Ask buriedbeds about losing 200 lbs (very, very long)

[burningyen]

First of all, great read, and amazing accomplishment. I'm wondering how close are you to your statistical "ideal" weight, and do you have issues with loose skin?

[JaredL]

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He mentions that he was 28 in the beginning.

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Oops, missed that. Thanks.

[AJackson]

Any issues with excess skin?

[Yeti]

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Any issues with excess skin?

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Heh this is something that I was really curious about but didn't want to ask cos it seems kind of a personal question.

[buriedbeds]

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Eating healthy and training hard is a lifestyle, not a hobby. Integrate it into who you are and it becomes no more tedious than waking up in the morning.

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This can't be stressed enough. The biggest problem with this is starting, because you need to learn how to properly make the best possible choice wherever you, and to learn how to do it habitually. At this point it doesn't take a second thought - I know what to do, and how to deal with potentially difficult situations (eating out, dealing with people who try and force "just one" of something on you and are offended if you don't take it, etc. etc. etc.). At this point it's second nature and I don't have to think about it. It's like I'm jewish and keeping kosher - it's just the way I eat, no big deal.

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What's your current diet and workout regimen?

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I'm generally only working out 3-4 times a week, and I eat slightly more carbs on a day-to-day basis, generally in the form of strawberries or the occasional sauce or vinaigrette that's higher in carbs than I'd have had in the past. Other than that, low-carb and healthy. My girlfriend cooks a lot of really good stuff, and is more into variety than I was, so I get a lot more kinds of things. Today, for example, my gf made us low carb chili with black soy beans instead of kidney beans (which are high fiber - on atkins you count net carbs, which are the total carbs minus the fiber). Friday she made us pork loin stuffed with a couple of kinds of cheese, mashed cauliflower and roasted asparagus. She's even made a pumpkin pie, and some of the different mixes and stuff you can get (we generally get it off the netrition site - the dixie diner stuff is really quite good).

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good read. Do you have before and after pictures? Feel free to block out your face.

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Answered this in one of my previous long-winded answers...

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If you don't mind, how old are you?

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29 now, soon to be 30. Been overweight for my entire life. I was even the fattest kid in my preschool pictures.

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I'm wondering how close are you to your statistical "ideal" weight, and do you have issues with loose skin?

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If by statistical ideal you mean according to bmi, I'm quite far. But I think that that's ridiculous - I have a very big frame naturally, with very broad shoulders, and I've put on a good amount of muscle...even now, people usually under-guess my weight by at least 30 lbs. I'm concerned with health and being able to buy clothes in normal stores. Modest goals, perhaps, but noble as far as I'm concerned, and more than I ever could have dreamed of a couple of years ago.

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Any issues with excess skin?

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Define "issues." Do I have some excess skin? Yeah, some - especially on my midsection, thighs and upper-arms. But I've also put on a good amount of muscle, which helps a lot, and I've got decent skin that has snapped back relatively well all things considered - especially on my face/neck. I'm very young-looking - I'm the only person I've known who's gotten carded playing poker in AC (twice!!) - I've even gotten carded buying raffle tickets at a minor league hockey game. So I must not look too old and wrinkled... [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Also, one way or another, I'm VERY willing to trade some excess skin for great health and no longer having that skin filled with huge amounts of fat. I'm not complaining - it is what it is.

Thanks again to all who conveyed congrats-

-bb.

[EMc]

bb,

As someone who has just started eating better and working out, this story is very inspirational.

Also too, I agree with what you said wrt to food addiction and stuff not really working for me. Ive done slim fast and weight watchers, a lot of things like that. I mean im still not on the best diet, since a. Im in college, so I mean drinking is a lot of calories, b. I cant just quit all the foods I love and its ingrained into my lifestyle (it is much, much prevelant).

Also too, the worst part about being fat is flying and knowing everyone around you is praying you arent sitting next to them. Its just as bad for us. Big and tall stores suck too. Their selection is getting better but im starting to fit into 3xl shirts pretty well again, and my pants arent staying up so thats a plus.

My goal is 5 days a week but its hard, im averaging like 3 a week, which is a lot more then I ever did in the past. Im very thankful for 2 of my friends that got me going and one in particular that helps me keep track and motivate me. I typcially do about 25 mins of cardio and then 6 exercises of 4 sets. Ive recently added in one day of pure cardio, probably will add in a second day. I will say that I do feel a lot better both about myself and just in general.

