I cant belive iv lost over 25 pounds so far...

[NeutralDrow]

Nice!

Been a little slow-going for me, but I've lost 20 so far...and have about 60 to go. Weight Watchers has helped immensely.

 

[Zacharious-khan]

My personal weight loss regiment is biking the 5 miles to work and eating only once a day it keeps me near 200lb which is good enough for me

 

[Ubiquitous Duck]

I almost never drink soda anymore which instantly cut something like 600 or so calories out of my diet each day. Cutting that much through solid food alone would be tough going as quantity or variety would quickly suffer.

I know :,(

But it's soooooooooooo tasty

It did help a lot though. Cutting pop down alone was my primary weight loss (went from 235 after college to 210). It's something that I am trying to kill completely but the problem I run into is my lack of liking of coffee and teas and water doesn't always cut it at 2pm when it's close to the end of the work day but not quite there yet...

Besides, what's the point of working out and being healthy if I can't have something tasty

Nothing wrong with incentivising your workouts by saying to yourself that you can have that can of coke, as long as you do your exercise first.

Gives you something to aim for.

If you eat/drink exactly the same as you do, but increase your exercise, then you will create a calorie deficit and have obviously improved your daily intake (by decreasing your calories).

After I did a 40 mile bike ride on Sunday, like f*** did I just go drink a bottle of water and have a salad. No.. fkn.. way.

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

I don't often weigh myself (I subscribe to the male philosophy that if you can't tell in a mirror it doesn't matter) so I don't know to closely, but I've been putting on weight lately. It's the good kind though- I've been working out like crazy since christmas. I've gone from being quite slim-but-doughey to looking pretty damned healthy, if I may say so myself. Given that I've been invariably out of shape throughout my life I'm always surprised when I look at myself, I'm just not supposed to look like that.

For those of you who are struggling staying away from pop/soda; give flavored carbonated water a try. It's way lower calorie (I know Perrier is 0 calories) and, IMO, tastes pretty good. It's also much more refreshing to me.

Not entirely sure how healthy it is, but if you're in the UK Tesco do a pretty tasty range. Pretty handy for weening yourself off of coke or whatever (Dr. Pepper in my case), and a fuckton cheaper too. I think it's something like 41p a litre, which really adds up when you consider that a 500ml bottle of coke is usually £1.20 and I used to buy ridiculous amounts.

Oh, and congratulations to everyone. It's hard work, but the first steps are the hardest (hooray for cliches)!

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

It's not a good idea to loose too much too soon. 0.5kg or 1.1 pound per week is what most experts suggest. Dropping all processed meat and sugars is strongly advised.

May I suggest something that does wonders? Green tea with ginger! It's like a real life health potion. Drink lots of it.

 

[Boris Goodenough]

May I suggest something that does wonders? Green tea with ginger! It's like a real life health potion. Drink lots of it.

Does it have to have ginger in it? I seem to have read that it's green tea in general that has that effect on metabolism.
Also what drink(s) did you go from?

 

[HardkorSB]

I'm 165 lbs and I more or less have been for the past 12 years. I'm fine with this weight so I try not to change it too much.
I've become sort of addicted to having a healthy lifestyle but if there's ever an addiction you want to have, it's that.
I guess that it helps that I hate fast food, soft drinks, most sweets, alcohol and all other flavored garbage available in stores (I used to like that stuff when I was a teenager but those days are long gone).
Earlier today, I felt like i want to eat something sweet and unhealthy, I went into a store and got a bunch of fruits and vegetables
I exercise a lot, usually every day for at least 2 hours, sometimes I take a day off but even then I do about an hour of basic exercises/stretching.
I'm 28 right now and I can honestly say that not only am I in the best physical/mental shape I've ever been in, it's only getting better.
You body will love you if you'll take care of it.

Going to the Gym for a collective total of 10 to 15 hours a week is brutal.

Not if you train different body parts each day.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

May I suggest something that does wonders? Green tea with ginger! It's like a real life health potion. Drink lots of it.

Does it have to have ginger in it? I seem to have read that it's green tea in general that has that effect on metabolism.
Also what drink(s) did you go from?

