Obese to FIT (22stone +)

vibes23

@Baralis1

Same story as myself so bar the losing weight before part. Im glad this thread may help you. I feel bit more empowered since posting it myself. Its a lonely oul road at best of times! Like people have said to me the hardest step is getting going. Take 1 day at a time, you will hav the odd slip but dont let that be end of it start fresh the next day.

I feel good this week but i defo do still struggle with not havin visible results quick smart, something that has always been my down fall. but im working on it

Best of luck with it and keep in touch.

tmc86

vibes23 wrote: »

I feel good this week but i defo do still struggle with not havin visible results quick smart, something that has always been my down fall. but im working on it

Once the visible results start to show you'll get a whole new level of motivation, the first bit before those changes is always the hardest but keep pushing yourself and it will come.

More motviation once friends and family start commenting, tis a great feeling!

WHIP IT!

vibes23 wrote: »

@Baralis1

Its a lonely oul road at best of times!

Best of luck with it and keep in touch.

Doesn't have to be, lads... keep in touch here and the boards community will help keep you motivated and heading toward your goals...

Baralis1

I know when I lost the weight before it was a great feeling. Everyone commented on how different I looked and how good I looked. Of course they were also curious about how it happened so fast. I felt much more energetic too and could do loads more without getting out of breath. I'm hoping those memories will motivate me to lose the weight again, hopefully more slowly this time and permanently.

Vibes, believe me, slow results are the way to go because you are still going in the right direction with every pound you lose and you are givng your body a chance to catch up with the changes you are making and build them up as a permanent lifestyle change and habit.

By the way, there was a great program on one of the sky channels the other night called the 45 stone man. He lost all the weight and got down to 15-16 stone. If he can do it, anyone can. Makes our problem look much smaller.

candy19

I'm well kind of in a similar situation. I'm a female 5ft 2 and I weigh 23st. I am trying to lose weight, however for some reason its not in my heart if you know what I mean. My head says lose weight & my heart dosen't have the motivation.

I have struggled with this for years now; (I'm only 23yrs btw) I have never ever got far....tried weight watchers, dieticians etc. I am at a point where this is seriously impacting on my health....everyone has offered to help (family, friends, work colleagues & my GP has gone over and beyond) yet I'm at a point where I'm still not motivated to do anything and I don't know why!

I deep down (at least I think I do) want to improve my quality of life but don't know why I can't....anyone have any idea's or experienced a similar issue??

Big Nasty

candy19 wrote: »

I'm well kind of in a similar situation. I'm a female 5ft 2 and I weigh 23st. I am trying to lose weight, however for some reason its not in my heart if you know what I mean. My head says lose weight & my heart dosen't have the motivation.

I have struggled with this for years now; (I'm only 23yrs btw) I have never ever got far....tried weight watchers, dieticians etc. I am at a point where this is seriously impacting on my health....everyone has offered to help (family, friends, work colleagues & my GP has gone over and beyond) yet I'm at a point where I'm still not motivated to do anything and I don't know why!

I deep down (at least I think I do) want to improve my quality of life but don't know why I can't....anyone have any idea's or experienced a similar issue??

Hey Candy,

Exercise can be fun and good food can be interesting.

I'm hardly one to preach as I'm over 20st, eat too late at night with too big portions, smoke and drink too heavily but I'm on a mission to change some of that lately. I'm 37 and reckon if I continued the way I was (up until last week) I would be in a hospital bed or dead by the time I hit 40.

Start off by walking a few kms every day. Change routes so you don't get bored. Have a nose in peoples gardens etc. to keep it intersting. After a while try a bit of jogging, if only for a few hundred metres at a time. Gets the heart beating and releases endorphins.

I don't know about your diet but as fat as I am I actually eat quite well. I eat little or no processed food or ready meals. All sauces are made from scratch, then add meat and keep carbs as low as possible.

Up until last week my daily diet was as follows:

No breakfast
Breaded breast of chicken roll + crisps + coke for lunch
8 pints
Big (but nutritional) dinner @ 10pm
Zero exercise

This week:

Muesli breakfast with added chopped banana
5k walk on lunch hour
Chicken salad wrap after walk
Fruit at 4pm
Dinner @ 8pm

Also cut out beer Mon - Thurs and smoked electronic cigarettes during that time.

