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

mariaholden1

Wow, you look incredible! No questions, but good on you!

ms_lindsay

Holy Amazing, congratulations! I do have a question. This week I started weight lifting 3 x a week ( i can't do anymore that that with my kids/schedule). I also run with a double stroller 3x a week, HIIT 2x week and Yoga a few times as well. I recently finished a program where my calories were quite low, I wasn't doing any weight training, just intense cardio, I have lost about 50lbs since having my kids and now I am down to the last 5-10lbs and also wanting to get stronger, biggest trouble spot is my low belly fat and loose skin. My confusion lies with how much I should actually be eating now that I am also doing weight training.

As of today my MFP is set to 1700 after using a calorie calculator on Scooby's workshop. This is more than I have been eating, but I am not sure if it's enough/too much? Just hoping for a little advice, Im pretty new to calorie counting and brand new to weight training = overwhelmed!

jmsspr93

What Equiptment did you use? If you could talk to me as if I am stupid as I am unsure about all the different stuff. CHeers

bregalad5

bump to read more answers later!

vismal

WOW! You look amazing!!!
On-topic question: how long did it take for you to actually see results? And at what point were you comfortable eating "treats" and not feel guilty about it? (I feel like when I'm eating treats, I let myself down, because it doesn't add up to my goal)

I started to see results about 2 months after starting. Nothing big, just jeans were loose and my belly wasn't as big. I feel like 6-8 weeks is what it takes to see a noticable difference with no clothes on. 12 weeks to see a difference with them on.

Hey
I want to loose 40 lbs... I m beginner with this app
I can't go to gym
But usually.for my exercise I either play 1 hour badminton or 1 hour walk
With 1200 calories a day and this much exercise can I achieve my goal?
If yes how much time?
If no then plz suggest something

Need more info. Male or Female, current weight and height. Even with all the info telling you how long it will take to reach your goal is impossible. Too many variables.

Good to see you Vismal.

To everyone out there Vismal is one of the smartest people I know out there. His advice is always on point and if he is here to offer his help then you'd be crazy to not jump all over it. His dedication to this game is unquestionably top of the line.

Thanks bro. Good to see some knowledgeable people over on this board too! I would say the same about Mr. M as he said about me!

vismal

WoW!! U look amazing, what a job u have done!! I`m proud of you and I have only seen you`re picture:blushing:

You wanted questions so here goes:
What is you`re favorite food?
Favorite treat?
How often, how much and how do u work out?
What was the hardest part of the change? The first month, six months or now keeping it up?

Ps, Just in case u dident know it by now, U look AMAZING!!!

Ice cream, Ice cream, 3 days a week weights 1 day a week hot yoga when cutting (fat loss). 4 Days a week weights 1 day a week yoga when bulking (muscle building). Cardio is done sparatically and it usually consists of long walks. Getting started is always easy. Anyone can be motivated for a month or two. Look at the post new years crowd. It's after the 2 month mark I think people get discouraged or distracted. Once I made it 6 months and looked totally different, I was hooked for life. It's relatively easy now.

I wouldn't call that morbidly obese... but really good job, you should definitely be proud of yourself!

315 lbs at a height of 6'1 is by definition mobid obesity. Too many people don't want to identify as mobidly obese. I would never had thought of myself as such but again, by definition of the word, I was.

Had you always been overweight?

Yes. In grade school I was "husky". In highschool I was a football player but played line and had plenty of extra fat. In college I lost all the muscle I gained from football and went from "big" to "fat". After college I really let myself go.

psych101

No questions, just HELLLLLLOooooooo you look great!

vismal

Congrats, sir

My question:

Going from photo 2 to photo 3 (both @195) what has been your training/lifting routine?

3 day a week total body during cutting phases. 4 day a week upper/lower split for buking.

I have lost weight, I have about 20 to 30 more pounds to go, my bodyfat is still above 30% ... I just committed to doing P90X with a friend (I'm on day 6). I was tossing around the idea of heavy lifting (especially 5 x 5) before and now after reading some of your comments I am wondering if I am wasting my time with P90X and should have started lifting instead? Do you think it's possible to do both without overtraining?

What contributed most to your weight loss?

If I had to pick one, p90x vs lifting heavy, I'd pick lifting heavy hands down. I think of p90x more as cardio with strength training mixed in. It will burn more calories but lifting will do more to preserve lean mass while losing fat. Can you do both, depends on your personal level of recovery.

