Obese to FIT (22stone +)

vibes23

IS there anyone on this forum who does or in the past weight 20+ stone. I'm currently weighing about 21 stone and at my heaviest I was 23.5 stone. I'm 30 yr old male. Non smoker, very occasional drinker no more then 6 pints per month or every other month.

For past 6 weeks ive been training 3-4 days a week. workout plan is 65% weights 35% cardio. My eating has improved by 100% in terms of what i eat and when I eat but still needs some work. But after 6 weeks i don't feel like im getting anywhere, Also to point out i have given up with scales.....my reasons?

1. I wana go by my clothes
2. Go by my BMI

Also cause im lifting weights i do feel im putting on muscle so i find its not given me an accurate picture and I find when i focus on the number i lose faith.

I have alot of friends who are half my size and are very athletic, i have friends who take steroids and are huge in size and friends who wouldn't touch them and are in amazing shape and i have gotten advice from them all.

THE PROBLEM.....

Not one of the people i know has been in my position. Its very well for someone given u advice who has BMI of 15 or lower and never been classed as obese. So im dieing to talk to people who are in same both as me or were in past.

I have been on every diet in the world at least once, I aint looking for a diet im looking for help and few tips on a lifestyle change!

People who are/where clinically obese but have beaten the bulge!

Get on here and tell me your story how you do/did it, how you keep focus on the bad days and what worked for you.....

Need help, my head is wrecked at the mo feel im getting no where

Hanley

Not sure if it's what you're looking for, but I've gone from almost 18 stone to just over 13.5.

First thing I'll say is, your diet is far more important than your training when it comes to the permanent sustainable weight loss. Training does tend to keep people on track tho, like if they have a good training day they're less likely to cheat on their diet.

Second thing, are you recording what you eat and how many kcals you have? What's a normal days eating look like? Do you ever feel so ravenously hungry that you break your diet and binge on anything in site? At your stage in the journey, just changing what you eat will make a MASSIVE difference.

Third thing is, don't kid yourself by the "it's muscle" argument. At your weight, the scales are still a very accurate and real measure of how things are going. You may be putting on muscle, but the rate at which you synthesise new tissue is significantly lower than the rate at which you should be dropping fat, so a net loss should still occur. Anyway, if you're tracking BMI, you're using weight as a measure by default!!

...in the interests of full diclosure I was lifting competitively and eating VERY hard to keep my way up and piled on the pounds on purpose, but hopefully you take something from it.

Andy Kenny has a similar story. He was 17 stone, about 5'7"
http://www.andykennyfitness.ie/about-andy/
Whenever I think of giving up, I read his page.
I don't have the money for personal training, but he sometimes runs some free sessions on stretches and that kind of stuff.

Hope this isn't classed as advertising, but the OP is looking for RL examples.

Oh, and Vibes, best of luck. You've made the hardest step, realizing you have to do something about it. Fair play.

vibes23

Thanks for that man, I suppose a typical day of eating looks like this :

Train from 7:15 to 8ish

8:15: about 30-40g Museli with LF milk
9:30 protein shake
11:00 Rice cake w/ peanut butter or cottage cheese
1:00 Whole wheat pasta, chicken homemade marinara sause & side salad
3:30 Rice cake w/ peanut butter or cottage cheese or Banana
6:00 Chicken stir fry w noodles or chicken fajitas (wholegrain wraps)
8:30 scrambled egg whites or Oat crackers & cottage cheese

it varies every day but i try eat every 2-3 hours i also drink about 2-3 ltrs water a day and eat fruit more fruit then above but 2-3 pieces per day

cmyk

vibes23 wrote: »

IS there anyone on this forum who does or in the past weight 20+ stone. I'm currently weighing about 21 stone and at my heaviest I was 23.5 stone. I'm 30 yr old male. Non smoker, very occasional drinker no more then 6 pints per month or every other month.

Excellent, i'll follow this log and help you with any advice you need. It has the ingredients for an interesting read. There are a few people who have come through the forum with similar goals/achievements, but not many that have logged their progress, so use that as motivation and as an inspiration to other readers.