I always drank a lot of tea (I'm not British though). But I stopped drinking sodas and all that other crap a few years ago.

It doesn't have to have ginger. It's not a necessary requirement. But it's good for you. It helps with digestion a lot. Try Googling for health benefits of ginger root.

 

[Ubiquitous Duck]

I don't often weigh myself (I subscribe to the male philosophy that if you can't tell in a mirror it doesn't matter) so I don't know to closely, but I've been putting on weight lately. It's the good kind though- I've been working out like crazy since christmas. I've gone from being quite slim-but-doughey to looking pretty damned healthy, if I may say so myself. Given that I've been invariably out of shape throughout my life I'm always surprised when I look at myself, I'm just not supposed to look like that.

For those of you who are struggling staying away from pop/soda; give flavored carbonated water a try. It's way lower calorie (I know Perrier is 0 calories) and, IMO, tastes pretty good. It's also much more refreshing to me.

Not entirely sure how healthy it is, but if you're in the UK Tesco do a pretty tasty range. Pretty handy for weening yourself off of coke or whatever (Dr. Pepper in my case), and a fuckton cheaper too. I think it's something like 41p a litre, which really adds up when you consider that a 500ml bottle of coke is usually £1.20 and I used to buy ridiculous amounts.

Oh, and congratulations to everyone. It's hard work, but the first steps are the hardest (hooray for cliches)!

Some brands of flavoured water hide cheeky ones in their ranges that aren't sugar free.

Just something to be aware of, because it caught me out once and I was not pleased.

It was in the same range of drinks as the sugarfree varieties, but had as much sugar in it as coke.

 

[Ubiquitous Duck]

May I suggest something that does wonders? Green tea with ginger! It's like a real life health potion. Drink lots of it.

Does it have to have ginger in it? I seem to have read that it's green tea in general that has that effect on metabolism.
Also what drink(s) did you go from?

No, it doesn't 'have' to be.

Green tea is of great benefit in of itself.

Green tea extract has even made it into the bodybuilding world as a supplement that you can take in pill form, due to the benefits it has for energizing your metabolism.

 

[Someone Depressing]

Good for you. Weight is such a touchy issue with many people, and it's simply amazing when it's conquered.

I have a few weight issues; mostly to do with self-image. I've been losing a lot since I've started walking my niece's dog and not eating complete crap when I'm sad.

 

[Veldel]

Oh crap... how rude of me. I was so occupied in trying to figure out about how to be healthy- that I forgot to congratulate you in your success in losing weight! I'm proud of you man, do keep it up and never give into the temptations of soda, junk food, and candy.

Especially soda.

I've stopped craving soda or even wanting it now that I've been without it for a while.

Its feeling great to be more healthy and I can't wait til I'm slim and in shape here in a year or so when it starts to really look different then I do today.

It can be hard to quit the soda but its worth it.

 

[Aarun]

Weight loss is a scary beast, but congratulations on your achievements so far, keep it up!

Personally, my weight loss story is a tad strange. For one New Years, after being about 18 stone for years (I was only about 17 at the time) I decided to utterly cut the crap from my diet, which meant no more sweets (which I ate basically daily), no more soft drinks (which I could drink 2L+ of a day), that sort of idea. By the end of the summer I had dropped to 9 stone 2. Since that point, I have now had to go to the Doctors every 3 weeks for a review of my weight... Why? Because I managed to drop myself so far "underweight" (I'm about 6'2") that the Doctor was worried. After about a year, I'm now roughly 10 stone 7, but they're still not happy. I swear gaining weight is harder than losing it ever was...

 

[Guffe]

That sounds awesome!
I haven't had the trouble of weight since I've been very interested in sports since a kid and done several of them since I was like 5 years old.
It is awesome what you're doing, but I think 2-3 hours everytime, 5 days a week sounds a bit heavy :/

 

[Treeinthewoods]

Good job getting healthy, I love hearing success stories from peoe who are improving themselves physically, especially gamers where the fat and unhealthy stereotype is far to prevalent.

