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

kcasey155 · May 2014

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?

I'm not the OP, but I love this body weight exercise site: http://www.startbodyweight.com
It has progressions for the body weight exercises, so you have a good starting point if you can't do a push-up or a pull-up, or a . . .

This might be the place to start for me too. After having five kids I cannot even hold a plank for ten seconds

Love2lift72 · May 2014

Do you think working night shift has affected you at all? I work nights and find it difficult to get enough sleep and to eat regularly.

V0lver · May 2014

Seriously awesome work there!

What was your total calorie intake when you started losing? Did you cut your calotes further when thr weight loss
slowed down?
How much time did the last 30lbs took to lose to gett to the 2nd pic?
Do you have weeks/days where you fall off track and put on weight? If not, what part of your routine would you hold respponsible for such a great run?

ramyad1 · May 2014

I checked your food diary for your first year but could not find out what you ate or what exercise you did etc.

Could you provide a day's diary of what you typically ate and your macro nutrient amounts.. Also could you provide a weeks worth of exercise routines that you did for the first year or would recommend?

Thanks.

vismal · May 2014

Ok, 12 hour shift in the books, let me catch up before I go to bed!

another question

What are your goals from here?
weight
lifting
fitness
etc

Currently I want to get to around 190-195lbs. That should leave me the leanest I have ever been. As far as lifting goes, I don't really have set goals other then to keep getting stronger in all the lifts I do. I would one day like to do a 90 lb weighted chin up, don't ask me why...

I'm having big issues with getting rid of my extra stomach fat. How did you get results?

Nothing you can do to spot reduce. You must just keep losing fat and it will eventually come off from your stomach.

You are very inspiring and wise.
I have a few questions.

1. Did you eat at a caloric deficit? I want to lose 10 lbs but more than that I want to be fit and strong. I am doing The New Rules of Lifting For Women and plan to switch to 5x5 after I'm done. I am unsure my daily calorie goal is correct. I feel pretty good about it but wanted to hear from someone who managed to lose weight and gain muscle at the same time.

2. How much can you lift now for squats and deadlifts? Just curious.

In order to lose fat you must eat in a deficit. I ate in a deficit for a very long time to lose the majority of my weight and then began bulk/cut cycles to but on mass then remove fat. I can currently squat 405x5 *kitten* to grass and deadlift about the same. I rarely do 1 rep maxes because I feel like form always degrades on a 1rm.

vismal · May 2014

You are very inspiring and wise.
I have a few questions.

1. Did you eat at a caloric deficit? I want to lose 10 lbs but more than that I want to be fit and strong. I am doing The New Rules of Lifting For Women and plan to switch to 5x5 after I'm done. I am unsure my daily calorie goal is correct. I feel pretty good about it but wanted to hear from someone who managed to lose weight and gain muscle at the same time.

2. How much can you lift now for squats and deadlifts? Just curious.

I ate in a deficit for a very long time. After I lost the majority of my weight, I switched to bulk/cut cycles where I focused on muscled building phases followed by fat loss phases.

I can currently sqaut 405x5 *kitten* to grass and deadlift about the same. I rarely do 1 rep maxes because I feel like form degrades and the potential for injury is high. I lift to look and feel good not to compete so what I can lift doesn't matter a great deal to me. So long as I can lift more weight as time goes on, I'm happy.

Are you doing strong lifts 5x5? that's what i just started after 6 weeks of insanity...
[/quote
]I prefer the ice cream fitness 5x5 to stonglifts but both are good.

Wow, congratulations on your huge success!!! :drinker:

I hope to lose my last 10-15 lbs soon, but after reaching my goal weight I would like to build more muscle.

Would you recommend lifting to a female (I've always thought of it as a "guy thing")?
Is it the best way to get stronger muscles and maintain them?
I'm still recovering from what might have been tendonitis/tennis elbow/shoulder/nerve injury in one of my arms (doctors' opinions vary on what it actually is), is lifting likely to aggravate it?

Thanks! I'm sticking around to read all your other answers. They have been very informative and inspiring!

