Male - 33, 250lbs, 6'3" already down 50lbs

markdlennon
markdlennon Posts: 69 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey everyone -

I started losing weight around the end of January 2012, and it's been pretty smooth sailing for the past 9 months or so. At 300lbs, even on a large framed 6'3" I didn't feel good/happy/energetic/sexy/anything anymore. My self confidence pretty much didn't exist, and I was becoming the "funny big guy." Everyone has the larger funny friend...and I was it.

I started small. I know some of my old habits got the best of me, and contributed to my weight gain over the past 6 years. I've got a desk job, where I chose to go out to eat for lunch, just to get away from the office, and for "me" time. Going out, I made bad choices, and put on weight. After lunch, presumably eating awful stuff...I'd come back to work, and hit the 2pm slump, and grab a 20oz Mt Dew. Every now and then...add in a small 2oz bag of Cheetos from the vending machine, and you have my work week meal plan pretty much wrapped up. Good stuff.

So, after the Holiday season this year, I decided I needed to change. I did a LOT of reading online, somewhere found MFP, and continued reading other sites online. Once I had enough information, I started out small...and while I didn't cut out my lunchtime shenanigans, I stopped getting the afternoon sodas at work. I've always been a big water drinker, so I just stepped it up a bit more.

Once I had that under control, I started going home for lunches, which still let me get out of the office for an hour, but also pretty much forced me to find healthier foods to eat.

I never figured out what my calorie intake used to be per day, but I cut pretty drastically right away, and while it was difficult to do...I enjoyed seeing pants fit differently, or, being able to use the next 'notch' on the belt...so that kept me going.

Somewhere along the line, I started walking around town. Almost every night, I'd go out walking with my lil smartphone and the Endomondo app, and would track anywhere between 2-5miles a night.

Fast forward a month or two, and I want to start jogging. Endomondo updated their software, and they have some HIIT sets you can do....so on with that I went, and increased my distance and speed.

If I wasn't walking around town, or walk/jogging with Endomondo, I was riding a stationary bike in my apartment sweating like a banshee. All was good.

So, after that wall of text, here I am. During all of the above, I was probably eating between 2000-2400 calories, and hardly ever eating back exercise calories. Weight loss has really slowed down the past 2 months, altho I hesitate to call it a plateau.

Here's my nerdy side coming out:

ScreenShot2012-10-17at74838PM.png

and a before/after:

beforeandafter001.jpg

yes yes, please hold your Carson comments for the end of the discussion. :) hehe.

So, since I really haven't seen the scale move much at all since Early August, I'm looking to change things up a bit.

I went thru all sorts of calculators online, wether it was Scoobies, Fat2Fit radio, Fitnessfrog, MFP, you name it. All of these links are telling me to eat a LOT more than I have been, and I'm all for it. :)

Here's my stats:

Age: 33
Height 6'3"
Weight 250 currently
Target weight: 215
Activity: I'm trying something different, and instead of marking "sedentary" and then eating back all of my exercise calories, I'm bumping that up a level or two. I've been doing JM 30DS for the past two weeks, and get in 4 sessions a week, along with averaging one 1hr walk with the gf a week, and hopping on the stationary bike for a half hour a week too. THoughts there?

I figured these:

using Fat2Fit
ScreenShot2012-10-17at80926PM.png

using FitnessFrog:
ScreenShot2012-10-17at80216PM.png

and finally using Scoobies Workshop
ScreenShot2012-10-17at80358PM.png

just some more goodies:
ScreenShot2012-10-17at80543PM.png

ScreenShot2012-10-17at80739PM.png

Now, I guess I'd like to ask if anyone has any other tips for me, or something I should be changing?

I've changed my daily calorie count to be approx 2600 on busy workout days, and I"ll go a little below that number on days I'm not working out.

Thanks for reading. Cheers.

Replies

  • cedarghost
    cedarghost Posts: 621 Member
    Bump-
    Very similar to a question I just asked. Interested int he answer.
  • markdlennon
    markdlennon Posts: 69 Member
    Bump-
    Very similar to a question I just asked. Interested int he answer.

    Thanks for the bump, and congrats on quitting smoking, as well as dropping soda.

    I've done that myself...the stopping drinking soda thing....and usually gotten horrible headaches. This go around...I just powered thru them, and drank enough water so that the headaches never really came. :)

    Congrats again, those are two HUGE changes you've made.
  • cedarghost
    cedarghost Posts: 621 Member
    Thanks!
  • jayhoang
    jayhoang Posts: 22
    Mark,

    I did read most of that wall of text and to be honest, it may not be all that complicated.

    For fat loss - it's as simple as eating a caloric deficit - as you already know. You obviously know the science and theory behind it, I believe all that's left is a change in your exercise.

    It sounds like you're staying with the cardio. I recommend easing yourself into weight training - simple, but compound, full body exercises. You'll see that by doing these weighted exercises, you'll not only lose weight, but turn the fat into lean muscle. This works especially if you are new to weight training - your muscles and body will be shocked with a new routine. Work on a muscle group each day.

