Help! I'm Fat - *** Official Exercise and Weight Thread ***

[besserheimerphat]

I've been doing stronglifts 5x5 for several years. Getting a little bored and seems like my squat kinda tops out at 285 for the 25 reps. Looking to start something different, keeping the squats as a highlight but still changing some things up. Any suggestions?

That's the downside of adaptability - the stuff that works stops working. The good news is if you spend 2-4 weeks doing something different, you can resensitize yourself to the original workout that yielded success.

You could try literally anything. Still squat but do more/less volume, increase/decrease weight, change the rest between sets, do a variation, or any combination. During that experimentation period you may find other things that work really well.

I'm using the Emerging Strategies protocol from Reactive Training Systems. They have a lot of free info, including a free training log, or they offer online coaching if you're so inclined. I don't pay for coaching but follow all their socials and use their log.

 

[besserheimerphat]

Google says cost to make it smaller can range from $30-60. I'd probably budget around that range (maybe a bit higher) just so there's no unpleasant surprise.

Depending on how loose it is, you can find adhesive ring inserts for this purpose. I've had to use them since losing weight. Nearly lost my ring several times but these have really helped. They seem to last several months before needing to be replaced, but I'm still on the original package I bought from Amazon a few years ago.

In that second picture I'm pushing my ring up with my thumb, and there's a >1/8" gap.

 

[besserheimerphat]

Resistance training is where it's at, at any age.

Looking for the Fountain of Youth? Try the gym and weight-resistance training

You're getting up there in years. Maybe you haven't thought about going to the gym and taking up weight-resistance training. Dr. Marcas Bamman thinks you should.

apnews.com

 

[ScottyP]

My exercise schedule includes walking for about 20-30 minutes every other day. I've started to replace the walk with rucking to help lose more weight and add some strength training to my walks. I bought a 20 pound ruck plate and add it to a backpack. It is a lighter weight but I wanted to make sure I started light. I really enjoy it. I've also noticed that it has helped my posture a lot. I'll eventually try to get to 30-35 pounds over the next couple of years, but I'm not in a rush to increase my weight. Rucking is supposed to burn about 2-3x the calories compared to a regular walk so it is an easier way to increase my calorie burn without much extra effort.

 

[cyclone4L]

Probably the most relatable and effective weightloss internet personality. Check him out!

 

[BigTurk]

Been hearing @ChrisMWilliams has a new sponsor for his pods. This Gameday Mens Health. Anyone have experience with such places? I am considering scheduling an appointment, but don't know how I feel about it. Expensive? Snake Oil? In some ways these type places just scream "taking money from guys afraid of getting old."

 

[Nader_uggghhh]

Been hearing CW has a new sponsor for his pods. This Gameday Mens Health. Anyone have experience with such places? I am considering scheduling an appointment, but don't know how I feel about it.

Docs who lift have a good podcast on hypogonadism on Spotify. The episode is called "Do you have low T?" One of the hosts is an endocrinologist and specializes in obesity.

 

[BigTurk]

Docs who lift have a good podcast on hypogonadism on Spotify. The episode is called "Do you have low T?" One of the hosts is an endocrinologist and specializes in obesity.

Good pod and certainly don’t want to go to one of mens clinics now.

 

[Nader_uggghhh]

Good pod and certainly don’t want to go to one of mens clinics now.

It's a really good show but it has a pretty narrow scope. They don't like to get very far out of their expertise so it's a lot of GLP/GIP/obesity talk. And a lot of calling out Peter Attia, who I'll also listen to. I actually found the pod trying to learn a little bit more about GLP agonists. I'm glad I did because there's a completely different stigma in the bodybuilding/influencer/Attia-Huberman space.

 

[cyclone4L]

Recently, I got serious about losing weight. I have lost about 30lbs in less than three months. I am now below 210lb, which I haven't been at since my sophomore year in college (2012).

COUNT CALORIES

Here's how I did it:
1. COUNT CALORIES. This is the most important one by far. I had no clue what the math of my body looked like; it was a disaster. Weightloss isn't wishwashy; it's science. When I counted calories, I realized which foods are the problem. I ate McDonald's nearly everyday and still lost weight. Even if I go over, I still log them.

Sorry, but beer counts as calories.

2. 10,000 steps a day. If you are serious, you will do it.

3. Diet Soda. Yes, Diet Soda is different than regular soda for weightloss. It's still bad for you, but if your first goal is weightloss (mine was), a substitute for the sugar sodas is diet or zero calorie sodas.

