Progress Thread: Losing Weight

[SharkWrestler1]

Great progress so far Supa!

I thought I'll post what has been working really well for me over the last few months and I think it will work for you or anyone else trying to get into shape.

I followed Tim Ferriss Slow Carb Diet and lost most of the fat pretty quickly even without exercise - http://fourhourworkweek.com/2007/04...of-fat-in-30-days-without-doing-any-exercise/

For the last month I've been going to the gym, 5-6 days a week for 45 minutes. Lift heavy (mainly deadlift, squat, bench and overhead press) with very little cardio occasionally a HIIT session if time allows.

Intermittent fasting during the day (I only eat from 1pm - 9pm) whatever hours suit your schedule but try and keep it to an 8 hour period.

Cut down on fruit apart from bananas after a workout and eat a lot of veg.

Protein shake after a workout and take creatine daily.

Cut out sugar.

Aim for 35% carbs, 35% protein and 30% fat.

Drink green tea, coffee, milk and loads of water.

Cut out any fizzy and high calorie drinks (save alcohol for cheat day!)

Sleep at least 8 hours, I've found sleep has a big effect on my body. I notice if I sleep 4-6 hours a night for 3+ more days in a row my progress seems to slow down.

This is what has been working really well for me, hopefully this information will be useful for you

Keep up the good work!

 

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[Supa]

Progress Update

the last week I learned some lessons about failure and feeling defeated. I applied the idea of weighing once a month and didn't weigh me for 3 weeks before I couldn't resist to check it out, because I felt like I don't lose weight. And I didn't lose weight, I even gained 0.7 kg since my last weighing. This made me realize, that even if the idea is good, it just doesn't work for me. I got lazy and even forgot about my goal of losing weight, without getting reminded on a regular basis, like I do when I check my weight at least once a week. Long story short, my weight was at 112.1 kg last friday. Over the next week until today I managed to lose enough weight to get at the point where I was before I decided to weigh once a month, at 111.4 kg. Even if I feel bad for wasting 3 weeks on my road to my goal, I'm thankful that I did it. I will check my weight a few times a week now, to get a feeling for what works and for what doesn't work (concerning my food and sport).

I also felt defeated this week, not just because of my failure at losing weight, but because I didn't do the choices I want to do. If I wanted to work 4 hours a day, I only worked 2 hours a day on my business. I just felt weak, and let it be an excuse for not doing as much as I wanted to do. To make it short, I feel like shit for my lack of energy and motivation. Even if I worked on our business every day, I feel like shit because I didn't do as much as I could have done. Maybe I'm really a bit ill and need to listen to my body if I felt weak the last few days, but it shouldn't be a reason for me to work less.

 

[BaraQueenbee]

I don't have any practical advice, just I want to say that I wish you mildness.

Reality slap: yes, maybe you've lacked or didnt follow the program, and as yourself expected it didnt give you the results you initially were hoping for.
But please dont let take the lead and overhand and start a negative cicle.

maybe: Go get that big glass of water right now, chuck it, do some jumping jacks in the kitchen now, and finish some of the extra work on your business now. (tomorrow is tooooooo far)

You got this @Supa !

 

[Supa]

I don't have any practical advice, just I want to say that I wish you mildness.

Reality slap: yes, maybe you've lacked or didnt follow the program, and as yourself expected it didnt give you the results you initially were hoping for.
But please dont let take the lead and overhand and start a negative cicle.

maybe: Go get that big glass of water right now, chuck it, do some jumping jacks in the kitchen now, and finish some of the extra work on your business now. (tomorrow is tooooooo far)

You got this @Supa !

Thanks @BaraQueenbee I just had a few weak days, reading some posts/threads helped to get my motivation back to 100%.

 

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[Supa]

Progress Update

Last week I set my goal of having a 110 standing before the . and I did it, lost 0.9kg over the last week. Here are the numbers:

Starting weight: 116kg (255.74lbs)
Weight: 110.5kg (243.61lbs)
Weight loss: 5.5kg (12.13lbs)

 

[Supa]

Progress Update

well unfortunately gained 0.6kg since the last time weighing. I'm happy with how I changed my eating habits, but not with my motivation to hit the gym. I know that as soon as I can kick my a$$ to do it, and keeping my eating habits, I will reach my goal.

