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

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Cyclones_R_GR8

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The other day I was able to put on an old pair of Levi's 501 jeans with a 34 inch waist. A bit too tight but not by much. I haven't worn those since 2011
 

benjay

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For those looking to take the next step in fitness, I can't recommend Focus T25 enough. I've been doing it for 11.5 months (actually on Insanity Max 30 now) and I've lost 30 lbs from 185 to 155. I am pretty damn lean right now. Just don't expect instant results. I don't think I lost anything in the first month, and it's been slow and steady progress from there.
 

ricochet

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The other day I was able to put on an old pair of Levi's 501 jeans with a 34 inch waist. A bit too tight but not by much. I haven't worn those since 2011

Last weekend I tried on a sweet pair of acid washed 32 inch jeans that I haven't worn since 1987. I'm down about 60 pounds and within 5 pounds of what I weighed then but sadly I couldn't button them. I guess the weight isn't in all the same places it was 30+ years ago. Not sure why I've kept this pair for so long. I guess in the back of my mind it was always a goal to fit into them again even though I never really thought it would ever happen. I might still make it though.
 

besserheimerphat

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Checking in again. Weighed in this morning at 271, down 65 from where I started in February and 95 from my heaviest. That's less than what I weighed when I graduated HS 21 years ago. I've only been lighter than this once in my adult life. Finally bought some new pants as my old ones were comically big and found out I'd gone down about 10in. My waist is no longer double my inseam (avg height with long torso = stubby legs). Still have a ton of room to lose more - gotta keep fighting and making good choices.
 

SouthernCy

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Checking in again. Weighed in this morning at 271, down 65 from where I started in February and 95 from my heaviest. That's less than what I weighed when I graduated HS 21 years ago. I've only been lighter than this once in my adult life. Finally bought some new pants as my old ones were comically big and found out I'd gone down about 10in. My waist is no longer double my inseam (avg height with long torso = stubby legs). Still have a ton of room to lose more - gotta keep fighting and making good choices.
Do you think your weight loss has plateaued or are you still losing weight on a consistent basis?
 
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besserheimerphat

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Do you think your weight loss as plateaued or are you still losing weight on a consistent basis?
It is slowing down a bit and becoming a bit more sporadic. It seems like instead of going down a small amount everyday, I'll spend 3-4 days hovering within a couple pound band before having a drop. But the drops are generally a little bigger so the overall trend hasn't changed a lot yet.

Because I'm a gigantic nerd, I've been tracking my weightloss in Excel and forecasting where I'll be on my 40th birthday in late October. The last month, that forecasted weight has been creeping up. My forecast is built on a power law decay model, which already presumes my weightloss will slow down over time. When i first did this a few months ago, it predicted 240lbs. A couple days ago, it predicted 247lbs.
 

Cyclones_R_GR8

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I'm waiting until Aug 22 for a 1 year weigh in. Judging by my pants I wouldn't think I have lost much if any since I hit 198 (52 lbs lost)
Far too many alcohol calories sitting around the house all the freaking time. I guess I could get something accomplished around the house but by the time I log off work I am so frustrated.
 

SouthernCy

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It is slowing down a bit and becoming a bit more sporadic. It seems like instead of going down a small amount everyday, I'll spend 3-4 days hovering within a couple pound band before having a drop. But the drops are generally a little bigger so the overall trend hasn't changed a lot yet.

Because I'm a gigantic nerd, I've been tracking my weightloss in Excel and forecasting where I'll be on my 40th birthday in late October. The last month, that forecasted weight has been creeping up. My forecast is built on a power law decay model, which already presumes my weightloss will slow down over time. When i first did this a few months ago, it predicted 240lbs. A couple days ago, it predicted 247lbs.
I'm a big big fan of this. That's what I was going to suggest to you, don't track by day because our weight will fluctuate. Really all you should be concerned with is week-by-week are you still trending down. This can be shown using your excel tracking and just a simple trend line. You may have a week where its a "set back", but as long as you are still heading down in the trend then you are in great shape! Obviously I don't know you, but proud of your accountability and dedication to your health and becoming a better version of yourself. I know it can be difficult at times, but it absolutely is worth getting your body and your mind in a healthier state. Please keep posting about your journey and we, or at the bare minimum me, will be here to support you along the way
 

KnappShack

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It is slowing down a bit and becoming a bit more sporadic. It seems like instead of going down a small amount everyday, I'll spend 3-4 days hovering within a couple pound band before having a drop. But the drops are generally a little bigger so the overall trend hasn't changed a lot yet.

