Help a fat brother out

[TheSlyKang]

Ok guys I need some help here. Are there any big (or former big) guys on here who have lost a LOT of weight and improved their appearance and health? I need some suggestions and motivation.
I'm 40 yrs old, 6' tall and 280 lbs. I need to get to around 215-220. My wife and I both work full-time and are raising an 18 yr old, 8 yr old, and 1 yr old, so like most of you my time is limited. I'm a firm believer in the "I helped make the kids and I'm gonna help raise the kids" philosophy so we both stay pretty busy. The days of doing taekwondo 7 days a week and the gym 4 days a week are long gone and the weight has piled on. I am managing to get to the gym 2 days a week right now for about an hour and using the nautilus equipment and eliptical machine.
Any suggestions on how to reverse the snowball effect and get this weight off?

[TheSlyBear]

I'm not one who's lost a whole lot -- but I've dropped 23 lbs in the past 7 weeks by simply stopping snacking between meals, kinda watching simple carbs, and "power walking" 2 miles every day.

I started at 240 lbs and my goal is 200 by the end of the year.

P.S. 5'8"

[Mikekoz13]

I lost a 30 lbs. in a couple of months a couple years ago.... used the Southbeach diet. I'm nopt a big diet guy but the meals they recommend are exactly how I like to eat so it was great for me.

If you do South Beach..... get the book and before you start read the introductory part of the book. It explains what happens to certain foods in your body, why, and what you need to do to change your mind set about food. I think reading this, it's about 100 pages, is imperative to success on this diet.

The tough part will be maintaining good eating habits a couple months down the road...... I live with a bunch of carb maniacs her so sometimes it's tough for me to eat well.



South Beach really isn't about dieting but about changing your attitudes about food,.

[ozzie]

Losing weight can be as simple as 1, 2, 3.

1. Don't eat anything with SUGAR in it.
2. Don't eat anything with FLOUR in it.
3. Exercise hard (aerobic), 3-4 times a week for 15-20 minutes.

In the Crossfit classes I go to, I've seen simply AMAZING results from folks, young and old,  that follow this simple regimen.

The science behind this is sound. Just google "paleo diet" and "zone diet" for the facts, but you really don't have to go to the extremes those "diets" promulgate. You don't have to worry about portions, or food balancing/ratios etc. If you do TKD, I know you have the discipline to follow the simple plan above. Eat as much as you like. Just watch VERY CAREFULLY that what you are eating has no sugar or glutens. Simple fresh meals are easier to monitor than processed foods. Fresh meat and vegies. As much as you want!

For faster results, go VERY easy on the starches (potatoes, rice) and legumes (beans). Some folks I know dropped an incredible amount of weight very quickly by cutting out the starches and legumes along with the sugar and flour products. But that can be more difficult to do for some people, and they get discouraged.

READ THE LABELS of everything you add to your food, like condiments. If there is ANY sugar or gluten in them, find a substitute. If you're like me and just HAVE to have sweetener in your coffee, replace sugar with Stevia.

And, if you are following these guidelines religiously, give yourself a treat. Let yourself cheat one day a week and eat anything you like. That way it's easier to be social, or hang out with the family and friends without totally stressing yourself (or them), or coming off like a total freak in public. Chances are you'll feel so good after a couple of weeks of this, that you won't want to cheat, but .... it's OK.

Just like the Sly challenge ... Give it a shot for 30 days!

 

[Ming the Merciless]

I have about the same stats as you.  Over the course of forty-five years I have lost significant amounts of weight about four times.  It all comes back--with interest added.  But it you wanna try, here's the secret:  Eat less.  That's the only way that'll have a useful effect.  What your are going to have to do is starve yourself (really!), but convince yourself that you are not.  You can lose weight on any diet, including my patented butter, cheese, bacon and chocolate one.  All you have to do is take in fewer calories than your body uses to keep itself going.  You can't get around the Laws of Thermodynamics.

On the other hand, the BCBC Diet is probably better replaced with one that relies on high-bulk, low calorie foods so that you can fool your stomach into thinking it's actually being feasted.  Current research shows that exercise has only a small effect on caloric expenditure.  Unless you are a lumberjack, working in frigid conditions for eight hours a day.  That might help (some).  Good luck.  You can buy a good axe on eBay.

[bubbadave3]

Funny you should ask. . . I've been doing this weigh loss challenge at our local gym and just saw my personal trainer a few minutes ago.  I was telling him that my schedule is impossible, and that I haven't been able to exercise at all, but I am down a few more pounds.  He was telling me that at least 80% (and maybe as high as 90%) of weight loss is simply portion control and drinking lots of water.  Exercise helps, but he was telling me that one woman is injured and can't exercise at all.  Still, simply by being really careful with her diet, she's lost a major amount of weight.  Hope this helps.

BTW, I eat absolutely everything that I've always eaten, but in much smaller portions.  I refuse to put certain foods in a "forbidden" category.

[buddha]

The way it was explained to me is that there are 2 main reasons for the accumulation of fat on the human body. One is where the body cannot sufficiently metabolize all the calories that are taken in and stores the excess as fat. This would be the case of the stereotypical buffet eater. The other is that the body goes into starvation mode because of the limbic brain, the part that controls fight or flight and is the remnant of the reptilian brain that all of us have, when not enough calories are taken in to support the different systems for survival. Hence, the repetitive failures of starving oneself as a mode of weight loss. Once you lose the weight you want and go back to eating the weight comes right back.

The answer, and this works for me, is more meals (5 or 6) a day with smaller portions combined with working out. The body is able to metabolize what is taken in effectively and there is enough food available to fuel movement without the limbic brain panicking and storing any excess as fat for the "winter". If a person then eats balanced meals and makes healthy substitutions for the usual fare like brown rice instead of white and high fiber bread instead of white bread and good quality protein rather than the 1/4 pound greaseball-burger. Stay away from simplee carbs in favor of complex carbs and the word fiber has to become a regular entry in your vocabulary.

As far as not having time to work out try to think of it this way. I can hang around for 5 more years before I get dropped in my tracks by a heart attack, in which case I have no more time for anything.....let alone spending time with my kids, or I can dedicate an hour a day to myself in the interest of my health/longevity and be there until my youngest gives me grandchildren. Plus it sets a good example for the kids.

[champ007]

But it you wanna try, here's the secret:  Eat less.  That's the only way that'll have a useful effect.  What your are going to have to do is starve yourself (really!), but convince yourself that you are not. 

OK, Although I have never had to drop more than 15 pounds, I have to disagree with this statement. There are some good key points in other responses, but starving yourself is not only unhealthy, but it also does not burn the proper fat calories.
You need to get away from the weights and thinking that pumping iron is going to help you lose weight, it won't.
One word- Cardio! You need to work with good old cardio routines. And you don't have to go to the gym to do them. You can do them at home for 1 hour and burn several fat calories, sweat it out.

1st- to help control your intake of food, start eating about 2 handful of almonds or nuts before every meal. Then eat your meal until you are full and not bloated.
2nd- Choose healthier foods, such as baked and not fried and eat more bird and fish than red meat.
3rd- Get a heart rate monitor and find some good cardio routines to do. Make sure you warm up and cool down everytime so you don't rip anything.

I have and still work the P90x routines, but if you decide to try them you will want to start with the straight p90 because the X is brutal. They have some great hour session cardio routines that work really well without any fancy weights, etc. You can work just 3 times a week and see results after the first 30-45 days. You might even get the family to do the routines with you... consider it healthy family time.