Wow another noob.

Quantum Leaper

New member
Hello everyone my name is Charlie. After looking at my photos from Christmas I thought to myself "Crikey i'm that huge?". I am 6'4 and at that time I was 277lbs. I was way out of shape and just got tired of what I was seeing. I was dead set on losing the weight. I didn't want to lose it to quickly though in fear of the sagging skin. So here I am today at 248lbs. My goal was to get to the 225-230lbs range. My problem is I have stayed at the same weight for past 3 weeks. I weigh myself once a week and 2 weeks ago I was 249, last week I was 249, and today I am 248. I starting jogging about 2 weeks ago. Short distances at first but now up to about a mile and a half. Seems like no matter what I do I can't seem to drop anymore. I was averaging about 2-3 pounds a week. My calorie intake is about 1500 a day. Has been since I started. I mean occasionally I'll eat something here and there such as chinese or pizza. Any ideas on what else I can change? I was hoping to achieve my weight by the 1st week in may. I also forgot to mention I do 100 crunches before I jog and 100 after. That is about the extent of my exercising since I get up at 4:30 to do it before I go to work. Thanks for having me and hopefully I can achieve my goal.

Warmest Regards,
Charlie
 
Hi Charlie, I'm Lisa :) Congratulations on losing nearly 30lbs! The problem you might be having is that you are eating VERY LITTLE calories for a guy your size. Men need more calories and since you are so active, running everyday, you need more calories. I would find out what your BMR is (type it into google) and you will see how many calories your body is burning without you doing anything. Your body probably lost really quickly because it was at a caloric deficit, however, now it may thing that it is in starvation mode and therefore it is holding onto the fat. I would suggest going into the Harsh Truth section cause the experts can explain it better than me and they can probably tell you exactly how many calories you need, but my guess is that is your problem. You will get it figured out though, especially if you stick around this forum. You also might want to start a journal on here so you can write down what you eat, then people might be able to show you if you are doing something wrong. To be at your goal by the first week in May, you would have to lose another 20-25lbs in a month which is highly unlikely. You may be able to reach it by the first week in June though if you figure out what is stopping the loss. It sounds like you are very motivated about exercise, and its amazing how your endurance has gone up with running. But, its better if you do cardio for at least 30 minutes, so even if you run a mile and a half, walk fast for another 2 miles just to burn the calories and get your heart rate up. From what I have heard on here, crunches dont really do much. There are other stomach exercises out there that are a lot more useful. I hope you don't feel I criticized your diet plan too much lol. You are obviously well on your way to being at your goal and you have done that all on your own. But, those last pounds might come off easier if you understand some of these things. I have learned so much since I joined this forum, so you should just read around and I'm sure you will learn a ton. Good luck, and see you around the forum!
 
I'm just letting you know this is some very general advice, if you want something more specific, you really have to explain in detail your lifestyle, diet, etc and post it up in the Harsh Truth forum.

I would definitely up your caloric intake, a quick BMR calculation brings you around 2400 calories a day just to remain alive. If you've been on 1500 calories, chances are your body has adapted and really slowed your metabolism. 2000-2200 wouldn't be a bad area to be in as your metabolism begins to recover. Is your diet balanced with fruits, veggies, lean meats, whole grains, nuts, etc? Are you avoiding refined carbs and sugar? Are you getting enough fiber from your food? Some very basic changes to what you're eating can really speed up your metabolism, and 80% of weight loss is a quality diet.

As far as exercise, add in some resistance training to conserve muscle mass, and add a warm up and cool down to your jogging to stretch your session to 30-60 mins, regardless of the distance you cover.

Watch out for the crunches like mentioned previously, that number isn't doing much since you can't spot reduce fat and overtraining can lead to nasty back pain.
 
Hi Charlie,
Welcome to the WLF!

I was eating too few calories - and this is the thought that really struck home...

If my calories are too low now, what am I going to do when my body decides that will become my maintenance level? Will I have to reduce even lower???

It really opened my eyes to the fact that going too low, while it works in the short term, it screws us up in the long term.

Perhaps upping your calories to maintenance for awhile (reestablishing a maintenance level) then reducing only 500 from that number - I bet that would still leave you with closer to 2000 a day in order to lose.

Best of luck to you and again, welcome aboard!
 
Hi! Welcome! =)
I'm with the girls, I think you might be eating few calories. That slows your metabolism too, so I'd say you should eat the right intake for you and increase the calories loss in sports :)
Let us know how is it going later :p
 
I appreciate the replies and am about to learn the 'Harsh Truth' :eek: No worries though because I want to improve and hope I do it the healthy way.

Charlie
 
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