TGD17's Battle Of The Bulge !

[TheGreatDane17]

Hello all who are reading this, the first entry in my weight loss diary. What will be the first of many, on my journey to lose the excess fat on my body. I am 18 years old. I am 6'3" tall, I currently weigh 237lbs(morning weight as of December 2nd 2009).

In May, near my birthday I weighed 270 something. I accumulated years of being inactive, over eating & binging on alcohol(Well aware it is illegal, dangerous, etc). I chewed tobacco, didn't care what anyone though about me. Most girls I knew, needless to say put me in the friend zone. Essentially, "The Funny Fat Kid".

I got sick of it. I set a target of 230lbs. Immediately, I changed my diet vastly. Fractions of the portions I ate before. Cut out soda & beer(Except on Sundays for a 3 hour period, up to 20 weeks a year - See the NFL Football Season ) completely. I only drank booze in the presence of friends. I am blessed to have within 50 yards of my room a insanely large driveway(Pictures forthcoming). Somewhere between a 1/4 or 1/2 mile. So I started walking. Once a day... Next day, twice a day... Next day, three times a day, fast forward to the 5th day I was walking it 5 times a day. I kept at it, increased the pace of my walk. Got to a point where I could run the distance one way without fear of seriously injuring myself(Shin Splints/Extreme joint pain). So in addition to my 4 walks, on the fifth walk I would walk down & on the final stretch of my days workouts, I ran the entire distance back. It felt good. My health was improving daily & it was noticeable.

The weights. I have a small bench press set in my apartment. Instead of using a proper bar for the bench press I used a bar bell. My arms & chest were always the weakest part of my body, so I went to work. 3 sets of 10 reps, each after a walk or run depending on mood every day - I am now aware that I am lucky I did not injure myself ! I moved up in weights & got it to a point where I had 35's & 10's on each side in addition to the barbell. It worked wonders for me. At one point, I was dropping around 3lbs a day, honest to god.

I reached 240 in August. As soon as I saw that 23X on the scale, I got lazy, lost motivation for exercise. Slowly, my diet plan followed. Since that time, I gained 10 lbs & weighed 250 on Thanksgiving morning.

Since then, events have transpired in my life. I have regained my will power. I have recommitted & I am ready to not only commit now, but for a better lifestyle. My family has a history of diabetes & I want to do anything in my power to not only avoid that, but become as healthy as I can without driving myself insane. I know I am capable. Only thing left is to do.

The day following Thanksgiving I got back walking my driveway. Fast forward to today, I am now back to my old routine of walking 5 times a day, including a single run at the middle of the fifth walk, the last stretch of my workout. I have started to bench press again, although this time only doing it every other day.

My new goal is 199lbs. So here starts my journey, I do hope you enjoy me chronicling the transformation in my body & lifestyle THAT IS GOING TO OCCUR Let me be sure to say that any tips, tricks or criticism is welcome, so bring it on !

 

[TheGreatDane17]

Day 1 - Let the journal begin.

Woke up bright & early. 7:30 AM, I could see the moon in one window & the sun rising in the other. A perfect beginning. Ruining that perfect beginning was my work I needed to do for the day. Delivering a truck I just sold on Craigslist to the man who bought it from me.

Breakfast:
Small bowl of Raisin Bran + Necessary milk. - From there, I knew I would not have time to stop for lunch so I grabbed a nice apple from my fruit bowl(Washed before I left ). After a few hours on the road, I ate my apple. Delivered the truck, everything thing went great, got my cash etc. I got back to town & was obviously hungry. Enter my local Mexican food restaurant. About as close to authentic as you can get this side of the border.

