How I lost 140 lbs in six months with help from MFP
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theprez98
Posts: 15 Member
In the six months between August 2015 and February 2016, I went from 339 lbs. to 199 lbs.--a total of 140 lbs. of weight loss. Over the course of that six months, and especially since then, a lot of people have asked me how I did it. Rather than respond to them all individually (and to them I apologize that it's taken so long to answer your questions), I decided that it would be easier to put it all in a post so that others might find it useful as well. This post is a bit lengthy, so stay with me.
Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor. I'm not a physical trainer. I'm not a nutritionist. I have absolutely no knowledge other than what I have learned through experience...and through Google. What worked for me may or may not work for you. I'm not telling you what to do--I'm telling you my story in the hopes that you may find something interesting worth investigating on your own.
My path was as easy and simple as A-B-C-D.
OK, it wasn't that easy. And it wasn't as simple as A-B-C-D. But it wasn't as difficult as you might assume. And while there are a lot factors to consider, I want to explain how I simplified them in a way that made my daily goals easier to understand.
First, the backstory. I had been overweight for several years, and was planning on having bariatic surgery. As part of that process, my insurance company required me to go on a six month monitored weight loss program with my doctor. There is no requirement that one has to actually lose a certain amount of weight, but presumably the insurance company wants to make sure that you're a good candidate for surgery by having your weight monitored.
On August 21, 2015, I met with my doctor (she's actually a CRNP, but for the sake of my discussion I will refer to her as my doctor) and we developed a plan that including 30 minutes of physical activity, five days a week; and counting and limiting calories by using MyFitnessPal.
The integration of physical activity and calories consumed is where ABCD comes in. My simple equation, developed from MFP, is:
( A + B ) - C = D
where:
A = Active calories; those burned from doing physical activities.
B = Basal metabolic rate, or BMR; amount of energy expended while at rest.
C = Consumed calories; counted from scanning everything you eat.
D = Deficit of calories.
Again, this is simplified. It's designed to be as easy as possible.
(A)ctive calories. You may think that burning calories means intensive cardio, like stair-climbing, running, etc. And these activities will certainly burn a lot of calories. But you need not do these things to burn fat. In fact, some studies recommend that burning fat works best when your heart rate is in Zone 2. This varies by age, but for someone like me that's in the range of 110-120 bpm. At 339 lbs., I could pretty easily get into this range by walking. So that's what I did.
I very quickly ramped up, within a month, to walking 20-25k+ steps a day, on average. On some days I was walking a half marathon worth of steps. Yes, that's a lot of time. At about 3.3 mph, I was walking 3-4 hours a day. Before work, during work, after work.
You can measure your heart rate by hand, by using an app like Runtastic Heart Rate, or a step tracking device. I used a Fitbit to track steps (that's a story for another day...) and Garmin vivofit heart rate monitor for more detailed data, but the exact numbers don't really matter. If you're consistently getting into Zone 2, you're going to burn calories and fat. From September through December, I was consistently burning about 1,600 calories/day. Of course, as you lose weight, you'll have to do more activity to keep up your burn rate.
(B)asal metabolic rate. Apps like MFP will calculate this for you, or you can find calculators online. It will be higher when you're heavier, and get lower as you lose weight. When I started at 339 lbs., my BMR was about 2,400. Now it's closer to 1,800-1,900. Otherwise, you should consider this number a constant in your equation.
(C)onsumed calories. This is everything you eat. Almost everything has a bar code, and MFP has almost everything online. If you absolutely can't find calorie numbers, find something close and do your best guess. Otherwise Scan everything and don't cheat yourself. Buy yourself a scale and weigh your food portions. Buy measuring cups and measure your portions. I very quickly settled into a daily calorie consumption of about 1,400 calories/day. This is very low. It's even low for someone on a diet. But I can honestly say this--despite all of my walking, I was not hungry. I planned three, ~400 calorie meals with a snack in between; and added a daily multivitamin.
(D)eficit of calories. Keep in mind that 3,500 calories is equivalent to one pound.
So here's a rough approximation of an average day for me:
[Active calories (1,600) + BMR (2,400)] - Calories consumed (1,400) = Deficit (2,600)
I'll stop here briefly and mention that 2,600 calorie deficit per day is pretty ridiculous. To be sure, I met with my doctor every month, and did blood work and other monitoring. But please do not assume that this is normal or average. It is not.
