Big guy and tired of it
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rogerwright1835
Posts: 17 Member
Hello everyone my name is Roger I live in Ohio and I'm 51 years old. My entire life I've been the big guy well I have to say now I'm absolutely tired of it! Yesterday March 23rd 2016 I turned 51 years old I have finally decided to do something about it. at this point I do not have any diabetes or high blood pressure or any medical issues as a matter of fact and I want to keep it that way and if I don't start now I'm never going to so hopefully other people in this community will be able to help me along on this journey I know it's not going to happen overnight because I didn't gained all this weight overnight but I need to get it off for my sake my kids sake and all my loved ones who would also like me to be around for many more years to watch my grandkids grow.
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Replies
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Welcome aboard Roger. Congratulations for facing this head on! You can do it!0
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I can totally relate. I'm 52 and in the same boat. I'm ready for a change.0
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http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1296011/calorie-counting-101/p1
You should read these links...It's a great place to start!0 -
Way to go Roger! Welcome, and I hope this app helps you as much as it did me.0
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Welcome guys, you've taken a GREAT first step. I hit the same point you did a few years back and life is SOO much better at a healthy weight. Looking great is good psychologically but the way you will FEEL is where the real gain is. At 29 I was ~260lbs, smoked a pack a day, and drank 4-18 (yes, 18) beers a night playing video games. I finally had enough. By half way through my 30th year I was 185, didn't smoke, and drank 4-6 beers a WEEK. Video games were replaced by physical activities (soccer!) that I just wasn't capable of before. I didn't sacrifice them, my interests just changed.
You can absolutely do it too if you're ready to commit. Here are my tips.
This is crazy simple but not easy. Take in less calories than you burn in a day and you WILL lose weight.
Start off with diet and walking. In fact, I don't recommend running to anyone unless that's what you really want to do (aka, soccer). Incline your treadmill or walk uphill in real life and you'll get your heart rate up plenty without sacrificing your knees and ankles. Injury is a surefire way to back slide, avoid it at all costs.
Log EVERYTHING RELIGIOUSLY. Seriously, we have no idea how many calories we eat in a day. The only way you'll eat the right amount (not too much, not too little) is to measure and log everything. Seriously.
LIFT! Don't go crazy on it, focus on form and slow gains again, to avoid injury. This builds testosterone and muscle mass, both of which burn more calories. More importantly it makes a psychological connection. Why on earth would you work hard to build muscle and then directly sabotage that by drinking a lot of beer? Conversely, why would you waste time in the gym if you're sabotaging that work with a lot of alcohol. I've found that I always drink more beer when I'm not hitting the gym every week and less when I do. Yes, as you may have noticed, I still drink (and love) beer but I ditched it for months when I first started losing weight, I recommend you do the same.
Food. Yes you can research and come up with tasty meals that are low cal/low fat etc. For me that was a lot of work and a lot of money. I just threw taste out the window and went for bland and effective. Up to you. Start with ditching mayo, sour cream, cheese, etc. If it's tasty it's "probably" a lot of calories and will encourage you to eat too much. Trust me, I NEVER went back for seconds on a bowl of shredded wheat (not frosted) and almond milk.
This doesn't have to become your life forever. I'm currently trying to cut again because I want to hit that next level but for the past 4 years I've eaten fairly crappy but still not regained the weight. I just weigh once a week and adjust if it starts to climb. 200lbs is my upper limit. If I hit that I break out the ol' shredded wheat and trade the soda and beer for water.
I've written a ton already but I'll leave you with this. I have HORRIBLE impulse control problems and I LOVE to eat pizza, cheese burgers, tator tots, taco bell, panda express, and chicken express. I ALWAYS get my money's worth at a Pizza or Chinese buffet. If I could ditch all of that to drop 70lbs in 3 months, I guarantee that you can too. The amount of time it takes you will vary based on amount of weight you want to lose, genetics, and age but the recipe is the same. Also keep in mind that it's not something you have to do for 6 months and the next day it drops off. You'll start feeling better after the first month and it will spur you on.
I lied, one last thing. I don't want to knock anyone who goes for bariatric surgery but I personally and strongly recommend that you not. All it does is make your stomach smaller so you eat less. If you haven't figured out how to take care of your nutrition before it's unlikely that you'll be able to after. If you can do it after, why not do it before? If you've had that procedure and don't correct your nutrition then you risk starving your body of essential nutrients and can cause some serious health issues. Lastly, I've known several people to stretch out their stomachs afterward, eat just as much, and be more prone to ulcers and worse.
Good luck gentlemen and keep in touch! Your new life, and it is a NEW LIFE, begins NOW!
~Chris0 -
Excellent advice, Chris!
I'll be 47 in 3 months. I'm 5'11" & was at my heaviest 15 years ago (reached 136 lbs). Back then, I chose to get back in shape & did, fairly quickly, while making much healthier food choices, lifting, and doing cardio 3-4 times a week. I got down to 180-185 and felt AWESOME. My program back then was basically my interpretation of the Body for Life program, which allows for one cheat day each week.
Over time, junk food & laziness creeped back into my life. I blamed it on my job (lots of travel, lack of time, and eating out). Over the past 2-3 years I've been hovering around 220 lbs, and have recently started noticing signs of diabetes.
Last month, after 3 weeks of travel & terrible eating habits, I jumped on the scale & was shocked to see I was at 235 (1 lb short of my all-time high). This really motivates me to get my act together. A day or two later, I weighed 130 lbs. and chose to count that as my official start weight when I started this journey on 2/27/16 a my 1st workout day.
