Progress Thread: Losing Weight

[Esquire]

If you cant master food and exercise ... Two things that are completely within your control ... How can you be expected to master other things that are beyond your control ...?

Odds are ... You can't.

I think diet and exercise are a great way to start your Fastlane journey.

Dissatisfaction is a good starting point. It wont fix itself overnight. But if you keep putting one foot in front of the other ... And keep walking in the right direction ... You will get there.

Completely within your control.

Good luck!

 

[NVious]

Maybe you should give out advice on losing weight after you lost weight, not before.

Blows my mind some of the worthless posts that get nuthugged on this site, you'd think that someone trying to get better and share what they're doing would be what this website is about, but nope better make some passive aggressive comment stating the obvious so people can give me thumbs up while adding nothing of value.

 

[mrarcher]

I know you are past this stage but someone might find useful. I really like it!

 

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[Supa]

Wow, didn't realize that my last update is THAT long ago... let me give you guys an update on my journey

In my last update my weight was at 108,2kg (239lbs). Well, shortly after that I hit a stage in weight loss that I didn't know before I entered this journey: the plateau.

That's probably the phase where most people, including me in the past, give up. And I didn't know that that's actually a thing that got a name and that others experience it aswell, I always thought it's just me. For those of you that don't know what a plateau is, basically it means that you reach a point in your weight loss after losing some weight, where your weight stays at a specific point and doesn't go down no matter what you do.

For me that phase lasted for about 3 weeks.

If I remember it right it started end of June when I reached a weight of 107,6kg (237,22lbs) and that damn number didn't go down for 3 freaking weeks no matter how much I hit the gym and stayed to my diet regimen. On some days it would even bounce up a bit, then bounce down again, but never below that number.

Because I knew of this phase in weight loss, thanks to several weight loss journey stories on reddit, I knew it was kinda normal and just kept doing what I knew is right, ignoring that number on the scale to some degree. It was still frustrating, but that frustration disappeared quite fast when I got the first compliments by friends I didn't see in a while. I won't lie, that definitely helped to ignore the scale and stay happy with my weight loss journey.

Then after about 3 weeks, early into my 2 week vacation I checked the scale and holy shit, my weight dropped down to 105kg (231,49lbs)!

It felt amazing.

In that vacaction I mentioned above, I met a girl. Long story short: we are together now. And I gotta be honest I kinda lost some motivation to hit the gym as regularly and to follow the diet regimen as I used to BUT thanks to Belcher and his diet regimen I learned to count my calories and therefore I at least managed to keep my weight between 104kg (229,28lbs) and 105kg (231,49lbs) for the next few weeks after my vacation (I decided to take a pause of my diet and sport in the vacation).

I still lost some more weight, though. Not as much as I probably could with hitting the gym as often and eat as proper as I used to, but yeah it still goes down, slowly but it does.

Alright, here are the numbers:

Starting weight (1): 116kg (256lbs) starting weight of this thread
Starting weight (2): 113,5kg (250lbs) weight when first applying Belcher's help
Current weight: 101,5kg (223,77lbs)
Weight loss: (1) 14,5kg (31,97lbs) and (2) 12kg (26,46lbs)

 

[Esquire]

P.S. When I put on weight ... I felt like shit. I was totally disgusted with myself. Just like you. And I realized it was a constant source of unhappiness. Every day I looked in the mirror. And I did not like what I saw. So I made a decision. Just like you. I was going to lose the weight. And I did. Again ... Not overnight. But I kept at it. Now ... My goal is underwear model. Not literally. But thats what I am shooting for. And Ill get there too. Because I made up my mind to do it. And now when I see a mirror ... I am happy. Because of the choices I made yesterday. Just remember: What you do today determines who you will be tomorrow. Create that person.

 

[Supa]

Alright, time for an update and I'm proud to be able to say that it's the first positive one in a while

A few weeks ago, after he posted in here and offered his help, I got in contact with @Belcher. Long story short, this guy's the reason for the following numbers. He gave me a real plan to live by, not some type of short time diet or empowering words, nah, he gave me something real to work with. Out of respect to him I won't disclose the plan he spent time on to create for me. Without giving too much away, its purpose is to get my metabolism firing with a mix of new dieting habits and sport. Thank you, good sir

Anyway here are the numbers.