Though I haven't come from the same place as you, I do train a few clients of similar weight, including one who's starting weight was 27+ stone.

vibes23 wrote: »

For past 6 weeks ive been training 3-4 days a week. workout plan is 65% weights 35% cardio. My eating has improved by 100% in terms of what i eat and when I eat but still needs some work. But after 6 weeks i don't feel like im getting anywhere, Also to point out i have given up with scales.....my reasons?

How much has the scales moved over those 6 weeks, or since when have you lost the 2.5 stone?

vibes23 wrote: »

1. I wana go by my clothes
2. Go by my BMI

Good guages at your current weight, I'd also add images to that, take them (preferably in the same conditions) regularly.

vibes23 wrote: »

Not one of the people i know has been in my position. Its very well for someone given u advice who has BMI of 15 or lower and never been classed as obese. So im dieing to talk to people who are in same both as me or were in past.

Absolutely, but the same thing that keeps them in shape, won't be too far removed from what will work for you, albeit a different starting point.

vibes23 wrote: »

I have been on every diet in the world at least once, I aint looking for a diet im looking for help and few tips on a lifestyle change!

Read the stickies for advice, most diets work so look at the commonalities between them. Namely create an energy deficit, get some decent sources of lean protein and move more. Rinse and repeat as consistency is key, find motivation where you can.

vibes23

On 30th May i weighed in at 22.1 Stone. Weigh in yesterday and to 21.4 stone total loss 7lb in 6 wks. Hardly ground breaking :mad:

I hope to get BMI checked Mon r Tue but on 30th May was 45%

cmyk

vibes23 wrote: »

On 30th May i weighed in at 22.1 Stone. Weigh in yesterday and to 21.4 stone total loss 7lb in 6 wks. Hardly ground breaking :mad:

Not groundbreaking but it's heading the right direction. Tighten up on the food and you'll see quicker results. What are your portion sizes like?

vibes23 wrote: »

I hope to get BMI checked Mon r Tue but on 30th May was 45%

BMI or Bodyfat%?

wildlifeboy

65% weights 35% cardio? I think you need to switch them around. whats the point in doing weights? "Hey look at my toned biceps above my overhanging belly" I would lash into the cardio and do minimal weights. swimming and short sprints on the threadmill. 1 minute slow 2 minutes fast for as long as you can do it. also get out and do a 5 k twice a week if you are able.

cmyk

wildlifeboy wrote: »

65% weights 35% cardio? I think you need to switch them around. whats the point in doing weights? "Hey look at my toned biceps above my overhanging belly" I would lash into the cardio and do minimal weights. swimming and short sprints on the threadmill. 1 minute slow 2 minutes fast for as long as you can do it. also get out and do a 5 k twice a week if you are able.

I'd imagine that sort of advice is exactly why the OP is looking for people starting from his perspective.

Raven_Melody

wildlifeboy wrote: »

65% weights 35% cardio? I think you need to switch them around. whats the point in doing weights? "Hey look at my toned biceps above my overhanging belly" I would lash into the cardio and do minimal weights. swimming and short sprints on the threadmill. 1 minute slow 2 minutes fast for as long as you can do it. also get out and do a 5 k twice a week if you are able.

I'd like to see you trying to run 5k at 21stone.

This log could be really inspiring for a lot of people OP, and that in itself should motivate you. You're doing really well and I think even just starting this log is a great starting point.

I'll definitely be following your progress and best of luck to you

Hanley

wildlifeboy wrote: »

65% weights 35% cardio? I think you need to switch them around. whats the point in doing weights? "Hey look at my toned biceps above my overhanging belly" I would lash into the cardio and do minimal weights. swimming and short sprints on the threadmill. 1 minute slow 2 minutes fast for as long as you can do it. also get out and do a 5 k twice a week if you are able.

I would do anything BUT "lash into" sprints and running if I was 21 stone. That is of course unless I wanted to destory my knees and ankles.

