The Biggest LOOSER -- running weight loss thread

Holy crap Beef that's great to hear. Hell of a start too. Had no idea you were up in that weight range though, I'd have never guessed more than 325 but I suppose I haven't seen you in a while.

I've always hated going to a fitness club and working out on my own. Does the personal trainer help with that? We have a couple new 24-hour places here as well and I'm already thinking I might want to sign up for the winter months.

As far as tennis goes, is your club fairly active? I know ours has an adult beginners night every Monday, and generally a good club will have folks all too keen to hit a few with you. Given your schedule you might be surprised how many seniors and folks on vacation show up during the early part of the day too.

Speaking of the winter I think I'll take up squash this winter again. Played when I was in my early teens.

 

When you saw me last Gomer at the end of October, I'm guessing I was in the 360 ball park, like I said, I carry my weight well.

Believe me, going to the gym isn't my favourite thing in the world either, at my size I am extremely self-conscious, especially when among those at the other end of the scale. What the trainer did do was give me confidence and set me up with a routine and show me how to do the different excersizes properly. She also established a baseline for my fitness, really the lack there of. The whole process lasted three or four sessions. When I feel like my progress is stagnated or I get bored with what I am doing I'll hire her again to show me something different. I usually go after work, so generally about midnight or so. Often by that time the place is empty, sometimes there's a couple of others there, but I am able to just stick to my thing. If I'm just lifting it takes me about an hour, when I do cardio on top of that it's about an hour and a half.

We've got a very active tennis club here with a year-round facility. But they are pretty expensive, especially compared to when I was taking lessons at my last stop. I also want to be in a position where I am not going to be held back too much by my physical state. I figure if I can drop another 20 pounds or so by the fall it will be something I take a good hard look at.

 

Congrats, Beef! I was very self conscious about exercising when I started but being able to use the gym during 'off hours' helped. When I took up cycling that was even better since I don't feel anyone is 'watching' me.

Please keep up posted on how things are going.

 

I understand why people are self-conscious at the gym. I have always been so about the amount of weight I can lift, which has ever been much. I'm pretty naturally weak.

But I mean this in all seriousness - those of you overweight who are embarrassed to go to the gym, don't be. I can only speak for myself, but I always totally admire when I see obese or just overweight people in the gym, beginning to change their life. My guess, at least, is that most people feel the same way.

 

Sirs, Madames,

Given what our jobs are, we should be above shame. Take it from the guy wearing a speedo 5 times a week.

YHS, etc

 

I appreciate the support guys, it's awesome.

I'm naturally self-conscious. I was bullied all the way through school over my size -- although when I look back at pictures from then I wasn't fat all, they mistook broad shoulders for being fat. But it has still carried over. At the gym a big part of that insecurity is I really don't know what I am doing unless I have been shown, which is why the intro classes I took were very key.

Dick, to think that that may be a prevailing view point is incredibly helpful, makes me feel a lot better. Not a view point I am used to.

HC, I will definitely keep you guys up to date. Your story has been very inspirational for me.

FoF, Are you a speedo fan? or am I missing something? If so what colour is yours?

 

Just to echo what Dick said, Beef do NOT be embarrassed for turning your life around and getting into shape. You may not be where you want to be yet, but you'll never get there on the couch.

I was pretty well overweight when I started getting into shape (and like you, I carried my weight well), but I never worried about the guys who were already in shape. Instead, I watched them. I watched what exercises they were doing, what they drinking, what equipment they were using. I learned from them without even having to talk to them.

Be proud of what you are doing and use it fuel you going forward knowing that at some point, you're going to be one of those dudes. With your frame, you're probably going to be one of the big guys in the gym that everyone else is a little intimidated by.

Great job and keep us all posted.

 

I just signed as a "Black Card" member at the local Planet Fitness today. It's a 24-hour gym, which will be a good thing for me since I am awake at really random hours of the night. I'm currently 23 years old...a bit over 5 foot 10, weighing in at about 270. I hope to drop down to 220 or so, which I feel would be a healthy, productive weight for me and was my weight during my high school football days. A chronic intestinal illness (goddamn Crohn's Disease) has really set me back since 2006. I had to stop playing college football and start taking online courses due to constant flareups. And the medication not only seems to increase my appetite, but makes me incredibly tired. I'm a 44 waist now, and wear 2XL shirts. I want to drop down to my more normal 38/40 waist with XL shirts. It'll be a difficult task, but with exercise and eating well, I think it's certainly possible to be back in control and feeling better about myself.