Starting weight (1): 116kg (256lbs) starting weight of this thread
Starting weight (2): 113.5 (250lbs) weight when first applying Belcher's help
Current weight: 108,2kg (239lbs)
Weight loss: (1) 7.8kg (17.20lbs) and (2) 5.3kg (11,68lbs)

Still a way to go, but damn it feels good to be moving.

For the case that someone's following this thread who'd like to lose weight or is currently in the progress of doing so, I came along an interesting topic on Reddit, in which formerly fat people talk about how things changed after losing weight. Maybe it's just me, but there's no motivational quote or powerful words that could compete with the power of connecting emotions to a goal. Like knowing your WHY. Reading how it felt to be finally losing anything from 20-100 pounds and what changed during the process gave me a depth of emotional connection to this goal, that no quote or anything could've ever done. Here's the link to it: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/3l5n1u/seriousformerly_fat_people_of_reddit_what_is_the/

 

[theag]

Maybe you should give out advice on losing weight after you lost weight, not before.

 

[sija1]

The mindsets and beliefs I learned in the short time since I finally got my lazy a$$ up and started working on my journey to the Fastlane, helped me realize one big thing: those mindsets and beliefs can be used for more than just my journey to the Fastlane, while still supporting it.

Yep I am talking about losing weight, and getting fit.

Back in 2011 my weight was at about 194lbs (88kg for the European guys), over the next 2 years I gained about 55lbs (25kg). You can actually say I went from looking decent to shitty in 2 years.

I could tell you an endless list of reasons I gained the weight, and another list of reasons why I never lost it. But not one of those "reasons" would be anything else than BS excuses.

One of the reasons I'm doing this thread, is that it helps me to stay accountable and committed. I am not happy with my weight at the moment, so I want to change it. And it will support my journey to the Fastlane. Achieving this goal has the power to show me, that something that always seemed so far from possible can be done. Plus it has the power to make me feel better and happy, which of course also supports my journey.

Alright, I hope you can get some motivation of this thread, I will update it on a regular basis with my weight and what I do to lose it.

I started 2 weeks ago, with a starting weight of 255,74lbs (116kg), lost 3,30lbs (1,5kg) the first week and 2,20lbs (1kg) last week and am now at 250,00lbs (last friday).

Good job! If you can motivate yourself to do it for the first 3-4 months then you'll stop needing motivation until you hit a plateau. I used to smoke a lot of weed when I was 16 and I ate once a day. At 19 years old I was like 135 lbs, skin and bones. Then I hit the gym, went for almost 3 months and stopped. I was at 140 lbs. 23 years old, went again, this time I was completely committed, not just to going to the gym but to building a lifestyle that supports it. At my peak I was at 180-185 lbs. I didn't have abs, but I wasn't fat, my stomach was pretty flat.

A couple of things I learned as somebody who did the cutting and the bulking phase:
- In the beginning only you see the results
- As a beginner, if you train right, you progress is incredible but after some time it slows down so it is important to change routines and have microcycles. There is more than one opinion on this and everyone is genetically different, but for me changing my routine every 3-4 months did the trick.
- The lower your body fat gets, the bigger the risk of losing the muscle if you're losing weight too fast. So when you start seeing you muscles in the mirror without flexing, don't try to lose more than 1 lbs per week (3600 negative cals)
- Set your goal because it will help you choose your diet and weight lifting routine - if you wanna bulk eat more but fewer times per day and do A LOT of compound exercises - your mass and strength will grow every week; also since you will be doing the whole body train once in two days. If you cut, eat 6 times a day but only small meals with a lot of protein (fish and chicken are no. 1!). Don't eat your daily cals in 2 meals and then stop eating for the day - it WILL backfire.
- Don't believe in magic pills. Even if some are quite magic - they come with a price.
- Train hard as you can, but don't hurt yourself. Always start with 40% percent of your max 10 rep weight
- Use supersets, dropsets, plyometric exercices, body weight exercices and weights and negative sets (great for breaking the plateau)
- Using different types of machines is good, but they don't help you train your stabilizers so be sure to use dumbbells and barbells also
- Don't train 7 days a week. I believe that the word overtraining was made by p****es but you do need some rest. For me 5-6 times a week, 1h30 - 2h was perfect. Everyone is different.

