I went from morbidly obese to 6 pack abs! Ask me Anything

vismal

grmckenzie wrote: »

How fast did you lose weight initially? I'm trying to get down to 300. Since Sept 27th I've gone from 318 to 302 this morning. So 16 pounds in a month. Prior to that I didn't have a scale that read over 300, but I figure I was ~330 before I started moving 12 yards of gravel in Sept.
I'm on the treadmill twice a day for 30 minutes each and trying to eat ~2,000 while focusing on protein. Not eating back excercise but drinking some of it back (I like red wine). Have bought dumbells and bands and will start some strength work this weekend (sorry but not going to a gym at this point).
I know this can't last at this rate, but is it too much for now? All I read is 1-2 pounds per week, or more if you are obese. Just not what that "more" is.
I think I've opened my diary if you want to look.
Thanks.

Initially I was probably losing 3-4 lbs a week but I wasn't consistent in weighing myself so I can't say for certain. The more weight you have to lose, the faster you can lose it. I honestly wouldn't even pay attention to rate of loss for the first month. It's going to be manipulated greatly by water weight. After the first month you can realistically lose 2-3 lbs a week if you have 50+ to lose and then 1-2 if you have < 50 to lose.

alwinter09 wrote: »

I am obviously most worried about a lifestyle change more than a specific # on the scale, however I want to lose around 70 pounds. I am saving up right now for a good food scale and HRM. My biggest worry is that I'll be left with a lot of loose skin. It looks like you don't have loose skin yourself, so what would you advise to help avoid that? Thanks, and you look great!

Don't worry about saving for a "good" scale. The one I've used for years was $9.99 at walmart. A fitness tracker is also a totally unnecessary expense. Tracking your calorie intake is infinitely more important then estimating your output. I'd spend the money saved not buying that on several months worth of a gym membership. As far as loose skin there isn't really much anyone can do. I talk about loose skin here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVddgtwaC1A

Tacklewasher

I'm a numbers geek so the HRM was important to me to get started. Just wish I picked a different one. But I like seeing the numbers, seeing how I slept etc. One item weighed on a food scale showed me how important it was. Quaker Harvest Crunch has way more grams per cup than the label says so my calorie count on it was way off. My scale was under $7. It does try to do the BF%, but I just want the weight.

joelo_1119

Added ya!

Real curious about your progress in the last year. Were you basically IIFYM or did you carb cycle or something else?

Tacklewasher

On the weight loss, my first couple of weeks I didn't have a scale that went over 300, so I wasn't weighing myself. First time on the scale was Sept 26 @ 319.9. Today was 298. So 20 pounds over 5 weeks. Guess I just count myself lucky. Plan is to be 285 by New years, so expecting 2 lbs per week and hoping for more. I'm down at least 25 in under 2 months so I'm going to keep doing what I've been doing until that slows.

traskin5918

Just awesome, man.

CSARdiver

Outstanding work brother! Truly inspirational!

vismal

joelo_1119 wrote: »

Added ya!

Real curious about your progress in the last year. Were you basically IIFYM or did you carb cycle or something else?

Just IIFYM. Carb cycling doesn't do much for results. It's more personal preference.

claireholden37

Hi. I was wondering if you can give me some advice on macro splits for bulking. I just want to gain muscle now so I am increasing my calories do you do this slowly over a few weeks and what should the split be ?

vismal

claireholden37 wrote: »

Hi. I was wondering if you can give me some advice on macro splits for bulking. I just want to gain muscle now so I am increasing my calories do you do this slowly over a few weeks and what should the split be ?

For bulking you want a small calorie surplus. Ideally you want to be gaining as little as a lb a month for a female. It's very hard to track such small changes in weight without software. I recommend using trendweight.com to establish a rolling average for you weight in order to be able to track your gains. For macros I don't believe in percentage splits. Macros should be based on your weight. Generally protein should be around 0.8 grams/lb fat can be 0.30-0.45 grams/lb and the rest can go to any macro you want (carbs, or extra fat and protein) until you hit your calorie total.

Popsicle_Feet

Do people treat you differently?

trigden1991

vismal wrote: »

joelo_1119 wrote: »

Added ya!

Real curious about your progress in the last year. Were you basically IIFYM or did you carb cycle or something else?

