I've only lost 35 pounds in 5 months. How to accelerate it ? (overweight, health issues)
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But how would that work actually ? It's taking me ~6 months to loose 40 pounds with a diet that everybody here seems to imply is a starvation diet (which, I now agree, now that I put it all into numbers).
Meaning, if I ate 500+ calories more per day, I would drastically slow the weight loss even further.
Why is it so important to you to lose weight quickly rather than healthily? You probably didn't gain 50 pounds in less than 6 months, so why does it have to come off so quickly that you're willing to become anorexic/orthorexic?
I am targeting 2,200 calories once I drop down to about ~200 (unsure if that happens) - all homemade food, but still daily oatmeal.
I don't understand how people can eat like a bowl of oatmeal with all the stuff on it then go out for a jog. You just ate 2 hours worth of jogging in that bowl of oatmeal. Why even eat stuff that requires time and energy to burn off. When you go jogging without eating the body will switch to burning fat when there's no glycogen to use.
Cranky : Check
really hungry : I think you meant REALLY HUNGRY
cold : Check
weak: Check
Obsessed with food: Nothing beats waking up at 4am (like yesterday) feeling REALLY HUNGRY, while dreaming of eating 6-course meal
Funny thing is, I removed about 95% of carbs from my diet by not eating bread every day.
I'm aware of carbs in rice/potatoes/pasta, but I just noticed this morning the amount of carbs in my cans of corn/peas/beans/etc.
Hmmmmm
But how would that work actually ? It's taking me ~6 months to loose 40 pounds with a diet that everybody here seems to imply is a starvation diet (which, I now agree, now that I put it all into numbers).
Meaning, if I ate 500+ calories more per day, I would drastically slow the weight loss even further.
Or am I missing something ?
Oh, I am not worried about that one
The only reason I am undergoing this right now is, that despite having technically lost 140 pounds in last 3 years, I gained 50 pounds because on both occasions, immediately after doing the juice diet, I got back together with my ex, and since her "diet" consists of all-you-can-eat chinese buffet, I gained 25 pounds during first week, both times.
So, while I am having some resentment at myself for doing that, it serves a great purpose of making sure I will transition very slowly from the ~1,500 calories into more.
Meaning - I will first insert 300 calories for 10 days, then another 200 for another 10-14 days and then another 200 calories.
I am targeting 2,200 calories once I drop down to about ~200 (unsure if that happens) - all homemade food, but still daily oatmeal.
My feeling is the body is quite complicated when it comes to food, macronutrient-ratio and how that impacts weight. I know for myself, I have a LOT of problems with carbs...........the less carbs I eat, the better my health is. It is not just a simple, eat less carbs and feel great. But, the painful, gnawing hunger that I used to have when eating carbs, many times drove me to eat and eat.......then I would be hungry soon after finishing a meal.
People who are insulin-resistant usually do a lot better the less carbs they eat. Carbs in many people spike insulin too high, making hunger rise and causing fat to be stored, as opposed to burned.
At 6ft3 and burly, I may be wrong, but I doubt 200-pounds would be what your body settles at if you eat a healthy, low-carb diet. Someone of your size could easily require 2 to 3 to 4 thousand calories a day.
Some days I eat over 3 pounds of fatty meat and it makes me feel really healthy. My body is fairly lean and muscular, even though I am sedentary.
Stop micromanaging and start over from scratch. Look at the FACTS:
You were obese. You "went on a diet" and lost weight, then stopped being "on a diet" because people who lose the weight they wanted to lose when they're "on a diet," get off those diets. And you gained weight again.
Obviously, dieting doesn't work. If it worked, you'd never gain weight after going off your diet.
You need to learn "how to eat," not "how to diet." Change your entire perspective. Turn it completely upside down. Your thinking is backward and inefficient.
Learn how to eat. Learn how to exercise. Learn how to eat foods that are GOOD for you, learn how to enjoy coming up with new recipes. Learn how to ENJOY healthy, life-sustaining food, so that you never feel you need to "go off your diet" again.
When I was 49 my weight crept up from 195-200 to 230 or more. I quit all alcohol and basically went on a very strict, but satisfying regimen.
Breakfast- toast or english muffin with crunchy peanut butter, locally made granola (seeds, oats, dried berries) and split bananas on top. Coffee. Totally satisfied.
Lunch- Spinach salad with veggies and a form of protein (tuna, chicken, sliced venison, beef- etc). Roasted red pepper Italian dressing- 1tbsp. Sometimes cheese on it. Fresh fruit.
Snack- small amount of almonds or nuts, fruit.
Dinner- whatever I wanted but only 1 normal plate. Pork chop, venison, steak, fish- didn't matter. No CARBS. Heaping piles of fresh veggies.
I drank no sodas- just water or 2% milk (in moderation).
I built in a Friday night cheat night with real ice cream. A BIG BOWL.