I think skipping on lifting is one of the worst things females trying to get fit can do. I always advice periods of muscle growth with small fat gains (bulks) followed by periods of fat loss with minimal muscle loss (cut). The net result is more muscle with less fat. As far as your injury, I would talk to your doctor about what lifts are safe for your condition.

vismal · May 2014

You don't want to stay at 1200 calories.. that puts the body into starvation mode, and it will hang on to all the fat it can. Have MFP figure out what your MBR is for a day, then subtract 500 calories or so from that. That should give you a weight loss projection of a pound a week, which is very doable. If your body is used to eating 3000 calories, going to 1200 will shock it in bad ways.

Starvation mode is basically pseudoscience. There is very little scientific research to support it. It takes eating an extremely low amount of calories for an extremely long amount of time for the adaptations you are talking about to occur.

Im pretty sure I seen you on bodybulding.com. Checked out a youtube vid even. Pretty sure its you, lol. If not, either way an amazing transformation and dedication!

I post on BB.com and YouTube as well!

Ur awesome. That is all.

ETA: Oh I forgot we are supposed to ask a question. I do have one. How does it feel to look like a f'king Adonis?

Well I've never had anyone use the term Adonis to describe me! lol. I'll just say I feel great!

vismal · May 2014

To answer all the people asking about gaining muscle and losing fat at the same time. First lets start by saying fat will not be lost unless a caloric deficit is present (eat less then you burn in a day). Muscle generally isn't built without a caloric surplus (eat more then you burn in a day). For most people you simply will not be able to do both. Some select groups of people can gain a little bit of muscle while losing fat but it's not massive and its not for a long period of time. Newbies to weight lifting will do it for a short while, the obese can do it as well, but know that not a ton of mass will be gained. Teenagers can accomplish better then most people. People who take PEDs can do it as well.

All that being said, no matter what you goal is, YOU SHOULD LIFT! When in a caloric deficit the body must burn something for fuel. It can burn fat, glycogen, muscle, etc. If you lift weights and get in adequate protein, you give the body much less of a reason to burn muscle. This is why the obese should lift. When you are losing all the weight, some of it will be lean mass. If you lift, much less of it will be lean mass then if you don't. You will look better when the weight is off if you lifted throughout the process. Trust me on this.

ssaraj43 · May 2014

Great work and great thread OP! Real solid advice :drinker:

vismal · May 2014

^^^This question! A lot of the advice I see out there about lifting doesn't sound like it applies very well to those of us who are still obese. I keep hearing / seeing people say that you can't build muscle and strength at a deficit, AND I also see people say that we obese folks shouldn't wait until we lose weight to start lifting. Those of us with a LOT to lose often may feel skeptical of the advice I've seen to lift with no greater a deficit than 200-500 calories (which sounds like advice for people with maybe 20 lbs of fat to lose).

OP, you obviously have this sorted and I'd like to know your perspective. Did you have a small deficit and lose fat slowly? Did your strength progress at a decent pace or did you feel held back by a bigger calorie deficit while you were losing fat?

I had a pretty aggressive deficit at first. If you have 50+ lbs to lose, getting the fat off is your main concern. If you can build strength while doing it, great! If you can't, focus on maintaining strength and just get the weight off! I usually shoot to lose between 1-2 lbs a week. The obese can lose more, maybe 3-4.

I like this mind set. I always wonder if it will be worth it. Will I be happier when i lose the weight but still have the saggy skin.

It's worth it. Trust me!

I'm 6'5 and was 395lbs and now 310lbs. I am having a hard time with all of the BS that I'm cutting through! The more questions I ask the more completly different opinions I get. Any ideas on articles, websites, etc.. that would help "find the truth"?

It says in the rules we can't promote websites so I won't. Just make sure what you're reading is not an authors opinion, or an anecdotal finding, but something back by peer reviewed research data. Anyone can say eating 6 times a day will help with fat loss, the data however proves that to be 100% false.

vismal · May 2014

congrats...ive been at this for two weeks eating correctly excersizing 5 - 6 days a wk at the gym for 2.5 hours a day and my weight will not budge i take muti vitamin omega 3 and vit d drink at least 8 glasses of water a day but nothing...... any ideas how to get it moving?

Weight loss has more to do with diet then anything at all. How many calories are you getting in?

Thanks, I get that. My question is LESS "should I lift?" (of course we should lift!) but "for obese folks, is a relatively larger deficit a significant obstacle to gaining strength? (based on OP's experience)"

Thanks,
--A Very Special Snowflake

If you are obese I would put strength gains secondary to simply getting the weight off.