Because I'm a gigantic nerd, I've been tracking my weightloss in Excel and forecasting where I'll be on my 40th birthday in late October. The last month, that forecasted weight has been creeping up. My forecast is built on a power law decay model, which already presumes my weightloss will slow down over time. When i first did this a few months ago, it predicted 240lbs. A couple days ago, it predicted 247lbs.

Slow and steady. Keep the ultimate goal ahead of you....and that goal isn't a number. It's health.

Guy at work has gone nuts and dripped over 50 lbs, but he's working out at a pace that isn't sustainable. He already wonders how he can possibly keep the weight off. Slow. Steady.
 

harimad

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Jul 28, 2016
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I’ve been lurking in this thread since the beginning and I love how inspiring so many of you have been!
I might as well share too. I’ve been overweight for most of my life. I came into my height in ninth grade and was a four-sport athlete in high school. I was a walk-on at Iowa State but quit and dropped out after my freshman year. I enlisted in the Army Reserves and stayed in shape until my late-20s, but after that, it was a long upward climb, being delusional about my health until four years ago when one day I stepped on a scale and it read over 350 lbs. (I’m 6’3”.)
Something finally clicked for me, and I started working on losing the weight. I’ve researched (and done) just about every diet out there. I’ve done Barre, Pilates, running, weightlifting, you name it, I’ve done it. Healthy or unhealthy, it didn’t matter. I just wanted to lose the weight. I’ve pretty certain I’ve been teetering on the edge of ED (edit: this means eating disorder, not erectile dysfunction. My anatomy is incapable of that particular “ED,” lol) territory for a couple of years. I’m ashamed to say that I purged for the first time last year.
It has taken a long time, and I’ve had so many setbacks on the path— it’s so easy to lose 10 lbs and then gain back 15... but finally this summer everything has kind of clicked for me. I haven’t purged in several months. I’m not restricting certain groups of foods, or eating at certain times. I’m just trying to eat normal foods, cooking all of my meals, and exercising every day. I run outside 5-6 days a week, for 30-60 minutes each time. I aim for 13k steps daily and usually hit the target.
I’m happy to report that the scale said 216 this morning. My goal weight is 195, which should put me around 17.5% body fat and 24.4 BMI. That’s only 21 more pounds, which sounds like a lot. Except I’ve lost 134 so I’ve already accomplished this six times. I’m even happier to report that I’ve gone from ~240 at the beginning of the summer and I’ve lost this weight gradually without going through any extreme measures like fasting, to get here. I’m around 22% body fat and I’m even transitioning from one-piece swimsuits to bikinis. That’s how confident I feel now.
 
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KnappShack

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I’ve been lurking in this thread since the beginning and I love how inspiring so many of you have been!
I might as well share too. I’ve been overweight for most of my life. I came into my height in ninth grade and was a four-sport athlete in high school. I was a walk-on at Iowa State but quit and dropped out after my freshman year. I enlisted in the Army Reserves and stayed in shape until my late-20s, but after that, it was a long upward climb, being delusional about my health until four years ago when one day I stepped on a scale and it read over 350 lbs. (I’m 6’3”.)
Something finally clicked for me, and I started working on losing the weight. I’ve researched (and done) just about every diet out there. I’ve done Barre, Pilates, running, weightlifting, you name it, I’ve done it. Healthy or unhealthy, it didn’t matter. I just wanted to lose the weight. I’ve pretty certain I’ve been teetering the edge of ED territory for a couple of years. I’m ashamed to say that I purged for the first time last year.
It has taken a long time, and I’ve had so many setbacks on the path— it’s so easy to lose 10 lbs and then gain back 15... but finally this summer everything has kind of clicked for me. I haven’t purged in several months. I’m not restricting certain groups of foods, or eating at certain times. I’m just trying to eat normal foods, cooking all of my meals, and exercising every day. I run outside 5-6 days a week, for 30-60 minutes each time. I aim for 13k steps daily and usually hit the target.
I’m happy to report that the scale said 216 this morning. My goal weight is 195, which should put me around 17.5% body fat and 24.4 BMI. That’s only 21 more pounds, which sounds like a lot. Except I’ve lost 134 so I’ve already accomplished this six times. I’m even happier to report that I’ve gone from ~240 at the beginning of the summer and I’ve lost this weight gradually without going through any extreme measures like fasting, to get here. I’m around 22% body fat and I’m even transitioning from one-piece swimsuits to bikinis. That’s how confident I feel now.

