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

vismal

Brandie43 wrote: »

I know that you have covered so much material on here and that is so incredibly fantastic of you! I would like to loose 30+ lbs and i'm 49 years old. You have probably covered this over and over again but i'm getting confused, I was wondering if you might say again the best strategy for a woman at my age to loose weight to be in your opinion? I am watching my calorie intake by using weight watchers as it is so easy to keep count. would you recommend cardio mainly at this point or weights or both and how many days? Thank you so much for your time..

I prefer MFP over weight watchers. While points are probably a little bit easier there are some problems. From what I understand fruits and vegetables are "free foods" and it is justified under the thinking that "no one ever got fat eating fruits and vegetables". While fruits and vegetables are likely not the reason people get fat, they can play a role in people staying fat. Vegetables are generally low in calories but eat enough of them and they will become significant. I eat 200 or more calories each day from vegetables. If I count a 200 calorie candy bar why do I not count a 200 calorie plate of vegetables? A typical banana has 110 calories, how is that any less impactful than drinking a 110 calorie glass of wine or light beer? MFP simply allows you to calculate 100% of what you eat. If you weigh your food and count all of it you have a pretty good idea of your daily intake and that is very import when weight loss stops and you need to make adjustments. The rounding and free foods associated with points makes it difficult to know exactly what your intake actually is. As far as lifting or cardio I would recommend you do both but I always place the priority on lifting as it helps preserve lean mass when losing weight.

hcdo wrote: »

Edit to my previous post: I'm currently doing PHUL, which is a 4-day upper/lower split. I need to cut a bit, and in a previous answer you mentioned that a 4-5 day lifting program wouldn't help with weight loss, so I'm just wondering what you'd suggest. More cardio? Do you have another lifting program that you do specifically when you're in a deficit?

What I was referring to in that response was that switching from a 3 day lifting program to a 4 or 5 day program won't help increase fat loss. Any lifting program that has you hitting all body parts at least twice a week is a fine choice and PHUL does that. Weight lifting is not intended to cause weight loss. While it does burn some calories it's not a ton and shouldn't be the reason you're doing it. We lift weights in order to preserve lean muscle while losing fat. Diet is always going to be the main driver of the calorie deficit needed for weight loss. I will note that some people struggle to recover well when doing 4 or 5 days a week while in a calorie deficit so if this happens you can cut back to a three day a week program. My current program of choice is the Greyskull LP but any 3 day a week program should be fine if you find recovery to be an issue.

cqbkaju

vismal wrote: »

I starting lifting maybe 6 months into my weight loss. Originally it was just diet and running. I wish I would have started lifting from the get go though. That would be what I consider my number 1 mistake. As for the type of lifting, I did it wrong at first by doing a typical "bro split" where you do a body part a day with high reps and low weight. I later switched to 5x5 training which is what I would have started with day 1 if I had to go back and do it again. I currently do a upper/lower 4 day a week split for intermediate lifters.

I know I am late to the party, but I wish more people would listen when several of us here give advice like this.
Great work.

bigmuneymfp

Outstanding job on an outstanding thread

Applause to the op

emjay6x3

You look amazing!! Congratulations!!

hcdo

Thanks for the clarification. And thanks for all the great info on this thread!

simi1421

Hello! I found your story to be very inspiring.
I would like to know, how old were you when you started lifting?
Do you do cardio at all? I started doing 5X5 a few months ago, but keep having to take breaks in between.
I am restarting the program as of today, and hope to find success with it this time.

I used to be 175 and a size 14, now I am 140, size 6 or 8. Trying to tone up and I don't necessarily care about weight - just want to get fit. Did you gain weight when lifting?

What kind of diet do you follow? do you track calories or carbs or protein?

vismal

simi1421 wrote: »

Hello! I found your story to be very inspiring.
I would like to know, how old were you when you started lifting?
Do you do cardio at all? I started doing 5X5 a few months ago, but keep having to take breaks in between.
I am restarting the program as of today, and hope to find success with it this time.

I used to be 175 and a size 14, now I am 140, size 6 or 8. Trying to tone up and I don't necessarily care about weight - just want to get fit. Did you gain weight when lifting?

What kind of diet do you follow? do you track calories or carbs or protein?

