I'm FAT....

[BigDaddy]

Diets don’t work…they are temporary and if you don’t change your lifestyle success will only be temporary. You must make a lifestyle change and stick with it.

Some may think I’m crazy with what I’m about to say but I’m living proof. I made the change February 2010. I was 292lbs and my 40’s were tight my cholesterol was 237 and I was way out of shape. I’m 42, 6’1” and have a lot of body. Played college football at 265lbs but over 20 years I have see-sawed with my weight. This is what worked for me:

Your body stores fat because it is the most efficient fuel for your body to burn. Fat doesn’t make you fat, insulin does! Turn your body into a fat burning machine which means ketogenic diet. I eat 40-50% of my calories from fat! Yes fat! I only eat animal fat, olive oil and what naturally occurs in nuts. I eat carbs but less than 100gr per day and that only comes from veggies, fruit and nuts. I do not eat any processed foods (bread, pasta, grains, hfcs, rice, potatoes etc…) I could go on and on about what I do and don’t eat, but it is best described as a caveman diet. Meat/nuts/eggs/veggies/fruit! I do not count calories, I eat when I’m hungry.

Exercise: Move slowly a lot…walk! Lift heavy things: I lift very heavy once a week, dead-lifts pull ups etc.. Do not run long distances, I run sprints once a week. Chronic cardio (look it up) leads to a body imbalance.

One year later I’m down from 292lbs to 239lbs with 11% body fat. I’ve gone from 40” waist to a 36” and my cholesterol went from 237 to 177. I have tons of stamina and as strong as I was when I was 20. Lifestyle!

[mkrolewski]

Being over 50, I too realized that I am way over weight.

Tried to get back via exercise. After one year and a half, certain things improved -- endurance, muscle tone and size, resting pulse. What one might expect from exercising. However, no weight loss. In fact, I gained weight. I wishfully felt it was muscle, but have my doubts.

I think a lot of this is due to the miscalculation of exercise burn. If you burn 200 cal in one hour, you need to subtract your baseline cal burn if you did nothing. A general estimate is 100 cal/hr -- hence the idea of eating about 2400 cal / day. Your 200 cal exercise is actually only an additional 100 cal.  The second thing is you are most likely over-estimating your burn rate. So even that 100 cal is suspect.

Finally realized that the solution to the weight is to diet.

The best (most efficient) is a protein-sparing-modified-fast (PSFM). Pretty boring and can be a bit dangerous. Optifast is one corporate name for the program. You can do it yourself if you like without buying their products.

The next level up is the Atkins and South Beach. Basically a variant on the PSMF. I am enjoying the Atkins -- eat anything you want until full off the list which is mostly protein/high fat-protein/meat. No carbs. So steaks, beef, pork chops, lamb, fish, seafood and lots of eggs. Atkins is a qualitative (what), not quantitative (how much) diet. Generally easy to follow but a lot of cooking/food prep. In addition, I have noticed that even restaurants have menu items that fit the plan. I really hate not having carbs -- my comfort food. But until I get off the 100 lbs, I can live with it. In addition, the Atkins has a concept of maintenance level -- so something to do when all the weight is off.

I would suggest dieting until you are near that target weight. And make the target weight aggressive. I am 6'0". My idea running weight is less the 160. I was running/racing/marathoning into my 30's at 170-175. My goal is to get down to that weight.

[saevel25]

Dieting is crap, because its hard to maintain, which leads to binge eating anyways, and most people regress. Just make sure you eat less than you take in, i like to keep my above my resting metabolic rate, that way i don't feel sluggish. Which means 2100-2500 calories a day. Sometimes i will go 1800 to take a light day, or go up to 2800 to shock the system. But i never feel drained because of a diet, plenty of energy through out the day, and i loose weight as a great safe pace. I usually do 20% protein, 25-30% fat, the rest Carbs.

What helped me is planning out my meals weakly, That way i don't buy what i dont need.

[saevel25]

Becomming fat is a lifestyle, not a diet. Diet is a word created by those who want to make a quick dollar on fads. They get tons of money because people loose 40 lbs fast, most of it is water weight, because fat stores more water than muscle.

There are a few steps to change, but mostly you got to do the following,

Analyze your lifestyles. What do you eat, how often, how much. Do you exercise, if so what type. I know alot of information is out there, some claiming different proportions of Fat/Protein/Carb recommendations. Some say you need to work out on an empty stomach. Some say eat 5 small meals a day. some say you need to wake up in the middle of the night to eat, to keep the bodies metabolism up. Its alot of information.

