I'm FAT....

[DannyB215]

Hey everyone,

I write to you because, I seriously need some help. I have had a gym membership for 3-4 months now, and I've gone....8 times? RIDICULOUS. Golf is in my top 4 passions, and I definitely want to get better at it, slowly working my way to single digit handicap. However, I am in NO WAY SHAPE or FORM disciplined when it comes to working out, eating healthy, and staying healthy. Thankfully I have a great wife that cooks and uses Weight Watchers recipe's, but man, I need to stop drinking soda and sugar and carbs. I know what I need to do, and how to do it, but I simply am not doing it. Not taking the time to, instead of playing PS3, to go to the gym instead like I said I would. I need to get healthy asap, diabetes runs in my dad's side of the family and I feel like I'm on the way there, but I know I can stop that from happening, if I just get real and do what I say I'm going to do. I want to hear from those who struggled like I am now, those who have lost weight, and those who are knowledgeable in this matter. How did you lose weight, how did it impact your golf game, and how did you do it? Thanks for the "Judgement Free" comments in advance.

[Bo the Golfer]

Hey Danny-since high school my weight has been up and down. I would work out for a while then not for a longer while. After a while I would always be bigger when I finally went back to working out after a hiatus. Last year I got to 298 (sure I was at 300 at some point) and thought that is enough. What worked for me was two buddies and I decided to do a team triathlon last summer. My job was the 3.1 mile run. Having to check in with my friends so that I would be ready for our race was what did the trick. I ended up losing 38 lbs between February and August when we ran our race. Since then I gained 7 lbs over the holidays but am back training for this years race. It was the first time after a break in training (although the shortest break of my adult life) that I was no where near the weight I was before I started the previous training session. Sign up for something with friends, pay the dues for a race, a let the motivation work it's magic. I am hoping to drop another 30 this year and finish stronger. Good luck-I know if I can do it anyone can!

PS-It helped my golf game as I felt way more fresh at the end of the round and had a much better turn due to increased flexibility.

[Huffy2k]

Hey Danny, I'm with Bo - regular running is the answer.  A few years ago I came to the non-surprising conclusion that I had never really seen an overweight runner and decided to give it a try.  I've been running regularly for 4 years now and it continues to work for me.  Ran 11 miles yesterday (in the snow) as part of my training regimen for a 1/2 marathon in May.  Good luck!

[ControlJunkie]

Hey brutha, I definitely know what you're dealing with, I've been on the path to drop a couple of dress sizes and get healthier since January. So far I've dropped I dunno, 10-15 lbs, but I feel completely different. Yeah, I still wanna vomit when I look in the mirror after I get in the shower, but at least not as bad as I did before I started all of this.

In this thread , I linked to a couple of places and outlined a number of different things I was planning on doing. There are probably two things that I can say keep me in line:

The first - keep a diary of what you eat, count calories, carbs, protein, fat, etc. Trust me, I KNOW IT SUCKS! It is very tedious, but when you start stepping back and looking at where your caloric intake compares to what it should be, it will blow your mind, and definitely has served as motivation for me to eat right. Diet is above all what will control your health. Exercise is important, but diet plays a much larger role. I can give you details on exactly what I did to keep a record if you want, just let me know.

The second - just do something. You don't need to expect to go to the gym and run a 5 mile marathon on the treadmill on day 1. Just get on there and walk at a good pace. As you do that, you'll progressively walk faster, or if you're ADD like me, you'll jump over to a bike or an elliptical to change it up. I ended up buying my own elliptical a few weeks ago, and have already gotten great use out of it. But my point is to just get in there. You gotta start somewhere. I hate to rip off Tiger, but it's a process - a process that doesn't begin until you take the first step.

To touch on the difference that will make real quick - before now, if I would have played 18, I was more than likely pretty tired afterwards. I would usually finish the last few holes weak. To give you an idea, I do cardio a few times a week, but definitely not every day. It consists of a rotation of walking, biking, and elliptical, but not exactly hard core, or anything anyone else wouldn't be able to easily handle. After my last couple of rounds, which I finished particularly strong, I had more than enough energy to actually go to the gym afterwards and get an hour of cardio in. Dude, I've only been doing this a couple of months, and I already feel that much of a difference.

Hope this helps. If you have any questions let me know.

[wrx_junki]

Exercise is good and all but dieting is the key to losing weight. Dieting takes much more discipline than exercising. Good luck!