4. No eating before bed. This one is less important, but it still helps. No eating food 3 hours before bed.

5. Weigh yourself everyday when you wake up. Seriously, when you see the scale go from 237.4 to 237.0 the next day, it's the best feeling ever. Its only a couple ounces, but its progress! Plus, weighing yourself everyday helps you to not go off the rails if you have a bad couple of days.

6. Pray about it. I know it's not for everyone, but I asked God to help me every day, and he showed me the way. I'd be lying if I said I did it by myself.

Fad Diets don't work. You know this, so don't try it. Chances are you have tried them and they only discouraged you. I tried carnivore, keto, only eggs for a month, all that BS. It's not sustainable and only made me feel like a lost cause.

Lifestyle changes need to be made. Once you realize that you are making changes for the rest of your life, you stop lying that you "will not eat cake or sweets for a month". That isn't sustainable, so don't do it. Just figure out something that will work for you.

Don't set a deadline (unless that helps you). Deadlines make me anxious, so I just chose to meet my daily calorie goal and the weight just fell off.

Again, COUNT CALORIES!

You can do it and you owe it to yourself to try. Even if you only lose 10lbs, that is a big accomplishment.

 

[ScottyP]

I've lost lost 58 pounds over the past year and have about 10 pounds to go to reach my ideal weight. I'm in a a weight loss plateau that I can't seem to break through. I'm consuming about 1,550 calories per day. Any tips on getting through that weight loss plateau?

Part of me wants to just get to that ideal weight soon but also understand that as long as I'm focusing on getting there, that I'm more likely to maintain.

I lift dumbbells every other day at home and I've started taking creatine about 7 weeks ago. I've noticed over the past 3 weeks that I've seen some good gains in my lifts, so that has been a benefit.

I went to a men's group at my church this morning and they said I looked like a Marine. I don't think I'm close to that good of shape, but it was still a nice compliment.

 

[CloniesForLife]

I've lost lost 58 pounds over the past year and have about 10 pounds to go to reach my ideal weight. I'm in a a weight loss plateau that I can't seem to break through. I'm consuming about 1,550 calories per day. Any tips on getting through that weight loss plateau?

Part of me wants to just get to that ideal weight soon but also understand that as long as I'm focusing on getting there, that I'm more likely to maintain.

I lift dumbbells every other day at home and I've started taking creatine about 7 weeks ago. I've noticed over the past 3 weeks that I've seen some good gains in my lifts, so that has been a benefit.

I went to a men's group at my church this morning and they said I looked like a Marine. I don't think I'm close to that good of shape, but it was still a nice compliment.

Just keep doing what you are doing and stay consistent. How long have you been plateauing?

 

[ScottyP]

Just keep doing what you are doing and stay consistent. How long have you been plateauing?

around two months of plateauing

 

[cyclone4L]

I've lost lost 58 pounds over the past year and have about 10 pounds to go to reach my ideal weight. I'm in a a weight loss plateau that I can't seem to break through. I'm consuming about 1,550 calories per day. Any tips on getting through that weight loss plateau?

Part of me wants to just get to that ideal weight soon but also understand that as long as I'm focusing on getting there, that I'm more likely to maintain.

I lift dumbbells every other day at home and I've started taking creatine about 7 weeks ago. I've noticed over the past 3 weeks that I've seen some good gains in my lifts, so that has been a benefit.

I went to a men's group at my church this morning and they said I looked like a Marine. I don't think I'm close to that good of shape, but it was still a nice compliment.

I haven't had to deal with a plateau yet so I don't have tips backed by experience.

I would keep doing what you are doing, maybe introduce some cardio to change it up. Eventually, you will break through.

 

[CloniesForLife]

around two months of plateauing

I would give it a little more time and remain consistent and see if anything changes. If it sticks for awhile longer try just some small tweaks. Don't do anything drastic that will burn you out. It's like investing in the stock market long term consistency and nothing will be better than just having your money in the market for a long time.

 

[Hubbs4cy]

I've lost lost 58 pounds over the past year and have about 10 pounds to go to reach my ideal weight. I'm in a a weight loss plateau that I can't seem to break through. I'm consuming about 1,550 calories per day. Any tips on getting through that weight loss plateau?

Part of me wants to just get to that ideal weight soon but also understand that as long as I'm focusing on getting there, that I'm more likely to maintain.

I lift dumbbells every other day at home and I've started taking creatine about 7 weeks ago. I've noticed over the past 3 weeks that I've seen some good gains in my lifts, so that has been a benefit.

I went to a men's group at my church this morning and they said I looked like a Marine. I don't think I'm close to that good of shape, but it was still a nice compliment.

