**OFFICIAL** Jan 1st - April 1st [2013] Weight Loss Thread/Competition

[whitefire98]

Not sure if I should up my calories and keep going, or stick with where I am at and keep going. I started just over 302 on 1/7 after a vacation and on the same scale this morning, it showed 281.6. I am sure most of it is water weight, but I have had about 1 cheat day per week, which obviously hasn't hurt me a great deal. I ran my info on a few calculators and with a sedentary lifestyle, they said I should eat between 1880 and 2000 cal per day. I have been sticking with 1900 but only eating when I am hungry - aside from a few days at the beginning, it hasn't been a struggle at all. I am usually searching for something to fill my last 300 or so calories at the end of the day. My short term goal is to be in the <250 by May (big vacation planned where I know I will put some weight on).

[Kelekin]

Not sure if I should up my calories and keep going, or stick with where I am at and keep going. I started just over 302 on 1/7 after a vacation and on the same scale this morning, it showed 281.6. I am sure most of it is water weight, but I have had about 1 cheat day per week, which obviously hasn't hurt me a great deal. I ran my info on a few calculators and with a sedentary lifestyle, they said I should eat between 1880 and 2000 cal per day. I have been sticking with 1900 but only eating when I am hungry - aside from a few days at the beginning, it hasn't been a struggle at all. I am usually searching for something to fill my last 300 or so calories at the end of the day. My short term goal is to be in the <250 by May (big vacation planned where I know I will put some weight on).

Stick with what is working for you.

[Kelekin]

Aye I'm just annoyed at myself for apparently having zero willpower. As of this morning I'm 403 which is a 14 pound loss for the month. I feel like it could have been double that. Still, it is the right direction I just need to get back on the wagon before I slip back into old habits completely.

I have no intention of quitting I just clearly have some things to figure out still!

The bad habits take a while. I'm still not over all of mine, but I have been doing this for years and every day I figure out something new. This month has been my best month ever - I worked out 20 times, only went over calories on 3 or 4 different days, and I am sitting at somewhere around a 14 lb loss for the month, same as you. In your case, 14 lb while dicking around is more than impressive...just start breaking down the habits one at a time.

[mikegt87]

1800 kcals enough for a 181 lb male with about 14% bf ?

[cunfewzed]

First time embedding pics. I hope it works.

These are my 1 month progress pics. Down from 215.6 to 196.0 in 30 days. If you wouldn't mind, could you guys please give me an indication of my before and after body fat %, as well as any comments on when I'll be able to see abs - Thanks!

[IMG]http://i1295.photobucket.com/albums/b635/caldave13/1MonthFront_zps4f91e5c3.png[IMG]
[IMG]http://i1295.photobucket.com/albums/b635/caldave13/1MonthSide_zps9c3c4056.png[IMG]
[IMG]http://i1295.photobucket.com/albums/b635/caldave13/1MonthBack_zps2db4a73a.png/IMG]

I'd say before was 22% ish

now 19%-20% ish. Great progress for a month!!

[pradf4i]

Caldave28.

Good progress. Definition added to arms and back.

PS:I don't have enough posts to reply to links.

[pradf4i]

At 173.4 today.

Hope the scale stays this way till Sunday.

[wings_unhinged]

I've stayed the same weight for the past 3-4 days now--217.6 exactly. Weird.

[Allocatee]

Out of curiosity I weighed myself this morning (I usually try hard to only go on the scale on weigh in day). After 3 weeks of staggering at 311, today I have FINALLY seen a drop. My scales a little chitty so I go on it a few times, it was 307.6 308.4 and 308.4 in any way, it's still a loss from Sunday that I am THRILLED to finally see. Although I did drop my calories to a ridiculous amount and I plan on upping them slowly so I can find where my sweet spot is for fat loss, because as I said earlier, this competition is more for me to figure out my body, so I know right where I need to be calorie wise.

[cunfewzed]

Out of curiosity I weighed myself this morning (I usually try hard to only go on the scale on weigh in day). After 3 weeks of staggering at 311, today I have FINALLY seen a drop. My scales a little chitty so I go on it a few times, it was 307.6 308.4 and 308.4 in any way, it's still a loss from Sunday that I am THRILLED to finally see. Although I did drop my calories to a ridiculous amount and I plan on upping them slowly so I can find where my sweet spot is for fat loss, because as I said earlier, this competition is more for me to figure out my body, so I know right where I need to be calorie wise.