I'm not gonna totally punish myself as I know I will get sick of 'good living' quite easily so am having a few beers as we speak, and proper cigarettes. Have a big slab of beef roasting in the oven (with fresh veg and a couple of spuds). I did do another 5k walk this morning though.

I feel infinitely better already, more lively in myself, more energy, more enthusiastic and a better outlook on life.

okiss

Hello Candy,
You sound like me a few months ago. It is very easy for other people to tell you need to lose weight. You eating because your unhappy and your unhappy because you are eating and getting bigger. You buy clothes to fit you not the clothes you want. You ended up spending a fortune on clothes because you can only get your size in a few shops.
In Feb 2012 I was 21 st 3lbs before joining slimming world. Today I weigh 17 st 13 and 1/2 pounds. Slimming world encourages you to eat plenty of good food, fruit and veg. You can eat an unlimited amount of listed food and have to eat a healthy a (milk) and healthy b ( weetabix or bread or porriage) each day. You are also allowed 5 to 15 syns each day so you could have a small treat each day or even have a takeaway once it is within the 15 syns.
They also encourage you to work towards your body magic award which is a small amount of walking each day which you build up as you get fitter to get your next award.
I attend class each week even though a few times I ate badly for the week and knew I was going to have some weight up.
I can now walk a distance without feeling like I am about to die.
I am fitting into trousers which are 3 to 4 sizes smaller that when I started.
I look and feel a lot better than I did a few months ago & people have noticed it. Pm me if you have any questions.

greenman09

Weighed in this morning at 22st 9. 5'11. Male. 30yo. Need to get act together. Stag next weekend then gym regime. I have a programme gym gave me. Might give ww. A shot as well. Will keep tabs here for inspiration. Good luck

vibes23

Best a look with it man. Making the start is 1 of the toughest parts !!

MrStuffins

I've gone over every single day since weighing in on Thursday. It actually pretty difficult when you have to keep up what might be called a Social Life.

Although I'm hoping Bulmers Light might've helped me out a bit

Gonna have to put in some good work between now and Thurs and hope when I step back on the scale doesn't laugh at me!

vibes23

I downloaded app this morning and started to track my calorie intake. HOLY JEEEEBUS :eek: I think i have found possible reason so lack of satisfactory results. I did a quick check on what i eat on a normal day. bear in mind i would consider this good eating. was coming in at like 3300 cals a day.

a while back i introduced a protein shake as i felt i wasn't getting enough protein in if i was to work off 1gram per 1 pound equation. So i been taking it every day and alot of days i would take 2 shakes, also to add i had to drink with semi skimmed milk cause with water was pretty bad. So adding in the calories for the milk the shake was coming in at 544 calories. i was fairly shocked by this. So i was adding in 1000 calories per day. Know i now alot of people have mixed feeling when comes to supplements but i just thought i would give it ago.

So from here in in Im going to drop Calories down to around the 2500 range and try keep them there. If i feel faint or lack of energy i will up them slightly on training days etc.

Im shocked ..... :eek:

WeeBushy

vibes23 wrote: »

I downloaded app this morning and started to track my calorie intake. HOLY JEEEEBUS :eek: I think i have found possible reason so lack of satisfactory results. I did a quick check on what i eat on a normal day. bear in mind i would consider this good eating. was coming in at like 3300 cals a day.

a while back i introduced a protein shake as i felt i wasn't getting enough protein in if i was to work off 1gram per 1 pound equation. So i been taking it every day and alot of days i would take 2 shakes, also to add i had to drink with semi skimmed milk cause with water was pretty bad. So adding in the calories for the milk the shake was coming in at 544 calories. i was fairly shocked by this. So i was adding in 1000 calories per day. Know i now alot of people have mixed feeling when comes to supplements but i just thought i would give it ago.

So from here in in Im going to drop Calories down to around the 2500 range and try keep them there. If i feel faint or lack of energy i will up them slightly on training days etc.

Im shocked ..... :eek:

Yeah people (myself included) regularly underestimate the amount of calories they eat in a day. When you inlude every gram of butter or oil used cookibng etc, it all adds up. It's a b1tch! Keep tracking your calories on that for a few days until you get a better idea of what your meals are like calorie-wise.