I replied to your PM but I'll copy it here in case anyone else finds it useful:

I actually began getting into fitness around age 25-26. I initially started with cardio only but that was a mistake. If I could go back I would have done both weights and cardio initially. I did not gain weight while lifting initially because in addition to the lifting I was in a fairly steep caloric deficit. Calories will determine weight loss over the long run. When one first starts lifting there can be some water retention causing weight gain but if calories remain in a deficit fat loss is still occurring despite the stall in weight loss. Toning really isn't a thing the body can do. Achieving the "toned" look requires two things to be true. The first is that you have built a muscular base and the second is that you have reduced body fat low enough for the muscular base to be visible. You really cannot cause both of these things to happen simultaneously, at least not in an efficient manner. My typical advice to those wishing to achieve a "toned" look is to initially reduce body fat. After body fat hits the reasonably low side a period of purposeful, slow, weight gain is needed to build a good muscular foundation. For females this will not make you bulky or overly muscled but rather help achieve the desired aesthetic shape that most "fit" people have. After this period of weight/muscle gain another fat loss phase is completed to display the muscular base that was achieved. The entire process is referred to as "bulk/cut" cycling. To achieve the desired result it sometimes takes many cycles of muscle building and fat loss. I would also advise that a muscle building session be no less then 6 months and a fat loss session be as long as necessary to achieve desired body fat. As far as my diet, I explain that all here in this series of videos I made: http://goo.gl/zqIv6H

orangegato

First, thank you for your involvement on MFP and for this AMA thread. It has really inspired me.

I am down 35# in 3.5 months to 223# and want to get to 165# on my 5'8" frame. Started the ICF 5x5 at home b/c embarrassed to go to the gym still. I have Bowflex adjustable dumbbells up to 52.5#. My back gives me some problems and I have 2 artificial discs in my cervical spine. You think doing a modified program w/ dumbbells is still useful? I am doing goblet squats and don't want to do deadlifts w/ dumbbells unless my back feels 100%.

vismal

orangegato wrote: »

First, thank you for your involvement on MFP and for this AMA thread. It has really inspired me.

I am down 35# in 3.5 months to 223# and want to get to 165# on my 5'8" frame. Started the ICF 5x5 at home b/c embarrassed to go to the gym still. I have Bowflex adjustable dumbbells up to 52.5#. My back gives me some problems and I have 2 artificial discs in my cervical spine. You think doing a modified program w/ dumbbells is still useful? I am doing goblet squats and don't want to do deadlifts w/ dumbbells unless my back feels 100%.

Doing any program is going to be much more useful than doing nothing. That said, you will (should) outgrow those dumbbells fairly quickly. Especially for things like squat, bench, and rows. Barbells would be preferred for that program anyways. I would really try hard to put aside the fear of going to the gym. Most people at the gym are far more concerned with themselves and how they look to care about what you are doing, how you look, etc. People aren't paying nearly as much attention to you as you might think they are and you are there to better yourself anyways. As far as what exercises to do concerning your back, I'd want that answer to come from the surgeon who put the artificial discs in.

Bruss1987

What books/websites did you use to learn about nutrition? I've had other fitness friends that talk about macros all day. I joined weight watchers for a while, but it seems they just preach "good" and "bad" foods. Looking for a place to study up so I can eat properly. Even using this app, I'm really just looking at calories, which I don't think is a long term solution.

vismal

Bruss1987 wrote: »

What books/websites did you use to learn about nutrition? I've had other fitness friends that talk about macros all day. I joined weight watchers for a while, but it seems they just preach "good" and "bad" foods. Looking for a place to study up so I can eat properly. Even using this app, I'm really just looking at calories, which I don't think is a long term solution.

Probably the single best diet and nutrition website out there is Lyle McDonald's, www.bodyrecomposition.com. It has everything from beginner articles to advanced nutritional and physiological topics. In addition, Lyle has several books on a variety of topics related to diet and training. Eric Helms et al., have a couple of great ebooks. One is about nutrition (the muscle and strength nutrition pyramid) and the other about training (the muscle and strength training pyramid). The Lean Muscle Diet by Alan Aragon is also good. That's plenty to get a good working knowledge of diet, nutrition, and training.

