Progress Thread: Losing Weight

[Supa]

The mindsets and beliefs I learned in the short time since I finally got my lazy a$$ up and started working on my journey to the Fastlane, helped me realize one big thing: those mindsets and beliefs can be used for more than just my journey to the Fastlane, while still supporting it.

Yep I am talking about losing weight, and getting fit.

Back in 2011 my weight was at about 194lbs (88kg for the European guys), over the next 2 years I gained about 55lbs (25kg). You can actually say I went from looking decent to shitty in 2 years.

I could tell you an endless list of reasons I gained the weight, and another list of reasons why I never lost it. But not one of those "reasons" would be anything else than BS excuses.

One of the reasons I'm doing this thread, is that it helps me to stay accountable and committed. I am not happy with my weight at the moment, so I want to change it. And it will support my journey to the Fastlane. Achieving this goal has the power to show me, that something that always seemed so far from possible can be done. Plus it has the power to make me feel better and happy, which of course also supports my journey.

Alright, I hope you can get some motivation of this thread, I will update it on a regular basis with my weight and what I do to lose it.

I started 2 weeks ago, with a starting weight of 255,74lbs (116kg), lost 3,30lbs (1,5kg) the first week and 2,20lbs (1kg) last week and am now at 250,00lbs (last friday).

 

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[theag]

Maybe you should give out advice on losing weight after you lost weight, not before.

 

[DeletedUser396]

There actually is a "magic pill" for weight loss: set a low number of calories, hit it and then stop eating for the rest of the day.
If you do it, it is certain that you'll lose 10 kg or more by January.

Now, what if business was as simple and certain?

 

[Supa]

Maybe you should give out advice on losing weight after you lost weight, not before.

actually, you are right. I just wanted to share my thoughts on this topic, and what I know that I had to change due to my experiences and failures so far. But it seems a bit stupid from someone who didnt lose weight yet, so yeah I agree with you, I will edit my thread just into a progress thread. Thanks.

 

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[sija1]

The mindsets and beliefs I learned in the short time since I finally got my lazy a$$ up and started working on my journey to the Fastlane, helped me realize one big thing: those mindsets and beliefs can be used for more than just my journey to the Fastlane, while still supporting it.

Yep I am talking about losing weight, and getting fit.

Back in 2011 my weight was at about 194lbs (88kg for the European guys), over the next 2 years I gained about 55lbs (25kg). You can actually say I went from looking decent to shitty in 2 years.

I could tell you an endless list of reasons I gained the weight, and another list of reasons why I never lost it. But not one of those "reasons" would be anything else than BS excuses.

One of the reasons I'm doing this thread, is that it helps me to stay accountable and committed. I am not happy with my weight at the moment, so I want to change it. And it will support my journey to the Fastlane. Achieving this goal has the power to show me, that something that always seemed so far from possible can be done. Plus it has the power to make me feel better and happy, which of course also supports my journey.

Alright, I hope you can get some motivation of this thread, I will update it on a regular basis with my weight and what I do to lose it.

I started 2 weeks ago, with a starting weight of 255,74lbs (116kg), lost 3,30lbs (1,5kg) the first week and 2,20lbs (1kg) last week and am now at 250,00lbs (last friday).

Good job! If you can motivate yourself to do it for the first 3-4 months then you'll stop needing motivation until you hit a plateau. I used to smoke a lot of weed when I was 16 and I ate once a day. At 19 years old I was like 135 lbs, skin and bones. Then I hit the gym, went for almost 3 months and stopped. I was at 140 lbs. 23 years old, went again, this time I was completely committed, not just to going to the gym but to building a lifestyle that supports it. At my peak I was at 180-185 lbs. I didn't have abs, but I wasn't fat, my stomach was pretty flat.

