Weight Loss Thread

Brahma_sl said:

Only thing that was keeping me from becoming some morbidly obese nappy beard, was the lifting I guess.

Click to expand...

Technically, you are morbidly obese with a BMI of 35+. I don't know how tall you are but you'd have to be 6'6 to be sub 35 bmi with that weight. I'm sure your actual BF% skews lower than the BMI formula predicts, but be careful with that type of thinking unless you know your stats for sure and keep that in mind when you're on day x of a deficit and want to just say fuck it.

Eidal_sl said:

Technically, you are morbidly obese with a BMI of 35+. I don't know how tall you are but you'd have to be 6'6 to be sub 35 bmi with that weight. I'm sure your actual BF% skews lower than the BMI formula predicts, but be careful with that type of thinking unless you know your stats for sure and keep that in mind when you're on day x of a deficit and want to just say fuck it.

Click to expand...

Oh great...Now I'm morbidly obese! 1st my Atkins bars come in a day late, now this shit.

There are a few different definitions it seems, but it looks like it's just attempting to be a predictor for risk.

An individual is considered morbidly obese if he or she is 100 pounds over his/her ideal body weight, has a BMI of 40 or more, or 35 or more and experiencing obesity-related health conditions, such as high blood pressure or diabetes.

BMI isn't relevant for bodybuilders. It doesn't distinguish between fat and muscle. Muscle mass and or body fat percentages are much more relevant metrics for determining general health.

Agraza_sl said:

BMI isn't relevant for bodybuilders. It doesn't distinguish between fat and muscle. Muscle mass and or body fat percentages are much more relevant metrics for determining general health.

Click to expand...

No shit. But if we're talking weight loss for general health here, then do you really think 300lbs is a reasonable place to be? I don't know Brahma's medical stats but being 300lbs definitely has a CHANCE at influencing blood pressure (not to mention joints, posture, etc etc). Regardless of if hes 15 percent or 30 percent bf. Or, what, you think carrying an extra 100lbs of muscle has no impact whatsoever on the heart?

It's up to the individual to run their own risk/reward analysis, I'm not making any judgement.

It's not simply about the mass of fat vs. muscle. Fat has many harmful effects on multiple organs. Your skeleton can support larger muscle mass. The larger issue with lifting is destroying your joint flexibility through use, not because of a larger mass of muscle. Your organs cannot function correctly as you accumulate fat. Weight lifters generally have good cardiovascular tells because in the process of growing muscle they're developing the size of their arteries to deliver oxygen to muscles under load. A high volume and regular pace of breathing is one of the most critical elements of weight lifting because your muscles desperately need to be given oxygen to perform.

Check your resting heart rate on one of the treadmills before you get going. If it's under 70 that's a good sign, and one that virtually all lifters have as a byproduct of lifting. Normal fat fucks have a resting heart rate at 90+, and that's very very bad.

Cad_sl said:

Morbidly obese is just a BMI, and yours is there. What's your body fat percentage?

Click to expand...

I have no idea. Was never into my weight and all that before this diet. Long as I looked more muscular than fat, I was good.

You could try using a site like fitmatic.com which lets you enter a lot of body measurements to get a more accurate picture of your BF/MM%. It allows you to enter skinfold measurements as well as simple circumferences. Skinfold measurements are among the most accurate methods you can self-administer to determine BF%, but you'll need to get a caliper (they're cheap). You can also get a BIA scale, which is very quick and casual to use, but the accuracy is relative to your hydration level. Anything more accurate than skinfold measurements requires you pay someone to evaluate you with a more precise test.

Brahma_sl said:

I have no idea. Was never into my weight and all that before this diet. Long as I looked more muscular than fat, I was good.

Click to expand...

I'd recommend caution -- men tend to delude themselves into how they look based on how strong they feel they are. I ran into a ton of guys in the military who thought their disgusting gut was just extra abs or some shit. Then they'd blame tons of other shit for why they couldn't run worth a damn. None of them thought they were fat because their bench numbers were extra sweet.