Lunch:
Azada(Steak) Taco Plate + glass of milk to drink - 6 Small corn tortillas, double wrapped to make three tacos of average size. Accompanying that, a serving of beans, rice, lettuce & tomato to add to the Taco's. To make myself feel more full, instead of leaving them double wrapped, I split the meat of the three tacos, to make 6 smaller tacos. I stuffed em nice & full of beans/rice/lettuce/tomato. Delicious. With it I had a glass of milk. The Tacos them selves look something like , maybe a little less steak (Note: the restaurant offers a chicken taco plate as well, I'm wondering if that would be more healthy for me? Is it really worth the loss in flavor? This is far more healthier then the Burrito Plate, Super Burrito or Torta that I used to order from there


Workout:
Standard Routine - 3 straight walks of my driveway, left my feet aching. So I took a 30 minute break. Ate an apple as my 4th meal of the day after that & went on with my 4th walk. Got back, took a 10 minute break & walked to the end of the driveway again. Pumped myself up & ran all the way back. Completely winded, but it was a lot easier then the first time I ran an entire distance. I hope to soon be able to run both ways ! My feet were aching so I took a Aleve liquid gel & that did away with the pain.

Dinner:
Cream Soup - Here is the recipe I used:

2 Medium onions chopped
2 stalks celery chopped
2 cloves garlic peeled & chopped

Cook till tender then add 4 cups chicken broth, 1tsp chili powder, 1tsp oregano, 2 1/2 tsp Tarragon, 1/8 tsp cayenne, salt & pepper to taste. Simmer together for 5 minutes.

Add 2 cups tomatoes crushed, 2 cups cooked chicken(substituted with Turkey, thank you thanksgiving leftovers ) 2 cups half & half(I only used one), 1 cup chopped fresh spinach(I did more then 1 cup).

Serve with french bread.

I had a bowl of this, a piece of whole grain bread(no butter) & a glass of milk. (Note: I am a bit worried about the sodium in the bouillon used to make the broth, is this a concern?)

Dessert:
Nothing. Water + Gum for me until sleep !

Major note- Not including the multiple times I am drinking water throughout the day.

 

[DustinB]

I really liked reading your story and progress. I wish you luck throughout the way. I hope you can ease down the beers on Football nights. Just when you want to pop open another, think of your diary on this forum and picture yourself at 199lbs.

Walking is awesome. I love getting out there on the big 20k walks, but it will be snow from today til March now. . One piece of advice, try to practice your jogging form while walking. Keep on the front half of your feet, use your arms, breath right. That should help you slide right into more jogging.

About your red questions -

Knorr makes a Low-Sodium bouillon if you wish to try that out with the recipe. I tend to have, at max, one bouillon recipe a month. I've never been a big fan of salty items anyways.

Chicken Tacos instead of Beef... You should give it a try. I think with the amount of meat in the food, it won't make that much of a difference in calories, maybe 100 at most. It all depends on how the meat is cooked and mixed with the seasonings. If the meat isn't drained well enough, it won't taste as good.

Oh Yeah -- Plain Oatmeal may be bland, but it is so beneficial and easy to make. I used to eat those "Cups of Soup" (like ramen), but exchanged that for oatmeal. I get a lot more energy during the day and during workouts.


Best of Luck and I look forward to reading your progress!

 

[TheGreatDane17]

Thanks for the words of encouragement Dustin ! I am going to try to up my running today. Also, thanks for the heads up on the low sodium bouillon. I barely use it myself as well, but needed a way to use up some extra turkey & tried to make it healthy :\ God damn salt ! I will be sure to go with the chicken next go around at the Mexican restaurant! Thanks again !

 

[KaraCooks]

Hey there. I'm happy to come over and offer advice.

My first suggsetion would be to register with fitday.com or thedailyplate.com and start logging your food. It will give you a good idea how many calories you're taking in and where your nutrition is falling. For your weight, I'd say about 2300 calories per day is a good amount. See if you can get close to 30% of that out of protein.

The next suggestion would be to read the thread in the exercise forum called "The Conceptual Side of Weight Lifting" (it's pinned to the top of that part of the forum). It'll give you a lot of good information on weight lifting exercises you can add to your routine. For example, bench presses are good, but you could also add some rows, some squats, and maybe some lunges - balancing out pushing and pulling as well as upper and lower body.

I think you're doing well already and with a few tweaks .. you'll be doing great!

