How I did it...
DeguelloTex
Posts: 6,652 Member
OK, I want to make it clear up front that I'm pretty large as far as human beings go. I used to be even larger. Not everything I say here -- particularly and especially my approach to my calorie deficit -- is going to apply directly to everyone. Or anyone. But the approach might.
TL;DR: I ate at a 1000 calorie deficit until that didn't provide enough energy. I gradually increased calories to balance energy and weight loss. My maintenance calories are now pretty high. It's going well.
I started at the very end of April, 2014. I weighed 335 pounds. I had just gotten out of an appointment with my doctor during which he said to start thinking about starting to think about blood pressure meds. I said I thought 270 would be a reasonable weight. Pretty clueless. He said to get to 240 and we'd talk.
I downloaded MFP because, hey, free. I input my info and, of course, chose the two pounds per week goal. That put me at a goal of 2700 at sedentary, which made my TDEE around 3700.
I googled the difference in density between muscle and fat and came across http://www.acaloriecounter.com. I liked his sense of humor and read everything on the site.
I started with grams of protein == my body weight in pounds. Yeah, that's a lot of protein, but, hey, it's satiating, so that's probably good. I targeted 25% of my calories from fat. I know other people like to base that on bodyweight, too, and that's fine. The rest was carbs.
I didn't eat back any exercise calories but, then again, I had 120+ pounds of fat that could probably provide upwards of 3000 calories a day all by itself, so I didn't have energy issues. At least for a long time.
I started walking. Not all that far at first, but I tried to do it as quickly as I could.
Every time I recorded a new weight, I recalculated my goal in MFP, adjusted my calorie allocation spreadsheet (this is personal preference, not a requirement at all), and took note of my new, lower calorie goal and macros.
Rinse, repeat. Rinse, repeat. Walk a little farther.
I kept doing the same thing until I'd lost enough weight that a two-pound target put me at 1600 calories a day. That was low. Too low. Possibly stupid low. I was starting to be tired and standing up too quickly became an adventure. That lasted about a week. Mentally, I could do it. Physically, I couldn't. I didn't have enough fat left to make up the difference in calories while still feeling like I had energy. So, I started raising my calories, lowering my deficit, but still losing.
By March of 2015, I'd lost 100 pounds. I was walking 4.5 miles first thing in the morning and 4.5 miles in the evening. I started doing a C210K program, three times a week. By June, I was increasing my calories every other week. I bottomed at 213... 122 pounds from where I started.
Now, I think I've found maintenance. I'm doing the walking, running three times a week, and eating 3700 calories a day. My maintenance, right now, at around 218, is the same as it was sedentary at 335. I'm eating a lot, but less calorie dense stuff now. (No more 32 ounce glasses of whole milk with my PB&J.)
I didn't mess with low carb. I didn't cut out any foods. I ate what I wanted -- not necessarily as much as I wanted, sometimes -- but stayed in a deficit.
There are other ways to do it. Low carb, or whatever, might be a good way for some people to get their deficit. There's nothing magic about ways of eating, but some might be easier for a particular person than others.
Oh, yeah, I'm in my 50s. I've gone from a 335 pound couch potato heading Mach One toward hypertension, to a 218 pound guy who can easily walk and run (I'm not saying I love running, but I can do it) 10 miles a day, every day, if I want to. My BP was 108/53 the last time I checked. My pulse has gone from high 60s/low 70s to about 53 (or even 48). My blood work is excellent. My back pain and (pseudo)gout and essentially non-existent. And all I did was eat less of the same things I like and move around more. It's not magic, but it kinda seems like it is.
TL;DR: I ate at a 1000 calorie deficit until that didn't provide enough energy. I gradually increased calories to balance energy and weight loss. My maintenance calories are now pretty high. It's going well.
I started at the very end of April, 2014. I weighed 335 pounds. I had just gotten out of an appointment with my doctor during which he said to start thinking about starting to think about blood pressure meds. I said I thought 270 would be a reasonable weight. Pretty clueless. He said to get to 240 and we'd talk.
I downloaded MFP because, hey, free. I input my info and, of course, chose the two pounds per week goal. That put me at a goal of 2700 at sedentary, which made my TDEE around 3700.
I googled the difference in density between muscle and fat and came across http://www.acaloriecounter.com. I liked his sense of humor and read everything on the site.
I started with grams of protein == my body weight in pounds. Yeah, that's a lot of protein, but, hey, it's satiating, so that's probably good. I targeted 25% of my calories from fat. I know other people like to base that on bodyweight, too, and that's fine. The rest was carbs.
I didn't eat back any exercise calories but, then again, I had 120+ pounds of fat that could probably provide upwards of 3000 calories a day all by itself, so I didn't have energy issues. At least for a long time.
I started walking. Not all that far at first, but I tried to do it as quickly as I could.
Every time I recorded a new weight, I recalculated my goal in MFP, adjusted my calorie allocation spreadsheet (this is personal preference, not a requirement at all), and took note of my new, lower calorie goal and macros.
Rinse, repeat. Rinse, repeat. Walk a little farther.
I kept doing the same thing until I'd lost enough weight that a two-pound target put me at 1600 calories a day. That was low. Too low. Possibly stupid low. I was starting to be tired and standing up too quickly became an adventure. That lasted about a week. Mentally, I could do it. Physically, I couldn't. I didn't have enough fat left to make up the difference in calories while still feeling like I had energy. So, I started raising my calories, lowering my deficit, but still losing.