Sounds like you are doing great! My best guess is the "plateau" and creatine uptake are connected. I wouldn't stop taking creatine as it sounds like it is doing what it's supposed to do for you. My bet is you are now gaining fat free mass at the same rate of fat loss so the scale won't change. I'd start focusing on those numbers instead of a weight number to measure progress.

 

[Clone5]

Been hearing @ChrisMWilliams has a new sponsor for his pods. This Gameday Mens Health. Anyone have experience with such places? I am considering scheduling an appointment, but don't know how I feel about it. Expensive? Snake Oil? In some ways these type places just scream "taking money from guys afraid of getting old."

It is screaming that for a reason.

 

[madguy30]

I've lost lost 58 pounds over the past year and have about 10 pounds to go to reach my ideal weight. I'm in a a weight loss plateau that I can't seem to break through. I'm consuming about 1,550 calories per day. Any tips on getting through that weight loss plateau?

Part of me wants to just get to that ideal weight soon but also understand that as long as I'm focusing on getting there, that I'm more likely to maintain.

I lift dumbbells every other day at home and I've started taking creatine about 7 weeks ago. I've noticed over the past 3 weeks that I've seen some good gains in my lifts, so that has been a benefit.

I went to a men's group at my church this morning and they said I looked like a Marine. I don't think I'm close to that good of shape, but it was still a nice compliment.

Awesome!!

I think to get through that plateau is just to keep at it. If nothing else you're continuing good healthy habits which is a huge deal.

Or be 22 years old.

 

[besserheimerphat]

I've lost lost 58 pounds over the past year and have about 10 pounds to go to reach my ideal weight. I'm in a a weight loss plateau that I can't seem to break through. I'm consuming about 1,550 calories per day. Any tips on getting through that weight loss plateau?

Part of me wants to just get to that ideal weight soon but also understand that as long as I'm focusing on getting there, that I'm more likely to maintain.

I lift dumbbells every other day at home and I've started taking creatine about 7 weeks ago. I've noticed over the past 3 weeks that I've seen some good gains in my lifts, so that has been a benefit.

I went to a men's group at my church this morning and they said I looked like a Marine. I don't think I'm close to that good of shape, but it was still a nice compliment.

Others have made good suggestions already. I'd tweak some of what they said:

• Creatine may be related as it tends to make you hold more water and glucose in the muscle. At 7 weeks, that should be stabilizing.
• Creatine does boost muscle synthesis, but only if you're putting in enough work to grow muscle in the first place. That means your dumbell workouts have to be getting close to failure (without actually failing). So it's possible you're gaining muscle and losing fat at the same rate, if your workout and diet are really dialed in. This is possible but usually doesn't happen by accident.
  • One way to evaluate this is look at how your clothes fit. If your weight is stable but your pants are getting looser, this may be what's happening in which case don't change anything.
• If you've been stalled for 2 months, that's long enough to try something different. The first suggestion is to cut back calories a little bit more and monitor for another month. You've got less mass now, so your base calorie needs have gone down too.
• Consider improving your sleep habits. Sleep is super important for stress management, and stress plays a big role in changing your body.

And congrats on the results so far! Don't get frustrated and let those last 10 lbs make you forget about the huge progress you've made already!

 

[FriendlySpartan]

Others have made good suggestions already. I'd tweak some of what they said:

• Creatine may be related as it tends to make you hold more water and glucose in the muscle. At 7 weeks, that should be stabilizing.
• Creatine does boost muscle synthesis, but only if you're putting in enough work to grow muscle in the first place. That means your dumbell workouts have to be getting close to failure (without actually failing). So it's possible you're gaining muscle and losing fat at the same rate, if your workout and diet are really dialed in. This is possible but usually doesn't happen by accident.
  • One way to evaluate this is look at how your clothes fit. If your weight is stable but your pants are getting looser, this may be what's happening in which case don't change anything.
• If you've been stalled for 2 months, that's long enough to try something different. The first suggestion is to cut back calories a little bit more and monitor for another month. You've got less mass now, so your base calorie needs have gone down too.
• Consider improving your sleep habits. Sleep is super important for stress management, and stress plays a big role in changing your body.

And congrats on the results so far! Don't get frustrated and let those last 10 lbs make you forget about the huge progress you've made already!

Do not cut out more calories. I’ve got to push back strongly on this. You’re already at a very low calorie intake that you are unlikely to sustain for your whole life. Going lower is just a recipe for failure

Edit* also you are 100% not gaining muscle at the same rate as you are losing fat. If yo were over a two month period that you have been stuck then you wouldn’t care about the number on the scale as your body comp would be excellent