[ny325]

Discipline.

[Rmtt]

Originally Posted by 1MOREMOD

Yeah I'm 225 and 6 foot been powerlifting and now bodybuilding for 30 plus years. I can gain or lose weight at will. My problem is gaining size not losing. Sitting around doing nothing I dont have desire to eat.

Same here except for height. I can go up or down in weight with ease. I used to go really heavy in tbe off-season, then single digit bf in the summer......but as I have aged I find that I prefer to just stay in shape year round.

[unluky]

I spend most of my youth and my late 20's to 35ish being 20-40 pounds overweight. I worked out a lot and felt like that was just "me". I ranged from 200-230 and am also 5'10". I did carry a little muscle (blessed with that), but I was certainly fat.

I can now say 1000% it was my diet the entire time. I have never been a big eater and even as a kid rarely ate breakfast as I just was not hungry - sounds like you.

I was way behind the fad - but I finally tried the Adkins/Keto/whatever diet and it literally changed my life. I started semi following the Adkins induction phase and when it worked so well I read a lot of books on it and how/why it worked and then started morphing it to my tastes. I lost about 50 pounds over 2 years of not hard dieting, but just modifying my diet. I got down to about 165 gradually, had semi abs for the first time in my life, all without working out more than I used to.

I turned 50 in Feb and sit at 177 this morning. I have never been back above 190 again and rarely bump into the low 180's even during the winter lazy months. Usually hover in the low to mid 170's.

If I control my carbs - everything else takes care of itself. I don't eat zero carbs, I just got in the habit of selecting far fewer carbs on average and the weight just came off and stayed off. 3-4 of my work friends saw what I was doing and tried it as well and they all also dropped 20-30 pounds a piece as well. It worked well for us and makes it easier when several of you are finding new things that work and we all ate lunch together a lot as well. Not only with the weight lose, but I need less sleep and sleep better when I do need it.

They say diet is 80% of weight loss. I feel it is closer to 90! LOL

You have to find what works for you and this just happened to work well for me. Changed my life - no doubt about it. I wish I would have this when I was your age, in my prime, and worked out much harder then. I would have been ripped.

[Megabrode]

OP, please forgive my length, but I have a ton of experience on this topic (it's a pun if you want it to be). I was where you are, and I hope my story helps you.

As a high-school left tackle, I was 6'1" and 290 lbs. I told myself and others I weighed 250. One memorable day, got a 1000-watt shock when I stepped on the scale in a drugstore. My vintage home scale only went to 250.

Over the next two years, I got down to 165 -- a loss, do the math, of 125 lbs. I was truly thin. One day, age 25, after running, I weighed 158. That was unhealthy.

To lose that much weight, you need enduring motivation, in my case the Pill had been invented, and it dawned on me that only fat girls are interested in fat boys.

My method at that time: I ate very little, mass-market crap for the most part, and played lots of indoor sports. I did suffer health consequences (mono, frequent lung infections, kidney stones) but as a young man didn't care. Or I couldn't put two and two together.

For the next 25 years, despite an occasional temporary 15-lb. gain, I stayed between 165 and 175.

Method: a balanced diet in moderation, no snacks, tennis 5 or 6 times a week, weigh myself every day and make eating adjustments.

I kept the weight off even after marriage at 30. Then we started having children, and my weight started moving south. Or north. My real downfall was a six-month book project that involved writing every day in a shed behind my house, tennis in hibernation, beer every day, and eating what the kids ate (was it mac & cheese EVERY night?). By the time the book hit the bookstores, I'd gained 37 lbs and given up trying to keep it down.

Over the next 20 years, I put on 100 lbs, very sad, and only got weighed in the doctor's office. Two years ago, I weighed 265.

When my wife died, I ate poorly again, but with no conscious effort gradually lost 20 lbs. Then, a year ago, I decided to get back to my youthful weight, or close to it. This morning I weighed 189.8 on my fancy digital scale. My doctor-approved target is 180.

Motivation: Match.com, mainly, and also I wanted to get off of blood-pressure medication, which I have done.