A couple of things I learned as somebody who did the cutting and the bulking phase:
- In the beginning only you see the results
- As a beginner, if you train right, you progress is incredible but after some time it slows down so it is important to change routines and have microcycles. There is more than one opinion on this and everyone is genetically different, but for me changing my routine every 3-4 months did the trick.
- The lower your body fat gets, the bigger the risk of losing the muscle if you're losing weight too fast. So when you start seeing you muscles in the mirror without flexing, don't try to lose more than 1 lbs per week (3600 negative cals)
- Set your goal because it will help you choose your diet and weight lifting routine - if you wanna bulk eat more but fewer times per day and do A LOT of compound exercises - your mass and strength will grow every week; also since you will be doing the whole body train once in two days. If you cut, eat 6 times a day but only small meals with a lot of protein (fish and chicken are no. 1!). Don't eat your daily cals in 2 meals and then stop eating for the day - it WILL backfire.
- Don't believe in magic pills. Even if some are quite magic - they come with a price.
- Train hard as you can, but don't hurt yourself. Always start with 40% percent of your max 10 rep weight
- Use supersets, dropsets, plyometric exercices, body weight exercices and weights and negative sets (great for breaking the plateau)
- Using different types of machines is good, but they don't help you train your stabilizers so be sure to use dumbbells and barbells also
- Don't train 7 days a week. I believe that the word overtraining was made by p****es but you do need some rest. For me 5-6 times a week, 1h30 - 2h was perfect. Everyone is different.

And if you want to have a nice 6 pack - Abs are made in the kitchen, not in the gym.

I hope I helped a little bit and I wish you all the luck in your weight lifting journey, it really is a beautiful lifestyle; in the end you feel better, happier and more disciplined.

@Potente Simple?! Have you even ever touched weights in your life?

 

[NVious]

Maybe you should give out advice on losing weight after you lost weight, not before.

Blows my mind some of the worthless posts that get nuthugged on this site, you'd think that someone trying to get better and share what they're doing would be what this website is about, but nope better make some passive aggressive comment stating the obvious so people can give me thumbs up while adding nothing of value.

 

[DeletedUser396]

@Potente Simple?! Have you even ever touched weights in your life?

Losing weight is very, very simple. It's literally going from point A to point B following a single principle, eating less calories than you need.

Did he say he was going to lift too? No.
Do I lift? Yes. With intermediate to advanced lifts, since I only started in late 2013. Thanks for asking.
Is it simple too? Yes, start with very good form, grab a strength routine and follow it closely for years.
Is it sure you will you get to advanced levels of strength if you don't injure yourself? Yes.

You don't have instructions as clear and certain in business, and since we're on a business forum it can be motivating to know that the willpower needed to lose fat or lifting is only a tiny fraction of to the willpower needed to become wealthy.

http://www.1percentedge.com/ifcalc/
Now OP, one tip I can give you is to calculate your weekly calorie goal and then eat a weekly deficit of 4000 kcals. Weekly calories are the most important thing when it comes to weight loss or weight gain. Be aware, because even if you lift 3/4 times a week, you're most likely to be sedentary.
One thing I like to do when cutting is calorie cycling. Basically you eat your maintenance calories one day and then eat a big deficit on the following day, this way your hormones will be stable during the whole process.
Let's say your maintenance is 2500 kcals, eat 2500 kcals one day and eat 1500 kcals the following day. Repeat.
On deficit days you can trick your appetite by fasting as long as you can handle, suppressing your appetite with caffeine/ephedrine/nicotine. Be sure to eat enough protein (from 100 g to 200 g) on deficit days.

http://www.leangains.com/
Since you're there, read the whole blog. Martin is a genius and he doesn't get enough attention.

Good luck OP, losing weight is only as hard as you make it out to be. The only hard part is achieving a single digit body fat %.

 

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[Esquire]

If you cant master food and exercise ... Two things that are completely within your control ... How can you be expected to master other things that are beyond your control ...?

Odds are ... You can't.

I think diet and exercise are a great way to start your Fastlane journey.

Dissatisfaction is a good starting point. It wont fix itself overnight. But if you keep putting one foot in front of the other ... And keep walking in the right direction ... You will get there.

Completely within your control.

Good luck!

