Tired of being fat! Ready for change!

[revilodad]

Hey,

I just recently signed up for this site in hopes of finding some good info for weight loss and burning fat. I'm 36 years old and have gained over 100 lbs since getting married and having two boys. Unfortunately, I have become somewhat of a recluse as I'm ashamed to even go around people anymore (especially old friends) because some of the guys I used to hang with have busted my balls about my weight gain and recent hair loss lol. I act like it doesn't bother me but it does. However, the main reason I want to change is for my wife and kids. I don't want to stroke out or have a heart attack in my late 30's and to be honest I just want to feel better! The last few weeks I have been watching what I eat and walking or riding my bike at least 4 miles but have actually noticed an increase in weight which bummed me out. Today I just signed up for a membership at Planet Fitness so I can stay active this winter, The weird thing about it is I had to sign a paper promising that I wouldn't grunt. What the??? Anyway, any advice on weight loss would be appreciated.

Brandon

[ironwill2008]

Hey,

I just recently signed up for this site in hopes of finding some good info for weight loss and burning fat. I'm 36 years old and have gained over 100 lbs since getting married and having two boys. Unfortunately, I have become somewhat of a recluse as I'm ashamed to even go around people anymore (especially old friends) because some of the guys I used to hang with have busted my balls about my weight gain and recent hair loss lol. I act like it doesn't bother me but it does. However, the main reason I want to change is for my wife and kids. I don't want to stroke out or have a heart attack in my late 30's and to be honest I just want to feel better! The last few weeks I have been watching what I eat and walking or riding my bike at least 4 miles but have actually noticed an icnrease in weight which bummed me out. Today I just signed up for a membership at Planet Fitness so I can stay active this winter, The weird thing about it I had to sign a paper promising that I wouldn't grunt. What the??? Anyway, any advice on weight loss would be appreciated.

Brandon

Everything you need to know will be found in the links posted here:
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=168581133

[Gabbar99]

Eat less.

That's it. That's the list of what you need to do to be less fat.

Exercise, especially strength training, is super valuable for health and fitness and is part of developing the habits to lose weight and be healthy, but losing fat is 99.99999999% about diet.

Congrats on starting. All the best.

See: http://www.vox.com/2016/4/28/1151880...-burn-calories

[weiss1967]

Hey,

... membership at Planet Fitness so I can stay active this winter, The weird thing about it I had to sign a paper promising that I wouldn't grunt. What the??? Anyway, any advice on weight loss would be appreciated.

Brandon

No grunting, eh. Did you see that vid with Kali being arrested right in a gym for grunting? That is funny video.

Anyway, back to our sheep. 100 lbs is lot to lose, set your mind for a very long trip back into shape. You didn't get all that weight overnight, so don't expect losing it fast either. I would say, cutting it roughly will take up to 2 years, with a few more years of polishing, but, by them you will be a performing athlete LoL.

There are numerous tactics, but strategy is all the same. Calories in vs calories out. To me, the ground breaking discovery was ketogenic diet, this is truly unique tool for weight loss, and many other aspects, like mental stamina, comfort and appetite control. So, in your spear time you can research that one.

And should I mention proper hydration? Ah, forget it, everybody knows about hydration. You know about hydration, right? In case you forgot: your strongest urges to eat, the cravings are actually coming from dehydration. This is about the strongest appetite suppressor right here.

Stay away from restrictive diets, like eat-this-do-not-eat-that, or "nothing but 10 apples a day" or any other woodoo diets.

Well, that is it from me, I am tired, need a nap...

[cierrey]

I've lost 95lbs in around 15 months. Loosing weight is incredibly easy, don't complicate it, the secret is to eat less and do more. Remember it's a long game and just keep going, some weeks will be better than others.

I took up cycling 3 times a week and lifted 3 times a week, Sunday I mostly sat down. Build up slowly

[Gabbar99]

To me, the ground breaking discovery was ketogenic diet, this is truly unique tool for weight loss, and many other aspects, like mental stamina, comfort and appetite control. So, in your spear time you can research that one.

And should I mention proper hydration? Ah, forget it, everybody knows about hydration. You know about hydration, right? In case you forgot: your strongest urges to eat, the cravings are actually coming from dehydration. This is about the strongest appetite suppressor right here.

Stay away from restrictive diets, like eat-this-do-not-eat-that, or "nothing but 10 apples a day" or any other woodoo diets.