Good! Here's the thing. It's a moving target. If you lost weight @ current kcal intake, why not stay there? The more weight you lose, the more you'll have to drop kcal intake anyway

[Allocatee]

Good! Here's the thing. It's a moving target. If you lost weight @ current kcal intake, why not stay there? The more weight you lose, the more you'll have to drop kcal intake anyway

Well, here's the thing. I was stagnant for 3 weeks @ 311 while taking in 2100 cals. Which sounds like I should have lost relatively easy. After 3 weeks of not losing, I dropped to 1600 just to see what would happen. Which I know is EXTREMELY low for my size and that I shouldn't be taking in that low of calories. I wanted to do it for a week and see if it would actually make me start losing again, or what. I don't really wanna stay at these cals, it's not good for my body the size I am. The only thing that throws me off, is it seems like my maintenance is extremely low. I don't doubt this because I was pretty athletic my whole life; football/soccer/baseball the whole time growing up. When 9th grade came around, my parents had me homeschooled and I did absolutely nothing but sit on a computer or xbox all day long, every day. Sedentary isn't even a way to describe how my body has lived since about 9th grade. And looking back I know that was horrible to do, but I've finally come around to the realization of changing my lifestyle. But from this, I feel like my metabolic rate might actually be extremely low, cause my body isn't used to burning calories.

Basically, I feel like my maintenance is pretty jacked up, so I wanted to drop to a very low deficit, and slowly go up from there to truly try and find where my calories lie. It probably isn't the best way of doing things, but I don't really know how else to go about it.

[cunfewzed]

Basically, I feel like my maintenance is pretty jacked up, so I wanted to drop to a very low deficit, and slowly go up from there to truly try and find where my calories lie. It probably isn't the best way of doing things, but I don't really know how else to go about it.

I don't think your maintenance is that low...I think you're under-counting. I think your 1600 kcals is really 2k kcals.

Are you weighing your meals or guessing?

[Allocatee]

I don't think your maintenance is that low...I think you're under-counting. I think your 1600 kcals is really 2k kcals.

Are you weighing your meals or guessing?

I weigh everything. MFP diary is public if anyone wants to check it out. Everything that I eat is weighed, and everything that goes into my mouth is accounted for.

And anything that I feel might be slightly off in calories on MFP, for example chicken breast, I just say it was a little bit heavier than it really is.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/Prolaxx

[Kelekin]

I weigh everything. MFP diary is public if anyone wants to check it out. Everything that I eat is weighed, and everything that goes into my mouth is accounted for.

And anything that I feel might be slightly off in calories on MFP, for example chicken breast, I just say it was a little bit heavier than it really is.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/Prolaxx

Good job man. There is no golden rule. Stick with what works as long as it works until it doesn't work. You'll be fine.

[webgodess]

not sure why, but decided to post some pictures today. First one is me @ my wedding at around 415ish. second one was taken last week at 373. not a big difference that i can see, but, it's a difference in the right direction.

The difference is VERY obvious, saw your pic on MFP and noticed right away even without the comparison Awesome!

events coming up + Goals :
End of comp (1st April) ~16%
19th birthday (10th may) ~14-16%
Rugby Lads holiday (9th july) ~ 12-13%

what are all your goals?

realistic or not, theyre mine and ill try my damn hardest to meet or beat them.

210 lbs by the end of this challenge, then I become a member of the coveted I Lost 100 lbs Club! Need to step it up though, time's a tickin'

So tonight i'm sitting here and i still have 300 calories till i reach 1800 cals (limit is 2000 but leave 200 for any errors i may make). My appetite has halved and i sort of semi force myself to eat as i know under 1800 cals is rather low for someone at 6'4 and 260 lbs. Anyone else get like this where they have calories left over but just aren't hungry? I just don't want to damage my metabolism too much

Part of the 1200 cals/day crew, easy to eat it all up but yes the odd day I just don't feel like eating..rare though. I say just listen to what your body wants that day.

At least! Brb counting cals for life.

lol yuuup

[deebee83]

February is going to be a big month for me. I know I'm getting close to some of my goals (the most important of which is to have 6 visible abs), but I'm not quite there yet. I've set a semi-arbitrary deadline for myself (April 10th...30th bday ewwww) to get this done. At the end of February, if I'm not seeing what I want, or really close to it, then March will be a 4 week PSMF. I'm hoping I can do what I want to do without the most hardcore of hardcore crash diets, but at the same time it would be a nice personal test of willpower.

