Black and blue but I'm still losing (244 down to 229)

B

Blackcub

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Heres a little about myself. (CURRENT: 228lb 5"11 male)

2006: I was 21 and weighed 265lbs. Love handles, uncomfortable, the works.

2007: Started at the gym (just light cardio) but didn't change my diet, lost about 20lbs over the year (never investigated actually how to 'lose weight').

2008: Beginning of September I decided to really make a go at it. I started at 244lb running 3 days a week and eating around 1200-1400 calories. I drink a whey shake before and after power-walking 1 hour on the treadmill at max incline (usually burn about 700-800 calories).

I paid $1200 for my brother and I to see a personal trainer and he literally destroyed my muscles. I know you're supposed to be sore after a workout but I was *crippled*. I felt horrible the next day. You may say "Ha, thats because you've never really worked out so of course you're going to be hurting!". Fine. But I went back every damn day for 2 weeks and although he swore it would get better.. it didnt, the pain stayed if not increased. I couldn't walk, if I sat down I was fine but the pain getting back up was *insane*. My brother couldn't fully extend his arms! I felt almost as bad as when I got my wisdom teeth removed with local anesthesia (story for another day..) What a waste of money.. now I'm broke as hell but still trying to lose the weight.

Today: I've been working a lot with little time for the gym but I'm still dieting. I just weighed myself and I'm 228.

My Diet? Meal replacement shakes, twice a day, then a 700-800 calorie dinner.

I'm not tired, can stay up 16-17 hours a day without trouble.. it is difficult for me to 'wake up' though. I don't have cravings, eating isn't an issue.. I don't get headaches or anything either. I did at first when I switched to this diet.. was sick for a week then it passed.

I went to a site online (I won't link here so it isn't considered spam) that said I should be eating 2700 to maintain my weight, and 2200 to lose 1lb a week. I dropped it down to 1200 (supposedly the human minimum) and I've been losing *close* to 2lb a week, guaranteed if I make it to the gym.


Can I follow this down to my target weight of 180? My birthday is in January and I want to meet my goal by the end of that month. Getting to the gym is a challenge as I have to catch a ride, but dieting I can do. I'm only afraid that I won't continue losing weight as I hear some people suddenly stop for no reason.. I just keep telling myself "If you need 2000+ calories then dropping 800-1000 calories a day x 7 days a week.. I'll definitely reach my goal and work on muscle later".
 
Way to go man!! I'm on the same track, and givin' all I can.

For me, cutting the junk food, candy, and anything else that's crap, helped a TON, along with exercising now. I love how better I feel!! That's the best part!! :) I was eating 3-4k per day, mostly junk food, and sitting around getting no exercise beside from work.. Now I eat ~1500 per fay, all healthy, and 3 meals a day, plus I work out every day, and run on the weekends. I'd even eat a bunch of junk food before bed too.. Now I never eat before bed, and, heh.. I sleep better too! :D

Not sure if you can reach 180. Do you have the frame for it..? Some people have a large frame, and there for may not be able to be thin, but, they can look toned, and in shape. I'm not an expert, so I'll step aside. :cheeky:

I know how you feel on the 2700 calorie deal.. I can't see how one number can work for everyone. I've been eating a healthy 1500 per day, and I've never felt better. So, I'm sure everyone is different, and of course, people body's can react differently too..

So, if it's working for you, I'd say continue to kick butt, and enjoy better health!! :jumping:
 
Read the weight training and nutrition stickies asap.
The one true statement in your above post is that you are literally killing your muscles. The reason you were so sore you couldn't sit down was that your body isn't getting the fuel it needs to repair itself.

Basically it goes like this -
1) You train
2) muscle fibres get damaged due to stress
3) body rebuilds damaged fibres

With such a massive calorie deficit step 3 is being compromised. Your body can only rebuild with the tools you give it and in such a deficit it doesn't have the right tools for the job and you're probably losing a lot of muscle as well as fat.
This is bad in 2 ways, the first is that you get weaker and start to look like crap, the second is that the drop in muscle mass causes a drop in your basal metabolic rate which will make it easier for you to put weight back on when you come off the diet

Why not try a change of direction? Aim for the 1lb a week weight loss by upping calories but only aim to drop to 200lbs in weight but with lower body fat by increasing muscle mass
 
I'm very fearful of upping my calories and gaining and/or no longer losing weight when I've found something that works, isn't dependent on me making it to the gym, and may finally lead me to no longer being overweight.