    And again - water water water!
  • markdlennon
    markdlennon Posts: 69 Member
    Mark,

    I did read most of that wall of text and to be honest, it may not be all that complicated.

    And again - water water water!

    Hey Jay -

    Yeah, I DO know I need to get into a gym and start up with some compound movements....up to this point, it's all been at home stuff biking,a workout dvd, or outside running around town.

    My apologies for the walloftxt. I know others come in asking for help, and questions and answers get piece-mealed in before anyone gets an accurate depiction of who that person really is, and what they are doing...Anyways... :)

    Thanks for the feedback man. Appreciate it.
  • jayhoang
    jayhoang Posts: 22
    All good! It's nice to see that you've been looking at macros to hit your goals.

    I think once you make your first step into the gym and add weights into your arsenal, you'll start to see that graph start to plummet again!
  • kms1320
    kms1320 Posts: 599 Member
    I second the weightlifting. We're very close in current weight and start weight, but your body fat % is higher. Cardio is good. I do it all the time, but you need to lift to not only gain lean mass but preserve what you have. You don't NEED a gym. I have 2 dumbbells, my body weight, and not much room. That's all you REALLY need. I aim for 12 sets a night. Chest and arms one night, then back and shoulders another, then legs another, then core, and keep 3 days of cardio, but 1 day might be a plyometrics dvd, or cardio X, or even yoga, just to keep it interesting and my body guessing.

    Don;t forget muscle burns more calories at rest too, it puts you ahead of the game.
  • jayhoang
    jayhoang Posts: 22
    I second the weightlifting. We're very close in current weight and start weight, but your body fat % is higher. Cardio is good. I do it all the time, but you need to lift to not only gain lean mass but preserve what you have. You don't NEED a gym. I have 2 dumbbells, my body weight, and not much room. That's all you REALLY need. I aim for 12 sets a night. Chest and arms one night, then back and shoulders another, then legs another, then core, and keep 3 days of cardio, but 1 day might be a plyometrics dvd, or cardio X, or even yoga, just to keep it interesting and my body guessing.

    Don;t forget muscle burns more calories at rest too, it puts you ahead of the game.

    Agree! That is a great idea. In fact - P90x would be great to introduce some weight training with just your living room.

    Also - fat hates it when you jump ;)
  • phyllio77
    phyllio77 Posts: 192 Member
    You are well on your way to achieve your weightloss goal! What a great idea of weighing yourself on the 1st and 15th...stealing that idea:)
  • FarmGirl69
    FarmGirl69 Posts: 211
    Please keep us posted on your progress...I'd be curious to see how things go....I can see a huge difference in your face already....good luck & keep it going! :happy:
  • markdlennon
    markdlennon Posts: 69 Member
    I second the weightlifting. We're very close in current weight and start weight, but your body fat % is higher. Cardio is good. I do it all the time, but you need to lift to not only gain lean mass but preserve what you have. You don't NEED a gym. I have 2 dumbbells, my body weight, and not much room. That's all you REALLY need. I aim for 12 sets a night. Chest and arms one night, then back and shoulders another, then legs another, then core, and keep 3 days of cardio, but 1 day might be a plyometrics dvd, or cardio X, or even yoga, just to keep it interesting and my body guessing.

    Don;t forget muscle burns more calories at rest too, it puts you ahead of the game.

    Thanks for the feedback, I like it...

    I've done some reading on bodyweight exercises, and I DO have some 25lb hand weights, but nothing else.

    Plyo scares me, as I've got two pretty bad knees from a car accident where I wasn't wearing a seat belt, but I'll give anything a go. I'm currently on my second round of JM 30DS and when that's done, I'll definitely look more into P90x.

    Thanks again.
  • markdlennon
    markdlennon Posts: 69 Member
    thursday morning bump. cheers
  • markdlennon
    markdlennon Posts: 69 Member
    Anyone else got anything? :)
  • markdlennon
    markdlennon Posts: 69 Member
    Just a thread update here.

    I made this original post in October of 2012, and I'm pretty much in the same position I was back then...

    I ended up buying a nice olympic weight bench, rack, and cheap plates from ****'s Sporting Goods. I'm following the Stronglifts program sheet, which looks like this:

    ScreenShot2013-01-27at85419PM_zpsb4d58feb.png

    the first few weeks of weights are small...but I think that's so that a relative lifting noob like me, doesn't do anything dumb and try to do too much, too soon. I'm cool with that.

    After going thru new body measurements last night, and running thru the "In Place of a Roadmap" thread, I'm bumping up my calorie goal to 22xx calories, and let that ride for a few weeks. I hope that is a correct adjustment.

    If anyone has anything to share, I'd love to hear your advice.

    Thanks.
    mark
  • lvtruu1
    lvtruu1 Posts: 211 Member
    Just a thread update here.

    I made this original post in October of 2012, and I'm pretty much in the same position I was back then...

    I ended up buying a nice olympic weight bench, rack, and cheap plates from ****'s Sporting Goods. I'm following the Stronglifts program sheet, which looks like this:

    ScreenShot2013-01-27at85419PM_zpsb4d58feb.png

    the first few weeks of weights are small...but I think that's so that a relative lifting noob like me, doesn't do anything dumb and try to do too much, too soon. I'm cool with that.

