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I'm 44, Male, 6'3", barrel-chested, currently sitting at 235 pounds. I was 270 in ~first week of October, so this makes it 270-235 = 35 pounds net loss across last 5 months (~four and half, but you get the idea).
This is the first time I am not losing weight via juicing, which proved to be very successfull (if painful) in last 2 years.
The same 35 pounds that now took me ~5 months - I lost them via juicing in 18 days (then hit plateau and called it quits) 2 yrs ago. So, it's quite a discrepancy. But, juicing is absolutely debilitating. I never lost hunger, ever (they say you loose it in 3 days, but that's not true for me).
I am not doing any exercise at all, except for walking my Husky. In October-December, I used to walk about 2-3 hours a day, about 10-15 km/day (6-10 miles a day) - once a week I do about 20 km/12 miles a day, but in January, the -50 wind-chills hit which reduced my walking (it is quite brutal to spend an hour at -54F wind-chill). Additionally, I fell on ice 6 weeks ago and hurt my knee and back, which only got better now and last few days I was able to walk up to 2 hours/day and should be able to do 2.5 hours within next week.
So, the walking is the only thing I am doing. Not much, I know, but it is what it is.
My Diet is basically 2 meals a day: 1250-1500 calorie
1. 500 cal: Oatmeal (oats+rice+quarter bagel)
2. 750-1000 cal: Meat (Pork/Chicken/Fish)+Veggies+potato/rice/beans/pasta, cooked at home each day.
I removed bread and other carbs by 98%. I have maybe 4-5 slices of bread per month (combined with some other meal, never just a bread itself (like in past)).
I am quite serious about protein and absence of sugar (about 90% removed compared to before).
I also have 1-3 pieces of chocolate each day after the meal (mostly dark chocolate). Yogurt with some peaches/mandarines twice a week.
I am hungry about 5-6 hours each day. I try to split hunger into 2 parts : 3 hrs morning, and 3 hrs evening.
Last week I decided to manage the hunger by splitting oatmeal into 2 halves (still same calories), but this removed about 3 hours of hunger, so now the remaining 3 hours are much more manageable.
It remains to be seen how that will affect the weight loss, it's too early to tell, but it was becoming too much after 5 months.
In this time, I had plateau 3x, each time around 10-14 days, where the weight stagnates, but that's the way of the things...
I am going to keep this for next 10 pounds (hopefully in next 10 weeks), as at 225 I will be exactly 100 pounds less than I was 3 years ago (at my max). Right now that's 90 pounds lost, which is alright (I guess).
How would you accelerate this loss without introducing some drastic exercise (say, elliptical) ? It -somewhat- works, I did loose 35 pounds and dropped pants size from 46" to 38" (and last week I started using the belt even for 38" ones), it's just excruciatingly slow...
Hypothetically, I can see that I could have a 1,500 - 1,750 calorie diet that would remove hunger altogether (adding 250 calorie snack to my diet) and that should gradually allow me to keep losing weight (even if just 5-10 pounds a year). But it's a demanding lifestyle, where food is basically the main focus.
For someone your size, a larger person, you are basically on a starvation-diet. I am a small male, 5ft7 and about 160-pounds, and I probably eat twice the calories you eat.
You need to try something different, for your health and your sanity.
You may be quite insulin-resistant, all those carbs you are eating my be driving your appetite. Maybe try a low-carb diet with MORE calories.
Starvation diet? I don't understand. It's up to 1,500 calories per day, although at least 5-7 days per month I skip the oatmeal completely and only have dinner (e.g. under 1,000 calories that day, which is quite hard those days).
What do you mean by insulin resistant? I don't think I have a problem with blood sugar, though haven't tested it for about five years....
Most medical professionals recommend a weight loss of 2 pounds a month. That's sustainable, and also making sure that your body is still receiving the nutrition it needs. What you want to do isn't healthy, and you are basically starving yourself.
The average 6 foot tall man will burn 2000 calories a day just existing, and add in any calories you burn off from exercise. You need to be eating more, and replenish your body, or you'll have an eating disorder soon.
Generally everyone that loses weight on the 1st month is shedding alot of water weight. The brown fat does not come off that easily and quickly without fasting or serious reduction of sugar and carb intake in order for the body to change over to fat burning.
You are 6ft3 and well over 200-pounds, the amount you are eating, relative to your size, is tiny.
Granted, I don't know my base metabolic rate, but I do know for sure it's more than 2,200 calories, because last time I carefully tried that regime, I was very slowly losing weight. I suspect it's around 2,400 calories.
So, on days that I have 1,200 calories, I consume ~50% of my BMR, and on days when I skip oatmeal, I then consume about 32% of my BMR. OK, now that I put it into numbers, it is indeed starvation diet. Hmmmm.....
BTW, if I'm on a winter mountain hike, that number goes drastically up (like - 3,500 - 4,000 calories a day). But, haven't done that in 2 years.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tickyul
There is a reason you are not losing weight.