If anyone cares I am going the opposite way, I've been lifting weights, doing cardio and eating like a "smart pig" to gain muscle mass (no unnatural supplements except for a vitamin) and have managed to put on 10 lbs, I had never weighed more than 180 lbs and now I weigh 185! Goal of 200 is within site!

 

[The White Hunter]

I lost 3 stone in about 6 weeks back in 2012, after I left uni I realised I had put on loads of weight and I hated it, so I cuto ut all the crap and booze and started working out like mad, I'm now steady around 142lbs. Slap in the middle of that healthy range.

The best part is I was also doing crazy heavy manual labour at the same time so I'm mostly muscle nowadays.

 

[chikusho]

My friend told me a lot about eating and such like not eating in morning when you get up and eating before bed is super bad for you so I now eat right and did a little bit of research. It also helps speed up my matabalism which is extremely slow atm but its getting better.

Yeah, that's pretty much a myth. You can eat any time you feel like it. The only thing that really matters is what you eat and how much. Exercising is probably what's increasing your metabolism.

Anyway, great job and keep it up! Just be careful so you don't burn yourself out on the gym. 5 times a week is A LOT.

Green tea extract has even made it into the bodybuilding world as a supplement that you can take in pill form, due to the benefits it has for energizing your metabolism.

Also pretty much a myth. Most studies have failed to conclusively prove any effect on metabolism caused by green tea, except for a possible minimal increase for morbidly obese people. Either way, tea is pretty awesome, and it sure as hell won't hurt you.

 

[Techno Squidgy]

I'd say that losing weight is mostly down to diet. Exercise is still important if you want much faster results, but I'd say it's 60 - 70% diet.

I'd agree. If you think about it in terms of energy in, energy out, it's so much easier to control your food intake than the amount of calories you burn. Exercise is important, there is absolutely no denying that, but the effort involved in burning calories is much higher than the effort required to simply not eat as much. And if you're not putting as much in, you don't need to burn as much out either.

Also, you can do the maths (or use an online calculator) involving your basal metabolic rate to give a rough estimate of the amount of calories you need to sustain your current weight, which you can then use to work out how much you need to put in and how much you need to burn. You can even find roughly how many calories each pound/kilo of fat consists of and work out roughly how fast you'll be losing weight. Maths is fun AND useful!

 

[Mossberg Shotty]

Good on you, my friend. It's no easy changing long-held habits, but it sounds like you're already over the difficult part, where it only gets easier going ahead.

I'm thin but I decided to cut out sugar and caffeine awhile back for health reasons, and it does make a big difference in your metabolism. Keep hitting those weights and you'll be strapped in no time.

 

[Ihateregistering1]

I'd say that losing weight is mostly down to diet. Exercise is still important if you want much faster results, but I'd say it's 60 - 70% diet.

I'd agree. If you think about it in terms of energy in, energy out, it's so much easier to control your food intake than the amount of calories you burn. Exercise is important, there is absolutely no denying that, but the effort involved in burning calories is much higher than the effort required to simply not eat as much. And if you're not putting as much in, you don't need to burn as much out either.

Also, you can do the maths (or use an online calculator) involving your basal metabolic rate to give a rough estimate of the amount of calories you need to sustain your current weight, which you can then use to work out how much you need to put in and how much you need to burn. You can even find roughly how many calories each pound/kilo of fat consists of and work out roughly how fast you'll be losing weight. Maths is fun AND useful!

Basically every personal trainer and nutritionist I've met has said that diet and nutrition is actually more like 80-90% of weight loss, it's one of the big reasons why you can find people who have big guts but are still in great shape. Back when I was in the Army, I knew lots of guys who were total studs when it came to physical fitness, but looked incredibly fat and out of shape. The reason? They would work out like machines, often times twice a day, but then they would eat nothing but fast food and drink beer all night.

You'll also see it in a lot of 'blue collar' industries. Guys who work hard physical labor jobs, but have huge guts because they eat fast food and drink soda all day.

But anyway, awesome work OP, keep it up! You're also losing it the right way instead of crash dieting, that's the best way to keep it off.