And if you want to have a nice 6 pack - Abs are made in the kitchen, not in the gym.

I hope I helped a little bit and I wish you all the luck in your weight lifting journey, it really is a beautiful lifestyle; in the end you feel better, happier and more disciplined.

@Potente Simple?! Have you even ever touched weights in your life?

 

[BKMoney]

Loosing weight is the simplest thing out there, once you decide you really want it.
If you only cut out sugar (including fruit juices, sodas, etc.. ), white flour and starches (bread, pastas, pizzas, potatoes, etc..) from your diet completely it becomes very very easy. I substitute sugar for stevia, white flour for buckwheat flour and focus on meat, eggs, fish, vegetables and nuts (look for local grass fed meat and eggs and organic produce). That way even if you don't exercise you will lose weight and you will never be hungry.

The secret is changing your mindset. Diets don't work because people think of them as something temporary. In order to lose weight and reclaim your health you will need to change your mindset and the way you approach food completely.

If your aim is loosing weight best exercise would be cardio in the morning on an empty stomach. If you want that beach body you will have to hit the gym though.

 

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[Delmania]

The secret is changing your mindset. Diets don't work because people think of them as something temporary. In order to lose weight and reclaim your health you will need to change your mindset and the way you approach food completely.

I can't echo this enough. Around 7 years ago, I started a 2 year weight loss process in which I dropped 100 lbs. I've kept it off. I did this by changing my diet to eating more plants and drinking more water. I did this by weighing myself every week. I was already working out regularly.

Once I lost the weight, I didn't stop doing those things. In fact, I've further refined my diet, and now I weight myself daily.
Weight loss is very much like running a business. Once you've achieved your goal, you've just started.

 

[BlakeIC]

There actually is a "magic pill" for weight loss: set a low number of calories, hit it and then stop eating for the rest of the day.
If you do it, it is certain that you'll lose 10 kg or more by January.

Now, what if business was as simple and certain?

+ The type of calories actually matter, if you cut down only eating carbs youll look like crap (an example, same would go for protein and fat)

don't avoid fat calories like all those stupid diets out there, fat is crucial for testosterone production

 

[DrkSide]

As someone who has been at this for over a year and a half there is only one thing that I can say.

You can't out train a bad diet and weight is lost in the kitchen.

I started a little over a year and a half ago and have lost 100lbs since then mainly with paleo style eating. I am now going to start weight lifting to build some muscle while still trying to lose some weight. I have probably 50lbs to go and a good bit of body re-composition.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[Supa]

Progress Update

Last week I set my goal of having a 110 standing before the . and I did it, lost 0.9kg over the last week. Here are the numbers:

Starting weight: 116kg (255.74lbs)
Weight: 110.5kg (243.61lbs)
Weight loss: 5.5kg (12.13lbs)

 

[Kallin Trotman]

good decision to make this happen.

I recommend keto, I have done many different macro ratios, etc.... Which if done correctly will all work.
However keto is just very simple and easy to follow. I feel great on keto, lose weight quickly, maintain strength, maintain pumps and enjoy what I can eat.
Basically keto is almost no carbs at all. A lot of protein and a lot of fat.

Perhaps in the beginning track your food but you will soon learn what foods contain what. Use "Myfitnesspal"
Enjoy bacon, eggs, steak, chicken, nuts, vegetables (non starchy. no potatoes, etc) and salad.

Learn what amount of food you body needs to maintain, lose or gain weight. It is trial and error.

Don't get to caught up on if you gained a pound over a week in the beginning. Simply re-adjust for the next week. You will look back at it in the future and think how stupid it was to get unhappy about those little things.

