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

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Replies

  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
    davidp2711 wrote: »
    Op great story do you have any guides to for starting weights what sort of routeine you stuck to

    Thanks
    I recommend beginners do some kind of 5x5 routine that focuses on heavy compound lifts (squat, deadlift, bench, rows, etc). The ICF 5x5 is great, I also like stronglifts and starting strength.
  • CherylynBen
    CherylynBen Posts: 34 Member
    this may be an old thread, but super inspiring! Thanks for all of the information. Glad I started lifting early. I'm hopeful, then, that my skin will not be loose and gross. Great job!!
  • tag624
    tag624 Posts: 166 Member
    Hi, I am loosely following IIFYM, need to get better with tracking, what is the least amount of protein I should eat if I need to lose around 55 lbs, I am 27 yrs old 5'7 and currently 215 so I think I am still classified as morbidly obese :s
  • tate0624
    tate0624 Posts: 1 Member
    Hello, I had a couple of questions. Two weeks ago I started exercising every day and lowered my calorie intake to 1500 a day as well as giving up sodas and smoking. Everything is going great down 7lbs so far(started at 205 now at 198 BMI 32 height 5'6) but I'm concerned I may not be getting all the nutrients I need. Is there any particular supplement or vitamin a woman can take that will ensure this while losing weight. Also I hear about protein and whey in shakes and smoothies to help with getting fit. Are these things I should be adding in to what I already do? Thanks for any help. And congrats on your success!!
  • beachgirl172723
    beachgirl172723 Posts: 151 Member
    Absolutely phenomenal!
  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
    tag624 wrote: »
    Hi, I am loosely following IIFYM, need to get better with tracking, what is the least amount of protein I should eat if I need to lose around 55 lbs, I am 27 yrs old 5'7 and currently 215 so I think I am still classified as morbidly obese :s
    I'd aim for around 130 a day for now as a minimum number. More details about counting macros can be found here:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cc18wLJW3k

  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
    tate0624 wrote: »
    Hello, I had a couple of questions. Two weeks ago I started exercising every day and lowered my calorie intake to 1500 a day as well as giving up sodas and smoking. Everything is going great down 7lbs so far(started at 205 now at 198 BMI 32 height 5'6) but I'm concerned I may not be getting all the nutrients I need. Is there any particular supplement or vitamin a woman can take that will ensure this while losing weight. Also I hear about protein and whey in shakes and smoothies to help with getting fit. Are these things I should be adding in to what I already do? Thanks for any help. And congrats on your success!!
    I don't think you need to supplement any kind of vitamin unless there is something specifically that you are deficient in. If you eat enough nutrient dense foods on a daily basis you should be fine. I supplement with fish oil and vitamin D because my diet lacks sufficient amounts of both of those things, but this is based on my personal diet.

    As far as whey is concerned, treat it like any other food. It is not special or unique. It's simply a high quality source of protein much like chicken, eggs, yogurt, etc. Eat it if you want to and count it towards your protein goal. The fact that it is quick, convenient, and dollar per gram one of the most affordable protein sources makes it appealing to a lot of people. I use whey daily in recipes and mixed with cereal and milk.
  • JoKnowsJo
    JoKnowsJo Posts: 257 Member
    What an incredible transformation! thank you for putting all this out there, :D great job...
  • Toutoula2
    Toutoula2 Posts: 2
    It's awesome. Congrats. You look great. i have one question- have you never had stretch marks? or sagging skin after losing weight? I lost a total of 40 lbs so far and I have some sagging skin on my belly and i hate it. :'(
  • TheGrindalProject
    TheGrindalProject Posts: 33 Member
    Wowza! Nicely done Sir! No questions here but this just motivated me to get my workout on for the day!
  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
    Toutoula2 wrote: »
    It's awesome. Congrats. You look great. i have one question- have you never had stretch marks? or sagging skin after losing weight? I lost a total of 40 lbs so far and I have some sagging skin on my belly and i hate it. :'(
    I have some stretch marks that are basically invisible when I have any kind of a tan. Their are more noticeable now that I'm Ohio winter pale. As far as loose skin, you can really only notice it when I am at my leanest and bending over. These things get better with time and varies a lot from person to person. I've seen people lose much more weight then me and have almost no loose skin, and I've seen people lose half as much and have a severe case of loose skin. The good news is that loose skin, despite not being something anyone wants, isn't really unhealthy, but being obese certainly is!
  • unlikelyathlete
    unlikelyathlete Posts: 62 Member
    Awesomeness!!
  • nzchikky
    nzchikky Posts: 304 Member
    wow, super amazing and inspiring. Well done! :)
  • zipa78
    zipa78 Posts: 354 Member
    Great inspiration. We're the same height and I weighed close to your starting weight when I stopped and looked myself in the mirror and said to myself that this s**t has got to go.