Thanks for hte good read and motivation

[Colonel Kataffy]

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Absolutely amazing. Though I am not overweight myself and have no experience dieting, I've always been really dismissive of Atkins when speaking to friends on the diet. I've seen research showing that the Atkins diet only works because people on the diet consume less calories (so it is the low-calories, not the low carbs, responsible for any weight loss).

Your story makes me want to take another look

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I've lost weight following the rules from the south beach diet, which is basically the same thing and I've also lost weight using a purely calories in calories out formula.

Using both methods, I lost weight. I think detractors of the atkins diet try to make the point that point that people eat less under the Atkins diet and thats why it works. Even if that is true, the reason people eat less under the Atkins diet isn't simply that they have less options or get sick of eating meat. Its that if you eat a no carb diet, you don't get as hungry and you don't need as many calories to function normally.

My understanding is that when you eat sugar and starch, your blood sugar gets immediately spiked. This spike releases insulan which removes the sugar from your bloodstream. Now that your blood sugar is depleted, your body suddenly needs more sugar. I think we've all felt this, you eat some sugar, you have a ton of energy for an hour, or however long, then you crash and need another hit.

I found that when I stopped eating sugars and starches, after a couple days, my body adjusted, and I never felt the energy fluctuations that I had previously felt. Limiting myself to 1,500 calories eating anything was a struggle. I constantly felt hungry and tired, but by eating just meat and vegetables, I probably consume less than 1,500 calores(I don't count, I just eat what I want) and I rarely feel hungry or tired.

[fraserbrown]

Congrats, just a quick question for you. Im back in uni after a year off when I worked construction so I was always very acive, outdoors 10-12 hours a day, since the first week of Sept when I returned to school, I have put the weight back on that I lost while working. Now I'n not fat per se (6'1", ~198lbs), but I want to lose a bit of weight. How were you able to keep yourself motivated in working out, eating right etc. I signed up for a gym and have been once but thats it. Any help would be very appreciated.

[O Fen�meno]

very inspiring post op

[buriedbeds]

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I mean im still not on the best diet, since a. Im in college, so I mean drinking is a lot of calories, b. I cant just quit all the foods I love and its ingrained into my lifestyle (it is much, much prevelant).

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Nice work doing what you've done. I do have to say something about this, though - a. I drink Jack Daniel's regularly - no carbs. Same with all spirits. Although alcohol can stall you if you do it all the time, I've not abstained from alcohol in any way - I still have beer at a ball/hockey game (Miller Lite's the lowest carb choice), and I still have Jack regularly, and when I do, well, let's just say that I don't hold back. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

b. It's not that you can't, it's that you choose not to. That's a far more honest choice of words. I don't judge you for it, but I also don't believe in "can't." On my other board, my tag line is "own your decisions." It's okay that you're choosing to do whatever it is you're doing - God knows I make tons of choices all the time that might not be ideal for what I'm trying to accomplish. But I never say that I "can't" do something, or that anything is being imposed on me. I am VERY conscious of the fact that my choices are my own, and I need to live with them. It's an idea commonly expressed in AA as "There are no victims, only volunteers."

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Also too, the worst part about being fat is flying and knowing everyone around you is praying you arent sitting next to them. Its just as bad for us. Big and tall stores suck too. Their selection is getting better but im starting to fit into 3xl shirts pretty well again, and my pants arent staying up so thats a plus.

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That's awesome! Good work. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] I remember getting down into 3x for the first time, and it really is a pretty good dividing line. It's where your selection in the big and tall gets a little better, and where you can start to buy some "normal" clothes, too - like Hanes tagless t-shirts in different colors.

When I was really big, as I've discussed, I couldn't get clothes other than, basically, what a 60 year old golfer would wear, or ghetto clothes (which are more likely made in big sizes, but which I'd never wear) or plain white t-shirts. So in order to at least be able to wear something somewhat individualistic I used to make my own t-shirts using inkjet iron-on transfers. Being able to buy shirts in different colors (at 1/5th the price off of amazon) was really, really cool.

Keep to it - you'll be done with the Casual Male before too long (and flipping it off every time you drive by, like me... [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] ).

-bb.