bgwfreak Posted November 13, 2006 Author Share Posted November 13, 2006 Dude, How the hell are you doing this?!I'm 18 stone (252lbs.. according to my 'Cell' phone..)and 5ft 11.. I can just fit onto TTD and MF.. Last time I checked anyway.. That was last year.. So, How do you do it!? Ok here's my list of what I'm doing... - I'm more active overall. I don't sit in front of the (tube) TV all the time like I did before. I try to make sure I'm cleaning the house or whatever if I have some free time. - I eat a lot more natural and organic veggies and such. The US Government standards of 8 or whatever it is per day is insane though. If I ate all the grain, veggies and such they suggest I would eat 5000 calories a day! - Exercise 4 times a week 40 minutes each. Sometimes I split it up, but I get at least that much exercise. - I've been also trying to build up my fitness level as well. Back when I started in Spring of '05 I could barely walk up the hill that Top Gun (Carowinds) sits on. Now it's not even hard anymore. - Water, water, everywhere. I basically only drink water now, except for the occasional sweet tea (I am a southern boy after all). Hope this helps. - Portion control's an issue with me too. . That was an issue for me as well. When dining out I always look at the plate and decide to only eat half of the food, or sometimes there's so much I can eat 1/3 and be full. I take the rest home and make other meals of them (saves a lot of money that way too!) Also, try using a smaller plate. Sounds silly, but your mind will think it's getting more food if you put less food on a smaller plate. Also eat slower. It takes about 10-15 minutes for your stomach to tell your brain that you are full. Water also makes you feel full faster. I've heard drinking a glass before a meal will make you get full faster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrancew_hod Posted November 13, 2006 Share Posted November 13, 2006 N:IRocks, My best friend and I did a slight variation of the "Body For Life" program at http://www.bodyforlife.com/. I dropped about 30 lbs at the beginning of last year before I started doing an intense bulking program and my friend lost about 67 and counting since June. The major difference in my diet now is a lot of water and grilled chicken (I got a george forman grill) and I go to bed earlier to make my 5am workout schedule since I commute. Rest helps your body recover. My friend now feels more confident to go out more since he's lost the weight and he's a lot more active. If you do nothing else to begin with, drink more water (cleanses out the body's impurities) and try to get more active... maybe start off with some moderate walking then move into more aerobic activity. In order to really lose the weight you have to exercise and get your heart rate and metabolism up... my friend learned that the hard way thinking just doing a light walk will help you and he got up to almost 350lbs. Now when I talk to him he's either on his way to the gym or just got back... you also have to want to do it and feel good about doing it. We both feel good when we can put on something we couldn't fit before or when we get compliments because of the way something fits. He used to complain about not having time to exercise, but then he took notes on how he spent time: watching TV, internet surfing, bring his office work home, etc. He cut down on a few activities and found a gym that stays open 24hrs a day; from that he blocked off 45mins he can go into the gym and do a workout. He told himself he really doesn't have an excuse and will go in the gym at 8-9pm or whenever he schedules it. So all you have to do is want it and put a plan in motion and you'll be surprised at the results you'll get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jynx242 Posted November 13, 2006 Share Posted November 13, 2006 ^ I totally agree with Terrance. Also - don't start off trying to do everything at once. Start out slowly and work your way up. Trying to do too much at once will usually lead to pain/aching muscles, discouragement and eventually quitting the whole thing. Start out with changes to diet and exercise. Don't change EVERYTHING at once, make it a gradual process. Also, you have to give it some time to become noticeable. It was about 6 weeks until I noticed a real difference. Be patient and keep it up! david Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgwfreak Posted November 13, 2006 Author Share Posted November 13, 2006 ^^ Terrance I do not envy you living in Miami for one reason. Everyone there seems to be in shape. lol (Maybe it's the heat?) But it would be hard to be overweight in a city where everyone is thin. I don't think anyone has mentioned this as well: have a free day! Have maybe once a week or every other week when you can have whatever you want (within reason). Like if you love a Big Mac, don't have 10 of them on your free day. Have one. But in the middle of the week when your'e tempted to go scarf down at McDonald's remind yourself that your free day is coming and to wait. It really works. ** It also bugs me the attitude of our media (switch gears a bit). They make fun of people for being 400lbs and will make nasty videos of fat people having sex, then the next minute they are showing McDonald's commercials. See any problem there? I'm so glad I have Tivo now. I can skip all their stupid commercials now. lol