    Thanks for showing us that it can be done!
  • vitreouslawyer
    vitreouslawyer Posts: 1
    Hey Vismal

    Good Job with your weight loss. You look ripped and that is great because I was of the perception that if you lift heavy weights you will get big.

    I started on 1st Nov, 2014 with Insanity workout at weight 212 Lbs and am down 9 lbs now with 3 inches off my starting waist of 40 inches. I am on day 44 now and I have seen some transformation with Insanity, I am gonna complete it. My question is I was thinking of doing P90X after Insanity but you mentioned lifting heavy is the way to go. So after this Insanity workout should I do p90x or 5X5. Will I lose my belly doing 5X5 as I wanna get ripped like you.

    Thanks
  • pattyjoshockley
    pattyjoshockley Posts: 53 Member
    vismal wrote: »
    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.

    Thanks i needed to read that this morning. I am so tired of people trying to take over my weight loss and tell me how to do things. Don't know what their problem or intention is but I am sick of hearing things like: You don't really need to track every bite, Oh you can have a little bit, You should be doing lots of reps and low weight, You don't need to lose that much, etc. Gotta ignore those who try and sabotage the plan.

    SO the big question is HOW DO YOU FIND OUT WHAT IS TRUE about nutrition and health? The internet is full of stuff, what's good?
  • dianesheart88
    dianesheart88 Posts: 111 Member
    edited December 2014
    Reading this today 12/14/14 and your still answering questions! God Bless and may you have continued success! Your an amazing inspiration!
  • Beautifullymadetoday
    Beautifullymadetoday Posts: 36 Member
    ?
  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
    vitreouslawyer wrote: »
    Hey Vismal

    Good Job with your weight loss. You look ripped and that is great because I was of the perception that if you lift heavy weights you will get big.

    I started on 1st Nov, 2014 with Insanity workout at weight 212 Lbs and am down 9 lbs now with 3 inches off my starting waist of 40 inches. I am on day 44 now and I have seen some transformation with Insanity, I am gonna complete it. My question is I was thinking of doing P90X after Insanity but you mentioned lifting heavy is the way to go. So after this Insanity workout should I do p90x or 5X5. Will I lose my belly doing 5X5 as I wanna get ripped like you.

    Thanks
    p90x will certainly burn more calories then doing a 5x5 but I tend to view programs like that as cardio. I don't think you can even compare a program like that to something like a 5x5. The 5x5 will help ensure that the weight you lose is fat, not lean mass. Also, most people must lose fat, then do period of muscle building (where p90x will not come close to being as effective as a 5x5 for most people) then return to losing fat. This is called bulk/cut cycling and most people must do several cycles until they look the way they want.

  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
    pattyjoshockley wrote: »
    vismal wrote: »
    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.

    Thanks i needed to read that this morning. I am so tired of people trying to take over my weight loss and tell me how to do things. Don't know what their problem or intention is but I am sick of hearing things like: You don't really need to track every bite, Oh you can have a little bit, You should be doing lots of reps and low weight, You don't need to lose that much, etc. Gotta ignore those who try and sabotage the plan.