 

[Esquire]

P.S. When I put on weight ... I felt like shit. I was totally disgusted with myself. Just like you. And I realized it was a constant source of unhappiness. Every day I looked in the mirror. And I did not like what I saw. So I made a decision. Just like you. I was going to lose the weight. And I did. Again ... Not overnight. But I kept at it. Now ... My goal is underwear model. Not literally. But thats what I am shooting for. And Ill get there too. Because I made up my mind to do it. And now when I see a mirror ... I am happy. Because of the choices I made yesterday. Just remember: What you do today determines who you will be tomorrow. Create that person.

 

[sija1]

You don't have instructions as clear and certain in business and since we're on a business forum it can be motivating to know that the willpower needed to lose fat or lifting is only a tiny fraction of to the willpower needed to become wealthy.

Just losing weight, I agree with you. You can easily drop from 30% to 16%, but it is not the same with weight lifting. Human body gets used to same exercises, same routines, same number of cals. Your metabolism varies with your cal intake and it readjusts after some time.

I assumed he is going to lift weight since I have never seen a guy in his 20s just running and not lifting to lose weight.

Instructions:
Business - Learn skills X, Y and Z in theory. Apply. Fail. Try again with different approach.
Weightlifting - Learn muscle groups and exercises in theory. Apply. Fail (yes you can fail, you'll see sooner or later). Try again with different routine.

Mindset:
Motivation, commitment, supporting lifestyle, discipline, learning and doing are needed for both. You can quit both because of your limiting beliefs.

Willpower:
I agree with you on this one. It is harder to start a business because those who did are a smaller group than the weight lifters. It is harder because you can not predict the outcome, you need to be brave and to have incredible willpower.

 

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[JordanS]

What does your diet look like for your weight loss journey?

I lost about 90 pounds last year eating keto, which is pretty much low carb. For me this was the easiest way for me to stay within my caloric goals. Fat keeps you full longer and without the carb cravings I could easily stay away from junk food.

 

[Supa]

If you cant master food and exercise ... Two things that are completely within your control ... How can you be expected to master other things that are beyond your control ...?

Odds are ... You can't.

I think diet and exercise are a great way to start your Fastlane journey.

Dissatisfaction is a good starting point. It wont fix itself overnight. But if you keep putting one foot in front of the other ... And keep walking in the right direction ... You will get there.

Completely within your control.

Good luck!

Thank you! And true, it is of course easier and not as complex as business, but some parts are similar.

Just losing weight, I agree with you. You can easily drop from 30% to 16%, but it is not the same with weight lifting. Human body gets used to same exercises, same routines, same number of cals. Your metabolism varies with your cal intake and it readjusts after some time.

I assumed he is going to lift weight since I have never seen a guy in his 20s just running and not lifting to lose weight.

Instructions:
Business - Learn skills X, Y and Z in theory. Apply. Fail. Try again with different approach.
Weightlifting - Learn muscle groups and exercises in theory. Apply. Fail (yes you can fail, you'll see sooner or later). Try again with different routine.

Mindset:
Motivation, commitment, supporting lifestyle, discipline, learning and doing are needed for both. You can quit both because of your limiting beliefs.

Willpower:
I agree with you on this one. It is harder to start a business because those who did are a smaller group than the weight lifters. It is harder because you can not predict the outcome, you need to be brave and to have incredible willpower.

absolutely agree with this. You have to have a lot of willpower to screw the tasty food and to train 5 times a week, but it definitely is easy compared to business because you have a direct line from point A to point B when it comes to losing weight.

What does your diet look like for your weight loss journey?

I lost about 90 pounds last year eating keto, which is pretty much low carb. For me this was the easiest way for me to stay within my caloric goals. Fat keeps you full longer and without the carb cravings I could easily stay away from junk food.

Wow 90 pounds are crazy, congrats! What is Keto, and what type of training did you do?

I am eating pretty low carb, just 2 toasts for breakfast, some protein bread for lunch and chicken breast fillet for dinner. I was researching on a training that can be done without taking too much time away from time to work on my business, so I came across a training you can do at home, with your own body weight, got a nice workout from my mom's boyfriend who lost a similar amount like you did.

