Bring Captain Solo and the Wookie to me

fatman78

fatman78

New member
To explain the title, at 420 pounds I feel like Jabba the Hut for real.

I always thought 225 to be my ideal weight, but recently, looking at some charts, i need to be 189 pounds to not be considered obese anymore. I'm 6'3". However, if there really is such a thing, I feel I'm "big boned", I have wide shoulders and a big frame. So since I'm 420 pounds now, I've decided to make my main goal 220 pounds, for a loss of 200 pounds, although I guess i would still be considered obese, I'll decide what to do at that point, and i'll be one happy dude to reach 220.

I have high blood pressure, but its controlled by medication, I have acid re-flux, but I believe this is caused by the massive amount of crap that I've been eating. I also need a cpap machine to sleep which really really sucks, no more tent camping for awhile. But luckily, I've been thoroughly tested (lungs, heart, metabolism, sugars) and been given a clean bill of health. I know it won't last long without some major chances of course, but I've been given "no restrictions" as far as exercise goes.

A little about me I guess, I'm a Social Worker with a desk job, actually love my job, but not moving during the day doesn't help. I have 2 1/2 year old twin boys, I'm married. I love the outdoors, hikes, camping. I was a chunky kid, went up and down in weight over highschool and college, but since my low point in College, I've been steadily getting bigger. In the last year or so, I started gaining weight at a much faster weight. Went from 375-420. This last bit really has pushed this weight issue over the edge. I can't handle it anymore.

So the plan. I've been referred to a medically supervised weight loss clinic, they are the ones that did the tests on me. They have given a meal plan to follow (calories, fat, protein etr), this plan will change as I lose weight of course. As for exercise, I will occasionally do tread mill or elliptical, but I find it really boring and I'm worried about the stress on my joints due to my weight. I could see myself doing more of these as I lose weight. For now my plan is to swim laps every day before work. Some evenings I will go as well, and weekends i will see, if i'm planning a hike or other psychical activity, i will skip the swim. I was a "water baby" as a kid, and i still really do like swimming. It's actually really enjoyable for me. After my swim I usually take a short steam, so the whole process is really nice. I'm not thrilled about having to show my body in the locker room, or even walking around in a bathing suit, I see children look at me with wide eyes of amazement at the pool area lol, but oh well, I'm not thrilled about being seen with clothes on either, so really it doesn't bother me, i gotta do this to change, and i think most decent people respect what i'm trying to do. I feel the morning time is the best for me for many reasons, but most of all it puts me in the right mindset for the day.

For timelines, On Monday i was at the weight loss clinic (weighed in at 420) and given the all clear for the exercise, I also got the message, start recording your food on the meal plans whatever you eat, or basically stop wasting our time. Thursday I signed up at the health club with the 25 meter swimming pool, did a swim. Friday was my first morning swim and I went back after work because I enjoyed the swim so much. I also started recording my meals on the plan sheets Friday as well, and ate well, also signed up on this forum. It's Saturday morning now, going to go for a swim soon, then going to take the family to the zoo. I'm going to record my meal plans from here on out.

My biggest challenge right now is learning to measure the calories and nutrition in my food, but I need need need to get it figured out.

For my diary, I think I will mostly update it after my clinic visits, seems like a good check in time, plus they have the only weigh scale that i know of that will weigh me. But if something comes up in between I'll post it, or if I need to respond to someone. My next clinic visit is about 5 weeks away. I'm hoping and working towards some good weight lose for that visit.

Here is a recent pic of me, in a very Jabba the Hut style pose. (unintentional), what could have been a really beautiful pic of me and my boys, I feel is ruined because of my disgusting body. But I'm working on changing that now.

Thanks for reading everyone

Fatman78
 
Oh dear, I knew exactly what the title meant before I opened it. I too appear to have spent too much time watching Star Wars :D

Well done on starting your journey F78 and remember, "Do or do not; there is no try" ;)
 
Oh good, you started a diary. :) I love how determined you are. And I love the pic..it's adorable. A father and his boys is always beautiful! I'm sure though, that there will be many more pics that YOU find beautiful. I'm looking forward to seeing your progress. You're gonna do great.
 