There won't be that much of a significant differential between the calories burned between cardio and lifting to justify risking the destruction of ones knees. It's a gap easily mitigated by portion and food choices.

wildlifeboy

i weigh 11 st 12 lbs so dont listen to me. sorry

Clearlier

I won't say too much about diet because there are plenty of others who know more than I do and I'm only working it out for myself at the moment. Do watch out for portion size though and consider cooking everything that you eat from scratch in particular sauces as the ones in a jar are often chock full of calories as well as ingredients that you'd be better off avoiding IMO.

From a lifestyle point of view take a close look at your overall levels of activity. Far too often when people start training they decrease their level of activity in other spheres. Never take a lift - always the stairs. If you can walk somewhere do, if it's too far to walk could you cycle? If it's feasible consider getting rid of the car (assuming you have one) - saves money as well as giving you more opportunities to be active.

Good luck!

vibes23

@wildboy The idea behind doing weights is to increase lean muscle mass. Which burns more calories to sustain the fat would use. also a 50 mins HIT weight session on weight circuit will burn far more calories then the same amount of time spent on a treadmill or xtrainer not to mention you continue to burn calories a couple days after the weight session.

The more mucsle mass i have the lower my BMI will get as I am burning calories and therefor burning Fat

So no in the long run i wont have a belly hanging out.

Zamboni

vibes23 wrote: »

@wildboy The idea behind doing weights is to increase lean muscle mass. Which burns more calories to sustain the fat would use. also a 50 mins HIT weight session on weight circuit will burn far more calories then the same amount of time spent on a treadmill or xtrainer not to mention you continue to burn calories a couple days after the weight session.

The more mucsle mass i have the lower my BMI will get as I am burning calories and therefor burning Fat

So no in the long run i wont have a belly hanging out.

I went from a fat 17 and half stone to a lean 13st previously.
If I could offer three tips - PWO, Sleep and cheat.
I lost more muscle than I needed to during the diet down and I'd attribute it to non-existant PWO food intake and generally not eating enough on training days.
I also found poor sleeping habits interfered with everything from training times to making poor dietary choices. Get the head down - a lot.
You will have bad weeks and good weeks. Plough on.
Have a cheat day every six weeks or so for sustainability. It will help you psychologically.
Best of luck mate.

MrStuffins

Good man for doing what you're doing OP!

Also, you've lost 7lbs in 6 weeks. You seem negative about this, why? You've lost half a stone in less than a month & a half! Imagine you were doing that every month & a half? A year from now you'd be almost 4 stone lighter! Just think back to where you were this time last year and imagine what you'd give to be 4 stone lighter right now. That could be you this time next year!

I'll be keeping an eye on the thread. Hope you keep it up OP! And congratulations on what you've done so far!

siochain

vibes23 wrote: »

Thanks for that man, I suppose a typical day of eating looks like this :

Train from 7:15 to 8ish

8:15: about 30-40g Museli with LF milk
9:30 protein shake
11:00 Rice cake w/ peanut butter or cottage cheese
1:00 Whole wheat pasta, chicken homemade marinara sause & side salad
3:30 Rice cake w/ peanut butter or cottage cheese or Banana
6:00 Chicken stir fry w noodles or chicken fajitas (wholegrain wraps)
8:30 scrambled egg whites or Oat crackers & cottage cheese

it varies every day but i try eat every 2-3 hours i also drink about 2-3 ltrs water a day and eat fruit more fruit then above but 2-3 pieces per day

Well done on getting started and 7lb in 6 wks is a great steady weight loss, losing weight at this rate by making the right lifestyle changes you have a much better chance of keeping the weight off.

65% weights 35% cardio, perfect no need to change anything here.

One your food list things I would try to adjust, bring in more non starchy veg and try and reduce carb's coming from processed sources. As mentioned in a previous post track everything I use https://tracker.dailyburn.com . Track all nutrition and log your workouts, see what works best for you, I’m a fan of paleo and know several who have gotten great results from it.
Good luck

PauloConn

Vibes, you are doing great. Keep up that level and you'll be a new person in a few months. Its not going to be a 10lb per week course, this is a steady process but once you get the things like diet, making time for exercise and improving your life you'll wonder how you didn't do it sooner.
I'd agree with siochain about adding in veggies as well. Snack on carrot sticks, raw brocolli, asparagus, turnip, cabbage. They actualy taste surprising good and do fill you up. You could also make some homemade hummus to have with them and they will save you a fortune compared to prepackaged snacks.
Stick with it and best of luck. You're doing great so far

Inspector Coptoor

OP, I went from 19stone 1 at my heaviest to 14 stone 10 at my lightest.

