Quick questions

Spinalcord12 · August 2013

Hi there.
I'm new to this site and all.

Just some quick background info on myself.
I'm 18, nearing 19 years old, male 6ft tall.

For the first 17-18 years of my life I have been obese and overweight.
Last August was when I was at my heaviest (309Lbs - Yeah I know I was terrible) and also when I decided to start losing weight.

Currently I'm at 203lbs. Which is great progress I know but I still look fat, whilst I have slimmed down a lot from my old self and have made significant progress on being able to wear smaller sized clothing I feel like I'm still quite far away from my goal.

I had to wear a 50" Chest Suit jacket and a 44" Waist pants for my graduation ball last year.

Currently I'm wearing a 42" Slim Fit Blazer and I fit quite comfortably in 36" Jeans, though I know that jeans manufacturers differ in their size. T shirts wise I used to wear XXXL or XXL and now I can fit into most Ls and some Mediums.

However I'm wondering if it'll ever be possible for someone of my height and build to wear Medium sized clothing and like 30-32" Jeans at all. If possible I'm also wondering what weight I'll need to be to achieve it, cause honestly its been a long year which has really tired me out to the point I'm finally swallowing my pride and asking for help and advice on the Internet.

So yeah, any help would be greatly appreciated.

heybales · August 2013

That could be a realistic weight for 6 ft tall, carrying a lot of muscle.

About 195 would be realistic if large frame.

Unless you were mainly doing lifting as exercise, and eating enough protein, you likely lost a decent amount of muscle mass, and still have decent amount of fat mass you are carrying.

Since fat takes up more space per lb compared to muscle, you'll seem fluffy with fat.

At this point, if you want to change that body composition and fit of clothes, time to hit the weights and eat at maintenance, no more diet.

You'll increase LBM and some muscle very slowly, more importantly you'll burn off fat that is taking up space.

I don't think you'll fit in to 30-32 at that weight though, unless you are actually small framed, in which case down to 160 might be realistic. But still best handled by lifting and eating at maintenance first, don't try to lose any more weight.

Continue on current route, you might end up at what is commonly called "skinny-fat" meaning you reached your goal weight, and perhaps clothes size, but you can tell there is still a lot of fat there, and your metabolism is much lower than need be, requiring you to always eat low amounts.

Great work getting to this point though, great self-control and stamina, that's for sure.

linsey0689 · August 2013

Is it possible yes it is possible for you I'm not sure. It depends on your frame. But you are already wear some medium shirts so you are already there. And do you think you could use 4 more inches around your waist? Maybe if you had a photo I would be able to give more of my opinion but you don't.

Also I want to say don't let a size be your goal because really you are one of the only people that know it. I would rather look good in a size 12 (I'm a female) then to squeeze myself into a size 8 to make myself feel better about myself. Because really a size doesn't make me feel any better about myself just remember that.

Best of luck to you!

Spinalcord12 · August 2013

I'm actually unsure of what my frame is.
Some have told me I'm a large frame others have said medium.
Don't think I've ever been called a small framed person though.

Also I'm sure I lost quite a bit of muscle mass during the first 10 months of losing weight so lately I've begun to start lifting weights (15kg Dumbells) again which from what I've gathered should be slowing down my actual weight loss since the same volume of muscle weighs more than the same volume of fat right?

My target weight has always been around 175-185lbs.
Is that an ideal weight to work towards or should I aim lower for 160 if I actually am small framed?

smantha32 · August 2013

It would be easier for us to tell if you'd put some photos up.

Mcgrawhaha · August 2013

Hi there.
I'm new to this site and all.

Just some quick background info on myself.
I'm 18, nearing 19 years old, male 6ft tall.

For the first 17-18 years of my life I have been obese and overweight.
Last August was when I was at my heaviest (309Lbs - Yeah I know I was terrible) and also when I decided to start losing weight.

Currently I'm at 203lbs. Which is great progress I know but I still look fat, whilst I have slimmed down a lot from my old self and have made significant progress on being able to wear smaller sized clothing I feel like I'm still quite far away from my goal.