[saevel25]

Quote:

However, I am in NO WAY SHAPE or FORM disciplined when it comes to working out, eating healthy, and staying healthy. Thankfully I have a great wife that cooks and uses Weight Watchers recipe's

Habits become Habit after 3 weeks. Dead serious, you have to work out consistantly for 3 weeeks. That was from an article on CNN, i believe, or Foxnews. Looks like your wife is helping, thats huge. But if your going to do fast food, learn the healthy options..

Wendy's Homestyle chicken sandwich, chili instead of fries, and diet drink. That is more filling than a burger, fries and a coke, and alot healthier

Go to subway, but never make it meal

Things like that. Just learn and adapt

Quote:

but man, I need to stop drinking soda and sugar and carbs. I know what I need to do, and how to do it, but I simply am not doing it

Make this a family thing, new house rule, no one is alloud to buy pop, unless its a special occasion, like fourth of july. Thats it, no sporting events, no other family outings, maybe just 4-5 times a year, buy 2 liters, instead of cans. Maybe 2 to share, not 2-24 packs. Make it a life change.

I am still about 30 lbs overweight, but i was 60-70 lbs overweight for about 10 years, from highschool through college. I finally decided to get fit. I have my bad years, last year i only lost about 5 lbs, after loosing 40 in my first year. But now i am down 10 lbs so far this year. It seriously takes a life change. I do not buy snacks, i do not buy soda's. I will buy beer occasionally, and its never in the can's, its usually a bottled 8-pack, and only drink 1 a day with my dinner. I never drink for casual reasons. I cook 90% of my meals myself. I like to know what goes into it. Its lucky i have a passion for cooking, its 2nd to golf. I do not buy steaks, there to expensive. I buy chicken, and sometimes fish. I do not add excess fats to my meals. I found other ways to make things taste good. Before this i would go eat wendy's 3-4 times a week, buy pop, it was insane.

It takes an effort, keep a journal of what you eat. Do not add calories, but subtract them from your daily allotment. This way its a better visual when you see you only got 250 left for dinner. I mean it, eat only 250, punish yourself for eating to much earlier. If you start to give in then you start to fail.

I would set goals like, i will for 1 month not eat fast food. I will not drink pop for a month. At least a month to build that habit. Try to go to the gym 3 times a week. At least onces during the week and twice on the weekends. That should be easy.

Good luck, its worth it. More energy, better golf game, less depression.

[glbrum]

For starters, you need to decide on a measurable goal. Losing weight is a good goal, but it is not measurable. Losing 10 pounds my Memorial Day is a measurable goal. With measurable goals, you have the ability to see where you started from, where you currently are, and where you want to be. Visibly seeing progress towards a set goal is very motivating! It tells you that you are doing something right and if you continue on that path more progress will happen.

Secondly, tell people your goals. Telling your friends, family, coworkers, etc allows them the ability to keep you accountable. Let's say your goals are to lose 10 lbs by Memorial day, go to the gym 2 days per week, and drink 4 cans of soda a week instead of 8. Write these down and give them to people and then tell them to keep you to those goals! Allow them the ability to question you about your progress, where you are succeeding and where you are failing. Also, make sure you write these goals down for yourself and put them around your house, your work, etc.

Thirdly, I think finding a routine that works with your schedule is very helpful. If you want to start going to the gym more frequently, pick 1 or 2 days out of your week, maybe start with just tuesdays, and so every tuesday you go to the gym. Is there someone [your wife, a friend, a co worker] that also goes to your gym? Plan a time that you both can go to the gym at the same time for your workout.

As far as "dieting", Think of it this way: don't "go on a diet", just change the way you eat instead. The minute you stop a "diet" you will most likely go back to where you started, but if you simply change the way you eat you will have nothing to revert back to. Slowly introduce healthier food into your diet while you slowly phase the bad stuff out. Take it slow. 1 good thing in, 1 bad thing out and slowly progress. If you always buy cookies at the store, start by buying them every other visit to the store, then every 3 visits, then once every 4 visits, etc. Try adding 1 new vegetable to your meals per week. Variety is the spice of life.

Back to the routine thing a little.....Look for areas where you fail [ie: situations that take you further from your goal] and then look for ways to overcome that failure. Is it always going to fast food for lunch at work? Make a lunch the night before of leftovers from that dinner and take it the next day. Do you always come home and have a soda while sitting on the couch? Pour a glass of water first and play with you kids for a 10 minutes. Failure is not bad, unless it causes you to quit. If you are constantly looking for ways to fix your problem areas [areas of your life that are taking you further away from your goals] than you are one step closer to success.