A deficit of 2,600 calories a day is a deficit of 18,200 calories a week, or 5.2 lbs. In fact, For about four months I was losing an average of 7 lbs. a week. Over the course of the six months, it really did average out to just over 5 lbs. a week (I started a new job in January and did not have the opportunity to walk as much). I weighed myself every day first thing in the morning and logged it (as a side note, you might try weighing yourself before you go to bed and then again first thing in the morning--the results may surprise you). Here's the key: no matter what your weight loss goal, you must create calorie deficits. This is the single most important factor to consistent weight loss.
There is much more to my weight loss than this post--this is only a brief summary focusing on the basic math. I plan to follow up this post based on your questions and comments. If you're concerned about asking a question that might seem too personal, don't worry about it and just ask. Shoes, clothes, blisters, chafing, loose skin, food portions, types of food, macros, diets, pizza, junk food, sleep habits, body temperature, walking, running, biking, swimming...there are so many things that come along with weight loss I cannot possibly cover them here. So please feel free to ask whatever comes to mind and I'll be more than happy to answer.
Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor. I'm not a physical trainer. I'm not a nutritionist. I have absolutely no knowledge other than what I have learned through experience...and through Google. What worked for me may or may not work for you. I'm not telling you what to do--I'm telling you my story in the hopes that you may find something interesting worth investigating on your own.
My path was as easy and simple as A-B-C-D.
OK, it wasn't that easy. And it wasn't as simple as A-B-C-D. But it wasn't as difficult as you might assume. And while there are a lot factors to consider, I want to explain how I simplified them in a way that made my daily goals easier to understand.
First, the backstory. I had been overweight for several years, and was planning on having bariatic surgery. As part of that process, my insurance company required me to go on a six month monitored weight loss program with my doctor. There is no requirement that one has to actually lose a certain amount of weight, but presumably the insurance company wants to make sure that you're a good candidate for surgery by having your weight monitored.
On August 21, 2015, I met with my doctor (she's actually a CRNP, but for the sake of my discussion I will refer to her as my doctor) and we developed a plan that including 30 minutes of physical activity, five days a week; and counting and limiting calories by using MyFitnessPal.
The integration of physical activity and calories consumed is where ABCD comes in. My simple equation, developed from MFP, is:
( A + B ) - C = D
where:
A = Active calories; those burned from doing physical activities.
B = Basal metabolic rate, or BMR; amount of energy expended while at rest.
C = Consumed calories; counted from scanning everything you eat.
D = Deficit of calories.
Again, this is simplified. It's designed to be as easy as possible.
(A)ctive calories. You may think that burning calories means intensive cardio, like stair-climbing, running, etc. And these activities will certainly burn a lot of calories. But you need not do these things to burn fat. In fact, some studies recommend that burning fat works best when your heart rate is in Zone 2. This varies by age, but for someone like me that's in the range of 110-120 bpm. At 339 lbs., I could pretty easily get into this range by walking. So that's what I did.
I very quickly ramped up, within a month, to walking 20-25k+ steps a day, on average. On some days I was walking a half marathon worth of steps. Yes, that's a lot of time. At about 3.3 mph, I was walking 3-4 hours a day. Before work, during work, after work.
You can measure your heart rate by hand, by using an app like Runtastic Heart Rate, or a step tracking device. I used a Fitbit to track steps (that's a story for another day...) and Garmin vivofit heart rate monitor for more detailed data, but the exact numbers don't really matter. If you're consistently getting into Zone 2, you're going to burn calories and fat. From September through December, I was consistently burning about 1,600 calories/day. Of course, as you lose weight, you'll have to do more activity to keep up your burn rate.
(B)asal metabolic rate. Apps like MFP will calculate this for you, or you can find calculators online. It will be higher when you're heavier, and get lower as you lose weight. When I started at 339 lbs., my BMR was about 2,400. Now it's closer to 1,800-1,900. Otherwise, you should consider this number a constant in your equation.