And a big thanks to @Fred Chevry for helping me on this journey with his great knowledge!

 

[BellaPippin]

Here's a guide that has helped me immensely, in case it's useful. Didn't spend a dime on personal trainers and learned all the basics from how to plan my routine, how much I should be trying to lift and how often, plus some nutrition basics and exercise lists (I am a total newbie, I don't know about you) Either way check it out. As soon as I have money to spare I'd love to give something back to this dude (the guide is free)

http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/the-ultimate-weight-training-workout-routine/

 

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[Supa]

Here's a guide that has helped me immensely, in case it's useful. Didn't spend a dime on personal trainers and learned all the basics from how to plan my routine, how much I should be trying to lift and how often, plus some nutrition basics and exercise lists (I am a total newbie, I don't know about you) Either way check it out. As soon as I have money to spare I'd love to give something back to this dude (the guide is free)

http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/the-ultimate-weight-training-workout-routine/

Thanks Bel, will check it out!

 

[lowtek]

.... Any excess protein your eat which your body can not use just hangs around and of course is transformed into fat! I find this fact so important in your long term health and your weight loss goals - something you may like to look into. Fuel your body with nutritious vegetables and perhaps you won't feel like excess eating.

Good luck and keep it up!!

I need to clarify something here, because it's important to weight loss. Excess protein gets stored as glycogen in either the muscle tissue or liver, in active individuals. It would not be stored as fat. See the article linked below.

http://www.jissn.com/content/11/1/19

Standard guidelines for active individuals are around 0.7 to 1.0 grams of protein per pound of body weight. A single serving of protein, say 8 oz. of chicken breast, will not supply anybody over 75 pounds with enough protein for the day - assuming they're active. If you're a couch potato then your protein requirements are significantly lower.

 

[Supa]

Progress Update

after I lost some weight with changing my diet (not making a diet, but changing my eating habits) I had on of those 'click' moments, where you REALLY start to make better choices and I realized that I need to get my a$$ up and do sport to get my metabolism working for me, so I came up with a way of integrating hitting the gym into my daily routines, forming a habit. It only takes me an extra drive of 10 minutes if I drive to the gym directly after my job, so I packed my bag and hit the gym on my way home from work. I started this 2 weeks ago on Thursday and continued it the whole last week. I came to a point where I'm on a battlefield that I can win on, like MJ's cookie story (not buying it - not having it at home - not eating it) I have a decision to make on my way home from work. I could either take the next exit on the right that will get me home directly (buying the cookies at the supermarket) or I could keep driving on that highway that will drive me to the gym and then home afterwards (not buying the cookies).

After this awesome week of finally hitting the gym and sweating the shit out of me, I wanted to check my weight on friday. My happiness disappeared within the fraction of a second. I gained 1 kg. Duh. I coninued my eating habits and even started developping a sport habit and still I gained weight. My mood was f*cked for the day. Until I was at my mom for dinner and talked to her and my step-dad about it. My step-dad lost around 25kg some years ago, he told me that he experienced the same effect when he finally started doing sport, he gained weight for some time, then the weight stayed the same for another few days until it finally started going down. He told me that I should measure my body measurements (thigh, stomach, chest).

So let's insert some more numbers into my progress:

Starting weight: 116kg (255.74lbs)
Current weight: 111.5kg (244,71lbs)
Weight loss so far: 4.5kg (9,92lbs) -1kg (2,20lbs) to last week
Measurements: 65cm, 119cm, 111cm (thigh, stomach, chest)

 

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[lowtek]

Progress Update

.... I gained 1 kg. Duh.....

The body is a finely honed machine, and one of its tasks is to maintain homeostasis. Changes in routine, such as adding in exercise for sedentary individuals, can result in weight gain AND fat loss at the same time.