Also, I've read over the forums for a few hours now (just posts, I'll get to the stickies immediately) and all this talk of carbs and proteins and what you can/can't eat just sounds like madness.

It's enough trouble for me to count calories but am I going to have to make a chart to form an exact perfect diet just to reach a healthy weight?

I just don't want to be overweight anymore. I've solidly conditioned my mind (I think) to endure this change in diet until I'm at a proper weight then I'll move back to gain muscle. Would just like to be able to wear a shirt without worrying about how I look..

For the record I never had an eating problem. I was raised in a family where eating was a pasttime.. everything was fried and everyone overate. No I'm not 'blaming' anyone but I didn't learn about why I was overweight until one day out of the blue I looked at my plate and said "..wait.." and now I'm almost 40lb lighter but I need to get rid of this weight.

Emphasis on need.
 
You’ve lost weight at such a fast rate recently that I’m sure you must have lost muscle as well as fat and by losing muscle you’re screwing yourself over in the long run as you’ll find it harder to keep fat off in the future. Good health and a decent physique take time and if you do it right now you’ll find that you can reap the rewards for the rest of your life.

As you’ve recently been a lot heavier you may find that you need fewer calories than the online calculator suggests (it’s only good as a rough indication anyway) but the level you’ve dropped to is unhealthy and it’s unlikely your body will have sufficient nutrition to repair itself
 
I don't doubt you and mostly everyone here knows better than I so I'm not arguing with you at all. But, I've made plans come January and if I can meet that goal my life can move to a new direction, finally.

I'm alone in this with no motivation other than myself, no family or friends so all I can hold onto right now is knowing that less calories means weight loss. I'm going back to the gym 3 days a week for more cardio and considering buying the adjustable dumbells to practice weight training at home (going to work on shoulders and biceps solely until I make it a habit then move on).

Is it really going to be that detrimental for me to lose the weight and gain the muscle back later?
 
Blackcub said:
Is it really going to be that detrimental for me to lose the weight and gain the muscle back later?
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You won't drop down dead from what you're doing but I think in the long run it'll make things harder for you but I wish you every success anyway

One other thing I would say though is that it sounds like your training plan sucks balls, you need big compounds to base your routine around. Read the weight training 101 sticky and come up with a decent full body workout to start off with
 
I'll read the training sticky and post over there if I can't find what I need about forming a real full body workout.
 
I did read it over but I don't understand the:

"* Quad/Glute Push Movement
* Ham Pull Exercise
* A Horizontal Press (Upper)
* A Horizontal Pull (Upper)
* Vertical Pull (Upper)
* Vertical Press (Upper)
* Abdominal/Forearm/Calf Movements"

How am I to find these exercises? Is there already a 'basic guide' of what to do? If so do you or anyone here happen to have the link/thread/sticky I can read to further inform myself?

Thank you for the knowledge.
 
Blackcub said:
I did read it over but I don't understand the:

"* Quad/Glute Push Movement
* Ham Pull Exercise
* A Horizontal Press (Upper)
* A Horizontal Pull (Upper)
* Vertical Pull (Upper)
* Vertical Press (Upper)
* Abdominal/Forearm/Calf Movements"

How am I to find these exercises? Is there already a 'basic guide' of what to do? If so do you or anyone here happen to have the link/thread/sticky I can read to further inform myself?

Thank you for the knowledge.
Click to expand...

