Weight obsession
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bugzbrown
Posts: 4 Member
Hi,
I've been here for a short while, a week today.
I've been reading along the message board and I have realised that, in general, people seem to have a weight obsession.
Please, before you start flaming me to oblivion, let me explain. I'll tell you my story so you can make your own conclusions.
I am, in no means, a health specialist. I have no degree in nutrition, biology or medicine, quite the contrary... I am a computer geek. As one of the side effects of being a nerd, I tend to read a lot about a subject I have interest in, and in this case, it's health.
I was, like most of you, a weight oriented person. In my teens, I trained athletics, my specialties? 100m and high-jump. With an extreme sports dedicated life, I was clocking in 4 - 6, and sometimes 8 hours a day of intense physical exercise.
At the age of 16, I started feeling ill, I was skinny as could be (you could literally see the muscles and bones on my body). The outcome of my ordeal, I was under 4% body fat. My doctor cut my workout hours, changed my diet to increase Carbs and Fats.
After a month or so, I felt better. I am 1.78 (5.8") and at that time, with body fat close to 6%, I was weighing in about 80kg (160 pounds).
I left school and started working a desk job. Sports slowly fell into a distant time of my life. The years treated me reasonably well. I have a relatively high metabolism which, until a few years back, allowed me to gulp all sorts of junk food and not put on too much fat. About 10 years back, I slowly but surely started noticing that I was getting a belly, at first, a small little deposit of fat, and eventually, people started telling me I was getting fat.
About a year ago, I peaked, I had grown four numbers on my trousers. I had gone from a size 30 to 34 (starting to look at 36s).
I decided I needed to get in shape. I started reading about nutrition, exercise and the works...
I was working intensely at the time and I was looking for a way to start loosing weight and inches fast. I read into every possible diet you can think of; low-carb, ketogenic, vegeterian, vegan and all sorts of other ones. I studied them for a while and decided to try out a couple to see what would happen.
I was weighing 82Kgs, with an unhealthy 100cm waist. I went into a variation of the low-carb diet. I would eat carbs once a week, and spend the rest of the time eating proteins and veggies. I lost about 5kg in the first week, but felt pretty drained. I was tired all the time, and in a crummy mood. The second week, I lost much less... about 2kg. I stuck out the diet for two months...
I lost in total, about 14kg, and I went from a tight 34 to an OK 32.
I was happy at first, but, I was feeling extremely tired and weak. I lost resistance for doing a load of things I was used to do, and merely walking to the office(about 1/2 a mile) was a chore I felt exhausting.
As I read more about the diet I had undertaken, I realised that it was doing me more harm than good. I decided to quit and slowly started bringing in carbs into my diet. A few months later I was eating normally (healthy food) and noticed I felt more comfortable in my 34s than I did in my 32s.
I weighed in, I was 70Kg... how could I have lost 10Kg and still be wearing 34s?
It turns out, fat weighs much less than muscle. By not working out and eating poorly my body, i depleted my muscle mass. My diet had helped me accelerate that process more, mainly because I had almost no energy to do anything physical.
I decided to go the hard way. I downloaded a "Couch to 5k" app on my phone. Started jogging slowly on my treadmill a couple times a week, eating healthier food and cutting out sugars and other junk food related items.
6 months have gone by. I am not following any specific diet. I eat well, I drink loads of water and green tea, I exercise regularly.
What has happened? I have gained 4Kgs in the past 6 months. I am sitting in at +- 75Kg, but, I am happy to say, I am back yo wearing my 30s!
My wasit line has dropped considerably and my once protruding gut is slowly but surely shrivelling. I can actually start to make ou the first signs of what may be a possible six-pack (they look more like a three pack - two little muscles showing through and one still fairly big layer of fat in the lower abdomen).
So you see, there is a point where loosing fat does not mean loosing weight. Actually, if you are like I was, a sedentary bum, working out will actually increase your weight. You should be looking at inches and % of fat in your body. You should do regular checkups and focus on making you life more healthy rather than obsessing about carbs, proteins and fats.
I've been here for a short while, a week today.
I've been reading along the message board and I have realised that, in general, people seem to have a weight obsession.
Please, before you start flaming me to oblivion, let me explain. I'll tell you my story so you can make your own conclusions.
I am, in no means, a health specialist. I have no degree in nutrition, biology or medicine, quite the contrary... I am a computer geek. As one of the side effects of being a nerd, I tend to read a lot about a subject I have interest in, and in this case, it's health.