 

[sija1]

I am eating pretty low carb, just 2 toasts for breakfast, some protein bread for lunch and chicken breast fillet for dinner. I was researching on a training that can be done without taking too much time away from time to work on my business, so I came across a training you can do at home, with your own body weight, got a nice workout from my mom's boyfriend who lost a similar amount like you did.

With two dumbbells up to 40 lbs each + body weight you can train every single muscle group. Just something to consider. Don't give up.

 

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[ToniLene]

Modify your diet(Eat Clean). Do activities that you enjoy. Work outs don't have to be grueling and tedious. Martial Arts, fencing, cycling, team sports clubs, etc...make works outs fun.

 

[Delmania]

Now, what if business was as simple and certain?

Build an online business that fulfills a niche's needs.

 

[BKMoney]

Loosing weight is the simplest thing out there, once you decide you really want it.
If you only cut out sugar (including fruit juices, sodas, etc.. ), white flour and starches (bread, pastas, pizzas, potatoes, etc..) from your diet completely it becomes very very easy. I substitute sugar for stevia, white flour for buckwheat flour and focus on meat, eggs, fish, vegetables and nuts (look for local grass fed meat and eggs and organic produce). That way even if you don't exercise you will lose weight and you will never be hungry.

The secret is changing your mindset. Diets don't work because people think of them as something temporary. In order to lose weight and reclaim your health you will need to change your mindset and the way you approach food completely.

If your aim is loosing weight best exercise would be cardio in the morning on an empty stomach. If you want that beach body you will have to hit the gym though.

 

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[Delmania]

The secret is changing your mindset. Diets don't work because people think of them as something temporary. In order to lose weight and reclaim your health you will need to change your mindset and the way you approach food completely.

I can't echo this enough. Around 7 years ago, I started a 2 year weight loss process in which I dropped 100 lbs. I've kept it off. I did this by changing my diet to eating more plants and drinking more water. I did this by weighing myself every week. I was already working out regularly.

Once I lost the weight, I didn't stop doing those things. In fact, I've further refined my diet, and now I weight myself daily.
Weight loss is very much like running a business. Once you've achieved your goal, you've just started.

 

[JordanS]

Wow 90 pounds are crazy, congrats! What is Keto, and what type of training did you do?

I am eating pretty low carb, just 2 toasts for breakfast, some protein bread for lunch and chicken breast fillet for dinner. I was researching on a training that can be done without taking too much time away from time to work on my business, so I came across a training you can do at home, with your own body weight, got a nice workout from my mom's boyfriend who lost a similar amount like you did.

Keto is low carb. So I ate less than 20 carbs per day. I ate the required amount of protein for my body and rest of calories were fat. I didn't train at all

 

[Supa]

I can't echo this enough. Around 7 years ago, I started a 2 year weight loss process in which I dropped 100 lbs. I've kept it off. I did this by changing my diet to eating more plants and drinking more water. I did this by weighing myself every week. I was already working out regularly.

Once I lost the weight, I didn't stop doing those things. In fact, I've further refined my diet, and now I weight myself daily.
Weight loss is very much like running a business. Once you've achieved your goal, you've just started.

congrats on that!

Drinking water is important, not just for losing weight, but for your overall health. A fitness coach once told me the following 2 things:

1. drink a lot water, drink one liter (33 fl oz) for every 20kg (44lbs) of your weight, so if you weigh 100kg (220lbs) you should drink 5l (169 fl oz) a day

2. keep your insulin level low. Everytime you eat something with sugar (carbohydrates), your insulin level rises. If your insulin level is over a specific top level, you can't burn fat. So if you eat something with sugar every hour, your insulin level cannot go down and you cannot burn fat. He said you should eat 3 times a day, in the morning, for lunch and in the evening. Always keeping 5-6 hours between every time you eat something.

 

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[sija1]

He said you should eat 3 times a day, in the morning, for lunch and in the evening. Always keeping 5-6 hours between every time you eat something.