 

[TheGreatDane17]

Day 2 - Civil War

Big Football game on TV tonight. For me, that is usually conducive to drinking a lot of beer & eating plenty of unhealthy food. I am going to document here in todays entry not only my eating/workouts, but also my struggle against the beer monster. I am hoping to set aside some calories, but I don't want to over do it.

Breakfast:
Bowl of Plain Oatmeal(Protein) - I have found myself very fond of plain Oatmeal & what it has done for me when I am trying to lose weight. Most add a touch of brown sugar, milk or dried fruits. It tastes nasty plain, but you get over it & everything else throughout the day tastes much better.

Workout I:
Standard Routine 1.1- I decided to push myself today & up the ante I am going to run the distance twice in one day. So I walked down, ran back. Completely out of breath winded, sore feet. Went into my apartment & got to work on strength training. 2 sets of 10 on the bench absolutely crippled my arms, I thought after a day off I could improve, but to no avail. After that, grabbed my camera, walked down & back again(2/5). I got some pictures of the driveway I walk:



Lunch:
Half an apple + a few paper thin slices of sharp cheddar cheese- Trying to save some calories for dinner here, sloppy joes !

Workout II:
Hackysack/Walk & Run- Just finished playing for two straight hours with my brother, my legs are beat. UPDATE: Walked out my front door, saw my driveway & started jogging unexpectedly. Multiple times throughout the run I questioned if I could make it, felt like I was about to collapse. Obviously, made it to the end of the road & walked back. I rested for about an hour or so & went back out for my final walk. At the end of the driveway, I said "screw it" and ran back. Felt terrible jogging like my heart was about to collapse, but again I MADE IT ! 3/4 of my trips I ran half way I am quite proud of myself. Hopefully after I get some shoes that were made for running I can continue to up the ante !

Dinner:
Sloppy Joes + 1 Orowheat Sandwich Thin + Salad W/Russian Dressing- Had no more then a cup of the sloppy joe on a toasted Sandwich thin(amazing). Small amount of russian dressing on my salad & some graded sharp cheddar cheese.


Dessert:
Several pieces of Trident gum - Mmmmmmmmmm


Many Thanks Kara ! Today was the first full day I logged on fitday.com.

I ended up eating approximately 1060 calories today(According to fitday.com) & I am completely full 48% from carbs, 23% from fat & 29% from protein.

 

[aravind82]

There's nothing wrong with taking a multivitamin. I do and it's likely that most other people here do as well.

The ~1000 calories is probably too low and you would be better off in the long run by upping that number. I'm close to your weight right now (~233 lb) and I vary between 1800-2200 calories. Give this site a whirl if you haven't already.

 

[TheGreatDane17]

There's nothing wrong with taking a multivitamin. I do and it's likely that most other people here do as well.

The ~1000 calories is probably too low and you would be better off in the long run by upping that number. I'm close to your weight right now (~233 lb) and I vary between 1800-2200 calories. Give this site a whirl if you haven't already.

Thanks for the tips The funny thing is, I was only eating around 1000 calories a day when I was losing the majority of my real heavy weight(270-240). If I don't feel hungry eating that many calories per day, I see no reason to try to eat more I will look into a multivitamin for sure though. I need running shoes , unfortunately I can't afford em right now so my feet have to suffer

I ate a large amount of calories when I drank, now that I have cut that out I am simply not hungry anymore. I feel as good as I have in the last 4 years !

Update: After my first run, I took an aleve. Pain in my shin area did not get better. I am not going to force the running, instead I am going to walk at a more brisk pace, more frequently. Until I can get some running shoes and/or I don't get so much pain post-running. I have had had shin splints before, not fun. I will air on the side of caution. Besides, according to fitday.com the jogging I do isn't much better then walking fast anyways. Hacky sack burns more calories then walking & its more fun, less impact on me legs too

 

[KaraCooks]

If I don't feel hungry eating that many calories per day, I see no reason to try to eat more

There is every reason to eat more.

1 - Anything 1000 calories or below is usually considered a VLCD (Very Low Calorie Diet) and should only be attempted under the supervision of a professional. VLCDs don't allow you to get all the nutrients your body needs unless you're on a specific program that provides specific supplements.