Exercise- I live in a mountainous area so it was minimum 4.5 miles with at least 600' elevation gain per day. When I lost my first 20lbs I put a pack on my back and added 10lbs. When I lost 30lbs I increased pack weight to 20lbs and so forth.. When my legs got strong I would do a 10 miler at least once every 2 weeks. I would VARY my routes and terrain, some steeper, some less steep but longer..
I went down to 180lbs in about 10 months.
I've put more weight on, but I've been working on a lot of COVID related relief with little time for myself, and I strayed from my regimen. I'm back on it now.
I could talk about cutting carbs, but I'm assuming others have mentioned that. OP, to speed up your weight loss, get some cheap hand weights and leg weights at the sporting goods store, and put together a workout for yourself. Building lean muscle mass speeds weight loss, and helps you trim up. Without building lean muscle mass, you likely will lose weight, but you'll look like a bowl of jello. By working out, you'll look lean when you reach your goal.
You are bringing up a great point.
Because I own a house now, I could devote one of the empty rooms to a fitness room.
I did about 2 years of bodybuilding and benchpressing long time ago and I really loved it. I realize I could get back to it now if I had some equipment at home.
Few problems though:
1. Until I reach my final weight, I will be losing muscle mass. That's inevitable, based on my research, especially with starvation diets, where body consumes muscle mass organically (it needs energy from some place). Meaning, I would loose 30-40% of the new muscle mass I build now anyway. Better to get it over with and then start building new muscle mass. I'm 44, not 88, so i got some time, I reckon.
2. Proper bodybuilding requires a really strict food regimen. You need a lot of calories to lift heavy weights. I cannot lift heavy weights if I eat 1,200 calories - walking 3 hours a day is about the best I can do on that kind of calories. I very clearly recall from 2 decades ago that if I missed breakfast and went to a gym I lifted 50-80 pounds less than if I had breakfast. Every time.
3. I cannot imagine myself just messing around with some small hand weights. I really can't. When I quit benchpressing, I was pushing 350 pounds and I was on a plan that was adding 5-10 pounds each month. It would be plain ridiculous to putz around with 20-30 pound dumbbells. If I am going to spend the time and effort, might as well do it properly.
You are doing a great job on it. At 6'3", weighing 235 with a 38" waist is not that bad
I'm sure I would now fit into 36" pants (of same kind) given how loose those 38" are now, and given I got them at the same time when the other pair needed like ~4" to even close (which I buttoned up few days ago for first time).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rivertowntalk
depending on your frame.
I have a somewhat larger chest and wide shoulders and much smaller waist/butt (kinda disproportionally, I am being told - compared to my shoulders/chest).
I recall when I started doing bodybuilding that my chest was 1" larger than that of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Of course, that was without any muscles or fat - I believe I was around 190 pounds at the time. So, the frame is somewhat larger.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rivertowntalk
You are going to have a larger waist at 6'3" unless you want to look sickly thin. I am a few inches taller and I can weigh between about 250 to 275 and people can't really tell the difference. People think I weigh about 200. My ideal weight is about 245-250. If I go to 240, or below, it is too thin and I don't feel well. My weight can fluctuate 10-12 pounds during the year, depending on winter/summer. Water weight can be fairly significant.
Same here, I usually get estimates of 50-70 pounds less. When I was 325, the heighest estimate I got was 240, but I do have the advantage of uniform fat distribution in my DNA.
And no, I don't want to look sickly thin, for sure. Besides, it's kinda hard with that frame anyway...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rivertowntalk
If you have a lot of muscle mass, you are going to weigh more. I would do something cardiovascular like bike riding for 45 min. Not just touring, but getting your heart rate up and down.
I was doing that 2 yrs ago on an elliptical and it requires am incredible crapton of calories to support. I wasn't doing 45 minutes,though (other than in first week of building up the endurance). More like two and half hours. To me, 45 minutes makes no sense, 90 minutes is absolute minimum, given that it usually takes ~45 minutes for body to switch to fat burning in the first place.
Why is it so important to you to lose weight quickly rather than healthily? You probably didn't gain 50 pounds in less than 6 months, so why does it have to come off so quickly that you're willing to become anorexic/orthorexic?
Well, I'm about ~50-60 pounds away from being anorexic (335-50 = 185 pounds), so pretty sure it's not warranted at all. I need to look up the other word you used, though.
I noticed this week that I can see my 3 bottom ribs and for the first time in a really long time, I can see the round edge around my 6-pack. No 6-pack yet, but the top of the 6-pack has almost no fat now, so it's going in the right direction, at least.
But, most definitely, there's still some serious fluff over my belly
Quote:
Originally Posted by fleetiebelle
You probably didn't gain 50 pounds in less than 6 months, so why does it have to come off so quickly
Actually, I did. Like, in less than a month.
I never had a problem with gradual slow weight gain. It was always incident-based and very quick. Usually under 2 weeks.
I had about 5 such 2-week situations when I gained 25-30 pounds. No problem maintaining weight after that, even for up to a decade.
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