Hovering around 16 stone now.

As has been said a few times already,
Weightloss is all about what you eat and portion control.

Sometimes training can hamper this as you feel really hungry after training.

So it's all about finding the balance.

It's quite easy to over train and/or overestimate how much you did in the gym and then eat a bit more than you should.

I would also go along with the cheat meal every sat or Sunday but not for the first 4-6 weeks.

After 3 or 4 months, have a full week where you relax a bit on the food restrictions & then get back to it after that week.

Gummy Panda

Inspector Coptoor wrote: »

OP, I went from 19stone 1 at my heaviest to 14 stone 10 at my lightest.

Hovering around 16 stone now.

As has been said a few times already,
Weightloss is all about what you eat and portion control.

Sometimes training can hamper this as you feel really hungry after training.

So it's all about finding the balance.

It's quite easy to over train and/or overestimate how much you did in the gym and then eat a bit more than you should.

I would also go along with the cheat meal every sat or Sunday but not for the first 4-6 weeks.

After 3 or 4 months, have a full week where you relax a bit on the food restrictions & then get back to it after that week.

This is good advice. Try to be flexible with the diet as possible. Don't end up in the trap of "I ate a biscuit!! IM OFF THE DIET!! *BINGE*". If you do eat something like chocolate/crisps, just get back on the diet.

WHIP IT!

Zamboni wrote: »

You will have bad weeks and good weeks. Plough on.

To be honest, I think this simple advice is crucial for anyone trying to kickstart a healthy lifestyle... it's something I see so often in pals etc who try to 'get in shape' - that first time they have a pack of crisps or a Mars bar watching Eastenders or skip their nightly walk/run/gym session cos they're tired or it's cold outside can result in a kinda mini-shame-spiral that f*cks their new-found routine right up...

You're going to fall off the wagon.... some more than others... get over it - enjoy the feckin Mars bar while it lasts - and get right back on the wagon immediately... don't let it cost you 3 days or a week, don't let is cost you anything... just accept it immediately and know you'll do better tomorrow...

Hanley

In the words of the great Enda McNulty as communicated to Leinster - "next ball, next ball".

As in, when you f*ck up, and you WILL f*ck up, just make the next ball/meal/training session right. Don't think any further than the next one. Forget the last one. Small bite size chunks are how these battles are won.

Get to the next meal, get thru the full day without cheating, string days together and very soon positive habits are formed.

WHIP IT!

Hanley wrote: »

In the words of the great Enda McNulty as communicated to Leinster - "next ball, next ball".

As in, when you f*ck up, and you WILL f*ck up, just make the next ball/meal/training session right. Don't think any further than the next one. Forget the last one. Small bite size chunks are how these battles are won.

Get to the next meal, get thru the full day without cheating, string days together and very soon positive habits are formed.

Yeah, that's exactly what I meant :pac: :cool:

Seriously though - great post... "next ball, next ball..." must remember that... might even improve my golf game!

miller50841

Hi Vibes and everybody. Just came across this post by fluke I am in the same/ similar situation. I weigh just over 22stone 6foot and honestly sick of been tired all the time. The hardest part for me losing weight is the way I work(shift/ bad hours) Dont have a routine and wouldnt be able to as dont know what way working only a day in advance as to what on the next. Fair play to you losing the weight so far and hope you keep it up. I am set on trying to change the way I eat also but only like plain things no cheese butter pasta and other such things sorry but very picky:)

Clearlier

vibes23 wrote: »

On 30th May i weighed in at 22.1 Stone. Weigh in yesterday and to 21.4 stone total loss 7lb in 6 wks. Hardly ground breaking :mad:

I hope to get BMI checked Mon r Tue but on 30th May was 45%

Just a small point on these numbers. Were you 22st 1lb and now 21st 4lb? If that's the case you've actually lost 11lbs (14lbs in a stone). Even if it is a slightly unusual decimal measurement .7 of a stones is actually 9.8lbs. Either way it seems likely that you've lost more than 7lbs.

hi op, congrats on the weight loss so far, keep up the good work.

just wanted to throw in here, i knew a guy from when he was 16yrs old, at that time he was 24 stone. a big guy. knew him for few years but lost touch when he was about 18. walked into work one day about 4 years later and saw a guy i recognised but couldnt work out fom where. turned out it was him.