Method:

• Eat sensibly -- almonds, yes, eggs, fruit, minimal bread, non-fat milk, yoghurt, instant oatmeal, lean ground turkey, cheese in moderation, never eat after 7:00 pm, and avoid snacks between meals. (I could definitely add more leafy greens.)
• Play tennis 3-4 times a week.
• Know the rough calory count for foods I eat and keep a daily mental tally, under 1200 to lose.

The payoffs: My daughter-in-law picks out my clothes now (36-inch waist, down from 44), so I look pretty hip for a geezer. At my 55th high-school reunion last summer -- my first in 50 years -- people were astounded. I ended the evening at a table with 5 unattached, still-attractive former classmates, out of reach when I was 18, one of whom kept ordering rounds of Jameson on the rocks. One of them keeps texting me (going nowhere).

What I've learned in 65 years of yo-yo weight:

• There's no big secret and no foolproof fad diet (the Atkins diet gave me the kidney stones).
• It's willpower, dude, which only emerges from enduring motivation to lose and keep it off. Find your motivation. Mine was and remains, frankly, heterosex.
• It's eating healthy food you enjoy -- in moderation and on a regular schedule (some kind of breakfast helps).
• And it's finding a form of exercise you enjoy and look forward to (as I say, tennis in my case).

These days, when someone asks how I did it, I say, simply, "Eat less, move more."

Good luck and stay healthy,

— Craig, age 74

[Really_fat_ninja]

Eat on a deficit

[advrider6510]

Vegetarian diets can promote weight loss because they focus on nutrient-dense, low-calorie foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds and soy. Vegan diets go even further and cut out calorie-rich foods like cheese. But being vegetarian doesn't automatically mean consuming fewer calories..still it might help!

[swomerva]

Intermittent fasting as many days as you can helps a lot. Eat the same amount of calories, just during an 8 hour period. For example, don’t consume any calories after 6:00PM and don’t eat the next day until 10:00AM. Drink plenty of water. It increases your natural HGH production and overall I feel a lot better if I do it regularly.

[arkie6]

Here is my input. Take it for what it is worth. People need to get over the idea that fat gain or loss is just a simple math problem (calories in vs. calories out). The human body is way more complex than many make it out to be. Hormones play a significant part in determining whether your body is in fat storing or fat burning modes, and the foods you eat and when you eat greatly affects your fat storing vs. burning hormones. High insulin levels promote fat storage and block fat burning. Sugars and starches which readily convert to glucose once consumed along with frequent eating and snacking will raise insulin levels unless you are very active. For many people, the way to lose fat is to greatly reduce your intake of sugars and starches and reduce the frequency of eating. This also reduces insulin levels which has many other health benefits.

I'm in my mid 50's and have been following a mostly ketogenic diet and intermittent fasting for the past ~16 months. I'm down ~50 pounds and have been holding my weight steady and gaining some muscle the past 4 months or so through increased workouts. I have corrected my elevated blood sugars and some digestive issues I was having. I'm on zero medications and my blood pressure and blood sugar levels are now normal. And I don't feel deprived. I eat lots of green vegetables and high quality meats and eggs. I generally go 18-22 hours between meals and either eat one meal a day (OMAD) or one small meal plus a regular meal. It works for me.

[dreamingat30fps]

Originally Posted by arkie6

Here is my input. Take it for what it is worth. People need to get over the idea that fat gain or loss is just a simple math problem (calories in vs. calories out). The human body is way more complex than many make it out to be. Hormones play a significant part in determining whether your body is in fat storing or fat burning modes, and the foods you eat and when you eat greatly affects your fat storing vs. burning hormones. High insulin levels promote fat storage and block fat burning. Sugars and starches which readily convert to glucose once consumed along with frequent eating and snacking will raise insulin levels unless you are very active. For many people, the way to lose fat is to greatly reduce your intake of sugars and starches and reduce the frequency of eating. This also reduces insulin levels which has many other health benefits.

I'm in my mid 50's and have been following a mostly ketogenic diet and intermittent fasting for the past ~16 months. I'm down ~50 pounds and have been holding my weight steady and gaining some muscle the past 4 months or so through increased workouts. I have corrected my elevated blood sugars and some digestive issues I was having. I'm on zero medications and my blood pressure and blood sugar levels are now normal. And I don't feel deprived. I eat lots of green vegetables and high quality meats and eggs. I generally go 18-22 hours between meals and either eat one meal a day (OMAD) or one small meal plus a regular meal. It works for me.