Anyway, I'm a returning member to these boards (was around quite a bit a few years back). Looking to you guys for support, and I think it's a good idea to track progress/setbacks/etc. on this helpful thread, if only to keep me motivated and sane.

 

That's great, BB ... just remember, it's not like the Biggest Loser where you're going to be averaging 15 pounds of weight loss per week (though, if you do, that would be damned impressive!). Try different things, find what works for you, set a routine and keep to it, and you'll see the changes.

When I first started trying to lose weight, one of the biggest things I had to do was to tell myself that I would try any food my ex recommended that I eat (she's a personal trainer and knows a TON about nutrition). There was so much healthy food that I never ate because I ASSUMED it would taste bad, and it turned out to be fantastic.

Honestly, the food I eat now tastes 10x better than the fatty gross food I used to eat, but I had to experiment and try new things so I would have a wide variety of healthy options instead of settling on a calzone every other night.

And once you get going, once you start to build that muscle, the pounds will come off easier and easier as your body begins consuming those calories instead of storing them to support your muscle growth.

I know it seems far off now, but don't settle for 220 pounds. I'm a little over 6-feet tall and I weighed 233 at one point (my heaviest). I thought I wanted to be about 200 or 205, but when I got there I wanted to keep going. I'm down to a healthy 170 now. I know how different it feels to be at both those weights and trust me, 170 feels a helluva lot better.

But take that first step and reach that first goal (say, your first 10 pounds). When you reach that one, set another one. Always give yourself something to shoot for, both long-term and short. Enjoy your victories, and use them to fuel you toward the next one.

And we'll be here to give you a figurative slap on the back or advice any day you want it.

 

Thanks bigpern, the advice/support is appreciated! I went to the gym today for the first time in about 3 years and plan on easing myself back into things. I walked for an hour on the treadmill turned to 3.5 (which isn't too impressive, but it's a start), which wore me out but felt good. It went by surprisingly quick while listening to a few good Marc Maron podcasts on my iPod. I worked out my arms and chest on some of the machines for half an hour, and feel a stinging, satisfying burn already. I also did some bench pressing, but can only bench about half as much as I used to. I'm not looking for instant results, and would rather change my lifestyle than drop an easy chunk of pounds and change absolutely nothing.

The key for me is eating better. I live a street over from a long stretch featuring a McDonalds, a Wendys, a Burger King, a Pizza Hut, a Dominos, a KFC, and three sub shops. It's ridiculously easy to stop in one of them after work and fill up with cheap grub. My mom is also a fantastic Italian cook, and she raised me to clean my plate before leaving the dinner table. But it's also ruining my body and my self-esteem. So I know that baking a couple of chicken breasts with a good veggie side is the way I have to go from now on, and reminding myself that I have control over what I put in my body is helpful.

 

BB, if you were taught to clean your plate, I've got a great idea for you: eat off a smaller plate.

Seriously.

We have big, medium and small plates in our house. Since I started dieting I rarely if ever eat off the big ones any more. I also make sure I have plastic containers to put extra food I cook in so I can eat it at another time, instead of having seconds.

Oh and drink lots of water. The only pop I drink now has alcohol with it. And no, I'm not bringing rum and cokes to work.

 

Great advice on the plate Gomer. I'm the same way as BB ... if it's in front of me on my plate, I'm probably going to eat it, no matter how much is there. Smaller plates force me to eat smaller portions.

Also, BB, I'm not sure what your finances are like, but if you can afford it, start crushing protein shakes. A 2 lb. bucket of protein powder costs about $25, so they're expensive, but you should be consuming 1.5 times your weight in grams of protein. So, at your weight, you'd want to be getting about 400g of protein a day. That's exceedingly difficult to do, but protein is the primary fuel to build muscle, so you need to be getting a lot of it.

I use Body Fortress powder, which has 30g of protein, no fat and 1g of carbs per scoop (I usually mix two scoops into a shake or water four times daily). You always want to consume a good amount of protein within a half hour after you work out since it helps your muscles rebuild bigger and faster. An hour or so before you go to bed and within a half hour of waking up are also good times because we lose muscle mass when we sleep.