Hi all,
I'm a week over being one year into my new way of life. I've gone from 340 pounds to around 270, with a lot of added muscle. It's hard to gauge how much, but from my research I'd guess 10-12 pounds of muscle gain. Regardless of how much it is, I can feel the difference.
So I've lost from 70 to 80 pounds of fat(and water and whatnot) in one year. That's an average of about 1.3 pounds a week using the 70 number. That doesn't seem like a lot, and if you'd told me at the beginning that's what I'd lose a week I would have been disappointed. I'm not now, of course. And I'm willing to continue that rate of weight loss and achieve my goal of 215 sometime next winter. Because this is permanent.
I could have done Atkins(which I've done in the past), lost fifty pounds in eight months and then have put it all back on by now(as it went in the past) but this more gentle diet and exercise regimin is liveable. That's the main difference.
Mostly I've used a common sense approach. More veg and lean protein, less starch and sugar and alcohol, lift weights(I'm inclined that way and have always been somewhat muscular) twice a week and light cardio(walking or bike riding) three or four days, rest one. Also a cheat day each week (not unlimited, but almost). And I'm not having any cravings for sweets or fried stuff that I've had on Atkins before. That's liveable to me.
That's the main thing I've learned in the past year: time is your friend. Just do what you need to do and don't fret about day-to-day losses or gains. Keep the big picture in mind. If you want weight loss to be permanent then it's got to be for the rest of your life, not the next three months.
No pictures, as I'm a bit shy that way, but let me tell you the difference to me is amazing, both in how I feel and how I look. I'm definitely glad that I'm doing this.
Archer
I'm a week over being one year into my new way of life. I've gone from 340 pounds to around 270, with a lot of added muscle. It's hard to gauge how much, but from my research I'd guess 10-12 pounds of muscle gain. Regardless of how much it is, I can feel the difference.
So I've lost from 70 to 80 pounds of fat(and water and whatnot) in one year. That's an average of about 1.3 pounds a week using the 70 number. That doesn't seem like a lot, and if you'd told me at the beginning that's what I'd lose a week I would have been disappointed. I'm not now, of course. And I'm willing to continue that rate of weight loss and achieve my goal of 215 sometime next winter. Because this is permanent.
I could have done Atkins(which I've done in the past), lost fifty pounds in eight months and then have put it all back on by now(as it went in the past) but this more gentle diet and exercise regimin is liveable. That's the main difference.
Mostly I've used a common sense approach. More veg and lean protein, less starch and sugar and alcohol, lift weights(I'm inclined that way and have always been somewhat muscular) twice a week and light cardio(walking or bike riding) three or four days, rest one. Also a cheat day each week (not unlimited, but almost). And I'm not having any cravings for sweets or fried stuff that I've had on Atkins before. That's liveable to me.
That's the main thing I've learned in the past year: time is your friend. Just do what you need to do and don't fret about day-to-day losses or gains. Keep the big picture in mind. If you want weight loss to be permanent then it's got to be for the rest of your life, not the next three months.
No pictures, as I'm a bit shy that way, but let me tell you the difference to me is amazing, both in how I feel and how I look. I'm definitely glad that I'm doing this.
Archer