There are some hard facts that most people just need to follow,

1) If you eat less calories than you take in you will loose weight.

So i recommend the following, Start keeping a journal of what you eat. There area  few good free apps for smart phones that count calories. Thats what i use, its really nice that i can go to subway, punch in the sub i want and get a good rough estimate of the calories on it.

Keep track of your exercise, and how much calories you burn. From there you can start to lower down the calories and increase the exercise till you find a good stop were your loosing weight at a nice pace.

I recommend searching google for, Calories in food (calorie king is a good website), and calories burned. These will give some good free online tools to keep track.

If you find your still hungry, then dump the processed foods for natural foods. They are more filling because of the fiber content. Always eat a complete meal, some fat/protein/carbs in each meal. If you feel like keeping track of how much of those three you eat, its 9 calories per gram of fat, and 4 calories per carb/protein. Then you can look on the back of the food and keep track that way, the percentage of each type of energy source your eating based on your calorie intake.

[chadw97]

You need an inspiration. Do it for your wife and kids to set a good example. Everytime you can't decide wether to go to the gym or play PS3, think about your kids.

[MiniBlueDragon]

Just take it a step at a time and double-think your decisions... For every decision you make, follow it up in you mind with "OR?" and see if there's a better option.

Two sugars in my coffee or just one?

Can of full fat coke or a light coke?

McDonalds for lunch or Subway?

Do I really need this much food or should I eat half the amount and slowly and then see if I'm truly still hungry afterward?

Chocolate bar or piece of fruit?

Drive to work or walk it as it's a nice day?

Hire a cart and play 18 holes or walk it today?

Lunch break sitting at my desk or going for a walk to get some fresh air and exercise?

Small decisions like that all add together to really help out.

Also it sounds ridiculous but making sure you're well hydrated really helps. I keep a water bottle on my desk and fill it every morning, then when I need to pee I take it to the kitchen, go pee and then go fill up the water bottle with more water. That repeats all day every day and the general feeling in your body when it's hydrated correctly (pee is colourless!) is really great.

[saevel25]

If your going to make a lifestyle change, do it for a month, by the time your done with that month it will be a habit. But you have to do it nearly every day.

It took me 1 month to get over pop, i don't even want to buy it anymore. I am allways asking for water or ice-tea if i want something sugary. But i have no addiction to the sugar/Caffiene anymore. Its an amazing freedom now.

so if you want to eat healthy, make sure half your meal is fruits and/or veggies, and do that every day for a month. By the time your done, you will continue to buy the food because now its a habit in your grocery shopping.

Stop going to fast food for a whole month, by the time your done you will be use to not pulling into the parking lot, or you will start to avoid driving past them all together.

[CuppedTin]

Originally Posted by 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.

Hey man, use the things you are passionate about to work out with. If golf is a passion, then find some exercises at home to do with a golf club, golf swings, etc... My advice is to cancel the gym until you prove to yourself that you are going to commit and follow through with at least a 1 month at home workout... Start small and work your way up, once you start seeing results then you will have all the motivation that you need...

[HAVOC]

to all of you telling him to DIET that is NOT the key

its called portion control dieting is for short term fix and they are BAD for you

go see your Doc and tell him what you want to do

and work on a nutrition plan with him

professional help is the only way to go

[MiniBlueDragon]

Originally Posted by HAVOC

to all of you telling him to DIET that is NOT the key

its called portion control dieting is for short term fix and they are BAD for you

go see your Doc and tell him what you want to do

and work on a nutrition plan with him

professional help is the only way to go

Unless of course they're using "diet" in the real sense of the word, not the media sense of the word.

My wife has dropped 4 stone over the last 1.5 years by simply eating more healthily and she looks slimmer and fitter than ever. She has more energy, more drive and is happy and it's all been achieved at a steady but achievable pace with a healthy DIET. 56lbs over 1.5 years is 3lbs per month which is easily achievable with sensible food choices. And all of the above is without exercise which would boost it even further.

The first step for her was making the choices I mentioned above; double-checking that there's not a better alternative. The next step for her was to get her mind in the right place so she joined the local Slimming World meeting and attended each week (note: Slimming World *looks* like a fad diet but if you read beyond the sales crap, it's simply healthy eating) and then she stopped going to the meetings as soon as she was motivated and understood the best way to lose weight healthily (about 2 months).

Fad dieting is bad.

Having a healthy diet is good.

Having a healthy diet and exercising regularly is great.