In terms of protein shakes - if you are getting enough protein in your diet and hitting 2500 calories then happy days, no need for one. However if you're close to your calorie limit but short on protein then a protein shake with water can get you there. With water it should be around 100 calories, which is only a small fraction of your daily limit. Just chug it back and you won't notice the taste as much. You get used to it as well over time.

MrStuffins

vibes23 wrote: »

I downloaded app this morning and started to track my calorie intake. HOLY JEEEEBUS :eek: I think i have found possible reason so lack of satisfactory results. I did a quick check on what i eat on a normal day. bear in mind i would consider this good eating. was coming in at like 3300 cals a day.

a while back i introduced a protein shake as i felt i wasn't getting enough protein in if i was to work off 1gram per 1 pound equation. So i been taking it every day and alot of days i would take 2 shakes, also to add i had to drink with semi skimmed milk cause with water was pretty bad. So adding in the calories for the milk the shake was coming in at 544 calories. i was fairly shocked by this. So i was adding in 1000 calories per day. Know i now alot of people have mixed feeling when comes to supplements but i just thought i would give it ago.

So from here in in Im going to drop Calories down to around the 2500 range and try keep them there. If i feel faint or lack of energy i will up them slightly on training days etc.

Im shocked ..... :eek:

Was the app My Fitness Pal? It's a great app for counting calories.

It's definitely a good thing that you figured your calorie numbers. This means you've identified the problem and can now isolate it!

When I downloaded the MFP app I found the same thing, WAY too many calories. Once you're counting them it's easy to keep track and keep within the parameters!

As regards Protein shakes, I added them to my diet and they are calorific with milk for sure, but what I find is this:
if I get up in the morning and i'm hungry for some breakfast, i'll drink a protein shake and after a few minutes the hunger is gone and stays off for a while!

vibes23

Yep My fitness app, i just rechecked the protein shake there i calculated 100grams phew! so instead of 544 was only 245 but without the milk only 98 so il defo be goin without milk.

Im still fairly shocked i just calculated another mediocer day and i had consumed about 2000 calories before 2pm ! eyes are opened :eek:

Stench Blossoms

MrStuffins wrote: »

As regards Protein shakes, I added them to my diet and they are calorific with milk for sure, but what I find is this:
if I get up in the morning and i'm hungry for some breakfast, i'll drink a protein shake and after a few minutes the hunger is gone and stays off for a while!

Why don't you just eat breakfast?

MrStuffins

Stench Blossoms wrote: »

Why don't you just eat breakfast?

Well for the last couple of weeks i've been trying to reduce my calories as far as I can lose 2lb per week, but I still need to get my Protein in so i've been SOMETIMES substituting Breakfast for a Protein shake.

okiss

Hello Greenman 09
If you are thinking of joining a slimming organisation to help you lose weight I would join slimming world. I found it far better then ww as you learn what food to eat, your not always weighing and measuring food and trying to work out how many points have I eaten and how many have I left.
You can have 5 to 15 syns a day so you can have a treat, have a drink or have a takeaway once it is under 15 syns.
I know one man who joined slimming world and he had tried every thing before this. He likes his food. He has lost over 3 and half stone in the past few months. He is eating a lot of food each day and is not hungry unlike on other diets.
If your going to the gym with this you will see a big difference in a few months.
look up slimmingworld.ie to see where your nearest class is. Don't worry if there are no men in your class as everyone is there for the same reason and stay for the full class as you will always learn something to help you out. Good Luck

spiralism

I wasnt obese to start with, overweight rather but i've gone from north of 15 and a half stone to 12st 10 since january. My advice would be to focus solely on cardio for a couple of months and only do weights to keep yourself ticking over.

First month this was my routine:
an hour total walk to and from the gym
5 mins on exercise bike to warm up
25 mins cross trainer at low setting (this will be hard going at first, work up to 25 mins total in the session if you find it difficult in one go)
15 mins rower
weights

No drink, no fizzy drinks or junk food in two months. Lost well over a stone in 8 weeks. Weights can come later, weight loss is the first key. No use building muscle that you'll inaverdently burn off in losing weight. Use this site http://www.livestrong.com to track calories, sign up and you can track calorie intake and expenditure through it and set a goal according to your target weight loss.

vibes23

So far this week i have been very aware of my calorie intake. At the start of the week when i decided to start counting my calorie intake i was a little worried that i wouldnt survive on 2500 cals HAHA

But now 4 days in i have further reduced them now down to 2200. After receiving alot of PM's they all pretty much said the same that i will get better results running on a deficit . I must say at 2200 i feel absolutly fine even with training. Now im sure there are sum labels or foods that i havnt calculated 100% but im guessing im pretty close.

