Diary Fitforaking

Ouch. Sorry about your foot. I hope it heals soon.

Hang in there with the food. Make sure you eat healthy today - dont' feel like you have to punish yourself for a high calorie day. :)
 
Kara,

Thanks for the well-wishes. Nah, I won't punish myself...life's to short. People may get tired of me writing "today is a new day" and "can't change the past", but I truly do believe those. I've learned how to forgive myself and receive the new beginnings that I have. Life is definitely more joyful that way!

E.
 
i'm a tennis guy myself. i absolutel love that effin sport. i try to play 8-10 hours a week lol. people say i should try racquetball, but i just can't let go of tennis.
 
kureransu,

I've play a little tennis, but not a whole lot. It seemed like we spent more time chasing the ball down than we did actually playing.

The cool thing about racquetball is that you can stand in one place and the ball will eventually make it back around to you, lol.

Seriously though, I really like the strategy and the variety of shots that one can hit in racquetball. It just seems like it moves at such a faster pace. It's definitely addictive for me!!!!

E.
 
fitforaking said:
kureransu,

I've play a little tennis, but not a whole lot. It seemed like we spent more time chasing the ball down than we did actually playing.

The cool thing about racquetball is that you can stand in one place and the ball will eventually make it back around to you, lol.

Seriously though, I really like the strategy and the variety of shots that one can hit in racquetball. It just seems like it moves at such a faster pace. It's definitely addictive for me!!!!

E.
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I guess that's what i like about tennis. Chasing the ball down and the back and forth and varying speeds is like a form of Interval cardio. once you learn how to control your hits, it because an EXTREMELY athletic game. You work your work you core (sans the abs) when you swing and man do you feel it. i understand with racquet it ball it gets strategic because of the wall, and it is very fast paced. In tennis, you have your baseline shot to push them further back, you drop shot to bring them in, you slices for all types of craziness, hitting the ball with top spin vs flat, and such. all make the ball do different things upon landing which adds ton to the game. i like the whole running aspect of tennis as well and well, the hitting too. nothing is as awesome as hitting a lighting fast shot cross court with major top spin and watching it curve down and land right on the line as your opponent runs for his life trying to get it and fails. You have to continuously move in tennis positioning yourself in the middle of the two furthest places your opponent can hit to, and you have about 1.5 seconds to do it after you hit it over. enough of me blabbling on why i love tennis. but i told a co-worker i''d give racquet ball a shot. so i'll see how it goes. i'd say if you could always make contact with the ball and keep it in in most cases, you would love it as well. such a good workout and sooo rewarding.
 
What the deuce?

Alright...so if I calculate my maintenance calories I conservatively get 4,130 calories (295lbs X 14cal/lb).

Most days I'm in the 1,900 to 2,500 calorie range. On the days I'm calling "bad", I might...just MIGHT eat 3,500 to 4,000 calories. I'm up to 301lbs. What gives?

I throw in some racquetball....some weight training...I have to be creating a deficit. I know I haven't put that much muscle on. I'm wondering if my maintenance level is much lower for some reason.

Sometimes I suffer from paralysis by analysis...and I don't want to do that here, but I'm wondering if something is wrong with my new strategy. I went from 331lbs to 300lbs in about 8 weeks. Then I started researching and found that I could actually be "hindering" my weight loss by not eating enough calories and fat. So I start eating more calories and fat. I'm now at 301lbs.

I'm starting to get mad in the motivated-mad sense...not beating myself up...I just need to figure out what works so I can do it.

<><
 
I get that motivated-mad thing. I've been there. :) It's a good thing, though because it gets you to really work at what the problem is.

I suspect, based on everything I know and have read, that your body is just needing to realign. Think about it this way: For years you've probably eaten well over 4000 calories a day - if you were gaining weight over the last several years. Then suddenly you drop that to under 1/2 and start exercising again - so you're really in a nearly 70% deficit, instead of a reasonable 30% deficit. Your body adapts - yes you lose a chunk of weight; it's impossible not to under those circumstances - but after that first loss, your body is reeling from an over 50% reduction in what it's used to. So it starts slowing things down - the "starvation mode" that most people talk about. You, of course, realize that you're creating this metabolic slow down and you start eating more. But at this point your body is still processing your first calorie drop - it's just trying to keep up.