If you are losing weight, eat something small in between (an apple, couple of nuts, nothing big) because it boosts your metabolism. The biggest meal should be in the morning and if you are lifting weights you could eat a banana before and a protein shake with water or skimmed milk after, or a protein meal if you don't take shakes. You can get great amount of protein from chicken and fish. One can of tuna is usually around 60-80 cals and 16-20 g of protein. You can eat almost unlimited quantities of vegetables since they contain mainly water and some are rich in antioxidants. Foods with a lot of fiber will keep you full longer.

I don't know what your goal is. If it's just losing weight, eat clean and do some cardio and it will melt.
If it is skinny beach body add lifting weights to it.
If it is more serious bodybuilding, then you need to calculate which sugar you take, when, how much protein do you get, which vitamins etc. Carbs are good because the energy and strength is in the carbs. You won't get ripped eating lettuce 24/7. Potatoes, rice, bananas and meat. For different routines and exercises I recommend bodybuilding.com

 

[Supa]

If you are losing weight, eat something small in between (an apple, couple of nuts, nothing big) because it boosts your metabolism. The biggest meal should be in the morning and if you are lifting weights you could eat a banana before and a protein shake with water or skimmed milk after, or a protein meal if you don't take shakes. You can get great amount of protein from chicken and fish. One can of tuna is usually around 60-80 cals and 16-20 g of protein. You can eat almost unlimited quantities of vegetables since they contain mainly water and some are rich in antioxidants. Foods with a lot of fiber will keep you full longer.

I don't know what your goal is. If it's just losing weight, eat clean and do some cardio and it will melt.
If it is skinny beach body add lifting weights to it.
If it is more serious bodybuilding, then you need to calculate which sugar you take, when, how much protein do you get, which vitamins etc. Carbs are good because the energy and strength is in the carbs. You won't get ripped eating lettuce 24/7. Potatoes, rice, bananas and meat. For different routines and exercises I recommend bodybuilding.com

thanks for your detailed insights! My main goal is to lose weight, I'm not into bodybuilding, I just want to have a nice body.

So I think I can't do it without cardio..

 

[sija1]

thanks for your detailed insights! My main goal is to lose weight, I'm not into bodybuilding, I just want to have a nice body.

So I think I can't do it without cardio..

It can be done with weights, but with some more complicated routines and exercises. The best way truly is cardio.

I recommend HIIT which stands for high-intensity interval training. You start by jogging for 1m30, then you run as fast as you can for 30secs, then 1m30 jogging, then 30 secs running and you do it for 15 minutes. If you've already played soccer, it is the same thing. You play defense, moderately running around, then when an attacker from the opposite team approaches with the ball, you start running like crazy. In my case it did the trick.

*Note: You start with a timing that fits you and you tweak it every week or two.
Example:
Week 1: 2m jogging, 15 secs running, total 15 minutes
Week 2: 1m45 jogging, 20 secs running, total 20 minutes etc

 

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[Supa]

It can be done with weights, but with some more complicated routines and exercises. The best way truly is cardio.

I recommend HIIT which stands for high-intensity interval training. You start by jogging for 1m30, then you run as fast as you can for 30secs, then 1m30 jogging, then 30 secs running and you do it for 15 minutes. If you've already played soccer, it is the same thing. You play defense, moderately running around, then when an attacker from the opposite team approaches with the ball, you start running like crazy. In my case it did the trick.

*Note: You start with a timing that fits you and you tweak it every week or two.
Example:
Week 1: 2m jogging, 15 secs running, total 15 minutes
Week 2: 1m45 jogging, 20 secs running, total 20 minutes etc

that's actually a great way to do cardio, will def do try your technique! And yep I played soccer for a while.

 

[Supa]

Progress Update

alright another week passed and it was time to check my weight on friday.. The result: I'm not happy with it, only lost a few grams.

I think it was the amount of food I ate and the type. I did my training 3 times last week, I'm aiming for 4-5 times. Compared to the first 2 weeks I didn't eat like I want to in the evenings, at lunch I kept eating my protein bread, but in the evening I only ate chicken breast filet two times. The other days I ate beef, but I think it was too much. Need to get back to chicken breast filet on at least 4 days a week, on Thursdays I'm for dinner at my mom's flat, so I can't completely control what I get to eat on Thursdays, but the others days are completely controllable.