Lastly, try your best to be consistent. Killing yourself at the gym does you no good if you are too tired and sore to go for your next scheduled workout. Eating super duper, strict, perfect, healthy for 1 week does you no good if it causes you to binge like a mad man for the week that follows. Small, steady changes and  consistent effort are going to get you the results you want.

Good luck, good for you for wanting to make a change, and sorry for the novel.

[DannyB215]

Thank you everyone. As I start going to the gym more and more and diet more I will definitely keep you all updated. I think taking the first step is realizing that you need help and taking the right steps to go in the right direction. All of your comments were awesome, and all of you are going to hold me accountable once I set my goals...Deal?

[inthehole]

I'm 46, hit 288 lbs early last year & finally said enough was enough.     Lost 35 lbs over the course of 4 months - it was remarkably easy, then I hit a wall.     Couldn't lose another pound.    Total stagnation.       Amazing how that works - have maintained since then, but am going to give it another go & this year include some form of exercise, and I hate exercise more than onions, which I despise.      So we shall see - I would like to drop at least 20 more before mid summer, but this time, I know going in, it's gonna take some serious work & commitment.    Good luck & I'll report back from time to time ...

[WUTiger]

Here are some ideas which might help. First, if you could carry your bag when you play nine holes, or pull your bag on a trolley cart for 18, this would help some with weight loss. I teach at a college, and a co-worker runs marathons and keeps up on fitness and training research. He says that walking during golf would put the body in fat-burning mode, which is sustained mid-level exertion over multiple hours.

Second, although weight loss is one of your goals, consider a small a "rebound" snack of some kind after you work out. Otherwise, you'll drag the rest of the day, which will make exercise less fun. Being that you have diabetes in your family, you may have more trouble than the average person with sugar spikes.

Third, consider finding an athletic trainer that knows something about nutrition. Such a person can combine workouts with food planning. And, if this person also knows something about golf, all the better. If your area has any trainers certified by the Titleist Performance Institute, all the better.

http://www.mytpi.com/

I had bypass heart surgery in 2005, so I'm always under pressure to lose weight. Get a trainer, his/her expertise makes it easier to reach your goals.

[Jonnydanger81]

Lots of great points by other posters.  The biggest thing is definitely in the diet.  My best friend and former roommate was/is a pretty successful personal trainer and 99 times out of 100 if given a choice between a client that works out like crazy but eats like a slob OR goes through the workouts but really, REALLY sticks to the diet he'd take the one that stuck with the diet.  It's just that important.  Cut out the soda and snack crap, replace it with water, that Crystal Light flavored water and fruits and veggies to snack on and you'll be good to go.  Another great point was recording what you eat, how many calories, etc. www.fitday.com is a pretty simple tool for it.  If you don't write it down or record what you're eating all day then there's no way you can change it.  Try not to think of it as dieting, it's just eating healthy, hopefully for the rest of your life.  If you think of it as a diet then you'll be thinking eventually the diet will end at some point when you reach your goal weight, then you start snacking or drinking soda again because you've succeeded and in 6 months you're back in the same spot?  It really is a life change, and it's a great one to start.  Sorry if that last part sounded scary, but I think that's a very common reason why "dieting" doesn't really work.

[Ferg]

I'm going to give you what I have done. Some will argue it probably isn't the healthiest, but it has worked for me so far.

1. do you have a weight loss competition at work? If so, join it. this really got me started initially

2. switch to diet pop. I tried to cut the pop, but just couldn't do it. If you hate diet pop, start slowly. In my opinion, there are diet drinks out there that taste just as good as regular drinks when your making the change.

3. My goal was to lose more weight during the week than I gained on the weekend. I was really good from Sunday through Thursday (weigh in day) and then I would relax on Friday and Saturday. I didn't always gorge myself, but I didn't think about what I ate. I would then weigh in on a Monday and see how much I needed to work myself during the week to get a lb or two below where I was the Thursday before.

4. I started just walking, which at first I thought was a joke, but then quickly realized it was actually helping. Then I started mixing in jogging with walking, and now am running mostly except on days that my knees hurt too bad (bad knees)

To give you some background

I'm 26 now. I was 24 or maybe 23 when I started trying to lose weight

I weighed around 350lb when I first started and the weight would fall off. Some weeks were around 10 lbs just from walking and watching what I ate.