Well, I wouldn't go as far as say that I am not losing weight. It's just slow compared to the brutal juicing.
I understand that the rate of weight loss slows down. Let's break it down as best as I can recall (I have a very good reason not to have precise daily data as it's demotivating - in the end only the long-term numbers are important, not the daily ones):
2nd week of October : 270, ~18 weeks later I am 235
I know I was 245 at Christmas, so it took me 8 weeks to lose last 10 pounds, but 10 weeks to lose the first 25 pounds.
Of course, there were 3 plateaus somewhere in between there, each being ~8-15 days, so it's impossible to do the math precisely, and besides - I know from past - how demotivating it is to be on day 14 of plateau and still not see any weight loss, so I made sure this time, that when I notice plateau, I weigh myself only once a week and am perfectly fine with not seeing any progress for up to 2 weeks (which is impossible to accept if you weigh each day). So far, I have not had a plateau longer than 3 weeks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tickyul
Are you having cheat-meals and/or cheat-days????? This is a very common reason people stall.
I actually don't believe I do. There is zero processed food, aside from some canned peas/beans/corn/green beans. Absolutely no pizza or hamburgers or chips or similar.
About once a month I have some home-baked cake, usually apple crisp.
The closest thing I consider a cheat meal is spaghetti - about 3x per month. Very careful with cheese there. During first 2 weeks each month after each shopping I have a salad each day after the meal (till greens run out).
Quote:
Originally Posted by tickyul
You are probably at the point where you need to try something different.
What would you recommend ?
Adjusting my expectations may be in order too. Since it took me 2 months to lose last 10 pounds, I will now extend it to 3 months for next 10 pounds. I mean, at that point I will be exactly 100 pounds less than 3 years ago, so that's still a huge milestone for me and frankly, it doesn't matter if it's a month earlier or later, as long as I keep at it...
The most important thing is that I have made critical adjustments to my feeding habits and removed the most horrendous offenders (bread/pasta/way too much sugar/jam in oatmeal).
Also, I just discovered (please don't laugh) crock-pot slow cookers. It's amazing how the meat tastes when cooked over 4 hours. I was thus able to completely remove oil from cooking as I now only cook meat in its own juices.
Most medical professionals recommend a weight loss of 2 pounds a month. That's sustainable, and also making sure that your body is still receiving the nutrition it needs. What you want to do isn't healthy, and you are basically starving yourself.
The average 6 foot tall man will burn 2000 calories a day just existing, and add in any calories you burn off from exercise. You need to be eating more, and replenish your body, or you'll have an eating disorder soon.
2 pounds a month ? I thought that was 1-2 pounds per week, no ?
That would barely make 24 pounds a year, which is nothing - it would take me up to a decade to shed it all...
As for nutrition, I have all kinds of veggies every day - onions,garlic,celery,carrots,green beans,broccoli,mushrooms,salad greens,potatoes,peppers,radishes,cauliflower, etc.
Meat-wise, about 70% is pork, 30% chicken/fish/red meat. But I do eat meat every single day, no exception.
2 pounds a month ? I thought that was 1-2 pounds per week, no ?
That would barely make 24 pounds a year, which is nothing - it would take me up to a decade to shed it all...
As for nutrition, I have all kinds of veggies every day - onions,garlic,celery,carrots,green beans,broccoli,mushrooms,salad greens,potatoes,peppers,radishes,cauliflower, etc.
Meat-wise, about 70% is pork, 30% chicken/fish/red meat. But I do eat meat every single day, no exception.
What exactly do you mean by eating disorder here?
Sorry, I did mean 2 pounds per week.
But the fact remains that a large man who does get some exercise by walking for several hours a day trying to live on the caloric intake recommended for a smaller woman and coping with hours of hunger a day, is, if not a diagnosable eating disorder, disorded eating. Are you consulting with your PCP at all during this process?
Last edited by fleetiebelle; 02-23-2021 at 03:54 PM..
Generally everyone that loses weight on the 1st month is shedding alot of water weight. The brown fat does not come off that easily and quickly without fasting or serious reduction of sugar and carb intake in order for the body to change over to fat burning.
Not sure how often that water shedding occurs within a 24 month period, as I had 3 major weight losses in that time.
I do know that the last 10 pounds disappeared from my waist because in December (after I lost 25 pounds already) I ordered my first batch of 38" pants and due to their style, they were very different:
1st: Fit just fine with some room
2nd: Very tight, could not sit in them
3rd: Almost buttoned them (0.5 inch or so)
4th: Needed ~4" to even button them. Almost returned them, as I didn't expect them to be useable any time soon.
Two months later, I lost those 4" of waist and now can button even the 4th pair. All previous ones are way more loose now, to the point that I need belt with 1st and 2nd. I'm sure I could order 36" from the first pair, which is a big deal to me, as all my previous pants were 46" (which now look comical on me).
I know plenty people disagree, but to me this is very motivating - trying out smaller clothes once a month and seeing the progress.
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