2 - When you eat VLC, without maximizing your protein intake (i.e. at 1000 calories a day, 600 of those calories had better be from protein), then you're creating an environment where you are burning muscle as well as fat. The best way to spare muscle loss is to eat enough protein - which should be 1g of protein per 1 lb of lean body weight (a lot of people use 1g per pound of goal bodyweight, which works pretty well).

But .. most importantly with regard to long term weight loss is:

3 - Metabolic slow down. The fewer calories you eat, the more your metabolism slows to compensate for the lack of calories. When you're very heavy, that's not so much a problem because your calorie needs to maintain are so high, your metabolism can't slow enough to stop you losing. However, when you start getting close to your goal weight, you'll have created a situation where you've slowed your metabolism so far, that you'll have to drop your calories even more to lose weight. And then you'll get to a point where it's simply not possible to eat that little ... and then you make it impossible to lose any more or actually reach your goal weight because your metabolism is fighting to compensate for the destruction you've done.

And then when you try to go back to eating normally, you'll pile on the pounds, because your metabolism won't be able to handle a reasonable and healthy amount of calories.

You MUST eat enough to maintain a reasonable metabolism while still losing weight. Some metabolic slowdown is inevitable - both from loss of weight itself and from eating less ... but you want to MINIMIZE the metabolic effect so that you're still able to burn calories.

Eating too little is as counter productive to weight loss as eating too much.

At your weight, you should be eating 2000 calories a day at a MINIMUM, in order to lose weight healthily and safely.

A vitamin supplement is a good idea for everyone, I think, but a vitamin supplement is NOT going to make up fo all the nutrients you're not getting by eating a starvation level diet.

 

[TheGreatDane17]

There is every reason to eat more.

1 - Anything 1000 calories or below is usually considered a VLCD (Very Low Calorie Diet) and should only be attempted under the supervision of a professional. VLCDs don't allow you to get all the nutrients your body needs unless you're on a specific program that provides specific supplements.

2 - When you eat VLC, without maximizing your protein intake (i.e. at 1000 calories a day, 600 of those calories had better be from protein), then you're creating an environment where you are burning muscle as well as fat. The best way to spare muscle loss is to eat enough protein - which should be 1g of protein per 1 lb of lean body weight (a lot of people use 1g per pound of goal bodyweight, which works pretty well).

But .. most importantly with regard to long term weight loss is:

3 - Metabolic slow down. The fewer calories you eat, the more your metabolism slows to compensate for the lack of calories. When you're very heavy, that's not so much a problem because your calorie needs to maintain are so high, your metabolism can't slow enough to stop you losing. However, when you start getting close to your goal weight, you'll have created a situation where you've slowed your metabolism so far, that you'll have to drop your calories even more to lose weight. And then you'll get to a point where it's simply not possible to eat that little ... and then you make it impossible to lose any more or actually reach your goal weight because your metabolism is fighting to compensate for the destruction you've done.

And then when you try to go back to eating normally, you'll pile on the pounds, because your metabolism won't be able to handle a reasonable and healthy amount of calories.

You MUST eat enough to maintain a reasonable metabolism while still losing weight. Some metabolic slowdown is inevitable - both from loss of weight itself and from eating less ... but you want to MINIMIZE the metabolic effect so that you're still able to burn calories.

Eating too little is as counter productive to weight loss as eating too much.

At your weight, you should be eating 2000 calories a day at a MINIMUM, in order to lose weight healthily and safely.

A vitamin supplement is a good idea for everyone, I think, but a vitamin supplement is NOT going to make up fo all the nutrients you're not getting by eating a starvation level diet.

Thanks, this is great information. I am going to going to continue to up my protein intake. I particularly liked what I saw from Tuna/Albacore.

3- My plan was once I hit 199, start using protein powder, get myself into a complete workout regiment & get that metabolism back on track.

Found this on WebMD -

"If two people both weigh 250 pounds, and one got there by dieting down from 350 and the other one was always at 250, the one who got there by cutting calories is going to have a slower metabolism," says Yanagisawa. "That means they will require fewer calories to maintain their weight than the person who never went beyond 250 pounds."