I now weigh around 235lb. I have fallen off the wagon a few times, gained some weight back and then lost it again plus some..

Now I am not saying that this is the way you should do it or that it is technically healthy to do it like this, but this is what I have done and it has worked for me.

Some will say that splurging on the weekends is not a healthy way to do it, but being over weight isn't healthy now is it?

Good luck with your goals.

[DannyB215]

Ferg, thanks so much man...Good luck as you continue to lose more weight!! Going from 350 to where you are now is no easy feat!

[Puttsalott]

If your wife does Weight Watchers, join also.  It does work, the first time I did it, I lost 40lbs in 6 months.  That included lots of exercise too.  Last year when I went back to lose what I had regained, I lost 20 lbs in about 4 months.  Have to be accountable week to week really helps.  Also what helps me, especially to maintain an exercise program, is to have a definitive goal.  I had a ski trip with a friend recently, so I made sure I was in shape for that.  In the past once the event was over, I'd stop exercising and get sloppy with my eating again too.  This time my wife and I are training for a 1/2 marathon for late spring / early summer.  I know I'll have to come up with another goal to keep up the exercise after that but you get the idea.  I can't attest to how well the weight loss helped my golf but I felt better overall and my lower back stopped hurting too.

[Shindig]

I don't think this was said; if it has been said, I missed it. In addition to diet being a key piece in weight loss (or gain), muscles consume more calories than the equivalent weight in fat. While I'm not suggesting bulking up, you may want to try some traditional strength exercises. When you're at the gym, consider the bench press, overhead press, deadlifts, and squats. Don't go overboard, and set natural limits on how far into these you're willing to go. I started bench press recently when I realized just how weak overall I was (I had trouble benching 55 lbs when I tried a little over two weeks ago; no matter your opinion of the bench press for golf, that level of inability can't have been good for me or my golf), although ours goals differ. If these are too much, even simple ones like hammer curls and tricep extensions Furthermore, a great substitute for pop is iced tea. I started this because I was cheap, although there are health benefits too (no HFCS, possibly no caffeine, hydrate instead of dehydrate). It's easy enough to make a couple of quarts of iced tea and take it with you places (such as work). There are quite a bit more flavor choices than pop offers, too. My personal favorite is Good Earth tea; in fact, there are very few soft drinks that I prefer over this. In short, you might find yourself consuming fewer empty calories and saving money in the process; the money you save could be spent on life's necessities, such as a gift for the wife, college plans for the kids, a new driver, house payments, or other important and regular expenses.

[newtogolf]

You want to combine a healthy diet with exercise to achieve optimal results.  In 2008, I weighed 400 lbs and couldn't walk a 1/4 mile without having to stop.  I now weigh 205 lbs, and running marathons and biathalons (run and bike).

You want to lift weight or do some form of muscle building exercises to maintain your muscle mass because if you severely restrict your calories, and don't exercise your body will go after muscle as it's a more efficient chemical process to convert muscle to glycogen than it is fat.  That's not to say you won't lose fat too, but often people that severely restrict calories and don't exercise end up reaching their goal weight with a higher body fat percentage (skinny fat) than those that exercise.

You also want to eat a sufficient amount of protein to maintain or increase your muscle mass.  Muscle burns calories, so as you drop weight and maintain or increase muscle, your body will maintain a higher metabolic rate (which will help you lose more fat).  If you lose muscle along the way, your BMR will decrease significantly making it more difficult to lose the last 25% of the weight you want to without significatly increasing your activity or cutting your caloric intake.

[saevel25]

I recently read that is not the amount of protein you eat per day, well you do need a certain amount, but its also the timing.  But the rule of thumb is have protein with each meal.

But don't go overboard, your body only can use a certain amount of protein the rest is turned into fat. This whole notion of eating a ton of protein is false.

[Shindig]

Originally Posted by saevel25

I recently read that is not the amount of protein you eat per day, well you do need a certain amount, but its also the timing.  But the rule of thumb is have protein with each meal.

Funny;  I recently read the opposite, that the total matters more than the timing. http://www.wannabebig.com/diet-and-nutrition/is-there-a-limit-to-how-much-protein-the-body-can-use-in-a-single-meal/

But having protein with every meal can't be a bad thing!