Used to be 300. Lost over a 100 pounds and was down to 195. Slowly stabilized back up to 225. Still happy with progress but man I have to kick it back into high gear. Just had our first kid last week so havent been to the gym in months and eating terrible. Understandable that life happens, but I cant excuse that to keep gaining weight. I know what to do, just have to do it. Feels good to own it though and type it all out on here. Keep fighting Thicc Boys
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Was at 320 to start, got down to 230 at my lightest. I’ve very slowly headed back up and am at 255, and I can really start to feel it. Im definitely struggling to fully get back on it, but I’m going to do my best!
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Dude, if you got down to 230 before, you can do this. I could stand to lose another 20 pounds before an impending life event happens
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My (formerly) big brothers (and sisters?)! This is home!
During Covid my weight got out of hand. It wasn’t just the pandemic, I had a lot of shitty things happen in my life at the same time, personally, professionally… Where sports used to be my outlet, there wasn’t any. And with my desk located 8 feet from the kitchen, well, it was a disaster waiting to happen.
I’ve never been thin, far from, I was born big, but I’ve always played multiple sports at high levels. I worked in a huge office as well, and always scheduled my meetings all across the building, to much chagrin of my colleagues, so I easily got in 8k steps a day. And then, just nothing. Sitting at home, behind my desk for 9 hours a day. Compounding factors were a torn ACL, and I had cancer that required radiation and surgery.
So I gained about 55 pounds. I went from about 230 to 285 in a heartbeat. My stamina? Gone. Flexibility? Gone. I woke up just feeling sore and tired every single day.
The turning point was when I saw a picture of myself in a group text. I hope not many people recognize that feeling, but I just felt disgusted by myself. By the huge guy sitting in that chair, who could no longer do what he used to do, and didn’t do anything about it. Unfortunately I had suffered a herniated and damaged disc in my back a couple of days before, something my increased weight played a part in.
The recovery from that back injury was very slow, and very painful, with a shitload of setbacks, so I postponed my weight goals. Losing weight and changing habits requires discipline, and starting something like that while your not in a good space mentally is just a very bad idea. After about 8 months I felt in a good and confident enough to actually do something about it, so I did. I don’t work out a lot (my knee is just fucked from the torn ACL), but I walk a lot, cut out 90% of my normal intake of soda, bread (a huuuuuuuuge issue for me), potatoes, and limit things like chocolate and sweets to the weekends. And I try to drink at least 3 liters of water a day.
I’m now down from 285 to 242 since January, but for some reason I still see this huge guy when I see myself in pictures. I still don’t feel like my old self. Maybe it’s because, even though I’m getting close to my old weight, much of what used to be muscle is now fat. I took up a gym membership, one that is located on the way to and from my daughters school, so my intention is to go at least 2 times a week, starting next week, when school starts back up again. If I can get to 230 before the end of the year, and more importantly, start to see myself in a differently, I’d be pretty damn proud of myself.
Thanks For Coming To My TED Talk.
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This is awesome man, keep it up!
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Hey guys just got referred to this post from the mental health thread. Long story short about a year and a half ago my mom and sister passed away about a month apart and life was vastly changed for me. At the time of their passing I was in the gym 6 days a week and eating as clean as I ever have. Those events ruined my rhythm and as life has gotten more stressful with work etc eating has become my outlet and working out is the last thing I have had motivation for. I’m 60lbs heavier than I was. Today I ordered a clic gear and plan on walking all winter now that courses will be empty and have already made some subtle diet changes. I ultimately want to cut out all junk (especially diet sodas, I’m hooked) and will do the most I can with the home gym stuff I have. At this time going to the gym in town isn’t as possible as it once was due to time constraints etc. I have set goals for myself and know that if I did it once I can do it again it’s just always the getting started and making habits that’s the hardest, but for the sake of my health I have to.
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I saw a line on Instagram about six months ago that resonated with me and has become a bit of a mantra after a big day eating/drinking.
“The things you do consistently will always prevail over the things you do occasionally.”
If my consistent is good eating 80% of the time and regular exercise and movement, then I can weather the storm of a big night, a big weekend or even an out-of-control week.
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as you know from your past habits, just getting going is the name of the game. I too have tried to implementing courses I normally wouldn’t walk as a walking opportunity (or even carrying if we’re feeling extra healthy). I too need to cut out the junk, but having a young one and Halloween, there’s sweets all over this damn house!
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A little indulgence is huge for sustainability as well. When I was an absolute gym rat I’d laugh about ordering a pizza from the gym and picking it up on the way home. But if I deprived myself of everything I would have never had that consistency. The problem is currently I’m all pizza no gym…
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I absolutely LOVE a heavy weights session when I know I’m going home/out that night to smash a massive steak or some Italian. I feel like I hit PRs in those sessions just from steak/pizza lust! 
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Heavyweight here to report I’m getting back on the calorie counting wagon and looking for some help on how to hit my daily macros.
Currently 6’4" and 264 lbs at 34 years old. My weight has fluctuated quite a bit the last 18 months (275-235 (5 months, very restrictive diet, hated it the whole time) 4 months to go back up to 255 then down to 235 again over 4 months using MacroFactor (much preferred over the first diet but got sick of trying to log everything and constantly thinking about calorie count).
