Diet/Getting in Shape: The Endgame

[Larry David]

Background: The Pot Diet

About 10 months ago I was 240 lbs. at 5'9" and just pathetically fat and out of shape. I was smoking way too much and I always got the munchies. I decided enough was enough and to take some control of my life. This started with excersizing daily. I would do very moderate excersize and generally just walk briskly for 30 min - an hour each day for about 2 months. I wasn't even thinking about the weight at that time and had not been on a scale at all. I noticed I was naturally eating slightly better and decided to go on a full blown diet. I was living in Vegas at the time and decided to get out for the beginning as it would be much harder to eat good meals while I was there.

I headed to Chicago. I ate 1000 to 1500 calories a day for 2 months and stepped up my excersize to half jogging/ half brisk walking an hour every day. I ate very healthy and chose my calories carefully. The key was cutting out all liquid calories except for the occasional getting hammered with friends and going out which I had to do much less of. I found eating less to be easy as I had quit smoking when I went home to Chicago and never really got hungry (I was a huge mucnhies guy). After this four month period I was hanging around 195-200 lbs. I added weightlifting to my routine and went every few days with a friend to the gym. I know lean muscle mass is the best way to improve metabolism so I thought this was an important step. I didn't start earlier because I feared becoming too bulky and didn't want that look. I continued to get in a lot of cardio and played a bunch of basketball and tennis along with my jogging.

Most of my friends went back to school and I went back to Vegas (I was taking a year off of school for travel/Vegas). At this time I was 185 lbs. I continued lifting with a friend in Vegas, and tried to continue eating healthy. I did a reasonable job and ate 1200-2200 calories a day with the occasional binge as I smoked out every now and then while at the tables. After several months in Vegas I was starting to to slack off in the eating department and feared I might be gaining weight back.

I am going back to school in January and decided to head back to Chicago (late September) for a little while to start getting my act together. At this time I was 175 lbs. and doing well. I stopped smoking again and am currently down to ~170 lbs. The non-smoking no longer curbs my appetite.

I find it funny that after smoking pretty heavily for around a year and quitting, it was incredibly easy to curb my appetite even though I was a fat piece of [censored]. I recommend anyone looking to lose weight to try this diet out. If you don't smoke, pick it up for about a year and quit. Actually, don't listen to me. Anyway...

The Endgame:

I am now much slimmer at 170 lbs. I still have a little work to do and probably want to lose 10-20 more. These are the hard lbs. My face and legs are very noticeably slimmer. The problem comes in my stomach. I think I need some help on how to finish this thing off.

The two biggest problems are my bltch tlts which, while smaller, are still present, and my gut. Most of the gut I think is extra skin. It presents itself in a very weird way. Clothes are very difficult to find as a result. I want to get rid of both of these things and I think there may be 10 lbs. of gut to get rid of alone. Does anyone have any experience or advice on how I can finish this thing off the right way? I am doing extra situps each day as I heard that may help. Any former fatties have experience with the extra skin thing? Will this go away soon and how can I make it go away sooner? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

This is basically an advice thread. How should I change my cardio/lifting routine, etc.?

[XXXNoahXXX]

Can we get more details on your actual cardio/lifting routine?

It'll make it a whole lot easier to tell you what to change.

[lippy]

What kinda of food would you eat? Shop a lot at TJ's?

[Eulysses]

Donate your extra skin to the burn unit!

In all seriousness, the last 10-15 is the hardest to lose for most. When I was "sorta fat" at 209 lbs, 6 feet and got in shape to 170, the last 10 pounds took forever.

My endgame: Interval cardio training (i.e. run or bike very hard for 5 minutes, then go at an easy pace for 2min for a total of 5-6 intvals 5 times a week)and alternating my weight lifting between big weight low reps and low weight high reps. Continually changing/alternating the way you excersize is the best way to burn the last of your fat.

Btw, I am getting out of shape again (183 lbs.) and should really take my own advice, but alas poker and beer are my prison. Well, that and the fact I hurt my back working a summer labour job while still in university.

[Badger]

Doing extra sit ups won't help burn the fat on your gut. You can't do certain exercises to make your body lose fat in a certain place. A decent pec workout should help with the man boobs. I'm sure there's others much more qualified to speak on this.

[Larry David]

I generally do 1 mile of a brisk walk (4 mph), 1 mile jogging (6 mph), 1 mile brisk walk, 1 mile jogging, 3/4 mile brisk walk, cool down. It adds up to 4-5 miles probably 4-5 times a week. I have been having back problems lately and am currently undergoing treatment with a chiropractor. She said I should not jog for a little while until I am aligned (doing the Numacare program for those familiar). Since then, I just do a brisk walk for an hour.

I also play sports on the side whenever I can including basketball, tennis, and sometimes football. I will be getting back into hockey in the winter which I used to play competetively and I also ski a lot (30-50 times a year in Colorado).

I was a complete novice to lifting which is why I always went with a more knowledgable friend. I generally just did a full upper body workout 2-4 x a week.

-Bench press/ pushups
-Various bicep/tricep lifts
-Rows
-Shoulder dumbell press/ one other shoulder excersize which I don't know the name of
-Various form of situps and other ab workouts

I have a protein shake after I lift, should I also take them daily after my cardio?

[Larry David]

As for my diet:

-LOTS of water throughout the day
-I snack on fruit when I get hungry, but this is only occasionally and in small doses
-GNC Mega Men's Dietary Supplement

Breakfast:
Low calorie/low sugar oatmeal or small bran muffins and sometimes a banana or piece of other fruit.

Lunch:
I buy low calorie whole wheat/ whole grain bread with lean cold-cuts like turkey and sometimes ham or various other mixtures so I don't get the same stuff all the time. The sandwiches are almost exclusively dry (no sauces). I will also sometimes eat a large salad instead or with sandwich.

Dinner:
This really depends on my location/situation at the time. It will also be different when I go out to eat. It changes every night, but is generally nutritious and more filling. Contains a vegetable, meat, and sometimes some sort of pasta.

Lately I have been having a dessert snack ever since I have been <185 lbs. This is usually a 150 calorie low fat ice-cream bar, but varies.

It has also been harder lately closer to bedtime as I get hungry and generally can't find something good for me to eat. I am looking for more good inbetween snack ideas.

When I lift, I have a protein shake afterwords.

[Goodnews]

search the ketogenic diet on google, i use this when i plateau for two weeks then slowly cycle off which takes about 6 weeks (normal -> keto is effective when done suddenly, keto -> normal is extremely detrimental due to the nature of the diet)

[guids]

Heres the secret. Stop dieting for 4 or 5 months. Dont binge, dont go nuts, just find out your MBR (how many calories you need to consume per day to not gain or lose weight), and eat that much for 4 or 5 months, while lifting HEAVY weights, you are stuck at a plateau, some time eating a little more cals, will help you rev up your metabolism, so in 6 months you can bring it down a notch, and the fat will melt away, leaving you with the muscle you will probably gain while eating your MBR cals.


This is the secret for guys that arent fat, but no one notices you work out, to get into really good noticeable shape.

[Blarg]

You can put on pounds of muscle very quickly in the legs, because the muscles there are huge. Lifting for the upper body without lifting for the lower body also puts you in danger of having an unbalanced, weird-looking body. If you want to up your metabolism, go for some squats or deadlifts. They will both put on muscle if done right and make you release hormones in your body that will help build muscle everywhere in your body, as well as cut down your fat.