I disagree with only weighing yourself once a month. Do it everyday. yes it fluctuates a little..so what..it doesn't hurt to see. (you can also enter it into "myfitnesspal" is you want.. It'll give you a pretty graph that by the end of a month will clearly slow where your weight is going.

Also you should be training. What NVious suggested would be good. Its not so much about what you do. Just do something, you should sweat everyday.

If after you have lost the weight you want to put some muscle on jump more into that then. Focus on losing the weight first, you'll be surprised how quickly it comes off if you arnt fcking up.

 

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[ToniLene]

Progress Update

alright another week passed and it was time to check my weight on friday.. The result: I'm not happy with it, only lost a few grams.

I think it was the amount of food I ate and the type. I did my training 3 times last week, I'm aiming for 4-5 times. Compared to the first 2 weeks I didn't eat like I want to in the evenings, at lunch I kept eating my protein bread, but in the evening I only ate chicken breast filet two times. The other days I ate beef, but I think it was too much. Need to get back to chicken breast filet on at least 4 days a week, on Thursdays I'm for dinner at my mom's flat, so I can't completely control what I get to eat on Thursdays, but the others days are completely controllable.

I also did the cardio that @sija1 recommended, it felt awesome! Gonna continue with it to get better at it.

Goal for this week:
eat clean, do my workout at least 4 times, lose at least 1kg

Just a thought --eating clean DOES NOT need to be boring. Check out these recipes

http://www.cleanfooddirtycity.com/

 

[Supa]

Progress Update

When I checked my weight last friday it was only about 200g less then the week before. But here are the numbers from this friday's weight check:

Starting weight: 116kg (255.74lbs)
Weight: 111.4kg (245.60lbs)
Weight loss: 4.6kg (10.14lbs)

Last friday I was at 112.8kg (248.68lbs) that makes a weight loss of 1.4kg (3.08lbs) last week.

 

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[Sheps]

You can do it.

But keep in mind, you didn't get out of shape over night, you won't get back in shape over night. This is a process. Consistency wins this race, I promise you, stick to good habits and you WILL get to your goals.

 

[Supa]

Progress Update

after I lost some weight with changing my diet (not making a diet, but changing my eating habits) I had on of those 'click' moments, where you REALLY start to make better choices and I realized that I need to get my a$$ up and do sport to get my metabolism working for me, so I came up with a way of integrating hitting the gym into my daily routines, forming a habit. It only takes me an extra drive of 10 minutes if I drive to the gym directly after my job, so I packed my bag and hit the gym on my way home from work. I started this 2 weeks ago on Thursday and continued it the whole last week. I came to a point where I'm on a battlefield that I can win on, like MJ's cookie story (not buying it - not having it at home - not eating it) I have a decision to make on my way home from work. I could either take the next exit on the right that will get me home directly (buying the cookies at the supermarket) or I could keep driving on that highway that will drive me to the gym and then home afterwards (not buying the cookies).

After this awesome week of finally hitting the gym and sweating the shit out of me, I wanted to check my weight on friday. My happiness disappeared within the fraction of a second. I gained 1 kg. Duh. I coninued my eating habits and even started developping a sport habit and still I gained weight. My mood was f*cked for the day. Until I was at my mom for dinner and talked to her and my step-dad about it. My step-dad lost around 25kg some years ago, he told me that he experienced the same effect when he finally started doing sport, he gained weight for some time, then the weight stayed the same for another few days until it finally started going down. He told me that I should measure my body measurements (thigh, stomach, chest).

So let's insert some more numbers into my progress:

Starting weight: 116kg (255.74lbs)
Current weight: 111.5kg (244,71lbs)
Weight loss so far: 4.5kg (9,92lbs) -1kg (2,20lbs) to last week
Measurements: 65cm, 119cm, 111cm (thigh, stomach, chest)

 

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[Supa]

Pretty much kept my weight over Christmas and New Years. Only been to the gym 4 times the last 2 weeks, now that the holidays and family dinners are done, it's time to get back to the good routines of eating and hitting the gym 4 times a week.