(C)onsumed calories. This is everything you eat. Almost everything has a bar code, and MFP has almost everything online. If you absolutely can't find calorie numbers, find something close and do your best guess. Otherwise Scan everything and don't cheat yourself. Buy yourself a scale and weigh your food portions. Buy measuring cups and measure your portions. I very quickly settled into a daily calorie consumption of about 1,400 calories/day. This is very low. It's even low for someone on a diet. But I can honestly say this--despite all of my walking, I was not hungry. I planned three, ~400 calorie meals with a snack in between; and added a daily multivitamin.
(D)eficit of calories. Keep in mind that 3,500 calories is equivalent to one pound.
So here's a rough approximation of an average day for me:
[Active calories (1,600) + BMR (2,400)] - Calories consumed (1,400) = Deficit (2,600)
I'll stop here briefly and mention that 2,600 calorie deficit per day is pretty ridiculous. To be sure, I met with my doctor every month, and did blood work and other monitoring. But please do not assume that this is normal or average. It is not.
A deficit of 2,600 calories a day is a deficit of 18,200 calories a week, or 5.2 lbs. In fact, For about four months I was losing an average of 7 lbs. a week. Over the course of the six months, it really did average out to just over 5 lbs. a week (I started a new job in January and did not have the opportunity to walk as much). I weighed myself every day first thing in the morning and logged it (as a side note, you might try weighing yourself before you go to bed and then again first thing in the morning--the results may surprise you). Here's the key: no matter what your weight loss goal, you must create calorie deficits. This is the single most important factor to consistent weight loss.
There is much more to my weight loss than this post--this is only a brief summary focusing on the basic math. I plan to follow up this post based on your questions and comments. If you're concerned about asking a question that might seem too personal, don't worry about it and just ask. Shoes, clothes, blisters, chafing, loose skin, food portions, types of food, macros, diets, pizza, junk food, sleep habits, body temperature, walking, running, biking, swimming...there are so many things that come along with weight loss I cannot possibly cover them here. So please feel free to ask whatever comes to mind and I'll be more than happy to answer.
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Replies
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You look amazing and so glad you didn't have to go through surgery!
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Congratulations on your amazing (and amazingly quick) life change and the results that came with it!! I'm incredibly impressed and motivated to keep going with my recently started weight loss journey! Could I ask you what your macros were, and when you progressed to physical activity beyond walking? Thanks, and congrats again! You look like a different man!0
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Wow.... Impressive story...congratulations on your successl1
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Success stories are so motivational! Thank you for sharing! You look amazing! Congrats!0
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danielasaur wrote: »Congratulations on your amazing (and amazingly quick) life change and the results that came with it!! I'm incredibly impressed and motivated to keep going with my recently started weight loss journey! Could I ask you what your macros were, and when you progressed to physical activity beyond walking? Thanks, and congrats again! You look like a different man!
I did not have any target macros. I concentrated primarily on keeping my calories low at the expense of trying to hit any specific target macros.
I still only do walking. My daily burn rate is less now, because I don't walk as much, and my goals are different. But I never needed to do any more intense cardio.2 -
danielasaur wrote: »Congratulations on your amazing (and amazingly quick) life change and the results that came with it!! I'm incredibly impressed and motivated to keep going with my recently started weight loss journey! Could I ask you what your macros were, and when you progressed to physical activity beyond walking? Thanks, and congrats again! You look like a different man!
I did not have any target macros. I concentrated primarily on keeping my calories low at the expense of trying to hit any specific target macros.
I still only do walking. My daily burn rate is less now, because I don't walk as much, and my goals are different. But I never needed to do any more intense cardio.
That's so interesting, thanks for the quick answer! In regards to walking then: you spend a lot of time walking in a day; do you do anything to keep you mind engaged? Listen to an audiobook, podcast, music, anything? I feel like it's hard for me to just workout without anything to engage my mind at the same time as my body, but is it something I should try for?0 -
Impressive work. I am glad you premised this post that it's what worked for you and that you saw your doctor routinely. I agree: calorie deficits are the key to fat loss.
Good luck on the rest of your journey.0 -
danielasaur wrote: »danielasaur wrote: »Congratulations on your amazing (and amazingly quick) life change and the results that came with it!! I'm incredibly impressed and motivated to keep going with my recently started weight loss journey! Could I ask you what your macros were, and when you progressed to physical activity beyond walking? Thanks, and congrats again! You look like a different man!
I did not have any target macros. I concentrated primarily on keeping my calories low at the expense of trying to hit any specific target macros.