This is because as you lose fat, your body is attempting to maintain its weight. It retains water to make up the weight lost from fat. Typically it will overshoot since water is so dense and there are so many places to store it.

If you were doing resistance training then you could also have gained some muscle mass (though not a full kilo in one week) - which is probably what you want.

What sort of exercise did you pick up?

 

[Supa]

The body is a finely honed machine, and one of its tasks is to maintain homeostasis. Changes in routine, such as adding in exercise for sedentary individuals, can result in weight gain AND fat loss at the same time.

This is because as you lose fat, your body is attempting to maintain its weight. It retains water to make up the weight lost from fat. Typically it will overshoot since water is so dense and there are so many places to store it.

If you were doing resistance training then you could also have gained some muscle mass (though not a full kilo in one week) - which is probably what you want.

What sort of exercise did you pick up?

Thanks for your post! Good to hear about the inner workings, and helps to keep pushing!

I do cardio for now.

 

[Sheps]

Down nearly FIVE kilos! That's awesome. Go get a 5kg weight or 5Ls of water, stick it in a bag and go for a walk. You'll really get a feel for how far you've come.

 

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[Supa]

Pretty much kept my weight over Christmas and New Years. Only been to the gym 4 times the last 2 weeks, now that the holidays and family dinners are done, it's time to get back to the good routines of eating and hitting the gym 4 times a week.

 

[Jake]

Congrats on the weight loss.

I'm not here to push low carb like it's a religion but it's worked for me. So this may be worth a quick read

http://authoritynutrition.com/23-studies-on-low-carb-and-low-fat-diets/

 

[Kallin Trotman]

good decision to make this happen.

I recommend keto, I have done many different macro ratios, etc.... Which if done correctly will all work.
However keto is just very simple and easy to follow. I feel great on keto, lose weight quickly, maintain strength, maintain pumps and enjoy what I can eat.
Basically keto is almost no carbs at all. A lot of protein and a lot of fat.

Perhaps in the beginning track your food but you will soon learn what foods contain what. Use "Myfitnesspal"
Enjoy bacon, eggs, steak, chicken, nuts, vegetables (non starchy. no potatoes, etc) and salad.

Learn what amount of food you body needs to maintain, lose or gain weight. It is trial and error.

Don't get to caught up on if you gained a pound over a week in the beginning. Simply re-adjust for the next week. You will look back at it in the future and think how stupid it was to get unhappy about those little things.

I disagree with only weighing yourself once a month. Do it everyday. yes it fluctuates a little..so what..it doesn't hurt to see. (you can also enter it into "myfitnesspal" is you want.. It'll give you a pretty graph that by the end of a month will clearly slow where your weight is going.

Also you should be training. What NVious suggested would be good. Its not so much about what you do. Just do something, you should sweat everyday.

If after you have lost the weight you want to put some muscle on jump more into that then. Focus on losing the weight first, you'll be surprised how quickly it comes off if you arnt fcking up.

 

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[Supa]

good decision to make this happen.

I recommend keto, I have done many different macro ratios, etc.... Which if done correctly will all work.
However keto is just very simple and easy to follow. I feel great on keto, lose weight quickly, maintain strength, maintain pumps and enjoy what I can eat.
Basically keto is almost no carbs at all. A lot of protein and a lot of fat.

Perhaps in the beginning track your food but you will soon learn what foods contain what. Use "Myfitnesspal"
Enjoy bacon, eggs, steak, chicken, nuts, vegetables (non starchy. no potatoes, etc) and salad.

Learn what amount of food you body needs to maintain, lose or gain weight. It is trial and error.

Don't get to caught up on if you gained a pound over a week in the beginning. Simply re-adjust for the next week. You will look back at it in the future and think how stupid it was to get unhappy about those little things.

I disagree with only weighing yourself once a month. Do it everyday. yes it fluctuates a little..so what..it doesn't hurt to see. (you can also enter it into "myfitnesspal" is you want.. It'll give you a pretty graph that by the end of a month will clearly slow where your weight is going.