A lot to unpack there and good on a whole lot of levels
 

VeloClone

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Jan 19, 2010
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I have been maintaining my weight since I reached my goal range. I finally started working on my core about a month ago since that is the biggest problem now. I had a setback a couple of weeks ago when I strained my back so I had to stop my daily core targeted workout, but I have been able to continue running and walking. Hopefully my back issues will resolve and I can (carefully) get back to improving my core. At least my weight hasn't jumped back up with the setback. :)
 
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besserheimerphat

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Apr 11, 2006
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I'm a big big fan of this. That's what I was going to suggest to you, don't track by day because our weight will fluctuate. Really all you should be concerned with is week-by-week are you still trending down. This can be shown using your excel tracking and just a simple trend line. You may have a week where its a "set back", but as long as you are still heading down in the trend then you are in great shape! Obviously I don't know you, but proud of your accountability and dedication to your health and becoming a better version of yourself. I know it can be difficult at times, but it absolutely is worth getting your body and your mind in a healthier state. Please keep posting about your journey and we, or at the bare minimum me, will be here to support you along the way
I have to do the daily tracking. If I only do it by week, I have a harder time with it because a "bad week" is more frustrating to me than a "bad day." It also helps me to think back to what I did over the past couple of days and course correct, rather than what I did over the past week. I've also heard there are studies showing that people who weigh themselves daily have better long term outcomes.

I'm a big stats guy - I teach stats to other engineers throughout our company - so I'm comfortable dealing with noise and uncertainty in my data.
 

SouthernCy

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Sep 8, 2019
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I’ve been lurking in this thread since the beginning and I love how inspiring so many of you have been!
I might as well share too. I’ve been overweight for most of my life. I came into my height in ninth grade and was a four-sport athlete in high school. I was a walk-on at Iowa State but quit and dropped out after my freshman year. I enlisted in the Army Reserves and stayed in shape until my late-20s, but after that, it was a long upward climb, being delusional about my health until four years ago when one day I stepped on a scale and it read over 350 lbs. (I’m 6’3”.)
Something finally clicked for me, and I started working on losing the weight. I’ve researched (and done) just about every diet out there. I’ve done Barre, Pilates, running, weightlifting, you name it, I’ve done it. Healthy or unhealthy, it didn’t matter. I just wanted to lose the weight. I’ve pretty certain I’ve been teetering the edge of ED territory for a couple of years. I’m ashamed to say that I purged for the first time last year.
It has taken a long time, and I’ve had so many setbacks on the path— it’s so easy to lose 10 lbs and then gain back 15... but finally this summer everything has kind of clicked for me. I haven’t purged in several months. I’m not restricting certain groups of foods, or eating at certain times. I’m just trying to eat normal foods, cooking all of my meals, and exercising every day. I run outside 5-6 days a week, for 30-60 minutes each time. I aim for 13k steps daily and usually hit the target.
I’m happy to report that the scale said 216 this morning. My goal weight is 195, which should put me around 17.5% body fat and 24.4 BMI. That’s only 21 more pounds, which sounds like a lot. Except I’ve lost 134 so I’ve already accomplished this six times. I’m even happier to report that I’ve gone from ~240 at the beginning of the summer and I’ve lost this weight gradually without going through any extreme measures like fasting, to get here. I’m around 22% body fat and I’m even transitioning from one-piece swimsuits to bikinis. That’s how confident I feel now.
I absolutely love reading this post. Thank you so much for sharing. Sometimes the most difficult part is coming out of the dark per say to say "my body and mind ain't right". I'm glad you made the changes to get healthy again. As you stated, you've lost so much so 21 more pounds won't be nothing with your dedication and attitude! Please keep us informed with your journey!
 