I'm familiar with your lifting routine. I did starting strength and then some texas method after about 6 months of SS. How do you stay motivated with your lifting when you hit that inevitable plateau and the weight starts to get up there? I know weight is relative, but it became really hard to psyche myself up to get under the bar for 315lb ATG squats. I eventually went back to just running since I love it and ultrarunning and powerlifting work at cross purposes. I was very happy with the huge gainz, but I couldn't really hang when they stopped coming and I had to find a reason to keep hitting it. I'm really just asking out of curiosity since I obviously didn't last long in the iron game until I got a bit burned out. Great work! You should be very proud!

Great question. You just have to get used to the idea of making very slow gains. I know it's not super thrilling to spend a month adding 5lbs to your squat. Sometimes in a cut I have to be happy with simply not losing strength. I look at lifting as an ends to a means. As long as I look and feel great, the number on the bar is basically irrelevant.

How did you keep your motivation up through this? I'm down 63 pounds in 6 months. People say i'm looking great but with a starting weight of 310 I still see myself as still just being fat and feel like this is never ending....

I accepted the fact that the journey is never ending. I can always be better. When there is no end point, there's no rush to get there!

DuckDynastyMakesMeLaugh

Fantastic transformation!

jmsspr93

Did you stop losing when you started using weights? As Ive been successful for 4 months losing 55 odd lbs and am wandering what the immediate effect will be if I lift

vismal

Holy Amazing, congratulations! I do have a question. This week I started weight lifting 3 x a week ( i can't do anymore that that with my kids/schedule). I also run with a double stroller 3x a week, HIIT 2x week and Yoga a few times as well. I recently finished a program where my calories were quite low, I wasn't doing any weight training, just intense cardio, I have lost about 50lbs since having my kids and now I am down to the last 5-10lbs and also wanting to get stronger, biggest trouble spot is my low belly fat and loose skin. My confusion lies with how much I should actually be eating now that I am also doing weight training.

As of today my MFP is set to 1700 after using a calorie calculator on Scooby's workshop. This is more than I have been eating, but I am not sure if it's enough/too much? Just hoping for a little advice, Im pretty new to calorie counting and brand new to weight training = overwhelmed!

Is your current (immediate) goal to lose the last 5-10 lbs or gain muscle? You can't do both at once and the answer is dependent on which you choose.

What Equiptment did you use? If you could talk to me as if I am stupid as I am unsure about all the different stuff. CHeers

All you need is the stuff at a basic gym. Set of dumbbells, an olympic barbell, a squat rack. You can get anything you need done with just that. You can do it with less if circumstances require it.

vismal

Did you stop losing when you started using weights? As Ive been successful for 4 months losing 55 odd lbs and am wandering what the immediate effect will be if I lift

No. Weight lifting does not halt weight loss. That's kind a rumor. People think they start gaining muscle rapidly when they lift and it's why the scale stalls. That's not true at all. Gaining muscle is hard and takes time. If you stop losing weight, 9 times out of 10 it's because you are eating too much.

jmsspr93

What Equiptment did you use? If you could talk to me as if I am stupid as I am unsure about all the different stuff. CHeers

All you need is the stuff at a basic gym. Set of dumbbells, an olympic barbell, a squat rack. You can get anything you need done with just that. You can do it with less if circumstances require it.
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But if I were to purchase it what weights etc? Is it the ones with a bar which you lift or hand lifts I literally have no idea and cant seem to find the answers online. I obviously will need a bench press but what else cheers

Kassidi21

Do you think that if you had been lifting from the beginning your skin may have stayed tighter???

Did you have any stretch marks at the beginning?? If so, how have they changed??

seehowyousoar

You look so so so great!! Great job on your progress, you are absolutely amazing!
My jaw literally dropped when I saw this, haha

Anyway - I have ~100 more lbs to lose. I'm super scared of loose skin, and I saw you said heavy lifting helps?
The thing is, I unfortunately don't have enough money for gym membership, and I only have 2lb dumbbells at home. :P Are there other exercises that I could do at home, maybe work out using my own body weight?

Thanks in advance! Amazing job once again!

sauci

Inspiring! :flowerforyou:

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adorable_aly

No questions. You look awesome, congratulations, your replies have been illuminating.

Thank you for taking the time :flowerforyou:

jofjltncb6

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 approve of ^this message. :drinker: )

Sounds like although you had a couple of things you would do differently, you still generally had the right ideas.

Congrats on your transformation. Well done.

auroranflash

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 approve of ^this message. :drinker: )

Sounds like although you had a couple of things you would do differently, you still generally had the right ideas.