Eat More, Burn Better

Of course, the diet advice we'd all love to hear is "Eat more and lose more weight!" But what really works is "Eat more often, and you'll lose more weight." Small, but frequent, meals help keep your metabolism in high gear, and that means you'll burn more calories overall.

"When you put too many hours between meals, your metabolism actually slows down to compensate," says Kimball.

Little did I know I should have ate more sloppy joes last night... It just doesn't feel right when I was FULL. I mean I could it more but it felt more like a "bored" thing then a "hungry" thing.

Avoid Crash Diets

Crash diets -- those involving eating fewer than 1,000 calories a day -- are disastrous for anyone hoping to quicken their metabolism. Although these diets may help you drop pounds (at the expense of good nutrition), a high percentage of the loss comes from muscle. The lower your muscle mass, the slower your metabolism. The final result is a body that burns far fewer calories (and gains weight faster) than the one you had before the diet.

This is essentially the point you were making to me. So I will try to up my intake to 1,500, eat more times per day, up my protein significantly & strength train more often - In an effort to raise my metabolism.

It doesn't make much sense though, because most of my calories that I cut came from sugars/unneeded extra food & Alcohol :|

 

[KaraCooks]

Ok, a few more thoughts:

3- My plan was once I hit 199, start using protein powder, get myself into a complete workout regiment & get that metabolism back on track.

But that's the hard way to go about it. That's like saying you're going to trash the house first so you can work harder to clean it up when you're done. Why not KEEP your metabolism on track by eating healthily, and getting into a complete workout regimen NOW. Not only will it make things easier when you're done losing, it'll get you there faster and healthier.

Of course, the diet advice we'd all love to hear is "Eat more and lose more weight!" But what really works is "Eat more often, and you'll lose more weight." Small, but frequent, meals help keep your metabolism in high gear, and that means you'll burn more calories overall.

"When you put too many hours between meals, your metabolism actually slows down to compensate," says Kimball.

NOpe. This is a dieting myth that has been completely busted. Thermic adaptation doesn't take effect that fast. When it comes to totals, there is no difference between eating 3x a day or 6x a day. You don't slow your metabolism by skipping breakfast (although there are other good reasons to eat breakfast). Heck if you want to put all your calories into one honkin' big meal a day, it doesn't matter.

This is essentially the point you were making to me. So I will try to up my intake to 1,500, eat more times per day, up my protein significantly & strength train more often - In an effort to raise my metabolism.

2000 calories, at least 120g of protein, and don't worry about how many times a day you eat.

 

[TheGreatDane17]

But that's the hard way to go about it. That's like saying you're going to trash the house first so you can work harder to clean it up when you're done. Why not KEEP your metabolism on track by eating healthily, and getting into a complete workout regimen NOW. Not only will it make things easier when you're done losing, it'll get you there faster and healthier.

I am a stubborn 18 year old Also, I can't get into a complete workout regiment now. I won't have the money to afford equipment to get a complete workout for quite some time.

I am going to continue to find ways to increase my protein intake & had no idea it was so important in preventing muscle loss. Thanks again ! You are a great help & a real well of knowledge when it comes to this stuff.

 

[KaraCooks]

I am a stubborn 18 year old

HAhahah. At least you admit it.

Also, I can't get into a complete workout regiment now. I won't have the money to afford equipment to get a complete workout for quite some time.

You don't need money to get into a complete workout regimen. There are plenty of bodyweight exercises you can do to maintain your muscle - squats, lunges, pushups, chinups, stepups, etc.

Read the sticky post in the exercise area called "The Conceptual Side of Weight Lifting" ... there's lots of good information there to help you set up a plan.

 

[TheGreatDane17]

Day 3 - Ham...

First of all let me say I am proud to say that I haven't had a drink(beer or booze) in over two days I know it doesn't sound like much, but compared to how often I used to, especially when sports are on... Anyways.

Breakfast:
Bowl of plain Oatmeal - The old stand-by

Workout I:
Walk/Run - Just walked down & ran back. Will probably walk again in 20 or so minutes when this Aleve kicks in. Bad pain after the 2nd walk down in my shins, so just walked back. Unless I see dramatic improvement I doubt I will run again today. More walking though.