I'm a fat bastard (like actual fat fat, not just want to lose a few pounds so I can get abs) and have tried all kinds of diets with lack luster results. There was only one time at my fatest almost 300 lbs I started counting calories and went down to like 240. This was probably like 7 years ago. I have slowly crept up averaging around 270lbs. I have tried counting calories again, but I just don't stick with it. It's very hard especially when we are traveling to calculate calories so it ends up being a pretty sloppy guesstimate and I'm usually hungry while on the diet.

With this whole stay at home restaurants closed and being bored out of my mind I decided to try eating low carb. This has been hard for me in the past because I'm a big pasta and rice eater. Pretty much every meal except breakfast involves pasta or rice or bread. Although rice is my biggest nemesis.

Anyways I have found recipes online for cauliflower rice, pasta from zucchini etc. Luckily my gf can cook very well and has made all kinds of crazy good stuff like some dumplings made with cabbage instead of dough. So far it's been maybe a month that I have been eating this way. I have lost 8-9lbs so far, however that is not the main thing.

I have been having a lot of issues with like pressure on my chest, pain on the right side. I have been to every doctor, primary, cardiologist, pulmonologist etc. Had all kinds of test done, one doctor gave up and said it was probably anxiety or something mental (since it started around the time my father died), inhalers, medications etc nothing helped.

Since I started eating low carb it has been like a miracle cure. All of those issues have gone away. Honestly I'm in shock and scared it's just some temporary thing, but that alone is reason enough to continue eating this way. I am also never hungry, in fact a lot of the time I'm not hungry even though I may have only had 1 meal that day. It really does seem too good to be true which scares me because I actually feel great!

[Rmtt]

Originally Posted by arkie6

Here is my input. Take it for what it is worth. People need to get over the idea that fat gain or loss is just a simple math problem (calories in vs. calories out). The human body is way more complex than many make it out to be. Hormones play a significant part in determining whether your body is in fat storing or fat burning modes, and the foods you eat and when you eat greatly affects your fat storing vs. burning hormones. High insulin levels promote fat storage and block fat burning. Sugars and starches which readily convert to glucose once consumed along with frequent eating and snacking will raise insulin levels unless you are very active. For many people, the way to lose fat is to greatly reduce your intake of sugars and starches and reduce the frequency of eating. This also reduces insulin levels which has many other health benefits.

I'm in my mid 50's and have been following a mostly ketogenic diet and intermittent fasting for the past ~16 months. I'm down ~50 pounds and have been holding my weight steady and gaining some muscle the past 4 months or so through increased workouts. I have corrected my elevated blood sugars and some digestive issues I was having. I'm on zero medications and my blood pressure and blood sugar levels are now normal. And I don't feel deprived. I eat lots of green vegetables and high quality meats and eggs. I generally go 18-22 hours between meals and either eat one meal a day (OMAD) or one small meal plus a regular meal. It works for me.

Nice...someone that knows what they are talking about. Insulin resistance is a killer when trying to lose. Insulin is a "Storage" hormone and if it is present, your body will not release anything. Insulin and Glucagon play a big role.

Just do some research into "P" ratio. Partitioning ratio is the effect how how good your insulin sensitivity response is.

Macros matter....but Micros matter just as much.

[chassis]

Seems like a good time in the thread to refresh the notion that calories in must be less than calories out for weight to be lost. That’s all there is to it.

Exercise is not strictly required, beyond daily living movement.

Conclusion: weight loss is dietary discipline endeavor

[uniqueMR]

Originally Posted by chassis

Conclusion: weight loss is dietary discipline endeavor

90% agreed. 10% goes to moving around/moderate exercise.

[arkie6]

Originally Posted by chassis

Conclusion: weight loss is dietary discipline endeavor

Originally Posted by uniqueMR

90% agreed. 10% goes to moving around/moderate exercise.