Hi Vismal

Congratulations on an amazing transformation and thanks for this post and responses ... the best MFP thread I've seen!

My question:

I started putting on weight and fat when I was about 10 years old and stayed overweight (BMI 30ish) and unfit for the next 30+ years until I started using MFP 16 months ago. I've now shed about 45lbs and am 1lb from my (three times revised) goal weight of 168lbs. My problem is that I've hardly done any lifting as I've really been bitten by the running bug, so I'm now in the skinny/fat mode and I don't have any natural musculature like you didn't your middle photo (I'm not into bulk, so I'd have been very happy if I'd achieved your picture 2 after I'd lost my excess weight). My manboobs still stare back at me and taunt me in the mirror! Body fat is now somewhere around 22% down from 30%. So my question is do you really think I can get ever get firm pecs and abs without gym and weights taking over completely from the running that I love. Feeling disheartened now I've discovered I have no significant muscle or decent physique underneath the fat?

FR sent, btw. Thanks again.

Unfortunately running alone will probably not allow you to achieve what you're after. There is no reason you can't continue to run in addition to putting on some muscle mass by lifting.

vismal · May 2014

^^^^this! This is my situation in a nutshell thank you! I'm 42 female, weigh 148lbs, want to be 130lbs, I'm 5ft 6 and doing my second day of stronglifts today. I've set my calories at 1600 according to scooby with 15% deficit which would give me .8lb per week loss. Is this going to give me weight loss but build a bit of strength while I am losing?

Only trial and error will tell. It seems like a reasonable starting point. If weight doesn't come off, reduce calories.

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!
[/quote]

The greatest answer, this is what I've learned since on MFP. I am not that young (49), was big all my life since a toddler, but now my bmi is 19.5 and bf is 19.7, I have beautiful (for me) muscles and am happy and energetic. I am struggling though to maintain what I achieved, and I wonder how important the macros are, especially the protein intake, which I found to be more difficult.
[/quote]Macros and protein are key to maintenance of lean mass.

Do you think working night shift has affected you at all? I work nights and find it difficult to get enough sleep and to eat regularly.

Not really. Sleep makes a huge difference but I completely black out my room and I sleep decently during the day. As far as eating regularly, that doesn't really matter. Total calories and macros for the day make the difference, not when you consume them.

Ok, going to bed. I'll get to the rest when I wake up. If I missed yours, feel free to re ask it. I'm really tired so I'm sure I could have skipped one or two!

srmchan · May 2014

Thanks for accepting my friend request. I've cruised your diary and got a few ideas - especially salmon patties and babybel cheese. I've been cooking salmon the hard way - cedar plank on the grill. It's tasty that way, but I'm not always up for that sort of cook. Salmon patties will be a great alternative, especially if I can cook them sous vide.

I started dieting 3 weeks ago. Low carb for about a week and a half, then switched to a balanced diet after consulting with a nutritionist and having a resting metabolic assessment done. The goal is to eat at a 500 calorie deficit (30% carbs, 30% fats, 40% proteins) but am typically at a deficit of 500-900 calories on a given day. Still working on balancing the macros. I'm very overweight (~40% BMI), so my trainer feels I'm better off doing body weight exercises for now. My regiment is squats, bridge on floor, squat with rotation, cobra, two-arm row with squat, plank, lateral lunge to balance, supine lowering, step-up to balance, and side-lying iso abs. Right now, my goal is 3 sets of 15 reps per exercise except the plank and side-lying abs which are 15 seconds each. A couple of these exercises (supine lowering, step-up to balance) I cannot do to completion due to weakness or lack of coordination. Others, like squats and 2 arm rows with squats, I can do with capacity for more reps. When I'm done with 2-3 sets, I'm drenched with sweat so I feel I'm getting a good workout.

In your opinion, should I press my trainer to add lifting to this regiment?

I appreciate your sharing your experiences.

