Tips from a Guy who dropped 180lbs
JstTheWayIam
Posts: 6,357 Member
Hello Everyone,
My name is Jesse and I'm from the San Francisco Bay area. I'm a former member of the 1/3 ton club, tipped the scale at 336lb maybe more, not sure I think I maxed out the scale at some point... Lol.
Well I've been on a journey that started about 3yrs ago. Over the first 2yrs I lost 184lbs dropping to around 152lbs. At 6ft tall and somewhere below 8% body fat, I just didn't feel at my best. I was getting sick often and felt a bit frail. For the last year I've been focusing more heavily on weight training, still running every other day and now I'm up to about 179lbs maintaining my weight, and still trying to get bigger, leaner and stronger.
I've gone through many stages throughout my journey and have tried just about everything at one point or another. People often ask me, "what did you do?" To which I often reply, "everything." I have broken through so many plauteus on the way and have learned a great deal.
I've also read about 20 or 30 different self help books along the way in search of balance, diet and nutrition info, as well as exercise info.
If any of you have any questions for me about diet, weight loss, nutrition, or life in general... Please feel free to contact me via message, posting on my wall, or via this thread.
Also please add me to your friends list to see what I'm up to on a daily basis, I post all my workouts and motivational rants daily. Read my bio if you can and I have progress and other photos loaded on my page is well. I will also be starting a blog soon for lovers of a healthy lifestyle where I will post on a weeklyish basis.
Best wishes and lots of love,
Jesse
My name is Jesse and I'm from the San Francisco Bay area. I'm a former member of the 1/3 ton club, tipped the scale at 336lb maybe more, not sure I think I maxed out the scale at some point... Lol.
Well I've been on a journey that started about 3yrs ago. Over the first 2yrs I lost 184lbs dropping to around 152lbs. At 6ft tall and somewhere below 8% body fat, I just didn't feel at my best. I was getting sick often and felt a bit frail. For the last year I've been focusing more heavily on weight training, still running every other day and now I'm up to about 179lbs maintaining my weight, and still trying to get bigger, leaner and stronger.
I've gone through many stages throughout my journey and have tried just about everything at one point or another. People often ask me, "what did you do?" To which I often reply, "everything." I have broken through so many plauteus on the way and have learned a great deal.
I've also read about 20 or 30 different self help books along the way in search of balance, diet and nutrition info, as well as exercise info.
If any of you have any questions for me about diet, weight loss, nutrition, or life in general... Please feel free to contact me via message, posting on my wall, or via this thread.
Also please add me to your friends list to see what I'm up to on a daily basis, I post all my workouts and motivational rants daily. Read my bio if you can and I have progress and other photos loaded on my page is well. I will also be starting a blog soon for lovers of a healthy lifestyle where I will post on a weeklyish basis.
Best wishes and lots of love,
Jesse
31
Replies
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Way to go Jesse!!!!1
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Congratulations! That's an amazing achievement on your part!
As a technical now, a ton is 2000 lbs, so you were in the 1/6 ton club12 -
I will gladly use you for your wealth of knowledge... thanks in advance!!
This is the post I just put on the "introduce yourself" area:
New here to this app and these message boards.
Looking at, like most of the people here, to lose some weight and get a little support along the way.
I hired a trainer to boost me at the gym, boy oh boy is that tough! But probably one of the better choices.
As far as working out, I go to the gym 4-5 times a week for a moderate/hard workout.
He tells me to eat almost 2200 calories a day and I'm having a really hard time with it.
I'm 50 years old, weigh 214
I'm trying 6 small meals a day, but not ever meeting that goal.
I understand the concept of speeding up my mobilization but my brain still tells me it's too much
If anyone could look over my food and offer suggestions, it would be appreciated
Breakfast : Egg white quiche (large cup cake size) with roasted peppers and turkey burger
Coffee with almond milk (310 calories)
Snack 1 : Almond milk, protein powder, chia seeds, ground flax, greek yogurt.... all in smoothie (415 calories)
Lunch : 2 cups of greens (kale and spinach), dressing, bell peppers, avocado, whole baked chicken breast (460 calories)
Snack 2 : Aria protein in water with chia seeds (150 calories)
Dinner : 2 beef/kale tacos with green tomatillo salsa (517 calories)
I'm at a total of 1852 calories for the day
47% protein
32% fat
21% carbs2 -
Thank you for your response, the first thing I would do is ask your trainer why they want you to eat more food then you are comfortable with. My guess is they are worried about muscle lose due to cutting to many calories, they are probably thinking 2200 calories is your maintenance level and you are burning about 500 or so from your workouts which creates a deficit of about 500 calories. Typically I can cut about 700 or so before I start to notice a loss in lean mass but everyone is different and it's better to stay with caution. That being said there are a few things I can suggest.