Anyway, I use this thread as a big source of motivation and accountability. I hope everyone continues the progress and success that we've seen so far, and continue to post about it. I check in to this thread multiple times per day, even if not always to post, but just to see how everyone else is doing and to keep myself on track.

1 month is down, 2 to go (though for many, you may just be jumping into the next one). Keep posting your pictures, post about your friend/family/co-worker who noticed your weight loss, and post the challenges as they come. I feed off of all of it

And if March turns in to a PSMF for me...then post your support, ask questions, ask for pics, or whatever else. The more of a spotlight I can put on myself, the more likely I think I am to succeed.

[RugbyColt]

...the more likely I think I am to succeed.

no.











You will succeed.

[missladyj]

I weigh everything. MFP diary is public if anyone wants to check it out. Everything that I eat is weighed, and everything that goes into my mouth is accounted for.

And anything that I feel might be slightly off in calories on MFP, for example chicken breast, I just say it was a little bit heavier than it really is.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/Prolaxx

Sounds like we are in same boat. Discouraging to eat so few calories and not lose anything. I'm not willing to dip lower than I am eating now, especially since I'm doing a decent amount of heavy lifting 3x a week and cardio on rest days. It's like wtf?? Really close to quitting this counting chit and just eating sensible portions. It's not worth the hassle of weighing, counting, and logging every little thing, hungry all the time, just to be stuck at the same weight.

[Allocatee]

Sounds like we are in same boat. Discouraging to eat so few calories and not lose anything. I'm not willing to dip lower than I am eating now, especially since I'm doing a decent amount of heavy lifting 3x a week and cardio on rest days. It's like wtf?? Really close to quitting this counting chit and just eating sensible portions. It's not worth the hassle of weighing, counting, and logging every little thing, hungry all the time, just to be stuck at the same weight.

Yup, at a doctor's appointment in July I weighed 348 lbs and it finally hit me hard that I need to lose. I lowered my portions and made healthier food and never counted calories and lost weight pretty rapidly down to ~318. Then the holidays came and I didn't watch what I ate at all, entered this comp and decided to precisely count everything I eat and count calories to a T every day, and now I'm not losing. It's chitty but at least I saw some progress hopping on the scale today, albeit with extremely low calories.

Thinking back at what I ate when I lost that weight, it was actually REALLY low calories. An example diet I would eat then would be;
3/4 Cup plain oatmeal & 1 scoop of protein powder ~400 cals
2 turkey burgers ~700 cals
1 chicken breast + some veggies whether it was broccoli, a sweet potato or anything else in the house ~600 cals?

I wasn't counting but I guess I was eating extremely low, but when I was doing that, every Wednesday I was getting a subway hoagie, and every friday I was ordering out, and still managed to lose about 30 lbs, ad now that I'm doing it the right way, it's only working at extremely low cals. Hopefully we can both figure out the answer! My plan is to just slowly increase cals to see where I start stalling, hopefully it works.

[DamianMK]

199 now, I intend never to see the scale begin with a 2 again.

Well that didn't last long. Mid-week weigh in, up to 202.

Went to a different gym today which had a lifting platform and bumper plates. Powercleans were much more enjoyable.

[billthekill2012]

Because im 265lbs and 6ft5, how can my daily calorie need be 2100kcal. From what i´ve read on this forum, there are people who are 6'0" 230lbs and are cutting on 2800kcal(with 3x gym). DP diet for 250+ lbs recommends the plan i previously brought out(50g whey+2 spoons of pb between meals).

I don't think that MFP is saying that your TDEE is @ 2100. That is just a target number based on the goal you set.

For example:
If you set your goal lost @ 2 lbs per week (7000 calories deficit), MFP will deduct 1000 calories per day on your TDEE.
Your TDEE is actually 3100 in the above example.

[cunfewzed]

Well that didn't last long. Mid-week weigh in, up to 202.

Went to a different gym today which had a lifting platform and bumper plates. Powercleans were much more enjoyable.

lol, give yourself some leeway mang. Further, you''ll see the 200's again when you're a 10% BF 210 beast.



As for pics, I'll post a pic taken today. My Adonis Belt is coming in!

[Allingham]

You seriously expected to drop 30lbs in a month? That is beyond absurd.

Where did I say I expected it?

And 14 x 2 is 28. Jus' sayin'.