    SO the big question is HOW DO YOU FIND OUT WHAT IS TRUE about nutrition and health? The internet is full of stuff, what's good?
    There are many reasons other people will try to derail you. Most of the time it's simply that they are trying to help and they are misinformed. Sometimes people become jealous, sometimes they just want you to fail so they can feel better about themselves. The bottom line is it's your weight, it's your body, it's your life. As for knowing where to get fitness information, that's a tricky one. You need to make sure that what they say not only makes sense, but is backed by actual science and research. Plenty of fitness myths make good common sense, but they just simply aren't scientifically accurate.

  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
    bmm7414 wrote: »
    Great Job. I feel so Encouraged right now. How does a 16 year old girl 5ft. 4inch Shrink her internal stomach from two years of binging.
    At 16 your body is still growing and developing. I don't think strict dieting or calorie counting is healthy for someone so young. I would focus on being active, eating a good variety of fruits, vegetables, and lean meats, while eating things like pizza, ice cream, soda, etc in moderation. Starting a weight lifting routine is a good idea for just about anyone at any age as well.

  • littleme21
    littleme21 Posts: 25
    Your amazing x iv lost 126 pounds so far x need to tone up now! Xx
  • orchidee1987
    orchidee1987 Posts: 97 Member
    Have you considered doing another bulk ?
  • supermom627
    supermom627 Posts: 33 Member
    vismal wrote: »
    Toutoula2 wrote: »
    It's awesome. Congrats. You look great. i have one question- have you never had stretch marks? or sagging skin after losing weight? I lost a total of 40 lbs so far and I have some sagging skin on my belly and i hate it. :'(
    I have some stretch marks that are basically invisible when I have any kind of a tan. Their are more noticeable now that I'm Ohio winter pale. As far as loose skin, you can really only notice it when I am at my leanest and bending over. These things get better with time and varies a lot from person to person. I've seen people lose much more weight then me and have almost no loose skin, and I've seen people lose half as much and have a severe case of loose skin. The good news is that loose skin, despite not being something anyone wants, isn't really unhealthy, but being obese certainly is!
    I love this :) amazing job btw you truely are an inspiration!

  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
    orchidee1987 wrote: »
    Have you considered doing another bulk ?
    I spend most of my year bulking. I am currently on one now.

  • Sonj1973
    Sonj1973 Posts: 188 Member
    Wow!! Absolutely amazing you look great :) well done! I'm wanting to start lifting so in it for the feedback!! Going to look up the 'ice cream fitness 5x5 and the strong lift 5x5 thanks :)
  • KellyS0828
    KellyS0828 Posts: 32 Member
    What great results! Love to see before and after photos. It's a great inspirations! Congratulations!
  • ignatiusreilly
    ignatiusreilly Posts: 411 Member
    Sorry if already asked, but how did you tighten up all the loose skin? I'm sure it helps to be young, but did you do anything in particular on the skin front?
  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
    ignatiusreilly wrote: »
    Sorry if already asked, but how did you tighten up all the loose skin? I'm sure it helps to be young, but did you do anything in particular on the skin front?
    There is nothing you can do to tighten up skin other then lose as much fat as possible (this is because many times people mistake excess body fat for loose skin) or give it time. No exercise, cream, skin treatment, or anything short of surgery will do it.

  • Rangerfied
    Rangerfied Posts: 93 Member
    Very great transformation. My highest weight was 318lbs and I'm now stuck around the 280lb mark. I struggle with emotional eating and I'm trying to figure out how to retrain my brain to stop that. Every day I go over my calorie count and I find I mainly blow it at night when I'm bored. I don't smoke, drink or do drugs. I have no real addictions. I just like eating and have always been brought up that way. When I was a child it was nothing to eat and at that time people weren't obsessed with calorie counting or exercising like today. Now we realize what is needed for success and it's the whole training yourself to a new lifestyle. It's not easy for some people.

    Excellent job you've done and you should be very happy with yourself. Thanks for sharing your experience and helping out.

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