Also you should be training. What NVious suggested would be good. Its not so much about what you do. Just do something, you should sweat everyday.

If after you have lost the weight you want to put some muscle on jump more into that then. Focus on losing the weight first, you'll be surprised how quickly it comes off if you arnt fcking up.

Not sure how I missed this, awesome post! Thank you

 

[Supa]

Progress Update

I'll be honest with you guys, the reason why I didn't post an update in the last few weeks was that I felt embarassed to post failure after failure. Not only that I stayed at the same weight for about 3 weeks, last week I gained 1.5kg. I could name you a long list of reasons why that happened, but in the end it wouldn't be anything but excuses. While I'm happy that I changed my eating habits, I still have problems with going to the gym on a regular basis. Doing it 4 days a week right after the job worked awesome, until the first reasons for excuses occurred "I feel too tired", "I have to stay at work longer today, gonna drive home directly to not lose even more time before I can continue working on my business", etc. I feel like shit because of my lack of discipline when it comes to sport, but that doesn't mean I'm giving up. I changed up some of the eating habits, now I need to create the habit of hitting the gym, I was in midst of creating that habit when I stopped because of some lame excuses, let's get back up and do it again, aiming for a better result.

 

[lowtek]

Progress Update

I'll be honest with you guys, the reason why I didn't post an update in the last few weeks was that I felt embarassed to post failure after failure. Not only that I stayed at the same weight for about 3 weeks, last week I gained 1.5kg. I could name you a long list of reasons why that happened, but in the end it wouldn't be anything but excuses. While I'm happy that I changed my eating habits, I still have problems with going to the gym on a regular basis. Doing it 4 days a week right after the job worked awesome, until the first reasons for excuses occurred "I feel too tired", "I have to stay at work longer today, gonna drive home directly to not lose even more time before I can continue working on my business", etc. I feel like shit because of my lack of discipline when it comes to sport, but that doesn't mean I'm giving up. I changed up some of the eating habits, now I need to create the habit of hitting the gym, I was in midst of creating that habit when I stopped because of some lame excuses, let's get back up and do it again, aiming for a better result.

bro, thanks for the honesty. But I have some words of encouragement for you:

stop using the scale as your sole determiner of progress. Professional fighters and powerlifters can drop many many kilos of water weight right before a weigh in, and then gain it all back within 24 hours.

Moral of that story is that the scale records total weight, which includes water.

If you gained 3 pounds of water, it's easy to shed that and it doesn't really hurt your physique or your health.

if you gained 3 pounds of muscle, you would look noticeably better, yet if you're going by the scale you're moving away from your goal.

Stop using the scale. Start using the mirror.

Also, I recommend picking up a strength activity.

Lift some heavy weights, put them back down.

Repeat.

Get Swole.

Measure progress by the mirror and the weight on the bar.

You will be much happier.

The beauty about physique related goals is that there is almost no damage too great to undo. 3 pounds is just a minor bump, particularly since it isn't likely to all be fat. REMEMBER: you can only gain as much fat as you eat in a day. If you're active, you're NOT converting carbs to fat. This is a myth.

You got this !

 

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[tchombo]

i like this topic and i love the idea of being in shape because getting into shape is not easy at all. it requires patience, hardwork and loads of dedication to you meals etc. some days you will feel like crap and some days you will fall behind. but if you can make it through that you can some very useful skills that don't only apply in the gym. given you are a member of fastlane means you want more in life or already helping others. point is if you want more in life like most people here you are going to need these skills you learn in the gym and apply them to you venture.

try p90 programme, i dropped from 89kg to 81 in 3 weeks. of course i can't promise you the same. hell you may even do much better. it all comes down to hard work. good luck

 

[Delmania]

i like this topic and i love the idea of being in shape because getting into shape is not easy at all. it requires patience, hardwork and loads of dedication to you meals etc.

Weight loss is easy; keeping it off is the real challenge.

 

[BaraQueenbee]

Your honesty suits you, you got this. It's a journey, including the trials and errors!