Just IIFYM. Carb cycling doesn't do much for results. It's more personal preference.

In your opinion is this still the case when really lean (sub 10%)?

Effie008

The bad: I'm kind of a pain about going out to eat certain places. I don't much like eating food I didn't prepare unless its on my very few and far between free days. Don't get me wrong I eat treats and snacks all the time but I weigh/prepare them myself so I can account for it. I will always feel the need to better myself. When I was fat I didn't care. Sometimes this can be mentally exhausting. But the bads don't even begin to compare to all the goods.

That is so true! Some days I feel like I'm getting on the nerves of my partner as I weigh most things. Some times I am so accurate without weighing food it's scary, I guess it comes with practice. However most of the time I'm told I'm doing a great job It does make me wonder to a degree, when I've lost the weight, will it be difficult to be in maintenance without weighing food? What's it like for you?

Thanks

vismal

Popsicle_Feet wrote: »

Do people treat you differently?

Yes and no. Friends and family don't really but strangers sometimes do. As a nurse I'm often required to give health advice and education. Even if the education I was giving wasn't weight or nutrition related I felt sometimes patients dismissed me because I didn't appear to be a healthy person (and I really wasn't a healthy person). Even when telling someone to stop smoking I often felt they were thinking something to the effect of "why don't you quit eating so much". Now I feel like patients are more receptive to my advice because I am more outwardly healthy looking. Whether or not that's fair I'm not sure. Afterall my advice was just as sound when I was unhealthy as it is now but I can also relate to wanting someone to "practice what they preach".

trigden1991 wrote: »

vismal wrote: »

joelo_1119 wrote: »

Added ya!

Real curious about your progress in the last year. Were you basically IIFYM or did you carb cycle or something else?

Just IIFYM. Carb cycling doesn't do much for results. It's more personal preference.

In your opinion is this still the case when really lean (sub 10%)?

Hard to say. Does it affect net fat loss, probably not, can it lead to more productive workouts, absolutely a possibility. I would also note that whatever effect, if any, carb cycling has in the ultralean it's a small one and macronutrient and calorie totals are still the most important factor.

vismal

Effie008 wrote: »

The bad: I'm kind of a pain about going out to eat certain places. I don't much like eating food I didn't prepare unless its on my very few and far between free days. Don't get me wrong I eat treats and snacks all the time but I weigh/prepare them myself so I can account for it. I will always feel the need to better myself. When I was fat I didn't care. Sometimes this can be mentally exhausting. But the bads don't even begin to compare to all the goods.

That is so true! Some days I feel like I'm getting on the nerves of my partner as I weigh most things. Some times I am so accurate without weighing food it's scary, I guess it comes with practice. However most of the time I'm told I'm doing a great job It does make me wonder to a degree, when I've lost the weight, will it be difficult to be in maintenance without weighing food? What's it like for you?

Thanks

I don't know how things would go if I stopped weighing food. I believe I could probably maintain a healthy weight at this point if I ditched my scale. I couldn't however achieve the goals I have set of becoming very lean each summer and doing controlled bulking phases each "off season" without my scale. Weighing food is simply second nature and it doesn't really inhibit me at all. These days I'm much more relaxed when eating out or with family. I do it infrequently enough that I just do my best to estimate or just take the day off. When you are not trying to lose large sums of weight in short timeframes you are allotted this luxury.

49Elle

Congratulations on your awesome achievement and on your new babe... thankyou too for sharing and being so generous with your replies and information.

Being an older woman (67) with a lot of weight to lose & some serious pain & mobility issues from years of hard physical work (landscaper-gardener/ farmer) I take on board your advice re lifting as opposed to resistance bands and cardio only.

I am not in a position to go to a gym as I live in a rural area with no facilities and visit town only fortnightly. I am conscious of the need to make a difference but to start slowly as overdoing it could cause more issues (hubby just had his first bicep/rotor cuff reconstruction - next one booked for March '17 - due to overdoing it lifting concrete blocks overhead on a home renovation project ... he is 69 and a retired construction worker but always fit)

I do have a single station weight machine ... can I utilize that equipment effectively?

Probably a little out of left field with all these young people striving for body beautiful but I think having made it this far in age, I personally had become complacent with weight gain and appearance and now I cannot ignore how this burden is making me feel physically and mentally. I would really appreciate your advice on how to start with weights for my circumstance, as I have not found any specific information elsewhere (books or internet) for my age group.

peter2100

Have you noticed any difference in responses towards you from women?