[missladyj]

Yup, at a doctor's appointment in July I weighed 348 lbs and it finally hit me hard that I need to lose. I lowered my portions and made healthier food and never counted calories and lost weight pretty rapidly down to ~318. Then the holidays came and I didn't watch what I ate at all, entered this comp and decided to precisely count everything I eat and count calories to a T every day, and now I'm not losing. It's chitty but at least I saw some progress hopping on the scale today, albeit with extremely low calories.

Thinking back at what I ate when I lost that weight, it was actually REALLY low calories. An example diet I would eat then would be;
3/4 Cup plain oatmeal & 1 scoop of protein powder ~400 cals
2 turkey burgers ~700 cals
1 chicken breast + some veggies whether it was broccoli, a sweet potato or anything else in the house ~600 cals?

I wasn't counting but I guess I was eating extremely low, but when I was doing that, every Wednesday I was getting a subway hoagie, and every friday I was ordering out, and still managed to lose about 30 lbs, ad now that I'm doing it the right way, it's only working at extremely low cals. Hopefully we can both figure out the answer! My plan is to just slowly increase cals to see where I start stalling, hopefully it works.

Isn't that odd? I lost more when I wasn't counting too and was cheating here and there. Starting to think aiming for a particular number is proving to be pyschologically detrimental for me. I'm going to try strict counting for one more month at a 20% deficit from my supposed maintenance, then I'm going back to self regulating. I hope we both figure it out too!

[Allingham]

The bad habits take a while. I'm still not over all of mine, but I have been doing this for years and every day I figure out something new. This month has been my best month ever - I worked out 20 times, only went over calories on 3 or 4 different days, and I am sitting at somewhere around a 14 lb loss for the month, same as you. In your case, 14 lb while dicking around is more than impressive...just start breaking down the habits one at a time.

Yea I think that will be the plan. I managed not to drink for the first few weeks of the month which was a modern record for me. That has slipped this last week but it is still an improvement. Next improvement to be made is to stop getting takeaways - they will literally be the death of me.

[cnh57811]

lol, give yourself some leeway mang. Further, you''ll see the 200's again when you're a 10% BF 210 beast.



As for pics, I'll post a pic taken today. My Adonis Belt is coming in!
[img]http://i48.tinypic.com/2m6opec.jpg[/]

Gettin lean, mang.

[cunfewzed]

Yea I think that will be the plan. I managed not to drink for the first few weeks of the month which was a modern record for me. That has slipped this last week but it is still an improvement. Next improvement to be made is to stop getting takeaways - they will literally be the death of me.

What does this mean? Aware me.

Gettin lean, mang.

: DDDDDD

Have you posted a pic lately? Are you leaning out again post diet break?

[webgodess]

Isn't that odd? I lost more when I wasn't counting too and was cheating here and there. Starting to think aiming for a particular number is proving to be pyschologically detrimental for me. I'm going to try strict counting for one more month at a 20% deficit from my supposed maintenance, then I'm going back to self regulating. I hope we both figure it out too!

Just do a monthly cal "check in". I've succeeded losing much weight that way before. You've already done a number of weeks of counting, you can eyeball it and then once in a while do 4 or 5 days logging just to make sure your keeping on track. I may do the same soon but still comfortable counting.

Yea I think that will be the plan. I managed not to drink for the first few weeks of the month which was a modern record for me. That has slipped this last week but it is still an improvement. Next improvement to be made is to stop getting takeaways - they will literally be the death of me.

Making improvements and losing are both huge things Work on the take-out next month. When there are many hurdles it's overwhelming and can create negative self-defeating behaviour. That just means it's best to take one thing at a time. I'm no expert, just been there more times than I can remember.

Right now I'm finding the only way to combat take-out habits is to make sure there is always something readily available to eat and a few items that can be just popped in the microwave. IMHO it's better to have even a frozen dinner or something that is less cals than the takeout. Or start making large quantities and freeze small portions of ready made food.

[billthekill2012]

What does this mean? Aware me.

It means takeout food.

American talk = takeout
UK talk = takeaway

[cnh57811]

What does this mean? Aware me.


: DDDDDD

Have you posted a pic lately? Are you leaning out again post diet break?

Takeaways = take out. I think.

No pics lately. Im just now back down to my pre-diet break weight of 170. Ive dipped into the 160s several times, but only by a few tenths of a pound. Not stopping this time till 160. Then reevaluating what i wanna do.

Edit: also, adonis belt shows up same day you start Y? Gettin me some! XD