1st- Talk to your trainer and find out there reasoning
2nd- Try to build up gradually to 2200 calories if necessary. Start with what you are comfortable eating then gradually build up over the course of a month, say introduce 100 extra calories each week via an apple a day for example.
3rd- Coconut oil in your shake is a great source of 150 to 300 extra calories, a great source of healthy fats and will make your shakes taste amazing.
4th- Look at your fiber intake, if its more then say 40g, then seriously consider swapping, your Chia seeds for example for some healthy fats like coconut oil.
5th- Look at what part of the day leaves you feeling the most bloated, what you ate last and consider swapping whatever it was in your last meal that made you feel to full for something else..
6th- Most important in my book, your diet seems pretty clean but read the nutritional labels on your packaged foods, your tortillas, salsa, almond milk and especially your protein powders. If it the list of "Other Ingredients" looks like a shopping list for a Chem Lab, or you see things like Sucralose, artificial flavoring, natural flavoring, or dyes, swap your protein powder and opt for something else like Teras Grass Fed Why.
Artificial sweetners and preservatives will leave you feeling bloated and generally like crap, and will make it difficult to hit your calorie goals, not to mention the fact that they are terrible for you.
Thats my advice... Oh and one other 7th, go on a nice long relaxing walking after that last meal and enjoy the scenery. It will help you process all the food and may help you sneak in a few extra calories after. Oh and 8th, when building up, let your hunger dictate how much you need, as you become more beast, you will want to eat more.
Thanks again, and hope some of that helps.
Jesse5 -
This content has been removed.
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Thanks for getting back to me.
I think he said I'd lose better with my calories up because of my workouts.
Completely agree with the protein powder! I'll look into the kind you mentioned and "Vega" which is plant based. I hate the flavor and they are loaded with crap.
Salsa and tortillas are homemade so no secret crap and the almond/flax milks are unsweetened.
Great idea about the coconut oil. I'll add some in somewhere.
I guess I'm too full from all the water too!
I'm just 6 weeks in, so I'm sure my appetite will increase more with the million squats and rep after rep of weights.
Thanks again!
Leann1 -
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This person has earned 2,788 calories logging their exercise (must have been something quite intense).
Calories In:1,977
Calories Out: 2,788 + Daily allowance of 1,423 = 4,211
4,211 - 1,977 = 2,234
1 -
Thanks for getting back to me.
I think he said I'd lose better with my calories up because of my workouts.
Completely agree with the protein powder! I'll look into the kind you mentioned and "Vega" which is plant based. I hate the flavor and they are loaded with crap.
Salsa and tortillas are homemade so no secret crap and the almond/flax milks are unsweetened.
Great idea about the coconut oil. I'll add some in somewhere.
I guess I'm too full from all the water too!
I'm just 6 weeks in, so I'm sure my appetite will increase more with the million squats and rep after rep of weights.
Thanks again!
Leann
Honestly, my biggest tip, the single thing that helped me the most is, get tested for sleep apnea. If you have it (and it's common if you are over weight) wear the mask (CPAP machine) at night... It really will change your life... Other than that, how I started and this was my Docs advice, I wouldn't eat anything after 6p and I would go on a walk after dinner.... The battle is fought in the kitchen and gym, but it's won first in the mind
6 -
This person has earned 2,788 calories logging their exercise (must have been something quite intense).
Calories In:1,977
Calories Out: 2,788 + Daily allowance of 1,423 = 4,211
4,211 - 1,977 = 2,234
Honestly, I want to know what has he been doing to burn that amount. Must have been super vigorous and super long.1 -
unnichaacko wrote: »This person has earned 2,788 calories logging their exercise (must have been something quite intense).
Calories In:1,977
Calories Out: 2,788 + Daily allowance of 1,423 = 4,211
4,211 - 1,977 = 2,234
Honestly, I want to know what has he been doing to burn that amount. Must have been super vigorous and super long.
i have a hard time trusting my fitbit HR
for example, tues and thurs are big calorie burning days for me. i do 30 minutes cardio in the morning, weight lift, then regular walking around at work which usually puts me at about a deficit of 400. those night i play about 90 minutes of basketball and when i finish that up im at a 1300-1600 cal deficit.
some days i get upwards of about 1800-1900 calories burned which just seems ridiculous to me
0 -
My biggest problem is motivation. I have chronic migraine headaches and can't workout or eat some days. When I do feel well enough to workout I have no motivation I want to workout but it seems that it's pointless because I can't do it consistently. Any advice?0
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unnichaacko wrote: »This person has earned 2,788 calories logging their exercise (must have been something quite intense).