Also, the other day on Comedy Central there was this really heavy comedian (like 400lbs at least). He was making fun of little people (midgets as he called them) and I'm thinking, dude you have your own problem, you need to leave other people alone! It's sad though to see how much Americans are letting themselves go. My uncle died last February and he was around 400lbs. Surprisingly it wasn't from a heart attack, but I'm sure the weight contributed to his cancer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrancew_hod Posted November 13, 2006 Share Posted November 13, 2006 bgwfreak, Not everyone is in shape here, but there is a larger percentage people that are in shape. But we definitely have our share of out of shape people. I think the biggest advantage in living in Miami I know of is that there are a lot of restaurants that serve grilled food. There is a chain called Pollo Tropical that serves grilled chicken... they have a huge grill in back... the service is kinda bad though. But it when you're short on time it's good to be able to get a healthy choice. Also the location of the gym is good, I drive about 5 minutes to get to the gym and where I lived previously, I could walk to the gym. One thing that keeps me on my diet is setting aside a "cheat day" for yourself. I use it as a reward for exercising and hitting my goals... if you don't have one, it's a lot harder to stay on it. Now I'm a lot better with my cheat days now, I'll have grill steak or jerk chicken. The cheat part is either the rice or the mash potatoes . And you do have to be patient with your program and stick with it... I actually was a hermit during my weight loss and when I came out 4 months later, I got a lot of double takes. But i really didn't notice until I had to go buy smaller pairs of jeans and a new belt because my pants were falling down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redfoot12 Posted November 13, 2006 Share Posted November 13, 2006 I'm the classic yo-yo diet fiend. I've followed Body for Life and when I do I lose about 35-40 pounds in the first 3 months. Then I slack off. I'm probably in the 290-300 range (I'm 6'2) and want to get down to 225 for the Midwest trip. I recently went to Orlando and was usually able to fit on all the rides without resorting to the fat seat. I did get rejected when one attendant on Fire Dragon didn't even try to staple me in and another time on Incredible Hulk. Congrats to the folks that are working it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgwfreak Posted November 13, 2006 Author Share Posted November 13, 2006 Yeah at least Carowinds will try to get you in the seat if you will "suck it in". lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jynx242 Posted November 13, 2006 Share Posted November 13, 2006 Although I have started the eating correctly and the gym thing, I've still got some stuff to work on before the Midwest trip next summer. I have been upping my cardio and doing more stretching. I quit drinking almost a year ago (definitely necessary for health, mental, legal reasons) and the doctor told me not to even think about quitting cigarettes for at least a year. Well, the year is almost up so I guess I'll have to start working on that. I can say that cutting alcohol out of my diet really (and I mean REALLY) helped me to get on the weight loss track. david Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgwfreak Posted November 13, 2006 Author Share Posted November 13, 2006 ^ Although I never smoked (thank goodness), I hear the best way is to cut them out slowly. Like the first week cut 1 cigarette a day, then the next week 2, etc. I had to do that with caffeine. I would have a massive headache when I tried to go cold turkey. But I cut it down slowly until it was at zero. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgwfreak Posted November 23, 2006 Author Share Posted November 23, 2006 Update - I've lost 42lbs now! I just thought I would scare you with another before pic I found... notice how much the gut has gone down and the face as well. lol This was about 2 weeks ago. This was last August Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jynx242 Posted November 23, 2006 Share Posted November 23, 2006 Great work!! You can DEFINITELY tell a difference. david Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BDG Posted November 23, 2006 Share Posted November 23, 2006 Congratulations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgwfreak Posted December 13, 2006 Author Share Posted December 13, 2006 This isn't a huge update, but I've lost 44lbs so far now. But this week I wore a pair of pants that I haven't worn in 2 years!!! My waredrobe keeps growing every day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jynx242 Posted December 13, 2006 Share Posted December 13, 2006 That's great - good work!! Congratulations - I know how difficult it can be, but the benefits are so very rewarding. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgwfreak Posted December 14, 2006 Author Share Posted December 14, 2006 Someone PM'D me and asked my "secret" to losing weight... It's no secret really. I just started eating a lot healthier, I exercise at least 4 times a week (40 minutes), drink water and hardly any sugary soft drinks (the caffeine was raising my blood pressure), avoid red meat, get 7-8 hours sleep and avoid going to Golden Corral!!!! Buffets gross me out now. It's just disgusting to see someone being taken in by that mess. If you are 400lbs should you really be going to a buffet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrancew_hod Posted December 14, 2006 Share Posted December 14, 2006 ^That's great to hear! Your tips sound like the same ones my friend uses. Terrance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoshiFan Posted December 14, 2006 Share Posted December 14, 2006 Congratulations on losing more weight. I didn't know caffeine can raise blood pressure. I drink about 1 can of soda a day but it's always diet coke or diet pepsi so I figured it wasn't that bad (other than the nutra sweet). Maybe I should drink caffeine free soda more often. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgwfreak Posted December 14, 2006 Author Share Posted December 14, 2006 ^ Yeah I used to drink 1 Diet Mt. Dew a day and it was still raising it up. So I just went cold turkey on the stuff. It took about 2 weeks to completley get off the stuff because I had headaches every now and then for those 2 weeks. Plus think about it...how healthy is it to pour ACID down your throat? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgwfreak Posted December 15, 2006 Author Share Posted December 15, 2006 Uh...make it 45lbs now gone. 2lbs a week doesn't happen much for me, so I'm excited. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ginzo Posted December 15, 2006 Share Posted December 15, 2006 Congratulations on losing more weight. I didn't know caffeine can raise blood pressure. I drink about 1 can of soda a day but it's always diet coke or diet pepsi so I figured it wasn't that bad (other than the nutra sweet). Maybe I should drink caffeine free soda more often. The increase in BP is only a problem if you have problems with high BP. If you don't have hypertension, it's no big deal. On the whole, caffeine is extremely safe. The biomedical research community has been shooting at it for years, and has never found that it does much harm to healthy people. http://pharmrev.aspetjournals.org/cgi/content/full/51/1/83 The link above is an exhaustive scientific review of caffeine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrancew_hod Posted December 15, 2006 Share Posted December 15, 2006 Caffeine doesn't bother me as far as blood pressure goes. Even at one time I knew bodybuilders that drank coffee at the gym to enhance their workouts. The thing is water helps to flush out the toxins in your body, so if you drink your eight glasses it only helps your fitness routine. They do say if you drink soda or other carbonated drink you have to drink an extra glass of water to flush it out... I don't know about you but eight glasses is plenty enough! Terrance "I do drink a cup of coffee in the morning to deal with coworkers" Weaver Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ginzo Posted December 15, 2006 Share Posted December 15, 2006 Caffeine doesn't bother me as far as blood pressure goes. Even at one time I knew bodybuilders that drank coffee at the gym to enhance their workouts. The thing is water helps to flush out the toxins in your body, so if you drink your eight glasses it only helps your fitness routine. They do say if you drink soda or other carbonated drink you have to drink an extra glass of water to flush it out... I don't know about you but eight glasses is plenty enough! Terrance "I do drink a cup of coffee in the morning to deal with coworkers" Weaver A lot of BBs use the ECA (Ephedrine-Caffeine-Aspirin) stack to burn fat. That sounds nasty to me, but supposedly it works. I've had to cut back on my water intake. I hate going to the bathroom constantly. Too much water can actually be fatal due to hyponatremia, but this would require a lot more than 8 glasses in a day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgwfreak Posted December 15, 2006 Author Share Posted December 15, 2006 ^ They actually came out with a report on CBS Evening news or one of the national news reports and said 8 is not really neccesary. I don't drink that much in a day, maybe 5 or 6 at the most. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebl Posted December 15, 2006 Share Posted December 15, 2006 Take a good look at the diabetic diet. Even if you don't have diabetes (I do), it's a good way to eat. You'll be eating a balanced, healthy diet for the most part. I used to walk about five miles a day, several times a week. That helps keep weight off, too. Finally, don't try to lose more than about two or three pounds per week. Taking weight off slowly tends to keep it off, so then you won't do the yo-yo thing. Hope I helped...and congratulations on what you've accomplished so far! Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrancew_hod Posted December 15, 2006 Share Posted December 15, 2006 ^ They actually came out with a report on CBS Evening news or one of the national news reports and said 8 is not really neccesary. I have my eight glasses when I'm doing my intense weight training, maintaining and dieting would definitely require less. I was going to the bathroom constantly and I had stop drinking it around 3:30-4:00pm so I wouldn't be in trouble since I had a 20mile commute. But then I liked the results so I took the good with the bad. Terrance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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