Sounds like you know what you have to do and are focused!! If you find the treadmill boring, why not get out and pound the streets? When I started walking/jogging, I thought I could not possible survive without the tv at the gym...I don't even consider doing it in the gym now - you see so much around you that you don't notice from car. Plus, you get to come home, go to a site like mapmyrun and put in your walk route and see the km's add up!

Good luck and here's to ending up more Hans Solo than Jabba the Hut!
 
Had a great and busy weekend. Yesterday was Sunday, the health club has limited hours and based on what I saw on Saturday morning, I expected the pool to be really busy. So i didn't go, but I did some walking. I was out of town yesterday and I got back really late. So sadly I was not able to do my before work swim today, which I'm really missing right now because I get a lot of strength and encouragement from that morning swim. Really just puts me in the right mindset. I'll be going to bed early tonight and looking forward to my swim tomorrow. Also, my next appointment at the weight loss clinic isn't until late Aug, I'm not sure I can wait that long for a weigh in. I might drive down there (about half hour) on my next weekday that I have off just for a weigh in, that will be on Aug 2. I don't own a scale that can handle my weight.

Man, I'm missing that swim this morning....
 
Welcome

As a SW fan I am amused by your journal title.

Swimming is awesome...have you ever seen what competative swimmers look like? When I use to swim I found it doubled as meditation.

Welcome to the boards!
 
As I mentioned in my yesterday's post, I was up late the night before, and was running on only a few hours sleep, so I did not do my swim yesterday morning. As the day went on, I did not stick to my meal plan. While it is somewhat disappointing, I'm using it as an opportunity to learn from. What I’ve learned is that sleep is an important factor in my total weight loss plan. I feel I'm "weak" when I'm extremely tired. Also, if I'm up late, there won't be time for my morning swim which gives me tremendous strength and will power for the day. So, lesson learned, make sure I get enough rest, and on days I don't, I have to be aware and prepare for a difficult day.

So today is a new day, I'm well rested and I had my swim. It's going to be a good day.
 
You have 2 little ones who I bet serve as excellent examples of what happens when you get tired from lack of sleep. I never realised until I became a parent exactly how important sleep is, especially for the mind. A tired brain just doesn't think properly.

With kids it makes them cranky and make decisions they wouldn't normally. With us grown ups, it makes us cranky and make decisions we wouldn't normally! And that includes thinking "what the heck" when you open the fridge door etc...

Healthy mind, healthy body I guess. Also a good night's sleep would presumably set you up well for exercising the following day?

Well done for learning a lesson and getting straight back on the path btw. That is much easier said than done :cool:
 
Good luck mate on your journey, I'm currently down to 420 pounds and also have acid reflux, it sucks, although it has improved loads since the start of the healthy new me.
 
Pretty intense craving day today. I really believe you can become physically addicted to grease, and thereby can have withdrawal symptoms. But I have been able to stay strong, and I believe I will be able to the rest of the day as well. I don’t see tomorrow being any easier to be honest. The place I work has different offices, sometimes I have to go to another office for a meeting or something, tomorrow is such a day, and right across the street there is a restaurant that has a special dish I really enjoy. I generally get it every time I go to that office. However researching it today, it has 1250 calories and 3000mg of sodium, so yea, it’s really not that good to be worth all that. I know can avoid going there though.

On the good side of things, I have tried many different calorie counter apps for my phone, never found one that I like, until yesterday. It’s an app for smart phones, but also has a website if you prefer a computer. It is user friendly, has lots of food in its catalogue, has a barcode scanner (smart phone only feature I guess). The best part is the daily summary screen. It is really nice, gives you a letter rating for how your food intake was that day. Has little bars that tell you how much of the different nutrients you have had, and if you need more, or have had too much. Of course the calories for the day and all that. I really like the nutrient information, really makes me what to eat the things to make those bars go across. Also the letter rating for the day is encouraging too, and fun. Yesterday afternoon I was sitting at an A-, then I ate a cucumber, and boom, A. lol

Not sure if we are allowed to post links here, so if I’m out of line I apologize. But the website is I highly recommend it.
 
Hey everyone. Well, since my last post, I dropped the ball went from 420 to 432 pounds. But I am back at it now giving it another try.