Calories In:1,977
Calories Out: 2,788 + Daily allowance of 1,423 = 4,211
4,211 - 1,977 = 2,234
Honestly, I want to know what has he been doing to burn that amount. Must have been super vigorous and super long.
I'd be looking at running a marathon for those numbers.0 -
Jerrypeoples wrote: »unnichaacko wrote: »This person has earned 2,788 calories logging their exercise (must have been something quite intense).
Calories In:1,977
Calories Out: 2,788 + Daily allowance of 1,423 = 4,211
4,211 - 1,977 = 2,234
Honestly, I want to know what has he been doing to burn that amount. Must have been super vigorous and super long.
i have a hard time trusting my fitbit HR
for example, tues and thurs are big calorie burning days for me. i do 30 minutes cardio in the morning, weight lift, then regular walking around at work which usually puts me at about a deficit of 400. those night i play about 90 minutes of basketball and when i finish that up im at a 1300-1600 cal deficit.
some days i get upwards of about 1800-1900 calories burned which just seems ridiculous to me
I train about 120-240 minutes a day depending on what type of training I have that day. I then swim for about 30 minutes, sometimes squeeze in a run for about 20-30 minutes at night and I burn about 1100-1400 calories. I think HRM with a chest strap gives somewhat accurate calorie burn than an activity tracker with HR.0 -
unnichaacko wrote: »This person has earned 2,788 calories logging their exercise (must have been something quite intense).
Calories In:1,977
Calories Out: 2,788 + Daily allowance of 1,423 = 4,211
4,211 - 1,977 = 2,234
Honestly, I want to know what has he been doing to burn that amount. Must have been super vigorous and super long.
I'd be looking at running a marathon for those numbers.
Sounds about right.0 -
jeffmarquez60 wrote: »Can someone explain to me how how this works?
How I like to use mfp is like this, I enter weight and set my activity level to not very active /desk job, then I have it add all the extra calories from my fitbit, my job is pretty active so this way I know how many extra calories I'm burning compared to if I did nothing all day... This way I know pretty accurately what my total daily expenditures (calories burned) are and I meal plan on mfp the night before and shoot for just under maintenance, if I burn a thousand extra calories at work on my fitbit then I know I can eat a little more and maintain a deficit, hope that makes sense. I also set the goal to maintain weight, I like to watch my own deficit rather than use mfps preprogrammed deficit.
5 -
JstTheWayIam wrote: »jeffmarquez60 wrote: »Can someone explain to me how how this works?
How I like to use mfp is like this, I enter weight and set my activity level to not very active /desk job, then I have it add all the extra calories from my fitbit, my job is pretty active so this way I know how many extra calories I'm burning compared to if I did nothing all day... This way I know pretty accurately what my total daily expenditures (calories burned) are and I meal plan on mfp the night before and shoot for just under maintenance, if I burn a thousand extra calories at work on my fitbit then I know I can eat a little more and maintain a deficit, hope that makes sense. I also set the goal to maintain weight, I like to watch my own deficit rather than use mfps preprogrammed deficit.
This is a good idea.0 -
Congratulations. I look forward to your motivational rants.
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CONGRATULATIONS JESSE!!! you inspired me ! 0
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Great job Jesse! I was at 378 Lbs myself in January. I have lost 124 lbs and at about 254. I still have 139 to get to my goal weight but I'm approaching half my goal weight at 132 lbs down. It's inspiring to see how far you've come. I am confident that I will do this but it's nice to know that someone else has had such great success.5
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rebeccaculp87 wrote: »My biggest problem is motivation. I have chronic migraine headaches and can't workout or eat some days. When I do feel well enough to workout I have no motivation I want to workout but it seems that it's pointless because I can't do it consistently. Any advice?
I have a post coming for you shortly, sent you a friends request add me and go back through my wall and you will see it and many other post I've done.0 -
Congrats on your progress!0
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unnichaacko wrote: »Jerrypeoples wrote: »unnichaacko wrote: »This person has earned 2,788 calories logging their exercise (must have been something quite intense).