Originally Posted by uniqueMR

Hello ALL,

I am trying to lose weight from past 18 months. With no luck

Weight: 195lbs
Age: 33
Body Fat: 30%
Height: 5'9"
Fat Deposits: lower belly, lower back, love handles, face/chin


So from 2 weeks, I have been aggressive and started the following routine:

Treadmill: Morning and Evening (total of 800 calories burn/day) for 5 days/week. So total I am burning about 3500-4000 calories a week on treadmill.
Weight-lifting: once a week, burning 500 calories.
Give and take: I am burning around 4000 calories per week combined.

Breakfast: oatmeal/milk/nuts/peanut butter/honey, about 350 calories.
Lunch: pretty heavy lunch mix of meat or poultry, rice or bread, about 400-700 calories.
Dinner: snacking, about 200-300 calories.


I really want to get lean, fit, healthy, athletic body and be around 170lbs with body fat of 20-23%.

Please advice, comment. I am really struggling in losing 20 lbs.
THANKS!!!

uniqueMR, it has now been over 1.5 years since you started this thread and posted this. What are your results? What worked for you?

[BrettKA7]

I’ve struggled with weight all my life. I was anywhere from a little chubby to obese from probably 8 years old until 18. When I was 18, I dropped from 250 to 160. Then creeped up to 180 the next 5 years. From 23 to 25, I gained a whopping 90+ lb and for the first time became “morbidly obese” for my height.

I’ve now lost 93 lb and I’m back to an even 180. I still plan to lean out a bit but I’m much, much happier had my Apple Watch rarely reminds me to “breathe” like it did all the time at 273 lb (my highest).

The first time I lost weight, I did the “Dr. Perricone 3 day diet” but for like 5 months lol. I lost weight insanely fast. However, at 25, that diet no longer worked for me. This time around it was simple calories in, calories out. At this point my body hurts from inactivity and I feel best getting at least 1 hour of exercise per day.

Happy to answer any questions!

[uniqueMR]

[RMNB]

The first thing to do is figure our your daily caloric intake to maintain your current weight. Several calculators out there but you will need some trial n error to figure out how to reduce gradually until you lose at least 1 pound a week. DIET IS FIRST!

Go to Bodybuilding.com and find a workout routine. A basic split is fine but the second most important thing is to change your lifestyle and incorporate a weight training program from here on out. Building muscle is key! The more muscle you have and grow the more calories you will end up burning while at rest. Cardio helps but it is NOT necessary! Most beginners ALWAYS do this and spend hours and hours busting their ass and they don't understand this whole journey. I did this instantly in the beginning and failed!

Think of it this way. Body builders have muscle and no fat. Forget about their steroid use for a second. The average JOE like me starts out with little muscle and more fat aka skinny fat. They have intense workouts obviously which burns the hell out of calories while working BUT keeps burning calories while at rest so the MORE muscle your build and have continues to burn fat while sitting around and sleeping especially.

It took me a while for the light to come but its so simple and works.

The formula to build muscle is as follows:

You must eat at a caloric surplus to gain muscle. If you weight 185lbs, you must take in at least 185 grams of protein daily to have a chance because protein builds muscle. Some say 1.25grms of protein to assist. The rest is Carbs (energy) and GOOD FATS ( nuts, fish-salmon, etc.) No potato chips!

I eat chicken, fish and tons of green veggies every day. I weigh and measure my food and figure out the calories I take in every day. I am eating 200 cals a day less than my daily caloric intake so I can lose fat slow! I am working out intensely, protein intake spot on, whey protein to assist and making sure I get 8 hours of sleep (KEY) and drinking to stay hydrated.

Remember you can't out exercise a bad diet! Screw the cardio and get a proven workout body building routing started. Always progress on your lifts. Upper body-increase weight 5 lbs each week until your plateau, drop down, reset and start at a little higher weight then when you started. This will make your muscles grow and you will get stronger and bigger. On leg day, increase weight 10lbs each week and repeat. Remember to start both at about 50% of your max on each lift and then progress accordingly.