* Quad/Glute Push Movement = Lower body pushing movement eg squat
* Ham Pull Exercise = Lower body pull eg Deadlift
* A Horizontal Press (Upper) = Pushing straight out eg bench press
* A Horizontal Pull (Upper) = Pull towards you eg cable row
* Vertical Pull (Upper) = Overhead pull eg chin up
* Vertical Press (Upper) = Over head push eg Military Press
* Abdominal/Forearm/Calf Movements" = additional supplimentation of smaller muscle groups eg crunches, shrugs, calf raises

A training plan should have all of these to be well balanced
 
I too at first was sore for many days, sometimes weeks, after blasting my muscles. Your trainer could have been easier on you, but I have done workouts where I have had trouble getting in my car and turning the key in the ignition before and beleive me the soreness can take a while to subside at first. As long as it is soreness and not sharp pains it should be fine. It sounds like your trainer is pretty hard on beginners. I could see why people would want to stop going to him.

Anyhow...be careful with that *extremely* low calorie intake. I understand your fear of gaining weight but you have to realize that when you are losing weight this fast you are losing a lot of muscle. You want to keep that muscle...the more you have the more your body will burn calories on a daily basis. IMO, you should concentrate on every aspect, starting now. Weight training followed by a light cardio routine does miracles.

Is it really going to be that detrimental for me to lose the weight and gain the muscle back later?
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Your objective should be to maintain and/or improve muscle mass while having a calorie deficit and doing some light cardio. Otherwise you lose muscle and will have to work a second time to get the muscle back. Believe me, a 30-45min weight lifting session is as good, if not better than a cardio routine. If done properly a full body workout will keep your heart rate high enough during the whole session which means you are essentially doing cardio, plus you are giving a reason for your muscles to stay/grow. BTW, if you start lifting while in a calorie deficit and notice that your weight is maintaining it only means that you are shedding fat and putting on muscle, which is good. If you think you could lose more fat tissue while in this scenario, simply increase your deficit by a small amount and voila.

I've made plans come January and if I can meet that goal my life can move to a new direction, finally.
Click to expand...

I wish you the best of luck with your plans :D

Maybe you could start a journal, in the journals section, that way we can help you in the long run and you could track your progress.

Good day and good luck
 
Questions:

1. Is it a good idea to buy a dumbell set and practice a full body workout at home?
2. Where can I go to lookup the exercises that coincide with the regime Typhon suggested?
3. Can I focus mainly on diet and weight training and less on cardio?
4. THE BIG QUESTION: Can I maintain my calorie deficit, do weight training, and continue to lose my 1-2lbs a week? This is *only* for weight loss to look right in clothes! I don't care about the health aspect 10 years from now, I don't care about my fitness ability. I've just got to be ready for the end of January. Will weight training help or hurt me at this point with my current diet diet?

I'm just trying to work to 'look' better. For now. Not to sound like a broken record (or that I'm bitching, for that I apologize, I'm just nervous and maintaining this diet requires a lot of focus when everyone around you is snacking all day long).

I realize it's the morale goal of most people here to ensure all aspects of the body at met to be healthy but if I could drop from this weight to 180ish and just *look* better I could invest more time later to rebuild muscle.

I don't care if I can't run a marathon I care how I look in a normal tshirt, you know?

If I had the difference between ONLY looking better in January or looking better AND being healthier but later that June I would still choose January so I have the confidence to continue.

I'm looking to buy a set of Ironmaster dumbells, the 75lb set (150lb all together). I would workout at home and hit the gym for cardio hopefully 1-3 times a week (can't guarantee when I'll be free from work). So..

should my regime be:

#1 Maintain calorie deficit (do I need to eat the calories I burn off from weight training?)
#2 Buy dumbells and practice a full body workout
#3 Move to a light cardio (what is considered light? 300 calories?)

I do have an elliptical machine at home I could get repaired and run on that for 20mins, usually burns around 200ish calories.. not sure if that would be worth anything.
 
Maintain a calorie deficit but eat HEALTHY FOODS and don't drastically drop your intake to 1000 calories. Keep it high enough that your body doesn't end up eating itself.
Buy a dumbell set and do a FBW
Continue doing some cardio and consider doing some HIIT

You need to combine all 3 aspects to be the most effective.

Eating HEALTHY foods in the proper amounts will help you give your body the proper fuel for helping you lose fat and keep your muscles strong.