Calories In:1,977
Calories Out: 2,788 + Daily allowance of 1,423 = 4,211
4,211 - 1,977 = 2,234
Honestly, I want to know what has he been doing to burn that amount. Must have been super vigorous and super long.
i have a hard time trusting my fitbit HR
for example, tues and thurs are big calorie burning days for me. i do 30 minutes cardio in the morning, weight lift, then regular walking around at work which usually puts me at about a deficit of 400. those night i play about 90 minutes of basketball and when i finish that up im at a 1300-1600 cal deficit.
some days i get upwards of about 1800-1900 calories burned which just seems ridiculous to me
I train about 120-240 minutes a day depending on what type of training I have that day. I then swim for about 30 minutes, sometimes squeeze in a run for about 20-30 minutes at night and I burn about 1100-1400 calories. I think HRM with a chest strap gives somewhat accurate calorie burn than an activity tracker with HR.
You know, my fitbit blaze is actually just as accurate as any hr monitor (chest strap) I've used, the numbers are near identical. Just remember to wear it high on your wrist... About 3 fingers from our your wrist bone.1 -
JstTheWayIam wrote: »Thanks for getting back to me.
I think he said I'd lose better with my calories up because of my workouts.
Completely agree with the protein powder! I'll look into the kind you mentioned and "Vega" which is plant based. I hate the flavor and they are loaded with crap.
Salsa and tortillas are homemade so no secret crap and the almond/flax milks are unsweetened.
Great idea about the coconut oil. I'll add some in somewhere.
I guess I'm too full from all the water too!
I'm just 6 weeks in, so I'm sure my appetite will increase more with the million squats and rep after rep of weights.
Thanks again!
Leann
Honestly, my biggest tip, the single thing that helped me the most is, get tested for sleep apnea. If you have it (and it's common if you are over weight) wear the mask (CPAP machine) at night... It really will change your life... Other than that, how I started and this was my Docs advice, I wouldn't eat anything after 6p and I would go on a walk after dinner.... The battle is fought in the kitchen and gym, but it's won first in the mind
@JstTheWayIam I agree with you about the CPAP based on my experience after using one for 12 years.
cpapcentral.com/online-store/product/344/5/dreamweartrade-nasal-mask-fitpack-with-headgear?keyword=%2Bdreamwear%20%2Bcpap%20%2Bmask&gclid=Cj0KEQjw1ee_BRD3hK6x993YzeoBEiQA5RH_BOthtSdwesLqagEQ0dLoqskmabvypy3YV1rOo9v1k-UaAncL8P8HAQ
I slept 13 hours last night without getting up last night accidentally. I have fought with CPAP masks for 12 years. This new Dreamwear mask is the best I have found. I provided the link above because it contains some videos but I got my off Amazon for $60. I did order a new light weight hose as well.
When I got home UPS had delivered it yesterday go I got it out and read how to set it up and how it should fit. The medium wide nasal piece made it large enough to fit my head. A 4 pm I got in bed just to test it for a few minutes because I needed to go spray some Roundup before dark. I woke at sundown and said screw it and fell back to sleep. I did wake up a few more times but always fell right back to sleep. After 13 hours I decided I needed not put off going to the bathroom any longer. It was 5 am.0 -
Great progress, thanks for sharing!0
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GaleHawkins wrote: »JstTheWayIam wrote: »Thanks for getting back to me.
I think he said I'd lose better with my calories up because of my workouts.
Completely agree with the protein powder! I'll look into the kind you mentioned and "Vega" which is plant based. I hate the flavor and they are loaded with crap.
Salsa and tortillas are homemade so no secret crap and the almond/flax milks are unsweetened.
Great idea about the coconut oil. I'll add some in somewhere.
I guess I'm too full from all the water too!
I'm just 6 weeks in, so I'm sure my appetite will increase more with the million squats and rep after rep of weights.
Thanks again!
Leann
Honestly, my biggest tip, the single thing that helped me the most is, get tested for sleep apnea. If you have it (and it's common if you are over weight) wear the mask (CPAP machine) at night... It really will change your life... Other than that, how I started and this was my Docs advice, I wouldn't eat anything after 6p and I would go on a walk after dinner.... The battle is fought in the kitchen and gym, but it's won first in the mind
@JstTheWayIam I agree with you about the CPAP based on my experience after using one for 12 years.
cpapcentral.com/online-store/product/344/5/dreamweartrade-nasal-mask-fitpack-with-headgear?keyword=%2Bdreamwear%20%2Bcpap%20%2Bmask&gclid=Cj0KEQjw1ee_BRD3hK6x993YzeoBEiQA5RH_BOthtSdwesLqagEQ0dLoqskmabvypy3YV1rOo9v1k-UaAncL8P8HAQ
I slept 13 hours last night without getting up last night accidentally. I have fought with CPAP masks for 12 years. This new Dreamwear mask is the best I have found. I provided the link above because it contains some videos but I got my off Amazon for $60. I did order a new light weight hose as well.