 

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[BaraQueenbee]

Post Scriptum: My new roomie is a nutrition specialist, and she also doesn't like the scale.

 

[Supa]

Thanks to all of you for your great posts!

 

[MattCour]

Not sure how I missed this, awesome post! Thank you

+1 on using myfitnesspal! It's a free app for iPhone and android I believe. Almost any brand or type of food's nutrition profile is stored in the app so it takes 2 minutes to document a meal. I use it everyday and it rocks for keeping track of nutrition and calories. It also tracks your steps if you have a newer iPhone.

When you get started it'll give you an idea of your base metabolic rate which is the amount of calories you burn by just being alive. If you burn more calories than you consume, you will absolutely lose pounds.

 

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[Malcolm_X]

Regarding the tracking apps, when I was cutting I used fitday.
I began with mfp, but found fitday much easier. So if you'll go that route, a good idea is to try out a few of the apps to see which one works best for you. As you'll have to use it daily for a few months

 

[Belcher]

How's it all going?

Feel free to shoot me a PM through this if you need the help, I have a fair bit of knowledge and connections to help you get on the right track...

 

[Supa]

How's it all going?

Feel free to shoot me a PM through this if you need the help, I have a fair bit of knowledge and connections to help you get on the right track...

Thanks for asking!

I'm still doing good with my dieting habits. Still struggling with the sport part though. Not gaining any weight, but not losing too much.

Stopped going to the gym few weeks ago, after I was forced to do some more hours at the job, makes me come home at the time I would come home without doing more hours and hitting the gym after work. I feel like I would lose 2 hours if I hit the gym after staying longer at the job, losing those 2 hours from time I could spend working on my business.. Somehow that was a good enough excuse to not go anymore. I need to find a solution though, because I miss the "clearing my head" in the gym, so it not really helps my business if I don't have something to let the steam off. I decided to get up earlier starting next week so I can leave the job earlier and hit the gym 3 times a week. Should be a good way to not lose too much time and to clear my head and get in shape, at the same time.

My desire to hit the gym again came from reading the Gary Halbert Boron Letters, where he mentions that sport was one of the most important things he did to get ON and stop being OFF. Realized that I am OFF a lot lately, so it is time to find a solution to 2 problems.

Been pretty busy lately, but I do my best to update this thread more regular.

 

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[lowtek]

Thanks for asking!

I'm still doing good with my dieting habits. Still struggling with the sport part though. Not gaining any weight, but not losing too much.

Stopped going to the gym few weeks ago, after I was forced to do some more hours at the job, makes me come home at the time I would come home without doing more hours and hitting the gym after work. I feel like I would lose 2 hours if I hit the gym after staying longer at the job, losing those 2 hours from time I could spend working on my business.. Somehow that was a good enough excuse to not go anymore. I need to find a solution though, because I miss the "clearing my head" in the gym, so it not really helps my business if I don't have something to let the steam off. I decided to get up earlier starting next week so I can leave the job earlier and hit the gym 3 times a week. Should be a good way to not lose too much time and to clear my head and get in shape, at the same time.

My desire to hit the gym again came from reading the Gary Halbert Boron Letters, where he mentions that sport was one of the most important things he did to get ON and stop being OFF. Realized that I am OFF a lot lately, so it is time to find a solution to 2 problems.

Been pretty busy lately, but I do my best to update this thread more regular.

Another option: buy some kettlebells and a chin up bar. You can get a solid workout at home without much equipment. This way if you miss a gym session you can do something quick at home so you are at least active for the day.

It's not ideal, but infinitely more ideal than not exercising for a day.

Keep it up dude~!

 

[OVOvince]

Op as lowtek has said, the biggest factor you can add to your fat loss aside from proper diet is proper strength training. You need to lift heavy compound lifts. In the long run this is the most beneficial training for your weight loss.

Also low carb/keto is an alternative that may aid in burning a little bit more fat. But make sure to do it right, and have some good discipline, because you can get carb cravings on that which will undue the ketosis and bloat you up if you overeat.