Good advice. Definitely try keto for at least a few weeks. It works for a lot of people. Didn't work for me. I gained weight. I wasn't any less hungry and the high fat stuff is so calorie dense that it was easy for me to eat too many calories.

A couple small quibbles: a ketogenic diet is a very restrictive diet, very much an eat-this-do-not-eat-that diet. That's why it works. Restrictive diets work for a few related reasons: it limits your choices resulting in you eating less, you have to think if it's allowed before putting something in your mouth thus resulting in you eating less, and you eliminate eating for pleasure resulting in you eating less. All the "insulin theory" and "metabolic advantage" proposed as reasons why diets can work have turned out to not be true, but they can work by getting you to eat less.

The ketogenic diet works for a lot of people and after a transition period of feeling like crap some people report feeling better and not being as hungry. Like I said, I was just as hungry but I also didn't go through a hard transition. I've never had a sweet tooth and I think my body can take or leave carbs so nothing was that different without carbs. And yes I did stay strict and did confirm ketogenesis in my pee. My wife did it with me. She has always had a sweet tooth and she went through the classic transition of feeling like crap and having no energy running (we're both runners) and coming out the other end she had the steady energy and lowered appetite others have reported.

Other quibble: drinking water can help stave off hunger and is a helpful habit for weightloss, but you are very very unlikely to actually be dehydrated. That's kinda a myth.

[revilodad]

Good advice. Definitely try keto for at least a few weeks. It works for a lot of people. Didn't work for me. I gained weight. I wasn't any less hungry and the high fat stuff is so calorie dense that it was easy for me to eat too many calories.

A couple small quibbles: a ketogenic diet is a very restrictive diet, very much an eat-this-do-not-eat-that diet. That's why it works. Restrictive diets work for a few related reasons: it limits your choices resulting in you eating less, you have to think if it's allowed before putting something in your mouth thus resulting in you eating less, and you eliminate eating for pleasure resulting in you eating less. All the "insulin theory" and "metabolic advantage" proposed as reasons why diets can work have turned out to not be true, but they can work by getting you to eat less.

The ketogenic diet works for a lot of people and after a transition period of feeling like crap some people report feeling better and not being as hungry. Like I said, I was just as hungry but I also didn't go through a hard transition. I've never had a sweet tooth and I think my body can take or leave carbs so nothing was that different without carbs. And yes I did stay strict and did confirm ketogenesis in my pee. My wife did it with me. She has always had a sweet tooth and she went through the classic transition of feeling like crap and having no energy running (we're both runners) and coming out the other end she had the steady energy and lowered appetite others have reported.

Other quibble: drinking water can help stave off hunger and is a helpful habit for weightloss, but you are very very unlikely to actually be dehydrated. That's kinda a myth.

I'm not familiar with the Keto diet but will def check it out. Thanks

[revilodad]

Thanks to all for the advice and thanks to IronWill for the links. Much appreciated! I think I'm finding my way around the site a little better now.

[katya422]

Anyway, any advice on weight loss would be appreciated.

Brandon

My best advice besides the usual Calories In/Calories Out, use a food scale, track, etc.:

Know yourself.

Consistency>Perfection

The best plan is the one you can stick to. 100 pounds is a long haul. The more you know what does and doesn't work for you the more successful you are likely to be.

If a restrictive eating plan makes you crazy and leads to binge eating then don't do that.

If eating all kinds of food in moderation (If It Fits Your Macros) is too tough and you can't stop at a reasonable portion size then don't do that.

Chances are you fall in the middle some place...some foods that aren't diet friendly (high calorie density) you can eat pretty often and not eat too much, but others are trigger foods for you and lead to bad things.

Commit to not quit.

So, you had bad day...week even. Get right back on your plan the next day.

And you will likely benefit from cycling between periods of dieting and maintenance/breaks. Mentally easier if nothing else.

Good luck.

[lrfiv]

Congrats on starting! I'm just beginning, too, so I know how you feel. You've come to the right place for solid advice.

I'm no fitness expert, but one thing that seems to be keeping me focused and on point is the MyFitnessPal phone app. I use the free version. I like being able to enter my own recipes, and scanning barcodes of packaged ingredients is fast and easy. As said by others already, diet is the most important part. I don't mess around with the "community" part of the app - that's what I'm *here* for.