Sam

prattiger65 · May 2014

Tag to read later.

icydish · May 2014

Hey m a girl
I want to loose 40 lbs... I m beginner with this app. I am 19 yrs old n currently I weigh 170lbs. 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 no then plz suggest something

MellMo1971 · May 2014

I've changed my workout focus recently from weightlifting and cardio, to mostly weightlifting and body weight exercises, but have trouble accurately adding calories expended into MFP for the weightlifting exercises/reps. How did you track this? I was thinking maybe I shouldn't be so concerned about tracking calories expended during workouts, but instead alter the MFP profile to something like moderately active. Right now I'm just kind of doing a guessing game. I seem to be losing inches still, and am satisfied/full with calories consumed, but I'm wanting a more organized, consistent way to track this. Thanks for all the great advice, and all the time you're taking answering our questions. Much appreciated.

VanillaBeanSeed · May 2014

Love this thread!

vismal · May 2014

Thanks for accepting my friend request. I've cruised your diary and got a few ideas - especially salmon patties and babybel cheese. I've been cooking salmon the hard way - cedar plank on the grill. It's tasty that way, but I'm not always up for that sort of cook. Salmon patties will be a great alternative, especially if I can cook them sous vide.

I started dieting 3 weeks ago. Low carb for about a week and a half, then switched to a balanced diet after consulting with a nutritionist and having a resting metabolic assessment done. The goal is to eat at a 500 calorie deficit (30% carbs, 30% fats, 40% proteins) but am typically at a deficit of 500-900 calories on a given day. Still working on balancing the macros. I'm very overweight (~40% BMI), so my trainer feels I'm better off doing body weight exercises for now. My regiment is squats, bridge on floor, squat with rotation, cobra, two-arm row with squat, plank, lateral lunge to balance, supine lowering, step-up to balance, and side-lying iso abs. Right now, my goal is 3 sets of 15 reps per exercise except the plank and side-lying abs which are 15 seconds each. A couple of these exercises (supine lowering, step-up to balance) I cannot do to completion due to weakness or lack of coordination. Others, like squats and 2 arm rows with squats, I can do with capacity for more reps. When I'm done with 2-3 sets, I'm drenched with sweat so I feel I'm getting a good workout.

In your opinion, should I press my trainer to add lifting to this regiment?

I appreciate your sharing your experiences.

Sam

I would say if your BMI is that high, what you are doing is okay to start. I would eventually transition in to more traditional lifting once you build a little bit of conditioning. As far as the diet, the nutritionist only has you at a 500 calorie deficit? That surprises me. I would think they would be comfortable with you losing weight a bit faster since you have so much weight to lose. They are the experts though, my degree is in healthcare but not in nutrition so I defer to them. It might be something I mention to them though.

Hey m a girl
I want to loose 40 lbs... I m beginner with this app. I am 19 yrs old n currently I weigh 170lbs. 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 no then plz suggest something

You can do anything you put your mind too. Your current regime is certainly a good starting place. Whether or not you will have to make alterations, time will tell. I would try and find some way to incorporate some lifting. Does your school have a workout room? If not I would at least do some body weight exercises 3 times a week (squats, pushups, sit ups, planks, etc).

vismal · May 2014

I've changed my workout focus recently from weightlifting and cardio, to mostly weightlifting and body weight exercises, but have trouble accurately adding calories expended into MFP for the weightlifting exercises/reps. How did you track this? I was thinking maybe I shouldn't be so concerned about tracking calories expended during workouts, but instead alter the MFP profile to something like moderately active. Right now I'm just kind of doing a guessing game. I seem to be losing inches still, and am satisfied/full with calories consumed, but I'm wanting a more organized, consistent way to track this. Thanks for all the great advice, and all the time you're taking answering our questions. Much appreciated.

Excellent question. I was hoping someone would ask it. If you look at my log, you'll see I do not track exercise calories. This is because it is very hard to get an accurate reading on what you've burned. I don't care what fancy fit watch you have or what website you use, it's not going to be accurate enough. I never eat back calories burned in exercise. I simply pick a target calorie goal. I currently am cutting on 2500 calories. My workouts are pretty consistent. If I don't lose weight on the 2500 calories then I simply reduce the number. When you eat back exercise calories, your intake is all over the place and difficult to adjust. For me, my intake is the same every single day and very easy to adjust,

Sonicz90x · May 2014

You're an awesome member in the LF forum at BB.com. Everyone here could learn a thing or two from you for sure. Cheers brah.

vismal · May 2014

Seriously awesome work there!