Snack:
Banana - Gotta get me some potassium, my leg is cramping up.

Lunch:
Tuna(Albacore) Sandwich W/Mustard & Lettuce - On a Sandwich Thin. So delicious & so good for me

Workout II:
Walking/Hacky Sack - 3rd & 4th walk of the day in a row, as quickly as I can, then Hacky Sack

Dinner:
Ham, Sweet Potatoe & Steamed Broccoli W/Cheese - The Ham tasted far too salty to be any good for me. No way I could measure how much I ate so my day on fitday.com is officially lost :\. Didn't add any cinnamon or butter on my sweet potato as I usually would. Broccoli was delcious ! Hope I didn't splurge too bad :\

 

[TheGreatDane17]

Day 4 - Funny how things work out...

I find it quite ironic that last night what seemed to be my worst caloric day of the journal so far, not to mention I had a few(...) shots of whiskey with my brother I actually dropped to 234 by morning !

Breakfast:
Scrambled Eggs W/Ham - Had a pretty big helping, could not measure exactly how much. My favorite meal

Workout I:
Walking/Body Weight Exercises - I walked the driveway twice in a row & then did some push ups(10). Did some research & found some other body weight exercises I like to improve core strength, a lot of ab related exercises/crunches.

Lunch:
Tuna Sandwich - On a Orowheat Sandwich thin, with mustard.

Snack:
Banana -

Workout II:
Walking - Walked the drive way twice in a row. Logged a 100 jumping jacks, more push ups, some dips, plank & some oblique crunches. Also played some hacky sack.

Dinner:
Baked Chicken Legs & Spinach Salad -

 

[KaraCooks]

Yes, it happens a lot to people who don't eat enough. They "refeed" and the body says "whoa - we ARE going to get food" and then you drop weight.

Kinda proves my point.

 

[TheGreatDane17]

Could I keep this up, hover at the 1500 calorie range for three days & then a nice big dinner on the 4th day and continue to lose weight like this?

 

[KaraCooks]

Why are you so insistent on eating less than you need to, in order to lose and still maintain your metabolism?

You do realize that the longer you eat at 50% or less of your daily needs, the more you depress your metabolism and the harder it will be to both lose the last few pounds and maintain?

At your weight, you could EASILY continue losing by eating around 2200 calories a day, which already puts you at a nearly 1100 calorie per day deficit. I don't understand why you think eating 800 calories below that is necessary?

 

[TheGreatDane17]

I am not insisting I stick at that calorie range, but I am just not hungry. I I'll go eat another tuna sammich I guess :\ Tonight I'll be sure to eat till I'm full. But thanks to you I am starting a body weight workout routine, so thanks To be honest, my calories may be off on fit day. I don't measure all the milk I drink, but I drink a lot. I had quite a lot of scrambled eggs this morning too.

 

[TheGreatDane17]

Day 5 - BURRRR!

It is really starting to drop temperature wise ! I can hardly stand my face in the freezing wind. But I know it will pay off come summer time !

Breakfast:
1 Eggs Benedict Resisted a 2nd one that was already prepared. 1 Half of an English muffin, 1 fried egg, small amount of ham & some holinday(sp) sauce.

Workout I:
Walking/Jumping Jacks - Walked the driveway, did 100 jumping jacks when I got back.

Lunch:
Cheese Sandwich -A little mayo, slice of sharp cheddar on a sandwich thin.

Workout II:
Walking/Jumping Jacks - Walked the driveway, did 80 jumping jacks when I got back.

Workout III:
Walking/Jumping Jacks - Walked the driveway, did 60 jumping jacks when I got back.

Workout IV:
Walking/Jumping Jacks - Walked the driveway, did 40 jumping jacks when I got back.

Workout V:
Walking/Jumping Jacks - Walked the driveway, did 20 jumping jacks when I got back.

Dinner:
Orange St. Louis Style Spare Ribs, Steamed Rice & Stir Fry - This was amazing !