I also did the cardio that @sija1 recommended, it felt awesome! Gonna continue with it to get better at it.

Goal for this week:
eat clean, do my workout at least 4 times, lose at least 1kg

 

[DeletedUser396]

Count everything you put in your mouth.
If you know you're eating at a 4000 kcal deficit per week and only lose a "few grams" for the week, you can stay sure that you lost one pound and more.
You can control what you eat even when you're out, just eyeball it, overestimating it, and stop sooner.

 

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[ToniLene]

Progress Update

alright another week passed and it was time to check my weight on friday.. The result: I'm not happy with it, only lost a few grams.

I think it was the amount of food I ate and the type. I did my training 3 times last week, I'm aiming for 4-5 times. Compared to the first 2 weeks I didn't eat like I want to in the evenings, at lunch I kept eating my protein bread, but in the evening I only ate chicken breast filet two times. The other days I ate beef, but I think it was too much. Need to get back to chicken breast filet on at least 4 days a week, on Thursdays I'm for dinner at my mom's flat, so I can't completely control what I get to eat on Thursdays, but the others days are completely controllable.

I also did the cardio that @sija1 recommended, it felt awesome! Gonna continue with it to get better at it.

Goal for this week:
eat clean, do my workout at least 4 times, lose at least 1kg

Just a thought --eating clean DOES NOT need to be boring. Check out these recipes

http://www.cleanfooddirtycity.com/

 

[BlakeIC]

There actually is a "magic pill" for weight loss: set a low number of calories, hit it and then stop eating for the rest of the day.
If you do it, it is certain that you'll lose 10 kg or more by January.

Now, what if business was as simple and certain?

+ The type of calories actually matter, if you cut down only eating carbs youll look like crap (an example, same would go for protein and fat)

don't avoid fat calories like all those stupid diets out there, fat is crucial for testosterone production

 

[BlakeIC]

Also the whole eating 6 times a day or multiple small meals is BS

The difference it would make is so minuscule you wouldn't be able to tell

And every time you eat something you blunt your bodies growth hormone production

eat whenever/how often you want (I prefer getting majority of my calories in before i end up working out at 6pm)

 

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[NVious]

Read:

https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/your-body-fastlane-approach.62385/#post-483372

Also do full body training 3x a week, even if you don't want to lift, if your end goal is to not look like a skinnyfat mess, musclemass will be needed. You can do something as simple as:
A
3 sets of squats
3 sets of deadlifts
3 sets of bench
3 sets of pullups
3 sets of dips

B
3 sets of squats
3 sets of lat pull downs
3 sets of bench
3 sets of pullups
3 sets of dips

Rotating between them, logging your workouts and making sure to lift with good form while achieving some sort of progressive overload (getting stronger week to week)

If you don't lift you will be short changing at least 4lbs of progress per month (2lbs of muscle tissue, water weight, glycogen etc) and long term in the upwards of 20-40+lbs in the way that muscle tissue is more metabolically active thus the more you add, the leaner a weight you'll be able to hold.

Don't mentally masturbate over anything, cardio, diet, training etc, it comes down to a prolonged calorie deficit and progressive overload in getting bigger/stronger/faster, whatever helps you achieve that, do that. There is no magical carb window or insulin fairy or 6 meal stoking your metabolism BS or amazing cardio type that makes you burn 10x as much or workout that makes you gain slabs of muscle....there is adherence and everything I mentioned above and then there is everything else.

 

[DrkSide]

As someone who has been at this for over a year and a half there is only one thing that I can say.

You can't out train a bad diet and weight is lost in the kitchen.

I started a little over a year and a half ago and have lost 100lbs since then mainly with paleo style eating. I am now going to start weight lifting to build some muscle while still trying to lose some weight. I have probably 50lbs to go and a good bit of body re-composition.

Good luck and keep us posted.