I screwed up and did T25 video, ate very little (big mistake) and lost 35lbs of fat! I looked like shit, felt like shit and still had no decent muscle tone. Thats called skinny fat. I pulled my head out of ass, got educated on this talking to trainers and some nutrition gurus and its very very simple to do BUT YOU HAVE TO WANT TO CHANGE YOUR LIFESTYLE for this to work. I'm now addicted so to speak but its a very simple part of my daily life style. Change sucks but this is so much fun once you stay patient and progress. It's a marathon not a sprint. If you do it correctly you will definitely grow and get stronger. At the end you will look better than could ever imagine.

[RMNB]

Originally Posted by Drop the hammer

Also when eating out, order all sauces or dressings on the side and just dip the occasional bite into it. Or eliminate altogether if you can. The dips, sauces and dressings make healthy food turn into really unhealthy food. Plus adding huge calories. Once you get used to real food flavour and not the sauce flavour, you will get used to it . Then you will realize how sugary many dressings are. You’ll also uncover how many restaurants serve lower quality meats and unripened veggies and just hide the poor flavours with a sugary fatty sauce.
I do enjoy a lot of hot sauces though!

Go here : www.bodybuilding.com and spend a few hours on this site. It talks about everything you need to know to start understanding in DETAIL what you need to do.

1) Find your daily maintenance caloric intake to maintain your CURRENT weight.

2) 99.9% of people don't weigh and measure their food they eat so they have NO IDEA how many calories they are intaking. People are lazy and stupid and just lazy. We all know that...people smiling right now I'm sure as we always laugh it off. Human nature because we're all guilty of it.

3) Don't think CARDIO. Think proven weight lifting program - MOST IMPORTANT! Build muscle, burn fat, look and feel 100% better!!

4) Hydrate sufficiently daily
5) Get plenty of rest

Now that you have general ideas listed above here is what you need to do.

CHANGE YOUR LIFESTYLE and MAKE A GOAL! First and most difficult step. Here is the solution- follow along- Bodybuilders workout almost daily, they lift weights for a reason. Take a look at their bodies... All muscle and little fat. Why? Forget steroids for a second, that's for the professionals. They are eating at a surplus (above maintenance level) to build muscle which is what you HAVE to do to build muscle for starters. Knowing what MACROS are. Protein, Carbs and Fat intake. How much? Example- male weighing 185 pounds must take in at least 185 grams of protein to have a chance of building muscle because protein builds muscle. A MUST! Carbs are for energy and GOOD FAT (fish, nuts are essential) . So your DIET is key!! Quit eating processed crappy foods. Whole foods only! Clean up your diet. No more pizza, burgers, chips, soda, beer, etc. CHANGE your lifestyle!! Eating out is the worst! SALT CITY! Terrible!

I failed badly when I started several years ago. Starved myself because I cut my calories far to low (felt like shit) and just did CARDIO. I was always hungry because my metabolism was going 100 miles an hour and I was not eating enough because I was stupid and uneducated about this. I lost 35lbs which made me look like shit. Still no muscle...skinny fat. SO I got on the website and studied. THen it started to click.

Proven weighlifting program, caloric intake corrected, macros dialed in, diet corrected, weighed and measured my food until I knew almost exactly how many calories I was taking in daily to adjust my diet along the way if need be. To build muscle you must eat at a surplus. You will gain muscle and a little fat if your diet if spot. Its called BULKING. Eating below is called CUTTING. Right now I am on a CUT. I am losing a pound a week which is a slow CUT which means I am eating about 200 calories below my daily maintenance level so I dont lost muscle mass which is what happens if you drop calories too low and insufficient macros. My workouts have adjusted because the lower caloric intake the less strength you have so you can't lift as heavy as when you were eating at a surplus so I can increase my sets and lower the amount of weights per set. Hypertrophy is what I'm focused on.

My goal is get between 10-12% bodyfat and maintain my current muscle mass. I want to get ripped as they called. 6 pack, etc. This take a while!!

Bottom line is Cardio is good for the heart and lungs. Sure it burns calories. Great! But as we get older our metabolism slows down, we lose muscle mass and look like skin and bones. NO MUSCLE!! I don't care how old you are people need to do weight training . If you do this then the more muscle you build burns more calories while youre sleeping!! You look and feel better. The mirror never lies!! Seth Feroce says LOOK GOOD NAKED! Look him up on YouTube. Great guy, no nonsense approach!