When I got home UPS had delivered it yesterday go I got it out and read how to set it up and how it should fit. The medium wide nasal piece made it large enough to fit my head. A 4 pm I got in bed just to test it for a few minutes because I needed to go spray some Roundup before dark. I woke at sundown and said screw it and fell back to sleep. I did wake up a few more times but always fell right back to sleep. After 13 hours I decided I needed not put off going to the bathroom any longer. It was 5 am.
Wow, lol... I so could use that myself. When I first got mine and used it, I woke up singing the next day... Think mine needs to be readjusted... 180lbs and I never could get rid of the apnea.1 -
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JstTheWayIam wrote: »GaleHawkins wrote: »JstTheWayIam wrote: »Thanks for getting back to me.
I think he said I'd lose better with my calories up because of my workouts.
Completely agree with the protein powder! I'll look into the kind you mentioned and "Vega" which is plant based. I hate the flavor and they are loaded with crap.
Salsa and tortillas are homemade so no secret crap and the almond/flax milks are unsweetened.
Great idea about the coconut oil. I'll add some in somewhere.
I guess I'm too full from all the water too!
I'm just 6 weeks in, so I'm sure my appetite will increase more with the million squats and rep after rep of weights.
Thanks again!
Leann
Honestly, my biggest tip, the single thing that helped me the most is, get tested for sleep apnea. If you have it (and it's common if you are over weight) wear the mask (CPAP machine) at night... It really will change your life... Other than that, how I started and this was my Docs advice, I wouldn't eat anything after 6p and I would go on a walk after dinner.... The battle is fought in the kitchen and gym, but it's won first in the mind
@JstTheWayIam I agree with you about the CPAP based on my experience after using one for 12 years.
cpapcentral.com/online-store/product/344/5/dreamweartrade-nasal-mask-fitpack-with-headgear?keyword=%2Bdreamwear%20%2Bcpap%20%2Bmask&gclid=Cj0KEQjw1ee_BRD3hK6x993YzeoBEiQA5RH_BOthtSdwesLqagEQ0dLoqskmabvypy3YV1rOo9v1k-UaAncL8P8HAQ
I slept 13 hours last night without getting up last night accidentally. I have fought with CPAP masks for 12 years. This new Dreamwear mask is the best I have found. I provided the link above because it contains some videos but I got my off Amazon for $60. I did order a new light weight hose as well.
When I got home UPS had delivered it yesterday go I got it out and read how to set it up and how it should fit. The medium wide nasal piece made it large enough to fit my head. A 4 pm I got in bed just to test it for a few minutes because I needed to go spray some Roundup before dark. I woke at sundown and said screw it and fell back to sleep. I did wake up a few more times but always fell right back to sleep. After 13 hours I decided I needed not put off going to the bathroom any longer. It was 5 am.
Wow, lol... I so could use that myself. When I first got mine and used it, I woke up singing the next day... Think mine needs to be readjusted... 180lbs and I never could get rid of the apnea.
You have done well with your weight loss. We all know the importance of macros and calories but for some of us that are other factors we have to address. Lack of sleep for any reason is negative for weigh, heart disease, dementia, type 2 diabetes, cancer, etc.
My Ultra Mirage II nasal mask as awesome when new but the plastic was failing and the head band was shot. Thursday I finally when by the home health store where I had purchased it years ago and their signs had been pulled down so I just came home and started looking online for any option and the Respironics DreamWear option popped up and I knew I had to spend $60 to check it out. I paid $9 for Saturday deliver and am glad I did. If it goes well tonight I will order another one and set it up for one of my spares so I do not have to move my home set up when I go on the road from time to time. I may not need it but I ordered a large size frame for $18 that is coming my snail mail and I will test it. With it I think the medium size nasal part by be fine. The manual is below and talks about the different sizes and how to fit them correctly. I have a very large head and weight 200 and the medium with wide medium nasal part worked ok but it should be a Medium based on the manual diagram. The DreamWear mask left NO marks on my face last night. Best of continued success. I am now thinking my weight is not the cause of my need for a CPAP either.
directhomemedical.com/masks-cpap-bipap/dreamwear-nasal-cpap-mask-instructions.pdf
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Everyone feel free to add me, send me your friend request. Working on some videos for YouTubel, starting Happiest Healthiest You in the next few days. All my best advice2
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