Im fat and need to loose weight!!!

Max1984

Very simple I am fat and I need to loose weight, I have been unemployed for the past 8 months and unfortunately got into a rut of eating absolute crap day in day out watching TV.

Well enough is enough, time to change.

I am 6foot2, and I weigh 17stone 2 pounds, yes as I said I am FAT!!!!

Before I was let go I weighed about 14 stone but still wasnt fit, I have decided that rather than let unemployment get me down I am going to put all this time to good use i.e get really fit for the first time in my life...

I know a lot of you won't agree with my methods but I am starting a detox and gentle exercise for the next 10 days which will consist of a 5 mile walk every morning followed by calorie intake of around 900 calories per day split into two sperate meals, I know this is way below my required intake but desperate times call for desperate methods. The 5 mile walk itself should burn off around 200 calories and is a good hilly walk with lots of ups and downs meaning I will get out of breath (most welcome at this stage). Please note I go realise that I wont change anything with this routine but this is purely a gentle change before starting to work out proper when I join gym, this is almost like my 10 day detox off crappy junk food and a gentle introduction back into exercise.

I am joining a gym on June 7th (A few of you might say why not join now, Well I cant due to money, but will be able to on the 7th) at which stage I will be using the treadmill every 2nd day for one hour of interval training. I will also be using the rowing machine at a decent level for around 20 minutes, also every second day. With so much time I would like to use the gym everyday but I have a small case of psoriasis which does effect my joints and I want to give my joints time to recover, day on day off is good enough for me.

Anyway just thought I would start a blog here and keep you guys up to date with my progress. If I can do it anyone can and hopefully my progress might inspire or help those who have also found themselves in the unemployment slob rut that I have ended up in, its easily done but for me its most definitely time to change.

By the way my target weight is 13 stone and I hope to be at this weight by July 23rd. I am a very hard worker and I am very confident I can do this, Im sure there will be ups and downs and times of self doubt but I am extremely determined.

Once I have started to loose the weight (i.e get down to around 15stone range) I am going to start incorporating weights,sit ups etc as my worst fear with loosing weight is saggy skin,I need to ensure that when I am loosing the weight I am also trying to tone my muscle at same end, that is a bit off yet though, my first step is to start actually loosing fat and as such weight.

I will keep you guys updated and your opinions are very much welcomed.

Best of luck to anyone on here who is trying to loose weight

Max1984

Forgot to mention by the way my diet will invovle the complete restriction of any bread, in fact an extremely low carb diet mainly consistant of furit, veg, white meat, and fish is what I will be sticking to for the next 7 weeks.

Any tips on diet by the way would be extremely helpfull, I do understand the concept required to work off fat i.e Ensure calorie intake either by diet alone or diet and exercise is less than daily requirement, but anyone who has some tips on energy rich low fat meals would be appriciated.

Thanks again

cmyk

Max1984 wrote: »

Very simple I am fat and I need to loose weight, I have been unemployed for the past 8 months and unfortunately got into a rut of eating absolute crap day in day out watching TV.
Well enough is enough, time to change.

First off, well done on posting and the change of attitude! If you look above the fitness posts, there's a fitness log portion, why not start one up there if you think it'll keep you motivated.

Max1984 wrote: »

I know a lot of you won't agree with my methods but I am starting a detox and gentle exercise for the next 10 days which will consist of a 5 mile walk every morning followed by calorie intake of around 900 calories per day split into two sperate meals, I know this is way below my required intake but desperate times call for desperate methods.

You're right, in that people won't agree with that method, what's your reasoning behind that? Simply cutting out the junk food might be a good start. (I'm making an assumption there as to the weight gain, but apologies if I'm wrong.)

Max1984 wrote: »

Once I have started to loose the weight (i.e get down to around 15stone range) I am going to start incorporating weights,sit ups etc as my worst fear with loosing weight is saggy skin,I need to ensure that when I am loosing the weight I am also trying to tone my muscle at same end, that is a bit off yet though, my first step is to start actually loosing fat and as such weight.

Utilising weight training (of some description) will help accelerate your progress if you implement it earlier than that, why wait until then?