This should get you started in the right direction but YOU and ONLY YOU have to make the lifestyle change. Once you set your mind to it you can do anything. Stop being a lazy sob like everyone else and come up with the usual excuses that you don't have time. BULLSHIT! Suck it up and do it if you really want this. I did and I couldn't feel better!! I'm up at 6 am every day, do to the gym to do something! 5 days of weight lifting, split in between. Off days I'm working on my core and light cardio just to keep burning calories and stay active. GETR DONE!

[princer]

For me, the only thing that worked to get 2 stone off is the 5-2 diet, I still do it to maintain as I eat a lot still.

I do Mondays and Tuesdays, and eat just 600calories a day, it’s a bit hard sometimes but I’m at work on both days, so I take a chicken breast and a small bowl of cereal, which is 300 calories, then I have a 300 calorie meal in the evening

[RMNB]

Originally Posted by princer

For me, the only thing that worked to get 2 stone off is the 5-2 diet, I still do it to maintain as I eat a lot still.

I do Mondays and Tuesdays, and eat just 600calories a day, it’s a bit hard sometimes but I’m at work on both days, so I take a chicken breast and a small bowl of cereal, which is 300 calories, then I have a 300 calorie meal in the evening

Sorry but you're going about this ALL WRONG. Why? Incorporate a lifestyle change! Start lifting weights, doing body exercises and EATING PROPERLY. Worse thing to do is cut your calories back drastically. You will end up gaining weight! Why? Because once you're starving yourself you will automatically overeat eventually because you're miserable, no self discipline and crap food creeps back into your life.

Figure out your daily maintenance (CALORIE COUNTER), plug in your age, height , gender, daily exercise level and you get a good idea of calories to maintain your current weight.

Drop calories by 100 first week, reassess, same weight, lower by 200 calories, reassess, do this until you start losing weight just so you know where you actually are in daily calories. If you get this wrong you will fail every time. Start lifting, do very little cardio (waste of time), build muscle burns more fat!!! You look much better, more tone and get stronger.

[uniqueMR]

[dreamingat30fps]

I just wanted to do an update since my last post. I am now down 20lbs in the last 3 months. The weight loss is not super fast but it has been very steady. It's also a very doable "diet" for me that I can continue indefinitely.

While I am not hardcore about my carbs, like I still put a little sugar in my coffee, I have milk sometimes, maybe a little sweet sauce on something etc. I do not eat the big stuff like rice, pasta, bread etc. However I have found that after a certain amount of time of eating that way I start to feel like I'm getting sick and obviously with the whole covid19 stuff I get a little worried. I have found that eating carbs helps me when that happens so I have incorporated it into my "diet". I will allow myself 1 day to eat carbs. Typically it's just a matter of adding rice to my meals that day (I love rice), but sometimes I do go "crazy" and have a pizza or something. Although that's only happened maybe twice since I started. Even when I let myself eat carbs I still try not to go crazy.

Anyways it is working well for me and we'll see how far it goes. I will keep doing this until the weight loss stops and I guess re-evaluate and adjust what I'm doing at that point.

[uniqueMR]

Originally Posted by dreamingat30fps

I just wanted to do an update since my last post. I am now down 20lbs in the last 3 months. The weight loss is not super fast but it has been very steady. It's also a very doable "diet" for me that I can continue indefinitely.

While I am not hardcore about my carbs, like I still put a little sugar in my coffee, I have milk sometimes, maybe a little sweet sauce on something etc. I do not eat the big stuff like rice, pasta, bread etc. However I have found that after a certain amount of time of eating that way I start to feel like I'm getting sick and obviously with the whole covid19 stuff I get a little worried. I have found that eating carbs helps me when that happens so I have incorporated it into my "diet". I will allow myself 1 day to eat carbs. Typically it's just a matter of adding rice to my meals that day (I love rice), but sometimes I do go "crazy" and have a pizza or something. Although that's only happened maybe twice since I started. Even when I let myself eat carbs I still try not to go crazy.

Anyways it is working well for me and we'll see how far it goes. I will keep doing this until the weight loss stops and I guess re-evaluate and adjust what I'm doing at that point.

Sounds good. Hang in..
I love it when we reach our goals or working on goals