Since I've done this before, I knew I could do it again. However, since finding this app on 3/1/16, I've found that this can be a super effective tool, since I've never even considered counting calories in the past. MFP keeps me even more focused & on track. Plus, I pair it with DigiFit and an armband heart rate monitor to measure my workouts.
As of today, I'm down 13.8 lbs at 216.2 lbs. (within 27 days). I feel GREAT and am as motivated as ever to hit my goals. I am currently aiming to hit 209 by 5/2 and 199.9 by 6/1, but I'm tracking to beat those goals). My ultimate goal is to beat 185 and get off the 10mg of Simvistaton that I'm on for high cholesterol.
Although I still wish I could eat whatever I want, I find that it is easy for me to avoid it, knowing the calories it adds. It's really a numbers game. If you work the numbers, you'll hit your goals. Seeing progress with my results has kept me from reverting back to having a bowl of ice cream nearly every night. I've also been avoiding all things with wheat, since we discovered that my wife was having wheat allergies... I've found that wheat may have actually been causing negative health affects for me, too. I was having inflammation, itchy skin (hives), and soar joints at times (which are completely different symptoms from what my wife was experiencing - she was having stomach issues).
My food diary is open to the public... Nothing special, as I'm not a nutritionist. I just have a current goal of 1,500 net calories a day and actually find it very easy to go under that, even when calculating gross calories. I'm probably going to start adding vitamins to help balance out my nutrition.
I am open to friend requests...
- Joe0 -
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Thank u very much...0
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Welcome guys, you've taken a GREAT first step. I hit the same point you did a few years back and life is SOO much better at a healthy weight. Looking great is good psychologically but the way you will FEEL is where the real gain is. At 29 I was ~260lbs, smoked a pack a day, and drank 4-18 (yes, 18) beers a night playing video games. I finally had enough. By half way through my 30th year I was 185, didn't smoke, and drank 4-6 beers a WEEK. Video games were replaced by physical activities (soccer!) that I just wasn't capable of before. I didn't sacrifice them, my interests just changed.
You can absolutely do it too if you're ready to commit. Here are my tips.
This is crazy simple but not easy. Take in less calories than you burn in a day and you WILL lose weight.
Start off with diet and walking. In fact, I don't recommend running to anyone unless that's what you really want to do (aka, soccer). Incline your treadmill or walk uphill in real life and you'll get your heart rate up plenty without sacrificing your knees and ankles. Injury is a surefire way to back slide, avoid it at all costs.
Log EVERYTHING RELIGIOUSLY. Seriously, we have no idea how many calories we eat in a day. The only way you'll eat the right amount (not too much, not too little) is to measure and log everything. Seriously.
LIFT! Don't go crazy on it, focus on form and slow gains again, to avoid injury. This builds testosterone and muscle mass, both of which burn more calories. More importantly it makes a psychological connection. Why on earth would you work hard to build muscle and then directly sabotage that by drinking a lot of beer? Conversely, why would you waste time in the gym if you're sabotaging that work with a lot of alcohol. I've found that I always drink more beer when I'm not hitting the gym every week and less when I do. Yes, as you may have noticed, I still drink (and love) beer but I ditched it for months when I first started losing weight, I recommend you do the same.
Food. Yes you can research and come up with tasty meals that are low cal/low fat etc. For me that was a lot of work and a lot of money. I just threw taste out the window and went for bland and effective. Up to you. Start with ditching mayo, sour cream, cheese, etc. If it's tasty it's "probably" a lot of calories and will encourage you to eat too much. Trust me, I NEVER went back for seconds on a bowl of shredded wheat (not frosted) and almond milk.
This doesn't have to become your life forever. I'm currently trying to cut again because I want to hit that next level but for the past 4 years I've eaten fairly crappy but still not regained the weight. I just weigh once a week and adjust if it starts to climb. 200lbs is my upper limit. If I hit that I break out the ol' shredded wheat and trade the soda and beer for water.
I've written a ton already but I'll leave you with this. I have HORRIBLE impulse control problems and I LOVE to eat pizza, cheese burgers, tator tots, taco bell, panda express, and chicken express. I ALWAYS get my money's worth at a Pizza or Chinese buffet. If I could ditch all of that to drop 70lbs in 3 months, I guarantee that you can too. The amount of time it takes you will vary based on amount of weight you want to lose, genetics, and age but the recipe is the same. Also keep in mind that it's not something you have to do for 6 months and the next day it drops off. You'll start feeling better after the first month and it will spur you on.
I lied, one last thing. I don't want to knock anyone who goes for bariatric surgery but I personally and strongly recommend that you not. All it does is make your stomach smaller so you eat less. If you haven't figured out how to take care of your nutrition before it's unlikely that you'll be able to after. If you can do it after, why not do it before? If you've had that procedure and don't correct your nutrition then you risk starving your body of essential nutrients and can cause some serious health issues. Lastly, I've known several people to stretch out their stomachs afterward, eat just as much, and be more prone to ulcers and worse.
Good luck gentlemen and keep in touch! Your new life, and it is a NEW LIFE, begins NOW!
~Chris
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Thank you very much great advice0
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thank you very much and I hope it does well0
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farfromthetree wrote: »http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1296011/calorie-counting-101/p1
You should read these links...It's a great place to start!
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Thanks for the info appreciate it0
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Since we both have an epiphany0
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There seems to be a good place to start0
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