Kmbender0908

Oh my...I'm so happy I found this thread. I have had several false starts with IIFYM, and joined a boot camp style workout program back in July, going 3x a week at 5:20 am and I'm fatter than ever for at least 2 reasons, I believe 1- not enough consistent focus on my nutrition /macros 2- the boot camp is unfortunately too heavy in the cardio department and I'm not getting true focused weight lifting workouts in anymore...only bodyweight exercises incorporated into the boot camp workouts. I was lying to myself and telling myself that was enough...but it's not. So...I'm currently locked in for another 7 months or so to the boot camp (I signed up for a year)...I may just call it a loss and move on and do the weight workouts on my own until I can free up that $ for a gym. I was doing Body Beast prior to this. Do you have good weight training program suggestions that could be done at home or in an apartment complex gym?

vismal

12dream wrote: »

Congratulations on your awesome achievement and on your new babe... thankyou too for sharing and being so generous with your replies and information.

Being an older woman (67) with a lot of weight to lose & some serious pain & mobility issues from years of hard physical work (landscaper-gardener/ farmer) I take on board your advice re lifting as opposed to resistance bands and cardio only.

I am not in a position to go to a gym as I live in a rural area with no facilities and visit town only fortnightly. I am conscious of the need to make a difference but to start slowly as overdoing it could cause more issues (hubby just had his first bicep/rotor cuff reconstruction - next one booked for March '17 - due to overdoing it lifting concrete blocks overhead on a home renovation project ... he is 69 and a retired construction worker but always fit)

I do have a single station weight machine ... can I utilize that equipment effectively?

Probably a little out of left field with all these young people striving for body beautiful but I think having made it this far in age, I personally had become complacent with weight gain and appearance and now I cannot ignore how this burden is making me feel physically and mentally. I would really appreciate your advice on how to start with weights for my circumstance, as I have not found any specific information elsewhere (books or internet) for my age group.

You can certainly use your weight station as a means to begin strength training. Remember that weight loss is very much about diet, not training. If weight loss is your primary goal caloric deficit is needed. No amount of weight training will cause weight loss if you are eating too many calories. I'd focus on setting up a diet with a reasonable calorie deficit and use your weight training station three times a week.

peter2100 wrote: »

Have you noticed any difference in responses towards you from women?

I'm happily married and was only single for a couple small periods of time between my weight loss and now. The biggest difference comes not from how I looked but how I felt about myself. I was certainly more confident and that made it easier for me to interact with women. Having a good physique might open some doors with women who might not previously have given you a chance, but that's all it does. Women of quality will always require more out of you than a good looking body.

vismal

Kmbender0908 wrote: »

Oh my...I'm so happy I found this thread. I have had several false starts with IIFYM, and joined a boot camp style workout program back in July, going 3x a week at 5:20 am and I'm fatter than ever for at least 2 reasons, I believe 1- not enough consistent focus on my nutrition /macros 2- the boot camp is unfortunately too heavy in the cardio department and I'm not getting true focused weight lifting workouts in anymore...only bodyweight exercises incorporated into the boot camp workouts. I was lying to myself and telling myself that was enough...but it's not. So...I'm currently locked in for another 7 months or so to the boot camp (I signed up for a year)...I may just call it a loss and move on and do the weight workouts on my own until I can free up that $ for a gym. I was doing Body Beast prior to this. Do you have good weight training program suggestions that could be done at home or in an apartment complex gym?

As far as fat loss is concerned the boot camp versus weight training has almost nothing to do with it. If you didn't lose fat you were eating too much, period. While I am a firm believer that barbell/dumbbell training is the most efficient way to improve one's physique, it certainly isn't the only way. Boot camp is usually very cardio heavy and doesn't usually focus on progressive tension overload (lifting heavier over time) but any form of bodyweight exercise is still better than no strength training at all. You could certainly develop a program for your apartment gym but I can't really make a suggestion without knowing the equipment you have access to.

More importantly is to crack down on your diet. What were your macros, what is your height/weight/age, how many times a week do you exercise? Without a proper diet no kind or amount of training will net you the results you crave.