 

[Supa]

Finally back to following Belcher's advice on how to eat every day for the last 2 weeks, also still hitting the gym 3 times a week.

Achieved one of my biggest goals: below 100kg

New numbers:
Starting weight (1): 116kg (256lbs) starting weight of this thread
Starting weight (2): 113,5kg (250lbs) weight when first applying Belcher's help
Current weight: 99,5kg (219,36lbs)
Weight loss: (1) 16,5kg (36,64lbs) and (2) 14kg (30,64lbs)

 

[Supa]

The mindsets and beliefs I learned in the short time since I finally got my lazy a$$ up and started working on my journey to the Fastlane, helped me realize one big thing: those mindsets and beliefs can be used for more than just my journey to the Fastlane, while still supporting it.

Yep I am talking about losing weight, and getting fit.

Back in 2011 my weight was at about 194lbs (88kg for the European guys), over the next 2 years I gained about 55lbs (25kg). You can actually say I went from looking decent to shitty in 2 years.

I could tell you an endless list of reasons I gained the weight, and another list of reasons why I never lost it. But not one of those "reasons" would be anything else than BS excuses.

One of the reasons I'm doing this thread, is that it helps me to stay accountable and committed. I am not happy with my weight at the moment, so I want to change it. And it will support my journey to the Fastlane. Achieving this goal has the power to show me, that something that always seemed so far from possible can be done. Plus it has the power to make me feel better and happy, which of course also supports my journey.

Alright, I hope you can get some motivation of this thread, I will update it on a regular basis with my weight and what I do to lose it.

I started 2 weeks ago, with a starting weight of 255,74lbs (116kg), lost 3,30lbs (1,5kg) the first week and 2,20lbs (1kg) last week and am now at 250,00lbs (last friday).

 

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[Supa]

Maybe you should give out advice on losing weight after you lost weight, not before.

actually, you are right. I just wanted to share my thoughts on this topic, and what I know that I had to change due to my experiences and failures so far. But it seems a bit stupid from someone who didnt lose weight yet, so yeah I agree with you, I will edit my thread just into a progress thread. Thanks.

 

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[DeletedUser396]

@Potente Simple?! Have you even ever touched weights in your life?

Losing weight is very, very simple. It's literally going from point A to point B following a single principle, eating less calories than you need.

Did he say he was going to lift too? No.
Do I lift? Yes. With intermediate to advanced lifts, since I only started in late 2013. Thanks for asking.
Is it simple too? Yes, start with very good form, grab a strength routine and follow it closely for years.
Is it sure you will you get to advanced levels of strength if you don't injure yourself? Yes.

You don't have instructions as clear and certain in business, and since we're on a business forum it can be motivating to know that the willpower needed to lose fat or lifting is only a tiny fraction of to the willpower needed to become wealthy.

http://www.1percentedge.com/ifcalc/
Now OP, one tip I can give you is to calculate your weekly calorie goal and then eat a weekly deficit of 4000 kcals. Weekly calories are the most important thing when it comes to weight loss or weight gain. Be aware, because even if you lift 3/4 times a week, you're most likely to be sedentary.
One thing I like to do when cutting is calorie cycling. Basically you eat your maintenance calories one day and then eat a big deficit on the following day, this way your hormones will be stable during the whole process.
Let's say your maintenance is 2500 kcals, eat 2500 kcals one day and eat 1500 kcals the following day. Repeat.
On deficit days you can trick your appetite by fasting as long as you can handle, suppressing your appetite with caffeine/ephedrine/nicotine. Be sure to eat enough protein (from 100 g to 200 g) on deficit days.

http://www.leangains.com/
Since you're there, read the whole blog. Martin is a genius and he doesn't get enough attention.

Good luck OP, losing weight is only as hard as you make it out to be. The only hard part is achieving a single digit body fat %.

 

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[JordanS]

What does your diet look like for your weight loss journey?