I’ve been working out consistently 4-5 / week for 30-45 minutes at a time for the last year. Mix of weight lifting and cardio. I was hoping the working out would allow me to forget about counting calories and enjoy my summer but I’m back at 265 and had some loving hints of “Maybe you should try that calorie counting app again”
My goal weight is 225, MacroFactor has set my loss rate at 1.3 lbs / week (will time out nicely with my trip to Ireland in May). Current nutrition targets are: 1,984 calories, 191g Protein, 56g Fat, and 158g Carbs.
I’m having a very hard time reaching my Protein target and an equally hard time staying under my Carb target (unless I go way under on calories). Looking for snack/meal suggestions that would help with this. Right now I’m eating 3 hard boiled eggs and 3 oz of lean Steak Strips a day and still struggling.
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I had a similar protein target a while back and the only way I was able to hit it consistently was to fall in love with chicken breast, egg whites (hot sauce is the key), and supplementing protein. Bottom line is 191 is a metric shit load to get in without doing some weird stuff, so I’d semi-regularly eat a meal of egg whites and chicken breast at like 8 or 9 pm before bed. Its not fun and it never will be.
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Re-entering the chat. Huge number on the scale at my yearly physical ( +50# over the last 5 years, I’ve basically gained 10 pounds a year for 5 years), which honestly was a surprise because I thought that clothes were fitting better. I have purposefully avoided the scale because of the stress and sense of failure that I feel. But after another jump in weight gain an increase of BP meds, my doctor recommended that I write down weight every day so that it cant get away from me. I really hate tracking calories. I also hate avoiding major food groups, even though Low carb is the only thing that has worked. To me its the day to day grind of a diet is fine, its the celebrations, holidays, and other food centered happy things that I struggle to avoiding. I don’t have any low hanging fruit that I could add or subtract for a major change, I barely drink alcohol, I lift weights 4-5 times a week, go for walks and play with my daughter as much as I can, I’m just simply out eating any of those positive things. Hoping daily weigh ins with a guilt free mindset will change my direction. Any tactics to deal lower appetite? I’m fucking hungry all the time…
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A little while in to my back to fit journey I’m down about 6 pounds the last couple weeks. Truthfully I haven’t implemented much exercise but have cleaned up the quality and quantity of food for sure. I’m active as is but exercise is the next step. Got my clic gear all ready to walk 9 tomorrow daylight allowing!
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I’m quite similar. It’s all food related for me. I’m aiming for 12-14 hour fast daily. Not that hard if you can get an early dinner in. For me the struggle is that I’m at work at 5:30 am every day so it’s hard to get to that 9-10 or even lunch without that snack but using overnight hours is the only cheat code for it lol. I also strongly believe it’s mental as well. Eating distracts me from stress. I’m basically slowly trying to train myself to not eat as much because I obviously don’t need to
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Intermittent fasting was worked for me. Over the last year I have lost and keep off 20 pounds, which was a struggle for me when I was counting every calorie. I would lose a bunch in the beginning only to put it all back on plus some by the end of the year. It was a little difficult at the start but one thing that it did was help me realize that lots of times at lunch I was eating a big lunch because it was lunch time not necessarily because I was hungry. I have a premier protein shake in the the morning and if I am truly hungry at lunch I will eat something but find 90% of the time I am not that hungry until dinner time. This has also helped me with eating some of my guilty pleasure foods(pizza, chicken wings) because I know I haven’t already consumed a bunch of calories already throughout the day and I feel less “guilty”. I know this is not for everyone but it has worked for me and like I mentioned helped me realize when I am hungry and when I was eating just to eat or because of stress or boredom.
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So, an honest question for you in IF. How did you determine where to start. I know there’s a million different ways to do it, so I’m genuinely interested. Know some do 16:8, 14:10, 12:12 and whatever else, so as somebody who needs to be better about things this winter as well as something more sustainable for me than just counting calories, I’m all ears.
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I can only speak from my experience, but I just dove in & tried the first thing I saw, which was 16:8. I already was not a big breakfast eater, so figured it fit me the best to give this method a try. I found that after a month or two of committing to it, coffee in the morning could hold me over until 11ish for lunch. I am far from strict on this - as dinners on weekends or a random snack may occur outside those hours but just found it successful way to keep calories lower for me.
I have started to put weight back on (still 40 lbs lower than my worst place), but recently made a commitment to get back to IF, counting calories to just remind myself of how much I should be eating (around 2K calories). Winter is the worst here in the Midwest!
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Honestly I kinda just did my own thing. I have a protein shake in the morning and that helps me get to dinner time without being hungry at lunch time. That was simply because I noticed that I often wasn’t really that hungry at 11:30 that often, I was eating simply because it was lunch time. I think that is why it worked for me because I tailored it to what I was feeling. If you are the opposite and not as hungry at dinner time you could have lunch be your big/last meal. I will also say that if my stomach is growling and I’m hungry then I’ll find something healthy to eat to hold me over. In my opinion you need to figure out what makes most sense for you otherwise you’ll only be fixated on food during the fasting time which will cause you to overeat when the fasting period is over.
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Winter is actually better for me because I spend less time at the club and generally am drinking and eating out less as a result. I know that’s backwards for a ton of people in the Midwest.
I think it’s probably worth going the route you did as I don’t necessarily care for breakfast and will often make better choices for lunch and dinner. Guess the only way to know if it’s going to work is to start!
I don’t have a specific weight target in mind, but I know how I felt after my last half marathon so something around there weight wise would be good. That means about 40lbs, which I think between getting back on an exercise schedule that is more than just taking the dog for 2 miles a day and being more conscious of what I’m eating with IF, it’s doable. I now have a winter goal!
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