Men with 100+ Pounts to Lose or Already Lost

rickypo · November 2012

I have 200+ pounds to lose and have had some hurdles but am down 41 pounds since May 2012. What has been the experience with other guys that are or were 200+ pounds overweight? What kind of exercise program has worked or not worked for you? What is your goal for calorie intake?

Please feel free to add me if you are experiencing the same journey or share some before and after pics for more motivation!!

Any advice would be helpful.

jp77379 · November 2012

Congrats on losing 41 lbs. You are well on your way.

I started MFP in mid April with at least 120 lbs to lose and have lost 86 lbs to date. My calorie goal is always getting cranked down as I lose.... it was just over 2,000 in the beginning and is now at 1,600. I've been pretty steady at losing just over 10 lbs per month.

The exercise program I started on was the Couch to 5K. I remember thinking in the begining that I was too heavy and there was no way I could run. I was dead wrong about that. Even when I was over 300 lbs, I was out there running 30 minutes at a clip. The program is very well thought out and gives your body a chance to adjust. Just follow the interval training the program spells out and quite literally you will be able to run a 5K in a matter of months. If you feel you aren't ready for the "next" workout, just repeat a week. Even if you repeat the same week 3 times.... no big deal. Just keep at it.

Once I finished that, I started working on the Bridge to 10K. I am a few weeks away from finishing that and now I run 5.5 miles every other day.

About 3 months ago, I added swimming. So I run every other day, and swim on days I don't run. I swim for 30-45 minutes at the gym and the results are great. Running is definitely a "high impact" activity and your shins, knees, back, etc will hurt. Swimming gives me a chance to get a great workout in but give my joints the day off.

If you are going to be working out, I would suggest you start taking a whey/casein protein shake immediately after. I take EAS Lean 15. It's 100 calories per serving. I don't do this as meal replacement, but rather as a supplement. There is some good study data out there that shows whey can really boost your metabolism.

Water.... drink lots of water. Then drink more.

When I first heard about MFP I was skeptical. I thought this was another gimmicky thing, a fad that would come and go. But once I started using it, the results spoke for themselves. Having to log every....single....thing that goes past my lips is the real key, I believe. I always -thought- I was eating healthy, but I wasn't even close.

Lastly, keep it real with serving size (measure if you have to... I do). I find that most people are a terrible judge of what an ounce is or what a cup is, myself included. I literally measure my cereal every morning and my cocktails in the evening!

Losing over 100 lbs in 1 year is totally doable on this program. Keep up your great work. You are literally adding years to your life.

thebowhunter · November 2012

Im with ya brotha. Im set on losing 164 pounds. Today Im down 51 of those pounds in 10 weeks. I told myself that Im my own worst enemy and that Im not going fall for any of my bullchit excuses. Lots of other people have done it and so can I. Thus far its been a breeze. Im on the ELMM diet (very few people seem to use that one these days) but its works for me.

rjcelmer · November 2012

Hey there! I have dropped 120lbs in just about a year. I started at 295'ish and am down to fluctuating between 170 and 175, depending on what my body feels like doing that day.

I began by just changing my food intake because I was putting away a ton of food every day. I would estimate I was eating about 2000 calories per meal on a daily basis. I stopped eating fried foods, cooked fresh foods at home and made sure I logged everything here at MFP. I stopped eating very late (about 8pm) and made sure I got a lot of rest. I used to get about 4-5 hrs a night and now I get at least 8. Eating at night was a HUGE killer for me. I found myself snacking until midnight sometimes. I also learned portion control and that has been the biggest help for me, even now.

I didn't exercise at all until I was about 40lbs lighter because I was unable to sustain more than a couple minutes of anything before I felt like I wanted to die. When I DID start moving my butt, I started off slowly and worked my way upward. I bought an elliptical machine and used that along with walking as exercise. I didn't start lifting weights until I was down to about 200lbs. In hindsight, I should have done a little weight training all along because I'm working off some loose skin (not a ton but I know it's there!).

I started with 1300-1400 cals a day and as I started exercising, bumped it up a little every month depending on how much I lost. I now set myself at 2400 cals a day and workout 4x a week for about an hour or more each time.

You can do it. You have already proven this to yourself by dropping 41lbs. With that attitude, you can't be stopped!

Here's a little motivational picture.

Best of luck!

cbeutler · November 2012

I think obesity like you and I have is a complex problem. By way of example I had a sedentary lifestyle, terrible diet, sleep apnea, gout, depression, and compulsive eating. It wasn't until I addressed all of these things that I started to make progress.

I can tell you, consistency of diet is the true key. 90% comes from eating near or under your goal. Gradually as you have success losing weight you will clean up your diet some. It happens as self preservation because you will want a satisfying volume of food. So a 300 calorie salad will eventually be more appealing than a 300 calorie ice cream cone. But don't worry about that, just stick with MFP and your diet will evolve into a healthier diet.

For exercise this will evolve too. I would start with a daily walk. Try to get up to 4 miles a day over the next 2 months. I would also suggest lifting weights 3 days a week working your entire body each time. You can easily do this in 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Once you can consistently do those things the sky is the limit. I run, bike, spin, lift, do Pilates and all kinds of things now but start with the basics.

It is important you don't injure yourself pushing too hard. Take it slow and listen to your body. Be consistent and a year from now you will be amazed. I dropped about 160 pounds in less than a year. No potions, pills or surgery. I went from not being able to walk around the block to completing three half marathons.

I highly recommend seeing a therapist if you are depressed, and can't overstate the value of Overeater's annonomyus if you are a compulsive eater.

Good luck,
Craig

Men with 100+ Pounts to Lose or Already Lost

Replies

Categories