I had to wear a 50" Chest Suit jacket and a 44" Waist pants for my graduation ball last year.

Currently I'm wearing a 42" Slim Fit Blazer and I fit quite comfortably in 36" Jeans, though I know that jeans manufacturers differ in their size. T shirts wise I used to wear XXXL or XXL and now I can fit into most Ls and some Mediums.

However I'm wondering if it'll ever be possible for someone of my height and build to wear Medium sized clothing and like 30-32" Jeans at all. If possible I'm also wondering what weight I'll need to be to achieve it, cause honestly its been a long year which has really tired me out to the point I'm finally swallowing my pride and asking for help and advice on the Internet.

So yeah, any help would be greatly appreciated.

my husband is 6 foot 2 and weighs 215... he wears jeans size 34 and large shirts... at 6 ft, medium size shirts would be short on you... I think large is good for your height!

coopmoe · August 2013

6'3" and ~205 currently, and since 6'0" and ~185 in high school to now (aside from a bit of a heavier period) I've never been anything but a 36 waist and L shirts. Got a couple M's that can work, but Like Mcgrawhaha said they are a tad short. Should also say that I tend to think I fall into the Mesomorph camp.

heybales · August 2013

I'm actually unsure of what my frame is.
Some have told me I'm a large frame others have said medium.
Don't think I've ever been called a small framed person though.

Also I'm sure I lost quite a bit of muscle mass during the first 10 months of losing weight so lately I've begun to start lifting weights (15kg Dumbells) again which from what I've gathered should be slowing down my actual weight loss since the same volume of muscle weighs more than the same volume of fat right?

My target weight has always been around 175-185lbs.
Is that an ideal weight to work towards or should I aim lower for 160 if I actually am small framed?

Your weight loss should be slowing down purposely because you recognize you are closer to goal weight, and it's much safer to try to NOT lose as fast.

Considering muscle may be added perhaps a lb every 6 weeks IF eating enough protein and IF lifting with major muscle groups heavy. Small muscles no, big muscles (legs) possibly that much.

I'd go for the 190 first, and with only 10 lbs to lose, back off to 1/2 lb weekly goal. And log your lifting and strength training and eat back those calories so you maintain ONLY that 1/2 lb deficit weekly, no more.

That smaller deficit, along with lifting, and hopefully heavy, will have the best chance of recomping your body, building LBM and perhaps some muscle (muscle is just one part of LBM) and losing FM (Fat Mass).

With those goals, stop using the scale as a measure for your body (still for food though) and start using measurements of many body parts.

Spreadsheet on my profile page will help with tracking, and nailing the eating level with best estimates of everything. If you have a steady routine for workouts, stay on the Simple Setup tab.

Spinalcord12 · September 2013

Sorry for not adding pictures.
But another one of my obstacles I need to face is gaining self confidence in my body.

Like right now I wear Giordano M sized Boxers and L sized T shirts and 36" Jeans but I still often change back into wearing XL Shirts because I'm uncomfortable with my body shape and all.

Also I'm unsure why I haven't loss any weight for the last 2-3 days.

I weighed myself this morning, at 10am and I clocked in at 203lbs, but I ate a Banana and drank 1 liter of water earlier at like 6-8am. Surely it should have been digested and removed from my system right?

Another thing I want to ask is. If I've been inactive during June to early August exercise wise and I started up lifting weights, doing pushups and the m100 daily would it have caused muscle gain? I noticed that my calves and arms have gotten notably more defined these past few days or so. Would that be that I gained some muscle fairly quickly? Is that even possible.

Sorry for the possibly ignorant questions but yeah. I'm kind of new to the seeking help thing on the Internet.

heybales · September 2013

Sorry for not adding pictures.
But another one of my obstacles I need to face is gaining self confidence in my body.

Like right now I wear Giordano M sized Boxers and L sized T shirts and 36" Jeans but I still often change back into wearing XL Shirts because I'm uncomfortable with my body shape and all.

Also I'm unsure why I haven't loss any weight for the last 2-3 days.

I weighed myself this morning, at 10am and I clocked in at 203lbs, but I ate a Banana and drank 1 liter of water earlier at like 6-8am. Surely it should have been digested and removed from my system right?