Shit, who remembers Lyrical posting photos of his gut @ 35 BMI and claiming BMI is flawed.

Crone_sl said:

Creeping into this thread, so I don't continue to derail the Marriage thread. Finally am taking weight loss seriously for probably the first time in my life. I'm 31 years old, 6'6" , and maxed out at 356lbs, and I'm now down to 321. LONG way to go. I'd love to get to 225, and see what happens from there.

I'm tracking my calories, and being more active. It's challenging, and I fully admit I'm addicted to food. I'm not sure if I'll ever break the addiction, but I hope so.

I go to the gym a couple times a week, and want to add on at least a third day, if not a 4th. Hard to do with work and school but it is possible. I'm doing cardio, which typically is pointless, as I know some in here will say, but it's a good start. I should just cut the cardio "cord" and go with weights 100% of the time.

For some more shaming material, a while back I was tested on one of those body fat things that you hold with both hands out in front of you, and if I remember right I was somewhere around 25%.

See ya guys around!

Click to expand...

So the above stuff above failed, and that was back in March 2015. Got to as low as 314, but a couple months later in June my work ended, and I moved back up to the Northwest with family, and with kids, life, etc it all went to shit. I think I've shrunk a little, due to weight as I'm 6'4"-6'5" according to doctors, but I still like to think I'm 6'6", and just wasn't standing up straight. I somehow have an ability to maintain weight over long periods of time, even with eating like shit. Maybe I get just enough exercise to not just go nuts in weight? I don't work out, I eat like shit, but maintain 330-335. That's bad, I'm not saying it's good, and it's stupid to feel lucky that I don't continue to gain, but I do.

Not sure what it is about Spring/Summer, but I'm in a new area, have no gym membership anymore as wife and I cut it from the budget (we weren't using it anyway), but have a renewed interest in trying to lose weight. Portion control is my biggest problem, and getting back in MFP would help. Posts here are true, after a couple months you kind of just know. My job isn't as regimented as it was before. First off, it's 2nd shift, and I'm often times away from my desk on site fixing some network problem. So dinner is never the same time. Haven't taken the leap and officially started anything, but I really want too. Not sure where to start this again, but just calorie counting and creating a deficit is probably the easiest way to start.

Thanks bros.

Given your history, I would immediately shy away from anything super intensive that is going to require you to cut back on shit harshly that you are not likely to be able to stick with. I'd start by using MFP (or simply doing research, since all MFP is for the most part is a database aggregator with summation) and figure out what you are eating and in what amounts for the first step. Then figure out what you can cut/lower. Odds are you are drinking a shitload of calories, so if that's a thing it'd be the first thing I lop off. No soda, no starbucks, no energydrinks, no alcohol. If that doesn't apply, work your way down the ladder. Do you eat snacks constantly? Do you have candy nearby or eat fast food frequently during the week? When you eat a meal, is there a shitload of pasta/rice with rich sauces?

Basically, you need to find out what you are actually consuming on the daily as an average, and then lower that by a bunch. Apparently you are maintaining, and at your height/weight you can probably stand to drop 700ish calories without any noticeable drop in energy or feeling like crap. This won't be a miracle cure, but it will start curbing some of your eating habits to a degree. If that works and you can stick with it, I'd recommend cutting down portion sizes and then go from there. But first things first; you need to see what you are consuming before you just go "ATKINS HERE I COME!" because your specific situation may not warrant it. But it may! So figure out what's going on before you try to solve it.

Liquid calories is always step #1. You don't need them. Remove them. A habitual coffee with sugar in the morning and/or red wine at night is not a deal breaker, but they should be considered in the larger scope of things. Soda, sweet tea, energy drinks, etc. throughout the length of the day need to end. I bring one of those store brand liquid water flavor things with me everywhere. Water is always available, but it's fucking boring. I order water at meals and refill a bottle from any faucet, and add this stuff. Like Mio. It gives my mind some flavor stimulation, keeps my calories down, and makes water fun to drink.