I still only do walking. My daily burn rate is less now, because I don't walk as much, and my goals are different. But I never needed to do any more intense cardio.
That's so interesting, thanks for the quick answer! In regards to walking then: you spend a lot of time walking in a day; do you do anything to keep you mind engaged? Listen to an audiobook, podcast, music, anything? I feel like it's hard for me to just workout without anything to engage my mind at the same time as my body, but is it something I should try for?
All of the above! Podcasts, audiobooks, music, whatever works. I switch up between walking outside and inside. I also have a treadmill and put a TV on the wall so I can watch Netflix. Distracting yourself from walking definitely helped to go further and further.0 -
danielasaur wrote: »danielasaur wrote: »Congratulations on your amazing (and amazingly quick) life change and the results that came with it!! I'm incredibly impressed and motivated to keep going with my recently started weight loss journey! Could I ask you what your macros were, and when you progressed to physical activity beyond walking? Thanks, and congrats again! You look like a different man!
I did not have any target macros. I concentrated primarily on keeping my calories low at the expense of trying to hit any specific target macros.
I still only do walking. My daily burn rate is less now, because I don't walk as much, and my goals are different. But I never needed to do any more intense cardio.
That's so interesting, thanks for the quick answer! In regards to walking then: you spend a lot of time walking in a day; do you do anything to keep you mind engaged? Listen to an audiobook, podcast, music, anything? I feel like it's hard for me to just workout without anything to engage my mind at the same time as my body, but is it something I should try for?
All of the above! Podcasts, audiobooks, music, whatever works. I switch up between walking outside and inside. I also have a treadmill and put a TV on the wall so I can watch Netflix. Distracting yourself from walking definitely helped to go further and further.
That's awesome! You've inspired me to just take the day today and walk around! I'm downloading an audiobook as we speak! Thanks for your story, advice, and positivity, I can't tell you how much it helps me to feel like I can maybe have the same success one day!1 -
In the six months between August 2015 and February 2016, I went from 339 lbs. to 199 lbs.--a total of 140 lbs. of weight loss. Over the course of that six months, and especially since then, a lot of people have asked me how I did it. Rather than respond to them all individually (and to them I apologize that it's taken so long to answer your questions), I decided that it would be easier to put it all in a post so that others might find it useful as well. This post is a bit lengthy, so stay with me.
Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor. I'm not a physical trainer. I'm not a nutritionist. I have absolutely no knowledge other than what I have learned through experience...and through Google. What worked for me may or may not work for you. I'm not telling you what to do--I'm telling you my story in the hopes that you may find something interesting worth investigating on your own.
My path was as easy and simple as A-B-C-D.
OK, it wasn't that easy. And it wasn't as simple as A-B-C-D. But it wasn't as difficult as you might assume. And while there are a lot factors to consider, I want to explain how I simplified them in a way that made my daily goals easier to understand.
First, the backstory. I had been overweight for several years, and was planning on having bariatic surgery. As part of that process, my insurance company required me to go on a six month monitored weight loss program with my doctor. There is no requirement that one has to actually lose a certain amount of weight, but presumably the insurance company wants to make sure that you're a good candidate for surgery by having your weight monitored.
On August 21, 2015, I met with my doctor (she's actually a CRNP, but for the sake of my discussion I will refer to her as my doctor) and we developed a plan that including 30 minutes of physical activity, five days a week; and counting and limiting calories by using MyFitnessPal.
The integration of physical activity and calories consumed is where ABCD comes in. My simple equation, developed from MFP, is:
( A + B ) - C = D
where:
A = Active calories; those burned from doing physical activities.
B = Basal metabolic rate, or BMR; amount of energy expended while at rest.
C = Consumed calories; counted from scanning everything you eat.
D = Deficit of calories.
Again, this is simplified. It's designed to be as easy as possible.
(A)ctive calories. You may think that burning calories means intensive cardio, like stair-climbing, running, etc. And these activities will certainly burn a lot of calories. But you need not do these things to burn fat. In fact, some studies recommend that burning fat works best when your heart rate is in Zone 2. This varies by age, but for someone like me that's in the range of 110-120 bpm. At 339 lbs., I could pretty easily get into this range by walking. So that's what I did.