Another thing I want to ask is. If I've been inactive during June to early August exercise wise and I started up lifting weights, doing pushups and the m100 daily would it have caused muscle gain? I noticed that my calves and arms have gotten notably more defined these past few days or so. Would that be that I gained some muscle fairly quickly? Is that even possible.

Sorry for the possibly ignorant questions but yeah. I'm kind of new to the seeking help thing on the Internet.

Not a chance in the world did you gain muscle fast enough to see. You strengthen what you got.

The only valid weigh-in time to avoid normal fluctuations is the morning after a rest day eating normal sodium levels and not sore from last workout.
Anything else will have false gain and loss involved, and therefore invalid data point.

Weight loss also isn't linear, better stop weighing everyday, or go overboard to see how foolish it is to base any thought or feeling on that weight - weigh every 2 hrs through the day.

No the banana was not removed, not likely the water either, at least a decent amount of it. If you needed that sugar stored, it stored with water, and that is good healthy weight you need.

rileyhall00 · September 2013

One sure tell way to find out

keep slimming down.

I'm 6'5" and wear mostly large stuff. I'm not too overweight, like with a look im not but when you through my details into a BMI calc I am. I'm hear to loose my belly and get fitter.

Anyways I see myself still wearing large clothes due to my height and shape (shoulders and torso length....etc).
Could be a different story for you though since your 6'0". I think its possible. I find though like you mentioned with the jean manufacturers that they can all differ in size. What might be a medium in one brand might be a standard large.

Either way, i reckon keep on your journey and have the pleasure of finding out the hard rewarding way.

Spinalcord12 · September 2013

Not a chance in the world did you gain muscle fast enough to see. You strengthen what you got.

The only valid weigh-in time to avoid normal fluctuations is the morning after a rest day eating normal sodium levels and not sore from last workout.
Anything else will have false gain and loss involved, and therefore invalid data point.

Weight loss also isn't linear, better stop weighing everyday, or go overboard to see how foolish it is to base any thought or feeling on that weight - weigh every 2 hrs through the day.

No the banana was not removed, not likely the water either, at least a decent amount of it. If you needed that sugar stored, it stored with water, and that is good healthy weight you need.

By weight loss not being linear do you mean that I might spend a while stuck at 203lbs then somehow start dropping in weight again?

Whilst I was inactive during June - early Aug I went from 207lbs to 213lbs (August 16) I then started cutting back on food and exercising again and dropped to 203 pretty quickly too. Is that considered normal?

Spinalcord12 · September 2013

bump?

heybales · September 2013

By weight loss not being linear do you mean that I might spend a while stuck at 203lbs then somehow start dropping in weight again?

Whilst I was inactive during June - early Aug I went from 207lbs to 213lbs (August 16) I then started cutting back on food and exercising again and dropped to 203 pretty quickly too. Is that considered normal?

If while inactive you ate about the same, that means likely at maintenance. You would have gained depleted glucose stores with required water.
When you cut again, it drops again.

That is totally expected.

Also, your body can start retaining water if deficit is too great or not enough carbs, and it will actually store it in the fat cells. A night of some stiff drinks (not yet now), or a good carb refeed day, will cause a whoosh effect and water drops and 3-4 lbs drops. After several weeks of nothing.

Not linear means you don't lose 1 lb exactly each and every week, especially to the point where you think you can weigh mid-week and see 1/2 lb gone.

Spinalcord12 · September 2013

Thanks for the replies guys.

Another thing that has concerned me is that whilst my weight loss is noticeable in nearly every single part of my body, be it face, arms, legs, back and belly it still feels like I got a big belly.

Does the fat from your belly come off last?

heybales · September 2013

Stress causes body to release cortisol, and guess where that hormone encourages fat storage?

So yes, generally last.

Your body can also start making improvements when you eat enough. Improving does not usually mean weight loss, but water weight gains.
While fat is coming off, weight can stay exactly the same, and measurements will drop.

So keep measurements over scale weight. Besides, what do people actually see?

Please don't say you carry a scale on your back with a note regarding current weight!

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