On March 17th I started "Eating Clean", based on the instructions from the "Eat-Clean Diet Book for Men" The concept is eating up to 6 small meals a day consisting of a Protein and Complex carbohydrates together. Also, it involves eating no processed food, only eating food as nature provides it. The book has the word diet in it. But basically it's just healthy eating. I can't believe how easy it is to follow this. On my previous attempts at diets, I would eat some fruit say for a snack, but then find myself craving greasy MacDonald’s. I realize now I was just crazing the protein but my mind just went to what it knows, fatty foods. I eat about every 3 hours now, I'm eating delicious foods, i feel FANTASTIC! I certainly don't feel like I'm on a diet, and in reality, I'm not. I don't need to count my calories based on the books instructions, but because the foods are all simple they are easy to count so I've been doing it. I need 3500 calories just to live per day. The clinic I went to recommended eating 2500 calories a day to start. After my first day of eating clean, and feeling full pretty much the whole day I thought I must be eating too much. But I've actually been eating around 1500 calories each day for the 6 days so far. I can't believe it! This is so easy. It's ridiculous that all this time I've been trying different things and failing, and I needed as to eat healthy, nutritious foods that nature provides. For example I've had New York Steak, Salmon, Turkey and Chicken breast, Oatmeal, and lots of fruits and veggies. All wonderfully delicious foods. I feel so excited about my weight loss, I know that I will loose the weight this time, and that I'll be eating clean for the rest of my life. BTW there is Eat-Clean books for ladies too if your interested, they are all by Tasco Reno.




Some might say it's expensive to eat clean, and kind of it is. But for me, I ate out about 15 times per week. Many $15 trips to MacDonald’s, sometimes I would go out for lunch and spend as much as $35-40 on one lunch. So compared to that, eating clean is actually much cheaper.




I've been exercising too.
 
Welcome back and all the best on your journey. Eating clean sounds like the way to go as there's plenty of options for healthy nutritious food that tastes great and is filling.


You should reread your last post every week as a good reminder. I've been going back to my first post weekly and it helps to see where things started and remember the 'new car smell' of the journey.


I'd suggest you might want to up the daily calories as the clinic suggested. Eating too few calories can really cause a lot of issues as you go along and make your body get pretty stingy about shedding weight. Think about it this way, even once you hit your goal weight of 220 lbs your body is still going to be burning 2500 calories a day so may as well get used to eating 2500 healthy calories now and your body will grow into that size naturally.
 
AGreat job on coming back and starting again with a new approach.
I strongly believe is that everyone independently has to discover what works best for them.
Pretty much all the diets out there will technically work if adhered to, so really what it comes down to is finding something you can stick with long term, which can vary greatly between different people.

One thing that really helped me was having the mindset that the only way I can fail is if I quit. That way it didn't matter if I had a bad day, week or even month, as long as I didn't quit I would get back on track and continue to make progress long term.
 
Well, here I go again for another try. I’m fatter than ever now. Probably around 440 pounds. I’ll know for sure tomorrow.


My health is a big concern to me, at the rate I’m going if I don’t turn things around I’m going to hit 500 pounds before too long. I really don’t think the surgery will be what I need. So I’m going to try Dr Bernstein. For those who don’t know it’s a rapid weight loss program consisting of low calorie diet consisiting of lots of veggies, no fat, no sugar, very little carb, some protein. There is vitamins to take, as well is 3 injections per week (A mix of vitamin B) This plan will put my body in a state of ketosis which means it burns fat to live. There are some health risks with this, however I have a long list of health risks now. I have to go to the clinic for monitoring 4-5 times a week. The price is $600 a month.


Many people have a negative view of this diet, and trust me if I only had 50 pounds to loose I won’t be trying this. But I have 200+ pounds to loose.


So my plan. According to the clinic, I would need to be on this plan for one year to loose the entire 200+ pounds. However I will not put my body in a state of ketosis for a full year, I think it’s too long. So I’m going to do this for six months. This should give me an amazing start to my weight loss and a much needed boost. As well the eating is very strict, I will need to measure everything and learn how to do this well. So I will learn good habits for preparing food. So at the six month mark, I will stop the Dr. B diet and visit a regular nutritionist and find out how many calories I should be eating and I will start a “healthy lifestyle†with lots of exercise. It is likely I will gain back a small percentage of the weight I lost as my body adjusts to “normal†again. However as long as I eat according to what the nutritionist says, and I do exercise, I should continue to loose weight once my body adjusts.