Max1984

"You're right, in that people won't agree with that method, what's your reasoning behind that? Simply cutting out the junk food might be a good start. (I'm making an assumption there as to the weight gain, but apologies if I'm wrong.)" Well my reasoning behind this is that I need to start decreasing my calorie intake and almost force my body into eating up some of my much stored fat for its dialy energy requirements, I know this is a bad way to start it off and I should aim to loose 1/2 pounds a week but I am going to stick to 900 calories for the first 10 days. Even aside from the junk food I want to use this oppurtunity to completely change my diet, Im even thinking about cutting out all dairy, bread etc. Its not just the junk food I want to cut out, I want to change my diet completely, and I almost want to shock.deprive my body for the first 10 days, my thoughts are this will make it easier in the long rung, I obviously do realise I cannot continue on a diet of 900 cals per day, this is just for the first 10 days.

When I start exercising in the gym I will increase my intake to around 1600 per day as I will then be burning off a lot of calories with my regieme.

Utilising weight training (of some description) will help accelerate your progress if you implement it earlier than that, why wait until then? This is a topic I dont know that much about, I would of thought that weight training might slow down weight loss process no???? So you are saying I should start gentle weight training from day one and gradullay build up as time goes on???

Thanks for your words of advise by the way.

I think I will use the log you mentioned too, Cheers

carl456

Well my reasoning behind this is that I need to start decreasing my calorie intake and almost force my body into eating up some of my much stored fat for its dialy energy requirements, I know this is a bad way to start it off and I should aim to loose 1/2 pounds a week but I am going to stick to 900 calories for the first 10 days.
Utilising weight training (of some description) will help accelerate your progress if you implement it earlier than that, why wait until then? This is a topic I dont know that much about, I would of thought that weight training might slow down weight loss process no???? So you are saying I should start gentle weight training from day one and gradullay build up as time goes on???

On 900 calories a day your body will turn to glycogen as its main fuel source and basically eat muscle not fat. Such a drastic drop so quickly is not a good idea, Just start at 500 below your maintainance cals. and work from there.
As mentioned before definitely get a weight routine, more muscle mass burns more calories hence speeding up the weight loss progress and you'll look a lot better, no need to go really light but do what your reasonably
comfortable with

Max1984

I know its not a good idea, but I am going to stick to 900 cals for the first 10 days, I do genuinely feel this will lead to a weight loss of upto maybe 10 pounds for the first 10 days, I know that seems optimistic but I know my body and I know what I achieved several years ago, I may well be proved wrong but this is the method I am going to use.

I do however realise that when you adopt this strategy and then revert back to normal eating plan that your body will then pile back on the weight as it is "Afraid" it will never get food again after being deprived and as such store it as fat. That is the reason I am only doing it for 10 days, and will then increase me intake to around your recommended amount whilst incorporating my workout plan at gym to burn off fat rather than relying on diet alone.

Once again I know my method will be frowned upon by many but I am very confident and feeling very possitive about the journer ahead of me, anyway its all too easy to write it, Now I have to actually do it!!!!!

Cheers for your advice, I will pop back on at the weekend give an update about the torture haha!!!

carl456

Max1984 wrote: »

I know its not a good idea, but I am going to stick to 900 cals for the first 10 days, I do genuinely feel this will lead to a weight loss of upto maybe 10 pounds for the first 10 days, I know that seems optimistic but I know my body and I know what I achieved several years ago, I may well be proved wrong but this is the method I am going to use.

If you know it's a bad idea then why are you doing it!?? Believe me if you lose 10 pounds over those ten days it WILL not be all fat, your body will literally go into panic mode, store fat and turn to your glycogen stores...not to mention you'll feel terrible on such a low intake, Good luck anyway you seem pretty set in your ways so i don't think i'll change your mind..

**Timbuk2**

Your attitude is good, but your method is wrong. You shouldn't be losing 10 pounds in 10 days... that's madness, you will look like hell on earth if you lose weight so quickly.

Aim for 2 pounds a week - that's healthy (anything between 1-2lbs per week is recommended).

While people often lose a bit more weight than usual in the first week, it shouldn't be anywhere near 10 pounds in 10 days, and this is mainly due to water loss etc. (It's normal enough as long as it isn't too much of a drop).

900 calories per day is far too low - you will not be able to maintain it, and it isn't healthy. Your body will end up storing fat, having gone into 'starvation mode' (I'm sure there's a proper name).