12 stone lighter!!
when he was young i couldnt have even imagined him slim, he had always been big since he was a child.

he told me it took him 2 years to lose 12 stone, he has pretty much kept it off since, that was 6 years ago.

his secret? he just started eating smaller portions, healthier food and excercised 5 times a week.
he said it was hard at the beginning but after only a week or so he couldnt believe how little food he actually needed.

he looks great, and is fit and healthy.
so not much advise just an inspirational story. it can be done and you will do it;) best of luck with it.

Rubber_Soul

Can't really help with the "to fit" part as I'm still a fair bit off fit, obese to less fat is all I can manage I guess.

I started a year and a half ago at just over 20 stone and a pretty heavy smoker,the first 6 months was really spent dealing with the cigarettes with very little progress in the weightloss, I'm now just a little over 15 stone.




Some of this pretty much repeating stuff that others have said but a few of the things I've learned and mistakes made along the way so far;

• It's very tempting to starve yourself, please don't.

When I initially started I dropped my calories down to around 1200 per day (and sometimes even lower) and yes while the weight initially flew off me, I was a mess. Constantly drained and feeling depressed and inevitably cracking and eating everything in sight. Stupidly I kept repeating this cycle and was going nowhere fast. Once I started eating more I felt so much better and less prone to going off the rails, yes the weightloss slowed down but it helped avoid the binges.

Weightloss is slow going and the sooner you can accept that it's not going to happen overnight the better. There really is no quick fix, something that took me awhile to grasp.

• Do some form of exercise

While diet is the biggest factor and where the battle will be won and lost, exercise will really help, even from a purely psychological standpoint. At first I just focused on not eating stuff but I found myself constantly thinking about food. Once I started exercising (and eating more) I felt more focused and less tempted to reach for junk food as what was the point of cycling 20km if I just blow it by inhaling this tub of ice cream. Exercise will also help you to feel better within yourself.

At first I tried jogging and it wrecked me so in the end picked up a mountain bike as it was a bit easier on the knees. While I loved the cycling, looking back I wish I'd been more balanced and done some form of weight training sooner as I feel I lost a lot of whatever muscle I had. I'd say start some weight training, cardio and mobility work and eat your protein to save as much as possible.

• Don't beat yourself up

As others have said, you will have bad days/weeks. You will crack at times and end up eating junk and in some people (like me) that can trigger a binge. For me what would happen is I'd have something like a chocolate bar and then decide **** it, my diet's blown for today. I may aswell order a pizza and start back tomorrow. This would then lead me to feel like crap about myself which in turn could lead to more eating. It's completely irrational but in my case I didn't get fat by being rational.

The most important thing is to accept that you will crack and try and move on without beating yourself up over it. I just try and think to myself "just make it through the next hour" or "just wait til tomorrow" if it's late, when I get a craving for rubbish, eventually it becomes easier and easier.

• Give yourself some goals

One thing I found quite demotivating with having a goal of weightloss was that there was no real finish line in sight, bar being thinner. At times it feels like it's just so far away. Something I found helpful was setting myself other goals along the way for e.g. cycling 10/15/20 km's, running a 5k, even something as seemingly small as improving my mobility to the extent that I could get below parallel in a squat etc. While the help to the weightloss directly isn't huge, having those goals helped me keep focused and on the straight and narrow re. my diet.