Portion control is a good step #2, and will be a bedrock of your diet going further. You can eat less in a single sitting and be satisfied. Lots of people overeat at each meal and slowly grow larger. Try to make that trend go the other way. Don't eat the extra piece of garlic bread. Eat a few more green beans, and a little less corn bread. Notice a pattern? Carbs are an issue for most of us. Replace their presence with fiber, protein, or even fat and you'll probably feel more full.

Boredom is the enemy. Find ways to stay active and interested. When you're bored your mind will turn toward food as a survival strategy. That said, don't forego meals. When your blood sugar dips you'll have a hunger for the wrong shit. Eat regularly and your mind will behave itself, not cranking out exaggerated demands for sugar and salt. Consider taking a protein bar or a couple pieces of fruit with you to handle cravings and/or irregular hours. Liquid OJ is not the same as an actual orange. Eat the orange.

Forgive yourself. You will not adhere to any diet 100%. Very few do. Don't excuse bad behavior, just work towards each day trying to do what's right. Guilt will fuck you. What happened yesterday isn't important. Don't try to overdo it today to compensate for yesterday. Just do the right thing today, as many days as you can. If you overeat occasionally, move on.

I hope your family is helping you. Having only healthy options to choose from is very useful. A fridge and cupboard full of junk will make your struggle harder. See if you can make this part of a larger push for health and not just a personal agenda. I doubt you can go full meal prep with a wife and kids, but trying to figure out meals for the week as a group activity could be helpful. A packed lunch is a known quantity, and often more nutritious than anything you could buy on the road.

Damn, you guys are BAMF's! Thank you so much for the helpful words. I was diagnosed diabetic about 18 months ago, so liquid calories isn't a huge problem for me actually. I should watch it more, as Juice is amazing (OJ, apple, V8 Splash) and we often have it around for the kids, but I don't drink coffee, and sodas are diet only if any at all. I fucking loathe diet soda. Ick! Although blue monsters are the fucking bomb dizzle, and have one nearly every single day. Diet drinks are bad for their own reasons, but at least the calories are not coming from there.

The wife needs to be healthier as well, so I hope we can make meal plans, and just continue to cook separate for the kids if necessary. Buying only what we need for the week, and not extra shit because it looked good. Setting up meal plans will help to eliminate the bad shit out of the house.

Eating out has been the crux of any financial problems the wife and I have ever have, and also the biggest reason for not losing weight. I order way too much, because I want it, not because I need it. Combo at McD's? Make it a large, of course, and throw on a 10pc chicken nugget. Because a single combo isn't gonna fill up nobody! Spicy chicken sandwich combo at Wendy's? Yeah, I want my chicken and beef, so throw on a JBC as well. Thanks!

I've not started to, thankfully, to show health problems related directly to diabetes but I know it's coming if I don't do something. However my back and knees (mainly knees) are destroyed because of my weight. They hurt every single day getting up and down, and this bothers me because of my kids. I don't want to be that fat ass on the bleachers that can't do shit at my son's or daughters baseball/softball/soccer games.

Welcome to the diabetes club crone. If you ever have questions about diet or anything related to it feel free to pm me. I check this thread very infrequently.

My only advice is start losing weight as soon as you can. Diabetes is a time bomb and when it goes off it is SERIOUSLY devastating.

lanx_sl said:

Ya'll pplz who really need help w/ weight and shit, go get on myfitnesspal, and start logging your shit. Then make your diary public, that way ppl can help you.

If you can't even be bothered to record that you ate a big mac for lunch, then you got problems.

Everyone has a different way to appreciate motivation. I was "beltless" for a few years, just got tighter fit jeans instead. Started to wear a belt again, really going on diet, motivation was off the charts when i went down a notch, now my wife is wearing a belt too, just to see a notch go back down.

Click to expand...

That app is really good. PITA with some foods and what the servings actually are, but for the most part it gets an A+ from me. Me being able to scan shit is the ballz.

Cad_sl said:

When you start seeing your pants sizes drop, you will love it. What size do you wear now, just for posterity?

Click to expand...

44