We talk a lot on the boards about lowering your metabolism by eating too little and "starvation mode" (or what I prefer to call survival mode - because you're not really starving in the sense of dying) ... but what we don't think about when we talk about it, is that it's not something that happens overnight. People show weight loss while in this mode because it takes your body a couple of weeks to adapt and slow the system. Same with increasing your calories - your body is just getting used to a LOT less calories, and now you're giving it more, so it takes time to readjust.

It's the same reason that someone who goes on a really bad, unhealthy "fast" type diet loses weight fast at first, but then puts on MORE weight after they go to eating normally. The body takes long enough to catch up that what used to be a small surplus has become a large surplus until the metabolism catches up.

Does that make sense?

So putting all that together for you, for 8 weeks you kinda freaked out your body by eating far too little. Now you have to give it at least that long to adapt to the new calorie level you're establishing. I think the fact that you've only put on 1lb is promising - because 1lb is a blip. It's water weight. It's retained fluid from a workout. Heck, it's high barometric pressure. :)

I truly think that if you continue to eat at a healthy level - say between 2500 and 2900 calories a day - and make sure you get good macros, you'll start losing weight again at a steady rate. You're just going to have to tough it out through a few weeks of allowing your body to realign again.
 
What you're saying does make sense, BUT....

does the body go into starvation/survival mode that quick? I thought I had read on these forums that for a person with as much weight to lose as I do, it would take it a LONG time before my metabolism actually slowed????
 
Keep your head up, fitforaking! Let this struggle piss you off...and then take it out during your workout. I don't know if that is the "best" advice, but it sure works for me. You've done really well so far, and we both know that you've got it in you to keep it up. :seeya:
 
dude no worries, just work hard and keep at it. the smaller i get the less i care about that number and the more i care about how i look. i know that sounds weird, but at 254, people already think i am going to be tiny when i finally do get down to 200. the weight will come off, just be patient.
 
does the body go into starvation/survival mode that quick? I thought I had read on these forums that for a person with as much weight to lose as I do, it would take it a LONG time before my metabolism actually slowed????
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Well ... I'm not sure what you mean by that quick. 8-10 weeks is a pretty decent amount of time for your body to adapt - at any weight.

Remember that most people think in terms of overnight or 2-3 days at the most. :) Most people think that if they eat a cheeseburger on Monday, the 2lbs they're up on Tuesday is fat. They don't think about how the last 5 days of eating influences things. :) So when we say it takes a LONG time - we're tailoring that to the expectations of most people. At least I know I do, when I give advice on things like this.

So yea, I think 8 weeks is a sufficient time for your metabolism to have slowed. I don't think 8 weeks is long enough to DAMAGE your metabolism - which is a whole 'nother thing.
 
Adding this post just to say: The other thing is that you have to keep in mind that we're all different. Some people's bodies - despite their weight - are more adaptable than others.

It's the same way some people can be morbidly obese by the scale and still have healthy blood pressure and be pretty fit and others can be just overweight or obese and have high blood pressure, joint problems, and borderline diabetes. It's all about how your particular body responds. :)
 
Steve/kureransu

Thanks for the encouragement. I'm not giving up...just have to figure out the right formula. Knowledge is power...and I want the power!!!! *thinking I kinda sound like He-Man for a minute*....

E.
 
Kara,

So I went back and read Steve's original post in "Rant about basic concepts" and he says:

Point being, it doesn't drop forever. Also, the process takes a hell of a lot longer than most with a lot of weight to lose, think. If you are fat, don't worry about the starvation response. If you are lean, and looking to get leaner, then plan for the starvation response by tweaking your dietary approach.

Is this one of those topics you disagree with him on?

E.
 
Does it bug the crap out of anyone else when people butcher the use of "lose" and "loose"???

It just makes me cringe...
 
No actually he and I agree on this.

But "starvation response" and slowing metabolism are not the same thing. Or ... :D within the Venn Diagram of possible body responses ... slowing metabolism always happens, but slowing metabolism is not always "starvation response".
 
I think you actually do know ... I think you just need to put it all together. You really are on the right track, I think.

It took me a while to wrap my mind around everything so that it made sense. And lord knows I'm still learning ... ! :)
 
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