The key to a successful diet is making decisions that are maintainable for a long long term. It shouldn't be just a short-term hunger fest. Every food decision you make, think of it as being permanent. For example, rather than saying I'll only eat 900 calories a day, which isn't sustainable, say that you'll give up eating sugar in cereal, tea etc for the rest of your life, and replace your 9 o clock snack with a piece of fruit, in the long-term.

danlen

restricting your daily intake to 900 calories is a bad idea for many many reasons. but you seem to want to proceed anyway as you feel you will lose fat quickly in this period... WRONG!

as mentioned the weight you lose in this time will predominantly be muscle. furthermore, once you start to come up to a proper intake level again you body will be in chaos and you will find it even harder to shift the fat.

you have already admitted its the wrong way to do it, every response so far had advised you against it, yet you still seem adamant on proceeding with this ridiculous plan. trust me mate restricting yourself to 900 cals/day is a bad idea, i warn you DO NOT DO IT!!

that being said, it is your choice. good luck

cmyk

You are correct in that you may lose quite a lot of weight over those 10 days, that doesn't however make it healthy in any way shape or form. A high % of that weight will be water plus you will only serve to reduce your metabolism over that period, and more than likely have a negative effect when you increase your calories again.

As carl also touched on, muscle is more metabolically active than fat. More lean muscle mass = more cals burnt. That doesn't mean you have to get to a gym, plenty of bodyweight resistance stuff you can do from home or outdoors.

zonad

My advice would be to drastically reduce your calorie intake or carb intake. All diets work basically the same, some are easier to stay on than others, it comes down to personal preference.

Work out 30 to 60 minutes a day, on a regime designed for you by a qualified trainer.

Drink tons of water, tons.

Sleep 10 hours a night.

Take vitamins, (make sure they don't have sugar in them).

Do this until you reach your ideal weight.

Max1984

Thanks for all the feedback guys, really do appriciate it.

I do agree that in the long term such an intake is a bad idea as once you start eating normal amounts again your body will store everthing as fat and as such put on weight twice as quickly as you lost it.

HOWEVER,

I do firmly believe that if I limit my intake to 900 cals per day (consisting of 4 very small meals per day) I can reintroduce a calorie intake of 2000 cals per day as I will then be burning off hopefully 800 cals every 2nd day in the gym.

Once again my 10 day intake of 900 cals is purely to loose a lot of weight fast, not usually a good idea but I know I can switch to more appropriate intake whilst introducing work outs. My work outs will largely be around interval cardio workouts therefore maximising fat burning

The big mistake people usually make when putting on weight after a diet is failure to exercise when they start eating more, this wont be the case with me as I will be introducing a higher work out plan once I revert back to an acceptable level of calorie intake.

Once again I know some of you won;t agree with me but we all have our different methods, I do appriciate all the feedback, very much so, But I am confident I will achieve my goal with my method, perhaps its a case of mind over body in this case.

As mentioned I will post back here over the next 2 months to give updates etc.

Thanks again for all the advise, its good to know there is help out there!!!

cmyk

Max1984 wrote: »

Thanks for all the feedback guys, really do appriciate it.

Thanks again for all the advise, its good to know there is help out there!!!

Even though you choose to completely ignore it.

Add these to your list of detrimental effects too....reduced vitamin and mineral levels, testosterone, aerobic, anaerobic and strength levels too.

mrpink6789

crash diets never work, if people fall off the rails one day they stop completely. if you stick to 900 calories you better tell everyone to stay away from you as you won't be in the best of form! why do you need to lose the weight so quick? like most people said 1-2 pounds per week is a healthy level, if you lose weight too fast its not going to be all fat and plus you are running the risk of massive health problems by losing it too fast.

Stick to your main meals, breakfast lunch and dinner and eat the likes of Porridge, Homemade soup and a salad as well as stir frys with plenty of veg. Incorporate 30-45 minutes of cardio and the same in weight training every second day and you will see massive improvements. I'm down 5 stone as of yesterday evening incorporating the advice of the boardsies and I have never felt better.

Best of luck with it either way

xgtdec

as well as all of the above, your going to have one hell of a time shifting strech marks if you drop that quick....i went from 18,6 and am now 14, lost maybe 6lbs first week and a steady loss since, sometime no loss and sometime a little up(muscle and the like).....so even with controlled weight loss over a year and a 6 day a week gym routine and all the water in the world....strech marks are a curse.......just another negative to think about which may not stand out to ya at first!!

