all who posted in this thread and delivered the goods im very thankful! it was not in vein!

[LogisticalGrace]

I've just been doing around 100 carbs a day. Trying to get like 30 grams of protein every 3-4 hours. Seems to be working for me. I do weights and cardio 5 times a week. Monday-Friday.

[Ziellos]

I wouldn't recommend the full p90x routine until around 240 since it uses pull ups, which is the only equipment you would need; HOWEVER p90x has a really good stretching and yoga routine, it would take around 6 hours a day to do the full p90x.

Just stick with lean meats (chicken & fish are my favorite), veggies (I cook a lot of diff veggies), and fruits. If you get rid of empty calories such as chips and soda, and also stop using dairy and bread then you'll lose quite easily, it's just switching eating habits and finding foods that are healthy and that you enjoy. I like snacking on pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, walnuts, and apples. Then add in exercise and it'll just start coming off.

[tazui1982]

I believe the OP could use the chair to assist with pullups, and he'd need dumbells for arms and triceps and shoulders as well. I won't recommend either but I think OP should jump into it and "cheat" as smart as possible. That's how I did it the first month.

[tazui1982]

you need equipment for p90x don't you? I will evaluate this thread and form an attack,thanks to all who posted in this thread and delivered the goods im very thankful! it was not in vein!

LOL These kind of images used to offend me alot back in school since I was the only Asian among 600 white students lol

[rgplayer]

I was 368 in march and am now 225. What I did when I first started because I didn't know any better was only ate when I was truly hungry. I had this child mentality where I would go out during the day and just do whatever to keep my mind off food until I needed it. Now I know that wasn't the best idea because I sometimes would only get around 800 calories. The weight came flying off. I ate and still eat mostly pre portioned meals like weight watchers. But now I started lifting and have found I get way more hungry than I used to and eat around 1500 kcal a day. I would try what the other members are saying and if it some how doesn't work, even though it should, I personally would then just cut calories a little more each week until I seen a pound a week loss. Good luck.

[GarbageJedi]

What about a keto or low carb diet? Protein and fats help with satiety. Many people at your weight find that the weight comes off fast in the beginning due to the natural caloric deficit due to cutting out high calorie carbs. At your weight you could probably go with the "eat what you want as long as its protein" approach. I did it starting at 250 in May. I lost the first 40 lbs pretty quick. As your weight drops your BMR will drop and a more accurate calorie count will be necessary to stay at a deficit.

[Brandon85c]

What about a keto or low carb diet? Protein and fats help with satiety. Many people at your weight find that the weight comes off fast in the beginning due to the natural caloric deficit due to cutting out high calorie carbs. At your weight you could probably go with the "eat what you want as long as its protein" approach. I did it starting at 250 in May. I lost the first 40 lbs pretty quick. As your weight drops your BMR will drop and a more accurate calorie count will be necessary to stay at a deficit.

Ok I learned from this thread count more accurately I now no I wasn't doing that, and you guys say lots of protein, i have desighner whey should I go with a different brand and what foods have a lot of protein in them? today is grocery day so im loading up on protein, and what foods have high satiety? and good fat are pineapples good I could eat those all day.im pretty amped because most people say just eating 2000 cals the weight should fall off so im going to aim for that.no more chips, what about diet coke love it to death does it have to go? and cut out bread even wheat bread and dairy that means no milk? high satiety I believe is important to me I have to make it count.

but lifting im still a bit confused, the all pros sticky says run it as tight as possible, but you guys say add weight but if 80 is my max for rowing how could I add lbs to my max every other week and the same for all lifts?, at my strength level Its going take a while to make a gain right? how can I add weight on a good weekly type basis.

so on a 2000 calorie good diet 40 minutes of 3.0 3.3 mph cardio should help shed weight as well along with a few sprints added in the mix?

and you say I can eat a lot at 2000 cals whats an example of a full 2000 cal diet with at least 4 meals? and empty calories what are those is oatmeal and cereal one example of that?

and can I have more than 1 protein shake a day? should I stick to whey or buy an already mixed more tasty one?

[GarbageJedi]

High protein foods are your meats. Carbs are your sugars which include grains. Read all your labels. I said goodbye to all sugar, grains and fruits. The only vegetables I eat are green (lettuce, brocolli etc.) When counting calories its all about in vs out. Doing low carb just allows you to eat satisfying and filling foods ( who doesn't like steak and eggs). I would rather eat 10oz chicken breast (~330calories) and be full after than 2 crispy kreme donuts (400cal) and still be hungry, but as long as you maintain a calorie deficit it doesn't matter. As for the whey protein I just prefer to chew my food (again more satisfying to me). Try cooking a large pack of chicken breast and boiling a dozen eggs. When you feel hungry grab a breast and an egg (4oz breast ~110 calorie, 1egg ~70 calories). You could do that every hour for 10 hours and still be under your daily goal. (just to give you and idea how much you can eat).