Doing a lifting workout will help build muscles (assuming you are eating properly) and in turn having built more muscle will increase your metabolism in turn allowing you to burn more calories effectively throughout the day.

Doing cardio will help you burn off some more calories to help you to continue to lose weight.

Remember there is a fine line between crash dieting (which you're doing) and safe dieting. As long as you put your caloric intake into a deficit you will lose weight. If you are in a drastic calorie deficit your body will say "i don't get enough essential nutrients...let me eat my muscles for those" and will leave the fat alone.

If IN<OUT then weight must drop.
 
I have a meal replacement shake for breakfast and lunch and then I have a reasonable dinner, is that really considered a 'crash diet'? If so, I honestly didn't know.

It isn't like I'm starving. Every 3 hours or so I eat.

I do choose either low in fat or fat free foods. I don't eat anything fried, period. All my foods are baked or grilled. I don't use grease or cooking oil. Right now my diet mainly consists of salmon, tilapia, baked chicken, and 1/2 cup of rice maybe 3-4 times a week.

I feel good. I feel light. I have energy, I feel alert. Just have to becareful when I eat.

All the more why I'm wondering about the questions I asked above, if I can add weight training and keep to what I'm doing.
 
I said that you can add weight training and it can make your efforts all that much more effective. :) will you gain some muscle from lifting? yes. will that slow down your weight loss? depends on how heavy you lift once you get into it.

a crash diet is not just dependent on whether the 1200 calories come from healthy foods or not. its dependent on how much of a deficit you create by cutting down on calorie intake. You're already active, you're already working out, you're the same height as me. 1200 calories is not enough to keep you going w/o sacrificing muscle mass. I bet if you were on a 1750 or 2000 calorie diet you'd be just as happy. I did 1500 cals 1 day due to work/class taking up my time and i was ready to die by 10 pm.

Remember, if you're body is taking your muscles for fuel that means it's NOT taking your excess fat for fuel, and you would probably rather have it take excess fat yes?

Diet, Lifting, Cardio. do em all.
 
Okay I hear what you're saying. Can you or anyone help me with the questions in my earlier post so I know what to look for with this weight training? Mainly just need to know all the exercises or where to read up on them.

I wish this was easier as in exact calorie diet to follow, exact workout to follow, exact cardio to hit..
 
Yes you can...it might be subject to a little trial and error at first. But in general, it's easy feasible.

Do not subtract fat from your diet, your body needs it. Instead choose healthy fats. You can't gain weight from eating fat. You gain weight by eating an excess amount of overall calories. But you also need to eat a proper proportions of macronutrients(proteins:carbs:fats)...I would read up in the nutrition section of the forum, we could go in detail but it has already been said and explained in that section and it's quite lengthy. It's worth your time.

Also, I would not look into HIIT yet...it demands a great level of effort in both muscle and cardio output. You should do interval for now.

depends on how heavy you lift once you get into it.
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No, it depends entirely on diet.

As firefreak mentioned, you need to up your calorie intake, because once your done losing what you want to lose (with your current method), you won't have any muscles left to show and will NOT look good in a shirt.

Example:
--------

My stats:
197lbs
24 years old
5' 11"

My maintenance (during workout days) is just about 2600 calories (per day) to maintain my current weight. I do FBW's 3 times per week followed by 20 minutes of interval cardio. In order to lose 1lb per week I must lower my intake to 2100-2200 calories per day.

Believe us when we tell you, you will not have a whole lot of muscles left on your frame once you are done and will look like a twig. :p

You plans for January might need to be reconsidered, health isn't anything you want to screw up by going about it in a speedy manner.

Diet, Lifting, Cardio. do em all.
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and this ^

:D good luck
 
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I wish this was easier as in exact calorie diet to follow, exact workout to follow, exact cardio to hit..
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I know...me too. :D

Visit the Weight Training and Nutrition sections of this forum, everything you need is there.
 
I will include weight training, where can I learn about the exercises I need to perform (as in how to do them not just what they are)?

Is there a sticky or a recommended website? I'll read up on the nutrional information today as well and try to keep a journal of what I'm doing everyday to see how this works.
 
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