I had my gym program updated also and now along with my weight training have introduced HIIT. Although only my 2nd day at it i can defo see how doing this long term will defo have good benefits.

I weighed myself also and am now down another 1.5lb within a week so im happy. I will keep an eye on my cal intake and if i feel i can drop down even more without maybe to the 1800-2000 range without it having a negative effect on me i will. My aim here is not to starve myself rather to only give my body the food it needs to work.

Heres an example of wed :


Breakfast
Generic - Banana , 7 " - 8"
Eggs - Poached (whole egg), 2 large
Bread - Whole-wheat, toasted, 1 oz
Flora (March 2012) - 10g Butter, 10 g

Snacks
Pineapple - Raw, all varieties, 1 cup, diced

Lunch
Carrots - Cooked, boiled, drained, without salt, 0.5 cup slices
Boiled Without Salt - Green Beans, 1 cup
Homemade - Beef Top Round Roast, 8 oz.
Generic - Milk 1/% - 12 oz, 1.5 C

Snacks
Rice cake - with yogurt, 34 grm
Aldi - Almonds, 14 nuts

Dinner
Sainsbury's - Wholewheat Penne Pasta, 90 g
Bolognese Sauce - Bolognese Homemade, 1 cup

Snacks
Kingsmill Wholemeal Bread - Whole Meal Bread, 1 slice
Aldi - Be Light - Low Fat Cottage Cheese With Pineapple, 75 g

Total cals 2170 - I drank couple cups green tea also and plenty water. I trained in the morning and must say not 1 part of the day did i feel starving or lack of energy.

Anyway thats all for now :rolleyes:

MrStuffins

Any updates Vibes?

Gimme some good news, tell me you're down another 1lb this week!!!

vibes23

MrStuffins wrote: »

Any updates Vibes?

Gimme some good news, tell me you're down another 1lb this week!!!

ah cheers man weighin friday morning...things goin good this week!

MrStuffins

vibes23 wrote: »

ah cheers man weighin friday morning...things goin good this week!

Good man keep it up! How do you think it's been going?

vibes23

MrStuffins wrote: »

vibes23 wrote: »

ah cheers man weighin friday morning...things goin good this week!

Good man keep it up! How do you think it's been going?

ye going good. i feel way more concious of my calorie intake. and i think im been making better food choices without given much thought. so all in all goin gud!

MrStuffins

vibes23 wrote: »

ye going good. i feel way more concious of my calorie intake. and i think im been making better food choices without given much thought. so all in all goin gud!

Nice!

Hope you're down again this week! Slow and steady wins the race and all that

(especially this kinda race)

vibes23

I couldn't wait i weighed myself this morning down another pound and now im into a new stone goodbye 22's hello 21's and 20's il be seen u very soon !!!!

HoggyRS

I was similar to you Vibes. I was 23 stone on the dot when I started trying to lose wait in January 2011. I was down to 17 and a half at the end of May(2012), though i've crept back up over 18 again as I went a bit mad after finishing college but the situation is being rectified!

Although people seemed to suggest it was bad advice, I did and have only done cardio since then. Running and cycling is all I do, perhaps i'd be seeing better and faster results if I varied my routine?

On the food side of things, at my most productive weight loss stage my eating habits were:
Breakfast: Porridge
Lunch: Soup and 2 x brown bread
Dinner: Chicken breasts and broccoli/stir frys/ fish

And then over the day i'd have 2-3 pears and 2-3 litres of water.

I'm no expert on this field but this is what i've been doing! Tbh i'm thinking of a bit of a change to get things going in a big way again as I want to be down to 15 and a half!

Good luck with it Vibes, losing the bit of weight i've lost so far is the best thing I ever did.

WHIP IT!

vibes23 wrote: »

ye going good. i feel way more concious of my calorie intake. and i think im been making better food choices without given much thought. so all in all goin gud!