The last thing I will mention, is something I like about this diet. If I cheat at all, I will take my body out of ketosis and it will basically cost me a week. That’s a week of time and $150. I’m not going to do this for any longer than 6 months so I need every week to count. As well, with the stakes being so high to cheat, I believe this will help keep me on track.


I’ve got to do something, so I’m going to try this radical approach. I start tomorrow.
 
Best of luck with Dr B. I know a couple people that went through it a few years back and I do seem to recall that it was super strict.


Make sure that the changes you make to diet and exercise become long lasting habits and you'll see plenty of success moving forward and keep posting here to let everyone know how you're doing.
 
Hi! :seeya: I'm Dory and I'm new to these forums. I've enjoyed reading through your previous posts!

I think it's great that you are signing up with a weight loss clinic! What I liked about my experience with it is when you sign on the dotted line that agrees that you will stick with their program in return for them guaranteeing your weight loss, you can just let out a sigh of relief and know that you are now taken care of! The fact is, the system will work - all you have to do is to not deviate from what they tell you and then just know that you will get to your goal when they tell you will. It's hard to believe at first, especially when you have felt so helpless, but the fact is that even though your body is used to gaining now, it really doesn't want to be packing around that extra weight and it will certainly melt off once you get rolling!

Do you have a calendar? Once you know your weigh-in days, have a look at your calendar and next years' too and start writing in the goal-weight for each of the weigh ins. I found when I lost my 70+ pounds years ago, keeping track of my weight loss goals on a calendar and writing in these forums was the best way to stay on track!


Nice to meet you and Best of luck. I look forward to hearing about your successes (and your challenges)!


DBotNB - Dory
 
Originally Posted by DBotnB


Hi! :seeya: I'm Dory and I'm new to these forums. I've enjoyed reading through your previous posts!

I think it's great that you are signing up with a weight loss clinic! What I liked about my experience with it is when you sign on the dotted line that agrees that you will stick with their program in return for them guaranteeing your weight loss, you can just let out a sigh of relief and know that you are now taken care of! The fact is, the system will work - all you have to do is to not deviate from what they tell you and then just know that you will get to your goal when they tell you will. It's hard to believe at first, especially when you have felt so helpless, but the fact is that even though your body is used to gaining now, it really doesn't want to be packing around that extra weight and it will certainly melt off once you get rolling!

Do you have a calendar? Once you know your weigh-in days, have a look at your calendar and next years' too and start writing in the goal-weight for each of the weigh ins. I found when I lost my 70+ pounds years ago, keeping track of my weight loss goals on a calendar and writing in these forums was the best way to stay on track!



Nice to meet you and Best of luck. I look forward to hearing about your successes (and your challenges)!



DBotNB - Dory
Click to expand...


Thanks Dory, i was glad for your message when I read it, but as the day went on I kept coming back to some of the things you said. Very encouraging thank you :)
 
Good luck big guy. I hope this plan works for you.


I tried a somewhat different approach, but we're all different and different things work for different people.


I can however commiserate that it's a scary weight. At 375 (and 5'11") I was very worried for myself and wondered if it was even possible to lose weight when that far gone. I still have a long way to go (317.5 this morning), but I'm now neither scared nor doubting whether it can be done.


No matter what happens, keep trying.
 
Just wanted to give a little update. I went for my consultation at the Dr. B clinic yesterday, got all the info and they weighed me. I thought I would be 440 or higher, but I was 435, I was happy about this. I haven’t lost anything, but I didn’t gain as much as I thought over the last six months. Yesterday as well I went shopping and got all my food that I will need and I’m starting strict today. I actually feel relieved to be starting, I’m so sick of driving cheeseburgers into my gut. I KNOW I will follow this plan to the letter (or ounce lol) And I’m ready to start loosing weight rapidly!


@ MrVee, thanks for the encouragement and good job on your own progress!
 
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