I was, like most of you, a weight oriented person. In my teens, I trained athletics, my specialties? 100m and high-jump. With an extreme sports dedicated life, I was clocking in 4 - 6, and sometimes 8 hours a day of intense physical exercise.
At the age of 16, I started feeling ill, I was skinny as could be (you could literally see the muscles and bones on my body). The outcome of my ordeal, I was under 4% body fat. My doctor cut my workout hours, changed my diet to increase Carbs and Fats.
After a month or so, I felt better. I am 1.78 (5.8") and at that time, with body fat close to 6%, I was weighing in about 80kg (160 pounds).
I left school and started working a desk job. Sports slowly fell into a distant time of my life. The years treated me reasonably well. I have a relatively high metabolism which, until a few years back, allowed me to gulp all sorts of junk food and not put on too much fat. About 10 years back, I slowly but surely started noticing that I was getting a belly, at first, a small little deposit of fat, and eventually, people started telling me I was getting fat.
About a year ago, I peaked, I had grown four numbers on my trousers. I had gone from a size 30 to 34 (starting to look at 36s).
I decided I needed to get in shape. I started reading about nutrition, exercise and the works...
I was working intensely at the time and I was looking for a way to start loosing weight and inches fast. I read into every possible diet you can think of; low-carb, ketogenic, vegeterian, vegan and all sorts of other ones. I studied them for a while and decided to try out a couple to see what would happen.
I was weighing 82Kgs, with an unhealthy 100cm waist. I went into a variation of the low-carb diet. I would eat carbs once a week, and spend the rest of the time eating proteins and veggies. I lost about 5kg in the first week, but felt pretty drained. I was tired all the time, and in a crummy mood. The second week, I lost much less... about 2kg. I stuck out the diet for two months...
I lost in total, about 14kg, and I went from a tight 34 to an OK 32.
I was happy at first, but, I was feeling extremely tired and weak. I lost resistance for doing a load of things I was used to do, and merely walking to the office(about 1/2 a mile) was a chore I felt exhausting.
As I read more about the diet I had undertaken, I realised that it was doing me more harm than good. I decided to quit and slowly started bringing in carbs into my diet. A few months later I was eating normally (healthy food) and noticed I felt more comfortable in my 34s than I did in my 32s.
I weighed in, I was 70Kg... how could I have lost 10Kg and still be wearing 34s?
It turns out, fat weighs much less than muscle. By not working out and eating poorly my body, i depleted my muscle mass. My diet had helped me accelerate that process more, mainly because I had almost no energy to do anything physical.
I decided to go the hard way. I downloaded a "Couch to 5k" app on my phone. Started jogging slowly on my treadmill a couple times a week, eating healthier food and cutting out sugars and other junk food related items.
6 months have gone by. I am not following any specific diet. I eat well, I drink loads of water and green tea, I exercise regularly.
What has happened? I have gained 4Kgs in the past 6 months. I am sitting in at +- 75Kg, but, I am happy to say, I am back yo wearing my 30s!
My wasit line has dropped considerably and my once protruding gut is slowly but surely shrivelling. I can actually start to make ou the first signs of what may be a possible six-pack (they look more like a three pack - two little muscles showing through and one still fairly big layer of fat in the lower abdomen).
So you see, there is a point where loosing fat does not mean loosing weight. Actually, if you are like I was, a sedentary bum, working out will actually increase your weight. You should be looking at inches and % of fat in your body. You should do regular checkups and focus on making you life more healthy rather than obsessing about carbs, proteins and fats.
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Replies
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This post is a gem for me! When I started I was 198 lbs and 5'3" .... seriously overweight and more importantly unhealthy. Make a long story short when I started my journey I wanted to look good again, lose weight, and somewhere in the order of priorities be healthier. Now as I have failed then learned my expectations have changed. I'm happy with being healthy as a top priority and what is coming My way as a result is a leaner appearance. Thanks for sharing your story. It's definitely confirmation for me!
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First of all well done on your weight loss so far!
I was exactly the same! i seem to yo yo between the same 9lbs and it drives me crazy! i want to get out of the wall that i am stuck in!
I have now started back at the gym after 6 years off (i know that is horrific!) My boyfriend is helping me and well and truly kicking my *kitten*! lol.
If you would like to chat feel free to add me
x0
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