• Don't become obsessed with the scales

As I said earlier, weightloss is slow going. Initially weight will fly off you but it will inevitably slow down and sometimes will seem to have stopped When I started I weighed myself pretty much everyday, at first it was great as I was dropping it so fast so it was a constant buzz. After a while it slowed right down and somedays even increased. My initial reaction was to panic and reduce calories further which lead to undereating and feeling like crap. What I didn't realise was that weightloss isn't linear, you aren't going to lose a set amount of calories every day/week/month. Some weeks you won't drop a pound, others 4 or 5 will seem to fall off you out of nowhere.

I read a great post somewhere that suggested that you should only weigh yourself once or twice a month and also take pictures of yourself. I followed the advice and started to take two pics of myself on the 1st of every month, one from the front and one from the side. Looking back on them now gives me great motivation for the road ahead as I can see the changes in my body from then and now when I view the pictures side by side. Whereas if I look at myself in the mirror I don't really see the big difference. The gap between weighing myself has really helped aswell as I can see my progress (albeit slowly) going down regularly which also keeps the motivation high.




Sorry for the whole stream of crazy, I'm sure I'll think of more later at some stage :pac:

I'm mainly a lurker here but there's some great advice on this board that has been completely invaluable to me, particularly in the stickies here;

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055963342

and here

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055157091

Wish you the very best of luck for the road ahead.

Mellor

vibes23 wrote: »

Also to point out i have given up with scales.....my reasons?

1. I wana go by my clothes
2. Go by my BMI

Do you mean BF% or BMI?
Reason I'm asking is because BMI is based on height and weight, weight bring the only one that changes - do is basically same as scales. There's nothing wrong with that though, at your weight on a deficit, fat loss will be far greater than any minor muscle you build. Weight, BMI or BF% are all good ways to track.

vibes23 wrote: »

@wildboy The idea behind doing weights is to increase lean muscle mass. Which burns more calories to sustain the fat would use

While it is true that muscle burns more calories at rest. That's not the reason weights are good for fat loss. It's something that's repeated by fitness mags or in articles by people who are sure what they are talking about.

The real reason is far simpler than that. Lifting heavy stuff repeatedly, uses lots of energy/calories. That's it. If you build some muscle that's a plus but the benefit is simply the energy burned. The difference between intense weights and cardio (or the latest fat burning moves in the media) can be quite small. I wore my HRM for a weights session this week and it said I burned 550 calories. Low reps, high intensity compound lifts, for reference.

So keep going with 65% weights and 35% cardio. Ignore anyone who tells you that you need to be doing more cardio, HIIT, or mentions a fat burning zone.

As for diet, if you are going to eat 6 times a day, you need to have portion size perfect. Especially with snacks such as peanut butter.

Nermal

wildlifeboy wrote: »

65% weights 35% cardio? I think you need to switch them around.

Not true, stay the course vibes23 and keep at the weights. Ignore the scale - you're putting on muscle and losing fat. Focus on your waist measurement instead.

anthony4335

I am/was in a similar situation to you at the moment. After my putting my back out twice in 4 months I had to take a look at my lifestyle and I was a little shocked. I was 120KGs, unhealthy ,unfit and not happy with my life anymore. That was in early april, a little over 3 months now and I am down to 98.5KGs and I am looking to get to at least 80kgs.
All I have done so far is counting calories, keeping my intake to around 1500 daily. Staying away from take aways and treats 5 days a week ,I allow myself somthing on a friday and saturday, but still keeping it to 1500 calories. I was a complete junk food junkie so this was very hard.
Added to this I took up swimming (daily 45mins) as an exercise and the occasional walk and this has worked so far.
The hardest time was at around 101/103 KGs, which plateaued for 2 weeks, a little disheartening even though I was expecting it at some point.
I hope this helps, dont give you as long as you are not gaining weight on a monthly basis you are going the right way.

xgtdec

The only advice i would have for you apart from all the good advice above is to be patient!!

I have gone from 21 st 11lbs to todays 13st 5lbs, it's taken 3 years and i still aint there(the belly remains)

Dont beat your self up when you slip up, stay patient and remember it didnt get on there in 6 months, it aint coming off in 6 months either!!

I used to pick out things to buy myself every half stone, instead of food treats i'd lose half a stone and buy something i really wanted or go away for a weekend etc!!.....might be something to try!