Max1984

I know I am going to be in a foul mood but I am willing to do it.

Just back from 5 mile walk , felt good but think I will go again for a 2 or 3 mile walk tonight.

Breakfeast was Porridge with Banana, Kiwi and Orange

Lunch will be Poppyseed Bagel with Turkey slices, lettuce, and humus.

I drink 5/6 litres of water everyday, always have done so will be keeping that up.

First step on a long roadm, but still a first step

yimrsg

You're starting out at 17 stone 2 pounds and hope to reach 13 stone by July 23rd?

So that's 59 days from yesterday to drop 58 pounds?

I don't want to discourage you but that is giving yourself an unfeasible target. This lad lost 60lbs in 5 months and look at the changes in lifestyle he adopted.

http://deadspin.com/5545674/the-public-humiliation-diet-a-how+to?skyline=true&s=i

metamorphosis

That's pretty much umpossible there and ...

when you lose weight too fast (aka eating muscle as well as your glycogen and fat), when you bump up your calories you will pile the weight back on and a good chance that you will gain even more than you lost. It's like your body's 'coping' mechanism. If you mess with your body it messes back.

Unfortunatly people always want to learn the hard way. Best of luck either way.

kennyb3

zonad wrote: »

Drink tons of water, tons.

can i ask why you specifically say this as opposed to 2l a day? what benefit does more water have?

Max1984

In relation to water there are a few benefits I know of

1) It does speed up your metabolism

2) If gives you energy

3) If fills you up when hunger strikes

4) It improves elesticity of the skin which helps with loosing weight and avoiding loose skin, stretch marks, this has been proven.


For me the more water I drink the better thats just me.


With reference to my target weight loss and time line etc. It may seem unrealistic but I should have given a brief about my history before I started this. When I was aged 19 I weighed 16 and a half stone, I was fed up with it and adopted a similar strategy as the one I am doing now, within two months my weight was down to 12 stone 4 pounds, It was down to an incredible amount of hard work both physically and mentally, perhaps I just had a natrually fast metabolism when I was that age and changed my lifestyle but I genuinely do feel I know my body and know what I am and am not capable of.


When it comes to weight loss I have always thought that the mental challenge is far great than anyway physical challange and firmly believe you can do anything you put your mind to, even if it strikes others as being crazy or unrealistic.

Maybe you guys are right here and It is crazy to aim for such weight loss over such a time but that is what I am going for, I will definitely keep you guys updated.

I dont want to question anyones opinion on here but yes my target is 59 pounds in 58 days, if this wasn't possible then there would not be shows such as The Biggest Looser, we have all seen instances where contestants have lost upto 14/15 pounds within a week. I do believe everyone is different and everyone is capable of different levels of weight loss..

Max1984

"when you lose weight too fast (aka eating muscle as well as your glycogen and fat), when you bump up your calories you will pile the weight back on and a good chance that you will gain even more than you lost. It's like your body's 'coping' mechanism. If you mess with your body it messes back." I would disagree in my case, as mentioned already I will have an intake of 900 cals per day for the first 10 days, then I will indeed bump up my intake but at the same time I will increase my workout and in turn increase cals burnt ofsetting any increase in calorie food intake.

I firmly believe I can do this without sounding ignorant to your opinion

Max1984

kennyb3 wrote: »

can i ask why you specifically say this as opposed to 2l a day? what benefit does more water have?

I guess im just lucky because I love and always have loved water, I dont like any minerals or fizzy drinks.

Honestly I would get through around 5/6 litres per day not by intended effort but more so because I like it...

G86

On 900cals a day you're basically starving yourself, I'm not majorly clued up on nutrition but I'm guessing that after you start back eating more your body is going to cling on to every bit of fat it gets.

Fair enough, you might lose a fair amount of weight, but what's the point of that if you put twice as much back on? Would it not be better to try and re-educate your body long term with a healthy diet rather than beat it into submission with a quick fix that's competely unsustainable?

Max1984

I wont put twice as much back on as once I increase my intake of cals in ten days I will also be increasing my workout and amount of cals burned per day to compensate for this.


Trust me I am not sticking to 900 cals per day, This is a crash course 10 day detox that will serve me right both mentally and physically in the long run.