Great to hear. This is crucial. It's becoming automatic for you, a way of life... that's the trick (or one of the tricks anyway!)... keep her lit, Lad... :pac:

This is an interesting thread (and one which I unfortunately can relate to fairly easily).

Congrats, Vibes, on your success thus far. I know first hand how easy it is to slip back into the 'old ways', so I really hope you do well with this.


I've started a bit of a fitness binge myself this week. Diet is still needing work but the exercise part is what I'm trying to focus on. I'm a photographer and as such spend a fair bit of time at the PC (dealing with people, editing photographs, etc.). I'm also a very practical person. I can't 'go for a walk' unless I actually have somewhere to go.

At the start of the week I weighed myself, and today I did, too. On the 30th (Monday) I weighed 17st 1.2lbs/108.5kg. Today (Friday) I'm coming in at 16st 11.9lbs/107.0kg. So I'm happy with that, but I really went balls to the wall this last week.

I think my location is heavily involved in any level of success I may (possibly) achieve as I use two separate gyms. One is a 10 minute walk from my house, the other is a 25 minute cycle (I use the close gym at 7.30am and the further away one at approximately 2pm, each for an hour or so).


Can I ask ye guys though (ye guys = those overweight and trying to get fit); I go to a gym in the mornings (As above) that has a lovely big swimming pool. Usually about 6-7 people in it in the mornings swimming up and down. I like swimming and forever hearing of how good it is for you (cardio/weight loss-wise) but I find that I'm extremely self-conscious. I can't bring myself to use the pool at all.

Reason I use two gyms is because the one I use in the morning gets very busy in the afternoon, so I joined the other gym as it's quieter in the afternoon time.

Am I alone here? Is this a common issue amongst us? Or do ye guys just say 'feck it' and do what you want?

Random

@kkv
i think anyone who judges a fat person in the gym is missing the point a bit. you are what you are, go for your swim. just think how youll look in a years time! at the end of the day nobody really cares what youre doing in the gym though, most people too interested in what theyre doing.

riveratom

Deleted User wrote: »

This is an interesting thread (and one which I unfortunately can relate to fairly easily).

Congrats, Vibes, on your success thus far. I know first hand how easy it is to slip back into the 'old ways', so I really hope you do well with this.


I've started a bit of a fitness binge myself this week. Diet is still needing work but the exercise part is what I'm trying to focus on. I'm a photographer and as such spend a fair bit of time at the PC (dealing with people, editing photographs, etc.). I'm also a very practical person. I can't 'go for a walk' unless I actually have somewhere to go.

At the start of the week I weighed myself, and today I did, too. On the 30th (Monday) I weighed 17st 1.2lbs/108.5kg. Today (Friday) I'm coming in at 16st 11.9lbs/107.0kg. So I'm happy with that, but I really went balls to the wall this last week.

I think my location is heavily involved in any level of success I may (possibly) achieve as I use two separate gyms. One is a 10 minute walk from my house, the other is a 25 minute cycle (I use the close gym at 7.30am and the further away one at approximately 2pm, each for an hour or so).


Can I ask ye guys though (ye guys = those overweight and trying to get fit); I go to a gym in the mornings (As above) that has a lovely big swimming pool. Usually about 6-7 people in it in the mornings swimming up and down. I like swimming and forever hearing of how good it is for you (cardio/weight loss-wise) but I find that I'm extremely self-conscious. I can't bring myself to use the pool at all.

Reason I use two gyms is because the one I use in the morning gets very busy in the afternoon, so I joined the other gym as it's quieter in the afternoon time.

Am I alone here? Is this a common issue amongst us? Or do ye guys just say 'feck it' and do what you want?

Dude to be honest everyone in the gym (and especially in the swimming pool areas) is too focused on how far they are from a flat belly / six pack, to be concerned about how you look!

And the kind of people who might judge you are indeed missing the point, and not the kind of people you want to be concerned with anyway.

Go for your swim man, if you want to swim. Life's too short. That said, while it's very good for you, I wouldn't be doing it as the primary form of calorie-burning in the gym, cross-trainer / other cardio activity would come ahead of it. It's tricky to work up to a decent intensity while swimming, especially starting out.