cyclone4L

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Jun 30, 2013
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I’ve been lurking in this thread since the beginning and I love how inspiring so many of you have been!
I might as well share too. I’ve been overweight for most of my life. I came into my height in ninth grade and was a four-sport athlete in high school. I was a walk-on at Iowa State but quit and dropped out after my freshman year. I enlisted in the Army Reserves and stayed in shape until my late-20s, but after that, it was a long upward climb, being delusional about my health until four years ago when one day I stepped on a scale and it read over 350 lbs. (I’m 6’3”.)
Something finally clicked for me, and I started working on losing the weight. I’ve researched (and done) just about every diet out there. I’ve done Barre, Pilates, running, weightlifting, you name it, I’ve done it. Healthy or unhealthy, it didn’t matter. I just wanted to lose the weight. I’ve pretty certain I’ve been teetering the edge of ED territory for a couple of years. I’m ashamed to say that I purged for the first time last year.
It has taken a long time, and I’ve had so many setbacks on the path— it’s so easy to lose 10 lbs and then gain back 15... but finally this summer everything has kind of clicked for me. I haven’t purged in several months. I’m not restricting certain groups of foods, or eating at certain times. I’m just trying to eat normal foods, cooking all of my meals, and exercising every day. I run outside 5-6 days a week, for 30-60 minutes each time. I aim for 13k steps daily and usually hit the target.
I’m happy to report that the scale said 216 this morning. My goal weight is 195, which should put me around 17.5% body fat and 24.4 BMI. That’s only 21 more pounds, which sounds like a lot. Except I’ve lost 134 so I’ve already accomplished this six times. I’m even happier to report that I’ve gone from ~240 at the beginning of the summer and I’ve lost this weight gradually without going through any extreme measures like fasting, to get here. I’m around 22% body fat and I’m even transitioning from one-piece swimsuits to bikinis. That’s how confident I feel now.
This is amazing. Absolutely amazing.
This post is a must see for anyone trying to change their habits.
 
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SouthernCy

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I have to do the daily tracking. If I only do it by week, I have a harder time with it because a "bad week" is more frustrating to me than a "bad day." It also helps me to think back to what I did over the past couple of days and course correct, rather than what I did over the past week. I've also heard there are studies showing that people who weigh themselves daily have better long term outcomes.

I'm a big stats guy - I teach stats to other engineers throughout our company - so I'm comfortable dealing with noise and uncertainty in my data.
Interesting. Hey whatever works right! I only suggested weekly because I personally do a ton of meal prepping and things along those lines so in terms of wondering what I did I can pretty easily figure it out. Whilst my goal is different than yours, our methods of tracking are still similar. I do like however that given you are trying to lose weight that if you have a "bad day" you can get on yourself about it and make sure you don't have another one following it.
 
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VeloClone

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Interesting. Hey whatever works right! I only suggested weekly because I personally do a ton of meal prepping and things along those lines so in terms of wondering what I did I can pretty easily figure it out. Whilst my goal is different than yours, our methods of tracking are still similar. I do like however that given you are trying to lose weight that if you have a "bad day" you can get on yourself about it and make sure you don't have another one following it.
I think the problem is less about daily weighing and more about being married to the number on the scale. My wife lost quite a bit of weight but has plateaued. She gets frustrated until I point out how much firmer and stronger she has become and I ask her how her clothes are fitting her. She feels better when she admits that her clothes are fitting better - and some are even now too big. IT'S NOT ALL ABOUT THE NUMBER ON THE SCALE!
 

besserheimerphat

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Mount Vernon, WA
Interesting. Hey whatever works right! I only suggested weekly because I personally do a ton of meal prepping and things along those lines so in terms of wondering what I did I can pretty easily figure it out. Whilst my goal is different than yours, our methods of tracking are still similar. I do like however that given you are trying to lose weight that if you have a "bad day" you can get on yourself about it and make sure you don't have another one following it.
Our family does supper planning, and lunches are typically just leftovers. I also keep a variety of good/versatile foods on hand so I can make a lot of different things without having to worry about whether or not I can eat something. For example, I've always got veggies and ranch on hand (I'm doing keto, so some high fat dressings are okay). So the veggies might change, but I know I've always got some around. Same with cheese. We go through probably 8 heads of lettuce per week now. I've gotten a lot better at portion control too, at least for the things I need to watch (i.e. protein). I have very few carbs, basically only from the non-starchy veggies I eat. My keto program is for Type 2 diabetes control and the weightloss is a happy side effect. The best thing for me is this is absolutely a sustainable lifestyle change - and I recognize that while it works for me it may not work for others. But I've learned how to eat when fast food is my only option, or at restaurants, or when I have to stop at a convenience store. And Coke Zero and Mt Dew Zero have helped a lot too.
 
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