Come June 7th I will have a larget intake and will be loosing weight via interval cardio workouts, I have plenty of time on my hands and will be putting it to good use, trust me

cmyk

Max1984 wrote: »

I firmly believe I can do this without sounding ignorant to your opinion

You sound ignorant to everyone's opinion here and clearly haven't read/understood the arguments put forward. I don't understand people who come on looking for help, and then argue against educated advice....I'm out!

Zamboni

There is something that was mentioned earlier that you have not responded to.

STRECTCH MARKS

Honestly even if this worked you will have massive stretch marks.
They can be a psychological trauma to a person's self body image.
You will look like a pink zebra!

There was a girl who won the weightwatcher of the year or something a few years back and had a bag of excess skin hanging from her gut. Not something you can ever fix without surgery.

Skin tissue simply does not have the contractibility to match rapid weight loss.

metamorphosis

+1 with Zamboni

I went from 16stone to 10.7 over the better part of over a year and i still have stretch marks! Im glad i lost it when i was 20 - id hate to imagine if id waited until later in life to lose that weight - it would have been worse. Once i started training it greatly enhanced how my body looks so it's no longer an issue.

cardio,shoot me

i have a question, why did you even bother asking for advise if you where going to disregard what every member of the forum has said so far? did you honestly feel someone was going to support you on this?

carl456

With reference to my target weight loss and time line etc. It may seem unrealistic but I should have given a brief about my history before I started this. When I was aged 19 I weighed 16 and a half stone, I was fed up with it and adopted a similar strategy as the one I am doing now, within two months my weight was down to 12 stone 4 pounds, It was down to an incredible amount of hard work both physically and mentally, perhaps I just had a natrually fast metabolism when I was that age and changed my lifestyle but I genuinely do feel I know my body and know what I am and am not capable of.




58 pounds in 59 days or whatever it is is impossible, you'd be lucky to get to that level of weight loss on DNP.


When it comes to weight loss I have always thought that the mental challenge is far great than anyway physical challange and firmly believe you can do anything you put your mind to, even if it strikes others as being crazy or unrealistic.


Your right there and sometime you can do things that seem unrealistic, but your trying to defy the laws of body composition in losing that much FAT in that time. Given you might lose that weight alright with extreme dieting but you look like a thin somalian kid as you'll have eaten all your muscle as well.
Oh and to lose a pound a day you'd need to be in a calorie deficit of about 3500 calories a day! This means if you were to eat 1500 calories a day you'd need to be burning 5000 calories to make this work, an average persons mile of walking burns 100 calories. So you can accomplish your goal if you walk 50 miles a day. Good luck

bp1989

This is hilarious. Restrict like this and your body will cry out for nutrients. All this is going to earn you is one big mega binge.

Please, PLEASE return in 59 days so we can all breathe a collective "I told you so".

Ciaran500

Everyone in this thread has successfully gone through some degree of weight loss.


Listen to their opinion, they're trying to help.

mrpink6789

Sorry if I am annoying anybody by opening up a new thread but I was interested in hearing OP's progress on his weightloss with 900 calories a day?

carl456

Ye i want to hear too!!??:D

Dotcomdolly

Maybe he's thrown his computer through the window in a fit of hunger induced rage

james thor

Hi everyone, I am new to boards.

I am intrested to see how the OP is getting on with his fitness program

maybe reading this he will come back and give us an update on his progress

James

Canis Lupus

I'd be willing to guess he lasted a couple of days on 900 cals before the novelty wore off. I still hope he carried on with the gym...

Tonto86

Dude if you do come back and read this, dont give up.

You should probably take advice on here, most people on here have a fair idea what they're talking about.

Eatin 900kcals a day is crazy, for someone your size, anywhere under 1700 is feckin crazy.

As a rule, work out your calorie usage and subtract 500. For yourself this would be roughly (and i do mean roughly) 2000

Crash dieting will get your to lose weight, but you will also loose muscle, a good way for you to get into shape is a routine like stronglifts. It builds muscle while loosing weight.

If you drop your calorie intake so drasticaly your body will enter something called starvation mode, the next time your eat properly it'll hold on to as much of the food as possible by turning it to fat. This is basic survival programmed into everyone.

Also, dont cut out carbs mate, ya need carbs, just the same as you need to eat fat and protein. As a general rule try to make your diet a split of 40%protein, 40%carbs and 20%fat

By not leaving the body wanting for anything it wont have any desire to hold on to anything