Congrats on your transformation. Well done.

Great advice for the new lifters. Lifting is the way to go! Keep it up, sir.

Sovi_

Just here to drool.

chele1028

Wow you look awesome, congrats!!

PikaKnight

Amazing job! Congrats and tagging for my feed

DeathListFive

So. When are you selling tickets to that gun show? :laugh:

minireeree

Looking great!!!

I've not long started using MFP (2weeks) and just getting used to the way it all works.
I've been on a diet and fitness journey for the last 8 weeks. I've done many things in the past to try lose weight, not eating, raspberry ketones, detox etc etc. Its always taken me a while to lose any weight.

I've been given 1200cals to eat every day by MFP. I'm doing at least 3 exercise days per week, this is mixed up by normal cardio, circuits, hill climbing, spinning, some weights, aerobics classes, and walking, as I thought this would give my body a challenge. I have noticed a huge improvement in my fitness, and loving it. But the lack of weight loss is a tad frustrating.

In the 8 weeks of watching what I'm eating and exercising I've actually put ON 5lbs ((
So last week I changed my macros so the protein was the higher one.

Do you have any suggestions how I can get the scales moving in the right direction?
My problem areas are my thighs, hips, and *kitten*. lol, but ideally I want to tone all over.
My exercise buddy has been doing the same as me, shes taller, but she has lost over a stone. I just don't know where I'm going wrong.
What exercises should I be focusing on?
Should I be eating back my exercise calories?
Does it matter what the macros are set at?
Should I be focusing on just diet, until i get to goal weight and then tone?

Just really needing help to get me going in the right direction............
Any advice would be much appreciated

ClaphamCommoner

That's really impressive, congratulations.

Just one question...

I assume there were times when you really struggled to motivate yourself to go the gym, or not eat something that would set you back? Was there a self-affirming message you would say to yourself to get over the cravings or drag yourself out of bed?

Ta x

BKNeenz

Congratulations, that's an amazing transformation. What do you think are the top 5 things that led to your success?

1. Myfitnesspal of course. It wasn't until I began tracking my intake that my success really started to take off
2. Understanding that "eating clean" is meaningless and that in order to have true life long success I had to eat foods I enjoyed (ice cream, cookies, etc) on a regular basis but in moderation
3. Lifting heavy weights
4. Not listening when people say "you lost enough already" or "you are getting too skinny"
5. Learning as much about the science behind nutrition and dieting as possible. There is more pseudoscience and myths in this field then any other on earth! So much BS to cut through to find the truth.

This is awesome motivation to those of us starting on the path to a healthier life. I've also been trying to read about health & nutrition to understand how all of these things affect your body. Everything from super foods, veggies, how your heart rate is related to calorie burn, etc. It's all been very informative and helps me to stay focussed if I understand them properly.

Looking forward to when I get to hear #4!

Thank you for sharing!

ms_lindsay

I think it would be to lose the last 5-10lbs then work towards gaining muscle. I would still like to continue on the same routine as I like weight training combined with cardio, I just know that I do have a few more pounds to shed. I am also recently learning more about macros and right now mine are set to 50% carbs, 30% protein and 20% fat, Im not sure if that is reasonable for a weight lost goal, I believe that with my daily calorie intake is a .8 lb per week loss, which is fine for me, I'm not in a rush, im just unsure if I am going in the right direction. It seems that it is much harder now that I am closer to my goal. I am 34yrs, 5ft5 and currently flucuate between 132-134lbs. I had a goal in mind of 125-127lbs.

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond, really appreciate the help!

cad39too

No question, just wanted to say amazing transformation. Well done.

ms_lindsay

Is your current (immediate) goal to lose the last 5-10 lbs or gain muscle? You can't do both at once and the answer is dependent on which you choose.

*Sorry I don't know how to do this quote thing, lol. And it seems to have posted twice and incorrectly

I think it would be to lose the last 5-10lbs then work towards gaining muscle. I would still like to continue on the same routine as I like weight training combined with cardio, I just know that I do have a few more pounds to shed. I am also recently learning more about macros and right now mine are set to 50% carbs, 30% protein and 20% fat, Im not sure if that is reasonable for a weight lost goal, I believe that with my daily calorie intake is a .8 lb per week loss, which is fine for me, I'm not in a rush, im just unsure if I am going in the right direction. It seems that it is much harder now that I am closer to my goal. I am 34yrs, 5ft5 and currently flucuate between 132-134lbs. I had a goal in mind of 125-127lbs.

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond, really appreciate the help!