I lost about 90 pounds last year eating keto, which is pretty much low carb. For me this was the easiest way for me to stay within my caloric goals. Fat keeps you full longer and without the carb cravings I could easily stay away from junk food.

 

[Supa]

Progress Update

alright another week passed and it was time to check my weight on friday.. The result: I'm not happy with it, only lost a few grams.

I think it was the amount of food I ate and the type. I did my training 3 times last week, I'm aiming for 4-5 times. Compared to the first 2 weeks I didn't eat like I want to in the evenings, at lunch I kept eating my protein bread, but in the evening I only ate chicken breast filet two times. The other days I ate beef, but I think it was too much. Need to get back to chicken breast filet on at least 4 days a week, on Thursdays I'm for dinner at my mom's flat, so I can't completely control what I get to eat on Thursdays, but the others days are completely controllable.

I also did the cardio that @sija1 recommended, it felt awesome! Gonna continue with it to get better at it.

Goal for this week:
eat clean, do my workout at least 4 times, lose at least 1kg

 

[BlakeIC]

Also the whole eating 6 times a day or multiple small meals is BS

The difference it would make is so minuscule you wouldn't be able to tell

And every time you eat something you blunt your bodies growth hormone production

eat whenever/how often you want (I prefer getting majority of my calories in before i end up working out at 6pm)

 

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[Supa]

Weighing yourself once per month allows you to always win (lose weight) assuming you stick to good habits. Weight fluctuates too much on a day to day basis. You could literally weigh 1 or even 2kgs more one day because you ate a big lunch and dinner and drank lots of water. So maybe your true weight is 110kg but the day you weigh in it shows 112kg. That makes you feel bad, that makes you think negatively, that makes it easier to quit.
Harder to quit when you're always winning...

Makes sense, I will try it this way. Thanks!

 

[Sheps]

Down nearly FIVE kilos! That's awesome. Go get a 5kg weight or 5Ls of water, stick it in a bag and go for a walk. You'll really get a feel for how far you've come.

 

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[lowtek]

Progress Update

I'll be honest with you guys, the reason why I didn't post an update in the last few weeks was that I felt embarassed to post failure after failure. Not only that I stayed at the same weight for about 3 weeks, last week I gained 1.5kg. I could name you a long list of reasons why that happened, but in the end it wouldn't be anything but excuses. While I'm happy that I changed my eating habits, I still have problems with going to the gym on a regular basis. Doing it 4 days a week right after the job worked awesome, until the first reasons for excuses occurred "I feel too tired", "I have to stay at work longer today, gonna drive home directly to not lose even more time before I can continue working on my business", etc. I feel like shit because of my lack of discipline when it comes to sport, but that doesn't mean I'm giving up. I changed up some of the eating habits, now I need to create the habit of hitting the gym, I was in midst of creating that habit when I stopped because of some lame excuses, let's get back up and do it again, aiming for a better result.

bro, thanks for the honesty. But I have some words of encouragement for you:

stop using the scale as your sole determiner of progress. Professional fighters and powerlifters can drop many many kilos of water weight right before a weigh in, and then gain it all back within 24 hours.

Moral of that story is that the scale records total weight, which includes water.

If you gained 3 pounds of water, it's easy to shed that and it doesn't really hurt your physique or your health.

if you gained 3 pounds of muscle, you would look noticeably better, yet if you're going by the scale you're moving away from your goal.

Stop using the scale. Start using the mirror.

Also, I recommend picking up a strength activity.

Lift some heavy weights, put them back down.

Repeat.

Get Swole.

Measure progress by the mirror and the weight on the bar.

You will be much happier.

The beauty about physique related goals is that there is almost no damage too great to undo. 3 pounds is just a minor bump, particularly since it isn't likely to all be fat. REMEMBER: you can only gain as much fat as you eat in a day. If you're active, you're NOT converting carbs to fat. This is a myth.

You got this !

 

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[Delmania]

i like this topic and i love the idea of being in shape because getting into shape is not easy at all. it requires patience, hardwork and loads of dedication to you meals etc.

Weight loss is easy; keeping it off is the real challenge.