OpinionatedCyborg

V - I'm plateaued since April after losing a quick 30# in 3 months. Daily intake is 1870, though by the end of that I'm always hungry and tend to go over. Still it's below most calculations I find. I set it low because of low daily activity - sitting at a computer. Most of my exercise is weight lifting with some cardio. As soon as I drop a few they come right back on. It's like a wall! Any suggestion? I use a food scale. Thanks!

vismal

OpinionatedCyborg wrote: »

V - I'm plateaued since April after losing a quick 30# in 3 months. Daily intake is 1870, though by the end of that I'm always hungry and tend to go over. Still it's below most calculations I find. I set it low because of low daily activity - sitting at a computer. Most of my exercise is weight lifting with some cardio. As soon as I drop a few they come right back on. It's like a wall! Any suggestion? I use a food scale. Thanks!

When your goal is set low enough that you're pretty certain you should be losing weight, and you've not been for a few months or more, the answer is 99.99% of the time that you are eating more than you think. Are you weighing everything you eat on a food scale? Using cups and spoons to measure food isn't good enough, those things are made for liquids only. You've got to be meticulous with calorie counting when you've stalled despite calories being pretty low. I wrote this thread a while ago to explain how to be very accurate with counting: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1296011/calorie-counting-101

The picture should illustrate why weighing food is so important.

mizar5

One year, 60 pounds gone. Today is my 60th birthday and I look and feel better than I have in years.

While I'll take credit for the hard work and discipline, I have to say that it all began when I found this thread and started reading. So thanks SO much to Vismal for taking the time to do this. You have changed some lives, my friend.

zharptichka

Thanks so much for this thread! It's been super helpful. I know you said you wish you had started with lifting heavy rather than smaller weights with more reps and I was wondering about that? The trainer I talked to at the gym (who suggested lifting as soon as I said I was trying to lose weight so I was pleased about that ) suggested slightly smaller weights (it's still hard) for more reps (3x15) while I was trying to lose weight and then shifting to something more like 5x5 as my goals shift to building strength. Right now I'm just concerned with getting the weight off and not losing muscle mass. Eventually I want to build some strength but getting the weight off is definitely my primary goal.

Also any thoughts on what I'm doing in general would be appreciated. I'm a woman, 5'8" and 235lbs (I've lost 60). I'm at 1390 calories if I've done a lot I might go to 1800 (I haven't figured out macros yet, should I worry about that?).

I alternate running (weirdest part of my fitness journey is figuring out I like running) and gym days so my week looks like this:
1. Running (5k)
2. Legs/Abs
3. Running/walk whatever I feel like
4. Chest/back
5. Running (intervals)
6. arms/shoulders
7. Running (8k ish at the moment)

Killah_bee

This is an incredibly inspiring thread. Vismal, I'm in awe of your progress, and I'm so impressed with the fact that you still contribute to this community years later!

I started with very similar stats and honestly also looked a lot like your 'before' pic. My goals are similar - I'm aiming for a slightly lower body weight for the end of this 'cut'. I was lifting for the entire time, in fact was lifting for months before I began my cut, so we'll see where I end up. No questions, just wanted to say 'job well done!'

What a source of inspiration. Amazing.

kokonani

I have also started to eat once a day. It's amazing! Its like freedom from thinking about food all day. Just eat once, and get it over with. And you also get to enjoy all the things you love, no restrictions! Way to go, Warrior!

Maggyms16

This is very inspiring and motivating!
You really have motivated me to do better.
Thank you.

jmkim196

Congrats, trying to accomplish the same thing myself.

What is an average workout like?
Is Cardio still a big part of your workout?
What was your most common meal during your journey?

okohjacinda

Hi and congrats on the weight loss!

Sorry if this has been asked before but how fast is too fast for weight loss? Or is this too slow?

I am down 24lbs in 2 months. So right now I am averaging 3lbs a week (I am 250lbs at the moment down from 274lbs) I don't eat under 1200 that much (like maybe 2 days out of the week). In fact, on average I am usually over 1500-1600 cals. I just do a lot of cardio...averaging 450-500 minutes a week.

Also, if I start strength training now, will that impact my rate of loss?

I noticed in your post you mentioning you wish you had started early on and I have read articles on the benefits of starting out with cardio as well as strength training as you lose weight. I am just afraid of the weight loss slowing down a bit once I start but more afraid to have a lot of loose skin by the time I reach maintenance phase.