    After going thru new body measurements last night, and running thru the "In Place of a Roadmap" thread, I'm bumping up my calorie goal to 22xx calories, and let that ride for a few weeks. I hope that is a correct adjustment.

    If anyone has anything to share, I'd love to hear your advice.

    Thanks.
    mark

    Focus a great deal of energy on counting calories correctly. If you are really eating 2000 calories a day you wouldn't have stalled. Strong lifts is fine, though you'll want to mix in some isolation exercises down the road. It simply isn't much exercise doing those lifts. You are very likely burning less than 100 calories a workout doing that. Simply not enough weight or reps. At your weight I was still dropping 10 or more pounds a month. Without lifting though I did do many hours of cardio and ate less.
    Weight, measure and calculate exactly what you are eating. Everything. Everything you drink as well. You may find you don't have it as locked down as you think. Almost everyone doesn't, and the majority of stalls are caused by it. Don't estimate. Know.

    With an estimated TDEE of 3200 you aren't eating what you say and not losing weight. Not happening.
  • markdlennon
    markdlennon Posts: 69 Member

    Focus a great deal of energy on counting calories correctly. If you are really eating 2000 calories a day you wouldn't have stalled. Strong lifts is fine, though you'll want to mix in some isolation exercises down the road. It simply isn't much exercise doing those lifts. You are very likely burning less than 100 calories a workout doing that. Simply not enough weight or reps. At your weight I was still dropping 10 or more pounds a month. Without lifting though I did do many hours of cardio and ate less.
    Weight, measure and calculate exactly what you are eating. Everything. Everything you drink as well. You may find you don't have it as locked down as you think. Almost everyone doesn't, and the majority of stalls are caused by it. Don't estimate. Know.

    With an estimated TDEE of 3200 you aren't eating what you say and not losing weight. Not happening.

    I've gotten a food scale for christmas, and have definitely been using that. I honestly don't think i'm estimating that much. I really don't drink anything other than water, sans the occasional 8oz of skim milk measured in a blender bottle with some whey.

    The weird thing for me is this: I don't think I've changed the general idea of what worked for the first 50lbs, and now here I sit. I suppose I could be more critical of what actually goes on the plate.

    Thank you for your input.
  • eAddict
    eAddict Posts: 212 Member
    thanks for all the details!
  • lvtruu1
    lvtruu1 Posts: 211 Member

    Focus a great deal of energy on counting calories correctly. If you are really eating 2000 calories a day you wouldn't have stalled. Strong lifts is fine, though you'll want to mix in some isolation exercises down the road. It simply isn't much exercise doing those lifts. You are very likely burning less than 100 calories a workout doing that. Simply not enough weight or reps. At your weight I was still dropping 10 or more pounds a month. Without lifting though I did do many hours of cardio and ate less.
    Weight, measure and calculate exactly what you are eating. Everything. Everything you drink as well. You may find you don't have it as locked down as you think. Almost everyone doesn't, and the majority of stalls are caused by it. Don't estimate. Know.

    With an estimated TDEE of 3200 you aren't eating what you say and not losing weight. Not happening.

    I've gotten a food scale for christmas, and have definitely been using that. I honestly don't think i'm estimating that much. I really don't drink anything other than water, sans the occasional 8oz of skim milk measured in a blender bottle with some whey.

    The weird thing for me is this: I don't think I've changed the general idea of what worked for the first 50lbs, and now here I sit. I suppose I could be more critical of what actually goes on the plate.

    Thank you for your input.

    Sadly, for everyone the first pounds always seem to come off so much easier. I didn't see a stall until hitting 210. Only lost one pound that month. Didn't really change anything other than restarting cardio and actually upping calories 150 a day. I had started lifting the month before so I may have had some noob gains from that as well.

    Just keep plugging away. I cut at far lower calories so you have plenty of room to cut calories further. If you've completely plateaued and know that you are counting your calories without fail at that it is very accurate, you just have cut more calories. Research everything you eat, you may find that you have some errors. I discovered one that was 600 calories once a week. What you eat, really isn't all that important for weight loss. It really is the quantity. People lose weight will all sorts of diet schemes but the bottom line is calories in calories out.
  • markdlennon
    markdlennon Posts: 69 Member
    Just keep plugging away. I cut at far lower calories so you have plenty of room to cut calories further. If you've completely plateaued and know that you are counting your calories without fail at that it is very accurate, you just have cut more calories.

    People lose weight will all sorts of diet schemes but the bottom line is calories in calories out.

    Just plugging away is what I'm doing, I think. I literally just started Stronglifts, and as the program is drawn up, the weights DO start out small, and reality is, I'm ok with this. I never lifted in high school, never in college, and now I want to...so I'm going about it slowly, but with a purpose. As long as the weights get bigger every week, I feel pretty comfortable with this program at the moment.

    What are your thoughts on extended stays below BMR? It sounds like that's what you are recommending per your experience.

    Thanks for the talk so far.
    Cheers.
    mark

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