[Grunnsetning]

I have gained and dropped weight countless times. Obviously watching what you eat (just staying away from cheese and mayo and candy bars helps a ton) and exercising will work. But i have never dropped weight as fast as i did doing nutrisystem mixed with exercise. The calorie deficit will be around 2000 a day which is a ton. Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

[bunkerputt]

My neighbor got off drugs and started working out.  It was his new high.  He went from a 95lb to 350lb bench press in two months.  If he could do that coming off a high, I'm sure you can do that coming off food.  Start by building muscle and then get nuts about what you are eating.  I promise the first week will be like hell.  Just get mentally prepared for it because it gets easier.  I've only had a weight problem once in my life.  I was around 260, depressed and seriously flabby when I was 25, the only year in my life I stopped exercising.  I didn't think I was fat until someone told me I was.  Then I freaked out, started biking, weights, and doing kung fu for around 4 hours a night, 7 days a week.  I don't remember eating, but I'm sure it wasn't much.  I dropped down to 185 in 6 weeks.  I backed off the intensity once I had it under control and formed a decent habit of exercise for health.  There's no easy way around it.  It gets much easier though.

[newtogolf]

His bench press went from 95lbs to 350lbs in two months???  Sounds a bit much unless his new drug of choice is dianabol.

Originally Posted by bunkerputt

My neighbor got off drugs and started working out.  It was his new high.  He went from a 95lb to 350lb bench press in two months.  If he could do that coming off a high, I'm sure you can do that coming off food.  Start by building muscle and then get nuts about what you are eating.  I promise the first week will be like hell.  Just get mentally prepared for it because it gets easier.  I've only had a weight problem once in my life.  I was around 260, depressed and seriously flabby when I was 25, the only year in my life I stopped exercising.  I didn't think I was fat until someone told me I was.  Then I freaked out, started biking, weights, and doing kung fu for around 4 hours a night, 7 days a week.  I don't remember eating, but I'm sure it wasn't much.  I dropped down to 185 in 6 weeks.  I backed off the intensity once I had it under control and formed a decent habit of exercise for health.  There's no easy way around it.  It gets much easier though.

[bkoguy07]

I'm having a hard time believing his bp went up 255 lbs in 60 days.  If he did chest once a week(thats usually normal) for 8 weeks that's a 30lb jump every week..Usually when I'm serious about my training and eating 5k cals a day, my BP would increase 5lbs a week at most.  Sometimes every two weeks... 30lb jumps is unusual to say the least..

[Grunnsetning]

Maybe if this said guy was a hardcore lifter and took a break. But even then hard to believe. Theres people that lift for years to get that high.

[saevel25]

I will never put a foreign substance in my body to gain muscle mass. Honestly i think i would hate the feeling of enlarged muscles like heavy body lifters. I prefer the more lean look.

Honestly i have no clue what i bench press, i could care less really. The constant obsession with numbers isn't something im in to

[bunkerputt]

Originally Posted by newtogolf

His bench press went from 95lbs to 350lbs in two months???  Sounds a bit much unless his new drug of choice is dianabol.

Well, I don't really know the guy, but I do know he was on drugs before.  I wouldn't put performance enhancement past him, certainly.  Also, it was his trainer who told me that, not him.  Still not necessarily an unbiased evaluation...  Regardless of the actual weight, whether there was sandbagging going on on the 95lb and helping going on on the 350, which seems likely, or just flat out lying by both of them, he has definitely packed on a ton of muscle.  Maybe a suspiciously large quantity since he is already complaining about tendon and joint pain.  But to the OP, I would say focus on long-term gains and stay away from roids.

[HAVOC]

Originally Posted by MiniBlueDragon

Unless of course they're using "diet" in the real sense of the word, not the media sense of the word.

My wife has dropped 4 stone over the last 1.5 years by simply eating more healthily and she looks slimmer and fitter than ever. She has more energy, more drive and is happy and it's all been achieved at a steady but achievable pace with a healthy DIET. 56lbs over 1.5 years is 3lbs per month which is easily achievable with sensible food choices. And all of the above is without exercise which would boost it even further.

The first step for her was making the choices I mentioned above; double-checking that there's not a better alternative. The next step for her was to get her mind in the right place so she joined the local Slimming World meeting and attended each week (note: Slimming World *looks* like a fad diet but if you read beyond the sales crap, it's simply healthy eating) and then she stopped going to the meetings as soon as she was motivated and understood the best way to lose weight healthily (about 2 months).

Fad dieting is bad.

Having a healthy diet is good.

Having a healthy diet and exercising regularly is great.

One big difference between dieting and eating right is portions . When people diet, they tend to cut carbs out, fats, sugars, and certain beverages. When people eat right they just use portion control, and don't worry so much about excluding different foods.