By March of 2015, I'd lost 100 pounds. I was walking 4.5 miles first thing in the morning and 4.5 miles in the evening. I started doing a C210K program, three times a week. By June, I was increasing my calories every other week. I bottomed at 213... 122 pounds from where I started.
Now, I think I've found maintenance. I'm doing the walking, running three times a week, and eating 3700 calories a day. My maintenance, right now, at around 218, is the same as it was sedentary at 335. I'm eating a lot, but less calorie dense stuff now. (No more 32 ounce glasses of whole milk with my PB&J.)
I didn't mess with low carb. I didn't cut out any foods. I ate what I wanted -- not necessarily as much as I wanted, sometimes -- but stayed in a deficit.
There are other ways to do it. Low carb, or whatever, might be a good way for some people to get their deficit. There's nothing magic about ways of eating, but some might be easier for a particular person than others.
Oh, yeah, I'm in my 50s. I've gone from a 335 pound couch potato heading Mach One toward hypertension, to a 218 pound guy who can easily walk and run (I'm not saying I love running, but I can do it) 10 miles a day, every day, if I want to. My BP was 108/53 the last time I checked. My pulse has gone from high 60s/low 70s to about 53 (or even 48). My blood work is excellent. My back pain and (pseudo)gout and essentially non-existent. And all I did was eat less of the same things I like and move around more. It's not magic, but it kinda seems like it is.
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I'm a female, 60 years old. 5'11". (I was tall when tall wasn't cool.
)
I've been on MFP for 9 months. My starting weight was 250 lbs. Even with my height, that was waaaaaay too much! Both my doctor and I were concerned.
Unfortunately, I have several physical barriers to weight loss that were going to make this not impossible, but definitely more challenging to achieve than most. I'm post menopausal, and have an auto immune thyroid disorder (Hashimoto's Disease) that I've had for 30 years. I also have a condition called Ankylosing Spondilitis, which is basically arthritis of the spine. Had that for 30 years, too. The medication I take daily for that condition for the past 3 years is known to cause unexplained weight gain for some. And I was one.
There are a lot of prescription meds out there that have weight gain listed as a potential side effect. A lot! But the vast majority of these medications cause weight gain because they increase appetite and the patient ends up eating more and gaining weight as a direct result.
But there are also a few medications that legitimately have unexplained weight gain as a side effect - weight gain for which there is no correlation to simply having been eating too much due to increased appetite. The medication I take for my arthritis is one of those few, but aside from that, works brilliantly in managing my pain and allowing me a freedom of movement that has given me my life back, so I'll work around the weight gain thing.
Another factor that definitely added to my weight gain was quitting smoking. It was time. I needed to rid myself of that habit no matter what. I was smoking around 2 packs a day when I quit, so I wasn't just a casual or social smoker. I've been smoke free for 5 1/2 years now, but I did gain some weight in the trade off.
To add to my burden of losing weight, physical exercise is somewhat of a challenge for me, weight and arthritis issues aside. I had shattered my right leg (tib/fib) and my left ankle in separate accidents, and both are now held together with a series of plates, screws and various pins. I also tore the rotator cuff in my right shoulder 10 years ago, which has healed but flares up with overuse. Oh, and both my knees need replacing, so that will happen at some point, too.
Looking at that written down like that is intimidating! I'm a mess! LOL
So, nine months ago, I began this trip of a lifetime. I joined MFP.
Now here's the kicker: I'm 60 years old and I'd never been in a position before where I had to lose *any* weight in my entire life, let alone a crap ton of it!
I'd been tall and skinny well into my late forties. And I knew absolutely NOTHING about losing weight. All of the ads and all the weight loss shows and all of the products and all of the scams that had never been on my radar before suddenly came flooding in simultaneously because I was, for the first time in my entire life, needing to lose weight. A lot of weight! And I was completely lost and overwhelmed by it all. A veritable and total weight loss noob! 
My doctor had suggested taking the first two weeks to simply log everything I ate in a day. EVERYTHING! Not to make *any* dietary changes at all, but to simply get a record of what normal eating looked like for me. An internet search gave me a link to MPF, so I joined and spent those 2 weeks logging absolutely everything while getting used to the system here.
After the two weeks, we got together again to go over stuff. Yes, I was definitely eating more than I should, given my sedentary level, but nowhere near enough to account for my overall and rather rapid weight increase. Blood tests had shown that an upward adjustment in my thyroid meds were in order, so she did that for me.
Bottom line? Weight loss was going to be somewhat more difficult for me than most, but definitely not impossible if I put my mind (and body!) to it. Her advice? Eat less, move more. Walking and swimming were going to be the only exercises I could safely do without further damaging my dodgy joints, so I bought a Fitbit and just started walking. Around the block for starters, and that left me winded. I'm now up to 10 miles a day! Added swimming and water jogging to the menu this summer, and my results escalated.
My starting weight was 250. As of this morning, I weigh 180. That's 70 lbs gone so far, with about 20 to go. I've gone from Obese to Overweight, and am now less than a pound away from being at the top end of Normal on the BMI scale for my height. And I'm thrilled and thankful to my doctor and to my friends on here that have been a huge source of knowledge and inspiration along the way.
tl;dr? If *I* can do this - given all the physical and medical barriers I have - absolutely anyone can. 0
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