I very quickly ramped up, within a month, to walking 20-25k+ steps a day, on average. On some days I was walking a half marathon worth of steps. Yes, that's a lot of time. At about 3.3 mph, I was walking 3-4 hours a day. Before work, during work, after work.
You can measure your heart rate by hand, by using an app like Runtastic Heart Rate, or a step tracking device. I used a Fitbit to track steps (that's a story for another day...) and Garmin vivofit heart rate monitor for more detailed data, but the exact numbers don't really matter. If you're consistently getting into Zone 2, you're going to burn calories and fat. From September through December, I was consistently burning about 1,600 calories/day. Of course, as you lose weight, you'll have to do more activity to keep up your burn rate.
(B)asal metabolic rate. Apps like MFP will calculate this for you, or you can find calculators online. It will be higher when you're heavier, and get lower as you lose weight. When I started at 339 lbs., my BMR was about 2,400. Now it's closer to 1,800-1,900. Otherwise, you should consider this number a constant in your equation.
(C)onsumed calories. This is everything you eat. Almost everything has a bar code, and MFP has almost everything online. If you absolutely can't find calorie numbers, find something close and do your best guess. Otherwise Scan everything and don't cheat yourself. Buy yourself a scale and weigh your food portions. Buy measuring cups and measure your portions. I very quickly settled into a daily calorie consumption of about 1,400 calories/day. This is very low. It's even low for someone on a diet. But I can honestly say this--despite all of my walking, I was not hungry. I planned three, ~400 calorie meals with a snack in between; and added a daily multivitamin.
(D)eficit of calories. Keep in mind that 3,500 calories is equivalent to one pound.
So here's a rough approximation of an average day for me:
[Active calories (1,600) + BMR (2,400)] - Calories consumed (1,400) = Deficit (2,600)
I'll stop here briefly and mention that 2,600 calorie deficit per day is pretty ridiculous. To be sure, I met with my doctor every month, and did blood work and other monitoring. But please do not assume that this is normal or average. It is not.
A deficit of 2,600 calories a day is a deficit of 18,200 calories a week, or 5.2 lbs. In fact, For about four months I was losing an average of 7 lbs. a week. Over the course of the six months, it really did average out to just over 5 lbs. a week (I started a new job in January and did not have the opportunity to walk as much). I weighed myself every day first thing in the morning and logged it (as a side note, you might try weighing yourself before you go to bed and then again first thing in the morning--the results may surprise you). Here's the key: no matter what your weight loss goal, you must create calorie deficits. This is the single most important factor to consistent weight loss.
There is much more to my weight loss than this post--this is only a brief summary focusing on the basic math. I plan to follow up this post based on your questions and comments. If you're concerned about asking a question that might seem too personal, don't worry about it and just ask. Shoes, clothes, blisters, chafing, loose skin, food portions, types of food, macros, diets, pizza, junk food, sleep habits, body temperature, walking, running, biking, swimming...there are so many things that come along with weight loss I cannot possibly cover them here. So please feel free to ask whatever comes to mind and I'll be more than happy to answer.
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That's awesome! You look great! Well done0
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Great story! My life is similar though I'm a little younger (29). Came in at 367 in January. Been working with a doctor now too for the first time in my life about weight loss. Been keeping cals to 1200-1400 daily and exercising about an hour daily. Down 36 lbs as of yesterday morning. Excited to one day hit under 200 like you have! Thanks for the awesome inspiration that this is indeed possible4
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Awesome work and even awesomer that you noted the disclaimers and the doctors involvement for such low calories! We don't see that enough on here.
You look great!0 -
I am at the beginning of my journey and my biggest concern is excess skin is that a problem you have run into?0
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Wowsers!0
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Wow is absolutely right. Holy smokes!0
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Congratulations!0
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Congrats, you look great! What amazing progress! I use a CRNP too. Was she shocked at your level of loss and how quick you lost?0
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tonertrevino wrote: »I am at the beginning of my journey and my biggest concern is excess skin is that a problem you have run into?
I definitely have some excess skin, but it's not really a big problem. One thing you can try is some light weight training to build a little bit of muscle to fill out some of the excess skin.0 -
SeptemberFeyre wrote: »Congrats, you look great! What amazing progress! I use a CRNP too. Was she shocked at your level of loss and how quick you lost?
She was very surprised. Every month she would brag about my progress to her colleagues.
1
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