What was your total calorie intake when you started losing? Did you cut your calotes further when thr weight loss
slowed down?
How much time did the last 30lbs took to lose to gett to the 2nd pic?
Do you have weeks/days where you fall off track and put on weight? If not, what part of your routine would you hold respponsible for such a great run?

When I first started I didn't track intake. I simply did away with the 4 sodas I drank a day and I stopped eating out.. When I started tracking calories I was going way too low but having enough cheat days that it rounded out to probably a 1000 calorie a day deficit. Understand that my TDEE was probably < 4000 because I was so large.
To lose the last 30 lbs before picture 2 probably took 4 months. I couldn't tell you exactly.
I never fall off track. I actually cannot remember the last time I binged, at least the last time I had a binge I didn't plan on (I still go crazy on holidays and my birthday). The key to that kind of discipline is never depriving yourself of foods you enjoy. I don't need cheat days anymore because I eat what I like, within reason, on a daily basis. Look at my log, you'll see bacon and ice cream nearly every day. Most of my diet comes from minimally processed whole foods, but I leave room for the things I love.

bestlife42 · May 2014

Awesome...congrats on your success! I enjoyed reading your responses to the many questions on this thread. I checked out the youtube video on your profile page and the transformation is amazing!

I will definitely try the healthy brown paper bag popcorn idea. I'm only starting week 2 so I have a long way to go but I motivated and optimistic. Thanks

vismal · May 2014

Awesome...congrats on your success! I enjoyed reading your responses to the many questions on this thread. I checked out the youtube video on your profile page and the transformation is amazing!

I will definitely try the healthy brown paper bag popcorn idea. I'm only starting week 2 so I have a long way to go but I motivated and optimistic. Thanks

Keep that motivation going! I always say getting motivated is easy, keeping your motivation is the trick! Keep your eyes on the prize and you'll be fine!

Beautiful_Pain · May 2014

Your a guy boo!!! lol you look awesome and happy!!!

vismal · May 2014

Your a guy boo!!! lol you look awesome and happy!!!

Weight loss is very similar for men in women. The mechanics behind it are very similar. I will concede that due to their smaller size and accompanying smaller TDEE women has a rougher time as they have to really reduce calories to see weight loss. I can lose weight eating 2700 calories a day, most women need far less the that to lose weight.

jdwhitson73 · May 2014

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.

Items 3, 4, and 5 have piqued my interest.

I am a 40-year old man, 5 foot 9 inches tall, that currently weighs around 240 lbs. My goal weight is to be around 180 lbs, so I have roughly 60 pounds to lose and convert to lean muscle.

I am currently doing a 4x Cardio (35-50 minutes) and 2x Strength training (with light dumbbells) six days each week.

I've only actively started doing this for the past couple of weeks, but have not seen any kind of weight loss yet.

Item 3: "lifting heavy weights" -- more details about this please. I find that my overall strength in my upper body is on the weaker side and need to get the muscles growing without injury.

Item 4: "Not listening when people say "you lost enough already" or "you are getting too skinny" -- /ignore others, but ignoring your own thoughts are another matter entirely. "I'm not seeing any progress." "what does it matter if no matter what I do, the weight doesn't come off?" The self-talk is harder than what others have to say.

Item 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."

So... what IS the TRUTH about the science behind nutrition and dieting for weight loss? No BS please.

You are an inspiration.

D0II · May 2014

Wow!:)

nrheasley · May 2014

Thank you for helping us fellow MFP users!

My current workout routine includes running, the elliptical, interval running, stairs, squats, burpees, and a weight machine circuit. Obviously, I don't do ALL of these everyday--my typical workout is an hour to an hour fifteen, and I do 2 or 3 activities per session. I'm good with cardio, but not so much with strength training. Right now, I'm trying to do 30 mins of cardio and 30 of strength (either the machine circuit or squats/burpees, but I definitely can't do a half hour of squats/burpees yet!) Am I doing enough of both? Can you recommend other strength training activities? Should I switch to something like Insanity?

Thank you!

TattooedNici · May 2014

Wow! Much respect to you for your dedication for a better lifestyle. Congrats!

kellymill2 · May 2014

you look amazing. I respect your dedication.

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

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