I find it discouraging when fit people tell me not to worry ("hand wringing" was the phrase they used) about exercise. Forget that! With an extra 100lbs on your frame, you might as well use the advantages it affords you. Advantages? Hell yes! It's like you're carrying 100lbs weights around all the time. A casual stroll for us is fantastic exercise. More importantly, it has huge health benefits for people of all sizes. I would have posted a link here to a "Harvard Health newsletter article Walking-Your-steps-to-health" but I don't have enough posts yet (spam preventative, no doubt). If you cut and paste everything between the quotes into Google, it shows up first. Great article, and real science (not the bro kind).

Use that extra weight to get free workouts in otherwise wasted time. Standing in line, pumping gas, I always do calf raises. Like a lot of heavy people, I have fantastic calves!

The most important part is sticking with it. Good luck!

[PiperBill]

I would just start eating less and moving more to begin with. Keto diets sound simple and straight forward but, depending on your life situation, may be difficult to stick to. If you are single and can do/eat whatever you want....well that's one thing but if you have a partner and kids and value quality time around dinners, eating out, having friends over for dinner and such then you will need a whole lot of determination (and those around you a whole lot of patience) to stick to keto.

The adaptation time to get used to keto can be hell on earth as well.

[DuracellBunny]

I don't agree with keto for a novice. Lots of experienced people don't get keto to work properly; suggesting a novice does it is setting up for failure.

OP, this is all you need to do to start off with: eat the same stuff as usual, but less of it, less again in a couple of weeks and even less a few weeks after that. Added to eating less, move more this week than last week and more next week than this week.

As you go through that, you will learn a bit about yourself as well as dieting/exercise and will be ready to move on to a more formal plan. The mistake that many people make is to try and make things too drastic to begin with and they just don't stick to it.

[weiss1967]

I don't agree with keto for a novice. Lots of experienced people don't get keto to work properly; suggesting a novice does it is setting up for failure.

very true.

Ok, I take it back then. Brandon, don't do keto, ok? You don't have brain capacity... this is advance stuff...only us, Greek gods can do it, and we not always get it right...

[DuracellBunny]

very true.

Ok, I take it back then. Brandon, don't do keto, ok? You don't have brain capacity... this is advance stuff...only us, Greek gods can do it, and we not always get it right...

You can be sarcastic as much as you like, but keto is a bad idea for a beginner. I know that people get evangelical about keto, omg keto is like the bestest thing ever in the whole wide world, but please, just no.

[rconhoff]

MyfitnessPal is key and literally going through your daily caloric goal and not exceeding it but at the same time not beating yourself when you do exceed, and you will from time to time. Dropping soda was a big thing for me when I was 230. Even Diet Cokes are bad, so if you are drinking those, switch to Green Tea and get off those things ASAP. It will help tremendously. Good luck and keep the faith!

[wesleysh21]

Count me in as someone else who swears by MyFitnessPal.

My advice is to commit to the process. There is no magic to losing weight. Its a process, and its really not that hard once you get into the swing of things.

[Gabbar99]

MyfitnessPal is key and literally going through your daily caloric goal and not exceeding it but at the same time not beating yourself when you do exceed, and you will from time to time. Dropping soda was a big thing for me when I was 230. Even Diet Cokes are bad, so if you are drinking those, switch to Green Tea and get off those things ASAP. It will help tremendously. Good luck and keep the faith!

What's wrong with Diet Coke?

[EjnarKolinkar]

Get a composition book. Write down everything you eat right when you eat it. Record the good days, and the bad. After a period of time you start to learn where you are going wrong.

Buy a food scale, measuring cups. Learn what legit options of food really look like.

Using a tracking software like Fitday can be very helpful.

[MoldyGopher]

Get a cloth tape measure and take your measurements so that you can track them. Just write them down, don't fret over them for a while and concentrate on the number on the scale.

[OutdoorsinCO]

Something that helped me was taking progress photos. Take one the day you start, stick with a diet/lifting regiment and take photos once a month. Same spot, same light, etc. You'd be amazed the changes, which in turns motivates you even more.

[thebigzakbowski]

Something that helped me was taking progress photos. Take one the day you start, stick with a diet/lifting regiment and take photos once a month. Same spot, same light, etc. You'd be amazed the changes, which in turns motivates you even more.

I can't stress this enough, stick with it and take these pics. Odds are people will notice before you do and you'll feel amazing when you get that first complement. But take the pictures and about 3 months in you'll notice and half a year in you will be amazed

[kimm4]

What's wrong with Diet Coke?

Nothing. There are plenty of people who diet down and still enjoy their diet soda.

OP keep it simple. You need a deficit, a food scale to track your intake and consistency.